Locke WAS on the trail...

[dhb88]

Last nights re-run ended with Locke looking evil and listening in as Sayid told about other people on the island. In the next episode when Claire is kidnapped he and Boone split from the others while trying to follow her trail.

From what we know he seems to be a capable tracker, so when he lost her trail but just kept going I thought maybe he was doing that just so Boone wouldn't be suspicious. But I now believe he never lost the trail at all, he was just on a different one - Sayids. I think he was trying to follow Sayids tracks back to the French woman.

I don't know why he wouldn't tell anyone this or what he was going to do if he found her, but even when he claimed to have lost the trail he didn't seem lost.

[Celtic Ceilidh]

Locke does seem to have his own agenda. So heading towards Danielle's camp led him to stumble on to the hatch. Interesting. I can't wait to find out where the hatch leads.

[the_real_ptb]

If you have been paying attention to previous episodes, Locke and Ethan have been spending quality alone time in the jungle at night 'hunting'. I think what was really going on is that Ethan gave Locke some insight regarding the island's mysteries. Now either Locke was warned not to tell anyone else about this knowledge or he decided that the rest of the survivors aren't ready to hear it, so he keeps it to himself.

Now even though Locke knows a little about Ethan, he didn't know he was going to start abducting and attempting to kill people. That's why Locke looks PO'ed. In the next (chronological) episode when they are tracking Ethan, Locke knows that there is some sort of shelter on the island where Ethan and the others hang out, he just doesn't know where it is. For Locke the abduction is a great opportunity to find the said shelter, because there is a good chance that this shelter is where Ethan is headed.

Jump forward to the more current episodes and we see that Locke has indeed found at least part of what he was looking for when he found the hatch, but he is still trying to decide what exactly should be his next move. At the current time (just prior to Homecoming) Locke knows a something about the island's secret, but he is still trying to figure out the nature of the others. Their ambassador at first seemed like an ally, but know Locke sees that they have dark plans and they are not afraid to use deadly force to put these plans into action.

All-in-all I think Locke is on the good side, but is the only one that knows there is a bad side (until recently). Locke is getting his posse together to help him fend of the others evil plans, not to become part of them.

[Dipsh1t19]

dont worry dhb i like your theory. i think thats awesome. i didnt think about it, but now that u mention it, that seems very interesting. i definately believe that.

[xLegenDx]

ptb, just to let you know, Locke looked PO'ed when Sayid came tumbling in saying he found the french woman and not rushing to Sayid's side. He put his arms up which (doesnt meen he knew he was doing it [subconscience]) which meens he didnt want to hear what Sayid had to say

[dhb88]

I don't know what to make of Locke yet (although I will say there is something I don't quite trust about him) but he didn't look friendly when Sayid came back & it was those cut-aways to him that got me thinking about why the producers would bother to show him lurking there. Its what made me think he had another agenda besides tracking Ethan. I wish I could watch the next episode over again to see exactly how the posse comes together and Lockes role in it...

I didn't notice him covering his ears - thats a good catch. Sayids return was before Claire is kidnapped so I don't think thats why he is upset.

[the_real_ptb]

I'm guessing Locke knows about the others, but he also knows about Danielle because Ethan told him about her. Since Ethan's group and Danielle are presumably enemies, Ethan probably also mentioned that she has gone nutty, is armed and dangerous and should not be trusted. If this is true, Locke is most likely skeptical about anything Sayid has to say about Danielle, but he also has to be careful that the rest of our group doesn't realize he knows so much. He has to just sit back and take in what Sayid has to say (looking perturbed) even though he would love to break in and add his two cents.

Now in future episodes Locke is a little confused. He needs more information, but he sees that he's probably not going to get it from Ethan. Should he believe what Ethan told him about Danielle (that she is nutty and can't be trusted) or should he go find Danielle and get her take on the whole thing. Either way he's going to need a group of people on his side that are ready to fight and protect themselves, because he can see that this is what it is coming to.

That's what Locke is up to these days. Getting a group of people together, teaching them to fight and deciding what the next step is in his quest for information. Go to Danielle or wait for someone to come out of the hatch. Or maybe he can teach someone (Walt) how to open the hatch from the outside . . .

[Clementine Kruczynski]

Interesting point, didn't notice it before. But why not ask Sayid a few questions, just to make sure you know what you're getting into?

[jcrew1179]

Yeah, I agree that Locke believes that the hatch is where Ethan lives. He is just waiting for it to open and for Ethan to come out. I think Locke cares for Claire and for her safety and I don't think that he is aligned with the Others.

[azteclady]

I disagree - meaning, I don't think Locke was trying to reach Danielle's hideout, or following Sayid's trail.

I'm going to point in a completely different direction.

I think there were actually two trails to follow, and that both were connected to Claire's kidnapping, as follows:

a)The one Kate and Jack followed, and at the end of which Charlie was found hanging, was left by Ethan and possibly another one of the Others (Danielle's Others), with the specific purpose of misleading whomever would try to rescue both Charlie and Claire.

b)The one Locke and Boone followed was left by the group of Others who actually took Claire, and rightfully leads to the hatch, which should lead to wherever they are keeping / have kept Claire.

As far as Locke's expression at the end of Raised by Another goes, it would seem perfectly normal to me for him to look surprised, intrigued, alarmed. After all, this is the first (as far as the audience knows), that Locke hears about the French woman, the distress call, etc.

Remember that there have been all sorts of secrets that some of the survivors have kept from the others - which is kind of pointed during the "First and hopefully only Island Open" (Solitary, Hurley), when Charlie mentions the polar bear and Michael goes, "What polar bear?" Charlie's reply: "Oh, you haven't heard about that?" (aside: this kind of ties with ChanceGardener's Castaways disconnect theory...)

And, from Locke's point of view, this is alarming information: there are other people in the island, and apparently they are not friendly. Which is borne out by Hurley's urgent announcement about Ethan, and the subsequent search, etc.



Beto
Read the Welcome (http://p073.ezboard.com/flosttheunofficalforumfortheabcseriesfrm31) forum first, PM me second

[xLegenDx]

it makes sense, but maybe Locke doesnt want to hear what Sayid has to say. But i really like the idea of him training the people (Boone) for whatever he is up to (whether if it is what you stated or not) and that he was going to try and get Walt to open the hatch from the outside...interesting

[dhb88]

Good point Beto. Originally I thought the same thing - that the Others had split up as you mention, taking Claire one way and Charlie another. It was those cutways to Locke when re-watching Raised By Another that made me wonder about Locke's motives. To me he did not seem concerned about Sayid or intrigued about his news, and these 2 or 3 cutaways to him at the fringes seemed to me to be significant somehow. Whether the cutaways were just to establish that he now knows about other people on the island or something else only time will tell.

If the hatch is indeed connected to the place the others took Claire does this mean that the others are either unaware or ambivalent about Locke and Boone standing vigil over the hatch? And being the tracker that Locke is wouldn't he have noticed the vegetation covering the hatch was recently disturbed if it was used by the others to take Claire instead of finding the hatch by chance?

To me, his looks on the fringe seemed more like either a) he already knew about the existance of other people on the island and was upset the group was finding out about them or b) he did not know of their existence but wanted to find them before anyone else contacted them; and this is what led me to think maybe he was backtracking Sayid. Of course another possibility (though I don't really belive it) is that Sayids track and the Others w/Claires track are one in the same...

[jcrew1179]

Interesting. I'm sure this has also been discussed, but I'm beginning to think that Locke is aware of the Others. either because Ethan told him while they were hunting or whether he senses that they are not alone and/or the Island's spirit. The 1 definate thing is that Locke will never leave the island, at least on his own will. He can walk on the island and he has no desire to return. If a rescue party comes, he will merely run off into the woods. In fact, he may have been the one who hit Sayid while they were triangulating the power source becuase he was worried that they would be rescued too soon.