By looking at what needs to be resolved, you can predict what will happen by SJK63

For the last five years I've been trying to figure out what just happened and what it all means. But now that we're so near the end, it's easier than ever because now we can guess what still MUST happen to end the show satisfactorily. From that vantage, I think we can put the puzzle pieces together far better than ever.

Here's what I think needs to be resolved, as opposed to merely what I would hope to be resolved (in no particular order):

1. Widmore - what is he up to? how does he fit in? could he really just be a resourceful billionaire who wants to make money off the island or does he truly think he's protecting the world from the smoke monster?

2. Desmond - clearly he will factor into the final resolution; I like the idea that he was exposed to the same light that MIB was exposed to but that his conversion was one of enlightenment rather than destruction; could he be the island's counterpoint to MIB? could it be Desmond vs Flocke in an epic battle?

3. The idea of a constant -

4. The Dharma initiative, Hanso Foundation - what was it? who was behind it? was it Widmore?

5. Jack - is he the one? will the last scene of the last episode feature Jack as the new Jacob, sitting on a beach with the new MIB, looking at a ship in the distance and listening to the MIB say "you know I'd really like to kill you, right?" Or does he die protecting the world from the island forevermore? See below.

6. Hurley - will he find happiness in his alternative universe? or will the producers instead shock us with one of the saddest deaths in all of TVdom?

7. Walt - will he come back? Or was he just a glimpse into the power of the island? This relates to a sub-theory of mine about the idea of youth being powerful on the island - kids believe in things, even crazy improbable things, and don't know enough to doubt them. So, on this particular island, those strong beliefs become reality. Hence, Walt's comic book polar bear came to life, etc. It's why kids are so coveted. Their power on this island is immense. It's why the island mom wanted the babies, unspoiled by the humans. They create rules to games and by sheer belief, the rules become real. Jack is starting to believe in the island and his belief alone stopped the fuse to the TNT on the Black Pearl with Richard. Locke believed and became a near superhero on the island. Hurley believes in the goodness of people and people are good to him. On and on.

8. Kate - probably due to die, right? But what about Aaron then?

9. Claire - ditto, but Aaron again? I can't imagine the producers leaving Aaron without a mom.

10. Sawyer - they have to dispose of him, but I sense they'll make him a hero, perhaps saving the new Jacob/caretaker/Jack in the end.

11. The sunken island at the beginning of this season - does the island sink in the last frames, left with a calm sea above it? was that an alternative universe (I doubt it). They need to explain that.

12. Ben - he's got to die, right? Or will he be the new MIB, sitting on the beach with Jack?

13. Locke - will he live a happy life in the alternate universe?

14. Captain Lapidus - what is he still alive for? All I can think is that he is being kept around to fly that plane away, perhaps as the island is sinking.

15. The wine fed to Jacob by his fake mother - the same cask Jacob showed to Richard, describing the cork as the thing that holds in all the evil; he said the island is that cork for the world; sinking the island means that smoke cannot escape through the water? perhaps it does end under water after all. If a shark jumps over the island in the final scene, I'll scream.

That's a lot to get to in 3-1/2 hours, but I don't see how they skip any of these plot points. It seems the quickest way to kill off a number of people is in one big step like an epic battle. Or, just as effective, to get them off the island safely all at once in the plane piloted by Lapidus. I'm guessing the latter for those of the good people who don't need to stay behind to sink the island (like Jack or Desmond or both).

The bad people will die. Ben, Widmore, for sure. Flocke, probably in smoke form, probably from being held under water (recall that when MIB he was put in the stream, he burst out of it in smoke form as if the water was the last place he could be).

What do you think?