What They Died For

Locke: Do you really think all this is an accident -- that we, a group of strangers survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence -- especially, this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason, all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.

Jack: Brought here? And who brought us here, John?

Locke: The Island. The Island brought us here. This is no ordinary place, you've seen that, I know you have. But the Island chose you, too, Jack. It's destiny.
-Exodus, Part 2

For six years we’ve tried to figure out what that purpose was that Locke was talking about. Now we know. They are there to protect the Island. Our four remaining 815ers – led by a man with a savior complex who just happens to be a real-life savior himself, Jack Shephard – are on the precipice of realizing their destinies. With the power of the Island at hand, a clear head on his shoulders and a point in the right direction from Jacob, Jack has everything he needs to protect the place that’s called to him like a Siren’s song for three long years. He, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley now face a smokey, diabolical menace that would drag you into a hole or slit your throat as soon as look at you. All roads lead here. They’re ready.

So what happened on this last little stretch of road before “The End”? A whole lot. “What They Died For” was so jam-packed with both Sideways and Island goodness, the only thing keeping this recap under 5000 words is the fact that I have only 4 days(!) to write it. It’s crunch-time. “The Desmond’s out of the well”, as they say. So let’s get to it.

The Island events of “What They Died For” pick up right where “The Candidate” left off: Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley on the beach (on the main Island as we come to find out), shaken and shattered. But not defeated! As Jack stitches up Kate’s bullet wound (finally returning the favor three years later) tears of pain and tears of sadness and tears of anger trickling down her face, she recalls little Kwon, Ji Yeon, and how the Monster made it so that Jin would never meet her. She wants to kill him. And with literally no persuasion required, Jack agrees. They set off to find Desmond in the well.

Across the Island, we finally get to catch up with Ben, Richard and Miles, whom we last saw in “Everybody Loves Hugo” setting off for the Barracks to find some explosives to blow up the Ajira plane. Kind of seems like old news now, right? They’ve finally made it to Ben’s old stomping grounds, and Miles’ dead-person radar starts going off like mad. It’s Alex, Ben’s daughter. Richard buried her after Keamy shot her in the head. (Man, that was a great scene. FYI, there might be a lot of nostalgic reminiscing from here on out. I’m sure my recap for “The End” will be even worse. Sue me.) “Thank you, Richard”, Ben responds. It’s a nice little reminder of that event and Ben’s undying vengeance against Widmore for taking his daughter from him.

And guess who shows up not a minute later but Charles Widmore himself, giving orders and strutting around like he owns the place. Ben asks him how he got back to the Island. After all, he’d been looking for it for 30 years and never could find a way to get back before. He tells Ben that Jacob invited him. Perhaps out of jealousy that Jacob never came to see him, Ben fires back “That’s a lie”. But Charles presses on, telling the group that Jacob paid him a visit not long after his freighter was destroyed, convinced him of the error of his ways, and told him everything he needed to know to take down the MIB.

Now, there are a few ways to look at this scene. First, it’s confirmation that, at least at one time, Charles was in the wrong. So we’re not going to have some sort of moment were it’s explained how Widmore was a good guy all along. I’m glad about that. I just can’t see how that could have possibly made sense. Second, are we to trust Widmore that Jacob actually came to see him? I’m really not sure. With Ben’s gun to my head, I’d have to say that he’s telling the truth, that Jacob did pay him a visit and that he told him to bring Desmond to the Island as a “failsafe” to take down the Monster. And thirdly, what was the “error in his ways” that Jacob had to convince Widmore to give up? We know that one of the main pillars of Jacob’s philosophy is the idea of free will, that everyone should have a choice. But I’ve long theorized that Widmore, with the help of Eloise Hawking (and Brother Campbell) had been pushing Desmond to the Island for a long time. They manipulated many of the major decisions in his life, from his banishment from the monastery to his desire to marry Penny to his goal of winning a race around the world, all with the purpose of guiding Desmond to the Island. But then again, telling him to kidnap Des onto a submarine doesn’t seem very Jacob-like at all. So maybe Widmore is just a big fat liar. Now that he has a bullet in his head, I’m not counting on learning the truth to this one.

But all that didn’t matter right then because the MIB just pulled up at the Pala Ferry in an outrigger. At this point, it comes down to the three choices Rousseau laid out back in “Exodus Part 1”: run, hide or die. Miles takes off into the jungle. Widmore and his right-hand gal Zoe hide. Ben chooses “die”. “He’s going to find me sooner or later”, he says with a shrug, and walks out of his house with Richard to confront the Monster.

The two exit Ben’s house, and before you know it Richard’s flying 30 feet in the air courtesy of a large column of black smoke. Ben takes a seat on his porch. Out from where the Monster just retreated walks the image of John Locke. Twirling a knife, he sits down next to Ben. Just like he did in “Dr. Linus”, he offers Ben the chance to rule the Island all by himself. He just needs to do one thing. Kill a few people is all. This time Ben agrees.

Earlier in the episode, Ben said something extremely interesting. He said, “I was told I could summon the monster. That’s before I realized that it was the one summoning me.” Ben has come to the conclusion that his whole time as leader of the Others, the choices he made and the orders he followed, the peopled he killed, they weren’t in service of Jacob liked he’d always thought. They were in service of the Monster. He lived his whole life under the mistaken belief that Jacob deemed him special and that he was destined to be the leader of his people, the first people that had ever made him feel as if he belonged. But it was all a sham. The powerful Benjamin Linus, the man always in control, the man pulling all the strings, the man who could read and manipulate people into doing his bidding as easily as reading a book, had been played all along by the exact entity that he was tasked with containing. He was embarrassed. He’d been made into a fool. And it was the Monster that did it to him. Now he wants revenge. Like with Widmore, he has a score to settle. So I don’t think for a second that Ben’s going along with the Monster’s plan to kill all those people and destroy the Island. I think he’s planning on one final trick, one last trap to show that he’s the master con artist of the Island that he always thought he was. And that he’ll prove to Jacob that he really can protect the Island every bit as well as the leader of Jacob’s people is supposed to.

But first, Ben has other vengeful urges he needs satisfied. He escorts his new ally into his house and points the way to Charles and Zoe, who are both hiding in Ben’s old secret room with all the passports and foreign cash. (Aside from a couple hints about Tunisia, we never really figured out what sort of Others business all that stuff was for, did we?) The Monster gets right down to business putting the screws to Widmore about why he’s back on the Island, threatening to kill his daughter if he doesn’t tell. Sounds to me like a pretty hollow threat, considering the MIB can’t leave the Island, but it gets Widmore talking. He tells him that he brought Desmond and his miraculously special resistance to electromagnetism back to the Island as a “measure of last resort”. Before he says anything else, Ben shoots him in the head. “He doesn’t get to save his daughter.” Vengeance #1, check. Vengeance #2 will have to wait.

Let’s head back to our other Island group. They’re still searching for Desmond, and really, how the hell are they supposed to find one random well tucked in the middle of that hugely expansive jungle? But I guess if they’re meant to find it, they will, won’t they? Jack has faith. Sawyer, he doesn’t know what to believe. He’s clearly upset about what he feels was him basically killing Jin, Sun and Sayid. He even asks Jack, “I killed them, didn’t I?” But now Jack’s the one to let someone off the hook. “No. He killed them,” he responds. That a boy, Jack.

As usual, Hurley falls behind the rest of the group. Out pops Teenage Jacob, and immediately I became as angry as Hurley was startled. He demands Hurley hand over the bag of ashes (his ashes) Hurley had grabbed from Ilana’s pack after she exploded. Before he can hand them over, Teenage Jacob snatches them right out of his hands and takes off. Hurley gives chase, only to run straight into Adult Jacob’s campsite. “Hello, Hugo,” he says. “You should get your friends…We’re very close to the end.”

Darkness falls. Hurley, Sawyer, Kate and Jack walk into Jacob’s campsite and sit down. No more secrets. Jacob’s prepared to answer their questions. Kate starts. Is he the one who wrote their names on the wall? Is he the reason Jin, Sun and Sayid are dead? “I’m very sorry,” he says. He tells them that their dead because of a mistake he made a long time ago, a mistake they call “The Monster”. He made that mistake a long time ago, and ever since that monster has been trying to kill him. He knew he’d need to find a replacement to protect the Island for when he eventually succeeded. And it will have to be one of them.

I thought it was interesting the way Jacob framed all this. In the big moment where he finally reveals to his candidates his big plan and their purpose, he doesn’t portray himself as some all-powerful deity, but rather a flawed man. And Sawyer treats him as such. “Tell me something, Jacob. Why do I gotta be punished for your mistake?” he says, “I was doin’ just fine till you dragged my ass to this damn rock.”

“No, you weren’t,” Jacob replies matter-of-factly. “None of you were. I didn’t pluck any of you out of a happy existence. You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me. You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.” Exactly.

Sawyer seems to have forgotten all the personal growth he’s experienced over the past three years. Before 815 crashed, he was a lowly con man, a despicable scumbag who loved no one and had no one to love him. The rest of them were suffering similarly. Jack’s obsessiveness had driven away everyone he loved. Kate was on the run for murder and had alienated herself from her mother. Hurley was saddled with guilt and fear, unable to find someone to share his life with. Same for the rest of the Losties. Locke, Sun, Jin, Sayid - all pushed loved ones away with anger, resentment or bad habits they just couldn’t break. Like Jacob, they really were alone.

And then they crashed on the Island. They formed a community that allowed them to conquer their demons and realized their true purpose. Their destiny. Hurley overcame his insecurities and developed the self-confidence to trust himself. Sawyer stopped using people and became a dependable and trustworthy person. Kate learned to settle down. And Jack became the leader he always feared he couldn’t be.

But what about those that didn’t make it this far? What about Locke, Jin, Sun and Sayid? What about Boone and Michael and Charlie? Was it their destinies to die just to correct Jacob’s mistake? I don’t think that’s what they died for at all. Each one of them died not in service to Jacob or the Island, but for their friends. Starting with Boone and up through Sayid, each one of them died trying heroically to help the rest of the group. The hatch was important, so Boone climbed up to that beechcraft. Charlie sacrificed himself to secure rescue. Michael did the same. Locke died trying to get everyone back to the Island, where he knew they belonged. Jin died for Sun. Sun died because she came back to save Jin. And Sayid saved Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley from meeting the same fate for which he knew he was destined. They didn’t die for Jacob. They died for each other. This place might be death, but it’s also the place everyone found something life is pointless without: love.

It’s time for those that are left to give back to the Island that gave them so much. One of them needs to take Jacob’s gig. Living in a foot statue, grilling fish on a rock, protecting a light that gives life to the entire world. That’s about it. And because of Mother, he’s not going to pick which one of them gets the job. He’s going to give them the one thing he was never given – a choice. Someone else decided Jacob’s whole life for him; he would never want to do the same to any of them. Without hesitation, Jack steps up and channels his inner John Locke, “I’ll do it. . . This is why I’m here. This is . . . this is what I’m supposed to do.” “Is that a question, Jack?” says Jacob. “No.” “Good…Then it’s time.” While Kate looks on with admiration and concern, Sawyer’s (guiltily) making snarky remarks and Hurley’s relaxing gratefully that it’s not him, Jacob performs the same ritual we saw Mother do with him just last week. He blesses some water and gives it to Jack. “Now you’re like me.”

I don’t have a ton to say about this actually, other than these scenes were beyond cool. It’s an encounter we’ve been waiting for all season. Jacob finally has the ears of his people, the one’s he’s been watching their whole lives. And most of them accept what he has to say. They wouldn’t have been ready for this if Jacob would have popped out of the jungle the day of the crash and just spilled it all out for them. But now they are, and Jack is ready to take his place. It just seems right.

Jack hasn’t won anything yet, though. He still has to take down the Monster, who’s trekked with Ben to the well where he’d been keeping Desmond. I don’t know if he was expecting to find Desmond dead or what, but when the two arrive, there’s nothing waiting for them but an empty well with a rope leading out of it. But the Monster’s undeterred. “Looks like someone helped him out,” Ben says. “No, Ben. Someone helped me out,” he replies. Widmore told him that Jacob wanted Desmond brought to the Island as a failsafe in case he’d succeeded in killing all his candidates. But now, the Monster says, he’s going to used Desmond to, “do the one thing that I could never do myself.” And echoing the end of last year’s penultimate episode “Follow the Leader” where Fake-Locke vowed to kill Jacob, he finishes this episode declaring, “I’m gonna destroy the island.”

Terrifying. So the MIB wants to destroy the Island, which I took to mean sink it like we’ve seen in the Sideways world. But how does sinking the Island lead to the Sideways world? There has to be a connection between these two clues, but I don’t see it. No crazy theories here. I’m going sit back and let this one resolve itself.

Time for the Sideways happenings. Classic shot to kick it off, close up on the opening of Jack’s sleepy eye just like in the pilot, just like several other times. It’s usually symbolic of some sort of enlightenment for that character. For Island Jack this episode, definitely. Not as sure about Sideways Jack. But no matter. He heads down to breakfast with his new happy family. David’s chowing down on some tasty Super Bran. Claire comes down soon after. What a goofy little Shephard family we have here, right? But it’s nice. At least until they’re interrupted by a call from Oceanic informing Jack they’ve found is father’s coffin. Jack takes it surprisingly well. Old Island Jack would have done that little shutter with the look that he’s on the verge of tears. But in the Sideways world. Hopefully all this coffin business doesn’t interfere with David’s piano concert tonight, where it looks like we’re finally going to meet David’s mother. Two-to-one it’s Juliet.

I have a feeling there won’t be a conflict at all, because the man on the phone wasn’t an Oceanic representative. It was Desmond, who we see in the rest of the Sideways story executing a complicated plan involving a paddy wagon, Hurley, Hurley’s Camaro, Ana Lucia, and a little black dress to get Sayid and Kate to that very concert, which Miles and Sawyer also happen to be attending. Either that, or he wants Jack nowhere near that concert hall for some reason. As long as you’re not David, that’s okay. Jack has some important business with John Locke to tend to.

But first, someone has to show Locke the way. And who else to do so but the person he trusted to show him many of the secrets of the Island, Ben? Even Ben needs a little push from Desmond first, though. After wrapping up his crank call on Jack, Des sits idling in his car in the school parking lot as Substitute Teacher Locke wheels himself back to work. Oh god, Des, don’t run him over again! Even if that was his plan, he doesn’t have time to execute it, because Ben jumps in front of his car and starts yelling about calling the police and making a citizen’s arrest. Hardly intimidated, Des gets out of his car and proceeds to beat the living crap out of this squeaky little teacher, just like he did at the marina back in “Dead is Dead”. Which, not coincidently, is exactly the moment that flashes through Sideways Ben’s mind during this beating. Des says he’s not there to hurt Locke; he’s there to help him let go.

As he’s getting stitched up in the school nurse’s office, Ben relays to Locke what Des told him about helping him “let go”. Before Locke can call the police, Ben adds, “and I believe him. Does that mean something to you?” It sure does. It’s the same advice Jack gave him. Couple that with the visions of the Island that I’m pretty sure he’s already had, and Locke’s ready to make a bold move.

But first, we need to see a little more of Dr. Linus. On his way out to his car, he runs into Alex. She’s horrified when she sees Ben all battered and bruised with his arm in a sling. “Why would someone want to hurt you? You’re, like, the--the nicest guy ever,” she says to him. Ha, that makes me chuckle. Then again, Dr. Linus really might be, like, the nicest guy ever. Alex offers him a ride home with her and her mother, and he graciously accepts that and the dinner invitation from Danielle.

Obviously, if this took place on the Island, it would be the most awkward dinner since Ben cooked a ham for Juliet. But in the Sideways world, it’s downright lovely. It’s clear that Alex absolutely adores Ben, and after he helped her with extra studying and her recommendation to Yale, why wouldn’t she. He’s been great to her. Danielle knows this and as Alex puts away the dishes, she says, “All the interest you’ve taken in her. All the help you’ve given . . .you’re the closest thing to a father she’s ever had.” Ben chokes up. It’s a heartwarming moment.

Ben’s Island destiny led him to do some horrible things. Taking Alex from Danielle was certainly one of them. But if he had killed them both like Widmore ordered, it would have been far worse. I’m not going to say Ben did either of them a favor that night in Rousseau’s tent when he held them at gunpoint, but from that moment on he has always acted out of love and protection of Alex. When Keamy shot her in the head as Ben looked on and said things like “She’s just a pawn, nothing more…She means nothing to me,” he did it because, one, he thought The Rules would prevent him from pulling the trigger and, two, to convince himself (and thus Keamy) that having her at gunpoint didn’t give Keamy any leverage. Even if Island Ben is destined to live out his days without Alex, Sideways Ben has a shot to live happily ever after. He’s found someone to love. It’s going to be sad if Sideways Ben loses that happy ending.

If you’re looking for even more of a reason to invest in the Sideways world, look no further than the conversation between Jack and Locke at the hospital. John tells Jack what happened to Ben that day, how the same guy who plowed into him with his car came back and said wanted to help him in the same way Jack wanted to help him. He tells Jack that maybe all that is happening for a reason. “Maybe you’re supposed to fix me.” He’s ready to get out of that chair. And who better to help him than Jack?

After this week, I’ve reached the point where I’m equally as excited about seeing what happens in the Sideways world as the Island. How are Jack and crew going to defeat the Monster? Can they stop him from sinking the Island? Is Jack going to fix Locke? What’s going to happen when everyone converges at that concert? What connection do these two worlds share? And I’m excited about seeing some old favorites, too. Maybe a Charlie appearance? What about Boone, Walt or Juliet? Any chance we get a Christian Shephard sighting? And there’s always the chance they tie up some loose ends like the pallet drop or the cabin or some Dharma stuff in a cool and unexpected way.

I think “unexpected” might be the key to my mindset for this last episode. I have no expectations. I mean, I want it to be great, but I don’t have a checklist of things I need to see. I just want a satisfying conclusion for the characters. Most of the mysteries are solved. It’s time for closure, not just for us, but for Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Ben and everyone else. I’m not even really sad about it anymore. I’m just excited. Tomorrow is the time to greave. Today is about celebrating the conclusion of the best show ever.