POSTING NOTE: The G4 reruns of LOST have concluded in this final story arc. More analysis will come in the future as we ponder the immediate reaction to the finale.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 117-120/21 (Days ????- - ????)
On the beach Sayid explains to Jack that Widmore attacked their group with mortars and that Locke had saved Jack. He says that the rest of Flocke’s army have scattered into the jungle, so that it is now just Locke, Sayid, and Jack. Flocke arrives and announces that Jack's friends have been seized by Widmore and that he now wants to rescue them. Jack asks why Widmore would capture them and Locke replies sarcastically that he would ask but he doesn't think Widmore will talk to him. He suggests they break them out, run for the plane and be off the Island before Widmore knows what is happening. Jack says that they are not his people and that he is not leaving the Island. Locke hopes Jack will change his mind but in the meantime he needs Jack to get his friends to trust him. Locke reinforces that Jack can trust him by pointing out that although he could kill Jack and his friends at any time without impediment, he hasn't and has instead saved Jack's life and now he wants to save Jack's friends too.
On their trek to the plane, Kate asks Jack whether he is coming with them now and Jack tells her that he will help them get on the plane but will not join them because he is "not meant to go". Sayid arrives and says they need to go because Locke is waiting. Locke strides up to the plane, unfazed by Widmore's guards as they shoot at him. He breaks one guard's neck and shoots the other and takes the dead man's digital wristwatch. He goes into the plane and examines exposed wiring leading to a pack of C4 explosives. The survivors arrive and find the dead men. Locke emerges from the plane and admits that he killed them but that Widmore knew he would kill them otherwise he wouldn't have removed his "little fences." He explains that Widmore wants them all together in a confined space so that he can kill them all, showing them the C4 he found. Locke says their new plan is to leave via the submarine because they can't be sure the plane does not have more booby traps. Hurley tries to remind everyone that Alpert said Flocke is not meant to leave the Island, but Sawyer cuts him off, pointing out that Alpert is not here. Sawyer then thanks Flocke for twice saving them and says that he was wrong about him. Locke says that the submarine will be heavily defended and that they will need everyone. Jack reiterates he will help, but he is not going to leave with them. As they leave, Claire apologizes to Flocke who says he understands. Sawyer whispers to Jack that he doesn't trust “Locke” one bit and asks Jack to make sure Flocke doesn't get on the sub.
Jack asks Jin for his pack to treat Kate's wound, only to find Locke has put the plane's C4 in his bag and rigged a bomb, using the watch he stole from the slain guard as a timer. The timer is counting down from 3:54. Jack realizes what is going on and tells them all that they have done exactly what Locke wanted. Jack demands that they surface and tells Sawyer that Flocke intended all along to be left behind at the dock. Frank informs them that the captain says it will take five minutes to surface.
The timer nears 3:20. Sayid explains how to disarm the bomb but he has some doubt whether it will work. Sawyer is about to pull the wires but Jack stops him, saying that nothing is going to happen; the bomb won't detonate if they leave it alone. He explains that they have done exactly what Locke wanted: just as Locke had said of Widmore, "He wanted to get us all in the same place at the same time. A nice enclosed space where we had no hope of getting out of." He explains that Locke has been saying he can't leave the Island without them but what is really the case is that he can't leave the Island unless they are all dead. Jack surmises that Locke cannot kill them directly and is trying to get them to kill each other by pulling the wires from the C4.
Jack asks Sawyer why Flocke would use a timer and not just throw the bomb into the sub. He pleads that they will be okay, they just have to trust him. Sawyer says he's sorry and quickly pulls the wires out. The timer stops at 1:31 and nothing happens at first. Then the timer restarts and races down. Sayid says “Listen carefully. There is a well on the main island half a mile south from the camp we just left. Desmond’s inside it. Locke wants him dead which means you are going to need him, do you understand me?” Jack asks why Sayid is telling him this. Sayid hurriedly says "Because it's going to be you, Jack." He picks up the C4 and runs down the passageway. The bomb explodes in his hands, killing him.
Jack swims to the beach with Sawyer, who coughs up some water. Hurley and Kate stumble down the beach to meet them. Kate asks about Jin and Sun but Jack shakes his head. Hurley and Kate sob while Jack walks away to the sea and cries bitterly.
Flocke, still at the pier, tells Claire that the submarine has sunk. Claire is shocked that they are all dead but Flocke says that not all of them are dead. He takes his pack and rifle and Claire asks where he is going. He replies, "To finish what I started."
In a flashback of the Jacob origin story, a woman raises the black playing piece she is run through from behind by the Man in Black's daggar. With tears in his eyes the Man in Black addresses her as "Mother" and asks why she wouldn't let him leave. As she dies she says: "Because I love you... Thank you."
Jacob returns and sees what his brother has done and attacks him as he did as a thirteen year old. He drags his brother through the jungle. The Man in Black reminds him that Jacob cannot kill him. Jacob replies that he has no intention of killing him. He brings him to the glowing cave and throws him down the stream towards the mouth of the cave. The Man in Black hits his head on a rock and goes limp, then is sucked into the source. Moments later the Smoke Monster bursts from the cave and disappears into the jungle. Jacob washes himself at a stream and sees his brother's broken body draped over branches nearby. (The inference is that the Smoke Monster killed MIB). He hugs him tearfully. Jacob carries his body back home and finds the two jewels and places them in a pouch. He lays Crazy Mother and the Man in Black's bodies side by side with the pouch at Mother's hand.
On the beach, Jack gives first aid to Kate’s shoulder wound. Kate is pale and emotional. As Jack stitches, she reflects on Ji Yeon, crying that Jin never met his own daughter. She and Jack concede bitterly that Flocke must be killed. Kate leans on Sawyer's shoulder as a deep sadness consumes them all. At Jack's urging, they set off to find Desmond. Jack acknowledges that if Locke wants Desmond then "we are going to need him."
As they hike, a miserable Sawyer wonders why Flocke didn't just kill Desmond. Jack suggests maybe it was one of his 'rules'. Sawyer suggests that he himself was responsible for the deaths on the sub, because he attempted to defuse the bomb against Jack's advice. Jack insists that “Flocke” killed them. Just behind them, Hurley notices the young Jacob standing by an ancient hut. The boy suddenly appears in front of Hurley and demands Ilana’s ash pouch. As Hurley asks what he wants them for, the boy snatches them and runs off. Hurley chases him and comes across adult Jacob seated by a fire. Jacob tells Hurley that the ashes are in the fire and that when the fire goes out, he will not be seen again, adding "We are very close to the end."
As night falls, Hurley leads Kate, Sawyer and Jack to Jacob's fire. Jacob greets them by their first names. Hurley is surprised that they can all see Jacob. Kate asks Jacob whether he is the one who wrote the names on the wall, and whether it is their candidacy that ultimately led to their deaths. She also demands to know that Sun, Jin, and Sayid didn't die for nothing. Jacob says he will tell the group what they died for and why he chose them. He adds that by the time the fire is out one of them will have to take his place as protector of the Island.
Jacob explains that a very long time ago he made a mistake, and as a result there is a good chance that everyone is going to die. (This is an inference to killing his brother and/or unleashing the smoke monster). He acknowledges that he is responsible for the current state of the Man in Black. The Monster has been trying to kill him and that when it succeeded, someone would have to replace him: that is why he brought them all to the Island. Challenged by Sawyer, Jacob explains that he didn't drag anyone out of a happy existence but that they were all flawed. He says that he chose them because they were all like him - all alone, all looking for something that they couldn't find. He says he chose them because they needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. (Misery loves company). Jacob tells Kate her name was crossed off because she became a mother, but that she is not disqualified. He explains that the task for the candidate is to protect the light at the center of the Island.
Jacob says that they must do what he couldn't do: kill “him.” Jack asks whether that is even possible and Jacob says that he hopes so because Flocke is certainly going to try to kill them. Jacob offers the remaining candidates a choice of who will take his place - Jack accepts, acknowledging that he is on the island for this very purpose. Jacob asks Jack to affirm this decision, and is pleased when he does.
Jacob takes Jack to the creek. As the others watch from a distance, Jacob tells Jack where to find the light at “the heart of the island,” explaining that while Jack has never seen the light before, he will be able to find it now that he has been chosen to protect it. Jacob asks Jack for his tin cup, which he fills with water, recites an incantation, and solemnly offers the cup to Jack. Before he drinks, Jack asks about the duration of the job he is about to accept. Jacob tells him he must do it "As long as you can." Jack drinks. Jacob embraces him and says “Now you are like me.”
At the Barracks, Smokey attacks Richard. Afterward, Ben shows Flocke where Widmore and Zoe hiding. Smokey tells him to wait outside, but Ben says he wants to see this.
When he turns the light on in the hidden room, Ben says "Sorry Charles." Locke asks who Zoe is and as she starts to reply Widmore tells her not to talk or say anything. Flocke reacts by slashing Zoe's throat. He says that as Widmore told her not to talk to him that made her pointless. Flocke tells Widmore that to motivate him to tell him what he wants to know, the first thing he will do when he is off the Island is to kill Widmore’s daughter, Penny, the love of Desmond’s life. He gives his word that he won't kill her if Widmore talks to him. Widmore says he brought Desmond back because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism and that he was a measure of last resort. Widmore tells Flocke he won't say anything more in front of Ben. Flocke asks him to whisper in his ear. As he whispers Ben shoots Widmore dead with a pistol. Ben says "he doesn't get to save his daughter."
Flocke says that Ben never ceases to amaze him, but Widmore had already told him what he needed to know. Ben then asks whether there are some "other people to kill." Flocke gives a gloating look. Flocke tells Ben that he said Desmond was a fail safe; that if he killed the "beloved candidates" he was one final way for Jacob to be sure that he would never leave this place. Ben asks why Locke is happy that Desmond is still free. Flocke says that when he finds Desmond he will get him to do the one thing he could never do himself: "Destroy the Island."
Sawyer meets up with Jack, Kate and Hurley and tells them Flocke plans to destroy the island and how important it is to find Desmond before Flocke and Ben do. Jack tells him it doesn't matter who finds Desmond because they are all going to the same place anyway. Sawyer asks what happens then. Jack answers, "And then it ends."
Flocke's group and Jack's group meet. Kate reacts by snatching Sawyer's gun and shooting at Flocke, but to no effect. Flocke tells her “to save her bullets.” He walks up to Jack and says: "So it's you", adding that he's somewhat surprised that Jacob chose Jack, as he is sort of the obvious choice. Jack corrects him and says he wasn't chosen, but that he volunteered. Locke assumes Jack is going to try and stop him but Jack admits that he can't and will instead go with him. Flocke then thinks Jack doesn't understand what he plans to do, but Jack is clear that he certainly does, that he's going to the light, the place Jack has sworn to protect, where he thinks he's going to destroy the island. Jack says Flocke won't destroy the island. Instead, Jack will kill him, and how he plans to do that is a surprise.
As they hike towards the Source, Sawyer asks Jack how he is going to kill Flocke. Jack simply answers, "Desmond", but that he's not yet sure exactly how it's going to work. He's sure Jacob brought him back not as bait but as a weapon. When the group reaches the bamboo forest near the Source, Locke draws his knife and says it should just be him, Jack, and Desmond from here on.
Once at the cave of the Source, Locke ties a rope to a tree while Jack ties the other end around Desmond. Desmond tells Jack that this - killing Locke and destroying the Island - doesn't matter because once he goes into the cave, he'll go to another place where they can be with the ones they love, where they never have to see the island again, and where a happier version of Jack exists. (Desmond is flashing to the after life purgatory of the sideways world, meaning he knows he is already dead on the island.) After saying that maybe there's a way he could bring Jack there too, Jack says that he found there are no shortcuts or do-overs; that “what ever happened, happened” and that all of this matters. The three men enter the cave.
Jack and Locke enter the cave and begin to lower Desmond into the brilliant abyss. The Man in Black remembers John Locke's memories of Jack and he, looking at Desmond down in a hole in the ground, lightheartedly commented on their bickering on whether or not to push the button. Jack cuts him short. "You're not John Locke; you disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you're nothing like him." Jack insists that John was right about almost everything, and wished he got to tell him this when he was still alive. Flocke says John wasn't right about anything and that when the Island drops into the ocean and Jack drops with it, then he will realize this. Jack suggests they just watch and see who turns out to be right, and the two look down the waterfall now that Desmond has reached the bottom.
He finds the Source, a glowing pool, filled by a small waterfall, with an elongated stone with ancient markings engraved on it at its center. He enters the water as electromagnetic energy emanates from the source. Desmond is clearly in pain, and his nose bleeds. Jack and Locke hear his screams. Desmond reaches the center stone and lifts it, like removing a giant stopper in the center of the pool. The stream from the waterfall stops, the electromagnetic force recedes, the light goes out, the pool dries up and there is a red hot glow emitting from the center. Desmond screams "No!" Flocke says to a very worried Jack: "It looks like you were wrong." Flocke says goodbye and leaves as earthquakes begin to wrack the Island.
Jack chases Flocke out of the cave in a fit of fury, punching him in the mouth and jumping on him when he falls. Flocke bleeds from the mouth. Jack sees the blood and says, "It looks like you were wrong too." Jack's hands move towards Locke's throat as they struggle. Flocke finds a rock and hits Jack over the head with it, and gets up and runs off as Jack becomes unconscious.
Flocke stands on the cliff above the cliff side cave, looking at Desmond’s boat anchored a short distance offshore. Before he can make it to the boat, Jack catches up to him. Flocke turns around and the two face each other for the final showdown. Locke draws his knife and they run at each other across the uneven ground. Jack leaps at Locke and they fight as the storm rages and cliffs disintegrate.
Flocke drops his knife, but during the struggle he picks it up and inflicts a fatal wound under Jack's rib cage. As he tries to finish him off, Flocke tells Jack that "he died for nothing." Just then, Kate shoots him from behind; she "saved him a bullet." Jack struggles to his feet, but another quake shakes the Island and Flocke says Jack is "too late" just before the rumbling stops. Jack kicks him off the cliff to the rocks below, and the evil Man in Black, the Smoke Monster, is apparently dead.
Ben tells the group that Frank and the rest are leaving, and if they are going to catch up they had better get to the boat and sail to Hydra island quickly. Jack says that whatever Desmond turned off, he needs to turn it back on again. But he says that if people are going to leave they need to get on that plane. Kate tells him that he doesn't need to do this, but Jack is adamant that he does. Jack wishes Sawyer good luck.
Ben passes Sawyer the walkie saying that if the Island is going down then he is going down with it. Hugo refuses to climb the rickety wooden ladders and tells Jack that he is with him. Kate and Jack share a tearful goodbye - they have a final kiss and declare their love for each other. The island continues to shake uncontrollably. Sawyer calls Frank, who tells them he is going to leave while there is still ground to leave on. Sawyer and Kate jump off the cliffs and into the sea. They swim out to the Elizabeth.
Hurley helps Jack as they return with Ben to the Source. Jack tells them he is going down alone and makes it clear that he knows he will not survive. Jack explains to an overwrought Hurley that this is what is supposed to happen. Jack tells Hugo that it is he who the Island needs, that his job was to fix the source but after that it should be Hugo. Jack tells Hugo that he believes in him. Hugo agrees, but only till Jack returns. Ben finds an Oceanic bottle and Jack fills it from a leftover pool of water from the previously active stream and gives it to Hurley. After Hurley drinks, Jack tells him, “ Now you are like me."
Jack finds Desmond and carries him back to the rope. Desmond wants to return the plug but Jack tells him he has done enough and he needs to go home to be with his wife and son. Desmond asks Jack what will happen to him. Jack says that he'll see him in another life, "Brother.”
Jack finds the cork and drops it into the Source. Jack lies exhausted in the empty pool but a trickle of water starts flowing and then the light starts to return. Hugo and Ben haul on the rope and find Desmond on the end of it. Below, Jack sobs with relief as he is engulfed in the light.
Ben and Hugo are with Desmond. Hugo takes in the idea that Jack has gone. Ben comforts him by telling Hugo that he did his job. Ben tells a frightened Hugo that he can do his job as the island's new protector by doing what he does best: taking care of people. Hugo asks how he can do things like helping Desmond to go home when people can't leave the Island. Ben says that that is how Jacob ran things and that maybe there is a better way. Hugo asks Ben for his help, saying he needs someone with experience. Ben says he would be honored.
Jack awakens in the creek outside of the light source cave. Knowing that his life is ending, clutching his fatal wound and in obvious pain, he slowly finds his way back to the bamboo grove where he first arrived on the island after the 815 crash. As he does, he passes by the white shoe, still hanging from the branch, and collapses to the ground in the same spot where he awoke after the crash of Flight 815.
He hears a dog barking and turns his head to see Vincent running toward him through the trees. As the dog licks his face and lies down beside him, The Ajira plane soars overhead, and he is overcome with joy and laughs.
In the sideways world, a reunion is held.
Jack tells Kate that this is where he was going to have his father's funeral. He asks Kate why she brought him here. She says "Because this is where you were going to have your father's funeral." She goes to leave and she says that they will be waiting for him, once he's ready. Jack asks, "Ready for what?" Kate tells him, "To leave."
Jack goes into the church via a back entrance. In a chapel filled with symbols of different religions, he finds Christian's coffin and touches it, awakening to more memories from the Island. He opens the coffin but it is empty. Jack hears a voice, and it is his father, standing in the room. Jack tells him he doesn't understand, because Christian died, and asks his father how he could be there. Christian simply asks, "How are you here?" Jack realizes that he himself has died too. They embrace tearfully and say they love each other. (Did the cork also repress the memories that needed to be awakened in the dead souls?)
Jack is confused, and skeptical that the man he is speaking with is even real. Christian reassures him that they are real, Jack's life was real, and the people in the church are real. Jack asks if everyone else is dead too, and Christian explains that "everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some before you, some long after you." When Jack asks why everyone is here now, Christian responds that "There is no now here", and that this is a place they all made together to find one another, because the most important part of Jack's life was the time he spent with these people, and that's why they are all here; no one lives life alone. He needed them, and they needed him; to remember, and to let go. Jack tells Christian that Kate said they were all leaving. Christian explains they aren't leaving; they're moving on. Jack asks where to, and his father tells him, "Let's go find out."
Jack enters the nave. He is welcomed by Locke, who kindly tells him, "We've been waiting for you." He then greets Desmond, Boone, Hurley, Sawyer and Kate. Joining them are Charlie, Claire, Aaron, Jin, Sun, Sayid, Shannon, Rose, Bernard, Juliet, Libby and Penny. After the group has shared embraces and celebrated their reunion, they sit down in the church pews. Christian begins to walk to the back of the church through the middle aisle, and pauses briefly by Jack to put his hand on his shoulder. Christian approaches the back, opens the doors of the church and glowing white light from beyond the doors washes over all present. Jack exchanges a smile with Kate, and then looks ahead as they are engulfed by the light.
Science:
The Kush in Sudan were an ancient people. Scientists last year found a small area that contained 35 burial pyramids in a 5,000 sq. ft area. One of the most interesting new finds was an offering table found by the remains of a pyramid. It appears to depict the goddess Isis and the jackal-headed god Anubis and includes an inscription, written in Meroitic language, dedicated to a woman named "Aba-la," which may be a nickname for "grandmother.”
It reads in translation:
Oh Isis! Oh Osiris!
It is Aba-la.
Make her drink plentiful water;
Make her eat plentiful bread;
Make her be served a good meal.
The offering table with inscription was a final send-off for a woman, possibly a grandmother, given a pyramid burial nearly 2,000 years ago.
This points to the continued ritual tradition that people believed that once a person died, they would live another life in the after life. The descendants gave offerings so that their ancestors could live a good “second” life - - - in some respects, continue the norm of their prior existence in peace. We continue to discover more and more evidence that the earliest cultures had deep convictions in an after life.
Improbable Elements:
A large jetliner with bent wing tips would not be able to take off on short Hydra Island.
The island friends and enemies creating an elaborate, complex, interactive sideways "after life" world without remembering ever creating it.
Clues:
When a mystery story ends, there are not supposed to be more “clues” to what happened. There were many cryptic answers to some of the burning questions, but many of the key story elements were thrown out as immaterial, irrelevant or in pure conflict with the ending resolution.
The only “clue” or piece of information to solve the entire LOST complex is that in the last episode, EVERYONE GOT WHAT THEY WANTED. How in the Hell is that possible?
Discussion:
“ The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of consideration. ”
— Allan Bloom
LOST left a stinging amount of more questions than answers.
Why is Christian the band leader in the sideways church? Why are not the other characters parents, siblings or loved ones present in their after life? Why is Locke still alone (no Helen from sideways world?) Why is Boone alone? Why are there no other parents or family members of the reunion cast in the church?
Also, why do you think Aaron had to be born again in the season six purgatory? How can he born literally be born "twice?" Does he go to heaven as a baby? He presumably lived a long, normal life off the island. Unless he never was born in real life. A prop in the sideways world or died as an infant. Or he was merely a prop Claire created in herself to obtain some measure of sympathy from others in her measly life. The same is true for David, Jack’s son with Juliet in the sideways world. Did he ever exist, or was he a prop (like Aaron?)
We are told that Jacob’s life is ash; when the fire goes out, he ceases to exist. He must pass on his powers at his end (to Jack) who has the guardian’s powers to protect the island from MIB. Where do these ritualistic powers come from? It is a childlike game where one kid, the leader, makes the rules and controls the game.
When the fire goes out, Jacob as a smoke creature, ceases to be - - - much like his brother.
If the cork is removed, the water stops, the light goes out, the island destroys itself, and MIB becomes mortal. If the cork is replaced, the water returns, the light turns on, the island is saved, but the life force does not reincarnate Jacob or MIB - - - they are gone forever. So in one sense, the pulling and replacing the stone cork is exactly like rebooting a crashed computer hard drive. It wipes out the cache (Jacob and MIB) to start the processors all over again. So if Desmond and Jack went into the cave that created MIB as a smoke creature (or an existing beast released from the stone cork assumed his dead body), why did not Desmond or Jack become a smoke beast? Desmond had the electromagnetic spell and the knowledge that he was already dead and awake in the sideways purgatory. Jack continued his personal dilution that he had to stay on the island to “fix” his life, a life which did not really exist as set forth in the sideways reality.
And what happens to the people that left the island? Frank, Kate, Claire, Richard, Sawyer, Miles - - - they were going back to what? Richard had no one for centuries. Kate still has no one. Sawyer wants no one. Frank has no future. Claire is dead and crazy infected evil. And for those who believe these people were “alive” on the island - - - the sideways world was proven not to be real so these castaways did not fly to that fantasy world. How could they return to the real world, especially Sawyer and Claire who were “dead” during the O6 story arc. And how did Desmond get home to Penny? Hurley and Ben had little resources left on the island to do anything.
And what happens to the people that were left on the island? There were about a dozen Others, including Cindy and the children, Zach and Emma. Did they stay on the island to live out their survivor lives? Hurley and Ben as the new leaders of the island (Jacob and Alpert roles) had NO MEANS to leave the island, let alone “shut it down” except for dying - - - like Jack. All we know is that Hurley and Ben awaken in sideways purgatory, but for no justifiable reason, Ben gets to stay “to work things out” with Rousseau - - - which makes even less sense: for Ben tortured her in the island life, kidnapped her daughter, and caused her to be executed for the mistaken sake of the island. So, does Ben get “rewarded” for being bad and evil in the island world? And why would Rousseau or Alex, when they REMEMBER him, want to STAY with him forever? Is he now the new Eloise, who was hell-bent on not awakening Daniel? Ben now gets to live a fantasy existence as a nerdy school teacher? Is that his heaven? So how can people know their past island judgment world and not “move on” upon their island demise?
And where is Helen for Locke? In the sideways paradise world view, she was still with him. They were going to be married. So is this proof that the sideways world was a mere collection of subconscious dream-fantasies of the island castaways? And why was Boone also alone at the End? Was his life so pathetic he could not even be reunited with his parents? What did he do wrong in his life to be left alone forever?
Claudia was first known pregnant woman to arrive on the island, brought by Crazy Mother wrecking her ship. Her newborn children were stolen by Crazy Mother. She killed Claudia to raise Jacob and his brother. The brothers have a sibling rivalry. They become disenchanted with their island life. MIB wants to leave with his fellow Roman villagers; Crazy Mother forbids it. Crazy Mother kills all of them; in a rage, MIB kills Crazy Mother. In a rage, Jacob kills his brother (creating or releasing) the Smoke Monster.
So Jacob is left totally alone on the island, except for his ghost brother/smoke monster. Their sibling rivalry and conflicts continue. Since Jacob is the “most” alive, he gets to set the rules; a game which would allow his brother his final peace (or would it if the evil smoke monster was trying to con Jacob into allowing him to leave his prison to destroy the universe).
Rousseau was the next known pregnant woman to arrive on the island, brought by Jacob. She gave birth to Alex, who was stolen by Ben to be his daughter. Ben’s actions caused Rousseau and Alex to be killed by Widmore’s men. Ghost Alex told Ben to follow everything that Flocke would tell him, which led to Ben killing Jacob.
The last woman to give birth on the island was Claire. Her son, Aaron, was taken off the island by Kate, and raised in LA. Claire was killed (infected) by Widmore’s men on a raid on the barracks. Claire abandoned her baby to follow ghost Christian (MIB). Claire tells her fellow castaways that “she is with him now,” meaning Flocke, because “he was the only one not to abandon me.”
Why were the island "rules" so haphazard and inconsistent, especially during the end sequences where both Jacob and his brother die from false assumption after false assumption of what happens when the light cave is messed with? Do we really know Jacob and MIB actually died?
And if Jacob "created" the smoke monster by killing his brother (a rule violation) in the classical Roman period, then why is the smoke monster depicted in Egyptian temple mural thousands of years before MIB's smoke creation? Is the chronology of the island actually going backwards towards the first civilizations before the Egyptian period of 3000 BC?
The problem with the sideways world is that Sawyer continues to false legal basis of Kate’s crimes (waiting for the feds to pick her up for murder - - - which is incorrect in American jurisprudence). The sideways world also continues the medical errors and Jack’s surgical miracles. It shows that both the island and the after life are connected in such a fashion that both story lines have the same core operating factors. Which means that both island and after life are post-death states of existence.
Otherwise, how can a dead person communicate with his “living self” as Desmond did with his flashes.
Whose “story” is LOST? Many believe it is about Jack, since it is his eye that opens at the beginning and closes at the end. But it would appear that the man making all the moves would be Jacob. but the first reference to “Jacob” in The Man Behind the Curtain, Season 3, Episode 20:
Act 2
[Inside Ben's tent, Locke and Ben discuss matters over a glass of alcohol.]
BEN: I know I promised to tell you everything, John, and I wish it was as simple as me taking out a dusty old book and opening it up.
[He offers Locke a glass, but is met with a blank face. He places the glass next to him instead.]
BEN: But it's not that simple.
LOCKE: How about you just tell me?
BEN: You probably think I'm the leader of this little community, but that's not entirely true. We all answer to someone, John.
LOCKE: And whom might that be?
BEN: His name is Jacob.
LOCKE: Okay, then. Take me to Jacob.
BEN: I can't do that.
[John gets up and heads to leave.]
BEN: Where are you going?
LOCKE: Hell, Ben, if you don't wanna take me, maybe someone else will. I'll just go and ask Richard...
BEN: Why would Richard take you? He doesn't know where Jacob is. He doesn't talk to Jacob...
LOCKE: Well, who talks to him?
BEN: I do.
LOCKE: So you're the only one who talks to him?
BEN: That's right!
LOCKE: And no one else knows where he is?
BEN: I was born here on this Island. I'm one of the last that was. Most of these people you see—I brought them here. So Jacob talks to me, John. He tells me what to do, trusts me.
LOCKE: And no one else has ever seen him?
BEN: That's right.
LOCKE: How convenient. You know what I think, Ben? I think there is no Jacob. I think your people are idiots if they believe you take orders from someone else. You are the man behind the curtain, the Wizard of Oz. And you're a liar.
BEN: And what might you base that theory on, John?
LOCKE: Because if you were telling the truth, your hand wouldn't be shaking.
[Ben steadies the glass in his hand, which is shaking.]
In the Wizard of Oz, the characters are told not to pay any attention to the man behind the curtain (the Wizard) but when Toto pulls the curtain, it reveals the truth. Dorothy, Lion, Tin Man and the Scarce Crow to no pay attention to the man behind the certain because the man behind the certain is the Wizard of Oz and he has no magical powers so when the dog pulls the certain Dorothy and her friends see that the Wizard uses machines, sounds and stuff to create a strong and powerful illusion.
The urban dictionary states:
"the man behind the curtain":
A phrase used to describe someone who is in the background secretly plotting and conspiring or also a hypocrite of great proportions.
The land of Oz is depicted as real (fantasy place) in the books, unlike the 1939 movie, which presented it as a dream of Dorothy's. Dorothy and Toto are swept away by a tornado to the Land of Oz and, much like Alice’s Wonderland adventures, they enter an alternative world filled with talking creatures. With so many references to Oz and Alice, there can only be two premise alternatives: one being a dream of a central character (like Jack) or the characters were swept away into a alternative, spirit world while either living their lives or entering their deaths.
Or was the real man behind the curtain Christian Shepard? His body was never found in the casket in either the island world or the sideways world (which could mean his state of death was the bridge between the two places). Why is he the only non-815 survivor at the Church in the End? And how does he allow everyone "to leave, to move on" into the white light, which must symbolize heaven? Was Christian the group's guardian angel? Except on the island, his image was corrupted by MIB. So, is it possible that Christian is not really Jack's father in the end - - - - but an illusion cast upon him by MIB or Jacob?
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
The light cave being the source of life, death and rebirth for the entire universe.
That a stone cork being dislodged from the light pool would cause the light to disappear
and the island to have an immediate earthquake and destruction to sink into the ocean.
One could argue that the exact opposite would happen if you released any pent-up EM energy stopped by the cork, the island would not suffer any consequences (the Hatch protocol).
Last lines in episodes:
EP 117:
LOCKE: To finish what I started.
[He walks off and leaves Claire alone.]
EP 118:
JACOB: Goodbye, brother. Goodbye.
EP 119:
LOCKE: Because I'm gonna find Desmond, and when I do, he's gonna help me do the one thing that I could never do myself. I'm gonna destroy the island.
EP 120/121:
LOCKE: We've been waiting for you.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
MIB plan from the beginning was to kill all the candidates; that is why he scratched them off one by one in his cave. If MIB’s master plan was to destroy the island, why could he not have smoked down into the Light Cave, knock over the cork, and let the island earthquake and sink into the ocean? There was nothing stopping him from doing that, especially after he had Jacob killed. If the candidates were the substitute for Jacob’s guardianship of the island, then why is killing all of them by their own hands necessary to detonate the island?
And if MIB truly wanted to leave, he could have at any time. He was not trapped by the ocean, for he could be immersed in water (as he was at the sub dock by Jack). And why did Jacob say that when the fire containing his ashes would end, so would he? Does that infer that Jacob was also a “smoke monster” and that is the reason for his immortality (that his age was forever fixed at age 42?)
What came first? The chicken or the egg?
It is a classic paradox.
For to have the chicken to come first, one needs to adults to create a fertilized egg.
But for adults to be, they must first be born from an egg.
So what came first, the island world or the sideways world?
The problem with any convention is that TPTB tried to use McGuffins and tropes to answer questions used as dramatic filler as foundational canon which turned into illogical ruins.
For how could the 815 cast “create” the sideways world “to find themselves” in the after life? If the flashbacks and off-island world is to be believed, the cast had no interpersonal bonds before the “crash.” And even after the “crash,” how could they all immediately “create” a new after life world WITHOUT remembering it on the island? If that is what happened, and what happened did really happen, then the only true bridge between the island world and the sideways world is being dead.
The source was called life, death and rebirth. The island could be the place of the light’s death, and the sideways world a place of rebirth. But the sideways world overlap with Kate’s legal problems and the false medical stories (and miracles) shows it was purely a collective fantasy. So if the sideways world was a collective fantasy, then the island world could have been a collective fantasy adventure.
The sad part of the ending was after the wash of white light from the front doors engulfs the church (which by the way - - - the light came from where Ben was sitting outside the church) the final question was “so what?”
So what if they reunited in the after life after they died somewhere else?
So what if the “most important people in their lives” excludes most parents and siblings?
So what if the show leaves us pondering what will happen to all the characters next?
So what?, indeed.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
REBOOT EPISODES 113-116
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.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 113-116 (Days ????- - ????)
Widmore’s people kidnap Jin and Flocke vows to get him back. Widmore has Desmond brought to the island for an experiment... one that will allow Desmond to visit the alternate reality. Hurley tries to figure out how to save everyone; and Flocke meets up with Desmond. As alliances are formed, broken and merged, Widmore gives everyone an ultimatum.
Flocke meets Widmore. As Jin tries to leave he, Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Sayid and the rest of the group are struck by darts and all pass out. Widmore's team step amongst the bodies until they find Jin and Zoe says to take him.
Dez wakes up and discovers he is back on the island. Desmond attacks Widmore and has to be restrained. He screams to take him back but Widmore tells him that he cannot, saying "the Island isn't done with you yet" ( a line previously used by Mr. Friendly to Michael in NYC). As Widmore leaves the room, Jin, who has been standing just outside watching, asks Widmore what Desmond is doing on the Island. Widmore says he will show Jin and tells Zoe to bring Jin to the generator room where they can start the test.
Hurley is visiting Libby’s grave when whispers are heard and ghost Michael appears. Michael says that he has come to stop Hurley from getting everyone killed. Hurley asks why he should trust Michael, as he murdered Libby, but Michael says that it doesn't matter because if Hurley blows up the plane a lot of people will die and, because people are listening to Hurley now, it will be his fault.
At the beach camp Ilana arrives saying that they must make it to Hydra Island to destroy the plane before nightfall. She tells Alpert that she has four sticks of dynamite from the Black Rock. Hurley overhears and says he doesn't think it is a good idea, especially as the dynamite is so unstable. Ilana says that she must do this to protect them; Hurley asks how blowing up the plane will protect them. Ilana says that it is the only way to prevent that "thing" (Flocke) from leaving. She repeats that Jacob said that Richard knows what to do and that he said to blow up the plane. As she speaks she drops her pack and the dynamite inside explodes, killing her and knocking Hurley and the others down.
Richard tells Hurley that now they must get more dynamite or Ilana's death will have been in vain. Hurley speaks up authoritatively saying Richard is right and that it is the only choice they have, he looks Jack in the eye and asks him to trust him. After a long pause Jack agrees. They arrive at the Black Rock and realize that Hurley is not with them. Just then, Hurley comes running out of the ship, shouting to them all to run. The Black Rock explodes and is destroyed.
Richard demands to know why Hurley did it. Hurley replies that he is protecting them. Richard storms off saying that they are now doomed. Miles asks Hurley why he did it; Hurley says that Michael told him to, that Michael is one of the dead people who come and "yell" at him. Miles asks whether Hurley just does whatever the dead people say. Hurley responds that the dead people are more reliable than the living.
As Flocke and Jack's groups merge, alliances are forged and broken. Jack says that what bothers him is that he has no idea what the hell Locke is. Flocke says he chose Locke's body because Locke was stupid enough to think he was on the Island for a reason, and he pursued that idea until it got him killed. Flocke says that he needed Locke's dead body to look like him. Flocke goads Jack by asking whether he thinks he may have impersonated anyone else in the past. Jack asks whether "Locke" had ever impersonated his father. "Locke" says that he did, simply because the castaways needed to be shown where water was located. Flocke replies he was only ever trying to help Jack to leave but Jack had always been trapped because Jacob had chosen him. But Jacob was now dead so he was no longer trapped and could fly away, but only if it was "all of us." He adds that John Locke was not a believer but a sucker.
Flocke addresses his camp saying how nice it is to have everyone back together again. Kate joins Jack who again says he is not sure whether to leave with Locke. Zoe arrives to ask Locke to return what he had taken. Flocke says he doesn't know she is talking about. Zoe uses a two way radio to confirm they have a fix on her position and asks for them to show Locke what they are capable of. A mortar round flies overhead and explodes nearby.
Flocke says to his camp their hands have been forced by the Widmore group who are provoking a confrontation. He tells the camp to gather their things to go to Hydra Island and get on the plane. Sawyer is given orders to get all the candidates to Hydra Island. Sawyer asks Kate to come with him. Flocke calls Sayid over and takes him aside. Sawyer whispers to Jack that he isn't going to rendezvous with Flocke but wants Jack find a way to sneak off with Sun, Hurley and Frank to meet them at an old dock. They will then all go to Hydra Island to meet Widmore, who he has a deal with. He explains that Claire is nuts and gave up her ticket when she tried to kill Kate.
Flocke leads his 23 followers toward the rendezvous point. Claire tells Jack that she trusts Flocke because he is the only one who didn't abandon her. Flocke drops back, concerned that Sayid has not joined them. He asks Sun whether she has seen Sayid. She writes a note saying that he did this (her inability to talk) to her. Flocke stomps off saying he didn't do anything to her. He tells Cindy he is going to find Sayid and runs off. Jack takes the chance and gathers Hurley, Sun and Frank but Claire observes and follows them.
Flocke finds Sayid and wonders why he took so long. Sayid tells him he just killed an unarmed man and that he needed a moment. There is tension as he says that he killed Desmond and that Locke could go and check if he wishes. Even as Flocke leaves Sayid holds back a moment.
Sawyer's group arrive at Hydra Island and swim ashore. Widmore's people confront them with guns but lower their arms when Zoe says that she knows Sawyer. Jin arrives, spots Sun and runs to embrace her.
Jack swims back to the beach where Flocke and seven followers await on shore. Flocke makes light of Jack's swim and confirms with Jack that Sawyer has taken "his" boat. Widmore fires the mortar, its rounds land in their midst and throws Jack and some of the others through the air. Flocke runs to Jack who is prone in the sand and carries him inland as another shell hits. Flocke puts Jack down and says to him that he should not worry, because: "You're with me now."
Science:
Japanese researchers have pioneered new technology enabling them to observe neural activity occurring in the zebrafish brain in real time.
In its embryonic and larval stages, the zebrafish's body remains transparent, making it an ideal candidate for the fluorescence imaging study undertaken by scientists at Japan’s National Institute for Genetics. That unique property allows researchers to observe the body's underlying structures directly, either with the naked eye or under magnification. By developing a chemical marker that can be inserted directly into the relevant neurons of interest and detected by a fluorescent probe, the scientists enabled a close study of the activity occurring within the zebrafish brain at the level of a single cell. They introduced a genetically encoded calcium indicator that glows green in the presence of calcium, signaling a quantifiable increase in brain activity. As areas of the fish’s brain lit up in response to a moving stimulus, the researchers were able to keep track of neural firing at any given moment, tracing the path of the fish’s thought as it occurred.
In order to make sure they would be able to monitor the correct parts of the working zebrafish brain, the scientists first identified the relevant neurons that became active in response to a moving object and created a model of how they anticipated the neurons would react to other patterns of movement. They then tempted their subject by releasing single-celled paramecia, a common zebrafish food source, into its environment. The expected neurons glowed in accordance with the researchers’ forecast, thereby validating their predictive model.
This research begins the basis of animals' neural patterns, including humans. The researchers hope to interpret an animal’s behavior, including learning and memory, fear, joy, or anger, based on the activity of particular combinations of neurons.
Clues:
The package is the secret weapon, Desmond. His “ability” to withstand high concentration of electromagnetic energy gives Widmore the alleged ability to destroy the smoke creature and stop it from leaving the island.
Flocke explains that only a few names remain which haven't been crossed off and that "Kwon" is one of them. The Man in Black says he is not sure whether it refers to Sun or Jin. In Korean culture, the bride would keep her own name, so the candidate appears to be Jin. The Man in Black says that the only way that they can leave the Island is if all the names that are not crossed off leave together. So, in order to be released from Jacob or the island’s hold, Flocke must recruit all Jacob’s remaining candidates and leave with them “together.”
Sayid tells the Man in Black that he doesn't feel anything – anger, happiness, pain. Flocke says that that may be best to get through what is coming. This confirms that Sayid is “dead,” and knowledge of that fact will change how Sayid perceives everything around him.
Desmond is tied to a chair between the solenoid coils. Widmore tells Desmond that once the experiment is over he will ask Desmond to make a sacrifice. Desmond cynically asks Widmore what he knows about sacrifice. Widmore tells him that his son died here for the sake of the Island, that Penny hates him and that he hasn't even met his grandson. He adds that if Desmond won't help, it will all be for nothing as everyone will be gone forever. This is the high stakes end game: the statement that “everyone will cease to exist” is a fate worse than death.
Everybody Loves Hugo, especially in the sideways world, which truly is a fantasy “Happily Ever After” place.
The Last Recruit for Flocke is Jack. In order for Flocke to “win” the game, he needs Jack to be his loyal follower.
In the past, tomatoes were considered poison because they are part of the nightshade family. It is odd that Dynamite Jack found a single tomato on a dead vine in an overgrown garden. It may show a symbol to Sun that they are truly dead in this Garden of Eden. It is possible that Sun hit her head and "died" like Sayid, and now has to be "retouched" to be claimed by either Jacob or MIB. Sun refused to follow Richard to Hydra Island, but in the end she agrees to the same thing with Jack. Question: did we really see Jack with Sun or someone else in Jack's form?
Flocke" tells Sayid to go to the well and kill Desmond. Sayid hesitates prompting Flocke to check that he still wants what he asked for. Sayid says that he does and heads to the well. At the well Desmond is sitting in water at the bottom as Sayid points his gun. Desmond calmly asks what Flocke offered Sayid. Sayid says he him he could get the woman he loved back, even though she was dead. Desmond asks why he would believe Flocke could help. Sayid says that he was dead. Finally Desmond asks what Sayid will say to his beloved when she asks what he had to do to be with her again. The concept of the characters realizing their own death opens the door for them to move on in the afterlife.
Hugo figures out that the whispers are people like Michael, who are trapped souls, who cannot leave because of what they had done. This clearly shows that the island is "A Place of Death," where souls are tested, sacrificed and redeemed by their actions.
The end game appears to be a game of “tag” and “follow the leader.” If Flocke/MIB can get all remaining six characters on his “team” he says he can leave the island (which is his goal). But Jacob had “trapped” MIB and the candidates to the island. But since Jacob “was dead” no one is trapped on the island anymore. But, the O6 left the island so they were not “trapped.” Was it a means of keeping the pawns outside of Flocke’s control? Was the time shifts also part of the plan? It seems too simple to have Flocke take the living candidates off the island unlocks his freedom from the island.
Discussion:
“ Whatever you have, you must either use or lose. ”
— Henry Ford
“ Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible. ”
— Frank L. Gaines
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
--- Arthur C. Clarke-
“Do you buy that?” Miles asks about Sun’s sudden English amnesia. No, Miles, we do not. For the language center of the brain controls both Korean and English, right? And when Jack appears to her and says she can communicate by “written” pen and paper, this is a leap because her “tutor” was only verbal and we did not see any written education. It may be a small point (but continuity errors can snowball into a cascade of doubt).
In a 2007 discussion, JJ Abrams talked about “the mystery box,” the key information that’s withheld in a story that makes the story intriguing and compelling. As he puts it: “The intentional withholding of information is much more engaging.”
But even fans concluded that Abrams must mean that part of the story that he hasn’t figured out and never will but which permits the leaps of story logic and inconsistent character behavior that animate all his series. As a fan critic once said, “There’s a fundamental flaw to his Mystery Box logic, especially in regards to LOST. When you start stacking mystery box on top of mystery box on top of mystery box without opening any of them (no pay off at all for the audience), you end up with a whole bunch of crappy boxes sitting around.”
There a lot of stacked up, empty moving boxes in the Season 6 story line. Now, imidway through the final season, there is no sense of total purpose. [...] The main characters have no idea what their roles are in the island melodrama."
To some extend they've always been the objects rather than the subjects of the action, but this season it seems to be extreme. Sawyer appears to be an exception, Hurley to some degree, even if it is just following mind!Jacob's orders. This episode Jin and Sun tried to assert themselves, but then promptly were either kidnapped or ran into a tree.
How does Hawking know if the O6 did not return to the island, "god help us all?" How does Widmore know that if he does not stop Flocke, everyone would cease to exist?
If there was a good reason (to save humanity from destruction from "X") for the main characters to be on that island, then why doesn't somebody tell them that? Why not tell the people you need what is "X?" Wouldn't that be motivation enough for Jack the fixer to try to save the world? Or Sawyer's self preservation skills try to save the world to save himself?
Substance and clarity and not further on- and off-island manipulations is what we need now. Without knowing "X," we don't know why.
How does Widmore know that if he does not stop Flocke, everyone would cease to exist?"
According to Widmore himself via "myths, ghost stories, and noises in the jungle" (paraphrased). Seems like awfully shaky grounds to built this conclusion on.
"If there was a good reason (to save humanity from destruction from "X") for the main characters to be on that island, then why doesn't somebody tell them that?"
Yes, that is the question, isn't it? In The Lighthouse Jacob told Hurley that Jack had to figure out by himself what to do. But why? Who knows? (Apparently we don't.)
Our Candidates for greatness have rarely tried to figure things out (in fact, most have been content at running away from their problems rather than solving them).
So in the big picture, our Candidates need to make the connection that MIB is a great evil spirit, then on their own figure out how to deal with it (destroy or contain it)? Sounds like it is outside their collective SAT scores.
So how does one stop an evil spirit? Some theologists believe that evil spirits cannot act directly upon a person; they can only manipulate you to do something of your own accord (serpent in the garden of Eden). The battle between good and evil is fought in one's own mind. I don't like the idea of a computer graphic light bulb going off over the head of a Candidate, then he or she closes his or her eyes, and wishes Smokey/MIB away (mind over matter).
What is the point of withholding "X?"
Is it that motive is as important, perhaps even more important than action?
I think most people would forfeit their lives in order to save all humanity. But not many people would forfeit their lives to save the stranger next to them. Is that why they are withholding "X"? To separate the chaff from the grain? Are they trying to determine whose motive is pure?
Sawyer jumped from the helicopter for the safety of his fellow passengers. Kate put her own well being in jeopardy when she went back to help Claire. Charlie sacrificed his life for others, Desmond turned that key thinking he would die in the process.
Earlier when I wondered if MIB might be suicidal, I wasn't thinking in of terms of his doing it to prevent or accomplish this or that, I was thinking in terms of his killing himself and the hell with anyone else who might perish as a result. Supreme selfishness.
"Our Candidates for greatness have rarely tried to figure things out (in fact, most have been content at running away from their problems rather than solving them)."
Jacob seems to think there is a good reason for not telling the Losties anything. The only reasonable people left on the Island seem to be Sun, Jin, and Sawyer (perhaps add Frank and Miles, since they just let others duke it out; and Rose, Bernard and other secondary Losties if they are still around somewhere). Sun, Jin, and Sawyer are the only ones who keep their eyes on the real goal: Find their loved ones and get off the Island, all the others are just being dragged over the Island playing a game they don't know the rules or the goals of and in which they are the pawns. At least MIB seems honest about his goals (getting of the Island), if not always about his means, but he has the downside of killing people by the dozen.
Is it that motive is as important, perhaps even more important than action?
One needs to know what he is facing in order to make choices on how to act. If "X" is the devil, that information would be needed to determine what to do and how to solve the problem (i.e. pray really really hard). If "X" is an alien overlord bent on destroying the earth, then you would at least plot some strategy to lock "X" down or find a weakness.
At this point, many viewers were totally confused by the inaction, the waiting game, and then the sudden burst of actions premised on lies. Viewers did not like the "Let's Make A Deal" choice given to the characters: do you want what's in the box or what's behind the curtain? Yes, the goofy contestant's motivation is pure greed, and the choice is freely made, but is that how Lost is supposed to end? By blind stumbling luck?
The sideways world has always been the nonsensical filler arc to end the series.
It is a mirror world of the dead characters really, really being dead. However, it seems that their island world memories “bleed” through to the sideways world, especially after “near death” experiences in the sideways realm. How is that possible?
If we look to ancient Egyptian belief, a person’s soul gets split at death in various forms (the ba and ka). In the Lost universe, it appears that the conscious mind is trapped in the island realm while the subconscious mind is in the sideways after life world. The overlap, or flashes of memories, is what some people in the island world call “insanity.”
In Egyptian religious beliefs, it is only when the spirits of the ba and ka are reunited, merged, after the soul has gone through the underworld, can a person have a complete after life. If one does not emerge from the underworld tests, there is a fate worse than death or living in hell, it is “non-existence.” Several references have been made that if Flocke leaves the island, everything and everyone the characters knew would cease to exist. This infers that the Lost character group is an after life affiliation of desperate souls trying to collectively get out of the underworld to have an afterlife in the sideways realm of heaven.
The twist is that in Egyptian mythology, the underworld gods do not seek to leave Hell. They are appeased by the fact of judging souls; to determine whether their hearts are pure or evil.
So it appears that Flocke, as the smoke monster, is not an Egyptian underworld god, per se. From all of the bits of information, and the past history of the island story of Jacob and his brother, it seems that the smoke creature is mechanical, an electromagnetic nano-swarm which can scan people’s memories, and to shape shift into different forms (humans, animals, etc.). The sonic fence must have a frequency (wave lengths) that interfere with the smoke creature’s electromagnetic functions and cohesion, as Flocke does not wander into the pylons on Hydra Island. Widmore must think that Desmond is a “walking sonic fence,” an EM conduit capable of grabbing hold of Flocke and destroying it.
Except, we never see or hear how Desmond is going to “destroy” Flocke. No one has any clue on how to kill Flocke. In the rocket attack on the beach, Flocke does not flinch when the explosions happen around him. He knows he cannot be destroyed by rockets, bullets or knife blade.
If Widmore thinks Desmond is the key to stopping or containing MIB, there is no evidence of any skill set Dez had on the island except a) punching numbers in a keyboard, and b) running through the jungle. Desmond is cued to be different:
- he is the only "character" who got the vaccine against "infection" (maybe "infection" from MIB and/or Jacob)
- he is able to switch between "timelines"
- he is not on the "list" - he is not affected by the "rules" (Mrs. Hawking told him)
But none of these “special” characteristics is weaponized in the story line. In the end, Desmond’s final appearance on the island has no meaningful affect in the resolution of the alleged conflicts.
There is something similar to the zebra fish experiment into neural activity. As we come closer to the conclusion of the series, the characters mental functions appear to slow down. The logic becomes flawed, and their emotions turn into various forms of depression. Just as Sayid's reincarnation has zapped him of all emotion, fear and pain, that growing void is apparent in all the characters. It is like the island is absorbing the last mental processes of the characters experience, emotion and wills.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
The Desmond Test between electromagnets that killed a normal workman had no effect on Desmond. In reality, the electromagnets would create a magnetic field of oscillating waves and not necessarily an electric arc burner.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 113:
SEAMUS: Let's go Mr. Hume.
[They begin carrying him away.]
EP 114:
DESMOND: I just need to show them something...
EP 115:
BEN: Call 911, do it now! Mr. Locke? Oh, my God. Don't, don't move. We're gonna get you to the hospital. Mr. Locke? Mr. Locke? Can you hear me?
EP 116:
LOCKE: Jack. You all right? [whistling overhead and loud explosion nearby] Don't worry. It's gonna be okay. You're with me now.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
By Season 2, I thought knowledge was the key to the island. On the island, knowledge is power. Ben knew the secrets, so he had the power (except it could have been perceived knowledge and faux power in retrospect).
At the time, I thought only two characters gained the knowledge of their plight after the plane crash: Locke and Rose. Locke by regaining his incurable legs, and Rose being cured of her cancer could only mean one logical thing: they realized that they were dead. They had passed on to a new plane of existence. The other passengers have not gotten through that mental hurdle. Time and time again they have been told that they are dead (Naomi, Cooper and recently Richard), but they just don't believe it. Once they accept the truth of their situation, that knowledge will empower them in the after life.
Point One: Smokey Theory
We have been so deep in "Man of Faith" territory since the introduction of Jacob and the MIB, that the introduction of the EM map may prove to be the most important point of this section of the story line: the balancing point between faith and science.
Smokey may be the conscious manifestation of the EM energy on the island.
Essentially, the Swan was a version of Jacob's cork analogy- as the Swan was designed to cap the energy that Dharma had released, thereby saving the world from destruction, the entire island can be viewed as one giant hatch, keeping Smokey contained and saving the world from destruction.
Smokey cannot hurdle the Dharma sonic fence or "fly" to Hydra Island because if he loses contact with the ground and this energy source, he becomes powerless.
He could not pass through the underwater caverns to get to the barracks (until Ben pulled the plug) or escape from the island via water for the same reasons.
Apparently, the sonic fences disrupt the energy Smokey pulls from the island, again making him helpless.
While in his Flocke body he can overcome some of these obstacles, but as Locke he has the same physical limitations that the human Locke did- hence his clumsy jungle chases after Sun and the ghostly blond boy.
We saw that children could be safely born before the Incident (Ethan), so it is possible that the partial release of this energy in the Incident was the x-factor that stopped all future births on the island (the event has to be fairly recent as Richard called it a "novelty").
The implosion of the Swan may have resulted in Smokey becoming more powerful, allowing him to move from a phantom like appearance (such as Yemi and Christian) to being able to constitue himself in a full corporeal body, such as the Christian who could carry Aaron or the current Flocke. It told Jack that he “needed” a dead body to re-create it.
If Smokey escapes the island, it would have the same effect as if the button had not been pushed- the release of the island's massive electromagnetic energy would essentially "end time,” killing everyone on Earth in the process.
Desmond has been exposed to this energy twice and has survived- he has developed an immunity to its effects, and has been brought to the island by Widmore to somehow control the energy on the island, containing Smokey in the process.
As for the Egyptian symbolism and the other religious motifs, to quote Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".
Visitors to the island unable to explain the magical properties of the island would surely frame it in a religious context as a way of trying to achieve understanding, including the belief that it was the home of some of their Gods- leading to the construction of the Temple, the statue of Tawaret, etc.
If at least some of this is true, a key question would be what was Jacob? Did he gain his abilities from the same exact energy source like the smoke monster?
Point Two: The Electromagnetic Energy Beasts
A large question is why does the sonic fence keeps Smokey out? Is the clue to What Smokey is?
All waves, whether EM, magnetic or sound, can collide, disperse, refract or interfere with each other in the same medium (air). I suppose the show theory is that the sonic fence produces sound waves which interferes or disperses Smokey's electromagnetic wave form, but that would be wrong. First, EM stands for electromagnetism, so you don't have to mention "magnetic" separately after that. Second, sound are pressure waves in air, meaning that literally the air is a little compressed in places when sound waves travel through it. EM waves don't have a medium like that (once upon a time people thought it had, they called it ether, but experiments have shown that that doesn't exist). That's the reason why light does travel through space (where there's no air) and sound doesn't. If you apply a very strong electric field to a batch of air, one could theorize that you can ionize the air and somehow change the speed of sound in the ionized air. However, using sound waves to change the magnetic properties of EM energy does not make sense, unless the smoke monster is made up of unique piezoelectric materials.
Comic book science answers the question about Desmond's being EM-microwaved: Widmore was not "testing" him but actually "creating" a new Smoke Monster (DeSmokey) to take on the old one, Flocke. One must assume that Desmond could be stronger since he is turning from human to monster, while MIB has been altered from monster to human form. In essence, Widmore is telling Desmond that he was the sacrifice the island demanded, that he can never leave the island, and that he could never see Penny or his son again, because in order to save them he has to become the thing that would destroy them. Enraged, Desmond would have turned into a dark smoke monster and turns back into the jungle, ripping up trees along his path, just like the old Smokey in Season 1. He has become the new island Cerberus.
Point 3: The Faulty Reasons
Flocke insists that in order to “leave the island” everyone who previously left had to now leave together. That, he insists, is how they found the island upon their return. However, that makes no logical sense. Not all of the 815 survivors “returned” to the island with Locke. Walt and Michael were not on Ajira. Further, Michael got back to the island without Walt. So the “requirement” that “everyone” as a group do something is false. Frank flew the plane off Hydra Island with Kate, Claire, Richard, Sawyer, and Miles on board. As the plane was taxiing down the collapsing Hydra Island runway, it managed to slow down so that Ford, Austen, and Claire could be pulled aboard. The Ajira plane safely took off just as the runway began to crack. That meant characters were able to leave without all the candidates as Hurley and Jack remained on the island.
Eloise Hawking could have been an agent of MIB since she's the one who insisted the Oceanic Six take Locke's body back, coffin and all, to the island. Smokey told Jack that he needed a dead body in order to become Flocke, and to get the others to follow him. And MIB use of Locke's appearance was important for his own end game against Jacob.
Hawking’s message could be a diversion. Flocke said that just as all the O6 had to be together to "return" to the island, they all had to be together to "leave" the island. (This is false because not all of them will eventually leave the island on the Ajira plane). That is the logic in Flocke's mind on how to escape. It all depends on what the term “leave” means in Flocke’s game: it could be physical or spiritual, leaving alive or dead.
At this point of the series, I came to a speculative conclusion that one of the universes does not exist; it is an illusion, a Room 23 construct, part of a long con. That was probably the sideways world. (In the End, it turned to be more true than not as a purgatory waiting room for lost souls).
One theory at this point was that the sideways world was a way to attempt to overwrite the real world to test candidates, to see if they could be fully mind controlled by Widmore. In the sideways world, Desmond's only purpose was to serve Widmore. He had no family life. He was all work. Complete loyalty. No questions asked. After the EM blast, those are the strong memories that are guiding Desmond, who now suddenly is following Widmore's orders.
The correct term then for flashes between universes is "bleeding through" (in homage to the recent rash of head gashes). If both universes were truly real and were to merge, instead of nose bleeds, characters' heads would explode. One cannot have two different consciousnesses, two different lives, suddenly converge into one being. It seems that the island and sideways worlds are the consciousness life experience separated from the subconscious dream world. Each world is incomplete, and the characters don’t understand that relationship until they are dead.
Some still believe that the flashbacks were their original, messed up lives,the plane crash their symbolic deaths (but not actual death), and the events on the island (sometimes tragic and cruel) their penance, leading to sacrifice, redemption and spiritual rebirth (or better yet, awakening, hence the repetitive opening of the eyes in so many episodes) in the sideways world. However, it is just as probable that in the sequence of untold events that each character has lived “several” lives, as the sideways characters try to remember people “in another life.” In essence, the characters have been dead long ago, possibly as young children, but the island (life force) has given them additional “lives” to live, in order to experience life - - - and in the end, to find their “soul mates” in order to move on without the help of the island simulation.
Point Four: A Crazy Child’s Game
With a young, smiling ghost boy Jacob taunting Flocke in the jungle as Flocke tries to gather up all the remaining characters, one has to wonder if the whole island dynamic is purely a game between two simple but supernatural children. It has all the elements of childhood play: a game of tag (Jacob’s “touch” and MIB’s apparent “infection” of souls), follow the leader (Jacob’s Templetons, Dharma and the Others and Flocke recruiting a band of his followers), combat (Jacob “killed” MIB, and then MIB got Ben to “kill” Jacob) and finally, capture the flag (the prize at the end of the game.)
Is it telling that dead Jacob appears in at least two forms: as ghost Jacob to Hurley, but as young boy Jacob to MIB? And is it more telling that Sawyer can see young boy Jacob in jungle when he is with Flocke? How can Sawyer see a ghost - - - unless it is not a ghost but another smokey creature manifestation.
Two smoke creatures who spend eternity “acquiring” human souls to play their childlike games in their island world. Is Jacob and MIB's "life" pegged to the "progress" their pawns have in order to escape the island prison and their captors manipulations? The "progress" had to be MIB finding a loophole to "kill" Jacob (getting a follower, Ben, to freely plunge a knife into his master). And the "progress" was also in Jacob finding one of his stealth candidates (Kate) being able to "kill" MIB in the end. This double murder at the hands of their own followers was the key to allow both Jacob and MIB to "leave" together into the after life.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 113-116 (Days ????- - ????)
Widmore’s people kidnap Jin and Flocke vows to get him back. Widmore has Desmond brought to the island for an experiment... one that will allow Desmond to visit the alternate reality. Hurley tries to figure out how to save everyone; and Flocke meets up with Desmond. As alliances are formed, broken and merged, Widmore gives everyone an ultimatum.
Flocke meets Widmore. As Jin tries to leave he, Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Sayid and the rest of the group are struck by darts and all pass out. Widmore's team step amongst the bodies until they find Jin and Zoe says to take him.
Dez wakes up and discovers he is back on the island. Desmond attacks Widmore and has to be restrained. He screams to take him back but Widmore tells him that he cannot, saying "the Island isn't done with you yet" ( a line previously used by Mr. Friendly to Michael in NYC). As Widmore leaves the room, Jin, who has been standing just outside watching, asks Widmore what Desmond is doing on the Island. Widmore says he will show Jin and tells Zoe to bring Jin to the generator room where they can start the test.
Hurley is visiting Libby’s grave when whispers are heard and ghost Michael appears. Michael says that he has come to stop Hurley from getting everyone killed. Hurley asks why he should trust Michael, as he murdered Libby, but Michael says that it doesn't matter because if Hurley blows up the plane a lot of people will die and, because people are listening to Hurley now, it will be his fault.
At the beach camp Ilana arrives saying that they must make it to Hydra Island to destroy the plane before nightfall. She tells Alpert that she has four sticks of dynamite from the Black Rock. Hurley overhears and says he doesn't think it is a good idea, especially as the dynamite is so unstable. Ilana says that she must do this to protect them; Hurley asks how blowing up the plane will protect them. Ilana says that it is the only way to prevent that "thing" (Flocke) from leaving. She repeats that Jacob said that Richard knows what to do and that he said to blow up the plane. As she speaks she drops her pack and the dynamite inside explodes, killing her and knocking Hurley and the others down.
Richard tells Hurley that now they must get more dynamite or Ilana's death will have been in vain. Hurley speaks up authoritatively saying Richard is right and that it is the only choice they have, he looks Jack in the eye and asks him to trust him. After a long pause Jack agrees. They arrive at the Black Rock and realize that Hurley is not with them. Just then, Hurley comes running out of the ship, shouting to them all to run. The Black Rock explodes and is destroyed.
Richard demands to know why Hurley did it. Hurley replies that he is protecting them. Richard storms off saying that they are now doomed. Miles asks Hurley why he did it; Hurley says that Michael told him to, that Michael is one of the dead people who come and "yell" at him. Miles asks whether Hurley just does whatever the dead people say. Hurley responds that the dead people are more reliable than the living.
As Flocke and Jack's groups merge, alliances are forged and broken. Jack says that what bothers him is that he has no idea what the hell Locke is. Flocke says he chose Locke's body because Locke was stupid enough to think he was on the Island for a reason, and he pursued that idea until it got him killed. Flocke says that he needed Locke's dead body to look like him. Flocke goads Jack by asking whether he thinks he may have impersonated anyone else in the past. Jack asks whether "Locke" had ever impersonated his father. "Locke" says that he did, simply because the castaways needed to be shown where water was located. Flocke replies he was only ever trying to help Jack to leave but Jack had always been trapped because Jacob had chosen him. But Jacob was now dead so he was no longer trapped and could fly away, but only if it was "all of us." He adds that John Locke was not a believer but a sucker.
Flocke addresses his camp saying how nice it is to have everyone back together again. Kate joins Jack who again says he is not sure whether to leave with Locke. Zoe arrives to ask Locke to return what he had taken. Flocke says he doesn't know she is talking about. Zoe uses a two way radio to confirm they have a fix on her position and asks for them to show Locke what they are capable of. A mortar round flies overhead and explodes nearby.
Flocke says to his camp their hands have been forced by the Widmore group who are provoking a confrontation. He tells the camp to gather their things to go to Hydra Island and get on the plane. Sawyer is given orders to get all the candidates to Hydra Island. Sawyer asks Kate to come with him. Flocke calls Sayid over and takes him aside. Sawyer whispers to Jack that he isn't going to rendezvous with Flocke but wants Jack find a way to sneak off with Sun, Hurley and Frank to meet them at an old dock. They will then all go to Hydra Island to meet Widmore, who he has a deal with. He explains that Claire is nuts and gave up her ticket when she tried to kill Kate.
Flocke leads his 23 followers toward the rendezvous point. Claire tells Jack that she trusts Flocke because he is the only one who didn't abandon her. Flocke drops back, concerned that Sayid has not joined them. He asks Sun whether she has seen Sayid. She writes a note saying that he did this (her inability to talk) to her. Flocke stomps off saying he didn't do anything to her. He tells Cindy he is going to find Sayid and runs off. Jack takes the chance and gathers Hurley, Sun and Frank but Claire observes and follows them.
Flocke finds Sayid and wonders why he took so long. Sayid tells him he just killed an unarmed man and that he needed a moment. There is tension as he says that he killed Desmond and that Locke could go and check if he wishes. Even as Flocke leaves Sayid holds back a moment.
Sawyer's group arrive at Hydra Island and swim ashore. Widmore's people confront them with guns but lower their arms when Zoe says that she knows Sawyer. Jin arrives, spots Sun and runs to embrace her.
Jack swims back to the beach where Flocke and seven followers await on shore. Flocke makes light of Jack's swim and confirms with Jack that Sawyer has taken "his" boat. Widmore fires the mortar, its rounds land in their midst and throws Jack and some of the others through the air. Flocke runs to Jack who is prone in the sand and carries him inland as another shell hits. Flocke puts Jack down and says to him that he should not worry, because: "You're with me now."
Science:
Japanese researchers have pioneered new technology enabling them to observe neural activity occurring in the zebrafish brain in real time.
In its embryonic and larval stages, the zebrafish's body remains transparent, making it an ideal candidate for the fluorescence imaging study undertaken by scientists at Japan’s National Institute for Genetics. That unique property allows researchers to observe the body's underlying structures directly, either with the naked eye or under magnification. By developing a chemical marker that can be inserted directly into the relevant neurons of interest and detected by a fluorescent probe, the scientists enabled a close study of the activity occurring within the zebrafish brain at the level of a single cell. They introduced a genetically encoded calcium indicator that glows green in the presence of calcium, signaling a quantifiable increase in brain activity. As areas of the fish’s brain lit up in response to a moving stimulus, the researchers were able to keep track of neural firing at any given moment, tracing the path of the fish’s thought as it occurred.
In order to make sure they would be able to monitor the correct parts of the working zebrafish brain, the scientists first identified the relevant neurons that became active in response to a moving object and created a model of how they anticipated the neurons would react to other patterns of movement. They then tempted their subject by releasing single-celled paramecia, a common zebrafish food source, into its environment. The expected neurons glowed in accordance with the researchers’ forecast, thereby validating their predictive model.
This research begins the basis of animals' neural patterns, including humans. The researchers hope to interpret an animal’s behavior, including learning and memory, fear, joy, or anger, based on the activity of particular combinations of neurons.
Clues:
The package is the secret weapon, Desmond. His “ability” to withstand high concentration of electromagnetic energy gives Widmore the alleged ability to destroy the smoke creature and stop it from leaving the island.
Flocke explains that only a few names remain which haven't been crossed off and that "Kwon" is one of them. The Man in Black says he is not sure whether it refers to Sun or Jin. In Korean culture, the bride would keep her own name, so the candidate appears to be Jin. The Man in Black says that the only way that they can leave the Island is if all the names that are not crossed off leave together. So, in order to be released from Jacob or the island’s hold, Flocke must recruit all Jacob’s remaining candidates and leave with them “together.”
Sayid tells the Man in Black that he doesn't feel anything – anger, happiness, pain. Flocke says that that may be best to get through what is coming. This confirms that Sayid is “dead,” and knowledge of that fact will change how Sayid perceives everything around him.
Desmond is tied to a chair between the solenoid coils. Widmore tells Desmond that once the experiment is over he will ask Desmond to make a sacrifice. Desmond cynically asks Widmore what he knows about sacrifice. Widmore tells him that his son died here for the sake of the Island, that Penny hates him and that he hasn't even met his grandson. He adds that if Desmond won't help, it will all be for nothing as everyone will be gone forever. This is the high stakes end game: the statement that “everyone will cease to exist” is a fate worse than death.
Everybody Loves Hugo, especially in the sideways world, which truly is a fantasy “Happily Ever After” place.
The Last Recruit for Flocke is Jack. In order for Flocke to “win” the game, he needs Jack to be his loyal follower.
In the past, tomatoes were considered poison because they are part of the nightshade family. It is odd that Dynamite Jack found a single tomato on a dead vine in an overgrown garden. It may show a symbol to Sun that they are truly dead in this Garden of Eden. It is possible that Sun hit her head and "died" like Sayid, and now has to be "retouched" to be claimed by either Jacob or MIB. Sun refused to follow Richard to Hydra Island, but in the end she agrees to the same thing with Jack. Question: did we really see Jack with Sun or someone else in Jack's form?
Flocke" tells Sayid to go to the well and kill Desmond. Sayid hesitates prompting Flocke to check that he still wants what he asked for. Sayid says that he does and heads to the well. At the well Desmond is sitting in water at the bottom as Sayid points his gun. Desmond calmly asks what Flocke offered Sayid. Sayid says he him he could get the woman he loved back, even though she was dead. Desmond asks why he would believe Flocke could help. Sayid says that he was dead. Finally Desmond asks what Sayid will say to his beloved when she asks what he had to do to be with her again. The concept of the characters realizing their own death opens the door for them to move on in the afterlife.
Hugo figures out that the whispers are people like Michael, who are trapped souls, who cannot leave because of what they had done. This clearly shows that the island is "A Place of Death," where souls are tested, sacrificed and redeemed by their actions.
The end game appears to be a game of “tag” and “follow the leader.” If Flocke/MIB can get all remaining six characters on his “team” he says he can leave the island (which is his goal). But Jacob had “trapped” MIB and the candidates to the island. But since Jacob “was dead” no one is trapped on the island anymore. But, the O6 left the island so they were not “trapped.” Was it a means of keeping the pawns outside of Flocke’s control? Was the time shifts also part of the plan? It seems too simple to have Flocke take the living candidates off the island unlocks his freedom from the island.
Discussion:
“ Whatever you have, you must either use or lose. ”
— Henry Ford
“ Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible. ”
— Frank L. Gaines
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
--- Arthur C. Clarke-
“Do you buy that?” Miles asks about Sun’s sudden English amnesia. No, Miles, we do not. For the language center of the brain controls both Korean and English, right? And when Jack appears to her and says she can communicate by “written” pen and paper, this is a leap because her “tutor” was only verbal and we did not see any written education. It may be a small point (but continuity errors can snowball into a cascade of doubt).
In a 2007 discussion, JJ Abrams talked about “the mystery box,” the key information that’s withheld in a story that makes the story intriguing and compelling. As he puts it: “The intentional withholding of information is much more engaging.”
But even fans concluded that Abrams must mean that part of the story that he hasn’t figured out and never will but which permits the leaps of story logic and inconsistent character behavior that animate all his series. As a fan critic once said, “There’s a fundamental flaw to his Mystery Box logic, especially in regards to LOST. When you start stacking mystery box on top of mystery box on top of mystery box without opening any of them (no pay off at all for the audience), you end up with a whole bunch of crappy boxes sitting around.”
There a lot of stacked up, empty moving boxes in the Season 6 story line. Now, imidway through the final season, there is no sense of total purpose. [...] The main characters have no idea what their roles are in the island melodrama."
To some extend they've always been the objects rather than the subjects of the action, but this season it seems to be extreme. Sawyer appears to be an exception, Hurley to some degree, even if it is just following mind!Jacob's orders. This episode Jin and Sun tried to assert themselves, but then promptly were either kidnapped or ran into a tree.
How does Hawking know if the O6 did not return to the island, "god help us all?" How does Widmore know that if he does not stop Flocke, everyone would cease to exist?
If there was a good reason (to save humanity from destruction from "X") for the main characters to be on that island, then why doesn't somebody tell them that? Why not tell the people you need what is "X?" Wouldn't that be motivation enough for Jack the fixer to try to save the world? Or Sawyer's self preservation skills try to save the world to save himself?
Substance and clarity and not further on- and off-island manipulations is what we need now. Without knowing "X," we don't know why.
How does Widmore know that if he does not stop Flocke, everyone would cease to exist?"
According to Widmore himself via "myths, ghost stories, and noises in the jungle" (paraphrased). Seems like awfully shaky grounds to built this conclusion on.
"If there was a good reason (to save humanity from destruction from "X") for the main characters to be on that island, then why doesn't somebody tell them that?"
Yes, that is the question, isn't it? In The Lighthouse Jacob told Hurley that Jack had to figure out by himself what to do. But why? Who knows? (Apparently we don't.)
Our Candidates for greatness have rarely tried to figure things out (in fact, most have been content at running away from their problems rather than solving them).
So in the big picture, our Candidates need to make the connection that MIB is a great evil spirit, then on their own figure out how to deal with it (destroy or contain it)? Sounds like it is outside their collective SAT scores.
So how does one stop an evil spirit? Some theologists believe that evil spirits cannot act directly upon a person; they can only manipulate you to do something of your own accord (serpent in the garden of Eden). The battle between good and evil is fought in one's own mind. I don't like the idea of a computer graphic light bulb going off over the head of a Candidate, then he or she closes his or her eyes, and wishes Smokey/MIB away (mind over matter).
What is the point of withholding "X?"
Is it that motive is as important, perhaps even more important than action?
I think most people would forfeit their lives in order to save all humanity. But not many people would forfeit their lives to save the stranger next to them. Is that why they are withholding "X"? To separate the chaff from the grain? Are they trying to determine whose motive is pure?
Sawyer jumped from the helicopter for the safety of his fellow passengers. Kate put her own well being in jeopardy when she went back to help Claire. Charlie sacrificed his life for others, Desmond turned that key thinking he would die in the process.
Earlier when I wondered if MIB might be suicidal, I wasn't thinking in of terms of his doing it to prevent or accomplish this or that, I was thinking in terms of his killing himself and the hell with anyone else who might perish as a result. Supreme selfishness.
"Our Candidates for greatness have rarely tried to figure things out (in fact, most have been content at running away from their problems rather than solving them)."
Jacob seems to think there is a good reason for not telling the Losties anything. The only reasonable people left on the Island seem to be Sun, Jin, and Sawyer (perhaps add Frank and Miles, since they just let others duke it out; and Rose, Bernard and other secondary Losties if they are still around somewhere). Sun, Jin, and Sawyer are the only ones who keep their eyes on the real goal: Find their loved ones and get off the Island, all the others are just being dragged over the Island playing a game they don't know the rules or the goals of and in which they are the pawns. At least MIB seems honest about his goals (getting of the Island), if not always about his means, but he has the downside of killing people by the dozen.
Is it that motive is as important, perhaps even more important than action?
One needs to know what he is facing in order to make choices on how to act. If "X" is the devil, that information would be needed to determine what to do and how to solve the problem (i.e. pray really really hard). If "X" is an alien overlord bent on destroying the earth, then you would at least plot some strategy to lock "X" down or find a weakness.
At this point, many viewers were totally confused by the inaction, the waiting game, and then the sudden burst of actions premised on lies. Viewers did not like the "Let's Make A Deal" choice given to the characters: do you want what's in the box or what's behind the curtain? Yes, the goofy contestant's motivation is pure greed, and the choice is freely made, but is that how Lost is supposed to end? By blind stumbling luck?
The sideways world has always been the nonsensical filler arc to end the series.
It is a mirror world of the dead characters really, really being dead. However, it seems that their island world memories “bleed” through to the sideways world, especially after “near death” experiences in the sideways realm. How is that possible?
If we look to ancient Egyptian belief, a person’s soul gets split at death in various forms (the ba and ka). In the Lost universe, it appears that the conscious mind is trapped in the island realm while the subconscious mind is in the sideways after life world. The overlap, or flashes of memories, is what some people in the island world call “insanity.”
In Egyptian religious beliefs, it is only when the spirits of the ba and ka are reunited, merged, after the soul has gone through the underworld, can a person have a complete after life. If one does not emerge from the underworld tests, there is a fate worse than death or living in hell, it is “non-existence.” Several references have been made that if Flocke leaves the island, everything and everyone the characters knew would cease to exist. This infers that the Lost character group is an after life affiliation of desperate souls trying to collectively get out of the underworld to have an afterlife in the sideways realm of heaven.
The twist is that in Egyptian mythology, the underworld gods do not seek to leave Hell. They are appeased by the fact of judging souls; to determine whether their hearts are pure or evil.
So it appears that Flocke, as the smoke monster, is not an Egyptian underworld god, per se. From all of the bits of information, and the past history of the island story of Jacob and his brother, it seems that the smoke creature is mechanical, an electromagnetic nano-swarm which can scan people’s memories, and to shape shift into different forms (humans, animals, etc.). The sonic fence must have a frequency (wave lengths) that interfere with the smoke creature’s electromagnetic functions and cohesion, as Flocke does not wander into the pylons on Hydra Island. Widmore must think that Desmond is a “walking sonic fence,” an EM conduit capable of grabbing hold of Flocke and destroying it.
Except, we never see or hear how Desmond is going to “destroy” Flocke. No one has any clue on how to kill Flocke. In the rocket attack on the beach, Flocke does not flinch when the explosions happen around him. He knows he cannot be destroyed by rockets, bullets or knife blade.
If Widmore thinks Desmond is the key to stopping or containing MIB, there is no evidence of any skill set Dez had on the island except a) punching numbers in a keyboard, and b) running through the jungle. Desmond is cued to be different:
- he is the only "character" who got the vaccine against "infection" (maybe "infection" from MIB and/or Jacob)
- he is able to switch between "timelines"
- he is not on the "list" - he is not affected by the "rules" (Mrs. Hawking told him)
But none of these “special” characteristics is weaponized in the story line. In the end, Desmond’s final appearance on the island has no meaningful affect in the resolution of the alleged conflicts.
There is something similar to the zebra fish experiment into neural activity. As we come closer to the conclusion of the series, the characters mental functions appear to slow down. The logic becomes flawed, and their emotions turn into various forms of depression. Just as Sayid's reincarnation has zapped him of all emotion, fear and pain, that growing void is apparent in all the characters. It is like the island is absorbing the last mental processes of the characters experience, emotion and wills.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
The Desmond Test between electromagnets that killed a normal workman had no effect on Desmond. In reality, the electromagnets would create a magnetic field of oscillating waves and not necessarily an electric arc burner.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 113:
SEAMUS: Let's go Mr. Hume.
[They begin carrying him away.]
EP 114:
DESMOND: I just need to show them something...
EP 115:
BEN: Call 911, do it now! Mr. Locke? Oh, my God. Don't, don't move. We're gonna get you to the hospital. Mr. Locke? Mr. Locke? Can you hear me?
EP 116:
LOCKE: Jack. You all right? [whistling overhead and loud explosion nearby] Don't worry. It's gonna be okay. You're with me now.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
By Season 2, I thought knowledge was the key to the island. On the island, knowledge is power. Ben knew the secrets, so he had the power (except it could have been perceived knowledge and faux power in retrospect).
At the time, I thought only two characters gained the knowledge of their plight after the plane crash: Locke and Rose. Locke by regaining his incurable legs, and Rose being cured of her cancer could only mean one logical thing: they realized that they were dead. They had passed on to a new plane of existence. The other passengers have not gotten through that mental hurdle. Time and time again they have been told that they are dead (Naomi, Cooper and recently Richard), but they just don't believe it. Once they accept the truth of their situation, that knowledge will empower them in the after life.
Point One: Smokey Theory
We have been so deep in "Man of Faith" territory since the introduction of Jacob and the MIB, that the introduction of the EM map may prove to be the most important point of this section of the story line: the balancing point between faith and science.
Smokey may be the conscious manifestation of the EM energy on the island.
Essentially, the Swan was a version of Jacob's cork analogy- as the Swan was designed to cap the energy that Dharma had released, thereby saving the world from destruction, the entire island can be viewed as one giant hatch, keeping Smokey contained and saving the world from destruction.
Smokey cannot hurdle the Dharma sonic fence or "fly" to Hydra Island because if he loses contact with the ground and this energy source, he becomes powerless.
He could not pass through the underwater caverns to get to the barracks (until Ben pulled the plug) or escape from the island via water for the same reasons.
Apparently, the sonic fences disrupt the energy Smokey pulls from the island, again making him helpless.
While in his Flocke body he can overcome some of these obstacles, but as Locke he has the same physical limitations that the human Locke did- hence his clumsy jungle chases after Sun and the ghostly blond boy.
We saw that children could be safely born before the Incident (Ethan), so it is possible that the partial release of this energy in the Incident was the x-factor that stopped all future births on the island (the event has to be fairly recent as Richard called it a "novelty").
The implosion of the Swan may have resulted in Smokey becoming more powerful, allowing him to move from a phantom like appearance (such as Yemi and Christian) to being able to constitue himself in a full corporeal body, such as the Christian who could carry Aaron or the current Flocke. It told Jack that he “needed” a dead body to re-create it.
If Smokey escapes the island, it would have the same effect as if the button had not been pushed- the release of the island's massive electromagnetic energy would essentially "end time,” killing everyone on Earth in the process.
Desmond has been exposed to this energy twice and has survived- he has developed an immunity to its effects, and has been brought to the island by Widmore to somehow control the energy on the island, containing Smokey in the process.
As for the Egyptian symbolism and the other religious motifs, to quote Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".
Visitors to the island unable to explain the magical properties of the island would surely frame it in a religious context as a way of trying to achieve understanding, including the belief that it was the home of some of their Gods- leading to the construction of the Temple, the statue of Tawaret, etc.
If at least some of this is true, a key question would be what was Jacob? Did he gain his abilities from the same exact energy source like the smoke monster?
Point Two: The Electromagnetic Energy Beasts
A large question is why does the sonic fence keeps Smokey out? Is the clue to What Smokey is?
All waves, whether EM, magnetic or sound, can collide, disperse, refract or interfere with each other in the same medium (air). I suppose the show theory is that the sonic fence produces sound waves which interferes or disperses Smokey's electromagnetic wave form, but that would be wrong. First, EM stands for electromagnetism, so you don't have to mention "magnetic" separately after that. Second, sound are pressure waves in air, meaning that literally the air is a little compressed in places when sound waves travel through it. EM waves don't have a medium like that (once upon a time people thought it had, they called it ether, but experiments have shown that that doesn't exist). That's the reason why light does travel through space (where there's no air) and sound doesn't. If you apply a very strong electric field to a batch of air, one could theorize that you can ionize the air and somehow change the speed of sound in the ionized air. However, using sound waves to change the magnetic properties of EM energy does not make sense, unless the smoke monster is made up of unique piezoelectric materials.
Comic book science answers the question about Desmond's being EM-microwaved: Widmore was not "testing" him but actually "creating" a new Smoke Monster (DeSmokey) to take on the old one, Flocke. One must assume that Desmond could be stronger since he is turning from human to monster, while MIB has been altered from monster to human form. In essence, Widmore is telling Desmond that he was the sacrifice the island demanded, that he can never leave the island, and that he could never see Penny or his son again, because in order to save them he has to become the thing that would destroy them. Enraged, Desmond would have turned into a dark smoke monster and turns back into the jungle, ripping up trees along his path, just like the old Smokey in Season 1. He has become the new island Cerberus.
Point 3: The Faulty Reasons
Flocke insists that in order to “leave the island” everyone who previously left had to now leave together. That, he insists, is how they found the island upon their return. However, that makes no logical sense. Not all of the 815 survivors “returned” to the island with Locke. Walt and Michael were not on Ajira. Further, Michael got back to the island without Walt. So the “requirement” that “everyone” as a group do something is false. Frank flew the plane off Hydra Island with Kate, Claire, Richard, Sawyer, and Miles on board. As the plane was taxiing down the collapsing Hydra Island runway, it managed to slow down so that Ford, Austen, and Claire could be pulled aboard. The Ajira plane safely took off just as the runway began to crack. That meant characters were able to leave without all the candidates as Hurley and Jack remained on the island.
Eloise Hawking could have been an agent of MIB since she's the one who insisted the Oceanic Six take Locke's body back, coffin and all, to the island. Smokey told Jack that he needed a dead body in order to become Flocke, and to get the others to follow him. And MIB use of Locke's appearance was important for his own end game against Jacob.
Hawking’s message could be a diversion. Flocke said that just as all the O6 had to be together to "return" to the island, they all had to be together to "leave" the island. (This is false because not all of them will eventually leave the island on the Ajira plane). That is the logic in Flocke's mind on how to escape. It all depends on what the term “leave” means in Flocke’s game: it could be physical or spiritual, leaving alive or dead.
At this point of the series, I came to a speculative conclusion that one of the universes does not exist; it is an illusion, a Room 23 construct, part of a long con. That was probably the sideways world. (In the End, it turned to be more true than not as a purgatory waiting room for lost souls).
One theory at this point was that the sideways world was a way to attempt to overwrite the real world to test candidates, to see if they could be fully mind controlled by Widmore. In the sideways world, Desmond's only purpose was to serve Widmore. He had no family life. He was all work. Complete loyalty. No questions asked. After the EM blast, those are the strong memories that are guiding Desmond, who now suddenly is following Widmore's orders.
The correct term then for flashes between universes is "bleeding through" (in homage to the recent rash of head gashes). If both universes were truly real and were to merge, instead of nose bleeds, characters' heads would explode. One cannot have two different consciousnesses, two different lives, suddenly converge into one being. It seems that the island and sideways worlds are the consciousness life experience separated from the subconscious dream world. Each world is incomplete, and the characters don’t understand that relationship until they are dead.
Some still believe that the flashbacks were their original, messed up lives,the plane crash their symbolic deaths (but not actual death), and the events on the island (sometimes tragic and cruel) their penance, leading to sacrifice, redemption and spiritual rebirth (or better yet, awakening, hence the repetitive opening of the eyes in so many episodes) in the sideways world. However, it is just as probable that in the sequence of untold events that each character has lived “several” lives, as the sideways characters try to remember people “in another life.” In essence, the characters have been dead long ago, possibly as young children, but the island (life force) has given them additional “lives” to live, in order to experience life - - - and in the end, to find their “soul mates” in order to move on without the help of the island simulation.
Point Four: A Crazy Child’s Game
With a young, smiling ghost boy Jacob taunting Flocke in the jungle as Flocke tries to gather up all the remaining characters, one has to wonder if the whole island dynamic is purely a game between two simple but supernatural children. It has all the elements of childhood play: a game of tag (Jacob’s “touch” and MIB’s apparent “infection” of souls), follow the leader (Jacob’s Templetons, Dharma and the Others and Flocke recruiting a band of his followers), combat (Jacob “killed” MIB, and then MIB got Ben to “kill” Jacob) and finally, capture the flag (the prize at the end of the game.)
Is it telling that dead Jacob appears in at least two forms: as ghost Jacob to Hurley, but as young boy Jacob to MIB? And is it more telling that Sawyer can see young boy Jacob in jungle when he is with Flocke? How can Sawyer see a ghost - - - unless it is not a ghost but another smokey creature manifestation.
Two smoke creatures who spend eternity “acquiring” human souls to play their childlike games in their island world. Is Jacob and MIB's "life" pegged to the "progress" their pawns have in order to escape the island prison and their captors manipulations? The "progress" had to be MIB finding a loophole to "kill" Jacob (getting a follower, Ben, to freely plunge a knife into his master). And the "progress" was also in Jacob finding one of his stealth candidates (Kate) being able to "kill" MIB in the end. This double murder at the hands of their own followers was the key to allow both Jacob and MIB to "leave" together into the after life.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
REBOOT: EPISODES 109-112
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.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 109-112 (Days ????- - ????)
Dogen asks Sayid to make a decision, while Locke sends Claire to give the temple inhabitants a warning.
Sayid is faced with a difficult decision at the Temple when he meets Flocke, then MIB plays out his plan with help from Sayid and Claire.
Ben deals with Ilana’s consequences for an uncovered lie, about killing Jacob. Jack and Hurley follow Alpert to the Black Rock where Alpert asks them to help him kill himself.
Flocke takes Sawyer on a mission to investigate the plane on the Hydra island; and walks into the remains of the ambush of the survivors.
Richard Alpert’s back story is revealed, including how he changed his island allegiance before having an unexpected meeting.
Science:
Modern science still cannot fully explain life and death. We know it is a cycle. We have the knowledge of what begins life and what ends life. But we do not truly know what happens after death except for circumstantial evidence from “near death” experiences of patients or accident victims.
Life is defined as the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
In religion, life is any of a number of successive existences in which a soul is held to be reincarnated (as in Hinduism and some other religious traditions). Most religions have a concept of life after death, which means part of the intangible human spirit or soul journeys to another life in the heavens.
The cycle of life is the foundation for all human culture. The phrase “bring (or come ) to life” means to regain or cause to regain consciousness or return as if from death. The phrase “a matter of life and death” means a matter of vital importance. The search for the scientific answers to the questions of life and death have led to advances in medical science, human behavior and the quest for immortality.
Clues:
Dogen unearths a carved box from a plant pot which he cleans and opens, revealing a ceremonial dagger. He explains to Sayid that Claire is a confused girl under the influence of an angry man, that this man has been trapped for years but is free now that Jacob is gone and that he will not stop until he has destroyed every living thing on the Island. He says that the man is "evil incarnate." Dogen gives Sayid the dagger warning him that this person is going to appear to him under the guise of someone Sayid knows and who died and that Sayid should stab him in the chest before giving him any chance to talk. As Sayid wonders why should he do all that for Dogen, Dogen tells him that it's his chance to prove that he is a "good person."
MIB gives newly arrived 1867 Alpert a dagger to kill The Devil, Jacob. MIB tells Alpert that he cannot allow him to speak. But Jacob attacks Alpert first, taking away the knife. Alpert tells him that this place is the devil, he has seen his dead wife, but Jacob says that was not her. It was an illusion cast by MIB after scanning Alpert in the ship hold as the smoke monster. Jacob attempts to “drown” Alpert to prove that he is alive. Jacob tells him he cannot bring back his wife, or absolve his sin of murder, but he can grant immortality with his touch.
Jacob explains to Alpert that he brought him to the island to prove MIB wrong. MIB believes that all humans are corrupt by their very nature. Jacob brings people to prove him “wrong.” Jacob tells Alpert that the wine in the bottle is not hell (per se), it is called many names not malfeasance, evil, darkness. The island is the cork that does not allow the evil to spread. However, this analogy confirms that the underside of the cork where the human souls are brought is hell.
Sayid was dead for two hours. Then came back to life. Is this because Sayid is one of the remaining “candidates?” Or was he possessed by the smoke monster? Dogen said the tests were to balance good and evil in a person, and Sayid failed the test. When Sayid goes to stab Flocke, is Sayid also a smoke monster?
Dogen classifies Flocke as the “evil incarnate.” It means an evil deity or spirit embodied in flesh; in human form. But when the dagger is pulled from Flocke’s chest, there is no blood.
Sayid could never kill Flocke with a dagger; it is inferred that Dogen sent Sayid out to stab Flocke so in rage Sayid would be killed by the monster, thus destroying the darkness (evil) inside him. But Sayid turns pure evil after killing Dogen and Lennon in the temple spring.
Sayid could not kill Flocke because Sayid was “infected” by the darkness, i.e. he was one of Flocke’s game pieces now and like colored pawns cannot capture (kill) their leader.
When the remaining Templetons leave with Flocke after the temple massacre by the smoke monster, Flocke gives Claire a knowing nod which she returns (possibly meaning that Claire killed Kate in the temple pit), but then Flocke gives Kate an odd look. Since she is traveling with Flocke’s group, is it possible that MIB believes that Kate is now infected with darkness like Claire? But later on, Claire attempts to kill Kate while Sayid watches in a trance. Flocke intervenes to save Kate from the attack. Kate is sobbing in a grove apart from the others. Flocke joins her and apologizes to Kate for Claire's attack, saying he has to take responsibility for Claire's behavior because he told Claire that the Others had her baby. Kate asks why he would say that and he tells her that Claire was devastated without Aaron, so he gave her something “to hate” in order to keep her going. He goes on to say that hearing the truth from Kate caused Claire to release all of the anger she had been holding on to for so long. Kate replies that his explanation is very insightful considering that he's a dead man. Flocke does not consider himself to be a dead man. He believes Jacob has stolen his humanity.
He claims he will protect her and the others. Key point: Flocke believes Kate is one of his followers now (and as a former candidate, she cannot kill the leader.)
“Sundown” reflects the passage of the Egyptian Day, which the good god, Ra, disappears and must make his dangerous way through the Night (underworld) of his evil brother, Seth, and his powers. The temple massacre in the sanctuary of the temple happens at night because it is protected during the day.
Hurley reveals that Jacob had implied to him earlier that it was unsafe to go to the Temple. Richard is surprised by this and says that whatever Jacob said should not be believed. Richard heads for the wreck, saying that there's something he needs to do: die. Richard leads them through the jungle, and Hurley asks him how it is possible that Richard looks the same as he did 30 years ago. Richard says it is not easy to explain, but that Jacob gave him a gift. Richard admits he lied about going to the Temple because everyone at the Temple is dead, but maybe their friends made it out alive. Alpert’s lie was in self-interest because he needs Jack or Hurley to kill him.
Inside the hull, Alpert informs Jack that this is the first time he has come back to the ship in all the long time he has been on the Island. Richard opens a box of dynamite sticks and fuse wire, and Hurley tells him it is unsafe and the dynamite is unstable. Richard states that he can't kill himself, even though he wants to (he demonstrates this by throwing a stick of dynamite across the room, which does not explode), which is why he wants Hurley or Jack to do it for him. Richard explains that Jacob touched him, which is thought to be a gift, but it is actually a curse. He says that he has devoted his life to Jacob, who claimed that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan, and that he would share the plan with Richard when the time was right. Richard reveals that, now that Jacob is dead, he believes that his entire life has had no purpose. He asks Jack to light a stick of dynamite for him, pointing out that he made the fuse long enough to give Jack time to get out. Jack immediately lights the fuse and sits down with Richard. Hurley is uncomfortable and decides to go, but Jack is calm and says he has to talk to Richard. The fuse on the dynamite goes out before it reaches the stick. It means the island would not kill Alpert or Jack. Jack now believes he has some sort of island destiny.
The series confirms a series of “hard bargains.” Both Jacob and MIB make “deals” with human souls for their service, their game. Alpert believes Jacob to be a liar and fraud; his gift of immortality served no purpose. Sayid tells Flocke that the only thing he loved died in his arms. MIB states that he could grant that wish if Sayid would follow him. Dogen previously told Sayid that he made a bargain with Jacob to save his son from Dogen’s drunken car accident. In order to save his son, Dogen could never see him again. (Does this mean his son died and went to heaven, and Dogen was sent to hell to serve Jacob?) Flocke tells his followers that he will get them all off the island if they do what he tells them to do.
Flocke is annoyed at Sawyer’s interruption of his speech with his new followers (the remnants of the Others from the Temple) and suggests that they talk in private. Once aside, an angry MIB tells Sawyer that he wishes he hadn't interrupted him. Sawyer sarcastically apologizes and asks how "Locke" knew to rescue people from "that smoke thing." The Man in Black says he is the smoke thing. Sawyer is incredulous that all those people were killed and asks why. The MIB replies that he gave them the opportunity to leave peacefully, but they didn't take it. He explains that those people believed they were protecting the Island from him, whereas all he wants to do is leave. He says that it is either "kill or be killed," and he doesn't want to be killed.
MIB tells Kate that he is not a dead man. He says that he knows what Kate is feeling because his mother was crazy. He says that a long time ago, before he looked like he does now, he had a mother who was very disturbed and as a result of that he had some "growing pains," problems that he is still trying to work his way through and that he could have avoided had things been different. (This relates to Crazy Mother killing the Romans who were trying to leave the island with MIB; in anger, MIB killed his mother which resulted in Jacob killing him - - - and throwing him into the light cave to emerge as a smoke monster). Kate asks him why he told her this story and the MIB replies, "Because now Aaron has a crazy mother too."
When Alpert leaves the beach camp, he begs out loud to accept MIB’s offer. His ghost wife speaks to Hurley, who follows Alpert to the jungle bench. Alpert talks to his dead wife in Hurley’s presence, but in the distance after she is gone, we see Flocke with a slight grimace on his face. It is unclear whether Isabella as a ghost is a trapped soul on the island in her own form, or a manifestation of the smoke monster (MIB or possibly even Jacob). But it does give Flocke another follower.
Discussion:
“ A thousand may fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it will not come nigh thee. ”
— Psalm 91:7
“ Whenever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues. ”
— Bhagavad Gita
In this story arc, there are numerous, clear references by the characters that the island is Hell. If the Richard back story was put into the beginning of the series, so many viewers would not have been mislead by The End.
After the shipwreck, the survivors are killed by the mechanical clicking smoke monster. We hear a low guttural moan like a bass horn after the rampage. The sound is like a release. Next, the smoke monster returns and “scans” Alpert. Later, to Richard's astonishment, he is roused by his “dead wife.” She tells Richard that they are both dead and that they are in Hell. She says she looked the Devil in the eye and saw only evil, asking if Richard saw it too. Richard says that he thinks he did, and Isabella says she will free him before the Devil returns. As she unsuccessfully tries to free him the sounds and shadows of the Monster are heard and seen above deck. Richard pleads with Isabella to leave him and escape while she can. As soon as she has left, Richard hears the sounds of her screaming, accompanied by crashes and the Monster's exiting call. Richard is devastated.
Some time later, MIB comes to Richard, gives him water and says he is “a friend.” He confirms Richard's assertion that they are in Hell, and when Richard realizes he was not on the ship, MIB discloses he has been on the Island a long time. Richard asks about Isabella and explains what happened and the MIB says that "he has her,” implying that she was captured by the Devil (Jacob). Richard begs to be freed so he can save her and MIB says he will help, as he also wants to be free. MIB has keys he obtained from the dead officers but makes Richard promise to do anything that he asks before he frees him (“a hard bargain”). MIB unlocks the chains and when Richard thanks him MIB says, "It's good to see you out of those chains." MIB carries Richard out of the ship hold as he explains that the only way to escape from Hell is to kill the Devil.
Richard eats a boar roasted on a spit by MIB. Alpert is directed to the statue, now broken into pieces after the collision with the Black Rock. This is where he will find the Devil. MIB gives him an ornate dagger, warning Richard that he has but one chance to stab the Devil, and that he must not hesitate or let him speak because he is “very persuasive.” Richard wonders how he can kill the Devil if he is black smoke but the Man in Black admits that he, himself, is the black smoke. He claims that the Devil betrayed him and stole his body and his humanity. He explains that Isabella was not running from the black smoke but from the Devil. (This infers that both Jacob and MIB are smoke monsters; and in the scene we see a slight glimpse of the smoke and part of Isabella leaving the hold). He adds that he saw the Devil take Isabella but couldn't stop him. He deflects questions about murdering the ship's officers and requesting Richard commit murder, saying that if Richard wants to see his wife again he must hurry up. But Richard’s mission is a failure. As a result, Jacob gives him immortality in exchange for working as his representative on the island, to intervene and guide human souls during MIB-Jacob’s humanity experiment.
One of the differences in the grand back story of the island is that Jacob comes to an injured Ilana in a hospital bed, and asks her to “guard” the “six” remaining candidates. Now, this appears to be a request given “before” Jacob’s death since Ilana was on Ajira plane with her crew. But with the lighthouse and its 360 names mostly crossed off except for the six 815 survivors (five if you scratch off dead Locke as MIB did in the cave), it may mean that “the game” is running out of pieces. That is why there is more action and interaction between Jacob and MIB: time is literally running out.
Jacob “brings” people to the island - - - MIB helps “corrupt” them to prove a point: that human beings are not worthy of something (immortality? guardians of the universe? heaven?) But considering the long time frame of island visitors, Jacob and MIB have to have been at least equal in power and strength when they were adopted by Crazy Mother, and MIB slightly weakened by the loss of his “body.” But the Egyptian mural depicting the smoke monster and Anubis pre-dates Jacob and MIB coming to the island, so it is possible that both Jacob and MIB are immortal smoke monsters who were given their powers (and rules) from their Crazy Mother.
Are these truly "The Rules?"
Each man has a special dagger in which can kill the other. But the assailant must not talk or listen to the intended victim or the killing spell is released.
Candidates cannot kill themselves.
Being touched is not a gift, but a curse to remain forever on the island, trapped by Jacob.
Once Jacob is killed, MIB turns into a mortal form when not the smoke monster.
Once Jacob is killed, MIB can leave the island if he is accompanied by another candidate who is his follower.
Jacob is in control of everything; he was the leader of both Dharma (Horace) and the Others (Alpert) before and after the purge. He can only bring people to the island. Apparently, Jacob can leave to recruit new candidates, but MIB cannot. MIB can only recruit or “corrupt” candidates by infecting them with “darkness,” akin to an infection which takes over the person’s soul when it reaches his heart.
What is the end game? Jacob’s death which releases his hold on MIB’s soul so he can “go home” which would be heaven, as the island is his Hell and Jacob is his Devil.
Sacred ash is a barrier for MIB/smoke monster’s movements. He cannot cross it.
Jacob’s touch can give a person’s soul immortality or the appearance of immortality in the island realm.
Creation mythology:
Crazy Mother kidnaps Jacob and MIB and raises them as her own. She sets the rules. The children cannot harm each other.
MIB grows weary of the island and goes to live with the Others, who are tapping the EM Life Force in an attempt to “go home” or leave the island.
Crazy Mother is upset with MIB, and kills all the Others, which makes MIB mad with rage so he kills her. In his own rage over the death of his alleged mother, Jacob kills MIB (or destroys his soul) by throwing him into the Light Cave where MIB is transformed or released into the smoke monster. This transformation binds Jacob and MIB to eternity on the island, together.
Jacob views the island as home and needs to be protected; while MIB views the island as a prison. As the protector, the leader, Jacob sets “the rules” between themselves.
What did we learn from this week’s episode arc about the main characters?
1. Miles is a grave robber.
2. Richard stated that Jacob's "touch" was a curse, which led him from chains of slavery to endless servitude on the island.
3. Jack finally realized that you have to go crazy in order to keep your sanity.
4. Ilana apparently has the mother of all daddy issues if Jacob is the closest thing to a father she has had in her life.
5. Ben would give up the promise of power for the chance of having a single friend.
6. Sun's role is now that of show set decorator at the beach camp.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Jacob’s touch will bring you or bind you to the island after your death.
Everyone brought to the island was a “candidate” to be Jacob’s replacement, but in Jacob’s own words, they were lab rats in an experiment on human corruption.
That an 1867 wooden ship would fly through a multi-story stone statue and land fairly intact several miles inland.
That a sonic fence would repel a smoke monster.
That a smoke monster can possibly split into multiple things, such as Isabella in the hold and as a smoke monster outside the ship hold.
That Hurley can have conversations with ghosts like Isabella, even though her body never made it to the island and he never met her before.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 109:
ILANA: Everybody inside, now.
[The smoke monster rushes past just as they escape.]
[Kate, Claire, and Sayid walk through the courtyard, which is littered with mangled corpses. Outside, they meet up with Locke, who has assembled a small group of Temple dwellers. They follow him into the darkness of the jungle.]
EP 110:
CREWMAN AT PERISCOPE: Yes sir, Mr. Widmore.
EP 111:
SAWYER: We ain't taking the plane, Freckles. Taking the sub.
EP 112:
MAN IN BLACK: Sooner than you think.
[The Man in Black raises the bottle of wine and turns it upside down. He smashes the bottle against the log, splashing wine everywhere.]
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
I continue to view the sideways story line like the vegetables on a high end steak house plate; you move it to the side and concentrate on the meat, the island story.
Point One: When is Dead Dead on?
Both Jacob and MIB are liars and manipulators. Everything they say has to be taken with a grain, no, a bag of salt. The show has consistently used the game metaphor between light and dark, so why are we assuming that only Light Jacob moved game pieces off-island, and not Dark Smokey as well, such as Locke’s crazy mother being hit by a car driven by Anthony Cooper?
Or if MIB is confined to the island, he needed someone off-island to move the pieces for him such as Widmore. Method of game play? Car crashes. But it is more probable that the evil car crash method was employed by Jacob as a means of manipulating human souls to come to the island.
In the first few seasons, there were frequent, unexplained, game changing car crashes, in almost every case turning that character's life into a downward spiral.
* Michael is hit by a car just as he is trying to keep custody of Walt, putting him in a unhappy cycle not ended until his death
*Adam Rutherford and Sarah get into a serious car accident that will permanently warp Shannon (again, until her death), and maintain her unhealthy co-dependence with Boone.
* Sarah's car accident. No saving Sarah means no Jack marriage that ends in him destroying his relationship with his father and driving Christian to his death in Australia.
* Claire and her mother get into a car accident, depriving her of her mother's support, leading to her reliance on a psychic(?). In addition, this indirectly speeds up Christian's death, as Claire's aunt refuses his request to reconnect with Claire.
Further evidence here: Claire's mom miraculous recovery which allows her to take Aaron and send Kate back to the island.
*Kate has multiple car crashes- we knows she still ends up arrested in Australia, but perhaps Tom Brennan is never killed?
* If Dr. Burke is never hit by a bus, does Juliet ever end up on the island, underwater or not?
*Nadia is hit by a car, sending Sayid into a black spiral he will never full recover from. Jacob probably caused this accident, since he stopped Sayid from becoming a victim of the accident.
* The real game changer was Emily Locke is hit by a car, causing a premature Locke to “be born” with Alpert, Jacob’s representative, at the hospital.
Purgatory theorists have used this list of serious accidents as circumstantial evidence to conclude that the characters involved in those accidents were killed but their "dead" souls were hijacked to the island limbo by Jacob. It makes perfect sense when we learn that the sideways world is the afterlife holding pen for the island souls to reconnect with their dead spirits.
The implication to date is that getting "infected" is done by dying. i.e: Sayid died in the pool and the discussion has long been that Claire actually died in the cabin explosion. So, both of them are "infected", or perhaps "inhabited" because their bodies were available. This infers multiple smoke monsters, including Christian.
It is possible that Kate never got out of the temple pit alive. Claire was at full anger mode when Kate approached her. Nothing would have calmed that anger during the monster’s revenge strike. If anything, it would have enhanced Claire’s desire to kill Kate. I think the 180 degree out of character Claire hug was to accelerate the infection in Kate. So “dying” on the island is different than dying off-island when one’s soul departs the body for the afterlife.
As a very early adopter of "there all dead" theories of the show premise, the cork analogy fits nicely into my Nexus-Buffer theory that the island was a gate-portal between heaven and hell to stop Satan from attacking heaven.
If Jacob brought the Black Rock to the island, did he not cause the destruction of the statue? Is this pointing to the fact at that moment, his micro-Egyptian island lab rats had been killed off, resetting the experiment?
And if the whole purpose of bringing souls to the island to see if they were good, bad or corrupt, Smokey-MIB did not waste a second in killing off the entire Black Rock crew (who never had a chance to even leave the ship after it crashed in the jungle). No test shown; pure violence.
In the hold, when it looks like Alpert is dead on the floor, we see a butterfly pass through the scene. (This must be important symbol because it would be difficult to frame an insect in the set shot.)
What does the butterfly mean?
In some Japanese anime, it is used to represent a soul.
The Western view is that the butterfly is a carefree creature. The Dalai Lama explains that, rather than carefree, it is uncaring:
"The butterfly never meets its mother. It must survive independently and remains a stranger to affection. An animal nurtured by mother's milk, however, is dependent on another for its basic survival. A child who grows up in a cold and detached home environment is similar to the butterfly, in that kindness is sparing. Once an adult, it will be very difficult for that person to show compassion."
In other cultures, the butterfly is symbolic of rebirth after death.
In the 1600s, in Ireland, killing a white butterfly was prohibited since it was believed to be the soul of a dead child.
For Christians, the butterfly's three steps of metamorphosis -- as caterpillar, pupa and then winged insect -- are reminiscent of spiritual transformation.
The caterpillar's incessant crawling and chewing reminds us of normal earthly life where people are often wholly preoccupied with physical needs. The chrysalis (cocoon) resembles a tomb and empty, can suggest the empty shroud left behind by Jesus. Therefore, a butterfly represents the resurrection into a new condition of life that is free of any material concerns.
In images of the Garden of Eden, Adam's soul is symbolized by a butterfly, or drawn with butterfly wings. In paintings of Mary and her Child, the presence of butterflies stands for their care for human souls. The Gnostics depicted the Angel of Death by showing a winged foot stepping on a butterfly.
Others have stated that since the insect is so fragile it can be torn apart by a hard rain, the butterfly stands for human frailty, both moral and physical. Also, as its life is not a long one, it is also a symbol of the ephemeral nature of physical existence.
In America among the Aztec and Maya, the god of cosmic fire is symbolized by a butterfly. Fire is considered the element of transformation, as in cookery and the smelting of metals.
The ancient Greeks depicted the spirit of a person as a winged stick figure. Interpretation of that symbol gave rise to the idea of the "soul" as a butterfly.
The ancient Romans associated the butterfly with the wandering consciousness that seems to occur during the dream state.
In science, there is The Butterfly Effect.
This is an aspect of chaos theory: the way a seeming insignificant event can cause dramatic consequences.
From wikipedia: The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely that small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position.
The butterfly effect is a common method in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" scenarios where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.
Some theorists believed that is what TPTB were attempting by putting in the sideways world in Season 6.
Point Two: What are Jacob and his brother?
Clearly, they are powerful beings. They get knowledge in different ways: Jacob spies on people from the light house, while MIB scans their minds while a smoke monster. Both have the power to manipulate time, space and matter.
For example, MIB is not trapped in Locke's body. Locke's real body is now buried on Boone Hill. MIB is using a duplicate "body." And he is not trapped inside the duplicate, because he can continue to transform into Smokey after Locke is buried. And it is not human, because when Sayid stabbed him, no blood was on the dagger.
There is an interesting question that was rarely asked when the series first ran. "Could Jacob have manifested himself as smokey or as dead people?"
Yes, and here is a wild tangent explanation: Jacob is MIB. Or more exact, MIB is to Jacob as Dave is to Hurley: an imaginary friend, his conscious incarnate, or his split personality. It is possible that MIB’s resentment of Jacob is that MIB is trapped inside Jacob’s mind (“the island”).
It's possible that Jacob made MIB who/what he is, thus the reason for his resentment towards him. Even if Jacob wasn't the one that made him who/what he is, he certainly is the reason he cannot escape. He knew that as long as Jacob was alive he was trapped on the island and that he could not kill Jacob himself, thus the whole "loophole" storyline.
All evidence points to smoke monsters on the island prior to Jacob and his brother’s arrival. Since they would look the same, we do not know what physical human form is any one smoke creature. (Side tangent: some believe that the mechanical noises, electromagnetic flashes, and swarm like movement of the smoke creature infers that the monster may be a nano-like machine powered by the unique physics properties of the island. And as a machine, it cannot be “killed” in the sense of a human being dying from a mortal wound.)
As a result, I did not buy into Sawyer's "triple cross." First, Flocke already knew what was going on at Hydra (he was heading his recruits there). The Ajira victims appeared to be mowed down like the Temple people, which looks like Smokey’s work. Which would negate one of the viewer assumptions, that the monster could not cross water. Second, Widmore was too quick to "deal" with Sawyer (besides if both know Flocke is Smokey, no one said they know how or if Smokey can be killed). Third, Flocke expected Sawyer to lie to him, and when he did not, Smokey's plan self-executed; the war with Widmore would go forth. Fourth, when Sawyer told Kate he is going after the sub, he was in essence telling Smokey because after Claire's "hug" I believe Kate may have "infected" her, giving partial control of her mind to Flocke. Fifth, even though we hear MIB wanting to “leave” the island, he never says how that is possible for him, as a smoke monster.
If MIB is truly “trapped” on the island, who did it to him? If he was dead, why is his soul fused to the island life force as a smoke creature?
Some viewers think it's a prison. MIB is the prisoner and Jacob is the guard. Woe be to the world if that angry prisoner escapes.
Most believe MIB is trapped on the island. If the cosmic prison is the final premise of the show, that does not explain why the main characters were brought to the island by Jacob. For recreation for MIB? You would think a guard would want to encourage less violence in his prisoner.
We know that Jacob wanted to retire and brought in candidates for his job, but it still might be that bringing those people in was a form of passing the time while trying to prove a point and find a replacement. And it might be the reason for those damned "rules".
Unless MIB represents something eternal, while the Jacob role is only temporary, requiring periodic replacements? That's more of an idea than a conviction, btw, but how else to explain the whole candidate business?
There is a simple explanation for what could be happening on the island. In a Death Note vibe, Jacob and MIB could have the same job, as Gatekeepers to Hell of the Afterlife. The island is the gate. What do gatekeepers do? Allow people to pass through or hold them up for interrogation or inspection. That may be why both the lighthouse and the cave have the same list of names, which each striking out names who they have allowed to pass through the gate.
Just as a cork keeps liquid in a bottle, a cork also acts as a stopper so more liquid cannot get into the bottle (for example, to make it overflow). Every person brought to the island had some form of sin in their heart; a few truly evil. As a result, to keep the bottle from bursting, the gatekeepers must “test” these souls and release those who have had a worthy redemption, asked for true forgiveness, and accepted their fate, to move on and leave the place of ultimate judgment.
We know that an ancient civilizations, first the Sumerians in 5000 BC, then the Egyptians in 2500 BC, then the Romans in 500 BC, then Dharma in the 1970s, were brought to the island and stayed long enough to construct the statue, temple, stations and villages - - - which meant that there had to be a long standing peace between Jacob and MIB to allow all this construction to happen.
Apparently, Smokey left them alone while they did this- he was clearly there, as pictured on the temple walls.
Did they pacify Smokey by worshiping him? Was he not aware/conscious that he was trapped at that time?
We will probably never know what happened between the time of the Egyptians and the arrival of the Black Rock. But when the Black Rock arrived, Smokey was in all-kill mode, as he immediately wiped out the crew- no hesitation, no scanning.
Jacob tells Richard he is the only man alive on the island and then makes Richard immortal. This may have made Richard immune to being killed by Smokey, who may have wanted to keep Richard around anyway for his own future potential use.
Does that mean that between the Black Rock and the US Army encounter in 1954, that there was a gradually growing community of Others, with Richard as the representative to the god, Jacob? Did Richard watch them arrive on the island, live their lives there, have children, and then eventually die after a normal life - - - one which he himself lost? In that vain, Richard’s life on the island would have been agonizing and mental suffering like being in a living hell, trapped there by his bargain with Jacob.
Until Jacob's “death,” the Others showed no fear or concern re: Smokey, freely walking through the underground passages of the temple, going about their business in the jungle. Smokey lived in the temple wall!
So for 140 years Smokey bided his time, searching for the appropriate "candidates" to corrupt for his plan to kill Jacob? Periodically killing those who he did not find useful, but essentially laying low?
When Richard describes the arrival of the US Army, he says he gave them an opportunity to withdraw in peace- he doesn't say "and then they landed with their bomb, and Smokey immediately tore them to shreds..."
So was MIB more fascinated by the new technologies of the people brought to the island as a means of escape? If that is true, why could he have gone into a human form and turned the FDW and escaped to North Africa?! It seems no matter what Jacob or MIB wanted, they could never have: both were/are trapped on the island forever. And it seems that the candidates were not ever going to “replace” Jacob, but to appease the brother’s boredom.
Point Three: What is the final conflict?
The consensus was that the final battle will be good vs. evil. But what is the the actual battlefield for this conflict?
Author Joyce Meyer said the mind is the battlefield for good and evil.
With Jacob’s alleged demise at the hands of Ben, it would seem that the final showdown for the island is Widmore vs. Flocke. Widmore wants the island because it contains what he must believe is the fountain of youth, the life source that could grant immortality. He must have learned that from Alpert.
We have seen symbols of good (light) and evil (darkness). Jacob appeared to represent the light (the lighthouse) and MIB the dark (smoke monster). But it is now more likely that they are both shades of gray. It was telling that the knife into Flocke came out with no blood. There are no traits of a human body just the mere illusion of one. It infers that there are multiple Flockes (one with Sawyer in the cave, and one at the temple) The most important clue on the night was when Dogen said Flocke/MIB was "evil incarnate," which means an evil deity or spirit embodied in flesh (human form).
The final conflict is not about Widmore, the 815 survivors, the Ajira people, or the remaining Others. The conflict remains Jacob vs. his brother.
But Widmore is a powerful piece in the game, what is his true relationship with the brothers?
This could be the explanation, using word clues, to try to find out who is good and who is bad in the show's current "team building" story lines.
Widmore returns to the Island, presumably for revenge. In looking for the root origin of "Widmore," one can trace a branch to wider, a Scottish term for "against." There is another old Scottish term called widdershins, which means "in a direction contrary to the course of the sun."
In ancient Egyptian myth, the "sun god," Ra was one of the most important gods. In later kingdoms, the merger of gods found Horus, the son of Osiris, taking on the role of sun god after defeating his uncle Seth for control of the kingdom. Horus is known as the god and protector of the monarchy. One of the traits of the protector, was the Eye of Horus, a scar below his eye, similar to the one on John Locke's face.
One could make the connection that Widmore is on the side opposing the sun god, or ruler of the living kingdom. One could presume that if Jacob is light, Widmore is an agent for darkness, MIB.
The name "Jacob" means "the supplanter." To supplant means to supercede or replace. One seeks to supercede the throne by overthrowing its current king. In its Latin origins, supplant means "to trip up from below." We learned when Desmond failed to enter the code in the Hatch computer, that the warning signal sounded that spelled out "He escapes place of death." This incident caused Flight 815 to crash on the Island. We never saw Jacob before this incident. However, the Hatch occupants were quite familiar with Smokey as he/it is described in detail on the blast door map.
Once Horus defeated Seth, Seth was relegated to the underworld to serve his brother, Osiris and to help protect the sun god on the nightly journey through the underworld. Later cults deemed that the nightly journey had already stopped since Horus defeated all his enemies, so the sun would always rise.
But most believe Seth, a master of trickery and evil, would not sit idle in the underworld. He was once called the god of chaos. One would think that he would mark his time and seek his revenge against Horus and retake the throne in the living world. For that reason, Horus would have imprisoned him in the underworld.
In trying to tie the wordsmith's art into character associations, those who intend on upsetting the current order are Widmore and Jacob, in the role of Seth. Once Seth was able to reach the Island, it was like letting a genie out of a bottle. He "trapped" Horus on the island, and through magic was able to leave the island in search for the pieces to solidify his plan to overthrow the kingdom. (This is very similar to the notion that Satan builds an army to retake the heavens from God.)
That leaves Flocke in the Horus role. He wants "to go home," a place where he permanently lives, which would mean to his kingdom. It appears that the only way to do that is not to physically leave the island, but to defeat Seth (Jacob). For those who believe that Flocke was surprised by Sawyer's intel in the Recon episode, this would be consistent with Flocke's perception that Jacob and his men are out to kill him. And recall, there are (unknown) ways for which a god can be killed, as Seth butchered Osiris and scattered his remains across the desert, as the means to claim the throne. However, we have seen the two supernatural beings stabbed with two different results: Jacob bled out and was burned to ash; Flocke was stabbed with no blood. Maybe that battle has already taken place, and Horus is being kept alive in a spirit form (as Jacob is now) with the help of other underworld gods, like Anubis and Thoth.
I originally thought that Jacob "touching" the characters was a means of putting part of himself in them in case he was killed, so he could be reincarnated like Osiris in the underworld. But now, we are learning from Richard the "touch" is a curse. The touch was a marker for candidates to "replace" Jacob. None of these candidates was given a job application to become the next Jacob. But since we don't know whether Jacob even has a job or Island purpose, we can only assume that Jacob's motivations are self-serving.
Now that both Jacob and MIB appear to be trapped in a ghost-spirit hybrid, they are both recruiting human souls to fight their final battle. In backgammon, the goal is to remove all your pieces in order to win. Maybe Flocke was upset because he thought none of the Temple residents would take his offer so he could mow them all down and have less pieces aligned with him to dispose of; and knowing that, Jacob is actually blocking the removal of those aligned with his enemy because in this game you cannot kill your own followers. That is a twisted rule: to win the game your enemy has to wipe out all your pawns!
On the flip side, there is evidence that MIB/Smokey could be aligned with Widmore. Widmore was once the (co) leader of the Others before he was banished by Ben after the Dharma purge. It is clear that the Others did not put up any sonic fences to keep Smokey out of their camps. There had to be some clear understanding that Smokey would not harm the Others.
That may have been the presence of Jacob. The Others followed the indirect directions of Jacob. And for some reason, Smokey could not directly kill Jacob. This check and balance system was not totally wiped out with Ben's stabbing of Jacob: Jacob's "presence" is still on the island, and he is still giving directions to the characters.
Widmore has been shown as a evil guy; he sent mercenaries to wipe out everyone on the island. His man killed Alex, which was alleged as a violation of the rules. Flocke as Smokey clearly had an evil intent when it wiped out the temple dwellers. So there is plenty of blood on their hands to have a solid evil alliance.
When Widmore was co-leader of the Others, he was a follower of Jacob. But MIB did not disturb that clan, or wipe them out. When Dharma joined the island, they followed Jacob but were opposed by MIB. Is this the time when Widmore turned away from Jacob’s control and toward MIB? It would seem that this is the time where there are two equal sides or “teams” occupying the island - - - the perfect situation for the brothers to battle their pawns to the death. And it was the “corruption” of young Ben at the temple waters that turned Ben into evil to wipe out Dharma and exile Widmore.
From an earlier theory of mine: Touched by an Angel Devil:
There is a growing debate on whether Jacob is good or bad.
We saw Jacob touch many people off-island. I theorized that it was to put a piece of himself in these vessels to be reincarnated if killed on the Island (the Osiris story).
That may come to be true, but looking at things now from the Lighthouse spy glass into the lives of the 815ers, Jacob may be darker than we have imagined:
Every person we have seen Jacob "touch" has had their lives torn a part on an emotional roller coaster: Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Locke, Ilana, Sayid and Hurley.
Sawyer was touched at his parents funeral. He needed a pen to write down his vengeful thoughts. Jacob enabled him to do so with a pen. That letter caused Sawyer to turn down the dark path of conning people to murder.
Kate was touched in the midst of a shop lifting caper. Jacob's intervention with the shop keeper actually rewarded Kate for her bad behavior. This led her down the path of self-destruction including murder because she was ingrained at an early age that she could get away with things.
Jack was touched by Jacob in the hospital. He gave the candy machine "a little push," but in reality pushed Jack to stand up to his father, which led to his paranoia and failed relationships, to the betrayal of his father (and malpractice induced alcoholism that killed Christian). In other words, Jack's turn from being afraid of his father to turning in his father screwed up his life.
Jin and Sun were touched by Jacob at their wedding. As Jacob reached out to them, he brought them together. In one respect, Jacob's touch may have solidified Sun "staying with" Jin even though she wanted out of her subservient marriage. It also put pressure on Jin to be his father-in-law's muscle in the dirty family business. They both wound up doing shameful things during their marriage.
Locke was touched by Jacob after Cooper tossed his son eight stories to his perceived death. Jacob's touch brought Locke back to life, with an apology. From that point forward, Locke would have been better off dead. His life was a crippling failure, leading to an unseemly death at the hands of Ben after failing in his one faithful mission to return to save the island and his friends.
We think Jacob touched Ilana in the Russian hospital bed. Jacob needed her help "again." It is not clear that her current injuries were a result of helping Jacob in the past, but her life turned into a bloody mess with four of her comrades killed by the Smoke monster, and she is on the run for her life on the island.
Sayid was touched just before crossing the street - - - which saved him but killed his Nadia. As a direct result of that touch, Sayid could not be a happily married man. His life reverted back to a cold blooded killer and a dark soul.
And finally, Hurley was touched in the back of a cab. Jacob convinced Hurley he was not cursed, so Hurley made the decision to go back to the island. If he did not go back, he would have lived the life of leisure with his parents as a millionaire. Instead, his life is on the edge in a supernatural war zone hell, created in part, by Jacob.
One could say the worst thing that happened to the touched characters was Jacob's intervention in their lives.
In the pivot final scene of Season 5, Flocke is recognized by Jacob as the MIB from the beach scene. Flocke acknowledges that he (MIB) had found the loophole to kill Jacob. The only motivation we know of is that MIB did not want Jacob to continually bring human (souls) to the Island. All they do, MIB insisted, was fight, kill and make a mess of things. This is the Conflict. The loophole the apparent solution to the Conflict.
Some comments on the relationship between Jacob and MIB. Both are apparently equals in some regard. They must have equal status or equal powers on or through the Island. The balance of power may be as simple as one controlling above ground and the other controlling above ground. They cannot directly kill each other, otherwise MIB would have killed Jacob on the beach. However, one can apparently get a human soul to do the evil deed under the right circumstances (the loophole).
Since we are fairly certain that MIB can manifest himself as Smokey, there is an open question on how Jacob can manifest himself.
It may get down to contact or touch.
We have seen Jacob "touch" the following characters: Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Locke, Ilana, Sayid and Hurley. All those contacts occurred off-island in public places.
We have seen MIB, as Smokey, have contact with the following characters: Seth the Pilot, Locke, Eko, Kate (scanned), Juliet (scanned), Nikki & Paulo (spiders), Ben (as shot boy taken to the underground chamber), and Alpert (? who took Ben into the underground chamber).
We can also suspect that since MIB is Flocke, that he can reincarnate the Dead who arrive on the Island: Christian and Locke. We have also seen MIB ghost in contact with Claire and Aaron (though Christian).
When we compare the Lists, we find that only one character was physically touched by both Jacob and MIB: Locke. And the tipping point in MIB's favor was bringing Dead Locke to the Island so MIB could reincarnate into Flocke, to lead follower Ben into a treasonous rage which results in Ben killing Jacob (the loophole) for MIB.
It may be a simple as a game of tag: with MIB "tagging" Locke twice to Jacob's once in so far as MIB creating and controlling Flocke in the end.
Point Four: The Rules
The key episode, "Ab Aeterno," which means "from eternity" in Latin, the series may have found its mission statement that it is a character driven show about basic human behavior: good, evil, temptation, redemption, life and death. Those are eternal struggles of mankind. The underlying hidden cake, the layers and layers of mystery, is the nature and purpose of the island.
From this episode, we can glean seven golden island rules:
Rule #1: No one comes to the island without Jacob’s permission. Except, Jacob himself was brought to the island by someone else. And "the island" had powers to control people off the island, such as Michael not killing himself in NYC.
Rule #2: MIB is trapped on the island because Jacob won’t let him leave. MIB cannot leave if Jacob (or his successor) is alive. We don't know if Jacob is telling the truth, or that MIB is merely gaining sympathy from his followers. Both brothers had the mantle of being immortal gods.
Rule #3: MIB cannot leave the island even by killing Jacob because someone will take his place. Again, we don't know if this is true or not. Jacob was given his powers from the island guardian, and there was no ceremony to pass it on to Jack.
Rule #4: Jacob can grant eternal life (with his touch to Richard), but he cannot give resurrect dead people or absolve people of their sins. Then why are so many ghosts and trapped souls (whispers) on the island? Many believe that the whole island experience, its danger and tests, are all means to get to a final judgment on a character's soul: pass fail, heaven or eternal nothingness.
Rule #5: MIB believes that it is in all human nature to be bad, to sin, to corrupt or destroy, and Jacob brings people to the island to “prove him wrong.” All prior people brought to the island to prove MIB wrong are dead. Then what is the point of continuing this experiment in humanity unless there is a more important purpose: to judge souls.
Rule #6: The island is a gate or cap that stops evil, malevolence from spreading (to somewhere?) The fallen angels were set to work to manage hell, where evil souls were tormented for their sins. In some ancient writings, there is a possibility that souls in hell could be redeemed and sent to heaven.
Rule #7: Jacob does not intervene or interfere with people brought to the island (even though MIB can), so he appoints Richard to be his intermediary, to act on his behalf. But in reality, Jacob can intervene any time he wants to, including appearing to Hurley as a ghost within a hour of his "death" at the hands of Ben.
Rule #8: Escape from the island is difficult. MIB calls this place Hell, and tells Richard that Jacob is the devil. In order to escape Hell, one must kill the devil. Richard's attempt to kill Jacob was MIB's first attempt to kill Jacob. We can infer that MIB cannot directly "kill" Jacob. He needs to act through some one else. But the survivors do leave the island, to be awakened in the afterlife.
Point Five: The Loophole?
If one believes that the sum of the series is the butterfly effect of avalanche of unrelated events converging at the island's final conflict of MIB defeating Jacob for the first time, here are THE MOVES MIB HAD TO MAKE TO WIN:
What did MIB/Flocke have to “go through” in order to kill Jacob? What were the moves required to get the result he wanted? I have yet to see anyone try to piece together the Rube Goldberg/Mad, Mad, Mad World time line of interrelated events, but here is my an outline of what MIB may have meant:
1. MIB needed BEN to kill JACOB, which required
2. FLOCKE planting the seed/justification for killing in BEN, which needed
3. DEAD LOCKE in order to trick BEN on his island return, which meant
4. BEN killing LOCKE when he heard LOCKE was working with HAWKING to get back to the island (and thereby assuming the leadership role), which would not have happened without
5. WIDMORE and ABBADON helping LOCKE try to round up the O6 group for the return flight to the island, because
5 A. the O6 had a deal with RICHARD to leave the island for saving BEN from WIDMORE’S team, which BEN knew about by
5.B. placing his man MICHAEL on the freighter, as a result of
5 C. a deal to free MICHAEL and WALT in exchange for capturing JACK, KATE, SAWYER and HURLEY by the Others, which lead to
5 D. JACK, KATE, SAWYER escaping Otherville with ALEX, who
5 E. was caught by WIDMORE’s man and killed, causing
5 F. BEN turn the FDW to hide the island from WIDMORE, causing
6. HAWKING in her pendulum Dharma station to try to find the island, because
7. BEN’s FDW causing the island to time skip, requiring
8. LOCKE to turn the FDW to reset the island with the instructions of CHRISTIAN,
8 A. Whose past fathered CLAIRE in Australia, which led to
8.B. Daddy issues with his son JACK, which led to
8.C. JACK turning on CHRISTIAN, leading him back to drinking and
8.D. CHRISTIAN dying in Australia, which made
8.E. JACK fly to Sydney to claim CHRISTIAN’s body and get it on Flight 815, so,
8.F. when Flight 815 crashed on the Island, CHRISTIAN’s body could be used by MIB to influence JACK and LOCKE, since
8.G. DESMOND’s failure to input the Numbers in the Hatch caused 815 to crash,
8 H. since DESMOND’s need to prove his honor to WIDMORE caused him to enter a sail boat race after
8. I. a stranger named LIBBY gave him her deceased husband’s boat, since
8. J. DESMOND had no job since he was fired from the monastery vineyard by BROTHER CAMPBELL, (who was friends with HAWKING) but
8. K. as a result, DESMOND meets PENNY, who he falls for, but WIDMORE objects to the relationship, which leads
8. L. PENNY to search the globe for the lost DESMOND, which leads to
8.M. a listening station finding a signal in the Pacific, which leads both
8.N. WIDMORE’s freighter soldiers to the island and
8.O. PENNY’s boat finding the O6 survivors after LOCKE turns the FDW, taking,
8.P. The O6 back to their problems stateside, including:
KATE on trial for murder;
JACK finding out CLAIRE is his half sister;
SAYID’S wife NADIA being killed,
SUN taking over father’s company and seeking revenge on BEN;
HURLEY going back into mental institution; which leads
8.Q. BEN to scheme with HAWKING to get the O6 to re-create Flight 815, which includes killing LOCKE, who was suicidal because he had failed to convince anyone to return with him, which could be caused by
8.R. LOCKE’s pathetic life of personal failures, which may have influenced
9. The island splitting into two time frames when he turned the FDW,with
9.A. 1974 flash where SAWYER takes the lead with JULIET, MILES, and JIN, who
9.B. in order to survive and await LOCKE’s return, join Dharma by helping AMY who was attacked by the Others, and in turn
9.C. SAWYER telling RICHARD about time traveling LOCKE which creates a truce between Dharma and the Others, which
9.D. changes SAWYER and JULIET into a happy Dharma couple, until
9.E. Flight 316 crashes on the Island causing a time flashes to 1977 and 2007, which leads to,
9.F. KATE, JACK, SAYID meeting up with SAWYER’s Dharma group,
which causes,
9.G. JULIET to doubt her relationship with SAWYER because of KATE, but adds complication when
9.H. SAYID shoots young BEN in order to save SAYID from his future killings, which requires,
9.I. JACK and KATE to bring dying young BEN to RICHARD to be saved,
9.J. which creates BEN as an Other, which leads to
9.K. BEN banishing WIDMORE from the Island after Purging Dharma, including killing his own father ROGER,
9.L. who blamed BEN for killing his wife by being premature, but that lead to,
9.M. HORACE coming across ROGER and BEN at birth for later recruitment of ROGER to the Island, which led to
9.N. ROGER blaming BEN for his crappy life, which led BEN to seek a way out with the Others, who are
10. The island’s native population that needed outside leadership “candidates,” which led them to BEN, who recruited many off-islanders including,
11. JULIET, who was recruited to deal with the island’s fertility problems, for which,
12. RICHARD thought was unimportant to the Other’s prime mission, but which led to
13. JULIET being the lead scientist with the Hydra confinement and manipulation of JACK, SAWYER and KATE, which led to
13.A. JULIET joining the 815 survivors as a spy and as a way to get off the island, away from the captivity of BEN, which
13.B. put her in the position of the 815ers who time flashed back to 1974, which
13.C. led her to have a long term relationship with SAWYER, which caused her
13.D. sacrifice herself to detonate Jughead to bring the time lines together, which
13.E. brought ghost JACOB to HURLEY when SAYID was dying at the van,
13.F. making HURLEY leader to direct the group to take SAYID to the Temple, where,
13.G. Dogen and Lennon drowned SAYID as his friends watched in horror,
13.H. then learning JACOB was dead from HURLEY causing the Temple to be on guard from “him” and laying out ash to repel Smokey, who
13.I. was at the Tawaret foot in the form of FLOCKE, recognizing RICHARD as a man once in chains, and beating RICHARD unconscious while being extremely “disappointed” with the Others, which now makes
14. MIB/FLOCKE in position of power on the Island by killing JACOB.
There is no way that TPTB had this mapped out at the beginning of the show.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 109-112 (Days ????- - ????)
Dogen asks Sayid to make a decision, while Locke sends Claire to give the temple inhabitants a warning.
Sayid is faced with a difficult decision at the Temple when he meets Flocke, then MIB plays out his plan with help from Sayid and Claire.
Ben deals with Ilana’s consequences for an uncovered lie, about killing Jacob. Jack and Hurley follow Alpert to the Black Rock where Alpert asks them to help him kill himself.
Flocke takes Sawyer on a mission to investigate the plane on the Hydra island; and walks into the remains of the ambush of the survivors.
Richard Alpert’s back story is revealed, including how he changed his island allegiance before having an unexpected meeting.
Science:
Modern science still cannot fully explain life and death. We know it is a cycle. We have the knowledge of what begins life and what ends life. But we do not truly know what happens after death except for circumstantial evidence from “near death” experiences of patients or accident victims.
Life is defined as the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
In religion, life is any of a number of successive existences in which a soul is held to be reincarnated (as in Hinduism and some other religious traditions). Most religions have a concept of life after death, which means part of the intangible human spirit or soul journeys to another life in the heavens.
The cycle of life is the foundation for all human culture. The phrase “bring (or come ) to life” means to regain or cause to regain consciousness or return as if from death. The phrase “a matter of life and death” means a matter of vital importance. The search for the scientific answers to the questions of life and death have led to advances in medical science, human behavior and the quest for immortality.
Clues:
Dogen unearths a carved box from a plant pot which he cleans and opens, revealing a ceremonial dagger. He explains to Sayid that Claire is a confused girl under the influence of an angry man, that this man has been trapped for years but is free now that Jacob is gone and that he will not stop until he has destroyed every living thing on the Island. He says that the man is "evil incarnate." Dogen gives Sayid the dagger warning him that this person is going to appear to him under the guise of someone Sayid knows and who died and that Sayid should stab him in the chest before giving him any chance to talk. As Sayid wonders why should he do all that for Dogen, Dogen tells him that it's his chance to prove that he is a "good person."
MIB gives newly arrived 1867 Alpert a dagger to kill The Devil, Jacob. MIB tells Alpert that he cannot allow him to speak. But Jacob attacks Alpert first, taking away the knife. Alpert tells him that this place is the devil, he has seen his dead wife, but Jacob says that was not her. It was an illusion cast by MIB after scanning Alpert in the ship hold as the smoke monster. Jacob attempts to “drown” Alpert to prove that he is alive. Jacob tells him he cannot bring back his wife, or absolve his sin of murder, but he can grant immortality with his touch.
Jacob explains to Alpert that he brought him to the island to prove MIB wrong. MIB believes that all humans are corrupt by their very nature. Jacob brings people to prove him “wrong.” Jacob tells Alpert that the wine in the bottle is not hell (per se), it is called many names not malfeasance, evil, darkness. The island is the cork that does not allow the evil to spread. However, this analogy confirms that the underside of the cork where the human souls are brought is hell.
Sayid was dead for two hours. Then came back to life. Is this because Sayid is one of the remaining “candidates?” Or was he possessed by the smoke monster? Dogen said the tests were to balance good and evil in a person, and Sayid failed the test. When Sayid goes to stab Flocke, is Sayid also a smoke monster?
Dogen classifies Flocke as the “evil incarnate.” It means an evil deity or spirit embodied in flesh; in human form. But when the dagger is pulled from Flocke’s chest, there is no blood.
Sayid could never kill Flocke with a dagger; it is inferred that Dogen sent Sayid out to stab Flocke so in rage Sayid would be killed by the monster, thus destroying the darkness (evil) inside him. But Sayid turns pure evil after killing Dogen and Lennon in the temple spring.
Sayid could not kill Flocke because Sayid was “infected” by the darkness, i.e. he was one of Flocke’s game pieces now and like colored pawns cannot capture (kill) their leader.
When the remaining Templetons leave with Flocke after the temple massacre by the smoke monster, Flocke gives Claire a knowing nod which she returns (possibly meaning that Claire killed Kate in the temple pit), but then Flocke gives Kate an odd look. Since she is traveling with Flocke’s group, is it possible that MIB believes that Kate is now infected with darkness like Claire? But later on, Claire attempts to kill Kate while Sayid watches in a trance. Flocke intervenes to save Kate from the attack. Kate is sobbing in a grove apart from the others. Flocke joins her and apologizes to Kate for Claire's attack, saying he has to take responsibility for Claire's behavior because he told Claire that the Others had her baby. Kate asks why he would say that and he tells her that Claire was devastated without Aaron, so he gave her something “to hate” in order to keep her going. He goes on to say that hearing the truth from Kate caused Claire to release all of the anger she had been holding on to for so long. Kate replies that his explanation is very insightful considering that he's a dead man. Flocke does not consider himself to be a dead man. He believes Jacob has stolen his humanity.
He claims he will protect her and the others. Key point: Flocke believes Kate is one of his followers now (and as a former candidate, she cannot kill the leader.)
“Sundown” reflects the passage of the Egyptian Day, which the good god, Ra, disappears and must make his dangerous way through the Night (underworld) of his evil brother, Seth, and his powers. The temple massacre in the sanctuary of the temple happens at night because it is protected during the day.
Hurley reveals that Jacob had implied to him earlier that it was unsafe to go to the Temple. Richard is surprised by this and says that whatever Jacob said should not be believed. Richard heads for the wreck, saying that there's something he needs to do: die. Richard leads them through the jungle, and Hurley asks him how it is possible that Richard looks the same as he did 30 years ago. Richard says it is not easy to explain, but that Jacob gave him a gift. Richard admits he lied about going to the Temple because everyone at the Temple is dead, but maybe their friends made it out alive. Alpert’s lie was in self-interest because he needs Jack or Hurley to kill him.
Inside the hull, Alpert informs Jack that this is the first time he has come back to the ship in all the long time he has been on the Island. Richard opens a box of dynamite sticks and fuse wire, and Hurley tells him it is unsafe and the dynamite is unstable. Richard states that he can't kill himself, even though he wants to (he demonstrates this by throwing a stick of dynamite across the room, which does not explode), which is why he wants Hurley or Jack to do it for him. Richard explains that Jacob touched him, which is thought to be a gift, but it is actually a curse. He says that he has devoted his life to Jacob, who claimed that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan, and that he would share the plan with Richard when the time was right. Richard reveals that, now that Jacob is dead, he believes that his entire life has had no purpose. He asks Jack to light a stick of dynamite for him, pointing out that he made the fuse long enough to give Jack time to get out. Jack immediately lights the fuse and sits down with Richard. Hurley is uncomfortable and decides to go, but Jack is calm and says he has to talk to Richard. The fuse on the dynamite goes out before it reaches the stick. It means the island would not kill Alpert or Jack. Jack now believes he has some sort of island destiny.
The series confirms a series of “hard bargains.” Both Jacob and MIB make “deals” with human souls for their service, their game. Alpert believes Jacob to be a liar and fraud; his gift of immortality served no purpose. Sayid tells Flocke that the only thing he loved died in his arms. MIB states that he could grant that wish if Sayid would follow him. Dogen previously told Sayid that he made a bargain with Jacob to save his son from Dogen’s drunken car accident. In order to save his son, Dogen could never see him again. (Does this mean his son died and went to heaven, and Dogen was sent to hell to serve Jacob?) Flocke tells his followers that he will get them all off the island if they do what he tells them to do.
Flocke is annoyed at Sawyer’s interruption of his speech with his new followers (the remnants of the Others from the Temple) and suggests that they talk in private. Once aside, an angry MIB tells Sawyer that he wishes he hadn't interrupted him. Sawyer sarcastically apologizes and asks how "Locke" knew to rescue people from "that smoke thing." The Man in Black says he is the smoke thing. Sawyer is incredulous that all those people were killed and asks why. The MIB replies that he gave them the opportunity to leave peacefully, but they didn't take it. He explains that those people believed they were protecting the Island from him, whereas all he wants to do is leave. He says that it is either "kill or be killed," and he doesn't want to be killed.
MIB tells Kate that he is not a dead man. He says that he knows what Kate is feeling because his mother was crazy. He says that a long time ago, before he looked like he does now, he had a mother who was very disturbed and as a result of that he had some "growing pains," problems that he is still trying to work his way through and that he could have avoided had things been different. (This relates to Crazy Mother killing the Romans who were trying to leave the island with MIB; in anger, MIB killed his mother which resulted in Jacob killing him - - - and throwing him into the light cave to emerge as a smoke monster). Kate asks him why he told her this story and the MIB replies, "Because now Aaron has a crazy mother too."
When Alpert leaves the beach camp, he begs out loud to accept MIB’s offer. His ghost wife speaks to Hurley, who follows Alpert to the jungle bench. Alpert talks to his dead wife in Hurley’s presence, but in the distance after she is gone, we see Flocke with a slight grimace on his face. It is unclear whether Isabella as a ghost is a trapped soul on the island in her own form, or a manifestation of the smoke monster (MIB or possibly even Jacob). But it does give Flocke another follower.
Discussion:
“ A thousand may fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it will not come nigh thee. ”
— Psalm 91:7
“ Whenever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues. ”
— Bhagavad Gita
In this story arc, there are numerous, clear references by the characters that the island is Hell. If the Richard back story was put into the beginning of the series, so many viewers would not have been mislead by The End.
After the shipwreck, the survivors are killed by the mechanical clicking smoke monster. We hear a low guttural moan like a bass horn after the rampage. The sound is like a release. Next, the smoke monster returns and “scans” Alpert. Later, to Richard's astonishment, he is roused by his “dead wife.” She tells Richard that they are both dead and that they are in Hell. She says she looked the Devil in the eye and saw only evil, asking if Richard saw it too. Richard says that he thinks he did, and Isabella says she will free him before the Devil returns. As she unsuccessfully tries to free him the sounds and shadows of the Monster are heard and seen above deck. Richard pleads with Isabella to leave him and escape while she can. As soon as she has left, Richard hears the sounds of her screaming, accompanied by crashes and the Monster's exiting call. Richard is devastated.
Some time later, MIB comes to Richard, gives him water and says he is “a friend.” He confirms Richard's assertion that they are in Hell, and when Richard realizes he was not on the ship, MIB discloses he has been on the Island a long time. Richard asks about Isabella and explains what happened and the MIB says that "he has her,” implying that she was captured by the Devil (Jacob). Richard begs to be freed so he can save her and MIB says he will help, as he also wants to be free. MIB has keys he obtained from the dead officers but makes Richard promise to do anything that he asks before he frees him (“a hard bargain”). MIB unlocks the chains and when Richard thanks him MIB says, "It's good to see you out of those chains." MIB carries Richard out of the ship hold as he explains that the only way to escape from Hell is to kill the Devil.
Richard eats a boar roasted on a spit by MIB. Alpert is directed to the statue, now broken into pieces after the collision with the Black Rock. This is where he will find the Devil. MIB gives him an ornate dagger, warning Richard that he has but one chance to stab the Devil, and that he must not hesitate or let him speak because he is “very persuasive.” Richard wonders how he can kill the Devil if he is black smoke but the Man in Black admits that he, himself, is the black smoke. He claims that the Devil betrayed him and stole his body and his humanity. He explains that Isabella was not running from the black smoke but from the Devil. (This infers that both Jacob and MIB are smoke monsters; and in the scene we see a slight glimpse of the smoke and part of Isabella leaving the hold). He adds that he saw the Devil take Isabella but couldn't stop him. He deflects questions about murdering the ship's officers and requesting Richard commit murder, saying that if Richard wants to see his wife again he must hurry up. But Richard’s mission is a failure. As a result, Jacob gives him immortality in exchange for working as his representative on the island, to intervene and guide human souls during MIB-Jacob’s humanity experiment.
One of the differences in the grand back story of the island is that Jacob comes to an injured Ilana in a hospital bed, and asks her to “guard” the “six” remaining candidates. Now, this appears to be a request given “before” Jacob’s death since Ilana was on Ajira plane with her crew. But with the lighthouse and its 360 names mostly crossed off except for the six 815 survivors (five if you scratch off dead Locke as MIB did in the cave), it may mean that “the game” is running out of pieces. That is why there is more action and interaction between Jacob and MIB: time is literally running out.
Jacob “brings” people to the island - - - MIB helps “corrupt” them to prove a point: that human beings are not worthy of something (immortality? guardians of the universe? heaven?) But considering the long time frame of island visitors, Jacob and MIB have to have been at least equal in power and strength when they were adopted by Crazy Mother, and MIB slightly weakened by the loss of his “body.” But the Egyptian mural depicting the smoke monster and Anubis pre-dates Jacob and MIB coming to the island, so it is possible that both Jacob and MIB are immortal smoke monsters who were given their powers (and rules) from their Crazy Mother.
Are these truly "The Rules?"
Each man has a special dagger in which can kill the other. But the assailant must not talk or listen to the intended victim or the killing spell is released.
Candidates cannot kill themselves.
Being touched is not a gift, but a curse to remain forever on the island, trapped by Jacob.
Once Jacob is killed, MIB turns into a mortal form when not the smoke monster.
Once Jacob is killed, MIB can leave the island if he is accompanied by another candidate who is his follower.
Jacob is in control of everything; he was the leader of both Dharma (Horace) and the Others (Alpert) before and after the purge. He can only bring people to the island. Apparently, Jacob can leave to recruit new candidates, but MIB cannot. MIB can only recruit or “corrupt” candidates by infecting them with “darkness,” akin to an infection which takes over the person’s soul when it reaches his heart.
What is the end game? Jacob’s death which releases his hold on MIB’s soul so he can “go home” which would be heaven, as the island is his Hell and Jacob is his Devil.
Sacred ash is a barrier for MIB/smoke monster’s movements. He cannot cross it.
Jacob’s touch can give a person’s soul immortality or the appearance of immortality in the island realm.
Creation mythology:
Crazy Mother kidnaps Jacob and MIB and raises them as her own. She sets the rules. The children cannot harm each other.
MIB grows weary of the island and goes to live with the Others, who are tapping the EM Life Force in an attempt to “go home” or leave the island.
Crazy Mother is upset with MIB, and kills all the Others, which makes MIB mad with rage so he kills her. In his own rage over the death of his alleged mother, Jacob kills MIB (or destroys his soul) by throwing him into the Light Cave where MIB is transformed or released into the smoke monster. This transformation binds Jacob and MIB to eternity on the island, together.
Jacob views the island as home and needs to be protected; while MIB views the island as a prison. As the protector, the leader, Jacob sets “the rules” between themselves.
What did we learn from this week’s episode arc about the main characters?
1. Miles is a grave robber.
2. Richard stated that Jacob's "touch" was a curse, which led him from chains of slavery to endless servitude on the island.
3. Jack finally realized that you have to go crazy in order to keep your sanity.
4. Ilana apparently has the mother of all daddy issues if Jacob is the closest thing to a father she has had in her life.
5. Ben would give up the promise of power for the chance of having a single friend.
6. Sun's role is now that of show set decorator at the beach camp.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Jacob’s touch will bring you or bind you to the island after your death.
Everyone brought to the island was a “candidate” to be Jacob’s replacement, but in Jacob’s own words, they were lab rats in an experiment on human corruption.
That an 1867 wooden ship would fly through a multi-story stone statue and land fairly intact several miles inland.
That a sonic fence would repel a smoke monster.
That a smoke monster can possibly split into multiple things, such as Isabella in the hold and as a smoke monster outside the ship hold.
That Hurley can have conversations with ghosts like Isabella, even though her body never made it to the island and he never met her before.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 109:
ILANA: Everybody inside, now.
[The smoke monster rushes past just as they escape.]
[Kate, Claire, and Sayid walk through the courtyard, which is littered with mangled corpses. Outside, they meet up with Locke, who has assembled a small group of Temple dwellers. They follow him into the darkness of the jungle.]
EP 110:
CREWMAN AT PERISCOPE: Yes sir, Mr. Widmore.
EP 111:
SAWYER: We ain't taking the plane, Freckles. Taking the sub.
EP 112:
MAN IN BLACK: Sooner than you think.
[The Man in Black raises the bottle of wine and turns it upside down. He smashes the bottle against the log, splashing wine everywhere.]
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
I continue to view the sideways story line like the vegetables on a high end steak house plate; you move it to the side and concentrate on the meat, the island story.
Point One: When is Dead Dead on?
Both Jacob and MIB are liars and manipulators. Everything they say has to be taken with a grain, no, a bag of salt. The show has consistently used the game metaphor between light and dark, so why are we assuming that only Light Jacob moved game pieces off-island, and not Dark Smokey as well, such as Locke’s crazy mother being hit by a car driven by Anthony Cooper?
Or if MIB is confined to the island, he needed someone off-island to move the pieces for him such as Widmore. Method of game play? Car crashes. But it is more probable that the evil car crash method was employed by Jacob as a means of manipulating human souls to come to the island.
In the first few seasons, there were frequent, unexplained, game changing car crashes, in almost every case turning that character's life into a downward spiral.
* Michael is hit by a car just as he is trying to keep custody of Walt, putting him in a unhappy cycle not ended until his death
*Adam Rutherford and Sarah get into a serious car accident that will permanently warp Shannon (again, until her death), and maintain her unhealthy co-dependence with Boone.
* Sarah's car accident. No saving Sarah means no Jack marriage that ends in him destroying his relationship with his father and driving Christian to his death in Australia.
* Claire and her mother get into a car accident, depriving her of her mother's support, leading to her reliance on a psychic(?). In addition, this indirectly speeds up Christian's death, as Claire's aunt refuses his request to reconnect with Claire.
Further evidence here: Claire's mom miraculous recovery which allows her to take Aaron and send Kate back to the island.
*Kate has multiple car crashes- we knows she still ends up arrested in Australia, but perhaps Tom Brennan is never killed?
* If Dr. Burke is never hit by a bus, does Juliet ever end up on the island, underwater or not?
*Nadia is hit by a car, sending Sayid into a black spiral he will never full recover from. Jacob probably caused this accident, since he stopped Sayid from becoming a victim of the accident.
* The real game changer was Emily Locke is hit by a car, causing a premature Locke to “be born” with Alpert, Jacob’s representative, at the hospital.
Purgatory theorists have used this list of serious accidents as circumstantial evidence to conclude that the characters involved in those accidents were killed but their "dead" souls were hijacked to the island limbo by Jacob. It makes perfect sense when we learn that the sideways world is the afterlife holding pen for the island souls to reconnect with their dead spirits.
The implication to date is that getting "infected" is done by dying. i.e: Sayid died in the pool and the discussion has long been that Claire actually died in the cabin explosion. So, both of them are "infected", or perhaps "inhabited" because their bodies were available. This infers multiple smoke monsters, including Christian.
It is possible that Kate never got out of the temple pit alive. Claire was at full anger mode when Kate approached her. Nothing would have calmed that anger during the monster’s revenge strike. If anything, it would have enhanced Claire’s desire to kill Kate. I think the 180 degree out of character Claire hug was to accelerate the infection in Kate. So “dying” on the island is different than dying off-island when one’s soul departs the body for the afterlife.
As a very early adopter of "there all dead" theories of the show premise, the cork analogy fits nicely into my Nexus-Buffer theory that the island was a gate-portal between heaven and hell to stop Satan from attacking heaven.
If Jacob brought the Black Rock to the island, did he not cause the destruction of the statue? Is this pointing to the fact at that moment, his micro-Egyptian island lab rats had been killed off, resetting the experiment?
And if the whole purpose of bringing souls to the island to see if they were good, bad or corrupt, Smokey-MIB did not waste a second in killing off the entire Black Rock crew (who never had a chance to even leave the ship after it crashed in the jungle). No test shown; pure violence.
In the hold, when it looks like Alpert is dead on the floor, we see a butterfly pass through the scene. (This must be important symbol because it would be difficult to frame an insect in the set shot.)
What does the butterfly mean?
In some Japanese anime, it is used to represent a soul.
The Western view is that the butterfly is a carefree creature. The Dalai Lama explains that, rather than carefree, it is uncaring:
"The butterfly never meets its mother. It must survive independently and remains a stranger to affection. An animal nurtured by mother's milk, however, is dependent on another for its basic survival. A child who grows up in a cold and detached home environment is similar to the butterfly, in that kindness is sparing. Once an adult, it will be very difficult for that person to show compassion."
In other cultures, the butterfly is symbolic of rebirth after death.
In the 1600s, in Ireland, killing a white butterfly was prohibited since it was believed to be the soul of a dead child.
For Christians, the butterfly's three steps of metamorphosis -- as caterpillar, pupa and then winged insect -- are reminiscent of spiritual transformation.
The caterpillar's incessant crawling and chewing reminds us of normal earthly life where people are often wholly preoccupied with physical needs. The chrysalis (cocoon) resembles a tomb and empty, can suggest the empty shroud left behind by Jesus. Therefore, a butterfly represents the resurrection into a new condition of life that is free of any material concerns.
In images of the Garden of Eden, Adam's soul is symbolized by a butterfly, or drawn with butterfly wings. In paintings of Mary and her Child, the presence of butterflies stands for their care for human souls. The Gnostics depicted the Angel of Death by showing a winged foot stepping on a butterfly.
Others have stated that since the insect is so fragile it can be torn apart by a hard rain, the butterfly stands for human frailty, both moral and physical. Also, as its life is not a long one, it is also a symbol of the ephemeral nature of physical existence.
In America among the Aztec and Maya, the god of cosmic fire is symbolized by a butterfly. Fire is considered the element of transformation, as in cookery and the smelting of metals.
The ancient Greeks depicted the spirit of a person as a winged stick figure. Interpretation of that symbol gave rise to the idea of the "soul" as a butterfly.
The ancient Romans associated the butterfly with the wandering consciousness that seems to occur during the dream state.
In science, there is The Butterfly Effect.
This is an aspect of chaos theory: the way a seeming insignificant event can cause dramatic consequences.
From wikipedia: The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely that small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position.
The butterfly effect is a common method in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" scenarios where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.
Some theorists believed that is what TPTB were attempting by putting in the sideways world in Season 6.
Point Two: What are Jacob and his brother?
Clearly, they are powerful beings. They get knowledge in different ways: Jacob spies on people from the light house, while MIB scans their minds while a smoke monster. Both have the power to manipulate time, space and matter.
For example, MIB is not trapped in Locke's body. Locke's real body is now buried on Boone Hill. MIB is using a duplicate "body." And he is not trapped inside the duplicate, because he can continue to transform into Smokey after Locke is buried. And it is not human, because when Sayid stabbed him, no blood was on the dagger.
There is an interesting question that was rarely asked when the series first ran. "Could Jacob have manifested himself as smokey or as dead people?"
Yes, and here is a wild tangent explanation: Jacob is MIB. Or more exact, MIB is to Jacob as Dave is to Hurley: an imaginary friend, his conscious incarnate, or his split personality. It is possible that MIB’s resentment of Jacob is that MIB is trapped inside Jacob’s mind (“the island”).
It's possible that Jacob made MIB who/what he is, thus the reason for his resentment towards him. Even if Jacob wasn't the one that made him who/what he is, he certainly is the reason he cannot escape. He knew that as long as Jacob was alive he was trapped on the island and that he could not kill Jacob himself, thus the whole "loophole" storyline.
All evidence points to smoke monsters on the island prior to Jacob and his brother’s arrival. Since they would look the same, we do not know what physical human form is any one smoke creature. (Side tangent: some believe that the mechanical noises, electromagnetic flashes, and swarm like movement of the smoke creature infers that the monster may be a nano-like machine powered by the unique physics properties of the island. And as a machine, it cannot be “killed” in the sense of a human being dying from a mortal wound.)
As a result, I did not buy into Sawyer's "triple cross." First, Flocke already knew what was going on at Hydra (he was heading his recruits there). The Ajira victims appeared to be mowed down like the Temple people, which looks like Smokey’s work. Which would negate one of the viewer assumptions, that the monster could not cross water. Second, Widmore was too quick to "deal" with Sawyer (besides if both know Flocke is Smokey, no one said they know how or if Smokey can be killed). Third, Flocke expected Sawyer to lie to him, and when he did not, Smokey's plan self-executed; the war with Widmore would go forth. Fourth, when Sawyer told Kate he is going after the sub, he was in essence telling Smokey because after Claire's "hug" I believe Kate may have "infected" her, giving partial control of her mind to Flocke. Fifth, even though we hear MIB wanting to “leave” the island, he never says how that is possible for him, as a smoke monster.
If MIB is truly “trapped” on the island, who did it to him? If he was dead, why is his soul fused to the island life force as a smoke creature?
Some viewers think it's a prison. MIB is the prisoner and Jacob is the guard. Woe be to the world if that angry prisoner escapes.
Most believe MIB is trapped on the island. If the cosmic prison is the final premise of the show, that does not explain why the main characters were brought to the island by Jacob. For recreation for MIB? You would think a guard would want to encourage less violence in his prisoner.
We know that Jacob wanted to retire and brought in candidates for his job, but it still might be that bringing those people in was a form of passing the time while trying to prove a point and find a replacement. And it might be the reason for those damned "rules".
Unless MIB represents something eternal, while the Jacob role is only temporary, requiring periodic replacements? That's more of an idea than a conviction, btw, but how else to explain the whole candidate business?
There is a simple explanation for what could be happening on the island. In a Death Note vibe, Jacob and MIB could have the same job, as Gatekeepers to Hell of the Afterlife. The island is the gate. What do gatekeepers do? Allow people to pass through or hold them up for interrogation or inspection. That may be why both the lighthouse and the cave have the same list of names, which each striking out names who they have allowed to pass through the gate.
Just as a cork keeps liquid in a bottle, a cork also acts as a stopper so more liquid cannot get into the bottle (for example, to make it overflow). Every person brought to the island had some form of sin in their heart; a few truly evil. As a result, to keep the bottle from bursting, the gatekeepers must “test” these souls and release those who have had a worthy redemption, asked for true forgiveness, and accepted their fate, to move on and leave the place of ultimate judgment.
We know that an ancient civilizations, first the Sumerians in 5000 BC, then the Egyptians in 2500 BC, then the Romans in 500 BC, then Dharma in the 1970s, were brought to the island and stayed long enough to construct the statue, temple, stations and villages - - - which meant that there had to be a long standing peace between Jacob and MIB to allow all this construction to happen.
Apparently, Smokey left them alone while they did this- he was clearly there, as pictured on the temple walls.
Did they pacify Smokey by worshiping him? Was he not aware/conscious that he was trapped at that time?
We will probably never know what happened between the time of the Egyptians and the arrival of the Black Rock. But when the Black Rock arrived, Smokey was in all-kill mode, as he immediately wiped out the crew- no hesitation, no scanning.
Jacob tells Richard he is the only man alive on the island and then makes Richard immortal. This may have made Richard immune to being killed by Smokey, who may have wanted to keep Richard around anyway for his own future potential use.
Does that mean that between the Black Rock and the US Army encounter in 1954, that there was a gradually growing community of Others, with Richard as the representative to the god, Jacob? Did Richard watch them arrive on the island, live their lives there, have children, and then eventually die after a normal life - - - one which he himself lost? In that vain, Richard’s life on the island would have been agonizing and mental suffering like being in a living hell, trapped there by his bargain with Jacob.
Until Jacob's “death,” the Others showed no fear or concern re: Smokey, freely walking through the underground passages of the temple, going about their business in the jungle. Smokey lived in the temple wall!
So for 140 years Smokey bided his time, searching for the appropriate "candidates" to corrupt for his plan to kill Jacob? Periodically killing those who he did not find useful, but essentially laying low?
When Richard describes the arrival of the US Army, he says he gave them an opportunity to withdraw in peace- he doesn't say "and then they landed with their bomb, and Smokey immediately tore them to shreds..."
So was MIB more fascinated by the new technologies of the people brought to the island as a means of escape? If that is true, why could he have gone into a human form and turned the FDW and escaped to North Africa?! It seems no matter what Jacob or MIB wanted, they could never have: both were/are trapped on the island forever. And it seems that the candidates were not ever going to “replace” Jacob, but to appease the brother’s boredom.
Point Three: What is the final conflict?
The consensus was that the final battle will be good vs. evil. But what is the the actual battlefield for this conflict?
Author Joyce Meyer said the mind is the battlefield for good and evil.
With Jacob’s alleged demise at the hands of Ben, it would seem that the final showdown for the island is Widmore vs. Flocke. Widmore wants the island because it contains what he must believe is the fountain of youth, the life source that could grant immortality. He must have learned that from Alpert.
We have seen symbols of good (light) and evil (darkness). Jacob appeared to represent the light (the lighthouse) and MIB the dark (smoke monster). But it is now more likely that they are both shades of gray. It was telling that the knife into Flocke came out with no blood. There are no traits of a human body just the mere illusion of one. It infers that there are multiple Flockes (one with Sawyer in the cave, and one at the temple) The most important clue on the night was when Dogen said Flocke/MIB was "evil incarnate," which means an evil deity or spirit embodied in flesh (human form).
The final conflict is not about Widmore, the 815 survivors, the Ajira people, or the remaining Others. The conflict remains Jacob vs. his brother.
But Widmore is a powerful piece in the game, what is his true relationship with the brothers?
This could be the explanation, using word clues, to try to find out who is good and who is bad in the show's current "team building" story lines.
Widmore returns to the Island, presumably for revenge. In looking for the root origin of "Widmore," one can trace a branch to wider, a Scottish term for "against." There is another old Scottish term called widdershins, which means "in a direction contrary to the course of the sun."
In ancient Egyptian myth, the "sun god," Ra was one of the most important gods. In later kingdoms, the merger of gods found Horus, the son of Osiris, taking on the role of sun god after defeating his uncle Seth for control of the kingdom. Horus is known as the god and protector of the monarchy. One of the traits of the protector, was the Eye of Horus, a scar below his eye, similar to the one on John Locke's face.
One could make the connection that Widmore is on the side opposing the sun god, or ruler of the living kingdom. One could presume that if Jacob is light, Widmore is an agent for darkness, MIB.
The name "Jacob" means "the supplanter." To supplant means to supercede or replace. One seeks to supercede the throne by overthrowing its current king. In its Latin origins, supplant means "to trip up from below." We learned when Desmond failed to enter the code in the Hatch computer, that the warning signal sounded that spelled out "He escapes place of death." This incident caused Flight 815 to crash on the Island. We never saw Jacob before this incident. However, the Hatch occupants were quite familiar with Smokey as he/it is described in detail on the blast door map.
Once Horus defeated Seth, Seth was relegated to the underworld to serve his brother, Osiris and to help protect the sun god on the nightly journey through the underworld. Later cults deemed that the nightly journey had already stopped since Horus defeated all his enemies, so the sun would always rise.
But most believe Seth, a master of trickery and evil, would not sit idle in the underworld. He was once called the god of chaos. One would think that he would mark his time and seek his revenge against Horus and retake the throne in the living world. For that reason, Horus would have imprisoned him in the underworld.
In trying to tie the wordsmith's art into character associations, those who intend on upsetting the current order are Widmore and Jacob, in the role of Seth. Once Seth was able to reach the Island, it was like letting a genie out of a bottle. He "trapped" Horus on the island, and through magic was able to leave the island in search for the pieces to solidify his plan to overthrow the kingdom. (This is very similar to the notion that Satan builds an army to retake the heavens from God.)
That leaves Flocke in the Horus role. He wants "to go home," a place where he permanently lives, which would mean to his kingdom. It appears that the only way to do that is not to physically leave the island, but to defeat Seth (Jacob). For those who believe that Flocke was surprised by Sawyer's intel in the Recon episode, this would be consistent with Flocke's perception that Jacob and his men are out to kill him. And recall, there are (unknown) ways for which a god can be killed, as Seth butchered Osiris and scattered his remains across the desert, as the means to claim the throne. However, we have seen the two supernatural beings stabbed with two different results: Jacob bled out and was burned to ash; Flocke was stabbed with no blood. Maybe that battle has already taken place, and Horus is being kept alive in a spirit form (as Jacob is now) with the help of other underworld gods, like Anubis and Thoth.
I originally thought that Jacob "touching" the characters was a means of putting part of himself in them in case he was killed, so he could be reincarnated like Osiris in the underworld. But now, we are learning from Richard the "touch" is a curse. The touch was a marker for candidates to "replace" Jacob. None of these candidates was given a job application to become the next Jacob. But since we don't know whether Jacob even has a job or Island purpose, we can only assume that Jacob's motivations are self-serving.
Now that both Jacob and MIB appear to be trapped in a ghost-spirit hybrid, they are both recruiting human souls to fight their final battle. In backgammon, the goal is to remove all your pieces in order to win. Maybe Flocke was upset because he thought none of the Temple residents would take his offer so he could mow them all down and have less pieces aligned with him to dispose of; and knowing that, Jacob is actually blocking the removal of those aligned with his enemy because in this game you cannot kill your own followers. That is a twisted rule: to win the game your enemy has to wipe out all your pawns!
On the flip side, there is evidence that MIB/Smokey could be aligned with Widmore. Widmore was once the (co) leader of the Others before he was banished by Ben after the Dharma purge. It is clear that the Others did not put up any sonic fences to keep Smokey out of their camps. There had to be some clear understanding that Smokey would not harm the Others.
That may have been the presence of Jacob. The Others followed the indirect directions of Jacob. And for some reason, Smokey could not directly kill Jacob. This check and balance system was not totally wiped out with Ben's stabbing of Jacob: Jacob's "presence" is still on the island, and he is still giving directions to the characters.
Widmore has been shown as a evil guy; he sent mercenaries to wipe out everyone on the island. His man killed Alex, which was alleged as a violation of the rules. Flocke as Smokey clearly had an evil intent when it wiped out the temple dwellers. So there is plenty of blood on their hands to have a solid evil alliance.
When Widmore was co-leader of the Others, he was a follower of Jacob. But MIB did not disturb that clan, or wipe them out. When Dharma joined the island, they followed Jacob but were opposed by MIB. Is this the time when Widmore turned away from Jacob’s control and toward MIB? It would seem that this is the time where there are two equal sides or “teams” occupying the island - - - the perfect situation for the brothers to battle their pawns to the death. And it was the “corruption” of young Ben at the temple waters that turned Ben into evil to wipe out Dharma and exile Widmore.
From an earlier theory of mine: Touched by an Angel Devil:
There is a growing debate on whether Jacob is good or bad.
We saw Jacob touch many people off-island. I theorized that it was to put a piece of himself in these vessels to be reincarnated if killed on the Island (the Osiris story).
That may come to be true, but looking at things now from the Lighthouse spy glass into the lives of the 815ers, Jacob may be darker than we have imagined:
Every person we have seen Jacob "touch" has had their lives torn a part on an emotional roller coaster: Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Locke, Ilana, Sayid and Hurley.
Sawyer was touched at his parents funeral. He needed a pen to write down his vengeful thoughts. Jacob enabled him to do so with a pen. That letter caused Sawyer to turn down the dark path of conning people to murder.
Kate was touched in the midst of a shop lifting caper. Jacob's intervention with the shop keeper actually rewarded Kate for her bad behavior. This led her down the path of self-destruction including murder because she was ingrained at an early age that she could get away with things.
Jack was touched by Jacob in the hospital. He gave the candy machine "a little push," but in reality pushed Jack to stand up to his father, which led to his paranoia and failed relationships, to the betrayal of his father (and malpractice induced alcoholism that killed Christian). In other words, Jack's turn from being afraid of his father to turning in his father screwed up his life.
Jin and Sun were touched by Jacob at their wedding. As Jacob reached out to them, he brought them together. In one respect, Jacob's touch may have solidified Sun "staying with" Jin even though she wanted out of her subservient marriage. It also put pressure on Jin to be his father-in-law's muscle in the dirty family business. They both wound up doing shameful things during their marriage.
Locke was touched by Jacob after Cooper tossed his son eight stories to his perceived death. Jacob's touch brought Locke back to life, with an apology. From that point forward, Locke would have been better off dead. His life was a crippling failure, leading to an unseemly death at the hands of Ben after failing in his one faithful mission to return to save the island and his friends.
We think Jacob touched Ilana in the Russian hospital bed. Jacob needed her help "again." It is not clear that her current injuries were a result of helping Jacob in the past, but her life turned into a bloody mess with four of her comrades killed by the Smoke monster, and she is on the run for her life on the island.
Sayid was touched just before crossing the street - - - which saved him but killed his Nadia. As a direct result of that touch, Sayid could not be a happily married man. His life reverted back to a cold blooded killer and a dark soul.
And finally, Hurley was touched in the back of a cab. Jacob convinced Hurley he was not cursed, so Hurley made the decision to go back to the island. If he did not go back, he would have lived the life of leisure with his parents as a millionaire. Instead, his life is on the edge in a supernatural war zone hell, created in part, by Jacob.
One could say the worst thing that happened to the touched characters was Jacob's intervention in their lives.
In the pivot final scene of Season 5, Flocke is recognized by Jacob as the MIB from the beach scene. Flocke acknowledges that he (MIB) had found the loophole to kill Jacob. The only motivation we know of is that MIB did not want Jacob to continually bring human (souls) to the Island. All they do, MIB insisted, was fight, kill and make a mess of things. This is the Conflict. The loophole the apparent solution to the Conflict.
Some comments on the relationship between Jacob and MIB. Both are apparently equals in some regard. They must have equal status or equal powers on or through the Island. The balance of power may be as simple as one controlling above ground and the other controlling above ground. They cannot directly kill each other, otherwise MIB would have killed Jacob on the beach. However, one can apparently get a human soul to do the evil deed under the right circumstances (the loophole).
Since we are fairly certain that MIB can manifest himself as Smokey, there is an open question on how Jacob can manifest himself.
It may get down to contact or touch.
We have seen Jacob "touch" the following characters: Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Locke, Ilana, Sayid and Hurley. All those contacts occurred off-island in public places.
We have seen MIB, as Smokey, have contact with the following characters: Seth the Pilot, Locke, Eko, Kate (scanned), Juliet (scanned), Nikki & Paulo (spiders), Ben (as shot boy taken to the underground chamber), and Alpert (? who took Ben into the underground chamber).
We can also suspect that since MIB is Flocke, that he can reincarnate the Dead who arrive on the Island: Christian and Locke. We have also seen MIB ghost in contact with Claire and Aaron (though Christian).
When we compare the Lists, we find that only one character was physically touched by both Jacob and MIB: Locke. And the tipping point in MIB's favor was bringing Dead Locke to the Island so MIB could reincarnate into Flocke, to lead follower Ben into a treasonous rage which results in Ben killing Jacob (the loophole) for MIB.
It may be a simple as a game of tag: with MIB "tagging" Locke twice to Jacob's once in so far as MIB creating and controlling Flocke in the end.
Point Four: The Rules
The key episode, "Ab Aeterno," which means "from eternity" in Latin, the series may have found its mission statement that it is a character driven show about basic human behavior: good, evil, temptation, redemption, life and death. Those are eternal struggles of mankind. The underlying hidden cake, the layers and layers of mystery, is the nature and purpose of the island.
From this episode, we can glean seven golden island rules:
Rule #1: No one comes to the island without Jacob’s permission. Except, Jacob himself was brought to the island by someone else. And "the island" had powers to control people off the island, such as Michael not killing himself in NYC.
Rule #2: MIB is trapped on the island because Jacob won’t let him leave. MIB cannot leave if Jacob (or his successor) is alive. We don't know if Jacob is telling the truth, or that MIB is merely gaining sympathy from his followers. Both brothers had the mantle of being immortal gods.
Rule #3: MIB cannot leave the island even by killing Jacob because someone will take his place. Again, we don't know if this is true or not. Jacob was given his powers from the island guardian, and there was no ceremony to pass it on to Jack.
Rule #4: Jacob can grant eternal life (with his touch to Richard), but he cannot give resurrect dead people or absolve people of their sins. Then why are so many ghosts and trapped souls (whispers) on the island? Many believe that the whole island experience, its danger and tests, are all means to get to a final judgment on a character's soul: pass fail, heaven or eternal nothingness.
Rule #5: MIB believes that it is in all human nature to be bad, to sin, to corrupt or destroy, and Jacob brings people to the island to “prove him wrong.” All prior people brought to the island to prove MIB wrong are dead. Then what is the point of continuing this experiment in humanity unless there is a more important purpose: to judge souls.
Rule #6: The island is a gate or cap that stops evil, malevolence from spreading (to somewhere?) The fallen angels were set to work to manage hell, where evil souls were tormented for their sins. In some ancient writings, there is a possibility that souls in hell could be redeemed and sent to heaven.
Rule #7: Jacob does not intervene or interfere with people brought to the island (even though MIB can), so he appoints Richard to be his intermediary, to act on his behalf. But in reality, Jacob can intervene any time he wants to, including appearing to Hurley as a ghost within a hour of his "death" at the hands of Ben.
Rule #8: Escape from the island is difficult. MIB calls this place Hell, and tells Richard that Jacob is the devil. In order to escape Hell, one must kill the devil. Richard's attempt to kill Jacob was MIB's first attempt to kill Jacob. We can infer that MIB cannot directly "kill" Jacob. He needs to act through some one else. But the survivors do leave the island, to be awakened in the afterlife.
Point Five: The Loophole?
If one believes that the sum of the series is the butterfly effect of avalanche of unrelated events converging at the island's final conflict of MIB defeating Jacob for the first time, here are THE MOVES MIB HAD TO MAKE TO WIN:
What did MIB/Flocke have to “go through” in order to kill Jacob? What were the moves required to get the result he wanted? I have yet to see anyone try to piece together the Rube Goldberg/Mad, Mad, Mad World time line of interrelated events, but here is my an outline of what MIB may have meant:
1. MIB needed BEN to kill JACOB, which required
2. FLOCKE planting the seed/justification for killing in BEN, which needed
3. DEAD LOCKE in order to trick BEN on his island return, which meant
4. BEN killing LOCKE when he heard LOCKE was working with HAWKING to get back to the island (and thereby assuming the leadership role), which would not have happened without
5. WIDMORE and ABBADON helping LOCKE try to round up the O6 group for the return flight to the island, because
5 A. the O6 had a deal with RICHARD to leave the island for saving BEN from WIDMORE’S team, which BEN knew about by
5.B. placing his man MICHAEL on the freighter, as a result of
5 C. a deal to free MICHAEL and WALT in exchange for capturing JACK, KATE, SAWYER and HURLEY by the Others, which lead to
5 D. JACK, KATE, SAWYER escaping Otherville with ALEX, who
5 E. was caught by WIDMORE’s man and killed, causing
5 F. BEN turn the FDW to hide the island from WIDMORE, causing
6. HAWKING in her pendulum Dharma station to try to find the island, because
7. BEN’s FDW causing the island to time skip, requiring
8. LOCKE to turn the FDW to reset the island with the instructions of CHRISTIAN,
8 A. Whose past fathered CLAIRE in Australia, which led to
8.B. Daddy issues with his son JACK, which led to
8.C. JACK turning on CHRISTIAN, leading him back to drinking and
8.D. CHRISTIAN dying in Australia, which made
8.E. JACK fly to Sydney to claim CHRISTIAN’s body and get it on Flight 815, so,
8.F. when Flight 815 crashed on the Island, CHRISTIAN’s body could be used by MIB to influence JACK and LOCKE, since
8.G. DESMOND’s failure to input the Numbers in the Hatch caused 815 to crash,
8 H. since DESMOND’s need to prove his honor to WIDMORE caused him to enter a sail boat race after
8. I. a stranger named LIBBY gave him her deceased husband’s boat, since
8. J. DESMOND had no job since he was fired from the monastery vineyard by BROTHER CAMPBELL, (who was friends with HAWKING) but
8. K. as a result, DESMOND meets PENNY, who he falls for, but WIDMORE objects to the relationship, which leads
8. L. PENNY to search the globe for the lost DESMOND, which leads to
8.M. a listening station finding a signal in the Pacific, which leads both
8.N. WIDMORE’s freighter soldiers to the island and
8.O. PENNY’s boat finding the O6 survivors after LOCKE turns the FDW, taking,
8.P. The O6 back to their problems stateside, including:
KATE on trial for murder;
JACK finding out CLAIRE is his half sister;
SAYID’S wife NADIA being killed,
SUN taking over father’s company and seeking revenge on BEN;
HURLEY going back into mental institution; which leads
8.Q. BEN to scheme with HAWKING to get the O6 to re-create Flight 815, which includes killing LOCKE, who was suicidal because he had failed to convince anyone to return with him, which could be caused by
8.R. LOCKE’s pathetic life of personal failures, which may have influenced
9. The island splitting into two time frames when he turned the FDW,with
9.A. 1974 flash where SAWYER takes the lead with JULIET, MILES, and JIN, who
9.B. in order to survive and await LOCKE’s return, join Dharma by helping AMY who was attacked by the Others, and in turn
9.C. SAWYER telling RICHARD about time traveling LOCKE which creates a truce between Dharma and the Others, which
9.D. changes SAWYER and JULIET into a happy Dharma couple, until
9.E. Flight 316 crashes on the Island causing a time flashes to 1977 and 2007, which leads to,
9.F. KATE, JACK, SAYID meeting up with SAWYER’s Dharma group,
which causes,
9.G. JULIET to doubt her relationship with SAWYER because of KATE, but adds complication when
9.H. SAYID shoots young BEN in order to save SAYID from his future killings, which requires,
9.I. JACK and KATE to bring dying young BEN to RICHARD to be saved,
9.J. which creates BEN as an Other, which leads to
9.K. BEN banishing WIDMORE from the Island after Purging Dharma, including killing his own father ROGER,
9.L. who blamed BEN for killing his wife by being premature, but that lead to,
9.M. HORACE coming across ROGER and BEN at birth for later recruitment of ROGER to the Island, which led to
9.N. ROGER blaming BEN for his crappy life, which led BEN to seek a way out with the Others, who are
10. The island’s native population that needed outside leadership “candidates,” which led them to BEN, who recruited many off-islanders including,
11. JULIET, who was recruited to deal with the island’s fertility problems, for which,
12. RICHARD thought was unimportant to the Other’s prime mission, but which led to
13. JULIET being the lead scientist with the Hydra confinement and manipulation of JACK, SAWYER and KATE, which led to
13.A. JULIET joining the 815 survivors as a spy and as a way to get off the island, away from the captivity of BEN, which
13.B. put her in the position of the 815ers who time flashed back to 1974, which
13.C. led her to have a long term relationship with SAWYER, which caused her
13.D. sacrifice herself to detonate Jughead to bring the time lines together, which
13.E. brought ghost JACOB to HURLEY when SAYID was dying at the van,
13.F. making HURLEY leader to direct the group to take SAYID to the Temple, where,
13.G. Dogen and Lennon drowned SAYID as his friends watched in horror,
13.H. then learning JACOB was dead from HURLEY causing the Temple to be on guard from “him” and laying out ash to repel Smokey, who
13.I. was at the Tawaret foot in the form of FLOCKE, recognizing RICHARD as a man once in chains, and beating RICHARD unconscious while being extremely “disappointed” with the Others, which now makes
14. MIB/FLOCKE in position of power on the Island by killing JACOB.
There is no way that TPTB had this mapped out at the beginning of the show.
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