Don't confuse fate with destiny... by xrayeck

As usual, what seemed like the most confusing episode of "Lost" ever, reveals itself to be the most clever. The message of Season 6 and the sideways reality: By averting the crash of Flight 815, the Losties changed their fate, but not their destiny.

The seeds of destiny are being sewn already in this new (to us) reality:

* Desmond still bumps into Jack and has a cryptic conversation, just not on the stadium steps;
* Kate and Claire are thrown together and Kate will likely help with the delivery of Claire's child;
* Charlie still nearly asphyxiates and probably eventually will;
* Locke will still be cured of his paralysis, but this time by Jack's skilled hands;
* Hurley still wins the lottery, but we’ll guess it might even have been with different numbers.
Consequently, a different fate leads to other kinds of changes, as well:
* Jack doesn’t need the second bottle of vodka to sterilize his wound in the jungle;
* Shannon isn’t needed to translate the French transmission;
The beauty of this is that more than 100 episodes in we still don't know what the ultimate destiny of most of Losties is. That story will unfold in the "on island" timeline, and even as it comes to its conclusion we'll see the same ultimate outcome developing in the sideways universe.
Ben was wrong. Fate is a fickle bitch. But you can't escape your destiny.