Lost on the island of death

Tonight's episode of LOST made my head spin. And gave me a headache. And a bit of a nosebleed. And brought back a few memories from childhood. And made me want to eat chocolate before dinner.

So, let's start with what we now know:

Charlotte was born on the island and grew up there. She left with her mother, who tried to convince her she had imagined the island. She became an anthropologist and made it her life's mission to find the island.

When she was a child, she met a crazy old man who told her that if she ever returned to the island she would die. That man was Daniel Faraday. And he was correct.

So, we knew that Daniel was on the island 20 or more years ago working with the Dharma initiative. We also knew that he was about the same age or older than he is now. So does that mean he was traveling back in time from where he is now or does it mean that he was on the island originally and traveled forward in time?

Next.

Jin is alive. He got to meet Danielle Rouseau when she first came to the island. And he got to witness how all of her friends were sucked up by the Smoke Monster and turned into Smoke Monster Droids who tried to manipulate her. She wasn't so crazy after all.

We also know that Eloise Hawking is Daniel's mom. And we know that Charlotte can speak Korean. And that Jin somehow knew Charlotte would be able to speak Korean. And we know that Charlotte's eyes get really red and freaky looking when she travels through time too quickly.

Oh, and we also know that eventually everyone will die if someone doesn't make the time traveling stop soon. Everyone but Daniel, that is. He seems to be immune.

We also know that if the Smoke Monster pulls really hard while someone is holding onto your arm that your whole arm will rip off. Ouch.

What we don't know is a bit more complicated.

Why the heck was Christian Shepherd underground in the Orchid after Locke was buried there? Did he come back to life when his coffin landed on the island? Or did he time travel to a point before he died, and then he was alive on the island? Or is he really Jacob? Or was he also born on the island and then, somewhat like Locke, he had to die in order to return?

Should Sun come back? Ben and Ms. Hawking say she must. Charlotte says that she should never, ever return. Jin doesn't want her to and made Locke promise to tell her he's dead. But he didn't make Locke promise to tell Ben he was dead.

"Don't let them bring her back. No matter what. This place is death," Charlotte said with her freaky bright blue eyes glowing out of her red eye sockets.

Big questions of the night:

What happens to Locke? It seems like he will move the island again and then travel back to civilization and find Ben before dying. Somewhere along the way, he will change his identity and Jack and the other O6ers will know about this new identity because they recognized his name when he died. But how did Locke's death convince Jack that they should return?

What is the relationship between Daniel and Charlotte? Is he really her father? Or maybe her brother? In that case, Ms. Hawking could be her mother? Or could Charlotte be the little girl that Ben loved when he was a child?

And what is the deal with Christian Shepherd? It seems that he had a much larger role in all of this. Perhaps he was born on the island, too. Maybe that's why he drank so much. Maybe someone was trying to bring HIM back to the island after he died, in much the same why the O6ers have to bring Locke back.

I'm feeling a little light-headed this evening so I would love to hear any better explanations.