great theory FatalSocialClub
and it makes lots of sense since Ben did know Sayid whereabouts.
Smokey said that He was planning on killing Locke... and Walt said that there where people with guns who wanted to hurt him... Illana + Guns at Locke because of Ben.
I wonder if we will see Desmond back soon on the island.
AND CLAIRE!! I want so her so bad!

talking about llana and her team, I think they are with Ben. But they do not know it yet, let me explain. LLana obviously did not capture sayd to bring him back to anyone for revenge, she took him back in the plane cause he needed to be here with the other ones for the flash to happen. Ben was maybe the only one to know where sayd was so that Llana can find him, and Ben failed when asking Sayd to come back on the island. I think Ben hired Llana and her team without telling who he was, asking to capture Sayid, bring him on the plane, and once on the island find a contact using the 'under the statue' question, and the contact is maybe Ben. Cause Ben surely knew he will lost control when going back to the island, control now given to Locke by the island/jacob, so he knew he would need backup.
Why did the smokey let Ben alive ? I understood the scene as if Smokey wanted to tell Ben that he really did something wrong for the island when not saving Alex, letting her die. But the island still needs Ben it seems, or can not kill him now for any reason. Or maybe Ben somehow repent by not killing Pënny, who is surely the reason for Widmore to be ban from the island (he was banned cause he had a baby with a stanger), or that scene is just a parralel with the one with Danielle rousseau and her baby, to show how Ben have a problem killing moms when their kids are here.
Remember how Desmond arrived on the island at the first place? he just arrived with a boat... so nothing amazing if he can do it again now.
I still wonder what Happened to Sawyer and Kate once they got back to the dharma after giving Ben to the others...
oh, and I am french, so sorry for my english ;)

The "flashbacks into black smoke" sequence was truly pathetic.

@ Tidus1117

Yes it was a mistake. I read it in http://darkufo.blogspot.com that George Garcia (a.k.a Hurley) confirmed that it was a mistake from part of the editors.

But i think they writers can use this scenario since even last time we saw Clair she was with Christian.

@cdncr
he did say that but I bet Richard or Charles told them about the healing.

Why anyone hasnt say anything about the woman/guy-with-long-hair behind Sun in Namaste???

lol hahah i guess it was someone from the team hahaha

When they got to the wall surrounding the temple, did Ben say "this is where the island first healed me" as in, the place where Richard brought boy-ben after Sayid shoots him? I thought he didn't remember it?

@ Mestor I think Locke and Christian have something in common, either they are alive or not.if you remmeber that, when Jack followed his father and fint the water in season 1...he didn't find his dad body in the coffin...that means,samething what happened to Locke ........

quite liked this one :)
Desmond/Penny/Charlie/Ben scene reminded me so much of Harry Potter haha. Shot Desmond, then turned on Penny who was all "Just don't hurt my son!". Except Ben didn't kill any of 'em so he isn't Voldemort, he's got a heart in there somewhere.
Actually I quite liked Ben this episode... when he said to Locke how friends are dangerous... I reeeally want him and Locke to be like best friends by the end of the season or something :P Probably won't happen but aw Ben. you poor guy.

Darlton said they were concerned for desmonds well being because he was indeed shot... do you think he will be hurt/dying and need to return to the island to be healed? Eloise said the island wasnt done with him yet...

ben yotr going to stay right here ceaser reaches into bag ben steps up looking for this boom guy flies pure ownage cracked up XDXDXDXD

Okay, why noone picked up on this is beyond me.
Smoke Monster: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammit)
I'll just leave this here.

I Agree with Campetin.

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@ Callum
I think they choose a sail boat to travel to LA to avoid been spotted and followed by Widmore.

does everyone who is dead where eyeliner? christian/alpert/ now alyx?!!! lol

anyway someone pointed this out maybe two episodes ago but why the hell would penny and des sail from london to la. wouldnt that take FOREVER? i guess its not really a big hole but it's something.

does anyone have any sailing experience and would know how long it would take to cross atlantic and panama canal on a trip from london to la?

@ Abot
I heard it like 10 times now still aint clear but yours makes more sense.

ok no one has even a little bit asked what the hell is in the drunk. me thinks it is dharma related. i mean come on now where getting close to season end and we no from comic con that dharma will at least try start up. these people were sent by dharma, good times

@Fantus:

U must not watch the show very much, cuz im pretty sure last weeks episode explained why Ben doesnt remember sayid shooting him or any of the other O6 in from '77. Richard specifically said that if they heal ben he will not remember any of what just happened and he will no longer have his innocence. U might wanna watch that one again.

The 316 people aren't Widmore's crew. For starters it's too obvious and second Ben spoke to Widmore the day he was flying and Widmore was in London and wouldn't be able to set up a team to go cause hurly brought all the remaining tickets. yea

@Cheapycheapskate:

But even if the O6 are gone by the time Ben gets back, it doesn't explain how he doesn't remember Sayid. Since he's the one who broke him out of jail. And Sayid shot Ben. Yet, Ben didn't remember any of that the whole time he was with Sayid?

i like that theory araceli it would be hilarious to see widmore come out of that box guns blazing!!!

Well i don't think that the smoke is christian, because the smoke couldn't go all the way to LA when christian when to talk to jack. Also what about Charlie, was charlie the smoke monster in LA.??
Also i think what is inside Llana's box is widmore. Some say that he wanted to comeback to island to star his war and that there was more people we know in the airplain 316(widmore).

No one has mentioned that Ben had no idea that the O6er's were around in Dharmatime. The episode didn't show us how Ben makes his way back to the DI. I imagine that the Losties are gone by the time Ben returns to Dharma.

That's an interesting theory, Boomer. I think Ilana has some kind of communications equipment in the aluminum crate and they are planning on sending a beacon to Widmore so he can locate the island. Widmore definitely came across as evil in this episode so he's probably planning to take over the world!

shadow of the statue has to be jughead and these people are widmores people!!! Coz widmore cant get back and does not want ben back on there or something like that he is going to ignite the bomb and destroy the island!!!

@Leo he didn't hurt him or anything. There must be someting elese. Or he just apologized of attempting to kill Penny.

I think Penny will leave Desmond because she is scared their son will be in harms way again.

@Anand, Richard said "Jacod wanted it done..."

Please do NOT comment the preview for next week's episode on this post!

@Wetsand: He said to tell Des he's sorry because of the parallel in the episode. He was gonna kill Danielle but didn't just took her child. He was gonna kill Penny, but realized she had a kid and realized he was wrong to include her. But it was too late. He wasn't gonna do it but Des was shot and reacted so he wanted to apologize.

It makes me wonder more about Ben. Not completely cold hearted but still an Evil SOB!!! I don't think all the others were involved in building the wall. I think the DI would have noticed if they were building such a large structure as that can't be done in the span of a few years. Also Ben touched the glyphs in awe not that he understood them.

Excellent Episode...

We finally get to know more about the monster. The episode successfully answered a few mysteries and created a bunch of cool new ones.

1.We now know for sure smokey if of mythological origin. But then the Dharmaville has a provision for summoning it!!! Is there a dharma connection to the monster or was it the others who after the purge built that summoning room.

2.For a few episodes i was starting ti think i might never see locke again in any of the missions in the Island's forest but i was wrong and im so glad i was.

3.We've had this constant debate on Destiny versus free will. From the episode I just get this feeling the island gives a certain amount of free will to its inhabitants. What do you guys think..?

4.The fact that smokey warns Ben not to hurt locke again makes me more sure of the fact that he just feels insecure of the Island wanting locke to lead now.

5.Richard said "Jacob wanted to die..". Why would he..? who the hell is he..? It seems he was a man once.

becuause he shot desmond lol obv

There is something wrong. Why Ben told Sun to tell Des sorry? He didn't kill Penny. Or did he?

One of the best episodes!

i agree with LostAddict,Christian,Yemi,Alex are the manifestations of the "monster"(in order to guide our survivors,like in that episode when Jack followed his "father" and at the end of the road he has found water). in this episode it's obvious that once you're dead you only "came back" in another form;it is like i've believed, that the monster, the guardian of the "underworld"/afterlife, it is also judge:Eko was killed because he was not felt sorry for the evil done,Ben understood where he was wrong(that he's responsible for the death of his daughter).
With Locke , here is another story;he's not dead like Christian,Yemi,Alex, he is resurrected,and that i think it's related with this magic island and also with time,probably ajira 316 reached the island some time before the time of Locke's death.(i think....).Statue?Anubis?
great episode!

Was anybody else bothered by the actor who played Widmore at the begining of the episode? If they put young makeup on the old Widmore why couldn't they just put old makeup on the young one? Did we really need an entirely different actor?

maybe widmore was tricked// ben said to him "you had it coming" maybe Ben set him up to be kicked off. also.. maybe the statue is part of the temple and she wanted to know what was inside.

this was a great episode a ton of new info. and it was sooo nice to finnaly see locke and even more desmond again.. my men! i'm so excited to see next week!

AND WHERE THE HELL IS FARADAY

ps.. lipidus is a weiner

the picture in the desk is Ben and Alex

Ben's reaction when Sun said "His name was Christian"... I wonder, if Ben has met him.

Im sure Alex was a creation of the monster but i dont know Christian what exactly he is?

Lapidus left Sun with two weird people!! what a coward!

The others build the wall outside of the temple, the hieroglyphics that Ben saw are part of the temple since they are beneath it. if the wall has hieroglyphics then those ones where made by the others.
in a podcast we already knew that it was the wall and that it sorrounded the temple.

There is a scene where Ilana and a guy at the begining are trying to open the huge metal crate and Bens ask for help...
what is inside that crate? (she said inside there are things they need to move on)
What lies on the shadows of the statue??? omg either she is nuts or she is in a mission and that is a code like Brian said!

Awesome episode, im glad Penny is alive :)

great episode. i laughed when caesar got shot. he pretty much had no purpose it seems now.

as for below the temple... the hieroglyphs from where smokie came out of his hole featured smokie in front of the egyptian god Anubis, god of the afterlife. perhaps smokie has some control over the afterlife and brought back alex for just that moment to scare ben straight.

judge me by my enemies.

I agree with LostAddict about the 4 toed statue picture. I was disappointed not to see inside the Temple, but it gives me something to look forward to!

Great episode and Locke rules!!!!

Could the "shadow of the statue" business have to do with those people getting "the sickness"?

WOW. It was amazing. Seeing smokey, the under-temple, it was fantastic. And bad-ass Locke was awesome! Ben's gotta respect him now!

@Callum: I don't think Alex is back, I think she was an apparition formed by the smoke monster just like Yemi (Eko's brother). I didn't get a clear view but I'm pretty sure the girl on the picture was Alex...
Also I think we got a glimpse of the statue... Did you see the picture of the egyptian figure with a fox/wolf head carved on the stone, summoning the smoke monster that Ben saw above the place where smokey came from? I think that's the statue... It had cat-like ears (the statue)...