So Sayid's compass now appears to be working properly. I can't believe the electromagnetic anomaly just "disappeared" when Desmond turned the failsafe key.

What exactly happened to the island's anomaly after that? Is it still producing a magnetic field, just not building up to dangerous levels as before?

Thoughts, anyone?

You know, it didn't even occur to me that the compass defect could be gone by now due to the hatch incident. That could be the case. Perhaps the initial defect wasn't that extreme, thus they could still be able to roughly travel north.

I actually caught a moment where a compass was used BEFORE the hatch implosion. I think it's in Three Minutes, but it's when Michael is travelling north to find Walt and The Others, he checks his compass and it's working just fine.

I'm thinking before the hatch imploded, compasses would work fine before the magnet got too charged up. Remember, once you put in the buttons, the charge would die, maybe weakening its magnetic ability, meaning anything using magnets would work fine till the charge built up again.

I actually caught a moment where a compass was used BEFORE the hatch implosion. I think it's in Three Minutes, but it's when Michael is travelling north to find Walt and The Others, he checks his compass and it's working just fine.

Thank you. I was just about to pour through my DVDs to find an example of that. However, considering the difficulty the writers/producers must have of keeping this show consistent, I don't fault them for the occasional slip-up. Or... dum-dum-DAHHHH... is it a slip-up?! Hmmm...