So it's left to our imagination

[CaseyMac]

If the kids had stayed behind in the Temple, they would have been killed by MIB along with everyone else. MIB didn't care about anyone that followed along with him. He was completely self centered in his desire to leave the Island. I mean he pulled the whole, "Oh I'm sorry Ben, I forgot to tell you the island would be at the bottom of the ocean when I promised it to you."

Thats what made MIB the villian, to manipulate or destroy anything that got in his way to reach his goal of leaving the island.

[I_Am_Jacob]

Yeah I guess showing the world as we could see it crumbling away is not a good enough indicator as to what would happen if the light went out. Also you really think MiB would have made a spot on the Boat For Cindy and the kids? Maybe thats what he was waiting for at the ladder. Waiting for the kids to meet him at the cliff. Yeah, no. MiB was perfectly content with letting the kids sink to the bottom of the ocean with the rest of the people he "Cared" about from the temple. 

[CastawayCayley]

I agree that if Cindy and the kids had stayed in the Temple they would have been killed in a heartbeat.

But a small point: Zach and Emma's parents were not killed in the initial crash. They were traveling alone and were to be met in LA by their mom. So they have living family elsewhere. In my version of events up inside my brain, Hurley sends them home with Desmond.

ETA: Now I see they said on the popup "LA X" that the parents were killed. So is that revisionist history by the show writers or a mistake by the popup writers?

[lostlady]

I agree that if Cindy and the kids had stayed in the Temple they would have been killed in a heartbeat.

But a small point: Zach and Emma's parents were not killed in the initial crash. They were traveling alone and were to be met in LA by their mom. So they have living family elsewhere. In my version of events up inside my brain, Hurley sends them home with Desmond.

ETA: Now I see they said on the popup "LA X" that the parents were killed. So is that revisionist history by the show writers or a mistake by the popup writers?

I remember when they were being pulled out of the water by Eko after the crash the girl was crying and asking where her mom was. I seem to remember that the mom was on board. I don't have the DVD's (I am waiting to buy them all at once in blu-ray) so I could be wrong.........

In any case if they did survive the morters, Hurley sent them home! They got a big pay out from Oceanic and are very happy and rich now!

[Madam P]

If the kids had stayed behind in the Temple, they would have been killed by MIB along with everyone else. MIB didn't care about anyone that followed along with him.

I agree that they would've been killed if they'd stayed behind.  But then why did he make the offer for anyone who wanted to, to come with him?  Why didn't he just leave them all in there and kill them all?  Why give them a chance?

I know you guys will laugh me off the face of the earth, and that's perfectly OK, but yeah, I can see him taking the kids on the boat with him to leave the island.  If they'd still been there with him, I can see it as a possibility.  Would he risk losing his one-chance-in-a-thousand-years-at-escape to go back and look for them to bring them with him?  No, I don't think so -- as you said, escape was his primary goal.  But if they'd been there with him, yes I think he might've taken them along.

Yeah I guess showing the world as we could see it crumbling away is not a good enough indicator as to what would happen if the light went out.

Nope!  Not for me!     To me, it showed that the Island was collapsing, but I don't see where that means that the entire world as we know it would collapse also.  But your sarcasm is duly noted.   

[CastawayCayley]

I agree that if Cindy and the kids had stayed in the Temple they would have been killed in a heartbeat.

But a small point: Zach and Emma's parents were not killed in the initial crash. They were traveling alone and were to be met in LA by their mom. So they have living family elsewhere. In my version of events up inside my brain, Hurley sends them home with Desmond.

ETA: Now I see they said on the popup "LA X" that the parents were killed. So is that revisionist history by the show writers or a mistake by the popup writers?

I remember when they were being pulled out of the water by Eko after the crash the girl was crying and asking where her mom was. I seem to remember that the mom was on board. I don't have the DVD's (I am waiting to buy them all at once in blu-ray) so I could be wrong.........

In any case if they did survive the morters, Hurley sent them home! They got a big pay out from Oceanic and are very happy and rich now!

I looked up the transcript from The Other 48 Days.
Zach screams for his sister in the water so Eko goes in after her. Ana Lucia gives her CPR and when she wakes up they have this conversation:

[Emma spits up water and regains consciousness.]
ANA LUCIA: Good, let it out. You okay?
EMMA: Where's my mom?
ANA LUCIA: I don't know.
EMMA: She's meeting us in Los Angeles.

And then from The Other Woman:

BEN: I wanna thank you for how wonderful you've been with Zack and Emma.
JULIET: They're really sweet kids. (Chuckles) Ben, they've been asking me about their mother in Los Angeles. I'm not really sure what to say.
BEN: They'll stop asking in time.

[CaseyMac]

If the kids had stayed behind in the Temple, they would have been killed by MIB along with everyone else. MIB didn't care about anyone that followed along with him.

I agree that they would've been killed if they'd stayed behind.  But then why did he make the offer for anyone who wanted to, to come with him?  Why didn't he just leave them all in there and kill them all?  Why give them a chance?

I know you guys will laugh me off the face of the earth, and that's perfectly OK, but yeah, I can see him taking the kids on the boat with him to leave the island.  If they'd still been there with him, I can see it as a possibility.  Would he risk losing his one-chance-in-a-thousand-years-at-escape to go back and look for them to bring them with him?  No, I don't think so -- as you said, escape was his primary goal.  But if they'd been there with him, yes I think he might've taken them along.

My theory on why he recruited some people from the Temple was simply to get some numbers. He didn't seem too surprised when Widmore got there, but even if he had no clue about Widmore, he still was going to have to deal with the candidates in which case the larger his camp is, the better. He didn't seem to give 2 craps when his "people" were getting shelled by Widmore.

Also, I can't really agree with you that he would have brought Emma and Zach along if he had the chance. I'm not laughing at the idea, because we've all had our theories. I think the only way they would have come along is if they were already on the plane or boat or whatever MIB planned to take. MIB didn't care what the consequences were if he left the Island, which is what made him the villian.

[Madam P]

If the kids had stayed behind in the Temple, they would have been killed by MIB along with everyone else. MIB didn't care about anyone that followed along with him.

I agree that they would've been killed if they'd stayed behind.  But then why did he make the offer for anyone who wanted to, to come with him?  Why didn't he just leave them all in there and kill them all?  Why give them a chance?

I know you guys will laugh me off the face of the earth, and that's perfectly OK, but yeah, I can see him taking the kids on the boat with him to leave the island.  If they'd still been there with him, I can see it as a possibility.  Would he risk losing his one-chance-in-a-thousand-years-at-escape to go back and look for them to bring them with him?  No, I don't think so -- as you said, escape was his primary goal.  But if they'd been there with him, yes I think he might've taken them along.

My theory on why he recruited some people from the Temple was simply to get some numbers.

I thought about that at first, too, but then I thought "What does he need numbers for?  Maybe one person (like Sayid or Claire) to run errands, but he's invincible.  It's not like he needs somebody to watch his back so he doesn't get shot or something."  I dunno... 

I re-watched it Saturday night, with the pop-ups (which didn't add much, really.)  But one thing interesting that I missed before was that after MIB told Ben "Oops, I left out that little part about the island being underwater," he added "With that being said, you're still welcome to come along with me on my boat when I leave." 

[CaseyMac]

If the kids had stayed behind in the Temple, they would have been killed by MIB along with everyone else. MIB didn't care about anyone that followed along with him.

I agree that they would've been killed if they'd stayed behind.  But then why did he make the offer for anyone who wanted to, to come with him?  Why didn't he just leave them all in there and kill them all?  Why give them a chance?

I know you guys will laugh me off the face of the earth, and that's perfectly OK, but yeah, I can see him taking the kids on the boat with him to leave the island.  If they'd still been there with him, I can see it as a possibility.  Would he risk losing his one-chance-in-a-thousand-years-at-escape to go back and look for them to bring them with him?  No, I don't think so -- as you said, escape was his primary goal.  But if they'd been there with him, yes I think he might've taken them along.

My theory on why he recruited some people from the Temple was simply to get some numbers.

I thought about that at first, too, but then I thought "What does he need numbers for?  Maybe one person (like Sayid or Claire) to run errands, but he's invincible.  It's not like he needs somebody to watch his back so he doesn't get shot or something."  I dunno... 

I re-watched it Saturday night, with the pop-ups (which didn't add much, really.)  But one thing interesting that I missed before was that after MIB told Ben "Oops, I left out that little part about the island being underwater," he added "With that being said, you're still welcome to come along with me on my boat when I leave." 

I thought about that too, if he is invincible, why would he need numbers? I think it's because his hands were tied when it came to the candidates. According to Jacob's rules, he couldn't touch them. Also, in regards to Widmore, having more troops should have come in handy, but they got owned when Widmore's crew decided to take Jin. When MIB got back, he kind of had a "Are you freaking serious? How could you let that happen?" reaction.

Also, his whole little game with Ben there kind of reminded me of Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. (surprise) Vader had struck a deal with Lando to trick and trap Han, Leia, and Luke. Then when Vader decided to alter the deal, Lando protested, and Vader responded with the classic "I've altered the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further." Meaning they never really had much of a deal in the first place. I think the same is true with MIB and Ben. He basically said to Ben, "Look you buggy-eyed punk. I just changed the deal, you better hope I don't change it again , or I'll toss you like your guy-liner buddy."

[Madam P]

He basically said to Ben, "Look you buggy-eyed punk. I just changed the deal, you better hope I don't change it again , or I'll toss you like your guy-liner buddy."

You know, if he'd actually said that line, that would've TOTALLY made it into "Best Lines of the Series, Ever."