The island moves

When the island moves, a bright light shines from the center and then the camera cuts away. In the next shot we see, the ocean looks like water draining and the island is gone. Of course we don't actually get to see the island disappear.

Where did the island go? When did the island go? How did the island go?

Reactions to the island moving/bright sky

Here's the reactions of the characters around the island, in the zodiac raft and on the helicopter to the sky turning incredibly bright when Ben turns the frozen donkey wheel. It's similar to the time when the Swan station imploded.

In the screens:

• Locke, Richard Alpert and the others watch from their camp.
• Sawyer and Juliet watch from the beach.
• Daniel and some red shirts watch from the zodiac raft
• Jack, Kate, Sun, Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Frank and Aaron watch from the helicopter.
  

Ben turns the frozen donkey wheel

This is the big one. This is Ben venturing through the hole he blew in the vault, through a tunnel, through a sheet of ice and into an icy room to turn the "frozen donkey wheel" to move the island. During his journey, Ben goes down a ladder which is being referred to as "Jacob's ladder" by some. As he's climbing down another ladder into the icy room, Ben falls, incurring an injury on his arm. This is the same injury he has when he arrives in the Sahara in "The Shape of Things To Come." In the frozen room, their is a stone pillar with hieroglyphics on it, similar to those on the smoke monster door.

As Ben approaches the wheel, he looks up and says "I hope you're happy now Jacob." He then uses a crowbar to chip away the ice around the wheel and then uses it for leverage to start turning the wheel. As the wheel starts turning, Ben starts to weep. He's sacrificing living on the island to save the island. As the wheel turns an area behind the wheel starts glowing until the room looks white. On the island, the sky gets incredibly bright (that'll be in the next post).

What exactly happens to Ben after he turns the wheel? We know he ends up in the Sahara, but how exactly? Where did the wheel room come from? Who created it and the hieroglyphics? How was the power of this location on the island harnessed to use in the Orchid station? So many questions, such a long hiatus.

Locke meets Richard and the others

Locke finds Richard and the others where Ben said they would be. As he approaches their camp, they all stare up at him in awe and Richard looks pleased. The look on Locke's face would signify that he thinks that he's found where he belongs. It would seem that this content feeling will not last long after the island moves.