Aye, and of course, there's the rub.

The thing is, Locke theoretically didn't know the true nature of their relationship. In retrospect, it's somewhat more of a valid question. But at the time, knowing what we (thought we) knew, it sounded ridiculous.

But how do we know that the two are on the same side? What if, while Locke is working with the island, Ethan and 'the others' are working against it?

Yeah, that's why I threw in the 'if'. Someone upthread mentioned the idea of Locke using his crazy peyote on Claire to give her the hallucinations. I feel like I know WAY too little about Ethan and 'the others' to even be able to guess what they are up to.

Thing is, I really, really like Locke. I feel like he's a very good person. So, maybe my tendancy to think he's going to end up as a bad sort comes from being prepared for the show to slap me upside the head and say "Everything you know is wrong!"

I am not sure we'll see two teams at first. There are a lot of little sub-alliances.

What I can't stop thinking about is how this show can go for more than one season.

Maybe the 'sides' that Locke is talking about are ALL the survivors vs. 'the Others', and he's trying to prepare people for the eventual smackdown?

Re: the compass

Either there just is that much magnetic variation (that is, they're not where they think they are), or (as Sayid appears to think) Locke gave him a screwed up compass on purpose, or there is something of significant magnetic whosits on the island that would throw the readings off.

What sort of power generation (ie, such as that necessary to run Rousseau's chamber of music, torture and twisted love) would generate significantly disruptive magnetic fields?

Maybe the 'sides' that Locke is talking about are ALL the survivors vs. 'the Others', and he's trying to prepare people for the eventual smackdown?

I would think if that were the case, he might want to rally people while something like, oh, the abduction of the sweet pregnant lady and the near murder of her likeable maybe-boyfriend was still fresh on their minds.

It just seems like a weird thing to say to me after Jack saved his life in a much more immediate way more recently.

Yeah, in my book thumping on my chest 'til I come back from the dead would trump motivational help with rehab. And, OK, waking up being cuddled by someone who looks like Matthew Fox wouldn't hurt, either...

I do not think Locke had teamed up with Ethan. I agree that Locke is his own dude.

I'm not sure how far to go with "The Stand" analogy, but Locke ain't a good guy. I think this was established in episode 2 or 3 when he returned to the dog to Walt (through Michael) and ominous music was playing when Locke was watching the both of them. Yes, we saw "Walkabout" after that and he helped Charlie, but Locke's motives has always been suspect to me.

Locke's lies to Jack really made me wonder how far he'd go if there's something he really wanted.

(as Sayid appears to think) Locke gave him a screwed up compass on purpose, or there is something of significant magnetic whosits on the island that would throw the readings off.

Why is Sayid such a fucking moron? The obvious explanation, given all he's seen and experienced, is not that he has a faulty compass, but that there is, in fact, a significant magnetic whosit, most likely coming from the mysterious power source that must exist somewhere on the island.

Maybe the 'sides' that Locke is talking about are ALL the survivors vs. 'the Others', and he's trying to prepare people for the eventual smackdown?

Ooh, I like this.

Locke (rallying the troops): It's about power. They've got an invisomechasaurus. What do we have?

Hurley (Stepping up): I can help!

Flashback to Hurley winning Junkyard Wars.

Liese,

how are the survivors watches working? Have we seen anyone look at their watch? If so...then the problem is with the compass not a magnetic field.

However, Sayid and company did find that something was broadcasting a message on a loop. I can't imagine that broadcast would interfere with a compass.