Watch Ep 321's Secret Clue on Video

Episode 321 - "Greatest Hits" 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, Greatest Hits', delivered us an entirely new, long-suspected underwater hatch, the key moments in Charlie's life, the re-introduction of an Other to the Losties' camp and an amazingly well-hidden clue as to what may really be happening with Desmond's visions...

The episode began confusingly, as someone we didn't recognise was racing through the jungle, bolting towards a canoe. We later learnt this was Karl, the rogue Other Sawyer was caged next to early this season. It was interesting to later see the scene between he and his girlfriend Alex played out, especially when she asked him if Ben was her real father...

There were a few moments in Charlie's flashbacks that were particularly interesting. The young woman he saved from the mugger was Nadia, Sayid's one true love who also met Locke. In this same scene, which was definitely supposed to make us think it was the same rainy performance where Desmond interfered, a sticker on Charlie's guitar read "I was here minutes ago". It was revealed that DriveShaft took their name from the great-grandfather Dexter Straton.

It would appear that Ben has been lying to his subordinates - as far as Juliet knew, the Looking Glass station was flooded and inoperable. Using the schematics he’d taken from the Flame, Sayid was able to construct a plan to take out the signal blocking their transmissions, but it was when Charlie stepped up and offered to do the mission that things truly got interesting...

In Desmond's first flashback this season, "Flashes Before Your Eyes", we witnessed him time-travel back to one of the most important days of his life while knocked out after the hatch explosion. He discovered that, contrary to what he was being told by Ms Hawkings, he could change events, though the universe was sure to correct the course before much change could take place.

This gives us an enormous clue as to what happened in this episode. In both the first, second and third seasons of the show, Charlie has mentioned he is unable to swim, a fact that appeared to have simply up and disappeared as he bravely stepped forward to dive down to the Looking Glass station. While it might have seemed he was simply acting tough, by studying the audio, we can hear that another unlikely scenario may very well have played out...

In Charlie's fourth Greatest Hits flashback, we find him as a boy being taught to swim by his father. His brother Liam is telling him not to jump, as his father will surely move. As Charlie steps nervously to the poolside, however, a voice can be heard in the background, yelling "Come on, let's go - Desmond!"

At the end of the episode, Desmond lies unconscious in the canoe with a list of the five key moments in Charlie's life resting in his pocket. Knowing the importance of Charlie being able to swim, is it possible that Desmond somehow travelled into Charlie's past and altered the event so that Charlie can swim in the present and be the saviour they all require?