REBOOT EPISODES 101-104

POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.

This post is going to focus more on the fan base’s reaction to the Season 5 cliffhanger and where the Lost series was just prior to Season 6 than a normal recap of the four episode arc.

LOST REBOOT 
Recap: Episodes 101-104 (Days ????- - ????)

After the death of Daniel in 1977, Jack and Sayid work with Eloise and Alpert  to follow through with Daniel's plan to detonate the hydrogen bomb. In present time, Flocke finally takes his place as leader of the Others and begins his new mission, with Alpert's help.

Jack’s decision to put a plan in action in order to set things right on the Island is met with some strong resistance by those close to him, and Flocke assigns Ben  a difficult task.

In 1867, before the crash of the Black Rock and the arrival of Alpert, Jacob and the Man in Black (MIB) talk at the statue of Tawaret, an Egyptian goddess.

In 2007, within the statue ruins, the MIB (in form form of John Locke), tells Ben to kill Jacob. In a psychological emotional release, Ben submits and stabs Jacob twice. Jacob's last words are "they're coming", and then the Flocke kicks him onto the fire.

The aftermath from  Juliet’s alleged detonation of the fisson core is revealed as the introduction to the sideways world.  Meanwhile Flocke  reveals his true intentions of leaving the island. MIB was once a normal man with dark hair and steely eyes, but an encounter with the Light Cave (the heart of the island’s life force)  brought on by his brother and enemy, changed him into the Smoke Monster, a living cloud of black smoke. As the smoke, he could manifest himself as deceased individuals, most frequently as his former self. Eventually, and permanently after the death of Jacob, he took the form of John Locke to manipulate the Others to his final goal.

Science:

Detonation of an H-bomb is by fuse is way to start chain reaction; pounding outer case with rock is not going to detonate bomb. An atomic device needs an explosive charge to set off a chain reaction in order to accelerate the release of fusion material.

Improbabilities:

Juliet’s hitting the bomb explodes it; more likely the actual “incident” which Daniel predicted (as referenced in bluish white light of EM release) occurred, sending the 815ers (alive) back to their present time line.

A dead human being being reincarnated by electromagnetic energy pocket into living black smoke creature able to shift into various characters and use their lost memories to physically interact with other people.

Clues:

Fans believed that the Incident at the Swan construction site would “reboot” the characters time lines just as a person re-boots a crashed computer hard drive. It would seem that Daniel’s prediction was true when Flight 815 actually lands at LAX as Season 6 starts - - - as an alternative dream or parallel universe concept.

Discussion:

“ The good resolutions start too late and end too soon. ”
— Arnold Glasow

Season 5 ended with a mountain slide of viewer speculation and theories for the final season. I culled my comments from the old Lost blog I used to frequent to give you feel of what was being discussed at the time. It shows a vast array of imaginative speculation with the long shadow of doubt that the series could deliver on the Season 5 cliffhanger:

Part of the problem of unraveling the mysteries is that there are too many conflicting concepts that have been mashed together. There may not be one mythology to explain what is going on to the characters. I still believe the minority view that the characters are dead, in the Egyptian afterlife realm of the underworld, struggling through ordeals prior to their final judgment. Many have been "tapped" by the gods to be soldiers in their nightly battle for power.

I believe a big clue to LOST's story line is woven in Jacob's tapestry: At the top, sun rays flow from the symbol for the Eye of Horus (Ra). However, that mural contains non-Egyptian themes including Greek letters.

Eye of Horus represents the right eye of the Egyptian Falcon God Horus. It represented the sun, and was associated with the Sun God Ra. The mirror image, or left eye, represented the moon, and the God Thoth.

According to legend, the left eye was torn from Horus by his murderous brother Seth, and magically restored by Thoth, the God of magic. After the restoration, some stories state, Horus made a gift of the eye to Osiris, which allowed this solar deity to rule the underworld. The story of this injury is probably an allusion to the phases of the moon as the eye which is "torn out" every month.
Together, the eyes represent the whole of the universe. Spiritually, the right eye reflects solar, masculine energy, as well as reason and mathematics. The left eye reflects fluid, feminine, lunar energy, and rules intuition and magic. Together, they represent the combined,transcendent power of Horus.

The never ending cycle that Jacob and (Seth) discuss at the beginning of the Incident is the solar cycle: in the Egyptian myth, when Ra would journey through the underworld each night, defeat monsters and enemies, in order to rise to power as the sun each morning upon the Earth.
Part of the conflicting noise of the LOST themes is that Jacob-Seth know that their ancient world's rules (which to them are black and white) have been under assault by new religions (created by modern man). They continue to bring the dead to the underworld cycle to maintain their balance of power in the universe and control of humans on earth. In certain ways, the deceased are used as pawns both in their life, immediate afterlife, and prior to their final judgment (rebirth or destruction). Example, Locke did die in the fall . . . Jacob touched him to set his afterlife path: pain, mental anguish, preparation then journey to the island.

There is another legend which puts some context in Jacob-Seth’s meeting on the beach. The Book of the Heavenly Cow refers to mankind's rebellion against the elder sun god, Ra, resulting in the punishment of humans by the fiery "eye" of Ra in the form of the goddess Hathor. It takes place after Ra's long rule on earth. The royal sun god is specifically given devine power over both the deities and the humans. Prior to the rebellion, the deities, gods and humans lived together on Earth. There had been a golden age where the various deities and humans were both under the sovereignty of the sun god. 


During this previous age, the sun god had not yet begun his daily course through the sky and the netherworld. Hence, there was no cycle of day and night, nor was there a netherworld and death did not exist.

After the human rebellion, a complete reordering of the world had to take place. When mankind's rebellion took place, the sun god first consulted with the primeval deities, including Shu, Tefnut and Geb but particularly the goddess Nun and Hathor. These gods were to come to Ra in secrecy, as not to alert mankind about their meeting. Ra asked them what men were doing, for they whom he had created were murmuring against him. The gods replied, that he should destroy those who blasphemed him.

Afterwards, Hathor was sent to inflict her punishment. For three nights the goddess Hathor waded about in the blood of men. She as about to destroy all mankind, but Ra took pity on those humans who were left and saved them. But as a result of the rebellion, humans now have a life cycle which includes death and a journey through the afterlife (represented in some respects by the island).
The never ending cycle of human life set against the background Egyptian mythology is what Jacob and Seth were discussing on the beach when the ship arrived off shore. Every day it seems, more people are brought to the realm of the dead, throughout the different eras of mankind beliefs (pagans, Egyptians, Greek, Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc). Religion is what Jacob referred to as meaningless "progress" in man (good or evil) for he knows the same result occurs: he defeats evil and the human variables every night to rise to power each dawn.

Jacob (Ra) is only vulnerable in the underworld, at night. His confrontation with Locke (which may be a magical trick by Seth) and Ben occurs at night. The down fall of Jacob comes solely through the choice of Alpert (Thoth's representation?) who was a follower and protector of Ra but who was tricked into following too many “leaders” (Jack 77, Locke 07) to allow Seth to confront Jacob at night with an assassin. Before this moment, there had been nightly battles to destroy the sun god which have failed; but even Jacob knew that the only way to end this daily cycle was his death.

The concept of the end of the world would be no sun; we would be thrown into constant darkness. “They are coming” may mean that all the manifestations of evil (Satan, Seth, Apep, etc) have no barrier to destroy mankind if the sun god is defeated. The remaining characters on the island are stuck with the realization that they have been deceived and tricked into their actions which ultimately lead to the destruction of everything.

"Re Smokey, I've noted that we've never seen Smokey in ANY pre-Incident timeframe. By my recollection, Smokey's first appearance is with Rousseau's crew."
There is circumstantial evidence of Smokey prior to the Incident: above the grate/alter there is the Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting Smokey and Anubis.

Since the Hatch's purpose to enter numbers to stop "he escapes place of death" (the glyph warning sign), one could assume that failure to do so would allow Smokey to escape his prison and roam the island. S6 could deal with the prospect of attempting to re-imprison Smokey under the Hatch (which the 06 helps construct). However, we have yet to see any of the 06 with snake charming or monster taming skills. 

As background for those who wonder why-how spirits of the dead like New Locke or Jacob would eat and drink:

In Egyptian culture, Man was regarded as a complex being that could exist both before and after death in different manifestations, known as kheperu. The physical body was one of these modes of existence, as were also the heart, the shadow and the name, which embodied a person's distinct identity.

Over the centuries the Egyptians evolved several different concepts of human survival after death. These ideas were first formulated to ensure safe passage for the dead king into the hereafter, but over time people of lower status were able to share in the same destiny. Common to all of the concepts was the idea that resurrection was achieved through integrating the deceased into the natural processes of the cosmos.

During life, the body was known as "khet" meaning form or appearance.
At the time of death the corpse was known as "khat".
When the corpse was transformed into a mummy, it was known as "sah". Mummification was considered the transfiguration of the corpse into a new body which was "filled with magic."

The Egyptians believed that a person's essence or soul was composed of several elements that at the point of death would become separate entities:

The "ka"
The "ka" was considered to be the essential ingredient or dimension that differentiated a living person from a dead one; considered to be the "life force" or "sustenance."
Each individual's "ka" would come into existence at the moment of birth, subsequently serving as their "double."

Although every individual would eventually die, their "ka" would continue to live on after their death, and as such it would require exactly the same sort of sustenance as the living person would have enjoyed during their life. The "ka" would be provided with genuine food offerings, to be absorbed into their life preserving force.

After death, the "ka" would be at rest while the body was prepared and transformed into a mummy. The "ka" then needed to be reactivated so that the spiritual transformation of rebirth could take place. The deceased could then travel to join their "ka," and the link to the land of living through their tomb would then be established. It would be the person's "ba" that would make this journey.

"

The "ba" is considered to be an individual's distinctive manifestation, similar to our concept of personality which make each human unique. It was necessary for the deceased to journey from their tomb to rejoin their "ka" if they were to be transformed into an "akh." As the physical body could not do this, it was the job of the individual's "ba" to do so.

In order for the physical bodies of the deceased to survive the afterlife, they had to be reunited with their "ba" every night.

Closely linked to the physical body, the "ba" was considered to have the same physical needs as the living body. These needs included earthly pleasures such as food and drink.

The journey of the "ba" was still only a part of the final transformation of the deceased. Another journey followed, to the sky, sunlight and stars, and it was in these celestial realms that the deceased hoped to reach higher status, second only to a god, and resurrection as an "akh."

The "Akh"
The "akh" is the fully resurrected and glorified form of the deceased in the Afterlife. An "akh" comes close to our concept of a ghost or spirit, as it was believed that the "akh" could reach beyond the limits of the tomb to have both positive and negative effects on the realm of earthly life. The deceased was now free to roam on and over the earth. After the successful union of the "ba" with its "ka." the deceased was considered enduring and unchanged for eternity.

Egyptian life/death/life theory does seem to fit and I think is connected to why Richard wanted the corpse of Amy's husband and possibly how Ben survived the gunshot, as opposed to the dead who were buried or burned. They will remain dead. And if I recall my Mummification 101 class, the heart is left in the body when the rest of the innards are removed because the Egyptians believe the heart is essentially a person's consciousness.

My composite translation/interpretation of Jacob's Tapestry (from various sources); from top to bottom:

Greek text: "May the gods grant you all your heart (soul) desires."
Next: the Eye of Ra with 17 sun rays (with hands) to 17 Egyptians flanked by two thrones. The sun rays with hands is a symbol used by the Cult of Aten, thought to be the first "single deity" religious belief. The two thrones may represent the split kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt.
Next: 8 dancers giving offerings to the heavens.
Next: Greek text "May the gods grant you happiness."
Next: 5 people toiling in the fields. The representation looks like a depiction of the shabtis, a deceased pharoah's servants in the afterlife who toil in the eternal fields of the gods.
Next: 3 Egyptian ships crossing the waters. The tapestry found in Jacob's cabin would appear to be from the lower right corner, towards where the ships are sailing. A soul crossing the river is symbolic of the journey to the Maat for final judgment.
Bottom: Greek text "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

Tawaret mythology changed during the various Egyptian kingdoms. She was once an evil god which combined all early Egyptian fears (crocodiles, hippos and lions). She became a less evil, motherly figure when it was shown that aggressive Nile hippos were usually female, protecting their young. Even then, it was said that she consorted with a crocodile god. Then in the latter kingdoms, she was seen as the wife of Apep, the serpent god of the underworld. So if you mash-up the stories, she is both evil and protective.

I also found it odd that with all the Egyptian mythology, there is only one character with an Egyptian name: Horus. Richard(us) implies a Roman name. Oliva, Eloise: English. Jacob: Hebrew. It is like all the island names corrolate to all the nations who once conquered North Africa.

Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, was called "Horus who rules with two eyes." His right eye was white representing the sun while his left eye was black representing the moon.

According to Egyptian legend Horus lost his left eye during a fight with his murderous uncle, Seth. Horus was fighting to avenge his father's death. Seth tore out his nephew's eye but lost the fight because the assembly of the gods declared Horus the victor. One of the most prominent myths concerning the moon relates its cycle to the battle between Horus and Seth. During this famous battle over the inheritance of Osiris, Seth steals the (left) eye of Horus, damages it, and divides it into six parts. Thoth, with his magic (and with the help of other gods) reassembles the eye. Then Horus gave the eye to Osiris who experiences rebirth in the underworld.

There is a different Eye story: the Eye of Ra, in which the supreme sun god sends a god to wipe out the humans who stopped properly worshipping Ra. Just as the human race is about to be wiped out, Ra intervenes and saves mankind from total destruction. The Eye of Ra is depicted as the right Egyptian eye, and in various cultures is it considered "the Evil Eye."

Since LOST likes to use close up of eyes for dramatic effect, I researched whether there was some pattern. I could not find whether there is no left eye vs. right eye pattern (teams). Both right and left eyes have been used, including different ones for the same character (Jack). I also found the oddity that at one point Locke's eye color changed from brown to blue. I don't know the significance of that change.

The good vs. evil comparison is never simple. Everyone has both good and evil within them; it is a person's values that determines how they live their life. Turn the other cheek or an eye for an eye.
And speaking of eyes, I have stumbled upon another odd Egyptian tangent.
In the Ancient Egyptian measurement system, the Eye Of Horus was used a form of fractional notation, each of the parts of the eye representing a different fraction. The parts of the eye were divided as follows:

* 1/2 was represented by smell,
* 1/4 was represented by sight or the sensation of light,
* 1/8 was represented by thought,
* 1/16 was represented by hearing,
* 1/32 was represented by taste,
* 1/64 was represented by touch.

These fractions were used as the basis of all medicine and prescriptions. In math, they add up to 63/64; so it was said the last 1/64th was Thoth's magic.

I also found that these numbers (2,4,8,16, 32, 64) are the same numbers on the Doubling Cube in the game of backgammon (Locke and Walt's early white/dark story of possible good vs. evil).
I also thought that Jacob touching six people may be a clue that he was hiding one his six traits in them, to be re-combined like Osiris' body parts when the "touched" 815ers are all reunited in the same time and place.

If that is the case, it would be a perfect example of Sawyer's creed, "what's in it for me?" In Jacob's case, he has devised a way to be reincarnated (again?)

I just realized that after reading all the reviews and posts, no one has commented or concluded what specifically was "The Incident" in the finale. Was the Incident:

a) the drill hitting the EM pocket (as Chang would suggest);

b) the stabbing of Jacob by Ben (as the term "incident" usually refers to a hostile or violent event);

c) the 316ers showing the Others that their "new" leader is Dead; or

d) something else.

Why MIB tells Jacob on the beach "You know how much I want to kill Jacob". Why doesn't he say "You know how much I want to kill you"? What if these two characters are actually on this island for ages and they are just entertaining themselves by playing games with each other. They are like actors playing a play script written by themselves. In a previous game, maybe they played god. In another, pharaohs and build statues. Maybe their play now is titled "Mankind and Progress". And they can still be friends, right? Because nothing is real, is just a script they write all along. In the meantime, they can share food and can still be friends after MIB declares how badly he wants to kill Jacob. And Jacob doesn't mind a bit. Come on, how much would you be upset on your friend if he would declare how badly he wants to kill your king in in a chess game?!

For those who are looking at Jacob/MIB in a "game" context:
The Eye of Horus math gives us the numbers 2,4, 8, 16, 32, 64.
Those are the same numbers on the Doubling Cube in the game of backgammon (which Locke taught Walt).

Now, the ancient Egyptians had a game similar to backgammon called Senet. I bring this up before for the last several episodes, the producers have been stressing "30 years" in the past or future. Why "30" may be a clue is in the rules of the game, as well as other symbols (drowning, good-bad, black-white, and the afterlife):

Senet: Rules of the Game

The board:
 The board consists of thirty squares in three rows of ten. The pieces will move in an S-shaped pattern from the upper left to the lower right passing through all rows. There are two 'good' squares to land on in this type of Senet and one 'bad' square. The good squares, presented in the recreations as golden, are different in purpose. The square in the second row, located four from the right and five from the left, is a safety square, protecting the occupant from being bumped or taken over by the opponent. The square in the third row, located in the same vertical position, is a chance to toss the sticks again. The bad square, represented by blue, symbolizes drowning in the great waters of Nun, the primordial ocean that will one day again consume the world. It is located three from the right and six from the left. Upon landing on the drowning square, the piece is moved back to before it ever entered the board.


Instead of dice, Senet uses sticks which are nearly flat, and have one black side and one white side. The white sides count up as numbers. One white side is one, two two and so on until four. However, if all sides come up as black, it will count as a six. To enter the board, one must either throw a four or a six, the hardest things to come up with in the game. If a four is thrown, the piece enters in the fourth square of the first row from the left. If a six is thrown, the piece enters the sixth square of that row. Anytime a six is thrown, the player immediately throws the sticks again. To exit the board, an exact number must be thrown that is the numbers of squares left before the end of the board plus one. This is called 'bearing off'. Anytime a player bears off a piece, they immediately throw the sticks again. This piece has reached the afterlife and is not dealt with again.

The pieces
: One player is represented by five cones or triangles - usually green. The other player is represented by five round pieces, sometimes called reels, usually red.

Bumping or Overtaking
: Whenever a player makes a throw that would cause them to land in a square occupied by the opponent, the opponent's piece is moved back to before it ever entered the board. This causes the opponent to use their fours and/or sixes to get these pieces back on the board, and it is a goal of either player to do this. A piece occupying the safety or protection square cannot be bumped. The player must move another piece. If another piece cannot be moved (there are no more maybe) the other player wins for causing a stalemate.

Winning the Game
: When all five pieces owned by a player have bore off, they have won. Then all pieces advance to the end of the game and it is declared that all have entered the Afterlife successfully.

>>>> If Jacob and MIB are gods playing a real life game of Senet, using the Losties souls as game pieces -- with one group or character (piece) bumping off another as time goes on -- the only possible change to upset the game would be if or when the characters (pieces) become aware of their circumstances and rebel against both Jacob and MIB. That is why the game always ends the same; the souls never ask the right questions or understand their purgatory existence. Knowledge is power. That is the loophole MIB fears.

The theory of our two beach gods playing Senet harked back to a viewer theory in  Season 2...
If those two beachies are playing cosmic chess with our Losties as the pieces, then that might could maybe explain a small part of The Rules.

For those unfamiliar with chess, a king cannot capture (directly) the opposing king. Similarly, Ben and Widmore could not kill each other, and Jacob and MIB cannot kill each other. The lesser pieces do the dirty work, i.e., killing and dying. One could easily describe our Losties as chess pieces (pawns, knights, rooks, etc.).

Another Lost/game similarity is in checkers when your piece reaches your opponent's front rank they get "kinged" or "crowned" and "come back to life" more powerful than before.
I'm getting a bad feeling about all this...
The problem lies in the show's road map to date:
first it was a survival drama where we could just ride along with the action;
then it turned into science to explain the supernatural events we were seeing;
then it veered toward science fiction and quantum theories to explain things;
then it zoomed toward fantasy when the science and science fiction did not add up; and now the next road sign says: NEXT EXIT: SURREAL.

worst case scenario-
we are left no wiser when the show reaches the climax of season 6.
i don’t want to start thinking that way, although i had enjoyed british tv show "the prisoner" until the very last episode.

I thought that Season 6 would open with a close-up of Jacob's eye, with flames reflecting in it, as he whispers while being stabbed, "They're coming . . ."
Outside, the Others are shaken by the rumbling of the mountain above the statue area. The top ridge explodes, and lava begins to run down the side through a gray cloud of sulfur ash.
Then, through the gray ash appears the black silhouette of a man. Then another. Then another.
New Locke emerges from the statue to see his followers looking fearful as they gaze at the mountain top. He turns and looks at the volcanic ridge: there are a dozen silhouettes on the smoking ridge, with flames lapping at their feet. Suddenly, from these black shadows, they screech a call like a million sets of claws across a chalkboard. Then, during their call, they sprout huge sets of satanic wings.
Quick close up of New Locke wincing; "Damn, they are coming."
Cut: to LOST logo.

If you believe that the smoke monster can manifest itself into anyone (Christian, Yemi, Vincent, et al), or multiples as Christian and Claire were in the cabin together, then the island is merely an illusion. Then as a projection of reality, the writers can merely sweep the mysteries under the rug with a Star Trek "The Cage" type reveal at the end. That would be disappointing.
And so the end of Season 5 thread concluded; with clear fan reservations as to the final direction of the show.

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

The island being able to return the 1977 lost souls back to the present with the remaining Others and 815 survivors.

Flocke being the smoke monster, recreated from the thoughts and memories of John Locke.

Key lines in episodes:

EP 101:

LOCKE: So I can kill him.
[Ben, stunned, stops in his tracks and falls behind as the rest of the column passes him by.]

EP 103:

JULIET: [Groans] Come on! Come on! [Sobbing] Come on! Go! Come on! Come on! Come on, you son of a bitch!
[After the eighth strike, there is a loud explosion and a bright white light fills the world.]

New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

Idea Number One:

The Incident at the Swan station, whether it was the bomb going off (realistically not possible) or the massive energy release that Daniel warned about (most likely), basically destroyed all human life on the island - - - and then creating the sideways world of the dead souls. Just as Jacob’s disposal of his brother’s dead body into the EM Light Cave created MIB/the smoke monster; the Incident killed all humans on the island and created an entire smoke monster world. That is why Christian told Jack in The End that the sideways world is a place “all his friends created” not literally, but as a direct result of the Incident. In a stretched logic way, TPTB are trying to say that the sideways world was created at the Incident, but had to “wait” until the time skippers got brought back up to the present and died in the island time string. Except, that logic does not work or explain the disconnect.

If time is a string that is inflexible (what happens happened), then Daniel’s death in 1977 would have negated his appearance on the island via the freighter in 2007. If a person has one “present” and that is lost in 1977, he is effectively erased in history going forward. The flawed attempted explanation with Daniel is his alleged memory loss from his time travel experiments.

If time is nonlinear, like grooves in a circular record player, one’s “present” being the needle can bounce around from song to song in independent blocks of time. Once the person dies, the needle is broken and the record of his time is gone and cannot be played or replayed. So Daniel dying before he is born could happen, but his entire being would be wiped out so he should not be able to exist after the island reboot with the Incident.

In retrospect, the Incident was not caused by the bomb detonation; it was caused by the  EM burst since the end result is the 1977 time travelers to re-appear in their normal time period “on the island.”  For sealing the EM pocket would have sealed the characters in 1977 which did not occur, as the characters return to find Ajira 316 and Widmore’s men returning to the island in 2007.

So how does one try to reconcile the problems with the Incident? It all depends on one’s basic view of the series. If you believe that characters all died in the plane crash (that the island itself is forehell or purgatory for souls to seek redemptive moments in order to move on in the afterlife), then the concept of space-time is irrelevant because the underworld of souls does not conform to living earth physics or natural rules. If you want  to look to a structure for this underworld, it is clear that the Egyptian ritual concepts of the splitting of a person’s soul into two parts would explain the parallel worlds of the island and the sideways dimension.

In retrospect, LOST as a series probably should have ended with the Season 5 finale. It would have not lead to the disjointed filler of Season 6 and the Scooby Do ending that the sideways world was the collective of dead souls waiting to be “awakened” by Desmond. It would have been a Sopranos ending that would have drawn some ire.

Idea Number Two:

If one has to determine what the true crux of the Lost saga was, then one must digest the Jacob-MIB conflict as recapped by lostpedia:

Inside the statue, MIB (as Locke) picks up the bloodied knife Ben had used to stab Jacob. He cleans the knife. He tells a visibly disturbed Ben that he can stop staring at the fire and that Jacob is gone. Ben asks why Jacob didn't fight back. MIB replies that Jacob must have known he was beaten and asks Ben to go outside and tell Alpert that he needs to talk to him. Meanwhile, outside, Ilana and Bram (who are part of Jacob’s team) discuss entering the statue with Alpert. Alpert tells them firmly that they cannot go in and that only those summoned by Jacob may enter. Ilana replies that she and Bram were summoned to the island by Jacob, and thus should be allowed inside. Ben comes out of the statue and is immediately questioned by Ilana and Richard. When he informs Richard that Locke wants to speak with him, Alpert becomes furious with Ben, and shoves him onto the beach next to Locke's corpse, revealing to Ben for the first time that Locke is indeed dead. Shortly after, Bram grabs Ben and hauls him back into the statue with him, despite Alpert's protest.


Inside the statue, four men including Bram enter Jacob's chamber and point their guns at the Man in Black. Bram asks him where Jacob is, to which MIB responds that Jacob is dead, and as such, they are all now "free." Upon hearing this, Bram and his men become enraged and fire several shots at the MIB. One shot appears to strike him, after which he disappears behind a column. As Bram investigates the room, he finds the bullet that was thought to have hit MIB lying on the ground. Confused, he turns around, just as the Smoke Monster enters the room.

There is a brief firefight, but Smokey quickly overpowers three of the four men, killing them. Bram produces a container of ash which he proceeds to hurriedly spread around himself in a circle. This circle protects Bram from the smoke monster's direct advances towards him, so the Monster dislodges a chunk of rock from the statue interior, which knocks Bram out of the circle of ash. Bram, now vulnerable, is grabbed by Smokey and thrown through Jacob's loom, where he is impaled on a piece of wood, and killed. During the entirety of the fight, Ben cowers in a corner, looking on in shock. At the conclusion of the fight, MIB (once again as Locke) reappears behind Ben and states: "Sorry that you had to see me like that," thus definitively revealing the link between the smoke monster, the Man in Black, and Flocke.

Ben, noticeably shocked, finally manages to ask MIB, "what are you?" He only answers that he's not a "what" but a "who." MIB then tells Ben that John Locke was very confused when Ben kills him and his last thought was "I don't understand." As Ben grapples with these revelations, the Man in Black goes on explaining how sad and pathetic Locke's life was.  He continues that Locke's only redeeming virtue was to have been the only one of the Oceanic 815 survivors not to want to go back to their worthless pre-Island life, but rather to stay on the Island. He finishes his speech to Ben by reflecting on the irony of this situation, because unlike Locke, he wants to go "home."

When Jacob died and proclaimed “they’re coming,” we don’t know what that really means. It could be his people, Ilana and Bram who had recruited to off-set the Widmore gang. Or it could mean that the 1977 survivors are time traveling back to the present to take Jacob’s place to defeat MIB. But the real problem later on is that Jacob is not really “dead.” He appears to Sayid and Hurley. And his Crazy Mother gave him immortality. So what is the real deal between Jacob and MIB?
At the time, the idea of two demigods playing human chess with human souls seemed to be far fetched and a demeaning premise for the show. But the whole conflict seems to center around the Season 6 resolution of the island dynamic of Jacob and MIB, who are both “dead” in observer’s reality.

The basic tenet of their “game” was this: Jacob brought humans to the island. MIB’s premise is that all humans corrupt the island. Jacob does not interfere with the humans on the island (until he recruits Alpert to be his liaison). MIB is allowed to play mischief, test and judge the humans on the island - - - to the point of killing them as the smoke monster without any accountability or retaliation by Jacob. This game of humanity has gone on for thousands of years. And apparently, the end is that none of the humans ever survive and leave the island. Now the apparent roles of Jacob as guardian and MIB as prisoner is shown by MIB’s willingness to kill Jacob in order to get off the island to go “home.” But what is “home” to an immortal spirit? If MIB’s soul was captured by the island’s life force as the smoke monster (much like the whispers in the jungle are dead souls that cannot move on in the afterlife), “home” has to be heaven or peace to MIB. So why would Jacob not allow his brother to “pass on?” Because Jacob would be then trapped alone on the island, forever. So, who then, is the real “prisoner” of the island? Jacob. The only “rule” was that they could not harm each other (which was broken by Jacob in his rage). MIB “won” by having Ben “kill” Jacob, then Jacob “won” by having Kate “kill” the mortal Flocke when Jack replaced the cap on the life force fountain. So is the cap of the EM life force which suffocates both Jacob and MIB’s immortal life force so they cease to exist after they are physically, mortally wounded? The timing is off on that explanation. Jacob “dies” before Jack’s final quest.

One must wonder that Miles power to read the last thoughts of the dead is just a weaker power of a smoke monster to fuse a dead body into an island existence. One could also wonder that Hurley’s more special power of actually interacting and having conversations with the dead in physical form is a pure form of the smoke monster’s properties of reconstructing matter and memories on the island. Who ever can tap the power of the island can control all the elements within the sphere of the island: people, actions, events.

The island itself has been called the silent character in the series. The island is not a real place; it is not on a map. It is a collection point for lost souls. It takes their thoughts and memories and creates a vast, complex, interactive realm of humanity pit against their own worst fears, phobias, superstitions and desires. It does sound like the basis of explanation for ancient concepts of the underworld.

However, if it is not, does it downgrade the show characters if they are truly just made up “characters” in the mind of an intelligent being represented symbolically by an island? A supernatural being whose only life is recreating the memories and emotions of dead human souls.