Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Locke and Boone's attempt to force open the hatch fails, and Locke discovers that he is losing feeling in his legs. A nightmare shows a crashing plane, a bloodied Boone and a phrase about Theresa. Locke interprets it as guidance and leads Boone into the jungle, where they discover a dead man dressed as a priest and a small aircraft lodged high in the trees. Boone recognizes the nightmare's reference to his childhood nanny.
Flashbacks show Emily approaching Locke and identifying herself as his mother. An investigator confirms their relationship and supplies information about his father, Anthony Cooper. Cooper welcomes Locke, takes him hunting and lets him discover that he needs a kidney transplant. Locke donates one, expecting their relationship to continue. Instead, Cooper disappears after surgery, and Emily admits that he arranged their reunion. When Locke returns to Cooper's estate, the guard refuses to let him inside.
With Locke unable to climb, Boone enters the aircraft and finds heroin concealed in religious statues. He makes contact on its radio before the unstable plane crashes to the ground. Locke regains enough strength to carry him to Jack, but falsely says that Boone fell from a cliff and leaves before answering questions. Jack separately finds that Sawyer needs reading glasses. Locke returns alone to the hatch and pounds on it in despair, whereupon a light shines through the window.