Island scenes during the opening montage of "The End"

During the opening montage of "The End," we see Jack at sunrise by the creek, washing his hands and looking at them intently. We see Ben Linus looking somewhat terrified as he loads a gun. He turns and looks at Locke who is wrapping a rope.

Sawyer, Kate and Hurley are sitting around the camp where they talked to Jacob the night before. Sawyer approaches Kate and examines her bullet wound.

Not a lot to analyze, but some beautiful opening shots.

Christian Shephard's coffin arrives at LAX

As the series finale opens, we see Christian Shephard's coffin arrive at LAX and gets removed from a plane and placed in a van.

While this happens, we see Jack in his office looking at Locke's x-ray. Ben is making himself a cup of coffee, his arm still in the sling. Locke is being wheeled off to surgery on a gurney and looks at his empty wheelchair. Sawyer prepares for another day at work and looks at himself in the broken mirror he punched in "Recon."

This sets up our characters as we enter the finale. I'll include the island shots from this montage in the next post.

Jacob passes protectorship to Jack by blessing water

Jacob leads Jack down to a creek as Sawyer, Kate and Hurley watch from a distance. Sawyer cracks a joke saying "And I thought that guy had a God complex before." Kate says "James" in a scolding tone and he says "I know." Hurley says "I'm glad it's just not me."

By the creek, Jacob tells Jack that over the ridge at the bamboo field where he first woke up on the island, that's where the heart of the island is, which he needs to protect from Locke. Jack says that there's nothing past the bamboo, but Jacob says that there is and he'll now be able to find it.

Jacob then asks Jack if he has a cup and Jack gets one from his bag. Jacob reaches into the water and pulls some out, saying in Latin as he does so "Nam non accipimus hoc quasi vulgarem potionem, sed ut ille sit quasi unus mecum," which means "Because we don't accept this as a simple potion, but so that he shall be as one with me." He releases the water back into the creek, puts some into the cup and gives it to Jack to drink. Jack asks how long he will have to do the job, and Jacob says as long as he can. Jack drinks all the water in the cup and then Jacob puts his hand on his shoulder and says "Now you're like me."

The ritual mirrors the passing of power from Mother to Jacob that we saw in "Across the Sea." It's interesting that the light (or the source or heart of the island) is only able to be found by the protector, but it's so close from where Jack's island story began.

Jacob tells the Losties why he chose them, Jack accepts the role of protector

Around the fire, Hurley, Kate, Jack and Sawyer sit across from Jacob. Hurley asks Jacob why he brought them to the island. Jacob says that he brought them there because he made a mistake, accidentally creating the smoke monster, which could lead to the deaths of all of them and everyone they care about. He says that monster has been trying to find a way to kill him for a long time, so he brought them all there because he would need someone to replace him once the monster succeeded.

Sawyer pipes up and asks why they have to be punished for Jacob's mistake, saying that he was doing fine before he was brought to the island. Jacob says that none of them were plucked from a happy existence. He says that he chose them all because they were flawed and alone like he is. He adds that they all needed the island as much as the island needed them.

Kate then asks why her named was crossed off of the cave wall. Jacob says it was because she became a mother, but adds that it's just a line of chalk in a cave and the job is hers if she wants it. Jack asks what the job is, and Jacob says that the job is to protect a light at the center of the island by making sure it never goes out.

When Sawyer says that the smoke monster (Locke) said that the island doesn't need protecting, Jacob says that it has to be protected from the monster. Jacob adds that they have to do what he could never do, and Jack jumps in asking "You want us to kill him?" and if that's even possible. Jacob says that he hopes they can find a way to kill the monster, because he's certainly going to try and kill them.

Hurley then asks Jacob how he's going to pick, and Jacob says that he's not going to. He adds that he's going to give them what he never had, and that's a choice. Kate then asks what happens if no one takes the job, and Jacob says that "Then this ends very badly." Jack steps forward and says that he'll do it, adding that this is what he's supposed to do. Jacob asks him if that was a question and Jack says "no." Jacob says "Good... then it's time."

This was easily one of the most satisfying scenes of the series. We finally learn why Jacob chose who he brought to the island and he gets to tell the remaining candidates directly. Simply awesome.

Locke is ready to 'let go,' Jack is pleased, but questions fate

At Jack's office, he gets an unexpected visit from Locke. Locke enters and sees a photo of Jack, David and Christian. Jack says the photo was taken at Thanksgiving and Locke says that David looks just like Jack.

Locke then runs off a list for Jack. He says that they were on the same plane from Sydney, but he threw away the card Jack gave him when they met. Then he says that he was hit by a car and taken to Jack as his doctor out of all the doctors he could have seen. Then he mentions how Ben was beaten up by Desmond, who said that he was trying to help Locke "let go," which is the same thing Jack told Locke in "The Candidate."

Locke then says that maybe all this is happening for a reason, but Jack drops a season 2 line from Mr. Eko by saying "I think you're mistaking coincidence for fate." Locke says no matter what it's called, he thinks he's ready to get out of the wheelchair.

Jack, Kate & Sawyer meet Jacob

Hurley leads Jack, Kate and Sawyer to the campfire where Jacob is waiting for them. Jacob says hello to each of them and Hurley starts to tell everyone what Jacob said until Jack points out that he heard him. Sawyer and Kate confirm that they can see him too.

Kate gets angry and asks if Jacob's the one who wrote the names on the wall including Sayid, Sun and Jin. He confirms that he is and then Kate asks if that's why they're all dead. Jacob says "I'm sorry," and then Kate demands to know that they didn't die for nothing.

Jacob tells them to come sit down and he'll tell them what they died for and why he chose all of them. He then says that once the fire burns out, one of them will have to take over as protector of the island. Kate and Sawyer look skeptical, Hurley looks worried and Jack looks ready to go. We'll continue with their fireside chat a little later.

Young Jacob takes ashes from Hurley, leads him to older Jacob + Sawyer copes with death

As the group makes their way towards the well to find Desmond, Sawyer asks Jack why Locke wouldn't kill Desmond himself if he wanted him dead. Jack says that it may be one of the rules. That leads Sawyer return to what Jack said on the submarine about Locke not being able to kill them and then asks if he kill "them," meaning Sun, Jin and Sayid. Jack says that he has been wrong before, in an attempt to console Sawyer and then says that Locke was the one who killed them.

Hurley and Kate are lagging behind a bit, when Hurley suddenly stops as he sees young Jacob standing near-by. Kate continues on and then young Jacob appears right behind Hurley and demands the ashes that he took from Ilana's things. When Hurley asks why, Jacob says that they are his.

Jacob snatches the ashes and runs away. Hurley follows for a short distance, before he comes across the Jacob in his older form, sitting next to a fire. Hurley asks Jacob where he's been and Jacob says that it doesn't matter. Hurley then asks if he saw a kid run by with his ashes. Jacob says that the ashes are in the fire and once it goes out, he will never be seen again. He then tells Hurley to get his friends because "We’re very close to the end."

It's interesting that Jacob seems to be able to appear as himself at different ages since he is dead and that he will cease to be after his remains are gone. This might explain why Ilana knew to take the ashes. They were not for protection, but to keep Jacob alive long enough for a candidate to step forward.

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?

Jack, Sawyer, Hurley & Kate make it to the beach & cry + Locke leaves to complete his plan

Jack makes it to the beach carrying Sawyer. After making it out of the water, he collapses on the beach. Sawyer coughs, indicating he is alive, but remains unconscious. Hurley walks up helping Kate who is still weak from the gunshot to the shoulder. Kate says that they couldn't find Jack as they embrace

They find out that Sawyer is breathing and then ask about Jin and Sun. Jack just shakes his head and Kate and Hurley begin to sob. Jack walks away to the beach of the ocean and looks up. He then hangs his head and begins to weep himself.

Meanwhile, Locke is back at the dock with Claire. He says "it sunk." Claire asks if he means the submarine and if they're all dead. Locke says that not all of them are dead, then grabs a gun and starts to walk away. When Claire asks where he's going, Locke says "To finish what I started."

So this is it. It seems like it's going to be Locke versus what remains of our group, but Ben, Richard and Miles are still around, as are Desmond, Charles Widmore, Zoe and what remains of Widmore's group and the others from the temple. How will this all play out? We don't have long until we find out.

Locke reveals the accident to Jack, recognizes Jin + Jack triggers Locke's island memories

At St. Sebastian Hospital, Locke is being pushed down the hall in a wheelchair by an orderly. As Locke is telling him that his fiance Helen is picking him up, Jin walks down the hall with flowers. Locke is distracted as he looks at Jin as if he recognizes him. Locke then tells the orderly he can take it from there and continues on his own.

At that moment Jack walks up the hall to meet Locke. Jack says that he wants to say goodbye and they shake hands. Then Jack's demeanor changes as he tells Locke that he went to see Anthony Cooper with the hope of understanding why Locke didn't want the surgery.

Locke is clearly upset, but proceeds to tell Jack that he was in a plane crash. He had his private pilot's license for a week and begged Anthony to be his passenger on his first flight, even though he was afraid of flying. He says that they were barely off the ground and he doesn't remember what went wrong, but it was his fault that the man he loved more than anything would never walk or talk again.

Jack recalls the moment they met at LAX when Locke told Jack his father was gone. Jack tells Locke that his father is gone too. Locke objects, saying that he's not gone, but Jack tells him that he can punish himself as long as he wants, but it's never going to bring him back. Jack adds "What happened, happened, and, you can let it go." Certainly a familiar phrase coined by Daniel Faraday.

Locke asks what makes him think letting go is so easy and Jack says it's not and he has difficulty doing it too. He says that he was hoping that Locke could go first with a slight smile. Locke pauses then laughs and then tells Jack goodbye and starts down the hall.

Before Locke turns the corner, Jack says "I can help you, John. I wish you believed me." That's same statement was the sole line of Locke's suicide note and Locke said it earlier in the episode when he was asleep. Locke is stopped by the line and it clearly struck a nerve with him, but after a moment he leaves without saying anything else.

This was one of the deepest conversations between Jack and Locke we've seen. The question is, why does Locke clearly seem to recognize things from the original timeline, but chooses to ignore them? Or is he ignoring them? Has he had a flash like Desmond or Hurley and seen something that he didn't want to see?

Frank knocked out as water rushes in + Hurley, Kate, Sawyer & Jack escape

After Sayid explodes, everyone is thrown around in the submarine. Frank gets up off of the floor of the control room and moves towards the rest of the group. He stops at the hatch window which has started to leak water. He says "Ah, hell" then the hatch is thrust forward and he is knocked unconscious as the water rises. He is likely dead.

Jack sees Kate in the rising water and pulls her out. Sawyer grabs Hurley who is okay and Sun is pinned against a wall by a large metal box. As Sawyer goes to help Jin free Sun, Jack tells Hurley to get Kate out of there and he'll take care of everybody else. Hurley says that he has to help Sayid and Jack says "There is no Sayid!" Jack gives Hurley an oxygen tank and tells him to take Kate though the blast hole in the side of the submarine. He tells Hurley that he can do it.

As the sub sinks, Hurley and Kate make it to the blast hole as Jack goes to help Sawyer and Jin. They manage to move the large metal box, but then they realize that Sun is still trapped by some mangled metal beams.

As the sub shifts suddenly, Sawyer is knocked by some falling wreckage. Jin continues to struggle with the metal trapping Sun as Jack pulls Sawyer out of the water. Sun tells Jin to leave, but he says he's going to get her out. Jin tells Jack to get Sawyer out and refuses an oxygen tank that Jack offers him.

Jack shares parting, mournful looks with Sun and Jin, then makes his way out of the submarine with Sawyer.

Sun and Jin certainly deserve their own post, so you'll see that coming up next.

Sayid sacrifices himself, is killed by C-4 explosion

As the group examines the bomb which is still slowly ticking down, Jin calls Frank in the control room and tells him to have the captain surface the submarine. The captain has to reverse the submarine which is currently diving.

Jack tells the group that Locke put the explosives in the bag. Jin says that Locke wanted to come with them so why would he do that. Sawyer says that's why he shut Locke out. Jack tells them that Locke wanted to be shut out.

Sayid tells them that the watch has been jury-rigged to the explosives and the battery will set off the C-4. Frank tells Sawyer that it'll be at least five minutes before the submarine can surface. Sayid then says that if they disconnect two wires that are the leads from the watch, the bomb should be inert. He adds that they have to disconnect them simultaneously and then says "I'm not sure..." but is interrupted by Sawyer who steps forward.

Jack tells Sawyer to wait and not to pull the wires because they'll all be okay. Obviously, Sawyer objects strongly, saying that if he doesn't pull the wires, Locke will kill them. Jack says that Locke can't kill them and this is what Locke wanted. He says that Locke wanted to get them all in an enclosed space with no hope to get out. He says that Locke said he can't leave the island without them, but Jack thinks that Locke can't leave until they're all dead. Locke claimed he could kill them whenever he wanted, but Jack says what if he's not allowed to and he's trying to get them to kill each other.

Sawyer tells him to stay out of his way and Jack adds why would Locke put the timer on it and not just throw it in if he could kill them himself. Jack grabs Sawyer and asks him to trust him that nothing will happen. Sawyer says he doesn't and pulls the wires. The timer stops at 1:31 and everybody looks relieved. A moment later, the timer then starts again but is accelerated.

Sayid steps up and tells Jack that there is a well on the main island half a mile south of the camp they were just at. He says that Desmond is inside it and Locke wanted him dead, so Jack is going to need him. Jack asks why he's telling him this and Sayid then says "Because it's going to be you, Jack."

Sayid grabs the bomb and runs down the hallway. The bomb explodes, killing Sayid, who has sacrificed himself to give the others a chance to survive. It was quite a quick death for our original castaway from season one. I guess there's not time to left to stop and be emotional about a character who has essentially been a zombie most of the season.

We'll stop there and pick things up in the next post, but this part of the scene is heavy, with Jack once again seeming to figure out the rules of the game. So in theory, if Sawyer and the others wouldn't have interfered with the bomb, they would have lived, but since he got involved, he became the killer. So it seems that the candidates can kill each other, but Locke and possibly other people and forces cannot.

Jack finds the C-4 in the bag Locked swapped with his

As the submarine dives into the ocean, Jack is trying to treat Kate's bullet wound. Kate asks where Claire is and Jack tells her that she's still on the island. She objects, but is too weak. Hurley says that he can't find a first aid kit.

Jack asks Jin to hand him his bag that has a shirt he can use to apply pressure to the wound. As Jack is opening the bag, he says that he thinks the bullet went all the way through Kate. As he reaches his hand in the bag, he pulls out three blocks of C-4 (from the Ajira plane) attached to the digital watch that Locke took from the body of the Widmore's guy that he shot. The timer on the bomb is counting down from 3 minutes and 54 seconds. Jack says that they did exactly what Locke wanted.

This is an amazingly elaborate plan that Locke managed to pull off. He got everyone in one place with a bomb, just like Locke claimed Widmore was trying to do putting the explosives on the plane. This is the longest of cons that has played out over many years. The results are coming up.

Kate is shot, a gun battle ensues with Widmore's men, Claire is left behind with Locke

The moment after Jack pushes Locke into the water, Widmore's men who are hiding at the tree-line take their first shot which hits Kate in the shoulder. Jack, Sayid and Claire open fire on the numerous armed men hiding in trees and behind tall grass.

After Jack empties his gun, he grabs Kate and heads for the submarine hatch. Sayid helps lower her into the submarine as Claire keeps shooting at Widmore's guys. Locke emerges from the water, climbs onto the pier and angrily opens fire on Widmore's men.

After Sawyer finds out what happened, he goes to the top of the hatch and screams for Claire. Locke is at the other end of the pier and screams "James!" and starts running towards the submarine. Sawyer closes the hatch, leaving Locke and Claire on the pier.

Sawyer radios Frank and tells him to get the captain to dive. The captain flips the levers and the submarine starts moving.

Claire sees the sub leaving and screams as she runs towards it. Locke grabs her with a smirk on his face and says "You don't want to be on that sub."

So why did Widmore's men wait until Locke was pushed into the water to open fire? Also, why was Kate, a non-candidate, the only one shot? Widmore mentioned her earlier and knows she's not a candidate. It all seems to a bit too convenient. Is it possible that Widmore has been working on Locke's team this entire time and his appearance otherwise was all a con?