Co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof described writing the finale as completing a jigsaw puzzle, and there are only a few pieces left in the box. But the staff still has to be sure which ones they want to put together. "Now we just have to start putting things into place and say, 'Are we sure that that's what we wanted to do?'" Lindelof said over the weekend in interviews before a panel at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Calif. "'No, let's talk about that a little bit longer. Are we sure that's what we wanted to do? Yes, absolutely. In fact, that's what we have to do, because we set it up two years ago.'"

Lindelof was joined by executive producer Carlton Cuse and cast members. Before the panel, Lindelof, Michael Emerson, director Jack Bender and writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz spoke to a group of reporters and revealed some spoilers for the rest of the sixth and final season.

Bender is prepping to direct the final episode and make it the ultimate episode of Lost. "I'm not viewing it as just an episode," Bender said. "It's the finale, but at the same time, every episode has to be great." Horowitz added that season finales are always different, so this would be the best of the six season finales. "Whenever we've approached a finale, there's a slightly different feel," Horowitz said. "We approach it as two hours instead of one. We're conscious of it as writers of the episodes leading up to it and laying down some things and to pay it off."

♦Emerson said to expect more Sideways Ben, who is a meek schoolteacher. "It's interesting where this thing goes," Emerson said. "We don't go that far with it. It doesn't last that long. I mean, it's the last season. There's little to be done, but it was exciting to play, and I think it has a nice grown-up irony contained in it. He's completely non-manipulative. He is in fact a poor manipulator. It's as if Ben was made up of a bunch of personality blocks, but the blocks got scrambled. Some blocks that used to be big are now little blocks. Some are barely perceptible anymore. It's good that way."

♦Also expect Jacob's motivations to become clear, finally. Lindelof promised answers to Jacob's search for a new "candidate." "We now have information that he had this lighthouse that he was able to see these people, into their lives, and for some reason, whatever reason, he chose them," Lindelof said. "We'll find out what that reason is in the coming weeks, but that's kind of all I can say about it right now."

♦Libby returns! Before the sixth and final season began, Lindelof and Cuse revealed that Cynthia Watros would return as Libby. We haven't seen her yet, but Bender revealed when she's coming. "Probably toward the second half of this season," Bender said. He also hinted that Libby could be in more than one episode. "Yeah, maybe," he teased.

♦As for the new flashes into the sideways universe, Horowitz advised viewers not to get too comfortable with the new format. "That's the format so far," Horowitz said. "We're calling them the Sideways, and that's what this year is. So far, yeah, we're looking at different characters, but as we have in seasons past, we reserve the right to do what we want."

♦You don't know the rules of the Sideways yet: Don't be so sure that the universes are safely independent of one another. "I mean, Charlie died in the island, but he seems to be alive in the Sideways," Lindelof said. "Boone died on the island, he seems to be alive in the Sideways. What happens if you die in the Sideways? That's an interesting question."

♦Who's the mother of Jack's musical prodigy son, David? Julie Bowen, the actor who played Jack's ex-wife in previous flashbacks, told reporters at Paley's Modern Family event that she thinks she's the mom. Others think it could be Juliet. Lindelof is just amused that it has become such a source of speculation.

"If it's relevant to the story who David's mother is, we will answer it," Lindelof said. "But its relevance is yet to be determined. What's relevant to us might not be relevant to you and vice versa. What's irrelevant to us might be very relevant to you, but we're writing our version of the show, and we can't really be put in a position to apologize for it. We'll take our lumps, but at the end of the day, we all know and we've said publicly on many, many occasions that we can't possibly answer every question that people have."