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Ethan Rom

Portrayed by William Mapother

Portrayed by [[{{{Actor1}}}]] and [[{{{Actor2}}}]]

First seen

"Solitary"

Last seen

"Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" (mobisode)

Appeared in

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Mentioned in

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Centric episode(s)

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Name

Ethan Rom

Also Known As

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Status

Deceased

Age

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Date of birth

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Date of death

20 October 2004

("Homecoming")

Origin

Ontario, Canada

Profession

Surgeon, Employee of Mittelos Bioscience

In Australia...

{{{ReasonAus}}}

On the plane...

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On the island...

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Family members

Possible deceased wife
Possible deceased child

Connection

{{{Link}}}

Season(s)

S1 - S2 - S3 - MP - S4

Images

Dr. Ethan Rom was the surgeon of the Others. When Flight 815 crashed on the Island, he was sent by Ben to infiltrate the middle-section survivors. On the verge of being discovered, he kidnapped Claire and took her to a medical station. After she escaped, Ethan attempted to take her back but was captured himself. Shortly afterward, Charlie killed the captive Ethan by firing several gunshots into him.

Off the Island

Ethan is introduced to Juliet. ("Not in Portland")

Ethan is a trained surgeon, possibly from Ontario (information he gives to Hurley while with the survivors of Flight 815). ("Raised by Another")  ("Stranger in a Strange Land")

Sometime before September 5th, 2001 (the time Juliet claims she first came on the Island), Ethan seemingly worked for Mittelos Bioscience but this company may have simply been a front used by the Others to conduct business in the outside world. On one occasion, he passed Juliet in a corridor in her apartment building, and later joined Richard Alpert in convincing Juliet to join their organization. He introduced himself as a man knowing of Juliet's work, saying that it was "an honor" to meet her. Together, Alpert and Ethan managed to successfully bring Juliet with them. ("Not in Portland")

Ethan greets Juliet in the Herarat Aviation waiting area ("One of Us")

With Richard Alpert, he brings Juliet to a mysterious airport and the sitting area of Herarat Aviation. In the air terminal, Richard and Ethan administer to Juliet a tranquilizer mixed in a glass of orange juice that she knowingly drank after some encouragement by Ethan who states the journey to the island "can be kinda intense". Later she wakes up on the submarine, strapped to a bunk, Ethan explains that it was a requirement to tie her down as the last moments of the journey were "a little bumpy". ("One of Us")

On the Island

Ethan, along with Juliet and Goodwin, performed failed surgery on a pregnant woman named Sabine in The Staff's operating theater. ("One of Us"). In addition to being the Others surgeon Ethan worked with Goodwin in the Dharma Initiative station known as the Tempest which supposedly houses enough toxic gas to kill everyone on the island.

Ethan is ordered to investigate the fuselage section of the plane ("A Tale of Two Cities")

Ethan resided along with the rest of the Others at the Barracks, acting as the surgeon, as well as being actively involved in the community (such as helping to fix Juliet's plumbing.) After feeling shockwaves, Ethan, along with the rest of the Others, witnessed Oceanic Flight 815 breaking apart in mid-air. He was then ordered by Benjamin Linus to go to the crash site of the fuselage, pose as a mid-section survivor, come up with an adequate story if asked, stay quiet if not asked, listen, learn, don't get involved, and make a list within three days. ("A Tale of Two Cities")

Ethan's earliest known interaction with the survivors was with Jack, when he gave him a case full of medicine that he said he found in the jungle. He told Jack that Claire may give birth on the island, and that he could provide assistance. Following this he mentioned that his wife died in childbirth along with the baby, and that he hoped rescue was on the way. ("Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack")

Not long after, he met Paulo and Nikki as they searched for their missing bag. He suggested that they try looking inland due to the plane splitting apart over the island. ("Exposé")

Season 1 (Days 12-30)

While posing as a survivor, he accompanied Locke on some of his hunts. Ethan also said he found a bag with golf clubs in them out in the jungle and gave it to Hurley. He then played golf with the castaways. ("Solitary")

On the 15th day, Ethan tried to inject something into Claire while she was sleeping, but she woke up screaming. He fled from the scene before everyone woke up and then returned as if he had just been woken up, and subsequently fetched Claire water upon Jack's request. ("Raised by Another")

Ethan takes a drugged Claire for a walk after keeping her in the "the Staff" for days ("Maternity Leave")  (promotional still)

After his attempt failed, Hurley decided to make a list of the survivors from the crash, so everyone would feel safe and secure around people who were once complete strangers. When Hurley interviewed Ethan, he claimed to be from Ontario. Hurley mentioned "You'd think we'd know everybody on the Island by now," to which he replied, "Yeah. You would." Later, on Boone's advice, Hurley found and consulted the flight manifest with the list he had made up himself. Ethan realized that eventually, with the new passenger quota and the flight's manifest, the survivors would learn that he was not one of them. ("Raised by Another")

Ethan then prepared to make a hurried departure from the survivor's camp. Thinking on his feet, he captured Claire and Charlie. He took them and disappeared into the jungle.

The survivors, realizing that they had been duped, organized several search parties to stop him. Jack, Kate, Locke and Boone set out to track him and divided up along the way. While Locke and Boone found nothing, Ethan attacked Jack, easily overpowering him. He pinned Jack down with a warning to stop following him or else he would "kill one of them" (referring to his two captives). Despite Ethan's warning, Jack continued his pursuit, and Ethan hung Charlie from a tree. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")

Ethan took Claire to DHARMA Initiative station "The Staff" where he and the Others, including Tom, were going to perform a Cesarean section in order to take Aaron for themselves. He drugged Claire to make her compliant and injected her, or her baby, with a substance. While showing Claire the Nursery, he was scolded by Tom for not making a list before bringing Claire. ("Maternity Leave")

During the time Claire spent in the Staff, Ethan's treatment of Claire was both concerned and sympathetic. He referred to the Others as "a family". ("Maternity Leave")

After Claire escaped back to the survivors' camp (with the help of Alex and Rousseau), Ethan set off after her. Acting on his own, Ethan attacked Charlie and Jin in the jungle and said that he wanted her back. After knocking Jin out with a slingshot, he told Charlie that he would kill a crash survivor every day if she did not return and that he would kill Charlie last. Jack reacted by organizing a defensive perimeter around the camp and at the beach. Shortly after the survivors found Scott with broken bones, battered and bloody. His dead body was found near the ocean. It was assumed that Ethan must have approached the camp from the ocean (although Scott's killer has yet to be definitively identified). ("Homecoming")

Ethan killed by Charlie. ("Homecoming")

Ethan finally fell to a trap set by Jack, Locke, Sayid, Sawyer and Kate with Claire used as bait. Jack physically overpowered him, and the group wanted to keep him alive in the hope of learning more about who he was and what his motives were. However, Charlie pulled out a gun and shot Ethan six times at close range. Upon being asked by Jack why he had killed an unarmed and captive Ethan, Charlie told him that Ethan deserved to die saying he "wasn't going to let that animal anywhere near [Claire] again". ("Homecoming") His body was buried by Hurley and Charlie the next day. ("Outlaws")

Trivia

• Ethan's episode count is 9 (as of "One of Us"). He has appeared in more episodes post-death than pre-death.
• On the Oceanic homepage, the Pre-Board Check in the Seating Chart shows the name Ethan Rom and a series of boxes. Place "Other Man" into those boxes to see a video of Walt taken by the Others from Season 1.
• Some fans argue that Ethan can be seen breathing from inside the body bag as he is being buried by Charlie and Hurley, although this is most likely just a production error. ("Outlaws")
• During Season 3, Ben implied to Jack that Ethan was a very skilled surgeon. ("Stranger in a Strange Land")

Name

• Ethan is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "strong, firmness, steadfastness, constancy."
• "ROM " is a computer acronym meaning "read only memory," an integrated circuit which is an unerasable memory chip.
• "Rom" stands for the "Royal Ontario Museum", which is located in Toronto. Ethan told Hurley that he is Canadian, and is from Ontario. ("Raised by Another")
• The letters in his name can be rearranged to form several anagrams, including Other Man, the Roman, and More Than. The company he works for, Mittelos Bioscience, is also an anagram for Lost Time.
• His name is similar to Ethan Rayne, a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer another television show in which David Fury produced. Ethan Rayne was a magic-wielder of dubious morality who worshipped chaos.
• His name may be a reference to the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Ethan Rom/Theories

• Why would Ben send their surgeon on a potentially dangerous mission? ("A Tale of Two Cities")
• How did he manage to overpower both Charlie and Claire, and later Jack?
• Were Ethan's actions approved by Ben or Jacob?
• When did he come to the island?
• Did he really have a wife who died in childbirth?
  • If so, who was she?