Season 1, Episode 21: The Greater Good

Sayid is the moral compass of the show in many ways. He's done a great many bad things, but in the name of truth and/or country (or, on the island, in pursuing meds for Shannon). He's also shown great compassion in freeing Nadia at great personal risk. But he's the ultimate moral conundrum, doing good things (stopping a terrorist) for the wrong reasons (selfishly to find Nadia) and occasionally doing bad things out of a perceived duty to the greater good.

MAJOR PLOT POINTS

The CIA has detained Sayid in London and bribes him into infiltrating a terror cell in Sydney in exchange for the whereabouts of Nadia, who he's been desperately trying to find since leaving the Iraqi Republican Guard. His former college roommate, whose wife was killed by a stray coalition bomb, is part of an organization that has hijacked some C4 and will target Australian civilians. When Assam, the roommate, experiences doubt, Sayid is ordered to convince him to go through with it or they'll arrest Nadia. Sayid does so by agreeing to participate with Assam, who commits suicide upon learning of his pal's deceit in an effort to recover his own lost love.

Back on the island, Jack returns from trying to find Locke to bury Boone. During the ceremony, Locke returns and tells the group the truth, but Jack doesn't believe him. He attacks Locke, angry that he couldn't save Boone and that Locke's lies affected the course of treatment. Locke tries to make amends with Shannon, giving her Boone's personal effects and asking for her forgiveness. But she's unwilling to grant it and instead asks Sayid for retribution.

Sayid agrees to check out Locke's story. He starts by asking Locke to take him back to the plane under the auspices of salvaging radio parts. But really, it's an interrogation and fact-finding mission. During the course of their dialogue, Locke admits to sabotaging Sayid's effort to find the broadcast signal, but continues to lie about the existence of the hatch. Despite that fib, Sayid is convinced Boone's death was accidental and doesn't kill him.

Shannon then takes matters into her own hands and decides she'll go after Locke, swiping the key to the gun case from a sleeping Jack, who'd been drugged with sleeping pills by Kate after refusing to rest in the wake of Boone's death and despite passing out when going after Locke. It's Sayid who tackles her as she squeezes off a round that grazes Locke's temple. The episode ends with Sayid, who changed his flight and wound up on Oceanic 815 when he insisted the CIA allow him to claim Assam's body rather than have it be cremated (which is against Islamic custom), demanding Locke take him to the hatch.

QUOTABLE

"I did it because I sensed you might be our best hope of surviving here, but I don't forgive what you did and I certainly don't trust you." — Sayid in response to Locke thanking him for saving his life