A LOST RANT

 ScreenRant listed the 10 worst “answers” of LOST:

10. The Whispers are Souls.

The whispers come from the souls of dead people who haven't "moved on" yet like Michael.
It was an answer that gave evidence to the early purgatory theorists, which the show runner continually deny.

9.  Desmond had Mind Powers because of Electromagnetism

Desmond’s powers were nonsense and caused "electromagnetism" stemming from the hatch implosion makes no sense because there were others near the Hatch who were not affected.

8.  The Sideways Timeline is Purgatory

 
The opening of Season 6 seemed to suggest that Juliet had split the timeline.
In one branch, the island remained and nothing changed. In the other branch, the island was destroyed and the events of LOST never occurred. But then we found out that it was not a branching timeline, but purgatory. It caused a lot of confusion — "they were dead the whole time!" — but even those who weren't confused were left bitterly disappointed and upset with the reveal. Even some tried to salvage the sideways branch as being some sort of “dream” state (before moving on?) but it all comes down to Bad Filler episodes.

 7.  Walt’s Special Powers

 
Walt plays an important role throughout the first season, and to some extent, the second season as well. It's very clear that he has some type of special connection with the island, and has some sort of mental powers. He also showed some sort of teleportation powers in Season 2, as he appears to Shannon right before she dies. But a growth spurt exiled Walt from the series and the disappointing answer for his mysterious powers was that he was "special.”

6.   Revived Locke was Actually the Man in Black

Locke dies midway through Season 5, but we were briefly led to believe that he was revived after returning to the island. Of course, Locke remained dead, and the Man in Black was simply using his corpse to have a corporeal form to split the Others from Jacob so he could try to escape the Island. Of course, a paralyzed Locke crash landing on the island can walk, run and hunt like an Outback warrior, but his remains stay dead without resurrection even though Jack’s dad wanders around it at will?

5.  The Confusing Numbers

The numbers were another major mystery, and they were a part of LOST from the very beginning. In the end, we found out that the numbers correlated to Jacob's numbering system for the candidates to replace him. Why would an island god need to be replaced by a mortal?  As if that wasn't lame enough, it also doesn't answer anything else: Why were they broadcasting from the tower? Why do they bring people bad luck? Why are they seemingly cursed? Why do they constantly recur both on and off the island?

4.  The Smoke Monster’s origins

There were countless theories regarding the Smoke Monster, and it remained one of the most prevalent questions throughout all six years of the show. And then we found out it was just the result of some magical reaction after Jacob’s brother (the Man in Black) fell in the magical glowing light cave.


3. Jacob and The Man in Black

For that matter, Jacob and the Man in Black  remain extremely divisive and controversial figures. "Jacob" was mentioned as far back as Season 3, and while there are various "hints" of their existence throughout the first couple seasons,  most people found their existence a total blindside that ruined the show. The show pivoted abruptly to a supernatural fantasy show with no reason. All the mysteries, questions and Easter eggs were washed away by two god-boys playing with humans (spirits) as pawns. There origin story episode was very good but it should have been shown early in Season 1 if that is the true mythology of the show’s creators (which most people believe was not - - - because they wrote themselves into too many dead ends to rationally explain.)

2.  Magic Island

Perhaps the biggest question of all contained the most disappointing answer of all. "What is the island?" It's a question that permeated LOST throughout all six seasons, as it was clearly evident that it wasn't just a regular island. There were scientific facts thrown at us to analyze, research and theorize. From an alien ship, to a parallel universe time portal to a secret military base, there were viable alternatives to the explanation that the island was just “magical.”  

1.  The Magic Light

But why was the island magical? The explanation was that the island containing some sort of “magical light” that does magical things and keeps evil at bay from doing what exactly? What is the magic light exactly? Was the magic light the cause for all the crazy island stuff?  Locke's sudden ability to walk?  Smoke Monster's origins?  The ability for the island to literally move through space and time?. Electromagnetic properties of the island? The ability to disappear? Magic as being the answer to all the unanswered questions is a cop-out of epic proportions.

LOST COMMUNITY IN GAME FORM

I read a recent WIRED article in regard to a new "video clip" game.

In the game,  Her Story,  you are playing a character who’s obsessively poring over old documents on a computer screen finding clues to a mystery.

The LOST component is that the game won’t spell out its whole mystery to you with some big reveal at the end. It is up to you to keep everything in your head, or in your notes. When you find videos, you can bookmark them, but all you’ll have is a frustratingly large pile of unorganized bookmarks unless you meticulously grapple with the purposefully abstruse interface to organize them. And even then it won’t necessarily be clear. You’ll have clips you haven’t found, you’ll have clips you swear you saw but you forget how to call them up again. There is an ending, but it’s mostly up to you to decide that you’re satisfied.

The writer states that there is two phases to playing Her Story. "The first is sitting in front of the game’s virtual computer. The second is sitting in front of your real computer, going and finding some forum on which people are discussing all of the details and arguing over theories, to see what you missed or to at least confirm your suspicions, searching for more and more scraps of information that others might have left behind. In short, you end up doing exactly what you did when you played Her Story, but now the game’s gone."

The idea that one needs to find answers and trade theories in a game forum is exactly like the LOST communities during the show's run.

WHAT MYSTERY ARE YOU?

Buzzfeed has created an major business model on goofy quizzes which yield no significant, tangible results except for sharing results in social media circles.

By checking off some random photo choices, a participant gets spit out a result.

The answers included:

"What are these rules of which you speak, Charles Widmore?"
"Michael Abbadon, who are you?"
"What the fuq did that bomb do?"
 "WTF is the island?"
"Why are pregnant women dying?"
"What's up with the statue?"

NEW QUESTION

There is a new gnawing question that just popped into my head. It is like "Who is Buried in Grant's Tomb?"

Who is buried in the Temple?

It is a major question because under Egyptian death rituals, the Pharaohs built temples as part of a complex burial mythology. The island temple was filled with hieroglyphs, many with passages from the Book of the Dead, an ancient text on how a soul can manage the journey through the underworld to paradise.

Since the temple was built on the island with Egyptian mythology and construction, one must assume that an Egyptian demi-god had it built in his honor. In the tradition of the culture, the temple would have been built in the king's life time, and his priests would manage the ceremonies when the king died so that he would be guaranteed passage to the stars. The priests would break a part the body, organs into separate vessels, to be reunited in the after life. There would be offerings of gold, food, beer, servants and weapons that the king could use during his journey through the underworld as they believed that the soul took a human form in its path through the after life.

After death, the priests and their followers would be charged with maintaining the temple and praying for the soul of their departed leader. But over a long period of time, one could imagine that their ranks would thin and their time on the island would die out.

Egyptian culture was the first civilization. It predates the empires of Greece and Rome. As such, parts of it remain in today's current societal foundations. As such, since it goes back thousands of years, the temple on the island could be that of a "lost" Pharaoh. Some scholars believe that the ancient Egyptians did possess the engineering knowledge to create ocean faring boats to explore the seas. As such, a conquering king could have made it to the Pacific with a large crew of soldiers and servants. Once shipwrecked, he would have ordered a temple be built in order to fulfill his destiny.

In a series that loved its complex back stories (like Alpert's), this could have been a good one - - - and set a solid foundation for the LOST mythology. Given the detail in the temple sets, one would think that some one gave it a great deal of thought - - - a great deal of importance that was somehow itself lost in the story line as it went forward.

So who was buried in the temple? We will never know.

But what happened to the king? We can assume that his passage to the stars may have been interrupted, intercepted or thwarted by the mere fact that his temple was not in Egypt, and aligned to magical stars of Orion. If his temple was not properly "aligned with the stars," his soul (ba and ka) could never reunite in paradise, so in essence, his spirit would be trapped on the island.

A spirit trapped on the island seems to fit the profile of the smoke monster.  It wanted to leave the island to go "home," which could mean Egypt or even the after life paradise promised in the ancient texts. After thousands of years, the spirit would become angry, frustrated and desperate. The spirit would know how things should happen, and who should help him in this time (his priests and servants). But once they were gone, it had to wait for humans to shipwreck on the island in order to fashion a way out of its island limbo.

The spirit could have convinced many men or women that it was a god. It may have promised immortality and special favors such as power or wealth. Whether Crazy Mother was the final Egyptian follower of the Pharaoh or whether Alpert eyeshadow took on the markings of an ancient Egyptian priest, they seem resigned to their own fate to serve the island (spirit) in its quest to find a loophole in trap. Desperate, the spirit recruits more and more priests to his service, such as Jacob to find humans with the ability to cross time and space (realms) or Dogen to revitalize the reincarnation rituals inside the temple pool. Everything done on the island by modern man had the tangential goal of helping bridge the present with the after life.

The hieroglyphs in the frozen donkey wheel chamber indicated the words "travel" or "open Earth" gates. This is a possible portal to the after life which needed a human being (and its life force) to operate.  The smoke monster became frustrated with the humans who came to the island, as they turned corrupt and failed in their mission to worship him or help him escape Earth. The guardian of the island must be considered the High Priest of the Temple, who has the special knowledge of the ages, i.e. the after life. If one can control the power of life and death, that person could control the universe. And that is probably the true corruption that frustrated the spirit the most.

The real LOST story may be the island plight of the unknown, trapped Pharaoh spirit. For the most important and revealing quote in the show was from MIB to Jacob:

“They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.”
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

REALLY LOST

One of the nagging small points was the myth that the island was hard to find.

Ben made numerous trips off the island and returned without a problem.
Ethan and Alpert recruited  Juliet and returned with her without issue.
So did Mr. Friendly from NYC with Michael.

So the island was never really lost.

But you remember, the island time-space skipped after Ben turned the frozen donkey wheel. That is why the island was lost; it moved. Except that Ben had turned the FDW wheel before, and landed in North Africa and stayed at the same hotel. And in those earlier time jumps, he returned to the island without the help of the Lamp Post station or Eloise.

So there is a major inconsistency in the story lines.

It was a plot convenience to add tension by making the island "vanish," but it runs contrary to pre-existing facts about the island and how it worked.

But then, the answer must lie with Jacob. He was the "only" person who could allow individuals onto his island. That would mean that Jacob would micromanage all the comings and goings of the Dharma Group, the Others, and the 815 survivors. But Jacob really was not shown as a "hands on" guy. In fact, he delegated any supervision of the island inhabitants to Alpert. Jacob may have allowed people onto the island, but gave them the free will to make their own choices to see if corruption would lead to their demise.

So if the island was never truly lost or hidden, what was the point of the O6 return?

Filler.

We were shown more of the O6 mainland stories than the three years in 1970s Dharmaville.
It is probably because the writers had run out of island stories or were bored with re-running the Horace vs. Others theme.

It also gets to an odd clue that the smoke monster as Christian told Locke when he turned the FDW. Locke had to die in order to return his friends to the island. Locke could not get his friends to voluntarily return. Eloise could not find the island location. But when Locke was killed, Eloise found the island and Ben with Jack reunited the O6 to return on Ajira 316. If there was a cosmic puzzle box to unlock the location, Locke's death was the key to open it. It is a sinister conclusion that a man must die in order for the island to be re-located. What a demanding toll for those travelers, who never realized what, if anything or anybody, was left on the island. It is these questions that show that it was not the island that was lost, but the continuity and forethought in the scripts.

TIME

One of the gnawing questions that remain in the LOST mythology is the concept of Time.

It is hard to understand how the writers viewed the concept of Time other than a convenient Deux Machina plot twist.

 We were almost in a real time mode for the first four seasons. We saw the daily struggles of the main characters on the island. Time was a linear constant. Events followed a cause and effect pattern. Time seemed to pass normally.

Then the unexplained time and space shifts. The island disappears and the O6 survivors make it back to the mainland in late 2004 or early 2005. However, only a selected few of the island characters are time skipped to 1974 to live with Dharma for three years, while the ones left behind, especially Claire, have to fend for themselves on the island during that time period. We know Claire goes crazy in her fight against the Others. We know Sawyer becomes the new sheriff in the barracks past, and meets a young Ben before he is corrupted.

The O6 live for three years off the island. Then in 2007, they return to the island when the Ajira plane goes through the same island net. Again, for some unexplained reason, several of the passengers get time warped to 1977 Dharma while the rest crash land on the Hydra Island in 2007.  However, is another side time realm, the ghosts of the characters created the sideways world living their lives as if it was 2004. And once the 1977 crew reunites with the 2007 island time line after the Incident, we get back to about 14 consecutive days of island events to the conclusion.

Besides the criticism that the whole time shift to the 1970s was irrelevant to the characters survival story, the 7 days that are the 2004 sideways event time line is still different than the 14 days island time line after the time shifters reunion.

Since the sideways world was an after life place for the dead, if it was created in 2004 at or about the plane crash time, why did it only move along for a week when the characters were living at least three years (1,095 days)? And since the sideways world moved along on a daily basis (we saw the events unfold in a normal order), does that really mean that the sideways world was actually created in late 2007, one week after the 1977 folks returned to the island?

So what happened on Day 7 in 2007 on the island to create the sideways world?

The main episode was called "Sundown." In it, the following events occurred:

• Sayid barges into Dogen's chamber, demanding answers. Dogen tells him that he believes him to be evil, and the discussion escalates into a fight, after which Dogen tells Sayid to leave the Temple and never come back. 
•  
• As Sayid is preparing to leave, Claire enters the Temple at the behest of the Man in Black, and tells Dogen to come out and speak with him. Dogen refuses, and sends Sayid instead, giving him and dagger and telling him to kill the Man in Black.
•  
• Sayid leaves the Temple to meet the Man in Black, and on his way encounters Kate, who intending to return to the Temple and proceeds to do so. Upon encountering the Man in Black, Sayid stabs him with the knife given to him by Dogen to no effect. After this the two talk, and the Man in Black tells him that he can resurrect Nadia and to return to the Temple and tell everyone inside that if they do not leave by sundown, they will be killed. 
•  
• Upon returning to the Temple, Kate learns from Miles that Claire is there, and finds her, having been captured by the Others, in a hole inside the Temple. She tells him about Aaron and the fact that she raised him, and says she is here to save her. Claire responds that she is "not the one who needs saving." 
•  
• Sayid returns to the Temple and delivers this message, resulting in many Others leaving the Temple, including Cindy and the children. He then goes to the spring inside the Temple, where he meets Dogen. Dogen reveals to him that in his past life off the island, he was driving drunk with his son in the car and crashed. While he was in the hospital, Jacob came to him and said he would save his son's life if he came to the island. After he tells Sayid this, Sayid throws him into the spring and holds him under, drowning him. Lennon then walks in and is killed by Sayid with the knife given to him by Dogen. 
•  
• Immediately after Dogen's death, the Monster enters the Temple and begins killing everyone in sight. Just as he arrives, Ilana, Ben, Sun and Frank arrive at the Temple as well. The group sans Ben, who has went to find Sayid, meets up with Miles and escapes the Temple through a hidden passageway. 
•  
• Ben finds Sayid sitting over the bodies of Dogen and Lennon, and Sayid refuses to come with him. Meanwhile, Kate finds Claire, and together the two of them, along with Sayid, exit the temple to meet the Man in Black, along with the Others who left the Temple before Sundown. Then, led by the Main in Black, the group leaves the Temple.

• Escaping the Temple, Ben encounters Ilana, Frank, Sun and Miles some distance outside. Miles communicates with Jacob's spirit via his ashes, which Ilana took from the statue, and learns that Ben killed Jacob. After this they leave, heading for the beach camp. 

 The Temple showdown was the main action during this time period. And the smoke monster came through after Jacob's death to wipe out all of the non-followers of MIB. Was Jacob's death or the smoke monster's ransacking of the Temple the catalyst that created the sideways world? There is a problem with that theory because at the time, Desmond and Penny were not on the island. They were living their own life with their son, Charlie. Yet, Desmond was a major player in the sideways world (without Penny or his son).

We also get a window into Jacob's capture of Dogen's soul. It seems that Dogen was placed on the island as punishment for nearly killing his son in an auto accident. It seems like Dogen made a parental bargain with the devil - - - his life for that of his son's.  So this adds a clue and a question of whether the island time was actually real, or in a different dimension like the sideways world.

The various time events do not synch up in any logical fashion.

Time, it appears, was merely used as a plot device to throw new dangers at characters or to misdirect or confuse the viewers who were seeking answers to the big questions.

AWAKENING

There was a great emphasis on the main characters "awakening" in the sideways world - - - to remember the "importance" of their island time together - - - in order to "move on" in the after life.

The term "awaken" refers to a process which most fans do not acknowledge as a premise for the show.

To "awake" means to stop sleeping; wake from sleep; or to cause (someone) to wake from sleep. It could also mean to regain consciousness or to become aware of a realization. It can also be to become active again, such as "there were echoes and scents that awoke some memory in me."

However, the adjective of awake means not asleep, i.e.  the noise might keep you awake at night.

So what did this mean in the context of LOST?

The most obvious would be that the characters were in a dream state; that they were not awake. If we put that into the situation of the island, that means all the characters and actions were part of a complex dream world. If it was a complex dream world, was it the dream of a single person or a collective network of separate dreamers interacting with each other.

If the latter is true, then how would the main characters be "together" in the dream world. There are a few possibilities:

First, all the characters are together in one place. For example, a medical hospital undergoing various treatments. As they are hooked up to their medical equipment (including life support and computer EKG readings), their subconscious filters through the system and interacts with the other patients who are in a similar dream state.

Or, all the main characters are actually children in an orphanage. This would explain, in part, the deep rooted parental issues, betrayal and abandonment. It would also feed the persistent character trait of personal loneliness.  Children in an orphanage would naturally dream intense fantasies because they believe their current lives are dark and lonely.

Second, that the characters are in a coma state - - - either as a result of accidents or as part of grand scientific research experiment. The latter would tie into the Dharma experimentation in mind control and manipulation of unique energy systems. The human brain is the most complex energy system in the planet; and one which most mainstream science still does not fully understand. By containing the brains of diverse individuals in a deep control group (such as in a coma state), the researchers could feed their minds with various scenarios to see how they react. For example, inject the terror of a mysterious smoke monster into their minds to see how they would process that information in their patient's dreams.

Third, that the characters were actually "awake" but in a virtual reality that was the island. This could also be an experiment on how the brain works in regard to virtual soldier technology. We know that the defense department and government agencies have used virtual reality systems to train soldiers for combat missions. This would be a leap forward in technology, almost Avatar like, dealing with missions in real time. Perhaps in the future, as referenced in an old Star Trek episode, wars would be fought by soldiers in a virtual reality setting, to avoid the human pain and suffering of real warfare.

But if the characters were participants in this virtual combat world, why would they not "remember" it. If the technology was sufficient to implant the game program into their minds, it probably would have been just as easy as to erase or block those memories once the characters were no longer needed in the experiment.

So the concept of awakening in the series had to mean that the characters woke up or remembered something critical in their past (i.e. the island). After losing their conscious to a virtual dream world called the island, the characters were put back into normal situations to live normal lives as shown in the sideways world. Now this would work perfectly as a reasonable explanation of the entire series except for one critical plot detail. In the sideways world, everyone was dead.

This gets us back to the last definition of the word: to become aware of a realization.

I have thought for a long time that knowledge is power. If one knew what was going on at any moment in time, they could control their own destiny. Early on, I thought that Rose became fully aware of what the island really was because the pain of her incurable cancer was gone after the plane crash. Rose became aware on the beach that she had died in the plane crash. That is why she thought everything would be alright; that she would meet up with her husband soon.

This is also why Rose and Bernard later broke away from the survivors and their dramas with the island inhabitants. They knew that what they were up to was not "real." Rose and Bernard wanted to keep to themselves so they could enjoy the "extended time" they were granted, together.

It would also explain why we did not see Rose and Bernard "awaken" in the sideways world. They did not have to awaken. They already knew of their deaths while on the island.  It would seem that all the LOST souls had to awaken by themselves - - - and once each individual came to the realization that they were actually dead, could their souls move on in the after life (as depicted at the ending of the sideways church scenes).

Everything up to that point was the individual's subconscious not wanting to let go with "life." It was fueled by the regrets of the characters; the things they never experienced in their life (such as Hurley finding a true love in Libby). Somehow, some one gave these lost souls the opportunity to live a second life on the island in order to experience those past events and maybe soothe their regrets.

If that is the case, then Jacob would be more like Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life than the Devil. He brought the people to the island. And the island gave them a second chance to find trust, love, friendship and a sense of purpose. It gave those lost souls a second chance before final judgment.

RANDOM QUESTIONS

I sat down at a blank computer screen and began to type LOST questions as they came to mind.

The results:

Who were the Others?
Maybe candidates, but not all listed in lighthouse.
Who was Widmore? An Other
Who was Eloise? An Other.
Who was Ben? Son of a  Dharma janitor.
What was Dharma? A research organization.
Why was Dharma allowed on the island? Unknown.
Who was Jacob? Island guardian
What is an island guardian? Unknown.
What does he protect? the light source.
What is the light source? It is life, death and rebirth.
What is it made of? Unknown.
How does the light source work? Unknown
What is the smoke monster? Unknown
How is the smoke monster used? as a security system
Why does the smoke monster attack people? Unknown
Is the smoke monster controlled by someone? Unknown
Who is Desmond? a lost sailor
Why was he chosen? Unknown
Why did Desmond have to push buttons every 108 minutes? Unknown
How did Desmond stop the counter? he used the fail safe key.
What did the fail safe key do? Explode then implode the station.
How did Desmond survive the explosion? Unknown.
Why was Desmond found wandering the jungle naked? Unknown
What was the virus? Unknown
What were its symptoms? Unknown, but may attack pregnant women.
Why did pregnant women die on the island? Unknown.
Who built the Temple? Unknown
What was the Temple used for? Worship, presumably to Jacob.
What was special about the temple waters? Unknown, but brought Sayid back from the dead.
Why did Sayid come back from the dead but other people did not? Unknown
Why did the smoke monster need dead Locke’s body? Unknown
How did time travel work on the island? Unknown
What was the FDW connected to? Unknown
Why did people who turned the FDW turn up in Tunisia? Unknown.
How did the people create a sideways purgatory? Unknown
When did the people create a sideways purgatory? Unknown
Why did people live complex lives in the sideways purgatory? Unknown
What was the island? Unknown
How did it move through time and space? Unknown
What was the purpose of the island? Unknown.
Who built or created the island? Unknown
How did Alpert become immortal? Jacob gave him a gift.
How did Jacob give Alpert immortality? Unknown.
If Jacob was immortal, how did he die? Stabbed by Ben, burned by Flocke.
If Flocke was the smoke monster, how did he die? Shot by Kate, kicked off cliff by Jack.
If Jacob and Flocke were immortal beings, did they really die? Unknown.
Why was Aaron born twice? Unknown
What came first: the island or sideways world? Unknown, but most assume the island world.
Who was the man (or woman) behind the curtain? Unknown, but some suspect Jacob or Eloise.
Why did the island heal some people and let other people die? Unknown.

NO CLEAR ANSWERS

No matter how much we analyze, brood, think, speculate or brain numb the information and story lines of LOST, there are several major questions that remain murky, unanswered, debatable to unfathomable. No one really knows the intent of leaving mysteries unanswered in a long running series for whom the fan base spent their waking hours trying to come up with the answers.

The main questions (in no particular order) that remain:

1. WHAT WAS THE ISLAND?

Was it actually a Pacific Island on Earth? Was it place in a different dimension, like a spiritual realm? Was it a spacecraft since it could allegedly move in time and space? Was it the figment of some one's imagination?

2. WHAT WAS THE LIGHT SOURCE?

We were told that it was the source of life, death and rebirth. Was it a spirit? Was it a vague Star Wars type reference to the force that Jedi could manipulate in nature? Was it intelligent? If the light source was the power of life and death, then why did it need a human or spiritual protector? And if so, why did Jacob allow so many civilizations and people over the thousands of years to come to the island with the intent of exploiting its special properties? (The Romans, Egyptians, the U.S. Military, the Dharma Initiative). And did the guardians such as CrazyMom use the light use to destroy people? And how did she set the rules that would bind Jacob and his brother for centuries? Is the light the power to be a demi-god and set one's own rules?

3. WAS THE LOST STORY THE STORY OF JACK?

This is a hard one. We know that Jack was the first character to appear in the show by opening his eye and the last to close his after being the last one to awaken in the sideways church. One could say the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The last major character introduction was Flocke (MIB) so was he what the LOST story was really about?

4. WHY WAS WALT SPECIAL?

We discussed Walt's character in a previous post. But this question remains one of the top give gnawing issues on most fan blog lists. Was Walt psychic? Telekinetic? Alien-hybrid? And if Walt was so special, why did Ben let him leave the island?

5. WHY DID KATE WIND UP WITH JACK?

There were some hue and cry after the finale on this point. In the off-island O6 story arc, Jack had his time with Kate and they broke a part. They were incapable, at odds on the island and off the island. Kate was not part of Jack's fantasy sideways world. Jack was not part of Kate's fantasy sideways world. If Kate truly loved Jack, she would have stayed with him on the island instead of getting on the Ajira plane. Yes, she was fulfilling her mission to get Claire back to Aaron, but once Claire was on the plane, Kate could have gotten off. But she chose to run away, again. In the sideways world, Jack's love was actually Juliet - - - which is an odd choice, too, considering she was once his captor. But it also was not Sarah, the one woman in his life that he pined over. Then, why Kate?

6. WHAT WAS THE SICKNESS?

There was a specific and dangerous element of the story that we were warned about: the sickness. It took Rousseau's crew. It was going to take Claire and her baby. It could have injured Sun and her baby. How can an island with magical healing powers allow a deadly disease to destroy human beings? But again, the sickness should have infected everyone - - - since only a few got shots, but none of the 815ers came down with the sickness (except Sayid or Claire, if you believe Dogen that the "sickness" was a metaphor for evil or the darkness.)

7. WHY DID SOME PEOPLE DIE AND OTHER PEOPLE LIVE?

The island as an entity had no consistency in "saving" one injured person over another. Rose was cured of cancer, but Ben developed a spinal tumor. Locke was cured of his spinal paralysis, but Boone could not be saved from his fall. Patchy got shot and killed numerous times. Michael crashed a car and attempted suicide but lived. Some people like Artz got blown up by unstable dynamite while other people did not. The inconsistency or lack of life and death rules on the island continues to trouble many fans.

8. HOW AND WHEN DID THE FRIENDS CREATE THE SIDEWAYS WORLD?

This is a concept that is way, way, way out there with no explanation. It is based upon Christian's speech to Jack in the backroom of the church. If everyone died at different times and by different means, how did their "souls" create a vast, complex, physical universe in the after life? How could someone who was "alive" create their existence in the sideways world? How could someone who was dead freeze their after life journey in their own fantasy world? And when did this world start? By whom? The first person to die or the last person? And how would that person "know" to put in secondary bad guy villains into the sideways stories when they never met them?

9. WHAT WERE THE LESSON(S) OF LOST?

Normally, the end of a good book or movie there is a moral lesson or teaching about the characters. It is hard to pin point any final lesson or moral compass in The End. In fact, the entire six seasons of LOST had no moral consequences for any character's actions, good or evil. For example, Sayid's character does not change from his murderous, torturer ways. He is not punished on the island for his deeds; in some respects he is rewarded even after he is reborn as evil in the temple. And if the story is of Jack's happy reunion with his friends, what was the sacrifice he made to change the problems and ethical lapses in his past? There were no great moments of change. He gave up nothing to die on the island because the dangers of rescue or leaving were abated before Jack collapsed in the bamboo clearing. Was the lesson that friendship is the most important thing in one's life? But that is a weak and simple view - - - since some of the characters in the church never truly got along during their lives.

10. WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THE TIME TRAVEL & MENTAL SKIPS?

LOST presented us with both metaphysics and quantum theories to unravel. How could the island move in time and space? How could only certain characters leap to 1974? How did only Desmond's mind flash to alleged future events? And how could characters actions change the fate of the future? There was so much gibberish on the basis of time travel but there was no concrete answer to the clues. So how did Minkowski die without a "constant" when in fact everyone knows of a person in their past and present to latch onto (a sibling, friend, colleague, etc.) Were these plot points merely unbelievable filler? TPTB created these story paradoxes then left them to hang to move on to the next cliffhanger or plot twist.

There are many other side questions like if Jacob was the only one who could bring people to the island, how could Ben leave the island freely to recruit new members such as Juliet? And why did pregnant women die on the island? And why did Alpert scold the Others about Ben's focus on Dharma stations and science? Why was it so difficult to "return" to the island when Ben and Dharma had regular submarine trips to the mainland? Why did the food drops continue when the Dharma people were mass murdered by Ben? And how could food drops magically appear immediately after a lock-down event if the island was thousands of miles off Portland?

Every person who watched the series has their own burning questions about the show, its plot lines, its character choices, and how the series ended.

LOST: THE NEGATIVES

Just after LOST ended, the negatives took center stage for those viewers who did not like the finale.

In a global retrospect, what were the big negatives when the show concluded?

1. Some viewers saw a gradual decline in the series as a whole (reflected in the decline in ratings from Season 2 through Season 6). Many viewers thought the first season was what the entire show should be about: the characters' psyches and intelligently developing character-to-character relationships but character-to-island (or setting) relationships. A real negative was that the show regressed from character survival relationships to one about a nebulous power struggle then less about the philosophical and mystical aspects of the characters and the island. In the last seasons, the show relied heavily on plot twists and action, rather than complete development of the subtle mystery and intrigue of the first season.

2. For a show that layered character development and mystery, the finale left more questions than answers. Some viewers were disturbed by the sideways finish as being the Big Reveal. The problem in many fans' minds was that the final 10 minutes and the resolution of the Sideways World ignored all the previous aspects of Lost mythology: the island, Dharma, the smoke monster, the temple, the Others, etc.

3. The final season forced upon the viewers an alleged epic battle between good and evil. However, the Jacob and MIB story line settled nothing. But The End preached only that the individual journey mattered;  there was no resolution of struggle between humanity's light and dark sides, as represented by Jacob and (MIB) in any of the characters in the church. In fact, a moral compass through the afterlife appears to be missing even though the religious overtones were present. Many viewers thought the rush up in Season 6 for an epic final battle was a lost opportunity. It was forced. It did not make any sense to kill an immortal smoke monster in order to awaken in an afterlife dream.

4. Who was special and why? Even in The End, Desmond was called special, but it was Charlie who awoke him. Walt was special, but he was written out of the series due to a natural growth spurt. Locke was special, but he was merely a corpse in the island plot lines. Many viewers thought that all the trials, moments, mysteries and "special' properties of the Island were totally disregarded in the conclusion in the sideways world. It really made little sense of that the most important part of their lives (the Island) did not have any impact in their own fantasy purgatory in the sideways world.

5. How children were treated in the series. So, the investment in Jack's relationship with his son David in the sideways world was nothing; David did not exist. Another problem is the Aaron and Ji Yeon issues; how can one be "born" in the afterlife after being allegedly born in real time on the island?

6. Many fans could not grapple with the increasing factual errors on legal and medical issues as the series wound down. The continuity errors within LOST's own past story lines was bothersome to those who thought that the writers had everything planned out in great detail to make such gross errors. In response to these viewer complaints, TPTB said that community show boards were "toxic" and the show was "just television."

7. There was a sense that the wild ride of the twists, turns and mysteries of the island turned out to be a long, useless con job. In some respects, an emotional ending may be fine for some people who liked the characters as TV friends; but for many the emotional ending was an 180 degree contrivance to avoid community debate on whether the presented answers to the shows deep questions were satisfactory or not. It was a cop out not to address the important matters the show itself presented for weekly to yearly debate.

8. Why did some people wind up in the church, while other characters did not? The excuse, "they were not ready" was meaningless when it was explained that time did not matter in the sideways world. And the open ended white wash of light was considered by some to white wash the story of the characters in the church - - - where were they really going? Were they redeemed or did they fail? And how were their short island relationships "the most important" of their lives? Many viewers thought the Sayid-Shannon reunion a farce compared to the endless pining for Nadia during the series. And where was Helen for Locke? And Boone was also left with no one (no parent? no friend?) So how can one really say everyone got what they wanted in the end?

9. Viewers also thought that the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards and time leaps were editing tricks to confuse the viewer so as to hide the inherent plot pitfalls. And once the writers squeezed all the juice out of the flashback device, they inserted the epic short story tangent of Richard's back story and Jacob & MIB. Those stories did nothing to add or explain the resolution of the series. And that was a major criticism of the final season: too much filler and not enough meat on the story bone.

10. As Charlie said in the pilot, what is The Island?  The first and foremost character in the series continues to be an enigma to this day.

REBOOT FINAL 4 PART THREE

What They Died For was the last episode before the finale. Viewers thought that the title referred to the final season theme of characters meeting their demise in vague quests to stop MIB from leaving the island; getting blown up by dynamite, mortar rockets, Smokey's wrath, etc. The survivors kept asking to make those deaths, those "sacrifices" to have some meaning. But we all thought the title meant recent episode fatalities and not the big picture.

As another recap of what the LOST community was saying after this second to last episode, I culled the comment boards I viewed back at the original airing to get a sense of what fans were thinking:

WHAT THEY DIED FOR


1. The Island's Protector

The pitch has been that the character driven series would wind up in heroic fashion, but I found no compassion or heroic qualities in the characters last night. The four around Jacob's camp fire reminded me of four kids in the principal's office, and Jack standing up to take the blame for something he does not know about. Who in their right mind would take an island guardian job, with the duty to kill a monster, without any instructions or plan?

If only the protector can find the light, why does it need a protector????????????Guesses included that fact that only the protector can find (and lead the chosen) to the actual light cave. But MIB found a "loophole" and started digging. He was able to find the source of the light underground. MIBs people, Dharma and others have tried to find the light in the exact same way. The failures to actually get to the light by so many is clearly a result of the protector's actions directly or indirectly.

With Jack now the new guardian didn't MIB just run out of options? I mean, he was trying to kill all of the candidates after spending centuries finding a loophole to kill Jacob specifically to keep them from becoming the next guardian. Isn't it completely back to the drawing board for MIB? 

Jacob tells Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley that they're all like him -- "all alone, all looking for something you couldn't find out there" --  loneliness has been a sneaky theme lurking about the entire series. Almost all of the major characters were dreadfully lonely in their pre-island lives, and they're brought to the island by a guy who's been alone for centuries. And as part of this "kidnapping" touch by Jacob, the 815 characters made new friends in their island adventures.

2. The Sideways Story Arc

I never liked the sideways story arc, but I think the writers will use it in this bold fashion: sideways Jack will intentionally screw up Locke's surgery, killing him on the table (just like his father did to a patient) which would then "kill" Flocke on the island world. I have no explanation how or why that would happen, but I think that is the purpose.

While Desmond is my favorite character, his actions in the alt timeline seem like they could be interpreted as a 'failsafe' for the writers, running around and tying up loose ends whatever they may be. Many viewers thought that the sideways story was feeling like the trap door for the show's creators to get out of answering the island mysteries in some alternative, less fulfilling fashion.

A few thought the sideways world was mirroring the island stories too closely. Anyone else notice how Desmond is 'touching' everyone like Jacob did?

A few observed that the sideways arc was getting much too much traction. The episode reviews were so-so I mean by Lost standards. Whether the episode supports the idea that the writers had this planned all along or whether they were making it up as they went was still are tense debate.
There were too many things What They Died For that felt a little contrived. Kate's name being crossed off because she was a mom struck me as backtracking on the writer's part rather than anything planned. The Ben and Rousseau match, while some found it touching, was cheesy to some.

Then in an off-tangent discussion, who was Jack's ex in the sideways world? The "candidates" for that were quite varied.  Someone suggested Juliette. Did we not see sideways Juliette already? I thought we did but can't remember where or who she was connected with. Whoever it is it has to be someone of importance. Who else hasn't put in an appearance? Another remarked that Juliet is"too obvious,"  and she needs to have coffee.  Others suggested Sarah, Cindy, Nikki or even Kate. I even threw out Penny as a weird option. But most of us thought it did not matter.

One poster commented "For some reason the sideways story had the feel of The Usual Suspects movie. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

3. Who Needs to Die?

Many fans posted that they thought that EVERYONE left on the island will killed in the finale, except Cindy, Emma and Zach, who replace CrazyMom, Jacob and MIB.

But the biggest question was left unanswered by Jacob's talk to the remaining candidates. WHAT DID THEY DIE FOR? was never answered. It goes back to the beginning episodes, where we are stumbling around like the plane crash survivors - - - "where are we," and in the sense after this episode continued to be what is the big premise of the show?

4. The Open Questions

Each individual fan has his or her own list of burning, unanswered questions or plot points which were once deemed important clues but now seem gnawing after thoughts in the big picture.

The whole name on the wall thing bothered some. Jacob answered Kate's question as if he was the occupant of the ocean side cave. Why would he need TWO places to write down candidates' names (the cave and the lighthouse)? It makes no sense. In response, a theory would be that  "Jacob" does not really exist. Suppose, when Smokey was created, it immediately killed Jacob. That would leave Smokey totally "alone" on the island. He would have to re-create Jacob (ghost kids) in a schizophrenic way to have conversations, to interact with his lost humanity, to cope with its inherited memories and its loneliness. But that would not explain why people were brought to the island.

Many thought the "concert" was going to be the epicenter of the resolution of the story. Questions were asked about who are going to be present. Not sure how Jin and Sun will get there. Someone mentioned Charlie but isn't sideways Charlie dead? He didn't seem to have any interest in getting out of that car when he tried to kill himself and Des.

Some were bothered by the growing show reel of character death scenes. For example, Richard's end (if it was an end) may have seemed swift and out of left field, but I think it is telling in that he thought he was much more important than he actually was. He was saying how the monster just wanted Richard on his side. So much for that.

Ben did nothing "wrong" in this episode. His cooperation with Flocke seemed to be only a matter of survival. He didn't seem too convincing in his acceptance of Flocke's deal that he could have the island, and he killed Widmore at a very opportune moment, though Flocke claimed he had already heard what he wanted to know,  but Widmore had not finished speaking!



Why would Widmore fear for his daughter's life should MIB leave The Island if he had already stated that the world would end if he ever got off? That's either 'end of series sloppiness' or Widmore knew he was dead either way and was giving MIB a false lead.

One speculation was that  either Claire or Ben might kill Jack in the finale if MIB cannot "kill" the island guardian because of "the rules."

People questioned why now MIB wants to destroy The Island when at first he just wanted to leave it? What happened to just getting off of it? Did that plan change with Jack becoming the next guardian? Will he use Jack's friends against him? I think that's a likely scenario But Jack makes the rules now, why can't he just undo the 'mistake' Jacob made, declare MIB can go free, and remove his smokiness?


Jacob forgot to tell Jack to never go into the cave or what the cave is, other than it being the 'heart' of The Island.
- Given everything The Island has done, maybe it's better to kill it at this point? I mean, what good has it ever really done? Kill it and disperse the light so no one person could ever harness it again and problem solved, no?

A large call for the where are Rose, Bernard and Vincent, who have not seen seen in ages on the island. The greater question hanging in mid-air is what characters will be important in the end resolution and why.

Some fans felt anger and angst about their unanswered keys to the story plots.
"If the writers don't close the loop on the whole "Walt is special" drama from the beginning of the show I am going to be pissed."

Also, once the Oceanic 6 got back to real life, why were Ben and Sayid killing all those people to protect the six? Who was trying to harm them and why? Does this have anything to do with the visit Jacob paid Widmore after the freighter explosion?

Who built that statue that Jacob was living in?

People still thought the Numbers answer needed to be addressed. They never fully explained, the Numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42),  right? like how they where basically EVERYWHERE!! and even over that radio transmission and how they followed Hurley everywhere? "Where the hell did these numbers come from?"

Even if the numbers were candidate markers, why were some "living" candidates still alive but no longer candidates? Something not to many people are aware of but either BEN LINUS or his father Roger LINUS WERE CANDIDATES!!! If you look closely at Jacobs long list of candidates at the lighthouse LINUS is a name on that list and his number is 117! Other names on that list that we are familiar with are:
 20 - Rousseau
 32 - Rutherford (Boone or Shannon)
 51 - Austen
 58 - Burke (Juliet)
 101 - Faraday
104 - Lewis (Charlotte )
109 - Friendly
 117 - Linus
 124 - Dawson (Michael or Walt).

Then again, some viewers did not care about answers to tangential questions. Why is the supply drop a mystery? Kelvin Inman (and in theory Radzinski) were known to still be in the hatch after the purge. Dharma wasn't going to let them starve to death (especially since no one would be able to push the button if they did). Do we really need someone to come on screen and explain it?

Why/how Jacob took on corporeal form? Was it the ashes? Or, did he have that ability all along but chose to remain ethereal? And what are the island guardian's true powers?

In the sideways arc, the island is underwater. What is the significance of that screen shot?

Desmond tells Hurley Anna Lucia won't be participating in their island reunion because "she's not ready yet." Ready for what? Why are some characters ready and other characters not ready? And why does Desmond get to decide?

Who was  Crazy Mom protecting the light from? Humans who wanted more light, right? This would be before a smoke monster existed.

But if Jacob created the smoke monster, then the light now needs to be protected against the smoke monster?  So are humans no longer a threat to the light? If the smoke monster was never created by Jacob's childish tantrum, his job would be protect from humans only?

Can there be more than one smoke monster if more humans were to get into the light? Does any one of these smoke monsters getting back to the light end humanity? Or is it like, once a smoke monster is born, that's the only one you really gotta watch out for?

That being said...If the Losties kill Smokey, does that mean that everyone automatically shifts to the alternate timeline as their reality? Is there a way to ensure that no other humans will ever find the island in the future (sink it?) so that Jack's job as island protector is finished as quickly as it began and that he can live his wonderful alt life with his family? No Smokey...No island...No need to protect the island...Jack's energy can go to the alt timeline?

Wouldn't it be great if the show ends with Jacob alive and well in the alt timeline, which is now the real timeline; present when all the characters reunite?

5. How Things Would End

It was unanimous that no one knew how the show would end. Many just suspended their own personal likes, dislikes and opinions to let the story unfold on its own terms. Others decided that they once had hope things would be pulled together in a coherent and brilliant fashion by the writers. And more than a few housed doubts whether the ending will satisfy the diehard viewers. A few thought of horrible scenerios:

Example, instead of a plane crash, the sideways world is hit with an earthquake and the concert hall traps the characters:

Desmond = new Jacob

David = new Walt

ack = new Michael . . . "Daaaaaaaaviddd!!!"

Or, Jacks's bleeding neck cut/scratch was caused by Juliet's bullet from the outrigger shootout causing him to die in sideways world.

One fan posted that Eloise was helping Smokey. Smokey (as Christian) was the one who tells Locke to find Eloise Hawking because she'll know how to get back to the island. And she is the one who orchestrates the return of the Losties to the island which Smokey desperately wants so he can kill them all.

Another postulated the following:
My final "candidates" for the premise of the Island's mystery:
1) simulated reality
2) aliens
3) magic
The overall premise could actually be a combination of these points. Premise 1) would probably provide most degrees of freedom for the writers, since everything that happened on the Island could quite consistently be explained this way. Premise 2) would probably be some kind of alien space ship underneath the Island which uses an advanced energy source. In case the final answer is really just premise 3) without a more "scientific" explanation, I wish FMom and Jacob would at least have said "ABRACADABRA" at their wine/water scenes!

My final speculation for the ending regarding the time lines is that the Island timeline will cease to exist and the characters in the ALT-timeline become aware of their ALT life on the Island via sideways flashes. Maybe the existence of the ALT-timeline is Jack's way of "fixing" things in his role as Jacob's successor. I'm sure we will see a lot of reunions/couples and happy ends at the concert:
- Juliet is probably Jack's ex wife and she will finally meet Sawyer at the concert (they are in love since they "remember"...)
- Jack and Kate could also become a couple there
.  Charlie doesn't die in the ALT-timeline and he meets Claire
- I also bet on Faraday and Charlotte; Bernard and Rose; and  Desmond and Penny.


6. The Light at the End of the Tunnel



The overall mood in the Lost community was one of the sense of anticipation being palpable. With next week's finale,  fans have never before been faced with possible disappointment with almost certainty that many mysteries will remain unanswered which some fans will dislike. Lost was an individual experience incorporated into a community discussion. Some viewers would watch the conclusion with no preconceptions, hopes or expectations. Others would watch the finale with the view of a mind-blowing finale that no one saw coming to explain everything.


There would be more sacrifices, it seems.


With so many unanswered questions, and Season 6 piling on big mysteries like the Jacob-MIB and the sideways story line, people were apprehensive about the finale. There were too many open story lines to be completed in one final episode (even an extended one). The conclusion was that each person's list of questions would be answered, theories would be resolved and the show ending in a meaningful, compelling finish were going to be sacrificed for a "show biz" type ending.

REBOOT: EPISODES 117-121

POSTING NOTE: The G4 reruns of LOST have concluded in this final story arc. More analysis will come in the future as we ponder the immediate reaction to the finale.
LOST REBOOT 
Recap: Episodes 117-120/21 (Days ????- - ????)

On the beach Sayid explains to Jack that Widmore attacked their group with mortars and that Locke had saved Jack. He says that the rest of Flocke’s army have scattered into the jungle, so that it is now just Locke, Sayid, and Jack.  Flocke arrives and announces that Jack's friends have been seized by Widmore and that he now wants to rescue them. Jack asks why Widmore would capture them and Locke replies sarcastically that he would ask but he doesn't think Widmore will talk to him. He suggests they break them out, run for the plane and be off the Island before Widmore knows what is happening. Jack says that they are not his people and that he is not leaving the Island. Locke hopes Jack will change his mind but in the meantime he needs Jack to get his friends to trust him. Locke reinforces that Jack can trust him by pointing out that although he could kill Jack and his friends at any time without impediment, he hasn't and has instead saved Jack's life and now he wants to save Jack's friends too.

On their trek to the plane, Kate asks Jack whether he is coming with them now and Jack tells her that he will help them get on the plane but will not join them because he is "not meant to go".  Sayid arrives and says they need to go because Locke is waiting. Locke strides up to the plane, unfazed by Widmore's guards as they shoot at him. He breaks one guard's neck and shoots the other and takes the dead man's digital wristwatch. He goes into the plane and examines exposed wiring leading to a pack of C4 explosives. The survivors arrive and find the dead men. Locke emerges from the plane and admits that he killed them but that Widmore knew he would kill them otherwise he wouldn't have removed his "little fences."  He explains that Widmore wants them all together in a confined space so that he can kill them all, showing them the C4 he found. Locke says their new plan is to leave via the submarine because they can't be sure the plane does not have more booby traps. Hurley tries to remind everyone that Alpert said Flocke is not meant to leave the Island, but Sawyer cuts him off, pointing out that Alpert is not here. Sawyer then thanks Flocke for twice saving them and says that he was wrong about him. Locke says that the submarine will be heavily defended and that they will need everyone. Jack reiterates he will help, but he is not going to leave with them. As they leave, Claire apologizes to Flocke who says he understands. Sawyer whispers to Jack that he doesn't trust “Locke” one bit and asks Jack to make sure Flocke doesn't get on the sub.

Jack asks Jin for his pack to treat Kate's wound, only to find Locke has put the plane's C4 in his bag and rigged a bomb, using the watch he stole from the slain guard as a timer. The timer is counting down from 3:54. Jack realizes what is going on and tells them all that they have done exactly what Locke wanted.  Jack demands that they surface and tells Sawyer that Flocke intended all along to be left behind at the dock. Frank informs them that the captain says it will take five minutes to surface.
The timer nears 3:20. Sayid explains how to disarm the bomb but he has some doubt whether it will work. Sawyer is about to pull the wires but Jack stops him, saying that nothing is going to happen; the bomb won't detonate if they leave it alone. He explains that they have done exactly what Locke wanted: just as Locke had said of Widmore, "He wanted to get us all in the same place at the same time. A nice enclosed space where we had no hope of getting out of." He explains that Locke has been saying he can't leave the Island without them but what is really the case is that he can't leave the Island unless they are all dead. Jack surmises that Locke cannot kill them directly and is trying to get them to kill each other by pulling the wires from the C4.

Jack asks Sawyer why Flocke would use a timer and not just throw the bomb into the sub. He pleads that they will be okay, they just have to trust him. Sawyer says he's sorry and quickly pulls the wires out. The timer stops at 1:31 and nothing happens at first. Then the timer restarts and races down. Sayid says “Listen carefully. There is a well on the main island half a mile south from the camp we just left. Desmond’s inside it. Locke wants him dead which means you are going to need him, do you understand me?” Jack asks why Sayid is telling him this. Sayid hurriedly says "Because it's going to be you, Jack." He picks up the C4 and runs down the passageway. The bomb explodes in his hands, killing him.

Jack swims to the beach with Sawyer, who coughs up some water. Hurley and Kate stumble down the beach to meet them. Kate asks about Jin and Sun but Jack shakes his head. Hurley and Kate sob while Jack walks away to the sea and cries bitterly.

Flocke, still at the pier, tells Claire that the submarine has sunk. Claire is shocked that they are all dead but Flocke says that not all of them are dead. He takes his pack and rifle and Claire asks where he is going. He replies, "To finish what I started."

In a flashback of the Jacob origin story, a woman raises the black playing piece she is run through from behind by the Man in Black's daggar. With tears in his eyes the Man in Black addresses her as "Mother" and asks why she wouldn't let him leave. As she dies she says: "Because I love you... Thank you."

Jacob returns and sees what his brother has done and attacks him as he did as a thirteen year old. He drags his brother through the jungle. The Man in Black reminds him that Jacob cannot kill him. Jacob replies that he has no intention of killing him. He brings him to the glowing cave and throws him down the stream towards the mouth of the cave. The Man in Black hits his head on a rock and goes limp, then is sucked into the source. Moments later the Smoke Monster bursts from the cave and disappears into the jungle. Jacob washes himself at a stream and sees his brother's broken body draped over branches nearby. (The inference is that the Smoke Monster killed MIB).  He hugs him tearfully. Jacob carries his body back home and finds the two jewels and places them in a pouch. He lays Crazy Mother and the Man in Black's bodies side by side with the pouch at Mother's hand.
On the beach, Jack gives first aid to Kate’s shoulder wound. Kate is pale and emotional. As Jack stitches, she reflects on Ji Yeon, crying that Jin never met his own daughter. She and Jack concede bitterly that Flocke must be killed.  Kate leans on Sawyer's shoulder as a deep sadness consumes them all. At Jack's urging, they set off to find Desmond. Jack acknowledges that if Locke wants Desmond then "we are going to need him."

As they hike, a miserable Sawyer wonders why Flocke didn't just kill Desmond. Jack suggests maybe it was one of his 'rules'. Sawyer suggests that he himself was responsible for the deaths on the sub, because he attempted to defuse the bomb against Jack's advice. Jack insists that “Flocke” killed them. Just behind them, Hurley notices the young Jacob standing by an ancient hut. The boy suddenly appears in front of Hurley and demands Ilana’s ash pouch. As Hurley asks what he wants them for, the boy snatches them and runs off. Hurley chases him and comes across adult Jacob seated by a fire. Jacob tells Hurley that the ashes are in the fire and that when the fire goes out, he will not be seen again, adding "We are very close to the end."

As night falls, Hurley leads Kate, Sawyer and Jack to Jacob's fire. Jacob greets them by their first names. Hurley is surprised that they can all see Jacob. Kate asks Jacob whether he is the one who wrote the names on the wall, and whether it is their candidacy that ultimately led to their deaths. She also demands to know that Sun, Jin, and Sayid didn't die for nothing. Jacob says he will tell the group what they died for and why he chose them. He adds that by the time the fire is out one of them will have to take his place as protector of the Island.

Jacob explains that a very long time ago he made a mistake, and as a result there is a good chance that everyone is going to die. (This is an inference to killing his brother and/or unleashing the smoke monster).  He acknowledges that he is responsible for the current state of the Man in Black. The Monster has been trying to kill him and that when it succeeded, someone would have to replace him: that is why he brought them all to the Island. Challenged by Sawyer, Jacob explains that he didn't drag anyone out of a happy existence but that they were all flawed. He says that he chose them because they were all like him - all alone, all looking for something that they couldn't find. He says he chose them because they needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. (Misery loves company). Jacob tells Kate her name was crossed off because she became a mother, but that she is not disqualified. He explains that the task for the candidate is to protect the light at the center of the Island.

Jacob says that they must do what he couldn't do: kill “him.” Jack asks whether that is even possible and Jacob says that he hopes so because Flocke is certainly going to try to kill them. Jacob offers the remaining candidates a choice of who will take his place - Jack accepts, acknowledging that he is on the island for this very purpose. Jacob asks Jack to affirm this decision, and is pleased when he does.
Jacob takes Jack to the creek. As the others watch from a distance, Jacob tells Jack where to find the light at “the heart of the island,” explaining that while Jack has never seen the light before, he will be able to find it now that he has been chosen to protect it. Jacob asks Jack for his tin cup, which he fills with water, recites an incantation, and solemnly offers the cup to Jack. Before he drinks, Jack asks about the duration of the job he is about to accept. Jacob tells him he must do it "As long as you can." Jack drinks. Jacob embraces him and says “Now you are like me.”

At the Barracks, Smokey attacks Richard. Afterward, Ben shows Flocke where Widmore and Zoe hiding.  Smokey tells him to wait outside, but Ben says he wants to see this.

When he turns the light on in the hidden room, Ben says "Sorry Charles." Locke asks who Zoe is and as she starts to reply Widmore tells her not to talk or say anything. Flocke reacts by slashing Zoe's throat. He says that as Widmore told her not to talk to him that made her pointless. Flocke tells Widmore that to motivate him to tell him what he wants to know, the first thing he will do when he is off the Island is to kill Widmore’s daughter, Penny, the love of Desmond’s life. He gives his word that he won't kill her if Widmore talks to him. Widmore says he brought Desmond back because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism and that he was a measure of last resort. Widmore tells Flocke he won't say anything more in front of Ben. Flocke asks him to whisper in his ear. As he whispers Ben shoots Widmore dead with a pistol. Ben says "he doesn't get to save his daughter."

Flocke says that Ben never ceases to amaze him, but Widmore had already told him what he needed to know. Ben then asks whether there are some "other people to kill." Flocke gives a gloating look. Flocke tells Ben that he said Desmond was a fail safe; that if he killed the "beloved candidates" he was one final way for Jacob to be sure that he would never leave this place. Ben asks why Locke is happy that Desmond is still free. Flocke says that when he finds Desmond he will get him to do the one thing he could never do himself: "Destroy the Island."

Sawyer meets up with Jack, Kate and Hurley and tells them Flocke plans to destroy the island and how important it is to find Desmond before Flocke and Ben do. Jack tells him it doesn't matter who finds Desmond because they are all going to the same place anyway. Sawyer asks what happens then. Jack answers, "And then it ends."

Flocke's group and Jack's group meet. Kate reacts by snatching Sawyer's gun and shooting at Flocke, but to no effect. Flocke tells her “to save her bullets.” He walks up to Jack and says: "So it's you", adding that he's somewhat surprised that Jacob chose Jack, as he is sort of the obvious choice. Jack corrects him and says he wasn't chosen, but that he volunteered. Locke assumes Jack is going to try and stop him but Jack admits that he can't and will instead go with him. Flocke then thinks Jack doesn't understand what he plans to do, but Jack is clear that he certainly does, that he's going to the light, the place Jack has sworn to protect, where he thinks he's going to destroy the island. Jack says Flocke won't destroy the island. Instead, Jack will kill him, and how he plans to do that is a surprise.
As they hike towards the Source, Sawyer asks Jack how he is going to kill Flocke. Jack simply answers, "Desmond", but that he's not yet sure exactly how it's going to work. He's sure Jacob brought him back not as bait but as a weapon. When the group reaches the bamboo forest near the Source, Locke draws his knife and says it should just be him, Jack, and Desmond from here on.

Once at the cave of the Source, Locke ties a rope to a tree while Jack ties the other end around Desmond.  Desmond tells Jack that this - killing Locke and destroying the Island - doesn't matter because once he goes into the cave, he'll go to another place where they can be with the ones they love, where they never have to see the island again, and where a happier version of Jack exists. (Desmond is flashing to the after life purgatory of the sideways world, meaning he knows he is already dead on the island.)  After saying that maybe there's a way he could bring Jack there too, Jack says that he found there are no shortcuts or do-overs; that  “what ever happened, happened” and that all of this matters. The three men enter the cave.

Jack and Locke enter the cave and begin to lower Desmond into the brilliant abyss. The Man in Black remembers John Locke's memories of Jack and he, looking at Desmond down in a hole in the ground, lightheartedly commented on their bickering on whether or not to push the button. Jack cuts him short. "You're not John Locke; you disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you're nothing like him." Jack insists that John was right about almost everything, and wished he got to tell him this when he was still alive. Flocke says John wasn't right about anything and that when the Island drops into the ocean and Jack drops with it, then he will realize this. Jack suggests they just watch and see who turns out to be right, and the two look down the waterfall now that Desmond has reached the bottom.

He finds the Source, a glowing pool, filled by a small waterfall, with an elongated stone with ancient markings engraved on it at its center. He enters the water as electromagnetic energy emanates from the source. Desmond is clearly in pain, and his nose bleeds. Jack and Locke hear his screams. Desmond reaches the center stone and lifts it, like removing a giant stopper in the center of the pool. The stream from the waterfall stops, the electromagnetic force recedes, the light goes out, the pool dries up and there is a red hot glow emitting from the center. Desmond screams "No!" Flocke says to a very worried Jack: "It looks like you were wrong." Flocke says goodbye and leaves as earthquakes begin to wrack the Island.

Jack chases Flocke out of the cave in a fit of fury, punching him in the mouth and jumping on him when he falls. Flocke bleeds from the mouth. Jack sees the blood and says, "It looks like you were wrong too." Jack's hands move towards Locke's throat as they struggle. Flocke finds a rock and hits Jack over the head with it, and gets up and runs off as Jack becomes unconscious.

Flocke stands on the cliff above the cliff side cave, looking at Desmond’s boat anchored a short distance offshore. Before he can make it to the boat, Jack catches up to him. Flocke turns around and the two face each other for the final showdown. Locke draws his knife and they run at each other across the uneven ground.  Jack leaps at Locke and they fight as the storm rages and cliffs disintegrate.

Flocke drops his knife, but during the struggle he picks it up and inflicts a fatal wound under Jack's rib cage. As he tries to finish him off, Flocke tells Jack that "he died for nothing." Just then, Kate shoots him from behind; she "saved him a bullet." Jack struggles to his feet, but another quake shakes the Island and Flocke says Jack is "too late" just before the rumbling stops. Jack kicks him off the cliff to the rocks below, and the evil Man in Black, the Smoke Monster, is apparently dead.
Ben tells the group that Frank and the rest are leaving, and if they are going to catch up they had better get to the boat and sail to Hydra island quickly. Jack says that whatever Desmond turned off, he needs to turn it back on again. But he says that if people are going to leave they need to get on that plane.  Kate tells him that he doesn't need to do this, but Jack is adamant that he does. Jack wishes Sawyer good luck.

Ben passes Sawyer the walkie saying that if the Island is going down then he is going down with it. Hugo refuses to climb the rickety wooden ladders and tells Jack that he is with him. Kate and Jack share a tearful goodbye - they have a final kiss and declare their love for each other. The island continues to shake uncontrollably. Sawyer calls Frank, who tells them he is going to leave while there is still ground to leave on. Sawyer and Kate jump off the cliffs and into the sea. They swim out to the Elizabeth.

Hurley helps Jack as they return with Ben to the Source. Jack tells them he is going down alone and makes it clear that he knows he will not survive. Jack explains to an overwrought Hurley that this is what is supposed to happen. Jack tells Hugo that it is he who the Island needs, that his job was to fix the source but after that it should be Hugo. Jack tells Hugo that he believes in him. Hugo agrees, but only till Jack returns. Ben finds an Oceanic bottle and Jack fills it from a leftover pool of water from the previously active stream and gives it to Hurley. After Hurley drinks, Jack tells him, “ Now you are like me."

Jack finds Desmond and carries him back to the rope. Desmond wants to return the plug but Jack tells him he has done enough and he needs to go home to be with his wife and son. Desmond asks Jack what will happen to him. Jack says that he'll see him in another life, "Brother.”
Jack finds the cork and drops it into the Source. Jack lies exhausted in the empty pool but a trickle of water starts flowing and then the light starts to return. Hugo and Ben haul on the rope and find Desmond on the end of it. Below, Jack sobs with relief as he is engulfed in the light.

Ben and Hugo are with Desmond. Hugo takes in the idea that Jack has gone.  Ben comforts him by telling Hugo that he did his job. Ben tells a frightened Hugo that he can do his job as the island's new protector by doing what he does best: taking care of people. Hugo asks how he can do things like helping Desmond to go home when people can't leave the Island.  Ben says that that is how Jacob ran things and that maybe there is a better way. Hugo asks Ben for his help, saying he needs someone with experience. Ben says he would be honored.

Jack awakens in the creek outside of the light source cave.  Knowing that his life is ending, clutching his fatal wound and in obvious pain, he slowly finds his way back to the bamboo grove where he first arrived on the island after the 815 crash.  As he does, he passes by the white shoe, still hanging from the branch, and collapses to the ground in the same spot where he awoke after the crash of Flight 815.
He hears a dog barking and turns his head to see Vincent running toward him through the trees. As the dog licks his face and lies down beside him, The Ajira plane soars overhead, and he is overcome with joy and laughs.

In the sideways world, a reunion is held.

Jack tells Kate that this is where he was going to have his father's funeral. He asks Kate why she brought him here. She says "Because this is where you were going to have your father's funeral." She goes to leave and she says that they will be waiting for him, once he's ready. Jack asks, "Ready for what?" Kate tells him, "To leave."


Jack goes into the church via a back entrance. In a chapel filled with symbols of different religions, he finds Christian's coffin and touches it, awakening to more memories from the Island. He opens the coffin but it is empty. Jack hears a voice, and it is his father, standing in the room. Jack tells him he doesn't understand, because Christian died, and asks his father how he could be there. Christian simply asks, "How are you here?" Jack realizes that he himself has died too. They embrace tearfully and say they love each other. (Did the cork also repress the memories that needed to be awakened in the dead souls?)

Jack is confused, and skeptical that the man he is speaking with is even real. Christian reassures him that they are real, Jack's life was real, and the people in the church are real. Jack asks if everyone else is dead too, and Christian explains that "everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some before you, some long after you." When Jack asks why everyone is here now, Christian responds that "There is no now here", and that this is a place they all made together to find one another, because the most important part of Jack's life was the time he spent with these people, and that's why they are all here; no one lives life alone. He needed them, and they needed him; to remember, and to let go. Jack tells Christian that Kate said they were all leaving. Christian explains they aren't leaving; they're moving on. Jack asks where to, and his father tells him, "Let's go find out."

Jack enters the nave. He is welcomed by Locke, who kindly tells him, "We've been waiting for you." He then greets Desmond, Boone, Hurley, Sawyer and Kate. Joining them are Charlie, Claire, Aaron, Jin, Sun, Sayid, Shannon, Rose, Bernard, Juliet, Libby and Penny.  After the group has shared embraces and celebrated their reunion, they sit down in the church pews. Christian begins to walk to the back of the church through the middle aisle, and pauses briefly by Jack to put his hand on his shoulder. Christian approaches the back, opens the doors of the church and glowing white light from beyond the doors washes over all present. Jack exchanges a smile with Kate, and then looks ahead as they are engulfed by the light.

Science:

The Kush in Sudan were an ancient people. Scientists last year found a small area that contained 35 burial pyramids in a 5,000 sq. ft area. One of the most interesting new finds was an offering table found by the remains of a pyramid. It appears to depict the goddess Isis and the jackal-headed god Anubis and includes an inscription, written in Meroitic language, dedicated to a woman named "Aba-la," which may be a nickname for "grandmother.”

It reads in translation:

Oh Isis! Oh Osiris!
It is Aba-la.
Make her drink plentiful water;
Make her eat plentiful bread;
Make her be served a good meal.

The offering table with inscription was a final send-off for a woman, possibly a grandmother, given a pyramid burial nearly 2,000 years ago.

This points to the continued ritual tradition that people believed that once a person died, they would live another life in the after life. The descendants gave offerings so that their ancestors could live a good “second” life - - - in some respects, continue the norm of their prior existence in peace. We continue to discover more and more evidence that the earliest cultures had deep convictions in an after life.

Improbable Elements:

A large jetliner with bent wing tips would not be able to take off on short Hydra Island.

The island friends and enemies creating an elaborate, complex, interactive sideways "after life" world without remembering ever creating it.

Clues:

When a mystery story ends, there are not supposed to be more “clues” to what happened. There were many cryptic answers to some of the burning questions, but many of the key story elements were thrown out as immaterial, irrelevant or in pure conflict with the ending resolution.

The only “clue” or piece of information to solve the entire LOST complex is that in the last episode, EVERYONE GOT WHAT THEY WANTED. How in the Hell is that possible?

Discussion:

“ The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of consideration. ”

— Allan Bloom

LOST left a stinging amount of more questions than answers.

Why is Christian the band leader in the sideways church? Why are not the other characters parents, siblings or loved ones present in their after life? Why is Locke still alone (no Helen from sideways world?) Why is Boone alone? Why are there no other parents or family members of the reunion cast in the church?

Also, why do you think Aaron had to be born again in the season six purgatory? How can he born literally be born "twice?" Does he go to heaven as a baby? He presumably lived a long, normal life off the island. Unless he never was born in real life.  A prop in the sideways world or died as an infant. Or he was merely a prop Claire created in herself to obtain some measure of sympathy from others in her measly life. The same is true for David, Jack’s son with Juliet in the sideways world. Did he ever exist, or was he a prop (like  Aaron?)

We are told that Jacob’s  life is ash; when the fire goes out, he ceases to exist. He must pass on his powers at his end (to Jack) who has the guardian’s powers to protect the island from MIB. Where do these ritualistic powers come from? It is a childlike game where one kid, the leader, makes the rules and controls the game.

When the fire goes out, Jacob as a smoke creature, ceases to be - - - much like his brother.

If the cork is removed, the water stops, the light goes out, the island destroys itself, and MIB becomes mortal. If the cork is replaced, the water returns, the light turns on, the island is saved, but the life force does not reincarnate Jacob or MIB - - - they are gone forever. So in one sense, the pulling and replacing the stone cork is exactly like rebooting a crashed computer hard drive. It wipes out the cache (Jacob and MIB) to start the processors all over again. So if Desmond and Jack went into the cave that created MIB as a smoke creature (or an existing beast released from the stone cork assumed his dead body), why did not Desmond or Jack become a smoke beast? Desmond had the electromagnetic spell and the knowledge that he was already dead and awake in the sideways purgatory. Jack continued his personal dilution that he had to stay on the island to “fix” his life, a life which did not really exist as set forth in the sideways reality.

And what happens to the people that left the island? Frank, Kate, Claire, Richard, Sawyer, Miles - - - they were going back to what? Richard had no one for centuries. Kate still has no one. Sawyer wants no one. Frank has no future. Claire is dead and crazy infected evil. And for those who believe these people were “alive” on the island - - - the sideways world was proven not to be real so these castaways did not fly to that fantasy world. How could they return to the real world, especially Sawyer and Claire who were “dead” during the O6 story arc. And how did Desmond get home to Penny? Hurley and Ben had little resources left on the island to do anything.

And what happens to the people that were left on the island? There were about a dozen Others, including Cindy and the children, Zach and Emma. Did they stay on the island to live out their survivor lives? Hurley and Ben as the new leaders of the island (Jacob and Alpert roles) had NO MEANS to leave the island, let alone “shut it down” except for dying - - - like Jack. All we know is that Hurley and Ben awaken in sideways purgatory, but for no justifiable reason, Ben gets to stay “to work things out” with Rousseau - - - which makes even less sense: for Ben tortured her in the island life, kidnapped her daughter, and caused her to be executed for the mistaken sake of the island. So, does Ben get “rewarded” for being bad and evil in the island world? And why would Rousseau or Alex, when they REMEMBER him, want to STAY with him forever? Is he now the new Eloise, who was hell-bent on not awakening Daniel? Ben now gets to live a fantasy existence as a nerdy school teacher? Is that his heaven? So how can people know their past island judgment world and not “move on” upon their island demise?

And where is Helen for Locke? In the sideways paradise world view, she was still with him. They were going to be married. So is this proof that the sideways world was a mere collection of subconscious dream-fantasies of the island castaways? And why was Boone also alone at the End? Was his life so pathetic he could not even be reunited with his parents? What did he do wrong in his life to be left alone forever?

Claudia was first known pregnant woman to arrive on the island, brought by Crazy Mother wrecking her ship. Her newborn children were stolen by Crazy Mother. She killed Claudia to raise Jacob and his brother. The brothers have a sibling rivalry. They become disenchanted with their island life. MIB wants to leave with his fellow Roman villagers; Crazy Mother forbids it. Crazy Mother kills all of them; in a rage, MIB kills Crazy Mother. In a rage, Jacob kills his brother (creating or releasing) the Smoke Monster.

So Jacob is left totally alone on the island, except for his ghost brother/smoke monster. Their sibling rivalry and conflicts continue. Since Jacob is the “most” alive, he gets to set the rules; a game which would allow his brother his final peace (or would it if the evil smoke monster was trying to con Jacob into allowing him to leave his prison to destroy the universe).

Rousseau was the next known pregnant woman to arrive on the island, brought by Jacob. She gave birth to Alex, who was stolen by Ben to be his daughter. Ben’s actions caused Rousseau and Alex to be killed by Widmore’s men. Ghost Alex told Ben to follow everything that Flocke would tell him, which led to Ben killing Jacob.

The last woman to give birth on the island was Claire. Her son, Aaron, was taken off the island by Kate, and raised in LA. Claire was killed (infected) by Widmore’s men on a raid on the barracks. Claire abandoned her baby to follow ghost Christian (MIB). Claire tells her fellow castaways that “she is with him now,” meaning Flocke, because “he was the only one not to abandon me.”

Why were the island "rules" so haphazard and inconsistent, especially during the end sequences where both Jacob and his brother die from false assumption after false assumption of what happens when the light cave is messed with? Do we really know Jacob and MIB actually died? 

And if Jacob "created" the smoke monster by killing his brother (a rule violation) in the classical Roman period, then why is the smoke monster depicted in Egyptian temple mural thousands of years before MIB's smoke creation? Is the chronology of the island actually going backwards towards the first civilizations before the Egyptian period of 3000 BC?

The problem with the sideways world is that Sawyer continues to false legal basis of Kate’s crimes (waiting for the feds to pick her up for murder - - - which is incorrect in American jurisprudence). The sideways world also continues the medical errors and Jack’s surgical miracles. It shows that both the island and the after life are connected in such a fashion that both story lines have the same core operating factors. Which means that both island and after life are post-death states of existence.
Otherwise, how can a dead person communicate with his “living self” as Desmond did with his flashes.

Whose “story” is LOST? Many believe it is about Jack, since it is his eye that opens at the beginning and closes at the end. But it would appear that the man making all the moves would be Jacob. but the first reference to “Jacob” in The Man Behind the Curtain, Season 3, Episode 20:

Act 2
[Inside Ben's tent, Locke and Ben discuss matters over a glass of alcohol.]
BEN: I know I promised to tell you everything, John, and I wish it was as simple as me taking out a dusty old book and opening it up.
[He offers Locke a glass, but is met with a blank face. He places the glass next to him instead.]
BEN: But it's not that simple.
LOCKE: How about you just tell me?
BEN: You probably think I'm the leader of this little community, but that's not entirely true. We all answer to someone, John.
LOCKE: And whom might that be?
BEN: His name is Jacob.
LOCKE: Okay, then. Take me to Jacob.
BEN: I can't do that.
[John gets up and heads to leave.]
BEN: Where are you going?
LOCKE: Hell, Ben, if you don't wanna take me, maybe someone else will. I'll just go and ask Richard...
BEN: Why would Richard take you? He doesn't know where Jacob is. He doesn't talk to Jacob...
LOCKE: Well, who talks to him?
BEN: I do.
LOCKE: So you're the only one who talks to him?
BEN: That's right!
LOCKE: And no one else knows where he is?
BEN: I was born here on this Island. I'm one of the last that was. Most of these people you see—I brought them here. So Jacob talks to me, John. He tells me what to do, trusts me.
LOCKE: And no one else has ever seen him?
BEN: That's right.
LOCKE: How convenient. You know what I think, Ben? I think there is no Jacob. I think your people are idiots if they believe you take orders from someone else. You are the man behind the curtain, the Wizard of Oz. And you're a liar.
BEN: And what might you base that theory on, John?
LOCKE: Because if you were telling the truth, your hand wouldn't be shaking.
[Ben steadies the glass in his hand, which is shaking.]

In the Wizard of Oz, the characters are told not to pay any attention to the man behind the curtain (the Wizard) but when Toto pulls the curtain, it reveals the truth. Dorothy, Lion, Tin Man and the Scarce Crow to no pay attention to the man behind the certain because the man behind the certain is the Wizard of Oz and he has no magical powers so when the dog pulls the certain Dorothy and her friends see that the Wizard uses machines, sounds and stuff to create a strong and powerful illusion.

The urban dictionary states:
"the man behind the curtain":
A phrase used to describe someone who is in the background secretly plotting and conspiring or also a hypocrite of great proportions.

The land of Oz is depicted as real (fantasy place) in the books, unlike the 1939 movie, which presented it as a dream of Dorothy's. Dorothy and Toto are swept away by a tornado to the Land of Oz and, much like Alice’s Wonderland adventures,  they enter an alternative world filled with talking creatures. With so many references to Oz and Alice, there can only be two premise alternatives: one being a dream of a central character (like Jack) or the characters were swept away into a alternative, spirit world while either living their lives or entering their deaths.

Or was the real man behind the curtain Christian Shepard? His body was never found in the casket in either the island world or the sideways world (which could mean his state of death was the bridge between the two places). Why is he the only non-815 survivor at the Church in the End? And how does he allow everyone "to leave, to move on" into the white light, which must symbolize heaven? Was Christian the group's guardian angel? Except on the island, his image was corrupted by MIB. So, is it possible that Christian is not really Jack's father in the end - - - - but an illusion cast upon him by MIB or Jacob?

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

The light cave being the source of life, death and rebirth for the entire universe.

That a stone cork being dislodged from the light pool would cause the light to disappear
and the island to have an immediate earthquake and destruction to sink into the ocean.
One could argue that the exact opposite would happen if you released any pent-up EM energy stopped by the cork, the island would not suffer any consequences (the Hatch protocol).

Last lines in episodes:

EP 117:

LOCKE: To finish what I started.

[He walks off and leaves Claire alone.]

EP 118:

JACOB: Goodbye, brother. Goodbye.

EP 119:

LOCKE: Because I'm gonna find Desmond, and when I do, he's gonna help me do the one thing that I could never do myself. I'm gonna destroy the island.

EP 120/121:

LOCKE: We've been waiting for you.


New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

MIB plan from the beginning was to kill all the candidates; that is why he scratched them off one by one in his cave. If MIB’s master plan was to destroy the island, why could he not have smoked down into the Light Cave, knock over the cork, and let the island earthquake and sink into the ocean? There was nothing stopping him from doing that, especially after he had Jacob killed. If the candidates were the substitute for Jacob’s guardianship of the island, then why is killing all of them by their own hands necessary to detonate the island?

And if MIB truly wanted to leave, he could have at any time. He was not trapped by the ocean, for he could be immersed in water (as he was at the sub dock by Jack). And why did Jacob say that when the fire containing his ashes would end, so would he? Does that infer that Jacob was also a “smoke monster” and that is the reason for his immortality (that his age was forever fixed at age 42?)

What came first? The chicken or the egg?
It is a classic paradox.
For to have the chicken to come first, one needs to adults to create a fertilized egg.
But for adults to be, they must first be born from an egg.

So what came first, the island world or the sideways world?
The problem with any convention is that TPTB tried to use McGuffins and tropes to answer questions used as dramatic filler as foundational canon which turned into illogical ruins.

For how could the 815 cast “create” the sideways world “to find themselves” in the after life? If the flashbacks and off-island world is to be believed, the cast had no interpersonal bonds before the “crash.” And even after the “crash,” how could they all immediately “create” a new after life world WITHOUT remembering it on the island? If that is what happened, and what happened did really happen, then the only true bridge between the island world and the sideways world is being dead.

The source was called life, death and rebirth. The island could be the place of the light’s death, and the sideways world a place of rebirth. But the sideways world overlap with Kate’s legal problems and the false medical stories (and miracles) shows it was purely a  collective fantasy. So if the sideways world was a collective fantasy, then the island world could have been a collective fantasy adventure.

The sad part of the ending was after the wash of white light from the front doors engulfs the church (which by the way - - - the light came from where Ben was sitting outside the church) the final question was “so what?” 

So what if they reunited in the after life after they died somewhere else?
So what if the “most important people in their lives” excludes most parents and siblings?
So what if the show leaves us pondering what will happen to all the characters next?
So what?, indeed.