Significant (Deceased) Characters?

Watching through the series again, it's apparent that a lot of focus is put on some characters that are no longer with us such as Shannon, Boone, Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Nikki and Paulo. Will these characters have any real significance or presence in the end of the show? Are they very important in the grand scheme of things?

I say, no. They're really just one step above the redshirts in that they serve purposes for the story that must be filled by someone that wasn't another main character. The reason they got so much attention at the time is for partial filler, but also answered some minor mysteries; for example, Eko's backstory with Yemi explained where the Beechcraft came from. But from here to the end, I think we can pretty much forget about the minor characters from the first three seasons aside from a nod here and there (Locke seeing the Beechcraft crash for example) I don't see any of them having a larger tie to the island or its history/mythology like the O6 and "flashies" will. The pedal is to the metal storywise now, and there are just some characters' mysteries and stories I don't think we'll ever learn more about.

That's all I've got, until next post...