tangerine trees and marmalade skies

"Jughead"

Warning: Spoilers from Lost Season 5!

So, here’s what I consider to have been the most important moment from last night’s episode of Lost, even though ABC apparently didn’t even find it relevant enough to include a screenshot of the encounter.

Locke telling Richard Alpert that he was supposed to be their leader.  And to come visit him when he was born, as proof.

All along, we thought that Richard Alpert came to see Locke as a newborn because Locke was supposed to be the island/Others’ leader.  But what now?  It seems that Alpert only came to visit him in order to verify whether or not Locke was telling the truth.  And in one big, confusing circle that always happens with time travel gets involved, Locke thereby created his own “destiny” with the island.

In other words?  Locke, in my opinion, was never supposd to be the leader.

Alpert thought that Locke was supposed to be their leader only because Locke told him so, and if the guy could time travel back in time to inform him, how could he be wrong?  And Locke only believed that he was the leader because Alpert convinced everyone that it was true.  That’s why Locke failed Alpert’s little “test” as a child.  It’s why Ben kept saying to him, though we thought he was just playing mind games at the time, that the Others thought Locke was someone he wasn’t, and were going to be very disappointed when they learned the truth.  It’s why Locke is so lost most of the time, and doesn’t know what to do.  And it’s why things supposedly go so very badly after the Oceanic 6 left.

Because Locke wasn’t supposed to be in charge.  He didn’t land on the island because it was his destiny to be its leader.  It became his destily to be leader of the island because he landed there.

And yes, as a sidenote, the Widmore used to be an Other thing is fascinating.