Candidates are Guardians by Mystery Scribe

Reading Graphite’s “The Hidden Candidate” theory helped me solidify a theory I’ve been working on. This theory ties in several Lost themes: choosing the leader, infertility, relationships, parents, and “special” children.

Here goes:

In every season, we’ve watched the main characters struggle with their parents. We’ve also watched the Others kidnap (or try to kidnap) every child and every pregnant woman on the Island—Emma and Zack, Walt, Claire (with Aaron), Sun (with Ji Yeon).
Richard reveals to Locke (I think) that the Leaders are chosen at a very young age. Then Richard is seen visiting Locke at birth, as a young child, and as a teenager, but he tells Jack that he never seemed special to him.

Walt is found to be “special” when tested by Bea Klugh. Aaron and Ji Yeon may have already been visited off Island and may have already been tested.

Apparently Ethan was the last child born on the Island and he ended up with the Others. I believe he was kidnapped, tested, brainwashed, and raised by the Others. He wasn’t special enough to become the leader, though.

It doesn’t matter whether the H-bomb caused infertility or MiB somehow caused it. Children were in short supply for the Island to recruit as the next leader. I think the Island realized that Ben was not the right leader and was desperately trying to find someone new.

I think that’s why 815 crashed. (I know, Desmond didn’t push the button, but ultimately that played into getting children to the Island.) There were at least three children on the plane (Emma, Zack, and Walt) and one pregnant woman, Claire. The Island needed to perpetuate the cycle of children fulfilling the leadership role.

When Jacob told FLocke that “they’re coming,” I think he meant the children—Walt, Aaron, and Ji Yeon (and maybe even Charlie Hume)—all of them or some of them. Don't ask me how this will happen. It could be that a new incarnation of Dharma offers a free trip to "special" children. Their grandparents could bring them on a plane, which then crashes on the Island. Who knows. As time is relative, they could even come from a different time.

Now to the question of Kate and why she’s not a candidate. The only time in Kate’s life that she found purpose was when she was raising Aaron. He is the real love of her life. She bounced between Jack and Sawyer because she was never destined to be with either of them. Her destiny was always Aaron—whether she will raise him on the Island or she will sacrifice her own life to save his or to get Claire and Aaron back together. Kate’s role isn’t as a candidate but a guardian.

Perhaps the "candidates" are actually caretakers of the throne, so to speak. They keep the position open and care for the child who will become the leader.

In “The Substitute,” FLocke saw a pre-teen boy who is obviously significant. Was he destined to be a leader, but FLocke killed him? Were FLocke, the mysterious ghost boy, Jacob, and maybe Richard children that crashed onto the Island? Or perhaps one or more of them were the parent/guardian of a child destined to lead.

Children have always had a huge role in the mythology of Lost. I think the ending will show us why.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. As with any theory, this is all conjecture. The writers can pull out any twist that want in the end.