My Aaron concession. For real this time...

To be stubborn is to be human, and I'm as human as the next guy. That being said, I am able to admit that I'm wrong when logical evidence presents itself. With that, I completely, 100% concede to my argument that Aaron is not part of the Oceanic Six with no cynism whatsoever. To those wondering why this took so long, I could accept that the title "Oceanic Six" was a media-created catch phrase, and as such shouldn't be taken so literally that it wouldn't include somebody who was not yet born. The one thing that really irked me was Jack's testimony at Kate's trial, when he notes that eight people survived the crash. He begins to say that two died shortly afterwards before he's cut off by an emotional Kate. Once again, here's that video:



While his choice of wording is a little clunky and forced, I now fully understand the mathematics and can make an educated guess on how he would have ended that sentence. Obviously, if he had said that three other people survived, it would have given away that only five of the Oceanic Six were physically on the flight (which would have ruined the Aaron shocker at the end of the episode). When you watch the extended press conference scene from part one of "There's No Place Like Home," you come to understand how Jack likely would have finished his testimony not been interrupted:



I'm not positive if this scene is considered part of the show's canon, or if it's just a fun little Easter egg. Assuming the former, the lie is that two did die shortly after the crash (Boone and Libby), and that the other (Charlie) drowned just weeks before being rescued. The reason I called Jack's dialogue a bit forced is because saying "she tried to save two others" instead of "she tried to save the other two" is a lot clearer and more natural. Nevertheless, what he said at the trial is not inaccurate (well, aside from it being a lie).

I do find his choice of survivors curious, though. It seems likely that they chose dead people to minimize the chances of them getting caught in a lie. I had always assumed that Charlie was a survivor, even before his name was dropped, because Penny had seen him alive. However, with Penny being part of the lie, the point seems moot. Nevertheless, why Boone and Libby? According to Jack's story, they escaped through one of the emergeny doors. So how did Libby, who was in the tail section of the plane, get out, but not Shannon, who was sitting next to Boone? Very strange, indeed. Any theories?