Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Miles examines Jacob's ashes and exposes Ben's claim that the Man in Black killed him. Ilana holds Ben responsible and forces him to dig his own grave at the beach camp. The Man in Black appears, releases Ben and offers him authority over the island once he leaves. Ben runs for a rifle, but instead of shooting Ilana he asks to explain. He describes choosing his power over Alex's life and the anger that led him to kill Jacob. When he says the Man in Black is the only person who will have him, Ilana offers him a place with her group instead. Ben follows her back.
In the flash-sideways, Ben teaches history and cares for his ill father. Frustrated by Principal Reynolds, he tries to use evidence of an affair to take the principal's job. Reynolds threatens to ruin Alex's college recommendation in response. Ben abandons his demand rather than sacrifice his student, while securing time for the history club. On the island, Richard leads Jack and Hurley to the Black Rock and asks Jack to light dynamite so that he can die. Jack stays beside him, convinced that they still have a purpose. The fuse burns out without an explosion. They return to the beach and reunite with the others, while Widmore's submarine approaches the island.