I think walt falls under "the real world fucked up the story plan." basically the kid hit puberty and grew about a foot between the first and second seasons. I'm not sure if they were planning to have him and michael back fulltime but since each episode took place over the course of a day or two they couldn't use him for more than quick cameos.
I think some of the mysteries were just for show and had no real importance to anything. I think the Others were taking kids because they needed to increase their numbers and raising a stolen kid in their culture was the best way to go. Since we saw the Dharma folks having kids and not mentioning fertility problems it was either one of their experiments or the Incident that caused the change. Since no main character got pregnant and came to term on the Island the producers probably never got around to it or decided it couldn't be worked in to any episode in a meaningful/interesting way.
CHRISTIAN / SMOKE MONSTER:
I personally think the smoke monster was lying to jack when he claimed to be christian. leading one of jacob's candidates to water which would help all of the candidates survive is against his plan. also he didn't talk to jack and try to get him to kill jacob or otherwise fall in line. at that point jack would've fallen for it.
Also, yeah, christian on the freighter and in jack's office seemed to violate the rule about being stuck on the island.
when it comes to the Others I think the leader has alot of discretion because jacob doesn't really seem too involved. as long as candidates aren't harmed (severly) then the leader can make whatever rules he wants and claim jacob wants it that way. but there are probably also rules set in place when the society was founded (similar to how the President can make certain executive orders but is bound in other areas).
I think the hatch mysteries can be explained by Radinsky. The guy was a nutso scientist who knew a lot about the Island. We know this because he was clearly unbalanced in the 1977 stories and later killed himself after years alone in the hatch with the Kurgan. From the Blast Door Map that he painted he had clearly explored a large section of the island. Since the Swan station was his pet project he probably incorporated a lot of "Island folklore" into it's design and as he was one of the main people no one ever questioned him on it.
PRE-LOST ISLAND:
who built the giant 4-toed statue?
Doesn't matter imo. Jacob's mother thought all people were bad, Jacob watched MIB live among the tribe and was more curious than anything. In 1867 it was stated that Jacob had been bringing people to the island for years and they all ended up killing each other or dying out. from the origin episode it looks like jacob got the job sometime around 2000 years ago. maybe there was a religion formed around the smoke monster and they built the Temple with its vents and the Others took over the place later on. To me it's like saying "tell me your life story but please explain who built your house and the details of the people who lived there before you." it's not relevant but they left us enough info to form our own theories.
why was it presumed by ancient men that adding a giant ship wheel to a glowing light would lead to fun results?
It's like the Bagdad Battery. How the hell did they think to build it and what did it power? It seems like the wheel plan was hatched in the 43 years since the MIB's people came to the Island before his mom killed them all. They were clearly had scientific curiosity (as seen by building wells at points of electromagnetic disturbance). Maybe they found that patch of light and threw dirt at it, then sand, then grass, then a tree, then water. When water hit it something strange happened so they said "lets construct a system to direct water into the light."
did the dharma initiative continue after everyone on their island team died?
They showed this for the most part. On the Island only the Kurgan and Radinsky survived in the Swan hatch. Off island they explained it in the "Lost Experience" a few years back (all the youtube viral videos). Basically Dharma's funding was cut and it went under in the late 1980's. It seems like the Island group went on on their own until they were killed (there's also an episode that shows a treaty with the Hostiles/Others were Dharma was supposed to clear out in like 1988, which they violated).
who was around to drop the food from the sky?
maybe they had a longterm deal to get a discount and thought they'd actually need a 50 year contract.
what triggered the food to fall from the sky?
it was either scheduled or could be initiated from the Flame station. When John was on that computer there was an option to initiate the drop.
if it was the clock counting down, wouldn't that mean the food dropped on a buncha dead and/or radiated people?
I don't understand what you mean.
were ben and ethan pals as kids, so when ben killed dharma, he brought ethan with him?
Ben and Ethan were shown kidnapping Alex together and the way Ben sniped at him implied they had a history. I personally think Ben recruited Ethan, it matches the concept of recruiting impressionable minds that explains Ben-lead Others taking kids.
other than killing scientists, how do you join up to become part of "the others"?
I think being of use like Juliet or being special like John/Ben/Walt. Before the baby thing they probably just fucked and had babies. I don't think the Others were a group so much as a small society.
All of my knowledge comes from Lostpedia.com which is an amazing site, very detailed. I missed most of these things in the actual episodes myself. It's a very densely packed show.
