Watch Ep 312's Secret Clue on Video

Episode 312 - "Par Avion" Secret Clue

Welcome back to the Lost Secret Clue, where we dig deeper to find the clues and secrets you might've missed to fuel your theories! This week's episode, 'Par Avion', presented us with a mind-shattering mystery in the form of a security barrier, a suspicious murder, the revelation that Locke probably blew up the Flame hatch knowingly and the answer to Claire's true parentage.

Ever since Ana-Lucia accompanied Jack's father Christian to Australia, we've wondered about the identity of the daughter he insisted he had the right to see. If you'd theorised it was Claire – go straight to the head of the class! All our Losties appear to have had deadbeat dads, and knowing all we do about Christian Shephard, Claire is certainly no different – though it is important to note that it was Claire's mother and aunt that forbid him from continuing to visit, rather than simply abandoning her. This revelation leaves us with a question – will Jack and Claire ever become aware of their relationship as half-siblings?

We can also now add Claire to the list of characters that ended life before coming to the island – Officer Barnes seemed to heavily imply that Claire was responsible for the shocking accident (complete with 10:8 reading on the odometer) that left her mother brain-dead. There was also a nice parallel between Claire's mother being kept alive on life support and Desmond's struggle – he is essentially fulfilling the same role for Charlie on the island. Let's just hope no one suggests he pull the plug...

The heavy use of birds in this episode was also interesting – many ancient societies used birds in ceremonies to seek approval from their gods for their future plans. Not only did Claire and Charlie utilise a bird to send a message of rescue, but a flock of birds flew overheard while Locke, Sayid and Kate were about to cross the pylons. Strangely, the bird captured by Desmond was a silver gull, not known for venturing across oceans...Perhaps Claire didn't know as much about birds as she claimed, but she does know how to craft one gripping rescue note:

"To whom it may concern: We are survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. We have survived on this island for 80 days. We were six hours into the flight when the pilot said we were off course and turned back toward Fiji. We hit turbulence and crashed. We've been waiting here all this time--waiting for rescue that has not come. We do not know where we are. We only know you have not found us. We've done our best to live on this island. Some of us have come to accept we may never leave it. Not all of us have survived since the crash. But there is new life, too, and with it, there is hope. We are alive. Please don't give up on us."

Mikhail dropped some very interesting nuggets of information this week while being forced to trek alongside Locke, Sayid, Kate and Danielle. Having been approached by a man – could this be Richard Alpert, the man who approached Juliet? - he arrived on the island when he was 24 via submarine, which could freely come and go from the island. He confirmed that it was the electromagnetic pulse that had knocked out their sonar beacon, leaving the sub without navigation and unable to leave for fear of never finding the island again, and spat that the Losties simply could not understand why the Others wouldn’t want to leave anyway. He demonstrated his own deep knowledge of the Losties, called Kate "flawed", Locke "angry", Danielle "weak" and Sayid "frightened", declaring their full names and even going so far as to begin announcing Locke’s former paralysis before being cut short. Interestingly, he mentioned the list made by "a magnificent man" – could this be the list made by Jacob, referred to when the Others were still based in the Hydra station?

Locke seems to have gone off the deep end and stepped up in his mission to never leave the island. Since the first season, he has exhibited actions enforcing his belief in the island and the fact that he never wants to be rescued – you’ll recalled he secretly attacked Sayid and destroyed the transceiver – which is why it was no great surprise to learn he’d taken some of the Flame stations C4, implying he knew the destruction that lay behind entering 77. It also seems that Mikhail almost announcing his disability flipped a switch in his head, deciding that the Russian was better as a guinea pig than a hostage.

Unconvinced by Mikhail's claim that the pylons were formerly used to protect the Barracks but had since broken, Locke charges forward and simply pushes him into the path between two, causing Mikhail to turn and thank him. A strange hum began to emit and the talkative Russian foamed at the mouth, began spouting blood from the ears and before long he crumpled to the ground in a heap. Once over the fence, Kate took a quick glance to confirm his death. She should’ve looked closer – Mikhail definitely appeared to take a breath while her back was turned. Is this the last we’ve seen of the informative communications expert – or was his death a ruse to escape their clutches?