"We're looking for someone to remind us that we're here for more important reasons"

Wherein another round of pointless Lost speculations

This week's theory: Lost is M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

Eight survived the crash, six were rescued, two died before rescue. But where -- swimming to the island or on the island? Because of all the graves on the beach I'm thinking there won't be a rescue on the island. I'm also beginning to think that the freighter isn't the 'rescue.' I'm starting to lean towards the view that we're still a long way off from seeing how the 6 are rescued. And thinking back over the flash-forward clips of the Oceanic 6, I don't think they've shown the island.

My new speculation -- after a number of events involving people on the island and people on the freighter and misplaced group of Others still on the island and two or three other groups of people still waiting to be introduced, Ben's group -- at that point including most of the Losties, including Dr. Angst -- gains some sort of victory. As a reward, or as a means of covering up what happened or for protecting the island, the Oceanic 6 will probably be set adrift on a makeshift raft in the shipping lanes. But unlike Tom Hanks in Castaway, no one will be able to find the island.

Let's review a conversation from last season. From The Brig:

RICHARD: It's beautiful isn't it. No matter how much time you spend on the Island you just never get tired of this view. We haven't been formally introduced, I'm Richard.

[They shake hands]

RICHARD: You mind if I, join you here.

LOCKE: Nah sure.

RICHARD: He wanted to embarrass you.

LOCKE: I'm sorry?

RICHARD: Ben knew you weren't gonna kill your own father. He put you in front of everyone in our camp just so they could all watch ya fail.

LOCKE: Why?

RICHARD: Cause when word got back here that there was a man with a broken spine on the plane who could suddenly walk again, well, people here began to get very excited because that, that could only happen to someone who was extremely special. But Ben doesn't want anyone to think you're special, John.

LOCKE: And why are you telling me this?

RICHARD: Ben has been wasting our time with novelties like fertility problems. We're looking for someone to remind us that we're here for more important reasons.

LOCKE: What do you want from me?

RICHARD: I want for you to find your purpose. And to do that, your father has to go, John. And since you're not gonna do it, I'm gonna suggest someone else.

[He hands Locke a red folder. Locke looks at it briefly as Richard walks away]

Let's get back to the ageless Richard and the "important reasons." Even though the Others slaughtered what looked like harmless Dharma researchers, we're supposed to eventually find sympathy with the Others -- if we want to believe that future Sayid has a legitimate reason to work with Ben.

Looking back at last season's One of Us, Richard was off island when Oceanic 815 crashed.

BEN: A plane fell out of the sky, Mikhail. Of course we saw it. What do you have so far?

[A monitor shows news reports of planes]

MIKHAIL: Oceanic Flight 815. Left Sydney Australia headed for Los Angeles, 324 people onboard including the flight crew.

BEN: I want detailed files on every single passenger.

MIKHAIL: Already working on it.

BEN: Can we uplink to Richard in Acadia Park please.

The Brig episode is when the Others leave their homes:

BEN: I'm afraid we don't have time to deal with that right now, John. We're leaving first thing in the morning, all of us.

LOCKE: Where are you going?

BEN: We're going to a new place. Well an old place, actually. Would you like to come with us?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Is the old place just this?

The Others have built tents in a valley field. Locke helps someone make their tent, noticing that some of the people keep looking at him]

LOCKE: There. That ought to do it.

CINDY: Thanks. That would have taken me hours to do myself.

LOCKE: Glad I could help.

[Cindy notices Locke looking at more people staring]

CINDY: Don't mind them. They're all just excited you're here.

LOCKE: Excited?

CINDY: We've been waiting for you.

No, just a temporary camp,

[Yesterday. Locke wakes to see the Others packing up and heading out. Locke goes over to Ben]

LOCKE: Ben. What's going on?

BEN: We're moving.

LOCKE: Moving, where are we going?

BEN: We are not going anywhere, John. You are going to stay behind. You both are going to stay behind.

A couple of tidbits from The Man Behind the Curtain:

Ben sits in class while a teacher discusses volcanoes. Her shirt reveals her name to be “Olivia”]

OLIVIA: So once water is added to the bicarbonate, we will get our very own volcanic reaction.

[Annie raises her hand]

OLIVIA: Yes.

ANNIE: Is that what happened to the volcano on this Island?

OLIVIA: Exactly Annie, but that was a long time ago. OK, lets get ourselves an eruption.

Perhaps when the show ends the volcano erupts and the islands sinks, never to be seen again. Back when Ben is a kid on the island, Dharma has some conflicts,

ANNIE: Don't worry it's just the Hostiles. We'll be OK.

[The DHARMA staff shout and a loud explosion can be heard]

[At night, Horace talks with Roger in his house at the Barracks. Ben listens from the next room]

HORACE: Hey man I heard you ran into a little trouble.

ROGER: We're driving back from the Flame and we hear this huge explosion. Next thing I know, there's a siren wailing, and we're driving to the middle of a shoot-out.

HORACE: Look we're having some skirmishes with the natives.

ROGER: What do you mean, natives?

HORACE: Well, we're not exactly sure who they are.

Is this Richard's group? He seemed just fine waiting for Ben to grow up. And will we ever find out what happened to Annie?

[Ben sits on the swings at the Barracks with Annie. He unwraps a present to find two carved wooden dolls, one boy and one girl]

ANNIE: It's us. That's you and that's me. Now we never have to be away from each other. Happy birthday, Ben.

BEN: Thanks.

ANNIE: You're welcome.

We'll see the dolls one more time, right before Ben kills his father.

Then standing over the open grave lecturing Locke, is Ben being honest about "original inhabitants"?

BEN: This is where I came from, John. These are my people. The DHARMA Initiative. They came here seeking harmony, but they couldn't even coexist with the Island's original inhabitants. And when it became clear that one side had to go, one side had to be purged, I did what I had to do. I was one of the people that was smart enough to make sure that I didn't end up in that ditch, which makes me considerably smarter than you, John.

Ah, here it is, in Through The Looking Glass:

BEN: Not we, Richard, me. You're going to take everyone to the temple as planned.
And we get a head count on the Lostaways:
RICHARD: There's forty of them. And you're alone. They're gonna do whatever it takes to get off the Island. What do you think's gonna happen when you get there?

Checking our chess pieces:

• Unknown number of Others waiting at the temple.
  
• Approximately 40 passengers of Oceanic 815, split between Jack's party at the beach and Locke's not-so-much a party at the Others' village.
  
• Rousseau
  
• the Jacob thingy
  
• Possibly Mikhail
  
• Miles, Daniel, and Charlotte from the freighter.
  
• unknown number of people on the freighter, including a spy for Ben
  
• Frank, Sayid, Desmond, and dead Naomi have flown off the island and are now missing.
  
• Walt -- apparition or real. So Michael might still be around.
  
• We've had a transmission from Penny

In the future, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid are four of the Oceanic 6. I'm guessing Aaron is not included in that number and everyone is pretending he's Kate's child. Currently unknown who the Oceanic 2 will be. My early money is on Charlie being one of them. Might as well pencil in Sun and Jin as who I think the last two survivors will be.

Will we ever find out what those more important reasons are? Do the writers even know what they are?