'Lost' - The Unsolved Mysteries

The hugely-anticipated final season of Lost kicks off this month, with plenty of question marks swarming around the puzzled heads of viewers like a Smoke Monster about a Charles Widmore mercenary. Of course, a healthy dose of ambiguity is great, but let's hope some of the mysteries are addressed and (gulp) answered during the course of the coming months. Here are some of the main ones…

Does the island really have magical healing properties or is there a scientific explanation?

The deceased bodies of John Locke, Christian Shephard and Mikhail have returned to life on the island, and Richard Alpert either has a great Botox technician stashed away down the hatch or he doesn't actually age at all. In addition, Jin has had the seeds of his loin restored while Locke instantly recovered from his paralysis after the crash. However, pregnant women generally face a tragic end. Can an actual island – a mass of land – be capable of sexual discrimination?

Who or what is inhabiting Locke's body?

A strange 'Man In Black' figure was plotting to kill Jacob for years and possibly accomplished this by taking over Locke's dead body and reanimating it. Or could it be something else entirely? Maybe Locke is merely having them all on and doing a bit of role-playing for self-amusement – albeit with fatal consequences for Jacob. Stranger things have happened on Lost! (Although, sadly a polar bear on rollerblades holding a mango has yet to be depicted, despite Charlie's claim).

Who will Kate end up with – Jack or Sawyer?

Will this ongoing love triangle culminate in some kind of definitive relationship? Kate should either go for the Sawyer sausage or the Jack jalapeño – and stop trying to nibble away at both! It looks like Juliet is out of the equation given that she was at the centre of a hydrogen bomb explosion, so perhaps Sawyer might crack onto his beloved 'Freckles' again. Or will former surgeon Jack mount a new operation to nab Miss Austen for himself? It's time for the disturbed temptress to make her final decision.

What exactly is the Smoke Monster?

The eerie, cacophonous cloud of smoke posed a huge threat to the crash survivors on the island, including Mr Eko. We've seen Ben Linus summon it to dispatch some of Charles Widmore's mercenaries, yet it also appears to have the ability to 'judge' people – including Linus himself during the latter stages of the fifth season. Danielle Rousseau has branded it the island's security system, but what the hell is it?

What is the numerical sequence of 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 all about?

We know that 'The Numbers' had to be entered into the hatch's computer every 108 minutes to prevent some kind of magnetic explosion, plus they also happen to be the exact same figures used by Hurley to win the lottery. Significantly, Hurley first came across them in a mental hospital when one patient – a former naval officer believed to have picked up the sequence on a transmission from the island – kept spouting them. They have since kept cropping up as serial numbers and engravings. But why?

What's the real beef between Ben Linus and Charles Widmore?

Linus and Widmore harbour huge hatred towards each other and have inflicted much damage (RIP Alex) in the process of their conflict, but we don't quite know where it all stems from. Back in 1977, Widmore was part of The Hostiles and a pre-pubescent Linus (almost killed by Sayid) was affiliated to the Dharma Initiative. Decades later, Widmore tells him: "I know who you really are, boy." So what happened? Let's hope we find out more about their issues and identities before long.

This Jacob character – what the f**k?

The question says it all. Jacob's role on and off the island has provided one of the show's most compelling and frustrating mysteries. Crucially, he encountered the various crash survivors long before they boarded a certain Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. This can't be a coincidence, so what exactly do his powers entail and what is his grand design? We may never know, as one of enemies seemingly took over Locke's body and manipulated Linus into killing Jacob at the end of last season. Then again, death isn't anything more than a mere stumbling block in Lost.

What has happened to Claire?

Since being snatched from the beach, we've only glimpsed Claire briefly sat alongside the very undead body of Christian Shephard in Jacob's cabin. Her baby Aaron was found abandoned by Sawyer and later claimed by Kate as her own after she left the island. So what really happened to her? Has she joined her beloved Charlie in that great big Drive Shaft in the sky? If she is alive, it will be interesting when/if she discovers that Jack is her half-brother and her kid has a new mum.

Will the polar bear have its own flashback episode?

Come on, give the furry beast a shot. Not only has it been residing in the tropical climate of the island, it also dragged Mr Eko into its cave, went time travelling and took a trip to the Tunisian desert! We'd rather see that flashback instead of some melodramatic guff with Kate evading the law and her family. Is it too late to start a Facebook campaign?

> Click here for our verdict on Lost's fifth season