These are just my observations/thoughts about Claire's kidnapping. I am thinking that all of the instances surrounding Claire's kidnapping may not have been related, well, not in the ways we think they were....come, follow me for a moment. -Claire was attacked in the cave within the first few days. -Claire was then approached by Ethan on her way back to the beach. -Just before the camera cut, Charlie and Claire saw something really frightening that would have been in Ethan's direction, off camera.(judged by their faces alone) -They find out that Ethan was not on the roster and go to find Claire -They find Claire's bag and many footprints along with signs of struggle and drag marks (according to Locke at the scene) -They follow the trail to the best of their abilities, and find a "bread crumb" in the form of one of Charlie's finger tapes. -Ethan appears out of nowhere, at a gorge, to tell Jack to stop following him, after a fist fight, then disappears just as quickly. -Charlie is found near by hanging from a tree, almost dead. - Charlie claims to have no memory, but: 1) says "they" more than once 2) says that they only wanted Claire 3) calls them savages and animals -Claire suddenly reappears wandering out of the jungle with a bump on her head and no memory at all, of anybody or anything prior to the crash (flight?) -Ethan appears to Charlie the next day 1) again, it was daylight 2) he did not harm Charlie, only threatened 3) he demanded that Claire be brought to him (the next day, not that night) 4) he did not do any real harm to Jin, but could have 5) he had scratches on his face -the next day Scott/Steve is found brutally murdered on the beach, every bone broken. A plan is formed to trap Ethan. - Ethan just "appears" and is trapped buy our survivors and their guns, after a fist fight -before we can get any info, Ethan is shot by Charlie. 1) Charlie say it was to protect Claire from the monster -Danielle's part: - Danielle shows up, after getting Claire mostly alone 1)we see that she has scratches too 2) we see that she want's the baby 3) she clubs Claire on the head and takes the baby after finding Danielle and the baby 1) she says that she was taking the baby to trade for her baby 2) she heard the whispers say that the others were coming for the child 3) the others never showed up to take the baby Now this is not complete, only the beginings of trying to fit all of this info with things we have learned since, but this is what I'm thinking: Ethan was a plant, an other, but I think he was there to protect Claire/Aaron, not to harm her/him. Still could have been a "protect them so that we can use the baby later" sort of thing, but I'm not thinking so right now. When Ethan came across Claire and Charlie in the jungle, he was still on a protecting mission. He even seemed to leave for help when he was told that the baby was coming, but then he came back. I'm thinking the whispers told him to go back to her. When he gets back, we see only C/C on the screen, but they have looks of terror suddenly on their faces, I'm thinking that more people came out of the jungle behind him (still not sure from which group, his or the barefooters). Then C/C were taken, Charlie was hung, Ethan was free to fight Jack. I think Ethan fought Jack to keep him from finding the entrance to the bunker at the gorge, thereby protecting the group that is sheltered there. But maybe still not the group that took Claire, but if they were also following, then they could have been following Ethan too and would have seen the bunker door as well. Jack and Kate (who saw/heard nothing) stumble across Charlie and save him and go back to camp to report. Claire gets away from her captors, I'm thinking that it was because they discovered that Clair's baby was not the child that was wanted...Walt was. I'm also thinking that while Claire was wandering, that Danielle (who also heard whispers of a child) found her and was fought off by Claire and received her scratches. This may also be the time period that Ethan got his scratches, he came across her and tried to take her in one last time, but was alone and didn't want to harm her in the process and decided to let her go. I think that Ethan showed up the next day with the intentions of having them bring Claire to him, in the daylight, to lesson the risk of being attacked by the barefooters, or the large group of survivors. Then he was shot by Charlie....but we later see that Ethan was not the only person wanting Claire's baby...Danielle makes another attempt as well. On a side note.....there are many similarities between the scenes of Ethan's shooting, and Shannon's shooting...I wonder if we will see a twist in Shannon's shooting as well, as to who actually fired the shot?http://www.livejournal.com/community/pondering_lost/90240.html#cutid1