What They Died For

Highlights:

In the flash sideways, Jack wakes up with another weird cut on his neck. He eats breakfast with David who mentions his concert tonight. Jack asks if his mom is going to be there and he says Yes. Maybe we'll find out who she is in the finale? Wishful thinking, I know.


Claire wakes up and joins them. I guess she wasn't too freaked out by his offer after all.

We cut to Sawyer and Miles, and Miles is getting ready for "the big musical benefit at his father's museum he's been talking about for months now". Kate and Sayid are locked up there, biding their time.

Desmond lurks around at Locke's school again and beats up Ben Linus after he approaches him. It's only after taking a beating and hearing that Desmond was "trying to make him see" that he sees his past life.

Desmond turns himself in and gets acquainted with Kate and Sayid.

Ben gets patched up and Alex helps him with his keys and bags. She insists her mother drive him home. He ends up having dinner with them. Danielle and Benjamin share longing and emotional glances with each other. She tells him he is the closest thing to a father Alex has ever had. Ben weeps like a child and sniffles.

Back at the jail, the three convicts are being moved to County, and Desmond convinces them to go along with his plan to free them. The van stops and Ana Lucia lets them out. Hurley arrives with an envelope full of cash and takes Sayid with him. Desmond takes Kate and says "We're going to a concert."

On the island...

Jack sews Kate up, and they go on their merry way to find Desmond while Sawyer realizes it was his fault that everyone died.

Ben, Richard, and Miles go to Ben's house to get C-4 to blow up the plane. Widmore is there and tells them he's already rigged it.

Miles leaves in fear of Smokey, Ben stays, and Richard attempts to "talk" to him but only ends up getting tossed into the trees.


Ben allies with Smokey and tells him where Widmore is.

Smokey kills Tina Fey. Smokey tells Widmore to tell him how he got to the island, and he'll let his daughter live. Widmore begins to whisper something, and Ben shoots him dead. He says "His daughter doesn't get to live", or something like that.

And just like that, Ben the Bastard is back.

Hurley runs into the child version of Jacob and gives him the ashes he took from Ilana. How he managed to keep them dry, or keep them at all after the submarine incident is beyond me, but this is LOST, so I will go with it.

Young Jacob runs away and Hurley follows. A suddenly adult Jacob is sitting by a fire. Jacob tells Hurley that his ashes are in the fire, and once the fire goes out, he will never be able to appear to him again. He tells him to get all of his friends.

Night falls and Jack, Sawyer, and Kate follow Hurley to Jacob's fire. Jacob addresses them all, and all of them can finally see him! Jacob tells them his time is up, and that one of them has to take his place.

We find out that Kate's name was crossed off because she became a mother. We find out that they were all brought here because they were broken and alone. We find out that Jack volunteers for the job.

Shazam! I knew he was the one. I knew it. In your faces, Desmond fans.

Jack has always been the one to say he is broken without the island. He has always been the leader. He has always been the one who put the most work into saving everyone, and, who most of all, has changed the most as a person in these past 6 years. Even his name, Shephard (though spelled differently) signifies his destiny to lead. His tattoos read "He walks among us, but is not one of us." If that is what they say, and not what they mean, then they mean that he is the new Jacob, the Guardian of the island.

He asks how long he has to do the job for. Jacob replies "As long as you can."

He then tells him where the heart of the island is, and to protect it. He says it is beyond the bamboo fields where he first landed in the pilot episode. Jack says there is nothing beyond those fields. Jacob says that there is. It's time for the showdown.

Meawhile, Smokey tells Ben he can have the island all to himself if he kills people for him. They go to find Desmond to kill him. Widmore said he is a fail-safe if all of the other candidates are dead.

But Desmond is gone! The well is empty and a rope is dangling from the top!

Special/Key Moments:

Seeing Richard again was nice. Seeing him promptly get thrown around by the smoke monster, however..... not so much.

I liked Ben getting his balls back even though part of me loves that he can be a soft little kitten when the occasion calls for it. He's so stoic and "What now, Smokey?" in this episode. It parallels perfectly with the sniveling idiot he's become in the LA verse around Alex and Danielle.

I like seeing Jack with his son, and Claire spending the night with them. These two characters have never had this cameradery with a sibling before, and seem to be extremely happy.

I like that David mentions Jack being "weird" around his mother. I like that he says that she will be at the concert. I like that I better get to find out who she is by the end of this show, and if it isn't Juliet, I am going to be so pissed.

John Locke approaching Jack in his office and pitching the idea of Fate to him was beautiful. The old Locke has finally come back to us, and brought his amazing sense of faith along with him. Terry O'Quinn never ceases to amaze me.

Jacob blessing the water before Jack drank it was beautiful. Just like in last week's episode, the nodd to Christian communion is obvious here. The wine from mother to Jacob, and now the water from Jacob to Jack. Water to wine analogy? Maybe. Maybe not.

I liked seeing Smokey slit Zoey's throat. Whoa, that was brutal.

And I just like seeing Jacob.

Theories/Speculations/Questions:

Is Smokey Jacob's brother, just filled with rage and Smokified? Is smokey an entity that has always been there, but takes on certain people's thoughts and likeness to manipulate the guardian and/or candidates?

Did Widmore lie to Smokey? Is Desmond really a fail-safe guardian? Or is he the destruction of Smokey and the island if he takes the light?

Is Richard dead?

Why is Miles still alive?

Will Kate leave Jack alone now?

Where are Rose and Bernard?

Will there be an epic dance party at the end of this series finale?

Hold on to your butts.