I agree that Locke pushed Mikhail into the fence so he wouldn't give away his secret.

But my big question is, why the secrecy? Why would he care if the rest knew he was paralyzed before the crash and that the island healed him? If it were me, I would be telling everyone. It would be another chance for him to praise the mighty powers of his beloved island.
Is he afraid the island will cripple him again if he tells?

It also seems apparent that Locke doesn't want to leave. He believes the island healed him and leaving will land him back in a wheelchair.

So if a big rescue ship were to arrive, why can't Locke just opt out and stay behind?

Seems like there is more to this whole thing thing than we are privy to.

Is it that Locke doesn't want to leave the island, or he doesn't want anyone to leave? If he is connected to the Others or Dharma in some way, as some have suggested, maybe he agreed to something in order to retain his ability to walk. "If you _____, then we will make sure you are never crippled again."

Thinking back now to when we saw Locke aboard 815, he didn't seem like a man whose dream had been crushed. I remember him smiling at Jack, not moping in despair. Perhaps a deal was struck with him after his visit to the walkabout travel agent and before the flight.
"We will send you on an unlimited walkabout and guarantee unending health and mobility if you will agree to work for us."

Not sure I believe that, but there must be something more to this story that prevents him from bragging about his magical mystery islands' healing powers.

I buy in to everything you are saying, except. He had no way of knowing he would surive the crash.
I'd be saying, Yea I agree to the deal, except you'd better find another way to get me on that island

Rose also knows about Locke's situation, and he did not try to kill her, so I don't think secrecy was the reason he pushed Mikhail into fence. Moreover, I have to assume that Locke did not know what would happen. Mikhail said the fence no longer worked so I think that Locke figured he was an appropriate guinea pig.

In any event, I think Locke was pre-disposed to killing Mikhail because he saw Mikhail as a liability and a potential source of danger (remember Mikhail said that he would kill them when he got the chance), not because Mikhail knew he was paralyzed.

Maybe the big secret is HOW he became paralyzed.... :)

I buy in to everything you are saying, except. He had no way of knowing he would surive the crash.
I'd be saying, Yea I agree to the deal, except you'd better find another way to get me on that island

but thats the thing....maybe everything you just typed is 100% true.

what if for the last 4 years, every day (or hour, or second, or nano-second or however you want to describe "timeline") Locke has crashed on the island in that wheelchair. And everytime..the island has healed him.

And what if every single time he has been in the hatch when it exploded.

And what if his "consiousness" was blown back in time ala Desmond every single time...to the point where HE has a Desmond moment. And remembers everything.

But he knows his fate...and he wants to avoid it. So he finds a way to get to the island...after the explosion...safely. And his job is to find out the answers to these mysteries.

This would explain why he no longer has the abilty to fortell the future..ala predicting rain.

So the Locke we all know and love is dead. The Locke we know now is from a different timeline. Like Paulo and Nikki.

This would explain why Patchy knows who Locke is.

And why the Others don't seem to care about dieing..as they know they can just restart thier consiousness in another time. (which is why Patchy needs notes on hislife to remind him of things his previous timelines have done that he would have not in his current one).

but thats the thing....maybe everything you just typed is 100% true.

what if for the last 4 years, every day (or hour, or second, or nano-second or however you want to describe "timeline") Locke has crashed on the island in that wheelchair. And everytime..the island has healed him.

And what if every single time he has been in the hatch when it exploded.

And what if his "consiousness" was blown back in time ala Desmond every single time...to the point where HE has a Desmond moment. And remembers everything.

But he knows his fate...and he wants to avoid it. So he finds a way to get to the island...after the explosion...safely. And his job is to find out the answers to these mysteries.

This would explain why he no longer has the abilty to fortell the future..ala predicting rain.

So the Locke we all know and love is dead. The Locke we know now is from a different timeline. Like Paulo and Nikki.

This would explain why Patchy knows who Locke is.

And why the Others don't seem to care about dieing..as they know they can just restart thier consiousness in another time. (which is why Patchy needs notes on hislife to remind him of things his previous timelines have done that he would have not in his current one).

That's very interesting. I like that theory.

But expressions on characters faces early on ....Like Locke smiling at Jack on the plane...I highly doubt that TBTB told Terry O'Quinn that we need you to smile at Jack because in season 2 this is going to happen to yours and his characters and in season 3 THIS is going to happen so we need you to smile but only halfway cause there's somethin' you're hiding.....If they told him that right before that scene was shot he would more than likely have a ridiculously exaggerated dumbfounded/happy/mysterious smile.

Interesting thread.

I have to say I'm in the "Locke threw Patchy into the fence to protect his secret" camp.

But MPmom brings up good points. Why does he have to keep it a secret? Why does Rose and Sun also have to keep their situation a secret?