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"King of the Castle"

Season

Episode

Missing Pieces

3

Aired

November 20, 2007 (Verizon)
November 27, 2007 (ABC.com)

Starring

Michael Emerson - Ben
Matthew Fox - Jack

Days

Between 75 and 80

Written by

Brian K. Vaughan

Directed by

Jack Bender

Production code

101

Guest starring

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Episode Transcript
[[{{{transcript2}}}|Part Two]]

"King of the Castle" is the third Lost mobisode. While playing a game of chess, Jack and Ben discuss Jack's current and future circumstances with relation to the Island.

Synopsis

Jack and Ben are playing chess in Ben's house at the Barracks. Ben expresses his regret that Jack is leaving. He affirms that he intends to honor their agreement, but suggests that the Island may decide otherwise. Ben also asserts that if Jack would leave, the day might come that he would want to return again. Jack disagrees and makes an aggressive chess move. Ben immediately retaliates with a defensive "castle" move.

Trivia

Title

• The title refers to two pieces on the chess-board, namely the king and the castle (also known as the rook), and to Ben castling.
• The title is also possibly a reference to the game "King of the Castle", more commonly known as "King of the Hill". In the game the king attemps to stay on the hill, while other players attempt to take his spot.

General

• The scene takes place sometime after Jack heads to the Barracks in "Stranger in a Strange Land" and before Kate and Locke infiltrate the Barracks in "The Man from Tallahassee" (between day 75 and day 80).

The chessboard configuration at the beginning of the mobisode. Note that the kings are incorrectly placed on the same color as the piece, they should be on the opposite color.

• There are three moves shown in the mobisode, Ben playing Black and Jack playing white:
  1. Ben pawn at B5 takes Jack's C4 pawn, opening the B file.
  2. Jack's Queen at B2 takes takes Ben's now-exposed bishop at B7, attacking the rook at A8.
  3. Ben protects his rook by castling "queenside" (with the H8 rook), guarding his rook with his castled rook.
  • The sequence ends with Jack having captured a pawn, bishop, and knight while Ben has captured three pawns.
• There are irregularities in the chess game
  • Both king pieces lie on the incorrect color. Thus in the proper configuration, castling to the left for Ben would have been a kingside castle, not a queenside. The king has not been moved from the correct color, since moving the king would render castling a prohibited move. The board itself is in the correct rotation, with the black square at bottom left (for both players).
  • An experienced chess player (as Ben claims to be) would not castle as Ben did, by lifting both King and Rook with each hand. Since touching a piece signifies the intention to move that piece, customarily when castling, the player moves the King first, then the Rook to the other side of the King second, in two motions. However, as Ben approaches both pieces with both hands, he actually appears to touch his rook slightly before the king, signifying intent to move the rook only, rendering castling illegal.

Production notes

Scan of the 'making of' article from the Lost Magazine

• The production code/mobisode number for this mobisode is 101, even though it was the third mobisode released.
• The running time is 02:00.
• There is a making of article about this mobisode in issue 15 of Lost: The Official Magazine.

Recurring themes

• Ben and Jack are playing chess on a black and white board with light and dark pieces. (Games)  (Black and white)

Cultural references

• Chess: "Castling" is a special move in chess involving the king and a rook of the same color. It consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook, then moving the rook onto the square over which the king crossed. In non-English speaking nations this is known as "Rochieren", "Rochada", "Enroque" or "Roque".

Literary techniques

• Jack jokes about sinking the sub; exactly what Locke does later. (Foreshadowing)
• Eventually Ben's words about Jack wanting to return would become true. (Foreshadowing)
• The title of the mobisode, and the game of chess itself, symbolize the rivalry between Jack and Ben. (Symbolism)
• When Ben suggests to Jack that he may want to return to the island some day, Jack curtly states, "Never," causing Ben to reply, "I've learned never to say never." (Regularly spoken phrases)

Episode references

• The scene takes place during the time frame between ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead") and ("The Man from Tallahassee").
• Jack jokes about sinking the sub. ("The Man from Tallahassee")
• Once Jack got off the island he did want to return. ("Through the Looking Glass")

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: King of the Castle/Theories

• How is the Island capable of preventing Jack from leaving?

External links

• Watch the mobisode on ABC's site
• Download the mobisode from ABC's site (FLV Player needed)
• Mobisode credits