S6E6 THE PURGE

When Smokey goes ballistic at sundown inside the Temple, the bloodshed was described by some as a "purge." If so, this would be the Second Purge.

The first purge was the Others, with the help of Ben (originally pre-Sayid wounded child but now maybe post-temple healed Ben), who wiped out the Dharma collective. After that purge, Ben assumed the leadership role of the Others. He settled back into the barracks, then began recruiting specialists and loyal followers as new Others. He was more a man of science who continued to operate the science stations. But at the same time, he had a blind allegiance to a man he never met in the cabin, Jacob. We can assume that Ben was indoctrinated in Cult of Jacob, and assumed the leadership role by convincing the Others had Jacob had faith in him. Except now, we don't know if Ben ever really dealt with Jacob person to person.

When Ben killed Jacob in the statue, it was the beginning of the second purge. Ghost Jacob does not have the same power as did old Jacob. In one sense, this may have leveled the playing field with MIB, who appeared in human form but was in fact Smokey, a spirit or deity. Thought: in these spiritual states, the entities need people (pawns) to amplify either their good or evil traits to do their bidding in this game of (take pick: backgammon, chess, tic-tac-toe). Sayid appears to have taken to full darkness, like Darth Vader now following the Dark Lord.

The death of Jacob put the temple Others in panic mode, but at the same time did the dumbest things, like letting infected Sayid live, let alone allowing him back into the temple grounds. The result is the loyal followers of Jacob were wiped out and left to ripen on the grounds.

Very early on, I thought there may have been a rule that one on the island could not kill themselves (suicide is a sin). Maybe that's how Jacob trained his true followers to act in selfless sacrifice for his cause. Many believe that Dogen will return as a soldier in Jacob's ghost ninja army, in equal rank to Sayid's state with Flocke. That the true believers martyred at the temple are new "inventory" for Jacob's zombie soldiers. For if MIB can make several different manifestations of the smoke monster, why cannot Jacob do the same? They both seem to be cut from the same manipulative cloth.

One could speculate that the first purge of Dharma by the Others was Jacob's followers killing off MIB's followers. The second purge would appear that MIB's new followers killing off Jacob's followers.

The island population is heading toward zero fast. Flocke now has the largest band of people, but that looks like only a couple dozen. That leads only a handful of people around the island for Jacob's use or recruitment: Jin, Jack, Hurley, Rose, Bernard, Ilana, Frank, Sun, Miles and Sawyer. But the wild card is that Jacob is awaiting a new arrival to the island: He is coming. We don't know his name. But we are fairly close to naming MIB Lucifer, Satan, the Devil. I suspect a Jacob's deity will be more powerful than MIB.