"What Kate Does" Discussion

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the JoshMeister, Congested from Audibly Lost, Dan Ramos from Black Rock LOST Podcast, and fellow LOST fans discuss Season 6 Episode 3, "What Kate Does".

Thoughts inspired by LOSTCasts' podcast about the Season 6 Premiere:

http://www.lostcasts.com/2010/02/lostcasts-80-la-x-parts-1-2.html

• Questions regarding the "flash sideways" timeline (some from the LOSTcasts podcast, some inspired by their questions):
• Did Sawyer kill Frank Duckett just prior to boarding Flight 815?  He didn't seem to be the least bit distraught or depressed if he just murdered the wrong man in Australia
• "Yeah, I couldn't help but wonder if Sawyer was a cop, or something in that field. He seemed to know what a 341 was." -StefanyMac
• "if he was in australia to bust the guy who set him up" -Congested
• Desmond has a wedding ring on his finger!  Who did he marry?  Was Penny Widmore ever born in this timeline?  We don't know whether Charles got off the Island.
• Speaking of which, we find out in Season 4 that Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore are Penelope Widmore's parents.  We find out in Season 5 that Eloise Hawking was pregnant with Daniel Faraday in 1977 and that she was in a relationship with Charles Widmore at the time, implying that Charles is the father.  That would make Dan and Penny brother and sister.
• Did Eloise Hawking get off the Island?  If not, then Daniel Faraday doesn't exist in the flashsideways timeline.
• Miles Straume (Pierre Chang's son) presumably got off the Island safely, along with his mother.  Prior to the Incident, Dr. Chang ordered the evacuation of the DHARMA women and children from the Island.
• Will the Red Sox lose the series in this timeline, either for comic effect or to show how different things turned out?
• The LOST writers' answer to the "grandfather paradox" is answered by the Season 6 premiere.  The paradox is that one can't go back in time and kill his own grandfather before his father was born, because then he never would have existed to be able to travel back in time and kill the grandfather!  The LOST writers have chosen to answer this by making it so they created an alternate timeline
• Will old DHARMA people recognize them?
• Christian told John he had to die; does that mean Christian is (or works for) the Man in Black?
• Jacob touched Locke, presumably saving his life after his father pushed him from the 8th story of a building (apparently in both timelines).  Jacob can apparently see into the future, because he gave Hurley the ankh in the guitar case which contained the names of the people who he would later send to the temple after his death, and Jacob even gave the detail that Sayid needed to live.  Why would Jacob save Locke's life when Locke would eventually kill him?  Is it the same reason why Jacob let Ben kill him, even though he clearly knew Ben's intentions (and even provoked him)?  It seems that perhaps Jacob was deliberately trying to die, perhaps for a purpose à la Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Before Juliet died, she remarked to Sawyer that they should get coffee and "go dutch."  This comment seemed to indicate (to me, anyway) that she was losing her mind as she was dying, perhaps as a side effect of all the jumps through time like Charlotte, Minkowsky, etc. (see the Lostpedia article "temporal displacement").  On LOSTcasts, they talked about a very interesting theory that Juliet's comment was some sort of collision between the two timelines.  This could fit with what Juliet was about to say next (according to Miles), that "it worked" (presumably meaning their plan to derail the original course of history by detonating the hydrogen bomb).

Season 6 Episode 3 "What Kate Does":

2007, Island:

• Translator to Japanese man: "He's alive" (about Sayid)
• Sayid says he feels light-headed
• Sawyer's ticked off because Sayid, a former Iraqi torturer, was brought back to life and not Juliet
• He should have brought Juliet with him!  If they were going to save Sayid's life, maybe they could have saved (but of course, how was he to know?)

2004 alternate timeline:

• Kate hijacks cab, won't let Claire out
• Arzt gets in the way of the cab
• Kate sees Jack in the mirror and seems to recognize him
• Cab driver runs off, Kate takes Claire's purse and lets her out of the car
• Claire is pregnant

2007, Island:

• Hurley to Sayid: "The Others captured us... again."
• Jack observes that Sayid's wound is almost completely closed, even though it's only minutes later
• Water is closely tied to healing properties of the Island, perhaps? -Congested
• Japanese" and translator want Sayid to go with them alone, Jack puts up a fuss
• Sawyer tells Kate don't come after me
• Translator says they need Sawyer back
• Kate volunteers to track him, Jin volunteers to go with her

2004 alternate timeline:

• Kate offers $200 to a mechanic to get her out of the cuffs
• Kate opens Claire's bag and sees photo of her pregnant and Shamu whale doll

2007, Island:

• Kate to Jack: I'll take care of James.  You take care of Sayid
• Japanese man has Sayid strapped down, blows dust on him, hooks wires into his skin and electrocutes him
• "the ash should have protected sayid from pain, if he was not infected." -Guest 21
  
• Translator says it was a "test to be sure" -- "don't worry, you passed"
• Translator to Japanese man: "I just lied to him, didn't I?"
      Japanese man: "Yes"

2004 alternate timeline:

• Kate drives back to Claire to give her her bags back
• Claire says that the family who was supposed to pick her up from the airport never showed up, so she's going to their house

2007, Island:

• Aldo, an Other we haven't seen in a while, is giving Kate a hard time
• There's a trap, another Other, Justin, says Rousseau died years ago
   
• Japanese man says Sayid is "infected" and give him medicine to give to Sayid
• Jack asks what will happen if he doesn't give Sayid the medicine, and the Japanese man says "the infection will spread"
   
• Miles questions Sayid about death - no white light or anything, he just remembers being shot
• "I read it as a no read as well, I thought the look was because he had no reading, like he should've if he were dead. I think it was the same reason he was so drawn to Claire in season 4. Claire also had no read, and then turned bad." -StefanyMac
• Hurley: "You're not a zombie right?"
• Sayid: "No.  I am not a zombie."
• Sayid tells Jack he'll take the pill if Jack asks him to
    
• Jin wants to find Ajira plane so he can find Sun

2004 alternate timeline:

• Claire asks Kate to come in with her to the adoptive parents' house because she doesn't want to go in alone
• The woman who answers the door says "My husband... he left me.  And believe me, I wanted the baby so much but I can't do it alone.  I'm sorry.  Look, I know I should have called you."
• Claire suddenly screams that she thinks the baby is coming as they're standing at the doorstep

2007, Island:

• Kate goes to DHARMA barracks to look for James
• He plies up the floorboards in the room where he used to live with Juliet, pulls out a shoe box with something of Juliet's in it and smells it - ring bag?
• Sawyer sees Kate, and Kate tells him that she was worried about him, and he just walks past her

2004 alternate timeline:

• Kate takes Claire to hospital
• A police car pulls
• Ethan introdces himself as Dr. Goodspeed - Horace's last name
• Apparently Ethan got off the Island safely and never joined The Others, and never renamed himself Rom
• He says to stop the baby from coming she would need to take drugs via needle injection
• Claire: "Is my baby okay?  Is Aaron okay?"
• She already picked the name?
• Ultrasound date - close to when Claire gave birth on island Lostpedia says born Nov 1 2004
• Congested's video showing November 1, 2004 events on LOST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JdKMIRHWS4

2007, Island:

• Sawyer blames himself for Juliet's death because he convinced her to stay
• Sawyer says he guesses some people are meant to be alone, and says, "I was going to ask her to marry me."  He throws a wedding ring into the water and says Kate can make it back by nightfall.  Kate cries.
   
• Jack asks the Japanese man why he has a translator, and he has one to differentiate himself from those he leads, and that it makes it easier to keep people from being mad directly at him
• Says his name is Dogen
• Jack starts to take the pill, Dogen makes him spit it out and Jack demands to know what's in it
• Dogen admits it's poison
• Jacob said Sayid needed to live. Did he mean uninfected Sayid needs to live, or zombie Sayid?
• "I think it meant it would be bad if he died and then was taken over, not bad because he died. Because they didn't care when he originally died." -StefanyMac

2004 alternate timeline:

• Detective Rasmussen asks for Joan Hart - one of Kate's aliases
• Claire tells them she left already
• Claire asks what Kate did, and Kate says "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't do it?"
• Did she kill Wayne Janssen in this timeline?
• "In the alt timeline did her mom set the bomb?" [and frame Kate] -Guest 21
• Kate suggests that Claire should keep the baby
• Kate: "Aaron's a great name."
• Claire: "I don't know why I said it.  It's like I just knew it, or something."
• They wish each other luck

2007, Island:

• Jack asks, "Why would you people want to kill Sayid?"
• Dogen says Sayid is sick, which Jack disputes based on his medical knowledge
• Dogen: "We believe he has been claimed. ... There is a darkness growing in him, and once it reaches his heart, everything your friend once was will be gone."
• Jack: "How can you be sure of that?"
• Dogen: "Because it happened to your sister."  Jack looks confused.  He must mean Claire!
   
• Jin steps on bear trap
• Aldo tries to shoot him
• Claire walks out of jungle looking like Rousseau!  she shoots Aldo and Justin
• So Rousseau had the sickness?  NOT her shipmates?
• "Clair was hanging with Christian, so ther is the opportunity for her to get infected" -RatFace
• I think she was already infected before we saw her in the cabin
•     Christian is on the smoke monster's side? (or is him?)
• "In the season 5 episode 'Dead Is Dead' Christian Shepard told Sun, & Frank Lapidus to follow the Fake John Lock if she wants to Jin again." -RatFace
•     When did Claire get infected?  Possible at barracks?
• "yes... some people said after the explosion she should have been dead" -Jason Heilman
• "Claire - "I'll be fine." / Miles "I'm not too sure abt that." From Shape of things" -LiamKapranos
• "Maybe Miles sensed something and wanted to protect Aaron... she said I'll live" -StefanyMac
• "but... claire never got in that water soo...." -Jason Heilman
• "sayid and ben water... claire no" -Jason Heilman
• So could Ben also have the sickness?
• "I don't think being infected has to do with the water directly. though the two are sort of bundled together with sayid, i think two seperate things are." -Congested

Screenshots and Easter Eggs:

Claire's Ultrasound says "10-22-2004" even though in the original timeline Flight 815 departed on 9-22-2004.  Why is there a discrepancy of an entire month?  Just to bring Claire closer to her due date?  Thanks to Jack Glatfelter from The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack for passing this along:

SPOILERS:

Notes from The Official LOST Podcast, February 4th, 2010

Preview for upcoming episodes:

• Fake Locke: "Hello, James."
• Sawyer: "I thought you were dead."
• Fake Locke: "I am."
• Richard: "He wants everyone -- everyone you care about, all of them"
• "What is this place?"
• Fake Locke: "I promise I'll tell you everything"

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Notes from The Official LOST Podcast, February 4th, 2010

Following are my notes from the February 4th episode of The Official LOST Audio Podcast.

(Note that the executive producers' comments contain spoilers.)

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse won't reveal their intentions for the space between LA and X in the Season 6 premiere episode title.  "It could mean LA X as though the X means it's been negated," said Carlton.

In explanation of the "flash sideways," Carlton said, "We have two distinct timelines that we are showing you on the show.  One timeline seems to be derived from a theory that when the bomb went off, exactly what Faraday was postulating occurred.  There was a reset, and basically 815 flew over what was once the Island, landed in LA, and these people never experienced the crash, never met each other by crashing on the plane, and there's a timeline going forward.  The other timeline is obviously on the Island Juliet hit the bomb, it basically jumped them, you know, forward in time but they're still stuck on the Island and they're dealing with the consequences of the fact that they're still marooned there."

Damon said regarding the flashsideways, "Just one clarification: I think a lot of people are referring to these things as an alternate timeline, and we want to go out of our way to basically not use that word.  We're not interested in alternate anything, alternate realities, alternate timelines. ... To basically imply that one of these timelines, either the Island or off the Island, is less than real is just borderline offensive to me, Carlton.  They are both equally real, and hopefully will reconcile in some way."  Carlton Cuse responded, "I hope they reconcile!  I mean, I would be very disappointed to go through the end of this season and not understand what the interrelation between these two timelines is."  Damon: "I wouldn't blame you."

Damon: "Would Desmond have been at the stadium if he wasn't training for a race around the world? ... Would he have been training for a race around the world if the Island had never existed?  What happened to Charles Widmore in 197- so, all these great issues are being raised, but more importantly, how does it affect our characters? ... You think that not that many things have changed, but a lot more things have changed than you probably think, and that's going to be the exploration of the season."

"What Kate Does" (the title of the upcoming episode) ties in with the episode title "What Kate Did".

Regarding Sayid, Carlton said, "The question is, was he dead, and I think the second question is what does it mean that he's up and walking around?  What are the consequences of the fact that they threw him in the murky water.  Clearly it would have been better if that water was clear."

Carlton Cuse said that Neil Frogurt will get justice for having been killed by a flaming arrow in the original timeline:  "You'll see more of Frogurt.  If you like Frogurt, Frogurt's run is not done."

Damon indicated that the identities of Adam and Eve might possibly be addressed in the last couple episodes of the series.

Carlton said that Hurley never paid Walt for his $83,000 in Backgammon winnings because "I think the debt was forgiven in the spirit of having left the Island."


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LOST Rewatch Podcast

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I've posted an MP3 in the podcast feed containing all of my insights and observations from the LOST Rewatch. (98 minutes)

If you prefer to read the episode commentaries on the blog, click here to read all the blog posts, and start from the bottom of the page to read them in order.

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LOST Rewatch: Season 5 Locke Episodes and More

In between the Season 5 finale and Season 6 premiere, I participated in The LOST Rewatch.  During the hiatus, I wrote detailed commentaries with fresh insights into the first 21 episodes of Season 1 (see all of my previous posts; start reading from the bottom of the page).  Following are my notes from the rest of the LOST episodes I had time to rewatch, including all of the Season 5 episodes involving John Locke (or rather, in most cases the fake John Locke, aka Jacob's nemesis).  Enjoy!

Season 1 Episode 22 - "Born To Run"

Kate, as a blonde, has at least 9 different license plates from various states in the trunk of her car, and she swaps her Nebraska plate for an Ohio plate.  She dyes her hair brown and picks up a letter from a motel lobby for a guest named "Joan Hart."  (Incidentally, the most prominent person named "Joan Hart" is Melissa Joan Hart, the actress who played the starring roles on the TV shows "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch".)  The envelope contains some 20-dollar bills and a letter which Kate reads tearfully.  The letter is difficult to read from the viewer's perspective, but here's what I was able to make out:

"...have to tell you... have gotten... and the doctors... and there's nothing else they can do.  She's still as stubborn as ever and refuses to stay at the hospital,... but I can see she's growing weaker and fear that before long there may be no other choice.  I can only imagine how hard all of this may be for you.  I wish more than anything that things were different.  I don't know when this letter will reach you, but I am hoping it's soon because she may not have much time left.  I am so sorry Katherine.  You will be... and prayers.  Love, ..."

Based on the context of the episode, it seems that someone sent a letter to Kate to let her know that her mother was sick and may soon be in the hospital.  Who sent this letter?  Was it perhaps her (non-biological) father, Sam Austen?  This could explain the cash; sending money seems like a parental thing to do.  There probably wouldn't be too many people in Kate's life who would both know her mother well and would also sign a letter to Kate with "Love" at the end.  The letter writer clearly wasn't Tom Brennan because we find out later in the episode that he obviously hadn't been expecting her.

On the Island, Charlie approaches Kate while she plays with the toy airplane on the beach.  Charlie thinks Michael's raft will be a success, and he tells Kate that when the Oceanic survivors are rescued they'll be "ridiculously and eternally famous.  What's the matter?  Don't you want to be famous?"  Kate, of course, doesn't want to be rescued; she knows that if that happens, she will be taken back into custody and probably spend the rest of her life in jail for murdering her biological father and her later crimes including orchestrating an armed robbery of a bank.  We now know that Charlie didn't get his wish of coming back alive to enjoy eternal stardom, but the Oceanic Six did indeed become celebrities as he suspected.

Dr. Arzt says that they need to leave "yesterday" to avoid monsoon season, during which the winds would take the raft south to Antarctica.  Michael prepares to leave the following day.  Kate tries to convince Michael to let her on the raft, but he says "the raft's full."

In a flashback, Kate pretends to be a flower delivery person taking flowers to her mother, Diane Janssen.  Kate sees a police officer in the hallway and walks past, deciding that it's too risky to approach her mother.  Instead, she hides in Tom Brennan's car, miraculously without triggering his alarm (or, at least, if she did trigger it, she reset it before Tom came to his car).  Kate enlists Tom's help to get to her mother.

Kate and Tom's time capsule is a New Kids on the Block lunch box, presumably the same one that young Katie tried to steal in her Season 5 finale flashback, which Jacob ended up buying for her.

Season 3 Episode 1 - "A Tale of Two Cities"

Perhaps Ben knew or suspected that Ethan might have had feelings for Juliet, which could explain why he selected Goodwin and then Ethan to go to the crash sites as spies.

Season 4 Episode 2 - "Confirmed Dead"

After Ben attempted to assassinate Charlotte, Locke took Sawyer's gun and had the chance to kill Ben, but ultimately Locke decided to let Ben live.  If Locke had killed Ben at that time, then Ben would never have had the chance to kill Locke after they left the Island.  For that matter, if John had killed Ben, then Ben never would have killed Jacob either.

Season 5 Episode 7 - "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Charles Widmore tells John Locke that a war is coming and says that if Locke's not back on the Island the wrong side is going to win.  We now know that John never really came back, unless you count his corpse; does that mean Jacob has lost?  Personally, I suspect Jacob still has a trick or two up his sleeve.

John can dial 2-3 to reach Charles (23 is one of the Numbers).

Season 5 Episode 12 - "Dead Is Dead"

Ben says to Cesar, trying to turn Cesar against "John": "What if he [the person claiming to be John Locke] was already here before the crash?"  As it turns out, he actually was!

In a flashback, Ben said to Danielle as he stole Alex from her: "If you want your child to live, every time you hear whispers, you run the other way."  What exactly do the whispers mean?  The Others are nearby?  The monster is near?

Fake Locke remarks to Ben that his decision to move The Others into the DHARMA barracks "just doesn't seem like something the Island would want."
Ben: "You don't have the first idea about what this island wants."
Fake Locke: "Are you sure about that?"

Christian told Sun that if she ever wanted to see her husband again, she'd wait in Ben's old house for John Locke.  Sun and Frank Lapidus knew that Locke was dead, and yet there he apparently was, standing outside.  Given that Christian told Sun to wait for Locke, does this mean that Christian is actually in league with Jacob's nemesis rather than Jacob?

Fake John left when Ben went into the hidden cave to summon the monster, and the monster didn't come when summoned... or did he? Fake John came back shortly after Ben walked outside.  Is Fake John (aka Jacob's enemy) the same as the monster?  Ben says he doesn't know where the monster is, but Fake John says he knows.

As soon as Ben fell down the hole underground and Fake John supposedly went to find something to help Ben get out, Ben saw the smoke monster, and then Alex (or rather, Fake Alex) appeared and told him not to kill John again and said she'd hunt him down and kill him if he didn't follow everything "John" told him to do.  After "Alex" was gone, "John" came back.  "John" and "Alex" weren't there at the same time because they're the same person: Jacob's nemesis.  The nemesis was playing with Ben's emotions and deceiving him in every conceivable way in order to trick him into killing Jacob.

Season 5 Episode 15 - "Follow the Leader"

Richard sensed "there's something different about you" which Fake John dismisses, saying "I have purpose now."

Richard tells Sun that he watched Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Jin die 30 years ago.

During one of the brief time travel flashes when Real John flashes to their place and time, Fake John instructs Richard to tell Real John to tell him that he needs to die.  (All of that was part of Jacob's enemy's plot to create a loophole so he could kill Jacob.)

Fake Locke points out to The Others that they all take orders from Jacob, whom none of them have ever seen.  He says he wants to take all of them with him on his trek to go see Jacob.

Fake Locke privately tells Ben that the real reason he's going to see Jacob is not to be reunited with his people, but that he's going to kill Jacob.

Season 5 Episodes 16 and 17 - "The Incident," Parts 1 & 2

The real John Locke's Season 1 monologue to Walt about light and dark was a direct foreshadowing of Jacob and his enemy; Jacob wears a light-colored shirt while his enemy weaks a dark shirt.  This whole time there have been two sides determining to some degree the outcome of events on the Island.

Richard is still puzzled how John could have come back to life; he's never seen that happen in all his years on the Island.  Fake Locke quips that he's never met someone who can't age, and Richard reveals that Jacob made him that way, and says he'd guess that Jacob is why John came back to life.  Fake Locke says that after he visit Jacob "to thank him," they'll "take care of" the rest of the people from the Ajira flight, implying that he wants them dead.  This should have sent up red flags for Richard since presumably he knows that every group that comes to the Island is brougt there by Jacob as an attempt to prove himself right to his enemy; by killing the Ajira survivors, Fake Locke would be going against Jacob's plan.

Fake Locke points out to Ben "the door to the hatch where you and I first met."  Jacob's nemesis seems to have Locke's memories, perhaps similar to the smoke monster's ability to read and analyze the memories of a person.

Just before Jack drops the hydrogen bomb, Sawyer orders Dr. Chang to turn off the drill, but the drill fails to turn off because, as Radzinsky explains, they've "hit the pocket," which apparently means they've punched through to the point of no return and the electromagnetism is about to become too strong to control.  Jack then drops the bomb and it doesn't detonate.  A few moments later, after it's clear that the bomb hasn't exploded, everything metallic that's nearby begins to be pulled toward the hole.  I'm convinced that the electromagnetic event is what Dr. Chang (as Dr. Marvin Candle) described as "an Incident" in The Swan's orientation film, and that this event would have taken place regardless of whether or not Jack had dropped the bomb down the hole.  The exact consequences of the Incident seem to vary at least somewhat from what originally happened in 1977, as is seemingly evidenced by the fact that Dr. Chang's hand was impaled, whereas in some of the orientation films he has an entire prosthetic arm, not just a prosthetic hand.

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Season 6 Live Post-Episode Podcasts

NOTE: As of May 4, 2010, I've reached my donation goal! Thanks to everyone who made a contribution. You can still donate if you wish, but I no longer need any more donations to pay for getting LOST on my TV.  Thanks again!

Many of you are probably aware of the DTV transition that took place in the U.S. on June 12, 2009. This was shortly after Season 5 of LOST ended. Although I have a television with a built-in digital tuner, I've been unable to get ABC on my TV.  No matter what antennas I try or how I position them, I can't get any signal from the only station I want—the one that shows LOST!  This, of course, is a major problem for someone who hosts a live podcast about every episode right after they air on TV.

This week I ordered the basic broadcast channels through my local cable television company, the cheapest plan that gives me access to ABC.  However, "cheapest" doesn't exactly mean cheap.  I don't currently have any companies sponsoring the blog or podcast, so blogging and podcasting about LOST is a (very time-consuming) hobby, not a side job.  It's hard for me to justify spending much money on a hobby when I already spend hours upon hours of my time each week blogging and podcasting about it.

I'm not going to require anyone to pay for this podcast.  That would be ridiculous; LOST fanaticism is a hobby for all of you as well, and if I demanded payments you'd stop listening to my show and instead listen to another of the dozens of other LOST podcasts out there.  So, no paid subscription is required.  However, if you enjoy participating in my live shows, or if you simply enjoy listening to the podcast and would like it to continue in the same format, I would greatly appreciate a donation of whatever amount you can afford to help cover the costs of me getting ABC for the next 4 months.  You will find PayPal donation buttons at the top of this page (if you don't have a PayPal account, you can alternatively donate via credit card through PayPal's secure site).

Oh, and if you're new here, I record my podcast live on TalkShoe right after each new episode of LOST airs in the Pacific time zone.  If you miss a live show, subscribe to the podcast (iTunes, RSS) to listen to the episode after I've had a chance to edit it.  And of course stay tuned to this blog for my very detailed show notes and commentaries.

Thanks to all of you fellow LOST fanatics for supporting this blog and podcast!  I appreciate your support and look forward to discussing and theorizing about LOST with you this final season.

Translation of Greek on Jacob's Tapestry, Revisited

Back in May 2009, I posted translations of some of the Ancient Greek text on Jacob's tapestry (see the original blog post).  At the time, the only portions that were clearly visible and had been translated were the text across the top and middle of the tapestry, which read:

"May heaven grant you in all things your heart's desire" (or "May the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires"; this is a line from The Odyssey)

 "May the gods grant thee happiness" (a line repeated twice in The Odyssey)

Since the last time I updated that post, there has been an additional translation of the non-torn portion of the bottom of the tapestry.  It appears to say:

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"

This phrase makes me think of what Jacob said to his nemesis at the beginning of the Season 5 Finale about how he would eventually be proven correct, and that "Anything that happens before [he's proven correct] is just progress." Is the war over between Jacob and his nemesis, now that the nemesis seems to have found a loophole and killed Jacob by using Ben as an assassin? Has Jacob's nemesis won the war, and if so, is this the same war about which Charles Widmore warned John Locke?

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Season 5 Finale Audio Podcast Now Available

I finally got around to publishing the audio podcast that I recorded right after the first airing of the Season 5 Finale episode, "The Incident".  The full show notes and links to download, listen, or subscribe can be found here.