Pre-Game: 6.01/6.02 “LA X”

Welcome to Lost Pre-Game, where each week I’ll prep you for the newest episode of Lost about to air, custom-made to include lots of fun, thought-provoking stuff, in a completely spoiler-free way. Tonight, we’re being treated to the 2-hour premiere of Lost’s 6th and final season, entitled “LA X.”

Did the bomb go off? Has history been changed? Is Jacob really dead? What’s going to happen to the island?

First up, let’s whet your appetite with this awesomeness:

Next, you should really take a look at this nifty Lost Timeline from the New York Times. Tremendous, fertile ground for thought.

Lastly for this week, here’s a complete rundown on every major Lost character and where we last left them…

1. Daniel died at the unknowing hands of his own mother, after traveling back in time and meeting her before he was born.

2. Boone died just a few weeks after Oceanic 815 crashed on the island.

3. Miles has met his estranged father in 1977 and found out he was a pretty good guy after all. He was in the vicinity of the hydrogen bomb when it appears to have gone off.

4. Michael died on the freighter, after helping his friends escape from the island. He was estranged from his son Walt, who still doesn’t know that his father is dead.

5. Ana-Lucia died at Michael’s hands when Michael was forced into helping the Others so he could get Walt back.

6. Charlotte died from too much time traveling on the island.

7. Frank is at the foot of the statue, alongside Ilana and Bram. He knows the truth about Locke.

8. Shannon was killed accidentally by Ana-Lucia, due to her paranoia about the Others.

9. Desmond has been reunited with Penny, fathered a son with her, and looks to be living happily ever after, off the island.

10. Eko was killed by the smoke monster for still-unknown reasons.

11. Kate returned to the island to find Claire, to reunite her with Aaron. Our last glimpse of her was as she was pulling Sawyer away from the drill shaft before the drill could crush him.

12. Jack had just dropped the hydrogen bomb into the Swan station drill shaft. As far as he knew, his plan to detonate the bomb and reset time didn’t work.

13. Sawyer spent three years living on the island in the 70s as a trusted member of the Dharma Initiative, and fell madly in love with Juliet. He just watched her fall down the shaft to her death, and was emotionally destroyed.

14. Locke is dead. The mysterious Man in Black appears to have taken his place, and used Ben to kill Jacob, his mortal enemy. He’s just been told by Jacob’s dying words that “they’re coming.”

15. Ben, facing an existential crisis about everything he’d ever been led to believe about Jacob being a lie, lashed out in anger and stabbed Jacob to death.

16. Sayid has a grave bullet wound to the stomach. His chances don’t look promising, in the event that the history-changing plan didn’t work.

17. Libby was accidentally killed by Michael. (Okay, maybe not entirely accidentally.)

18. Sun has lived for three years off the island believing her husband to be dead. She’s returned to find him after being given proof that he’s still alive. But unlike her friends, she was left in the present while all of them were transported to the past — which happens to be where Jin is.

19. Jin is stuck in 1977, but knows that Sun returned to the island to find him in 2007. He’s desperate to reunite with her.

20. Claire was last seen just before the Oceanic 6 escaped from the island, hanging out in Jacob’s cabin with her dead father. Yeah. What’s that about?

21. Hurley was in the general vicinity of the Swan, alongside his friends in 1977, when the hydrogen bomb appears to have gone off.

22. Juliet suffered mortal injuries when she fell down the shaft, but still had enough life left in her to bash the nearby hydrogen bomb with a rock, seemingly causing it to detonate.

23. Charlie drowned while helping his friends contact the freighter so they could be rescued.

24. Richard is as ageless as ever, but has just been presented with the shocking news that Locke isn’t Locke at all — right after he’s delivered Locke straight to Jacob’s doorstep.

25. Rose & Bernard are retired and living in seclusion in a cozy, private spot on the island. They were stuck in 1977 with the other survivors when last seen.

[Not Pictured] Ilana is full of mysteries but is working directly for Jacob at his request. Who she is and how she’s connected to him and the island have yet to be revealed.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the premiere tonight, and head back here first thing in the morning for my full recap of “LA X”!

Pre-game image: Robin Parrish. Island background image: Zuma Press. Lost Season 6 image: American Broadcasting Company.