Ben is visited by Locke in the nurse's office, mentions "letting go"

At the school, Ben is being tended to by a woman who is presumably the school nurse. He left arm is in a slign. As she tends to his wounds she calls him "Mr. Linus" and he corrects her by saying "It's Dr. Linus actually." She is clearly a bit annoyed and says she'll return with an ice pack.

Locke rolls into the room in his wheelchair and asks Ben if he is okay. Ben tells him that he got into a fight with the man (Desmond) that ran Locke down. Ben says that as he was being beaten, he saw something. Locke dials 911 and Ben tells him that he may not want to do that.

Ben tells Locke that Desmond said that he wasn't trying to hurt Locke with his car, but trying to help him "let go." Locke stops cold when hearing the words "let go," the same thing Jack said he wanted Locke to do. Ben asks if that means anything to Locke, who is stunned and Locke hangs up on the police.

It seems that Locke has had numerous moments where he's remembered at least small bits of the original timeline, like when he saw Jin at the hospital, when Jack says to him "I wish you would believe me" and as he was sleeping and mentioned the button. He's really taking a lot of pushing to get him to believe in this timeline.

Widmore says Jacob told him to come to the island, Locke is coming

Ben continues to hold a gun on Charles Widmore and asks what he's doing there. Widmore brushes him off telling him to put down the gun and telling Zoe to go the equipment from the outrigger and then sink it. Ben says not to go anywhere, but Widmore says that if he shoots him, his last chance of survival will be gone. He then tells Zoe to go because Ben won't shoot her. She slowly walks out as Ben stands there.

Widmore turns to Richard and asks why they are there and Richard reveals their plan to blow up the Ajira plane. Widmore says that he's had the plane rigged with explosives since they got there and that as usual, he's three steps ahead of Ben.

Ben then asks Widmore how he returned to the island and Widmore reveals that Jacob invited him back. He says that Jacob visited him after the freighter was destroyed and showed him the error of his ways and shared with him the information he needed to know when he returned to the island.

Zoe then interrupts on the radio to tell Widmore that Locke has arrived on the main island in an outrigger. Wimore tells her to get back quickly and tells everyone that they need to hide if they don't want to die.

So Jacob brought Widmore back to the island which explains why he knew the candidates names and the other information he possesses. Ben is certainly not happy that Widmore has seen Jacob since Ben was ignored by him for so long. We see jealousy inside Ben stirring again.

Ben, Richard & Miles get C-4 from the barracks, discover Widmore & Zoe

We finally see Ben, Miles and Richard again, making their way through the jungle towards the barracks. Miles questions whether Ben's short cut is accurate and Ben says he lived at the barracks a long time and he knows how to get there. Mile hits back saying he lived there 30 years ago, "otherwise known as last week." It's nice to see a little humor return to the show.

Once they arrrive at the barracks, Miles starts getting that dead body feeling and says that he get "wonky around dead stuff." Ben asks him if he has something to share and before Miles can say anything, Richard says that Alex is buried there. He says that he buried Alex's body after Ben left the island. Ben pauses and looks down at the ground then thanks Richard.

They then enter Ben's old house where he immediately moves the bookcase, revealing his secret room. Miles notices the door where Ben summoned the smoke monster and asks what it is. Ben says that it is where he was told he could summon the smoke monster, but he now knows that it was really summoning him.

Behind the hanging shirts, there is a safe that Ben opens to reveal six bricks of C-4. Ben asks Richard if they want to cripple the plane or "blow it to hell," and Richard chooses the latter, so they take a six bricks.

They suddenly hear a noise, and leave the room to discover Zoe in the kitchen. They point their rifles at her and Ben asks who she is. Then Charles Widmore enters house and says that she' with him. Ben looks completely stunned to see Widmore.

Ben sees his original timeline as Desmond beats him up

Desmond sits in his car at the school and watches as Locke returns to work. As Locke begins to cross the parking lot, Desmond starts his car, but then Ben comes over and yells at him, screaming that he is the man who hit Mr. Locke.

As Desmond gets out of the car, Ben says that he's going to make a citizen's arrest. Desmond tells him not to get in his way and then punches Ben in the face. He then slams Ben repeatedly on the car's hood. Ben says that he won't let Desmond hurt Mr. Locke again, and Desmond says he's not trying to hurt him, he's here to help him let go (the same thing that Jack was trying to convince Locke to do by letting him perform the surgery).

Ben asks Desmond who he is and Desmond responds saying "You want to know who I am?" and then starts repeatedly punching Ben in the face. As he's being beaten, Ben sees flashes of the original timeline of Desmond beating him up at the marina when he was contemplating killing Penny.

Desmond then throws Ben on the ground, gets in his car and speeds away. Ben is left lying on the ground, his eyes wide after what he's just experienced.

So how does Desmond know exactly what will trigger each person's flashes? He seemed to have no interest in showing Ben his until he was confronted by him. Desmond has a specific plan, but we just don't know what it is.

Here we also see Ben's noble side again as he fearlessly stands up for John Locke, even as he's being beaten.

Sawyer watches the sub debris wash up on the beach

Back on the beach, Sawyer stares out at the ocean as life jackets and other debris from the submarine wash up on the shore. It's obvious that Sawyer realizes that his actions led to the death of Sun, Jin and Sayid. Kate walks up and puts her head on his shoulder. Hurley and Jack stand there too, looking out at the debris.

Jack then says that they need to go find Desmond who is in a well because Sayid said Locke wanted him dead. Jack says they'll need Desmond in Locke wants him gone.

Jack sews up Kate's wound, their new goal is to kill Locke

On the beach, the sun is rising as Jack pulls some thread from a shirt to sew up Kate's bullet wound. He warns Kate that it's going to hurt, but it will keep the wound from getting infected. She wincing in pain as the needle goes in and he starts to work. Hurley and Sawyer can be seen sitting nearby.

As Jack works, Kate sadly says that Jin and Sun had a daughter whom Jin never got to meet. Then she switches from sad to angry as she says Locke killed them and they're going to have to kill Locke. Jack says "he knows."

It seems obvious that they need to find a way to kill Locke, but how do you do that? Sayid tried and failed and we've seen numerous times that guns don't work, so how can it be done?

Also, the scene of Jack stitching up Locke is reminiscent of the first episode of season 1 where Kate sews up Jack's wound. We seem to be coming full circle.

Desmond calls Jack posing as Oceanic employee + Jack's neck bleeds again

"What That Died For" opens with an iconic LOST shot. We see a close-up of Jack's eye slowly opening, then we see that we are in the sideways at his home. He goes into the bathroom and discovers that his neck is bleeding again, just like he discovered it in the plane's restroom in "LA X." His son, David, then pops his head and says that he made breakfast.

Jack joins David at the table for some Super Bran cereal and David asks him if he's coming to the concert. Jack says yes and then asks if David's mother is coming. David says yes and makes Jack promise not to be weird.

Claire then enters the room and Jack and David rush to make her a bowl of cereal. They all sit around the table like a happy family until Jack's phone rings. He answers to hear a deep voice say that they are with Oceanic Airlines and they have found Jack's cargo (Christian Shephard's coffin). We learn that the voice is Desmond's who tells Jack that the coffin will arrive in Los Angeles by the end of the day and apologizes on behalf of Oceanic Airlines. Jack is emotional as he hangs up and we see Desmond, sitting in a car hang up his phone, with that same confident, zen-like look on his face.

So does Desmond actually know something about the whereabouts of Christian's coffin, or is he just pushing Jack like he's done with others? As we learn later, the concert that Jack, David and his mother will be an important event. More on that much later.

Jacob lays Mother & MIB's bodies to rest at the caves, they are Adam & Eve

Jacob makes his way through the jungle to a stream and washes up. He looks up and sees the lifeless body of his brother on some rocks. Jacob weeps over the body, then picks it up and carries it to the cave.

Jacob lays MIB's body where they slept as children. He then goes to Mother's body and picks up the black and white stones and places them in a pouch. We cut away and see Jack and Kate discovering the pouch of rocks in season 1 with the "Adam and Eve" skeletons.

Jacob then closes Mother's eyes, picks her up and lays her next to MIB's body. We again cutaway to season 1 and Kate asks who the Adam and Eve skeletons are and where did they come from. Jacob then joins Mother and MIB's hands, kisses the pouch containing the stones and places it in MIB's other hand. We cut away again and see Locke calling the skeletons "Our very own Adam and Eve."

We then see Jacob looking over the bodies, still crying, and he says "Goodbye brother."

This was one of the biggest reveals of the series. While the clips from the season 1 episode "House of the Rising Sun" hit us over the head a bit with the significance of the Adam and Eve reveal, it did show us how far the story and these characters have come since Oceanic 815 crashed on the island.

With MIB's body being discovered by the creek indicates he is no longer human, but he still has the same goal of leaving the island. What would happen if this creature gets off the island?

Jacob throws MIB into The Source/The Light, turns MIB into smoke monster

After pummeling the Man In Black at the caves after he killed Mother, Jacob drags MIB through the jungle towards The Source (the tunnel of light/the heart of the island). MIB pleads with Jacob asking him not kill him and explains that she burned his people. Jacob says that he's not going to kill him.

They reach the stream leading to the light and Jacob tosses MIB into the shallow water. MIB looks up at the light and says "She brought you back here?" Jacob says yes because he is now responsible for protecting it. He picks MIB up by the neck and says "You want to find the light? You want to leave this place, brother? Then go."

Jacob then throws MIB into the deeper water and MIB hits his head slams into a rock before floating into the light. Jacob watches as MIB floats into the tunnel and then goes over the edge of the waterfall. Moments later, the ground starts rumbling, the the tunnel gets a little darker and hazy and the tell-tale sounds of the smoke monster can be heard.

The smoke monster comes storming out of the tunnel, knocking Jacob backwards. Jacob stares up in awe as the monster quickly disappears into the jungle.

So this is the origin of the smoke monster. Jacob is the cause of it, and if he hadn't thrown MIB into The Source, a lot of pain and misery for many people could have possibly been avoided. In other words, Jacob's trying to punish MIB for killing mother, ended up making him the powerful creature that he is.

MIB wrecks the caves, stabs & kills Mother, Jacob pummels MIB

As Mother and Jacob make their way back towards the caves, Jacob says that there is a storm coming. She tells him to go gets some firewood before it rains and tells him to be careful. Jacob says that he'll see her back at home and leaves, but clearly seems to Mother know they won't see each other again.

As Mother returns to the cave, she finds that it has ben ransacked, including the tapestry which is ruined. She discovers the Man In Black's Senet game on ground and removes a black and white stone from inside. As she examines the black stone, MIB plunges the dagger through her back and she falls to the ground.

MIB leans over her body and asks why she wouldn't let him leave and she says "Because I... I love you." She then says "Thank you" as she dies. He weeps over her body and then sees that Jacob has returned.

Jacob repeatedly asks MIB what he did and then leaps forward and attacks him, much like he did as a teenager. After pummeling him in the face he finally stops. We'll pick this up in the next post.

So Mother seems to have the same feeling about her death as Jacob did when Ben stabbed him. They both didn't fight their deaths and Mother even thanked MIB. Why is that? Is it just their time to move on after thousands of years of performing their job?

MIB discovers the well destroyed, his people dead & village burned

The Man In Black wakes up near the well to find that in has been filled in and partially destroyed. He is already upset when he turns and sees black smoke billowing up in the distance. He runs towards it and arrives at his people's village to discover that everyone is dead and the homes are burned.

He walks through the remains and finds his Senet game. He grasps it and holds it towards is head as we see pure rage coursing through him.

The big question is, how did Mother manage to kill all of these people and destroy the village a well without some kind of power or ability like the smoke monster has? It seems impossible that she, as a human could have caused this destruction, so how was it achieved? We may never know.

Mother takes Jacob to The Source/The Light, passes her job on to him

Mother returns to the caves at night where Jacob is sleeping. She wakes him and tells him "It's time." She leads him through the jungle and as they're walking Jacob says that "Something happened, didn't it?" She tells him that she had to let MIB go because she doesn't have a choice and it's what he wants.

As they reach a stream, she asks him if he recognizes where they are and he does. It's the stream that leads to The Source, the tunnel of light. She passes Jacob the torch, literally, and tells him that he must protect The Source now.

Jacob asks what's in the tunnel and Mother says that it's life, death and rebirth, the heart of the island. She tells him to never go down there because what will happen would be much worse than death.

Mother then pulls out the bottle of wine (the same one from "Ab Aeterno") and a cup. She chants in Latin was has been deciphered as "Nam non accipimus hoc quasi vulgarem potionem, sed ut ille sit quasi unus mecum." That roughly means "For we do not accept this just as a common drink, but as if that (he?) should be one with me."

She pours some wine into the cup and tells Jacob to Drink. She says that if he drinks, he accepts the responsibility of protecting the island as long as he can, and then he'll have to find his replacement. Jacob says that he doesn't want to protect the island. She says that someone has to and Jacob says that he doesn't care. She says that her time is over and it has to be Jacob that takes over.

Jacob gets emotional and says that he doesn't have to be him because she wanted it to be MIB, and now "I’m all you have." Mother says that it was always supposed to be Jacob and she sees that now and one day he will too. She adds that the doesn't really have a choice though, so he must take the cup and drink.

Jacob reluctantly takes the cup and drinks. Mother then takes his hand and says "Now, you and I... are the same."

So we see that Mother essentially forces Jacob to take the role of protector of the island. She says that he doesn't have a choice, which likely led to Jacob's view that everything is a choice, which he told Hurley in the back of the cab in "The Incident." Jacob has always seemed to push people in a certain direction, but never forces them to do anything. Jacob seems to do many things differently as the protector of the island.

MIB shows Mother his path to the light, the donkey wheel, she knocks him out

Jacob returns to the caves and Mother asks where he was. He says that she knows and she asks what the Man In Black said to him. Jacob tells her than MIB finally found a way to leave the island. Mother looks terrified.

Mother makes her way across the island to the work site of well. She watches intently as the men and women pack up and leave. She then heads down into the well.

Down there, we see MIB standing over a fire and we he hears something, he turns quickly wielding the dagger. We he sees that it's Mother, he puts it back on his belt. He has her how she is and Mother says that she's worried. He says that she should be and that he spent 30 years covering the entire island looking for the source of the light at the tunnel she took them to as a child, but could never find it. But then he says he figured out that he could get to the light from another place on the island an finding that place took a long time.

Mother worriedly asks if his people saw this too and he says yes and that they have interesting ideas about what to do with it. She starts to say that he has no idea about something but he interrupts her saying that he has no idea because she wouldn't tell him.

MIB then uses a tool to pull a small stone from the wall behind him revealing a beam of bright, yellow light. Mother then notices a large wheel leaning against the wall and asks what it is (it is the infamous wheel that was frozen when both Ben and Locke turned it). MIB says that they are going to cut a larger hole into the wall and attach the wheel to a system they are building. The system will channel the water and light, so when he turns it, he will be able to leave the island.

Mother asks him how he knows this and he says that he knows because he's special. She begs him not to go, but he says he has to because he doesn't belong there. Mother says that this is goodbye then as she steps towards him and embraces him. During the hug, MIB seems content and  tells Mother goodbye. Mother releases him, grasping his face like she did when he was a child. She says "I'm sorry" as she slams him against the wall, knocking him out.

Geez. There's so much here. There is the origin of the frozen donkey wheel and a vague description of how it is intended to function. We learn that the light we saw in the tunnel earlier is the same as is found in pockets across the island. We also learn that MIB seems in tune with the island on an amplified level that he is able to deduct intricate things about's function. We also see that mother is afraid of any humans learning about the light, which we'll see the results of in a later post. Heavy, heavy stuff.

MIB is visited by Jacob, shows him magnetism at a well, tells him people are bad

When we return for Act 4 of the episode, we jump forward 30 years and we see Jacob as an adult at the caves working on a tapestry. Mother sits close by pressing something in a mortar with a pestle. She seems distant as Jacob turns to her and asks her what she thinks of his tapestry. She says that it's nice, and when he asks is she is alright, she says she's just tired.

It then cuts to a work site on another part of the island, where the other people are working on a well including the Man In Black (this is the same well that Locke fell down in season 5 to leave the island that is near the future sight of the Orchid Station). Jacob watches the site from a distance and Man In Black sees him.

Later, after the workers have gone, Jacob and MIB sit nearby playing the same Senet game from their teenage years. As the play, MIB asks Jacob if Mother knows that he visits him, and Jacob says that she never asks about him. MIB bitterly says that he's sorry he asked about her then.

He then asks Jacob why he watches his people and Jacob says that he wants to see if Mother was right about them being bad. MIB says that Mother may be insane, but she was right about the people being bad. Jacob says that they seem fine, but MIB says that's easy to say when you just watch them from a distance. He adds that after 30 years of living among them, he's learned that they are "greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy and selfish."

Jacob asks why he's with them then and MIB says they are means for him to get off of the island and they've found a way. Jacob says that is impossible because there's no way off of the island.

MIB pulls the dagger from his belt (the same one MIB gave Richard and Dogen gave Sayid) and throws it at towards the well. The dagger curves and sticks to side of the well. Jacob goes to the well and pulls the dagger from it. MIB tells him that there are smart men among his people who are curious about how thing work. He says that they have found sites all over the island where metal acts strangely and when they find these sites, they dig. He says at this site, they found something and asks Jacob to come with him.

MIB asks Jacob what he's going to do when Mother dies, and Jacob says she'll never die. MIB says that everything dies. Jacob emotionally says that he doesn't want to leave the island because it is his home. MIB replies "Well, it’s not mine."

Like so many scenes in this episode, this one is quite heavy. We see and hear about the digging of the wells, which Locke told Desmond about before pushing him down one. We see debate start about all men being bad and corruptible versus them having the potential for good (MIB's position versus Jacob's). There's certainly a lot to download and absorb.

It also seems that Mother may know that something bad is coming by the way she's acting at the caves. It's not likely that we'll ever know the full extent of the powers and abilities that the island's protectors have.

Jacob feels less loved that MIB, agrees to stay with Mother

As Mother sits on the beach alone and Jacob joins her. Jacbo asks her if she thinks the Man In Black will come back, and she says no. When Jacob asks if it's true that she killed his real mother, she says yes. Mother explains that she killed Claudia so that she wouldn't take Jacob back to her people because they are bad and would have made him bad too.

Mother adds that she needs Jacob to stay good. Jacob asks "Am I good, Mother?" and she tells him yes. He then asks why she loves MIB more than him. She says that she loves them in different ways and then asks if she will stay with him. Jacob says yes, but as she leans on his shoulder, he adds "For a while."

So why is it that Mother doesn't love both of her "sons" the same? What made MIB more important, or special than Jacob? This was certainly a tense scene where it becomes clear that Mother is more concerned with the well-being of her own agenda rather than the well-being of her "sons."

MIB is beaten up by Jacob after revealing the truth, leaves for the other camp

As Mother lays sleeping at the caves at night, Man In Black sneaks in and goes to where Jacob is sleeping. He wakes Jacob up and tells him to come with him.

A short distance into the jungle, MIB reveals that he has all of their things and they are going to leave and never come back. MIB reveals that they are going to the other people on the island because they are their people. Jacob strongly objects, reminding him of what Mother told them about the people. MIB tells him that Mother lied about everything and Jacob has to go with him because he doesn't want to go alone.

The argument gets more heated as MIB says that Mother doesn't love them and she's not even their mother. With that, Jacob snaps and tackles MIB, repeatedly punching him in the face. Mother shows up and Jacob stops, leaving MIB's face bloody.

Jacob tells Mother that MIB is leaving to go to the other people. MIB stands, spits the blood from his mouth and says that he knows now that there is another place across the sea that is where he's from. He says he's going to go home. Mother asks who told him that and he says his mother, Claudia, told him.

MIB says that Mother killed Claudia, who was Jacob's mother too. He asks Jacob again to come with him and Jacob says "no." Mother stops MIB and says that no matter what he's been told, he'll never be able to leave the island. MIB picks up his bag and heads into the jungle towards the people.

Why is it that at this point in his life, Mother is saying that MIB can't leave the island? She said they couldn't hurt each other, but Jacob beat up MIB, so does this mean she's lying about a lot of things? Either way, MIB picked his destiny early in life and is on the path that he'll follow for many, many years.

Claudia shows MIB the people he came from, tells him who he is

Jacob and Man In Black are hanging out by some trees playing the Senet game. Jacob makes a move and MIB tells him that he can't do it because it's against the rules. Jacob says that MIB made the rules though. MIB responds saying "One day, you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules." That seems to be what happened for the next few thousand years or so.

Suddenly, MIB looks up and sees Claudia standing in a pool of light. She says "It's alright, don't be afraid." Jacob turns to see what he's looking at and sees nothing. MIB is stunned and gets up and leaves Jacob, telling him that he'll meet him later.

Moments later in the jungle, MIB finds Claudia standing in a pool of light again. He asks her why Jacob couldn't see her and she tells him that it's because she's dead. She asks him to come with her so she can show him where he came from, which is a place across the island he has never seen.

MIB follows her across the island to a hill overlooking a village of people living in grass huts who are active performing various daily activities. MIB asks Claudia who they are and she tells him that they came to the island 13 years ago, the day before MIB was born. She says their ship wrecked here during a storm, and MIB asks what a ship is. She explains that it is something people use to get from one place to another and that his people came from across the sea. MIB objects, saying that's not true, since we saw earlier Mother told him that there was nothing across the sea.

Claudia reveals to him that she is his real mother and you can see anguish, but mostly anger come across MIB's face.

It's interesting that MIB, prior to becoming the smoke monster, is able to see the dead on the island. Is he like Hurley and can just see and talk to the dead or is it possible that Claudia is an earlier incarnation of the monster MIB later becomes? Either way, learning the truth about himself sets MIB on a path that he'll continue to follow for thousands of years.