The Temple

Here it is, another Lost-eve, and I’ve a few thoughts to share about the Temple. The Temple, of course, is where we saw Richard Alpert carry the unconscious young Ben Linus at the end of last week's episode. We don’t know a whole lot about the Temple, so I thought I’d compile what we know here, and then ask my questions.

We first heard of the Temple in Meet Kevin Johnson, when Ben gave Alex a map to the Temple, saying it might be the last safe place on the island. Oddly enough, the map has a Dharma logo on it. When Karl suggested that the survivors go with them to the Temple, Ben refused, saying, “It’s not for them.” We didn’t see the Temple until This Place is Death. Remember when Montand was dragged by the smoke monster/security system into the hole, losing his arm in the process? And remember that Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan followed Montand into the hole, after he called to them? Danielle would have gone into the well too, had Jin not been there to stop her. This occurred at the Temple – or its outer walls, at least. We saw the walls, covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs (there’s another line of thought –all the Egyptian symbols this season). Apparently there was an official podcast after This Place is Death, in which the producers reported that the walls we saw are just an outer perimeter. The Temple is inside these walls.

We know nothing else about the Temple. But after seeing what happened to Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan, and then after hearing what Richard told Kate and Sawyer about what would happen to Ben, it just elicited a slew of thoughts. In case you need reminding, Richard said:

If I take him, he’s not ever going to be the same again. He’ll forget this ever happened and his innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us. Do you still want me to take him?

Is it the Temple that turns people into “Others”? How does it alter them? Were the Frenchmen turned into “Others”? What about being an “Other” made them so deadly to Danielle? Who built the Temple – the “Others”? The Dharma Initiative? Who or what decides who goes to the Temple and who doesn’t? Why was it not for the survivors? Has Juliet been to the Temple? Has she been irrevocably changed?

Who are the “Others”, anyway?

I use quotation marks around the word “Others” because it appears that there are two kinds of Others. Ben and Richard are privy to the Temple, but Karl and Alex were not. And I don't know what the differences are.

I am thoroughly intrigued.