Episode 217 - Secret Clue

This week's episode, "Lockdown", gave us more answers and clues than pretty much any other. We learnt the truth about Henry, someone familiar appeared in Locke's flashback, a possible link between Locke and Sawyer was established and, of course, the secret ? blast door map. We also learnt that Jack got his tattoos in Phuket, presumably sometime after Sarah left him, and picked up some serious poker skills.

In flashback, we saw Locke in a different job again, this time as a home inspector. The client he's dealing with is Nadia, Sayid's true love that he freed in a previous flashback. This confirms that, not only did she successfully escape from Iraq, but she now lives in Irvine, California and works as a lab tech for a medical testing company, something Sayid was told by the CIA agents using him to infiltrate the terrorist ring. Finally, we learnt she hasn't married - could she still be pining for Sayid in the same way?

Locke's father Anthony Cooper once again interfered and derailed poor John's life, this time causing him deeper pain than a stolen kidney. Did you notice the planes flying overhead at the motel were all Oceanic craft, and that Cooper's bag had the logo? That wasn't the only familiar thing surrounding the con man - his methods were harshly similar to those of James Ford...

We found out that truth about Henry Gale, now known Fake Henry, or Fenry. His alibi looked clean when Sayid, Charlie and Ana-Lucia discovered the balloon and grave - but Fenry didn't count on Sayid digging up the grave and finding the body of the true Henry Gale, resident of Minnesota, inside. Now that Fenry stands revealed, will he finally tell the truth? Oh, and did you notice the Widmore Labs logo on the real Henry Gale's balloon?

And finally, but most importantly, there was that map with the big ? right in the middle, markings of hatches and notes in both English and Latin. So much was contained in that brief glimpse that we could fill several of these columns, but let's look at the major things first. We see three hatches we know - the Swan at the bottom (complete with I AM HERE arrow), the Arrow at the top and the Staff (presumably the medical hatch, noted as incompatible with the 108 minute timer) in the upper left hand corner. One hatch has been scribbled out, another two are designated with a squiggle, on the lower left we see the Flame and in the middle lies the giant ? We also see an area marked as "possible recreation area for D.I.H.G. Survey Teams" which is now called home by the survivors.

But it's the notes that hold the true answers, such as the mentions of "incidents" and climate adjustment studies of the species Ursus Maritimus, better known as polar bears. There are mentions of something called Cerebus - care to wager a guess as to what that might be a code name for? A network named DHARMATEL is mentioned several times, and there are references to meteorological research and magnetic interference - computers, storms and magnets - and, for all Hanso truth seekers, there is even a mention of a "possible site for above-ground relevance to Valenzetti-related research activity." You'll notice all the hatches have corridors leading to the centre, and they're all crossed off, perhaps sealed up with concrete like the doors in the Swan.

It's also interesting that there are two distinct handwritings and languages used, as the English is factual and blunt, while the Latin is observational and poetic, meaning that their were two separate people that worked on this map. By using Latin, that particular author ensured that only people who already knew the language would be able to translate it in the dark, most likely a doctor or a scientist. The phrase Sursum Corda is repeated three times - a phrase translated that Scottish button presser Desmond used more than once. Could the map have been drawn by former hatch occupant Desomnd?

Oh, and right next to the marking for the Black Rock, the ship with the dynamite that blew up Dr Arzt in season one, notes "Here lies the final resting place of Magnus Hanso" - head over to the LOST Ninja's blog for the emerging truth about Hanso and their shocking experiments "working for a better tomorrow", as you know the Ninja will have something to say about another Hanso appearance on LOST...