This is the best Lost theory I've read lately. The nut of the concept being that the island is, in fact, a giant heromaker. That it uses its black smoke monster holographic technology to set up each of its inhabitants with taylor-made hero journeys that will turn them into a generation of warriors, leaders, shamans, and mystics - basically, Jedi Knights - who can save the world. This explains pretty much everything in the Locke episode including why the island's only advice to John would have been that he had to rescue Eko; it also explains everything in the Eko episode up to and including why the island would have John rescue Eko only to have the island kill Eko the next day. It explains why Desmond was running naked through the woods after deciding to blow up the world, and why he can see the future now. The only thing it does not explain is the Others. I don't buy the "Others as threshold guardians/extension of Old Smokey" thing one little bit. I think they are something else.

Of course, this theory could easily be a pitch-perfect example of putting the cart before the horse, in that the writer of the article is essentially saying that Lost follows hero-journey archetypes to the letter as part of its overt plot, when as any writer is fully aware, it would hardly be possible for the characters to not follow those same archetypes as part of the show's covert structure.

See you in February.