* Zoe being a geophysicist seems to give some clue as to what Widmore is up to, and I believe it's that he's still angling for some sort of economic/industrial control of the Island's properties, as Ben insinuated to Locke in Season 4. Defeating MiB may be a necessary step in that plan, but to paraphrase Faraday, I don't believe for a second that it's his primary objective. I'm ready to chalk it up as selfish or short-sighted rather than evil, but we'll see.
* I did not mention Sun cutting herself in the garden; some believe that having the open wound left her vulnerable to infection, and that she may have woken up as a different person. I don't buy it, though--if anyone with a tiny cut was open to infection, Season 1 would have been the zombie season. I think it was a red herring, kind of like when Sawyer stepped on something in the flaming arrow escape in "The Lie", and people immediately began speculating that he'd lose the toe and have a statue built in his honor. Despite what some theories would have us believe, EVERYTHING does not happen for a reason.
* Where are people getting Keamy said "In case you figure out what's about to happen to the Island" from? It seemed pretty clear that he said "you" from where I sit, and it makes the most sense. And then to build elaborate theories based on your stretched interpretation of a line reading...well, knock yourself out.
* So what is 2004X? The world if Jughead erased the Island from that point on? The world that will exist if MiB's plan succeeds? The afterlife for all of the Island departed? I've avoided making a guess, because it almost certainly will be wrong, but the episodes are dwindling and it's time to take a stab at it. I believe that 2004X is a timeline that is gradually bleeding over into the 2007 Island timeline. The most notable example yet was Sun staring in the mirror right after bumping her head on the Island, then waking up unable to speak English. Some element of her 2004X nature was transferred to her 2007 nature. Not all of it, certainly--she doesn't remember 2004X, or her relationship with Jin in that universe. She can still understand English, which she couldn't in 2004X, from everything we've seen.
Eventually, there will be some moment of convergence, in which the knowledge of 2004X truly manifests itself in 2007. What will trigger this? I have no idea, but it will be a seminal moment and one that launches the Lostaways towards fulfilling their true purpose on the Island.
* One thing that does make sense to me (even if it too will be wrong): why MiB needs all the candidates to leave the Island together. As long as there is at least one candidate still in place, there is still the potential that they'll accept Jacob's role and do their part to contain MiB. But once they are all gone, coupled with Jacob's death, there will be nobody left that can possibly fulfill the mission, which means MiB wins once and for all.
* Getting back to 2004X, I like the idea of the guys at Zap2It that the timeline was just created as the Lostaways were aboard Oceanic 815. They have memories of the past, but they did not truly experience it. That means that someone (say, Desmond?) could easily convince these people that something is off. This would help to explain Jack not remembering what happened to his appendix in "Lighthouse"--he never truly experienced it himself.
