In the spirit of posting questions prior to episodes in which their probable answers will be revealed (err, sorry Richard), here are some thoughts on our season and a half separated lovers, Jin-Soo Kwon and Sun-(?)Kwon.
Jin has gone through an arc of maturation and growth that really isn't too different than Sawyer's journey up until he brought Juliet's corpse out of the wreckage of the Swan Hatch. Jin and James both crashed on the island in 2004 after leading lives of criminality and deceit. Both gained sustenance while on the other side of the law--Jin could at least pay the bills for Sun's lavish habits when he was in the thick of thug life, while Sawyer assumed the liar's life so adroitly that no one would be able to play him out of his lifelong hunt. Jin nearly sacrificed his marriage because of the corrupt lengths that his desire for self-sufficiency and independence pushed him to accept as justifiable. Sawyer did sacrifice his membership in any relationship, family or otherwise, because being out for himself negated the possibility of being out even a little bit for any other single person, and he knew it.
Jin found out enough about himself to do the right thing, to make the choice about his life that Jacob claims to have brought everyone to the island to do, a bit sooner than Sawyer. He's shrugged off the toxic Korean machismo he came to the island with while the keeping the healthier side of such feelings: the veneration and protection of his wife. He's forgiven his wife for straying from their partnership by literally renouncing the man he was before coming to the island. And finally, he made the choice that Jack could never make: He renounced his desire to be with Sun again because he believed her safety was greater than any wish for reunion he might have. I believe Dr. Shephard attempted to set off a hydrogen bomb simply to have a meager chance of reunion with a woman who would no longer recognize him? Basically, there's nowhere further for Jin to go. As far as a candidate for protector of the Island...one could do worse.
But, he'd never take the job if it meant separating himself from Sun for eternity. Sun Kwon (nee Paik) has seemed a little bit lost without a garden to periodically uproot. She's been a witness to some pretty crazy sh*t since returning to the island (i.e., the dead are now walking) but she's kept it cool. Perhaps hanging out with Capt. Frank has led to a bit of his squinty eyed fatalism rubbing off on her. As we've seen, Jin's already learned to cool his desire for reuniting with Sun if the circumstances ask too much, e.g., Sun's safety. We haven't seen Sun undergo any similar test. Her desire to be with her husband is exactly the vulnerability that MiB seems to delight in using to manipulate people toward committing actions that they might often consider morally repugnant. Mark my words people, Jin and Sun's reunion will not come without cost. I don't know if she (or he) will be faced with as brutal a dilemma as Ben posed to Jack in the Season 3 finale--but the MiB won't let an opportunity to gain an upper hand on Ilana and the other candidates slip out of his grasp like this.
I suppose that's the question I'm most interested in for these two. What will they be asked to sacrifice in order to be together? Will they do it? Some Lost-watchers feel that since it's the final season, the show has a duty to begin killing off its characters. I'm not really with that. And Jin and Sun being as 'side' a character as you get these days (excepting perhaps Frank), I really hope that premature death isn't in store for either of them. Their island story is always quite a bit richer when these two actors are together, so I'm rooting for a living, breathing reunion.
UPDATE, FOLLOWING THE EVENTS OF 'THE LAST RECRUIT'
Well, they were finally reunited, and it felt so good. Actually it was kind of...unemotional. I mean, on the most recent Doc Jensen Totally Lost video they excerpt that Dez/Penny phone conversation at the end of 'The Constant' and just seeing that snippet, my heart is immediately in my throat and the tears are starting to flow. Jin and Sun deserve a reunion scene with that level of emotion. Especially after the incredibly wrenching scene of Sun watching from the helicopter as the freighter blew up with Jin on the deck. Maybe I'm just too cold...but I didn't feel it. Their reunion seemed rushed and abbreviated at the same time. They deserved better.
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