IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN

I really want to get my head around an explanation for today's nagging question: who is the new child in the temple next to Cindy, Emma and Zach? I have searched my memory banks and on-line and I cannot find any reference to a young child in the Others camp, either in the Temple or at the statue. I cannot recall seeing a young child in any of the pre-Season 6 Others camps except for Emma and Zach.

So how can one reconcile this apparent dramatic shift in the infertility story line?

This season we have seen and been confirmed two recent Island deaths: Jacob and Sayid. Ben stabbed Jacob, and his body was burned in the statue fire pit. Ghost Jacob told Hurley had he had been killed. Sayid was drowned in the temple spring. He laid dead in the temple for hours. Jack and Miles confirmed his death.

Shortly thereafter, we have seen two new children pop out of no where. There was the young blond boy who crossed paths with Flocke in the jungle. Flocke was confused when Sawyer said he could see him, too. Then there was the young dark haired boy standing next to Cindy at the temple. Cindy had her arms around Emma and Zach in a protective stance. It is unclear whether new child is real or a ghost image.

What?! When Flocke confronted the blond boy in the jungle, the boy reminded Flocke of the Rules. Only certain people can "see" ghosts (and even those who can don't share the same traits). So the betting dollars are on the fact that ghost boy knows MIB/Flocke. Some have speculated that this is young Jacob.

The new child in the temple before the massacre looks a lot like . . . Sayid. Not exact, but close enough to make a connection. It would dovetail into the notion that once an island person dies, his (ba) "personality" incarnates into a zombie-like form (where Sayid is now) while his (ka) "human spirit" incarnates back to its innocent form, that of a young child. It balances: dark and light. It even works for current Jacob, as the adult representation is fine with killing people while the young representation was against killing Sawyer.

But that would beg the question: with so many fatalities on the island, there should be hundreds of children running around. Well, yes and no. The reincarnated souls (ka) may only be visible to their (ba) brethren. It is the mirror image of the phrase "children are to be seen and not heard." In the jungle, they are heard and not seen. And this could explain another vexing question from early in the show time table. They are the Other Others, the band of children who terrorized the Tailies.

The island fertility problem occurred after the Purge (since Ethan was born on the island in the 1970s). And this could also be a reason for the fertility problems of Ben's people. As a result of the purge, the island had to adapt because nature (even in a supernatural form) always adapts. The island as an entity created its own mechanism for procreation: death. The island's new ghost "children" do not want human "siblings."

This sets up a Children of the Corn - Lord of the Flies type dynamic, above and beyond the perceived Jacob-MIB feud.

It also shows how the every island cycle ends the same. Adults die only to recreate themselves in the next cycle. And as themselves, they are bound to repeat history. It is just like Miles and Hurley playing tic-tac-toe: it always ends in a tie. Even if Jacob brings new X's and O's to the island, the game still plays out the same because of the island's ultimate rebirth (reboots) solution.