What They Died For
Encyclopedia
"What They Died For" is the 16th and penultimate episode of the American Broadcasting Company
's sixth season
of the serial drama television series Lost
and 119th and penultimate episode overall. The episode aired on May 18, 2010 on ABC
in the United States
. The episode's flash-sideways were centered on Jack Shephard
, Desmond Hume
, Benjamin Linus and James "Sawyer" Ford.
In the flash-sideways timeline, Desmond Hume
(Henry Ian Cusick
) continues his attempt to gather all the passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. In 2007, The Man in Black
(Terry O'Quinn
) devises a new strategy. Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) takes the role as leader of the island while he and his group search for Desmond.
(Matthew Fox
) eats breakfast with his newly discovered half-sister, Claire Littleton
(Emilie de Ravin
) and his son, David Shephard (Dylan Minnette
), where they discuss David's upcoming concert that night. While eating, Jack receives a phone call apparently from Oceanic Airlines
, stating to have found Jack's cargo that had been lost on flight 815: Christian Shephard's
coffin. Jack hangs up the phone, but it is revealed to have been Desmond Hume
(Henry Ian Cusick
) who had faked the phone call.
Desmond is later found waiting in his car outside the high school where John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) and Ben Linus (Michael Emerson
) work. Ben jumps in front of the car and threatens to call the police. Desmond exits the car and begins to beat Ben, telling him that he wasn't trying to hurt Locke, but trying to get him to "let go". While Ben is being beaten, he has flashes of Desmond beating him in the original universe, as seen in Dead Is Dead.
Ben later meets Locke in the infirmary and conveys what was said between him and Desmond. After Locke hears this, he goes to see Jack in his office at the hospital. Locke tells him about them being on the same flight, Locke then being in a car accident and being brought to him of all doctors, and then about hearing Ben convey a message from Desmond that contained something Jack had said to Locke (getting him to "let go"), just as he had left the hospital from his injury. Locke states that he believes this is fate, and that it is his destiny for Jack to fix his wheelchair bound disability. Meanwhile, Ben meets Alex
(Tania Raymonde
) in the parking lot, who offers him a drive home with her mother Danielle Rousseau
(Mira Furlan
) because of his injured arm from Desmond's attack. She invites him to their home for a meal, and he accepts. Rousseau tells Ben that since Alex's father died, he has been the closest that she has had to a father.
Meanwhile, Desmond goes to the police station where James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
) and Miles Straume
(Ken Leung
) are employees, and Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) and Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) are being held in detention. Desmond confesses to running over Locke and beating up Ben, and Sawyer puts him in the same cell as Sayid, neighboring Kate's cell. A van arrives to transport Desmond, Kate, and Sayid, and they enter together.
The van, however, pulls over, and Ana Lucia Cortez
(Michelle Rodriguez
) opens the door and lets them out, demanding the money promised for setting them free. Desmond says it will be here soon, as Ana Lucia sets the three of them free, and a Hummer is seen pulling up to them. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) exits with the money, giving it to Ana Lucia. Desmond then instructs Sayid to ride with Hurley and tells Kate to ride with himself. Desmond hands Kate a dress and tells her they are going to a concert.
", Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer wash up on a shore, having survived the submarine explosion. Jack then informs the group that they must find Desmond, reasoning that since the Man in Black
(Terry O'Quinn
) wanted Desmond dead, they would need him in the events to follow.
On their way to the well where Desmond was last seen, a younger Jacob (Kenton Duty) confronts Hurley alone, demanding the ashes of his adult body. Hurley willingly gives them, but younger Jacob runs away with them without answering any of Hurley's questions. Hurley chases him through the jungle to a campfire, where he now finds the adult Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
) waiting for him. Jacob instructs him to bring the others, telling Hurley that once the campfire burns out, they will never be able to see Jacob again.
Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer make it to the campfire, where Jacob (who they can all see for the first time) tells them that they were brought to the island to take his place as protector of the island, and they were chosen above others because they were like him. They, throughout their lives, had nothing to cling to, and felt alone in the world, so he brought them here because they needed to fill that empty hole with the island. Jacob explains that the light, the "heart" of the island (seen in "Across the Sea
"), needs to be protected from the Man in Black. He then tells them that one of them needs to choose to be the next guardian. Jack steps forward, stating that it was why he was brought there. Jacob's ghost then gives Jack a cup of water, and Jack takes the drink, accepting his responsibility. Jacob then tells Jack that he is "now like [him]".
Meanwhile, Ben, Miles, and Richard Alpert
(Nestor Carbonell
) are heading to the destroyed Barracks of the DHARMA Initiative
. Ben enters the secret room where he was previously seen summoning the smoke monster
, where he kept a stack of C4 that he was going to use to destroy the Ajira Flight 316 airplane in which the Man in Black was trying to leave the island. Before they can leave, Charles Widmore
(Alan Dale
) and Zoe (Sheila Kelley
) are found in the house. Ben threatens to kill Widmore, who then claims that if he is killed, all hope will be lost.
Zoe, while spying on the docks, witnesses The Man in Black arrive, causing her and Widmore to hide in Ben's closet, while Ben and Richard decide to attempt to talk to the Man in Black. Miles runs off into the woods away from the events. Almost immediately after Richard goes out of the house to look for The Man in Black, he in his "Monster" form, charges into Richard and sends him flying off screen. The Man in Black then reappears as his indefinite guise as Locke
to talk to Ben, telling Ben he had more people to kill and wanting to know where Widmore was. Ben reveals Widmore's location.
The Man in Black begins to interrogate Widmore and Zoe, but then slits Zoe's throat when Widmore tells her not to say anything, explaining that she was useless to him if she couldn't talk. He then gets Widmore to tell him why he is here by offering to spare the life of his daughter once he leaves the island. Widmore initially refuses to speak until Ben leaves the room, but The Man in Black convinces him to whisper the information to him. While Widmore is whispering into The Man in Black's ear, Ben shoots Widmore several times, killing him and coldly stating that "he doesn't get to save his daughter". The Man in Black claims that he had gotten the information he wanted regardless, and leaves with Ben.
The two arrive at the well where Desmond should have been, but it is empty and a rope is leading out of it. The Man in Black states that he was glad he had escaped, due to the fact that he could find him easily and use Desmond's resistance to electromagnetism to "destroy the island", having gathered the information from Widmore.
's Royce Hall
on May 13, 2010 as a fundraiser for scholarships for the Colburn School of Performing Arts
. It was written by executive producers Edward Kitsis
, Adam Horowitz and Elizabeth Sarnoff
and directed by Paul Edwards.
".
gave the episode a score of 9.4, naming the episode "A fantastic setup for the series finale." Noel Murray of The Onion A.V. Club stated "It was funny at times, poignant at times, shocking at times, and it made the overall picture a little bit clearer. And I especially liked the way the tone shifted as the episode progressed." In total, he gave the episode the score of 91. Todd VanDerWerff of Los Angeles Times
gave the episode a score of 90, stating, "What They Died For is a lot of things. It's a fantastic episode of "Lost," one that moves like a rocket. It's a big, relatively well-handled infodump that makes sure we know how everything and everyone fits into the big picture, mostly." Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
gave the episode the score of 80, saying that it was "A set-up episode, albeit an extremely entertaining one."
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's sixth season
Lost (season 6)
The sixth and final season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on February 2, 2010. The sixth-season premiere was the first to climb in the ratings year-over-year since the second season, drawing 12.1 million viewers. The season...
of the serial drama television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
and 119th and penultimate episode overall. The episode aired on May 18, 2010 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The episode's flash-sideways were centered on Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
, Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
, Benjamin Linus and James "Sawyer" Ford.
In the flash-sideways timeline, Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) continues his attempt to gather all the passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. In 2007, The Man in Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) devises a new strategy. Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) takes the role as leader of the island while he and his group search for Desmond.
2004 (flash-sideways timeline)
In the flash sideways timeline, Jack ShephardJack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) eats breakfast with his newly discovered half-sister, Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
) and his son, David Shephard (Dylan Minnette
Dylan Minnette
Dylan Christopher Minnette is an American teen actor and musician.-Life and career:Minnette was born in Evansville, Indiana to Robyn Maker-Minnette, moved briefly to Champaign, Illinois for 5 years, and later moved to Los Angeles to continue his acting career.His first role was a single episode of...
), where they discuss David's upcoming concert that night. While eating, Jack receives a phone call apparently from Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
, stating to have found Jack's cargo that had been lost on flight 815: Christian Shephard's
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
coffin. Jack hangs up the phone, but it is revealed to have been Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) who had faked the phone call.
Desmond is later found waiting in his car outside the high school where John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) and Ben Linus (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
) work. Ben jumps in front of the car and threatens to call the police. Desmond exits the car and begins to beat Ben, telling him that he wasn't trying to hurt Locke, but trying to get him to "let go". While Ben is being beaten, he has flashes of Desmond beating him in the original universe, as seen in Dead Is Dead.
Ben later meets Locke in the infirmary and conveys what was said between him and Desmond. After Locke hears this, he goes to see Jack in his office at the hospital. Locke tells him about them being on the same flight, Locke then being in a car accident and being brought to him of all doctors, and then about hearing Ben convey a message from Desmond that contained something Jack had said to Locke (getting him to "let go"), just as he had left the hospital from his injury. Locke states that he believes this is fate, and that it is his destiny for Jack to fix his wheelchair bound disability. Meanwhile, Ben meets Alex
Alex (Lost)
Alexandra "Alex" Linus is a recurring fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Tania Raymonde. She was born 16 years prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, but was taken from her mother, Danielle Rousseau by the Others. She was raised among them, believing her mother to...
(Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde is an American actress. Raymonde's first prominent casting role was the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders in TV series Malcolm in the Middle between 2000–2003, followed by a popular role as Alex Rousseau in ABC's Lost from 2006 to 2010.She can currently be seen as UTF officer...
) in the parking lot, who offers him a drive home with her mother Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays the scientist who shipwrecks on the island sixteen...
(Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan is a Croatian actress and singer currently residing in the United States. She is well known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on all five seasons of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 , and Danielle Rousseau on Lost.-Early life:Furlan was born to an...
) because of his injured arm from Desmond's attack. She invites him to their home for a meal, and he accepts. Rousseau tells Ben that since Alex's father died, he has been the closest that she has had to a father.
Meanwhile, Desmond goes to the police station where James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
) and Miles Straume
Miles Straume
Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series Lost. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana that is offshore the island where most of Lost takes place...
(Ken Leung
Ken Leung
Kenneth "Ken" Leung is an American actor best known for his role as Miles Straume in the ABC television series Lost and roles in such films as Shanghai Kiss, Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Saw.-Early life:...
) are employees, and Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) and Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) are being held in detention. Desmond confesses to running over Locke and beating up Ben, and Sawyer puts him in the same cell as Sayid, neighboring Kate's cell. A van arrives to transport Desmond, Kate, and Sayid, and they enter together.
The van, however, pulls over, and Ana Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Michelle Rodriguez. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section...
(Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
) opens the door and lets them out, demanding the money promised for setting them free. Desmond says it will be here soon, as Ana Lucia sets the three of them free, and a Hummer is seen pulling up to them. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) exits with the money, giving it to Ana Lucia. Desmond then instructs Sayid to ride with Hurley and tells Kate to ride with himself. Desmond hands Kate a dress and tells her they are going to a concert.
2007 (original timeline)
Following the events of "The CandidateThe Candidate (Lost)
"The Candidate" is the 14th episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 117th episode overall. The episode aired on May 4, 2010 on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso and directed by...
", Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer wash up on a shore, having survived the submarine explosion. Jack then informs the group that they must find Desmond, reasoning that since the Man in Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) wanted Desmond dead, they would need him in the events to follow.
On their way to the well where Desmond was last seen, a younger Jacob (Kenton Duty) confronts Hurley alone, demanding the ashes of his adult body. Hurley willingly gives them, but younger Jacob runs away with them without answering any of Hurley's questions. Hurley chases him through the jungle to a campfire, where he now finds the adult Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
) waiting for him. Jacob instructs him to bring the others, telling Hurley that once the campfire burns out, they will never be able to see Jacob again.
Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer make it to the campfire, where Jacob (who they can all see for the first time) tells them that they were brought to the island to take his place as protector of the island, and they were chosen above others because they were like him. They, throughout their lives, had nothing to cling to, and felt alone in the world, so he brought them here because they needed to fill that empty hole with the island. Jacob explains that the light, the "heart" of the island (seen in "Across the Sea
Across the Sea (Lost)
"Across the Sea" is the 15th episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 118th episode overall. The episode aired on May 11, 2010 on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof and directed by...
"), needs to be protected from the Man in Black. He then tells them that one of them needs to choose to be the next guardian. Jack steps forward, stating that it was why he was brought there. Jacob's ghost then gives Jack a cup of water, and Jack takes the drink, accepting his responsibility. Jacob then tells Jack that he is "now like [him]".
Meanwhile, Ben, Miles, and Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
(Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
) are heading to the destroyed Barracks of the DHARMA Initiative
DHARMA Initiative
The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA , was a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science...
. Ben enters the secret room where he was previously seen summoning the smoke monster
The Shape of Things to Come (Lost)
"The Shape of Things to Come" is the 81st episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and is the ninth episode of the fourth season. It aired on April 24, 2008 on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. The episode was written by co-executive producer Drew Goddard and...
, where he kept a stack of C4 that he was going to use to destroy the Ajira Flight 316 airplane in which the Man in Black was trying to leave the island. Before they can leave, Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. He is primarily portrayed as an older man by Alan Dale; Tom Connolly and David S...
(Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
) and Zoe (Sheila Kelley
Sheila Kelley (American actress)
Sheila Kelley is an American television actress. She is best known for her roles as Gwen Taylor on L.A. Law and as Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett Hayes on Sisters.-Early life:...
) are found in the house. Ben threatens to kill Widmore, who then claims that if he is killed, all hope will be lost.
Zoe, while spying on the docks, witnesses The Man in Black arrive, causing her and Widmore to hide in Ben's closet, while Ben and Richard decide to attempt to talk to the Man in Black. Miles runs off into the woods away from the events. Almost immediately after Richard goes out of the house to look for The Man in Black, he in his "Monster" form, charges into Richard and sends him flying off screen. The Man in Black then reappears as his indefinite guise as Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
to talk to Ben, telling Ben he had more people to kill and wanting to know where Widmore was. Ben reveals Widmore's location.
The Man in Black begins to interrogate Widmore and Zoe, but then slits Zoe's throat when Widmore tells her not to say anything, explaining that she was useless to him if she couldn't talk. He then gets Widmore to tell him why he is here by offering to spare the life of his daughter once he leaves the island. Widmore initially refuses to speak until Ben leaves the room, but The Man in Black convinces him to whisper the information to him. While Widmore is whispering into The Man in Black's ear, Ben shoots Widmore several times, killing him and coldly stating that "he doesn't get to save his daughter". The Man in Black claims that he had gotten the information he wanted regardless, and leaves with Ben.
The two arrive at the well where Desmond should have been, but it is empty and a rope is leading out of it. The Man in Black states that he was glad he had escaped, due to the fact that he could find him easily and use Desmond's resistance to electromagnetism to "destroy the island", having gathered the information from Widmore.
Production
The episode was shown for approximately 1800 people at UCLAUniversity of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
's Royce Hall
Royce Hall
Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles . Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison in the Italian Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1929, it is one of the four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus and has come to be the...
on May 13, 2010 as a fundraiser for scholarships for the Colburn School of Performing Arts
Colburn School
The Colburn School is a music, dance, and drama school located in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the Museum of Contemporary Art and across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall...
. It was written by executive producers Edward Kitsis
Edward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
, Adam Horowitz and Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, Deadwood and Lost.-Career:...
and directed by Paul Edwards.
Ratings and viewership
1.87 million Canadians watched this episode. 10.17 million American viewers watched this episode, the highest viewed episode since "The PackageThe Package (Lost)
"The Package" is the tenth television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 113th episode overall. The episode was aired on March 30, 2010 on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by producer Paul Zbyszewski and story...
".
Critical reception
The episode received very positive reviews from critics. Review aggregate website Metacritic gave the episode a score of 89 out of 100, indicating "Universal Acclaim". Both Cindy McLennan and Sam McPherson of Television Without Pity and TV Overmind, respectively, gave the episode a perfect score. Chris Carabott of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a score of 9.4, naming the episode "A fantastic setup for the series finale." Noel Murray of The Onion A.V. Club stated "It was funny at times, poignant at times, shocking at times, and it made the overall picture a little bit clearer. And I especially liked the way the tone shifted as the episode progressed." In total, he gave the episode the score of 91. Todd VanDerWerff of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave the episode a score of 90, stating, "What They Died For is a lot of things. It's a fantastic episode of "Lost," one that moves like a rocket. It's a big, relatively well-handled infodump that makes sure we know how everything and everyone fits into the big picture, mostly." Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the episode the score of 80, saying that it was "A set-up episode, albeit an extremely entertaining one."