Yes, LostDave, a piece of an asteroid could be accounting for some of the weird magnetic forces on the Island. The four-toed statue could also be pointing to the extra-terrestrial. And Richard, Smokie, and the wheel. But I’m not going to assume that the Hawking and Ben are worried about “all of us” in their attempt to get the O6 back. When Hawking says “us” she might be meaning a very small group of people.

Births are becoming a major theme on Lost. We’ve seen Aaron born on the Island, and Locke, Ji Yeon, Charlie Hume, and Ben being brought into the world off-island. Ben claimed to have been born on the island but we’ve seen that that was a lie. It was an interesting claim and one of the few times we can actually “prove” that Ben was lying, though many of us are constantly suspicious of him.

Alex was also born on the island, btw, though we haven’t witnessed it… yet.

Which leads to questions about Penny Widmore. There’s been some speculation on this site’s forum (AstroJones) that she’s the adopted daughter of Charles Widmore and that her son Charlie is actually Charles Widmore. It could work if Penny, Des, and Charlie go back in time, and it would parallel nicely with Alex being Ben’s adopted daughter. Ben now wants to kill Widmore’s adopted daughter so “you’ll understand how I feel.” How was Penny born, anyway? Charles Widmore is clearly a young man on the Island about 15 years before Penny’s birth. We don’t know when he left the Island, who is Penny’s mother, and where she was born? We do know that Ben knows about her and it appears that he and Charles were well acquainted with each other at some point in their lives probably after the birth of Penny. My own daughter is convinced that Penny and Desmond are the two most important characters on Lost; that everything relates to them and their relationship. I know most things I speculate about end up with them. It would have been interesting if Penny was really Charles Widmore’s mother and Ben killed her before her baby was born. Would Charles have ceased to exist?

Many speculate that Walt is Matthew Abaddon, so, yeah, he may be back.

westy185: I agree that it's pretty obvious "The Little Prince" is a reference to Rouseau's boat and Aaron. But this show often has references work on multiple levels.

That's why I'm wondering it there might be more to the whole asteroid/prince thing.

But if there is then I think it's that an asteroid slammed into the island in the past, seeding it with "exotic matter" which imbued the island with the special properties it has today. I highly doubt that the island is pulling an asteroid in from space now. We spend a lot of time scanning the skys for any objects that could be a threat to the Earth, and that's not the sort of thing that would be missed.

I think the danger the Others are worried about is more related to preventing the forces on the island from tearing some hole in space and time that could threaten the Earth.

I do suspect that Aaron may play a key role in what's to come. He is the only child we know of to be born on the island, but that was because Claire was already past the point in her pregnancy where pregnant women on the island always die. And luckily Sun got off the island before she reached that point. But there's obviously something about him.

After all that psychic Claire visited in Australia did warn her that it was important not to let her child be raised by others. Question is did he mean "others" or "Others"?

Another thing I wonder about is whether Walt will be brought back into the story. He was someone the Others were really interested in, before they decided they were wrong about him and wanted him gone. I know one reason the writers had his character removed was that he was growing too fast for the time span that was being covered by the show. What was it - 80 or 90 days over the course of 4 seasons? But now that they jumped ahead 3 years - at least from the O6 perspective - he could be brought back in.

Isn't it obvious that the title of this episode, "The Little Prince," is a reference both to Rousseau's boat and to Aaron?

Yes, the boat "besixdouze" is obscure, but many people have read "The Little Prince," and Lost is a literary show - I'm sure the writers knew the connection would be discovered quickly. Having said this, IMO this reference is really more cute than everything else; I don't think we should believe that the boat's name has any deep meaning.

The episode's real thrust is Aaron. We see Kate go through a kind of roller coaster ride about the possibility of losing him. We find out that it was Ben behind the blood tests. But is Aaron important to Ben for some deeper reason than just getting all the O6 back to island? How does he tie in to Ben's plan?

Even more importantly, we (and Sawyer) see a replay of Aaron's birth. Some intelligence - let's just call it "the Island" - is directing this time-skipping. It was evidently very important for someone in our party of Losties, former others, and freighter people to witness this event. We should be asking ourselves why. Does the Island consider Aaron some kind of prince?

Does Aaron's importance lie well beyond the fact that he was one of very few children born on the island? It's a central quesion of Lost from the first season and we're clearly revisiting it now.

Boy, this is a REALLY obscure title reference. I can't imagine that any casual viewer would "get" it (unless they came here, of course!)

A lot of the rest of the episode seems to be centered around "Who Is Trying To Get Aaron?" which makes me wonder if they were hoping we'd think Aaron is The Little Prince. This is getting back to something I was already starting to abandon, though -- the idea of Aaron as "next leader" or whatever.

Quite true that an asteroid/meteor hitting Earth is a "God help us all" kind of moment!

LostDave, that's a good thought, too. Either Richard or Jacob could be the "being that takes human form," and it might explain Smokey too. As for it being far-fetched... hey, it can't be any more far-fetched than an island disappearing. :-)

I MIGHT be going out on a LIMB here, but does anyone else think MILES is the Little Prince?????
I mean they alluded to him being on the island before he can really remember and then we MIGHT have seen him as the Candle Man's baby

LostDave: I like that theory, although it would make more sense for Alpert to be the "Little Prince"

I'd say the Swan station was dispersing the magnetic energy that is now building and attracting said asteroid of doom. How bringing the O6 back to mama is going to avert disaster, I have no idea.

Could the "exotic matter" that seems to be powering the island have come from an asteroid that crashed there ages ago? It would be a nice explanation, that would actually make sense in the context of the show.

For some more far-fetched conjecture - could Jacob be the "Little Prince" of that asteroid? A sentient being living on the asteroid, who came down with it. Who now takes human forms when it interacts with people. And who is trying to protect his remaining piece of home from those who would exploit it for their own benefit.

I don't really think that's true, but I figured I'd throw it out there. But I wouldn't be surprised if the exotic matter has an extraterrestrial origin.

Looks like wreckage from a boat. Besixdouze is probably the name of the Rousseau's boat.

They, being French, were probably lucky enough to have read "Le Petit Prince" in their native language, while I had to try to read it THEIR native language when I was in High School. I didn't get far.

I guess an asteroid is possible. It would obviously be a "God help us all" type situation.

The details in this show never cease to amaze me!

Ok so the island is pulling a meteor towards the Earth unless they reset the donkey wheel. A big meteor hitting the Earth is a "God help us all" typr of moment.

HA!, I knew you guys would have the pics! Great work.