Lost Episode 6.16 What They Died For

Jack and David eat breakfast and discuss the concert they're going to that evening when Claire comes in wishing them a good morning. Jack gets a call from Oceanic saying they located his dad's missing coffin. It'll be arriving in Los Angeles by the end of the day. Jack says thank you -- and we cut to a car and reveal the person on the other end of the phone is Desmond! He says Oceanic is sorry it's taken so long and hangs up.

WHOOOSH to the beach as Jack sews up Kate's wound with a makeshift needle and thread. Kate cries, telling Jack that Sun and Jin had a daughter. Her name is Ji Yeon, and Jin never even met her. Hot with anger, Kate says it was Locke who did that to them... They have to kill Locke. Jack looks at Kate with complete agreement and says he knows.

Sawyer stands on the shore, staring at a life jacket bobbing on the surf. Kate walks up next to him, and she doesn't even have to speak. She knows exactly what he's thinking. Hurley comes up next to them, and that's it -- no eulogy. No words to compound their loss. Then Jack softly says they should get going. Hurley asks where, and Jack says to find Desmond. Before Sayid died, he said Desmond was in a well and that Locke wanted him dead. And if Locke wants Desmond dead? Then they need him.

WHOOOSH to Locke in the school parking lot getting out of his van. One student waves and welcomes him back. But someone is watching him -- and it's Desmond. He puts his key in the ignition, revs the engine, and pops the car out of park. Is he going to run Locke over again? But right then Benjamin Linus THUMPS on his hood, shouting this is the man who hit Mr. Locke! Call the police! Desmond is up and out of the car -- he smashes his fist into Ben's face, who collapses on the hood. Desmond grabs him by the sweater and warns him to not get in his way. Ben says he won't let him hurt Mr. Locke again, but Desmond says he's not there to hurt him -- he's there to help him let go. Desmond punches Ben again -- and FLASH! Ben is on a dock in a marina, and a Desmond is straddling Ben, pulling his fist back to hit him in the face -- FLASH back to the school parking lot as Desmond punches Ben one last time and throws him to the side of the car into a puddle. Desmond gets in the car and screeches away as Ben stares at him, wondering what just happened to him.

WHOOOSH to the island as Ben treks through the jungle. Miles and Richard Alpert are with him. They reach the barracks, deserted and creepy, and walk by the swing set when Miles abruptly stops. Blinks. Cocks his head. Something's happening. Ben asks what is it, and Miles is unsure what to tell Ben. Alpert says it's Alex. After Ben left the island, Alpert came back and buried her. Ben is surprised and overwhelmed. He thanks Alpert, and they continue on to his house. They go inside, and Ben moves the bookshelf to get to the secret room. He opens a safe, and inside are bricks of C-4. Are they looking to cripple the plane or blow it to hell? Alpert says blow it to hell. Ben says then they'd better take it all.

Then behind them they hear footsteps. They emerge from the secret room, rifles up, and find Zoe in the kitchen. Ben asks who she is, and behind him Widmore answers. He's the last man Ben thought he'd see on the island. Ben asks why Widmore is there. Widmore doesn't take Ben or his rifle seriously and tells Zoe to go to the docks to get their equipment from the outrigger... and then sink it. Widmore tells Ben to lower his gun. If Ben shoots him, his only chance of surviving will be gone. Alpert says they are getting explosives to blow up the plane, but Widmore says he's had the plane rigged with explosives since he got there. As usual, Ben is three steps behind. Ben asks how Widmore got back to the island, and Widmore says that Jacob invited him. Jacob visited him not long after they destroyed his freighter. He convinced Widmore of the error of his ways and told him everything he'd need to know for this exact purpose. Ben is incredulous and asks what "purpose." But then Zoe radios in and says Locke is coming! Widmore tells her to run back to the house. He then turns to Ben and says if they want to live, they'll have to hide.

WHOOOSH to the school nurse's office as she tends to Ben. His arm is in a sling and his face is bruised and cut. She leaves to get him an ice pack as Locke wheels in. He'd heard there was an incident in the parking lot. Ben says he got into a fight with the man who ran Locke down. He was back, attacked Ben... and then the strangest thing happened. Ben thinks he saw something. But Locke isn't listening. He's calling the police. Ben continues and says the man wasn't trying to hurt Locke but trying to get him to "let go." And for some reason Ben believed him. Those words hit Locke hard. Ben asks if Locke knows what the man was talking about, if it means something to Locke.

On the other end of the phone, an LAPD cop hangs up in frustration. He looks up from his desk as Desmond walks up and asks to see a detective. Cut to Sawyer and Miles are at their desks. Miles wants to know if Sawyer will go with him to a benefit at his dad's museum. It's the concert he's been talking about. Sawyer asks if Charlotte will be there, and Miles says yes. Sawyer passes. The cop leads Desmond over to them, and Desmond explains that there was a hit and run at a school a couple days ago, and this morning a man was badly beaten by the same suspect. He's the suspect, and he's there to turn himself in. Sawyer locks Desmond in a holding cage with Sayid. In the cage next to them is Kate. Desmond smiles at them, very much exactly where he wants to be.

WHOOOSH to the jungle as Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley trek through the jungle. Sawyer asks if Locke wanted Desmond dead, why didn't he just kill him? Jack doesn't know and says maybe it's one of his "rules." Sawyer says like the bomb on the sub. Jack sees Sawyer is hurting and doesn't want to make it worse. Sawyer asks if he killed them, and Jack says no, it was Locke who killed them.

Trailing behind the group, Hurley sees young Jacob in the jungle. Young Jacob asks for the ashes Hurley took from Ilana's things and says they're his. Hurley holds the bag of ash out. The boy snatches it and runs off into the jungle. Hurley runs after him into a clearing with a campfire -- where the adult Jacob waits. Hurley asks if he saw a kid run by with his ashes. Jacob points to the fire and says they're in the fire. And when it goes out, Hurley will never see him again. He tells Hurley to go get his friends because they're close to the end.

At Ben's house as Widmore and Zoe scramble to hide from Locke, Ben says he has no interest in hiding. Sooner or later Locke will find him, and he'd rather get it over with. Miles says he's interested in surviving and starts to leave. Ben asks for Widmore and Zoe's walkies and gives one to Miles. Ben says it's in case he needs Miles. Alpert says he's going to go out and talk to Locke. He knows the man -- he just wants Alpert to join him. If he can get Locke to leave with him, then maybe it'll give everyone else a chance. Miles wishes him good luck and runs out.

Alpert goes outside and walks to the center of the compound. Ben follows him out and watches. They wait in the silence. Tension builds. It's creepy -- and then without warning -- the smoke monster barrels out of the jungle and plows right into Alpert! It's a battering ram of black smoke that launches Alpert into the jungle and out of sight. Ben reacts and watches as the smoke monster loops around the compound and jets behind a house. Ben sits in a chair on Sawyer's porch. After a moment, Locke steps out and walks over to Ben. He's just the man Locke has been looking for. He needs Ben to kill some people for him. Ben asks why, and Locke says that once he leaves the island, Ben can have it all to himself. Ben agrees. Locke asks whose outrigger is at the dock, and Ben doesn't miss a beat as he says Charles Widmore's, who's hiding inside his closet.

WHOOOSH to the school parking lot as Ben is leaving. Alex runs up to him and says her mom will drive him home. Ben agrees and meets Alex's mom, Danielle Rousseau. Danielle says that after everything Ben has done for her daughter, a ride home is the least she can do. Alex asks if Ben can stay for dinner, and Ben protests. But Danielle insists. Even if they have to kidnap him. After dinner, Ben asks about Alex's dad, and Danielle says he died when she was two. That's probably why she's so attached to Ben. After all the interest he's taken in her and help he's given, he's the closest thing to a father Alex ever had. Ben is touched, and a tear rolls down his cheek. Danielle says it's been lovely finally meeting him, and Ben smiles. It seems it's the beginning of something sweet.

WHOOOSH to the island as Ben leads Locke inside his house and points to the secret room where Widmore and Zoe are hiding. They enter, and Locke says it'll be nice to talk without those fences between them. He turns to Zoe and asks who she is. Zoe starts to answer, but Widmore cuts her off, warning her not to talk to him -- when SCHLICK!!! It happens so fast, so shocking -- Locke pulled out his knife and slits Zoe's throat! She falls over, gurgling and grasping her neck. Locke says if she wouldn't talk it made her pointless. Locke then explains since Widmore isn't afraid to die, there's only one way to motivate him to tell Locke what he wants to know. Soon this will be over and Locke will get want he wants. And when he's finally able to leave the island, the very first thing he's going to do is kill Penny. Widmore says Locke will kill Penny whether he talks or not, but Locke promises he won't. He'll keep his word. Widmore weighs his choices and talks. He brought Desmond back because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism. He's a measure of last resort -- and then BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Ben shoots and kills Widmore! Locke turns to Ben, and Ben says Widmore doesn't get to save his daughter. Locke says Ben never ceases to amaze him. Fortunately, Widmore told him everything he needed. Ben says good. Are there some other people to kill?

Hurley leads Jack, Kate and Sawyer to the clearing where Jacob waits. Jacob says hello, and they can all see and hear him. Kate is angry and asks if he's the one that wrote their names on the wall. Is that why Sun, Jin and Sayid were killed? Because he wrote their names down? Jacob says he's sorry, but Kate doesn't accept it. She wants to know why he put their names on that wall. She wants to know that Sun and Jin and Sayid didn't die for nothing. Jacob tells her they died for something, and he'll tell them why. He'll also tell them why he chose them. And then he'll tell them everything they need to know to protect the island. Because by the time the fire burns out, one of them is going to have to start doing it.

WHOOOSH to Jack's office at the hospital. Locke knocks and rolls in, asks if Jack has a minute. He lists how many times they've crossed paths -- from their first meeting at the airport to Jack performing his emergency surgery out of all the doctors in LA. Jack even wanted to fix him but Locke didn't want to be fixed. Then today the man who ran him down was at his school again... not to hurt him but to help him "let go." And that's exactly what Jack said to Locke. So maybe all of this was happening for a reason. Maybe Jack was supposed to fix him. Jack warns Locke not to mistake coincidence for fate. Locke smiles and says he's ready to get out of the wheelchair.

WHOOOSH to the island as Jacob tells Jack's group he doesn't know really where to start. Hurley suggests starting with why he brought them all to the island. Jacob says it's because he made a mistake a very long time ago, and because of that, there's a very good chance everyone of them and everyone they've ever cared about will die. Sawyer asks what mistake, and Jacob says they call him the monster. Jacob is responsible for what happened to him. He made him that way. Sawyer asks why they have be punished for his mistake. Why'd Jacob have to mess with his life? He was doing fine until Jacob dragged him there. But Jacob says no, he wasn't. None of them were. All of them were flawed.

Jacob chose them because they were like him -- they were alone. They all had complicated relationships with their parents, and they were all looking for something they couldn't find out there. He chose them because they needed the island as much as it needed them. Jack asks what's the job, and Jacob says there's a light at the center of the island and it can never go out. It has to be protected from the monster. One of them needs to do what Jacob wasn't willing to. Jack asks if it's even possible to kill it. Jacob says he hopes so because the smoke monster is certainly going to try to kill them.

Hurley asks how Jacob is going to pick, but Jacob says he's not. He wants them to have the one thing that was never given to him -- a choice. A beat as everyone considers that, and then Jack softly speaks up. He'll do it. This is why he's there. This is what he's supposed to do.

WHOOOSH to the LAPD holding cage as Kate, Sayid and Desmond are taken out and put in a van for transport to county lock up. In the back as they drive, Desmond tells Sayid and Kate he thinks it's time to leave. Are they ready to get out of there? Kate asks if he's just going to tell the driver to stop, and Desmond says the driver already knows where to stop. And when that happens, they're going to have to give him their trust. Because after he sets them free, he's going to ask them to do something for him, and they have to promise to do it. Will they do that? Do they agree? Kate and Sayid say yes. The van skids to a halt, and Ana Lucia opens the door. Hurley pulls up behind her in his Hummer and hands her an envelope of money. She leaves, and Hurley asks why she's not going with them? Desmond says she's not ready. Hurley points to a nearby car, his Camaro, and says he brought it for Desmond. The key's under the floormat, and everything he needs is in the trunk. Hurley takes Sayid and leaves. Desmond opens the trunk and hands Kate a beautiful cocktail dress. They're going to a concert.

WHOOOSH to the island as Jacob talks to Jack. He explains that beyond the bamboo field where Jack woke up when he first got to the island and across a ridge is the heart of the island. That's where the light is, and that's what Jack has to protect. Jack says past the bamboo there's nothing there. Jacob says there is, and Jack will be able to get there now. Jacob asks for a cup, and Jack pulls out a metal cup from the sub that washed up on shore. Jacob says a prayer under his breath and fills the cup with water. He tells Jack to drink it. Jack asks how long he is going to have this job, and Jacob says as long as he can. Jack takes that leap of faith and drinks from the cup. Once again no magic. No skyrockets. Just this simple ceremony. Jacob places his hand on Jack's shoulder and says now he's like him.

Locke and Ben trek through the jungle. Ben asks why Locke walks if he can turn into smoke whenever he wants. Locke says he likes the feel of his feet on the ground. Reminds him that he was human. They cut through the brush and into a clearing with the well. Locke says they're here. Locke looks into the well and sees that it's empty. He says this is where he had Desmond and told Sayid to kill him. Obviously he didn't. Ben looks at the rope hanging over the side and says it looks like someone helped Desmond out, but Locke says someone helped me out. Ben is confused. Locke explains that Desmond was a fail-safe, Jacob's last resort if Locke managed to kill all of his candidates. Locke is going to find Desmond, and Desmond is going to help Locke do the one thing he could never do by himself. Locke is going to destroy the island.