LOST - a retrospective of John Locke and "What They Died For"

Ok so after watching the Last Tuesday night episode of LOST entitled "What They Died For" I decided to do a little searching into the past of Lost on our most knowledgeable LOST site - Lostpeidia (you could take days going through all the information that is on that site!)  Anyway, I was thinking about when Locked turned the Donkey Wheel to leave the island and that after he fell down the well he was ready to give up because he hurt his leg and then none other than Christian Shepard appeared to him and got him to continue...well we now know that Christian was always the MIB so it got me to thinking about how long has the MIB been manipulating John Locke to ultimately take his form to accomplish his goal? 

So I went to the John Locke entry in Lostpedia...one thing that stuck out to me was way back when John Locke was a child and Richard Alpert came to him with those 6 items and asked him to take what was his (ideally I think Richard wanted him to take the compass which played a part in John and Richards time travel) Locke chose the knife and Richard became freaked out and took everything, John also had made drawings of what seemed to be "the smoke monster" attacking a stick figure.  Was this forshadowing, is this somehow related to the sideways stories where their island self and non-island self realize the other?  John as an adult had a sort of obsession with knives but the man in black also has a very interesting knife and he is also the smoke monster...

Here's another thing that stuck out leading back to how long MIB has been manipulating John Locke.  After John becomes the new leader of the others he has a "dream" and sees Horace Godspeed (one of the dahrma people) come to him and tell him Jacob was waiting for him and led him to the mass grave where on Horace's corpse Locke found a map to Jacob's so-called cabin.  (It should be noted in case you forgot that Horace was the one who built that cabin back in the Dahrma days)  When Locke arrives at the cabin Christian Shepard is inside (MIB) and he tells Locke that he needs him to move the island.  But Ben does it instead which results in when Locke tries to turn the Wheel Christian tells him I told YOU to move the island, not Ben.  The reason Ben did the deed not locke is because Ben said you could not return to the island if you left (was this a lie or did our castaways find a loophole of sorts)  So ultimately MIB wanted Locke to leave the island...why?  Is it because if they leave they can't come back (because we saw that not to be ture...was his thought process that if he got all the candidates to leave they couldn't come back and that solves one of his problems but he was still going to have to get someone to kill Jacob...it seems like MIB's plan has been a long and complex one with many twists that took place over the previous seasons that we never noticed until now)

Christian is the one who told Locke to find Eloise Hawking after he convinces everyone to come back (she is Widmore's formal girl, Widmore said Jacob told him to come back yet if Christian refered to Eloise she somehow is connected to smokey?)  Locke also asked Christian to help him with the wheel but he said he can't (is it because he can't leave the island because he's somokey!)

Richard upon giving Locke the compass while flashing through time was the one who told him that he had to bring the others back to save the island and we know that Richard gets orders from Jacob, so....And Richard also told him that in order to do so he would have to die (this however sets up smokey's plan to have Locke's body brought back to the island so he may assume his form, is Richard a double agent?)

As I look further into John Locke I am brought to the Orchid where Ben surrenders himself to Keamy and Lock is attempting to follow Ben's instructions but is unable to get into the station because he doesn't know the plants that Ben described to him.  That is unimportant what is important is when Jack arrives and confronts Locke.  Lock tries to convice Jack to stay and that they were brought to the island for a reason, but Jack was determined to go home.  Locke then told Jack that everything that happened since the crash was to protect the island and Jack said "The island doesn't need protection" - Key phrase

Doesn't it feel like John Locke and Jack are characteristically Jacob and his brother?  So it is so fitting that in tonights episode they have completely switched sides.  Jack the essential MIB who wanted to leave the island has now taken over as island protector - he is now the same as Jacob.  And Locke who until he left the island believed that he was there to protect the island (Jacob's purpose, even though as children Jacob did not want to protect the island) and now that Locke has died he becomes the somke monster who tells Sawyer "The island doesn't need protection, it's just a damn island" remember that key phrase I pointed out earlier that Jack told Locke at the Orchid?

It's kind of a bittersweet full circle turnaround of characters isn't it?

Enough about the interesting past of LOST, this is a nice lead-in to last night's episode...so what happened
Things we learned:

We find out why Kate was crossed off in the cave...Jacob said it was because she became a mother (i.e. had someone else to protect) 

Desmond is a fail safe - whatever that means.

Jacob left the island and told Widmore how to find it and basically helped him to the island.

Jacob brought them all there so that one of them could take over the island (as we suspected)...

OK on to thoughts of the episode:

Ben says he learnt he could summon the Monster from his secret room, although he later realized that the monster was summoning him.(lostpedia)  I'm still trying to comprehend this thought so if you have enlightenment on it please share in the comments.

Widmore explains that Jacob came to see him after Ben destroyed the Freighter and persuaded him to return, telling him all he needed to know for "this exact purpose."  Why?  Was he just supposed to bring Desmond back?

So Desmond's unique ability to withstand electormagetisim makes him the fail safe to protect the island and Locke says he's gonna use him to destroy the island...is this all going to be similar to the fail safe Key and the Hatch blowing up?

Why all of a sudden are Kate, Jack and Saywer able to see dead Jacob?  and why is his child self running around the island?  Why did he take his ashes? - is it so he can finally move on?  Why is it when that fire went out he would be gone for good? 

What happened to Richard?  Did smokey actually kill him?  I think no but we can't be sure.

Will Miles catch up with our castaways?  Is Ben really going to help Locke kill our heroes? or is he simply playing a long con on him?  Locke (in smokey form), finally got the best of Ben after Ben always besting John when he was alive...Locke offered Ben the island all to himself but does Ben really want that anymore?  Oh yea and Ben shot Widmore (payback for having his "daughter" Alex killed)

Off to the sideways world -
2 previously dead characters return to us in Danielle Rousseau and Ana-Lucia.  Desmond, who is trying to run over John Locke again, beats the crap out of Ben (which causes some island recollections).  He tells Ben that he wasn't trying to kill him he was trying to get him to "let go" (which is what Jack asked him to do in The Candidate)...Upon hearing this Locked decides to see Jack again and says all these connections cannot be just coincidence (their converstaion seemed very simliar to a previous converstion between Mr. Eko and John Locke when they found the missing piece of the orientation film - Mr. Eko tells Locke do not confuse coincidence for fate...I want to say Jack said almost the same thing to John in his office that day).

Ben goes to dinner at the Rousseau house and Danielle tells him that Alex's dad is dead and that he is like a father to her...(kinda felt a little Ben/Danielle romance there didn't you?)

Desmond turns himself in to Det. James Ford as the guy involved in the hit and run in order to get in with Sayid and Kate who are also in jail.  He has a big plan set up for them to get transfred to County and he will have Hurley pay off a crooked cop (Ana-Lucia) to let them go.  How funny was it when Hurley shows up and goes "I didn't know Ana-Lucia was going to be here" and she was like to I know you?  Obviously Hurley is completely linked to his other life...he askes Desmond why she's not coming and he says "she's not ready yet"  Sayid goes with Hurley, Kate with Desmond - they're going to a concert (hmm isn't Jack going to a concert?  wasn't Daniel performing a concert with Drive Shaft put on by Eloise Hawking, also in attendance Penny?) I think the sideways story will arc up at this concert!  One funny occurance that seemed to resemble a previous episode - Desmond gives Kate a dress (kinda like when Ben gave her a dress in season 2 when he locked her and Sawyer up in the polar bear cages)

Well I don't know about you but I CANNOT WAIT for the Finale on Sunday!!  Below is a link to Matthew Fox answering some funny Lost questions on Jimmy Fallon last night.  Damon and Carlton (show's writers/producers) will be on David Letterman tonight (wed) doing the Top Ten.  Also there will be some Lost stuff on Jimmy Kimmel Thurs and Fri night and of course the special Aloha to Lost Jimmy Kimmel after the finale (well after the news after the finale)...Namaste