I wrote this article series for one main purpose: to put my head in order about this story I am so deeply invested in. Who's who, what's what and why are they doing that were the driving questions. The survivors of Oceanic 815 and Ajira 316 are locked in to a power struggle on an island filled with mystery and an inexplicable personal power. No one is more important in the story right now than John Locke, Lost's very own Dr. Manhattan, as Sledge so cleverly depicted him a while back. No one seems more dangerous than Charles Widmore, unless it's Ben Linus. The Dharma people's shiny veneer of being the nice island scientists has been badly chipped and cracked by their ordering up of Sayid's execution and their hell-bent projects of building the Orchid and the Swan. The Losties still seem hopelessly, well, lost, with their unresolved father issues, struggling relationships and unclear motives.

Isn't it great?!

Three quarters of the way into the story is just about my favorite part. I've been known to stop reading books that I adore just about this point so I'll have the end to savor, just like Desmond and his unfinished copy of Dickens' Our Mutual Friend. We know so much about the story - except what we don't know. And right now that feels like just about everything. Charles Widmore has said there is a Great War coming. I do not believe the island has ordered up that conflict. I believe it is a manmade dilemma over perceived ownership of this precious island and its powers. But who are the sides in the War? I have a feeling we know.

Season One Lost was about the survivors of 815 versus the Others. We ended that season with Danielle threatening their arrival with the ominous black smoke. When it turned out she lit the fire herself to steal Aaron, the threat still came in the form of Tom Friendly and Walt's abduction. Season Two was about the Tailies joining up with our Losties and ended with the hideous murders of Ana Lucia and Libby as Michael followed Ben's promptings. Season Three was about the Others - they were finally exposed. I'll never forget the beginning of that season and Juliet burning those muffins. The Others weren't savages at all. They ate breakfast on tablecloths and had book clubs. By the time Jack declared he had to go back to the place he was trying to leave season four's agenda was clear. Get them safely off that island in spite of Widmore's goons and then get them back there whatever it took.

It took a lot: Locke's death, the end of Jack's rationalistic creed, the end of Sawyer and Juliet's former lives. And now we are with Dharma. We know them perhaps better than we wanted to. I am thoroughly satisfied with this season's story arc. I love Horace's pout and hippie-hoarse voice trying to be the big man when you sense all he wants to do is pore over his theorems. I like Pierre Chang's single-minded devotion to tapping in to the power at the base of the Orchid station, and I even like his counterpart, Radzinsky beating his head against the wall trying to get the Swan safely and secretly built. Every time I see Sawyer, Jin, Jack and company in those jumpsuits I just want to shake my head and say, "Now THAT I never expected." They've always been in over their heads, but I sense that is even more so now. When Juliet said placidly to Kate, "Here we go," I heard that for the whole rest of the story. Here goes us messing with history, or taking our place in it in a way we never knew or remembered. Here goes us trying to "fix" Ben when he might not be the enemy. Here goes us trying to organize ourselves again so we can have some semblance of freedom not knowing whether or not we're giving ourselves away in doing so. Here goes the story we are knee deep in.

What will happen to them? Anything. Do you realize what a complete marvel it is that we have no idea whether or not any of our protagonists will survive this story? There is not a single guarantee I can find. Do you realize that in the age of reality tv that we have in this story a situation so dangerous and unpredictable our characters could be completely destroyed? Dead is not dead on the island. Jack might go the way of his father. Hurley might go the way of his friends. Sawyer might go the way of the real Sawyer. Kate might follow Wayne to the big cabin in the sky. Do I want them to die? Absolutely not. Do I want this story to keep me on the edge of my chair? Absolutely.

Who is fighting over this island? Two people and two people only, Charles Widmore and Ben Linus. We have yet to see the full falling out. We have yet to see the full power at their disposal. But these two men are each other's antagonists. If there is a third party, perhaps led by Eloise Hawking, or Richard, or a DeGroot or Hanso, then so be it. But the line is drawn the same.

Who will Locke side with? This is an overarching question hanging over the story. I do believe that when Widmore sized up the struggle in "Jeremy Bentham" he was right in saying that who ever Locke fights with has the upper hand. Alex certainly seems to share that opinion. Locke is the lightning rod. I personally believe that he will become something of a talisman. Whoever sides with him has the kind of power available that the Rebels had in Star Wars because Luke was part of their band, or the kind of power the Fellowship had in Lord of the Rings because Gandalf was with them. They will still have to fight, choose, love and die - but he is there to guide them. The island is neutral in the struggle. It is the piece of land and the goal of the quest that the struggle is over. Locke is likewise neutral in the Great War. His type of belief in the island (I called it Island-ism and still hold to that) will strengthen them and his type of faith will suffer defeat or accept victory not for itself, but for the island.

Widmore and Linus are morally relativistic powers vying for control. I am done trying to figure out which one of them is the bad guy. They both are. I sense that neither man has ever made a decision except from calculation and self-determinism. Free will proponents, they are not. Rationalists, materialists, power-brokers, yes, believers, seekers, friends, no. At one point either of these men may have been believers in the power of the island. But instead of staying humble they both puffed themselves up with control and power-mongering. I think that to the end they will be defined by their stance with the island. Either man might be redeemed, but that speaks more to the nature of forgiveness inherent in the island than in any deservingness on their parts.

The Great War is between Faith and Science. Science stands with rationalism and believes that the universe can be examined and found out in certainty. Faith stands with mystery and believes the universe is full of inexplicable terror and glory. The eye of Science that opens on the island doesn't look for but finds monsters. How does a plain clothes worker die because his filling gets dislodged and shatters his brain? How do you make a pact with savage natives? The blood stain on the inner wall of Swan that was Radzinksy is the end of rationalism. Stephen King calls it the "Deathtrip."

On the other side of the equation, the eye of faith opens on the island and what it sees is beautiful. Wonders and miracles replace terror and superstition. The universe can't be explained. The island can't be explained. But it can be thanked, even worshipped. Every time we've seen John Locke throw back his head and feel the fall of rain on his face we have seen an act of worship. That act of worship has been rewarded with healing, knowledge and resurrected life. Will this "Lifetrip" survive the coming conflagration?

How should I know that? There are twenty-one more episodes. I have to keep watching! Of course, I could be totally wrong and the island could be the villain and it might need to be destroyed. If that's the case, it will be a total and complete tragedy for Locke and the Losties. However the story resolves, the truth of the matter is that we can't see from our vantage point now in April 2009. With the way we have studied this thing, the fact that the end is unclear suggests genius on the part of the writers. They've made a mess but we wouldn't want it any other way.