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.

Hurley takes Ilana's bag of Jacob's ashes, supports Richard's plan

At the beach camp, Hurley looks through Ilana's things and finds a copy of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's book Notes From the Underground in Russian. He then discovers the bag of ashes that Ilana collected from the firepit where Jacob's body burned at the Taweret statue (the four-toed statue). He looks inside, and decides to keep the bag.

In the group, as Richard prepares to go get more dynamite, Jack starts to question his plan. Hurley pipes in and supports Richard's plan and seems sincere when he convinces Jack to trust him. As we know, Hurley has his own plan, but we'll get to that later.

It seems that Hurley is being really smart when he takes Jacob's ashes, which will quite possibly come in handy for warding of Locke or the smoke monster some time in the future.

Locke can't cross the ash, sends Claire into the temple

Outside the temple, Locke and Claire are standing at the line of ash. Claire asks Locke why he can't send Sawyer or Jin inside or do it himself. Locke says that he would do it himself if he could. Claire makes him swear to her that she'll get what he promised her which is getting Aaron back. Locke says "I always do what I say" and that he's only going to hurt the people inside who don't listen.

Ilana takes ashes where Jacob burned + Ben lies about killing him

At the four-toed statue, Ilana is sitting inside crying when Ben enters. She asks him what happened to Bram and the rest of her team. Ben tells her that Locke turned into a pillar of black smoke and killed them, but he lies and tells her that Locke killed Jacob too. When he tells Ilana that Jacob was kicked into the fire, she goes to the pit and scoops out a handful of ashes and puts them in a small pouch, much like the one Bram had. When Ben asks why Locke carried Richard into the jungle, Ilana says that he's recruiting.

So what exactly is Ilana's connection to Jacob? She not only seems concerned, but emotionally devastated by his death.

Sayid is tested/tortured by Dogen with ash, electric shock & hot poker

In Dogen's office area, Sayid is strapped to a table. Dogen proceeds with his testing.

First, he throws what appears to be the same ash used to guard against the smoke monster on Sayid. Dogen watches closely as the ash falls onto Sayid's body.

Next Dogen attaches electrodes to Sayid, then turns a crank which and then a dial which sends electricity through Sayid's body. Dogen looks at Sayid and then looks back at the machine.

Last, Dogen takes a hot metal poker and lays it on Sayid's skin, causing him to scream in agony. Dogen leans over and looks very closely at Sayid's face while he burns him.

Lennon comes over to let Sayid out and apologizes for having to put him through that. He says it was a test that he passed. Once Sayid is gone Lennon says "I just lied to him, didn't I?" Dogen confirms that.

So what exactly were these tests supposed to prove and what about Sayid's reactions to them leads Dogen to believe that he failed?

Hurley tells Dogen Jacob is dead, temple goes into lockdown + Zach & Emma

Back at the temple, we see Zach and Emma, the tail section kids, for the first time since the season 3 episode "The Brig." They come to bring food and water to the survivors at Cindy's behest. Behind them, an unconscious Sawyer is dragged into the room with Miles pushed in behind him. Miles says that they were jumped in the jungle and Saywer took out four others/natives before he was knocked out with a rock.

Hurley is summoned to Dogen's office/greenhouse for a talk. Dogen, thru Lennon, asks what Jacob told him and asks when Jacob is coming to the temple. Hurley tells them that Jacob is dead, causing Dogen to look panicked and angry.

An alarm is sounded and Dogen orders the others/natives to their posts and to prepare the ash around the walls. He says "Defense to the east wall!" and "Ten men to north side!" Some others/natives set up a platform and shoot off a rocket flare.

They seem to be incredibly panicked about what is likely coming to the temple. Have they had to prepare for this before or is this the first battle they've faced?

Ilana leads Bram, Frank, the rest to Jacob's cabin, the ash is broken

Back with Ilana's group, Bram and the others are still carrying the Ajira cargo crate through the jungle. Frank tells Bram that he wishes that they hadn't show him what was in the box and then asks what they're going to do with it. Bram says that they need to show it to somebody so they'll know who they're up against. Frank asks what they're up against and Bram says "Something a hell of a lot scarier than what's in this box Frank." Bram tells Frank that as long as he's with them, he'll be fine. Frank says that would be reassuring if he knew who they were leaving Bram to say a familiar line "We're the good guys." Frank says that the people who go out of their way to say they're the good guys are usually the bad guys.

Ilana stops and tells the rest of the group "We're here." They have stopped at Jacob's cabin. They examine the circle of ash surrounding it and Bram points out that the circle has been broken. Ilana looks worried and tells the rest of the group to wait there as she heads towards the cabin.

So who broke the ash at the cabin? Was it Jacob's enemy who is posing as Locke? That might explain where he went while Ben and Sun waited at the barracks.