Cracking the Lost Last Supper code

The Lost Supper Photograph: ABC

What is it with TV shows and The Last Supper? Over the past few years we've had versions of Da Vinci's masterwork recreated by everyone from The Sopranos (Tony as Jesus!), to Battlestar Galactica (sexy Caprica Six as Jesus!) and Shameless (Frank as a boozy Messiah!). Maybe it's just that Da Vinci's big painting has enough people in it to accommodate the large cast lists. But with a series like Lost, it's also a great chance to wind up fans with the promise of more revelations before the finale. With that in mind, we've put on our best Dan Brown hat for a totally forensic dissection of The Mysteries Of The Lost Supper …

1 Who?

Yes, you might have forgotten about Ilana, the well-informed bounty hunter who was taking Sayid to justice on Ajira Airways Flight 316 before it crashed. "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" she asked Pilot Frank before whacking him over the head with a rifle (obvs!). And what were her flashback meetings with mystery man Jacob about? Who knows!

2 Sayid

In the Judas seat here. Is he going to betray Locke? Does that skull positioned under him suggest that he's dead? Or about to be killed? What does that big bottle of Dharma Cola signify? And, more importantly, how come Hurley hasn't drunk it already?

3 The Swan Station

That octagonal symbol on a crumbling wall? It's a swansong for the Dharma Initiative. Has Juliet's A-bomb created a parallel timeline in which the Swan Station never had an electromagnetic meltdown in the 1970s and Flight 815 didn't crash? (Guide's head explodes – Ed)

4 John Locke

He died. He rose! So yes, it's no surprise to find out that John Locke is Jesus. Or is he? As we found out at the end of season five, Locke's back, but it's not really Locke. Instead, his body has been possessed in a kind of ultimate checkmate loophole by the guy who's been playing an existential time-travelling hyper-chess game with the island's other mystery man, Jacob. Are they Egyptian gods? Immortals? Placing Locke/Not-Locke at the centre of The Lost Supper here suggests that he's going to be – wait for it! – un-Locke-ing a lot of questions in Lost's final days.

5 Claire

If she's got a seat at The Lost Supper we can assume that she's going to be back for the last series. But where has she been? Will she know that she's Jack's sister? Or is Claire's return to the fold simply a question of maintaining Lost's blonde quota now that Dr Juliet has blown up?

6 Frank the Pilot

Ilana told the rest of her Action Team Jacob that Frank "might be a candidate". But for what? Hosting Jacob's spirit in a final showdown with Evil Locke? Flying them home? Or is he supposed to be Pilate Frank, here as Lost's Pontius Pilate to condemn Locke/Not-Locke to death? And why are there seven people sitting on this side of the table/plane wing? Jesus only had 12 disciples; this makes 13! Unless one of them is dead. Help!