Lennon has always been a believer in his island family. He loved every single person at the temple. He loves Dogen, whose leadership was becoming increasingly fragile as the Temple Master widened the distance between leader and follower. He loves Zack and Emma, and he loves Aldo and Justin and all of them…but he thinks he loves Cindy the most. She occupies his thoughts much of the time. His translating grows worse when she's around, because he's wondering how she made the 'scattered rags' look work for her instead of listening to Dogen's cold instructions. He loves her more than he thought he would or could. So when Lennon sees his family up and split, that love moves against him in rather unsettling ways.

Lennon feels his authority drain and his voice weaken as they scatter into the jungle. He calls and cajoles and tries to get them to stay but with each desperate word he chokes out he feels his grip (such a loving and vice-like grip) grow weaker. And Lennon sees the children leave, and he knows he won't ever see them again and he sees Cindy leave and he wants more than anything to tell her to stay, to stay with him and he'll protect her.

But he knows he can't. He can't protect her anymore than Dogen can. It's funny, he thinks, how quickly a family can dissolve. His family. His people.

When Lennon sees Dogen's body sinking in the now-corrupted water, he realizes the family hasn't just split. The family has disappeared.

As his throat opens, Lennon wishes he had subscribed to a philosophy of every man for himself.