Is the ALT the Losties' Last Temptation? by Dimitris M.

Until "Happily Ever After", I was one of the people subscribing to the idea that the ALT was the "reward" of the Losties, the world that was formed AFTER the end of the series and after anything that was going to happen during the finale of the show. Episode 6x11 changed my perception in a big way, though. Could the ALT be a kind of "Last Temptation" for the Losties?

There are clues pointing to that direction. We've seen the people of 815 getting whatever they THOUGHT they wanted in the ALT. What have we seen in the ALT so far? Jack manages to fix the relationship with his son, making up for the screwed up relationship he had with his own father. Kate manages to get Claire in the hospital to give birth to Aaron, thus "reuniting" him in a way with his natural mother. Ben sacrifices a seat of power in order to help Alex, instead of sacrificing her to retain that power. Jin and Sun are together again, and this time Sun's plans to escape her father include running away WITH jin. Hurley is "the luckiest guy in the world" as he says himself, and not a "walking jinx" anymore. Sayid sees Nadia again. Locke is planning to get married with Helen. The ALT seems to tackle successfully every "issue" the 815ers had in their lives. And yet, there seems to be a parameter capable of rendering all these issues moot and unimportant: Love.

Charlie realised that during his ALT near-death experience in the plane. Desmond did so, too, during his car accident. Daniel apparently saw Charlotte and realised that maybe the "ideal" world is not so ideal after all.

What if this ALT world where all the issues that SEEM important are fixed, is nothing but a kind of "Last Temptation" for the Losties? It could be somehow set up as a final trap by MIB/Flocke in order to render Jacob's candidates useless by "bribing" them with what they THOUGHT they wanted all along. It could also be a final "test" by Jacob, to see if his candidates have their hearts in the right place, if they are able to go past the everyday issues and focus on what is ultimately important: Love.

At this point, I cannot decide if the MIB/Locke or Jacob scenario is more possible, but I think that sacrificing the ALT or not is the ultimate choice the Losties will have to make, the Endgame of the show. Desmond is being set up as the catalyst to point them towards making that choice for themselves, the person to wake them up from their "Last Temptation".