A meeting of the minds.
Last night's season-five finale of Lost answered many questions in typical Lost fashion--by bringing up more questions at the same time. We take a look at some of the lingering mysteries and do our best to make sense of it all.
1. Who is Jacob's nemesis?
What a great intro to the show--two men on a beach looking at what appears to be the S.S. Black Rock coming to their island. Our attention is too concerned with the "it's Jacob!" bombshell to realize the big mystery here: who is the other dude? All we know is he wants Jacob dead, and he can assume the identities of the dead on the island. Some theorize he's the Smoke Monster, but I'm not so sure. I still think Smokey is a security system, as previously revealed.
Looking at Lost through Bible-colored glasses, we're inclined to think Jacob's nemesis is actually his brother, as dictated by the tale of Jacob, Esau, and their mother Rebekah. We'll refer to him as "Esau" until proven wrong. Other theories on the two include a God-Satan relationship, Jesus-not-Jesus opposites, and your basic good-versus-evil dynamic. But that almost seems too simple for Lost.
2. Who are Ilana and her people?
Cronies of Jacob, they have to be. Jacob visits a bandaged Ilana in a hospital in a flashback, and she agrees to help him. They obviously aren't strangers. We still don't know much about her backstory, or the backstory of Bram (her burly cohort), but just as Widmore has assembled a squad (the freighter folk), it appears Jacob has a SWAT team of his own. And, as Jacob whispers to Esau/Locke at the end, "They're coming."
3. What did Jacob mean when he said, "It can only end once"?
Esau/Jacob's nemesis claims that the approaching ship (we assume it's the Black Rock, possibly with Richard Alpert and company aboard) just wants to mess the island up… again. "It always ends the same" he says. To which Jacob replies, "It can only end once. Everything before that is progress." This is a huge hint into what's in store, and supports the theory that these time loops are simply trial-and-error for a greater result. Hear me out on this.
The two seem awfully nonchalant about a boat approaching--perhaps because they've lived this before. By tinkering with the "variables" (free will, humans, whatever you want to call it) in the equation, one can get a different answer/result if one tries enough times. Esau is content to assume everything will stay the same. Jacob does not--each "time loop" or whatever one calls it, is progress to a greater solution. We, as an audience, have simply seen one of the time loops… so far. The first five seasons were just progress folks, not the final answer.
Hurley is an excellent wheelman.
4. Okay, what's the deal with the statue?
This is a big stumper. It started off--for us--as a foot with four toes. Then we saw its back in "LaFleur," and now we've seen a partial profile of its face--which turned out to be a FRICKIN' CROCODILE or something. We've seen that there is something very Egyptian going on here, and in that mythology, Sobek is a crocodile-headed god whose purpose is sketchy at best; to some, he's linked to The Nile and fertility, to others, he's a frightening god with links to the dead. The Lost writers certainly know how to pick them, don't they?
5. What's in Hurley's guitar case?
Ummm… probably not a guitar. But seeing as how Jacob gave it to him, it could be a few things. We want to know what's in there just as badly as you do.
Comments (115)
Hi everyone, there's one issue on which I'd love to hear some thinking... Remember how in that Jacob v. MIB scene at the beginning of the Season 5 finale, Jacob was eating fish, possibly a red herring? GIven Lost's affinity for symbolic thinking, I was wondering if that has any meaning? My personal theory would be that Jacob, who we all assume to be the white/ie good guy is actually the bad one, whereas MIB/ie esau ist the good one.. Also, there's this parallel scene between Jack and Locke, where Jack essentially occupies the role of Esau/MIB with Locke doing Jacob's part, during 1x13 "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqruY6tlay4&feature=related"
Any ideas on that connection? Especially since MIB/Esau already seems to have taken the shape of Locke, plus the fact that Jacob has been killed and might need another pod...moreless
All these idea's and opinions about what has or will happen are what makes Lost soooooo great, it's a shame that within a 12 month period we(TV viewers) will have lost the only two shows worth watching on TV, Battlestar Galactica and LOST.
What I hope is Juliet is not dead. After having watched the finale, I think I have more questions now than before, but the truth is from season three the series has become greater episode after episode.
So much has been revealed in here, the statue what has something to do with the pregnacy (you can look up his name and verify it), the bomb that is never going to explode and you know that it is going to end up hanging in the air, know why they needed to push the button each 108 minutes.Now some questions aren't revealed, I am hoping to find it out soon :DGreat serie for people that like mysteries!
What about jack's dad? And Claire? There's so many questions. Maybe when the bomb go off, they travel to the time sun and ben are in.
How about this: Locke was killed in the crash and was always the man in black who leftthe island just to be killed and rise up again.
.... intriguing
What comes to the Jughead blowing up, I believe this is just the Losties doing what destiny dictates. Even the episode was titled "The Incident". Dr Chang always used that same word in the Swan station film - "there was an incident"... And therefore the button must be pushed every 108 minutes. So I personally don't think the bomb changed anything, it merely caused what had already happened: the incident. (And referring to Tawaret's statue, maybe the incident destroyed that, too)
The statue is Tawaret, Hippopotamus headed Goddess of Rebirth, Birth and the Northern Sky. She's the protector of pregnant women and childbirth. Problems with pregnant women and childbirth? Ring a bell with anyone? My theory is that the destruction of the statue caused the problems with pregnancy and childbirth on the island. However I'm not sure when the statue did get demolished.
The statue is Tawaret, Hippopotamus headed Goddess of Rebirth, Birth and the Northern Sky. She's the protector of pregnant women and childbirth. Problems with pregnant women and childbirth? Ring a bell with anyone?
JJ Abrahms official stated the statue was of Taweret
It seems that every one is going for Locke as being someone else scenario. Lost miss information time In this time tripping Locke seen himself, Kate seen herself and Sawyer and the son of Damama Dr has seen himself with all these duplicates could it be concevable that Locke is Locke from another time line and the dead Locke is also Locke but dead.
The statue I would go with the explosion destroyed it but still hydrogen bomb would it leave radiation problems, well we did have pycho polar bears. In this explosion scenario the problem is that 1977 group picture is on the wall did anyone notice 1978 picture as well?!
love the show in anycase as it makes you think
All I know is I stopped asking questions and just enjoy the show season to season, and everyone's speculations. This, and a concluded Sci Fi show have really entertained me over the years, and Lost will rate highly with me when it concludes, unless they really really depart from the logic they've laid out so far. If someone shakes a snow globe (the Lost earth), or Space Zeus and Space Odin are playing a board game over the island, I'll be pi**ed.
Personally I see this whole thing as Jacob and Esau (the smoke monster/something related to the smoke monster) trying to better each other. It's whether time is linear in their world which is most likely not. Jacob let Ben stab him because he knew once the bomb went off then this time line would cease and he would be resurrected. What I didn't get is why some of the characters would want to hit the reset button. It benefits Jacob in that Locke can't be manipulated, which leads to Esau taking his form, but everybody's life was screwed up anyway so why reset. Will they remember flashes of the alt timeline as well? Even though it was the logical place, I hated being left on that cliffhanger.
More questions, why did Sun end up in the present with Fake Locke and not the past with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid? What happened to her kid? What about Desmond? He always seems to be a wild card. And Jacob did give Sawyer the pen, he also told Kate to "be good", which a lot of kids tend to do the opposite. I think when Jacob talked to Jack, he seemed to inspire Jack, which might have made Jack a better surgeon. Jack needed to become a better surgeon so that he could save Ben's life. This is of course alluding to the fact that Jacob wanted Ben to kill him.
Uhm, was it really Jakob who told Sawyer not to finish the letter? I don't think so. I think it was the fat guy. Jakob actually gave him a pen to finish the letter!And concerning the guitar case, the first thing I thought was 'Charilie'.But as theories go, I'm not that happy with the one proposed here. ;-) No offense.
There's another unanswered question:
How are you so great at writing these articles?
This is my theory to the who's who; In the Hieroglyphic Writing that Jacob was creating, and hung on the back of the wall, symbolized Horas in two different ways; The wings are representation of the, "Winged Solar Disk", which is a form that the god Horus Behudety (Horus of Edfu) takes in his battles with Seth. The eye in the middle of the wings represents, "Udjat", which is The sound eye of Horus, and Symbolizes healing and protection. If I were to give my best guess, I would focus my thoughts more toward Egyptian Mythology, not Christian Mythology. Another facet that directs my thoughts this way, is the statue of Taweret, the 'Lady of Magical Protection', and seen as a goddess who guided the dead into the afterlife. As with her double nature of protector and guardian, she was also a guard to the mountains of the west where the deceased entered the land of the dead, which can be found in the “Book of The Deadâ€. The connection she carries with Horas and Seth are; Seth is said to have killed his brother Osiris, Horas who is the son of Osiris went into battle with Seth. Taweret was said to have been the concubine of Seth. This is somewhat confusing, because she is also said to be the mother of Osiris. In any regards, she took sides with Horus in a dispute over who was the rightful claimant to the throne of Egypt following the death of Osiris. There are numerous stories that conflict these thoughts, but I have a very strong feeling that the two individuals are Seth and Horas, why Jacob carries a different name not sure, but all the signs seem to point more in this direction, apposed to the Christian perspective.moreless
Here are mine two cents...Jacob knows pretty much everything about the Lostenians. Why he does that, we probably will never know. He wants some people alive, like saving Sayids life or maybe just be there so he can guide them to the correct path, whatever that may be. Our Lostenians just want to know their purpose and the existence on the island, where Jacob and "Esau" just want to end an endless loop. What I don't understand is why would Jacob tell John/"Esau", after he's been stabbed that "They're coming?" Is he trying to warn him? Who is coming? The angry crowd outside the temple or something/someone else? Are our crew from the past about to crash on the island? Could "Esau" be the smoke monster since he can change shapes and pretend to be somebody else? He did change into Ben's daughter who told him to stay with John/himself along the whole way.... Whatever happened in the past should not matter in the present. I do think that Juliet triggered the bomb, which destroyed pretty much everything. That is why we only see the foot of the statue in the present. Where are our past Lostenians now, since Richard did see them all die. If their plane did not crash in the future, why would Sun and Johns dead body still be on the island? What if the plane did crash, with the two not being on the plane? What if the people in the present are the actual "Others" who will soon torment the people who just crashed on the beech? It does look like a never ending loop. I could go on and on with what and why.moreless
the title lost will remain to stay as well as the losties.basically there isnt going to be a happy ending.LOST will live upto its name,tv shows never make happy endings.Jocob knew the plane would crash,he knew desmond was going to miss the count of 108mins.he can do that again.he visited these people at pre-determined times.as we all know writers twist things about.i do predict the plane will crash again and series will finish.lest not think lost is gonna answer all questions by the end of the season wel have more questions you never know there myt be a 7.lolthis show is a masterpiece can go to season 9 and still not have answers.
9. Did Jughead actually blow? And what are the consequences?
I think the bomb went off. I don't think the future will be changed. I think the "Incident" is what happened when they hit the pocket and things were being pulled in. I think the bomb stopped it. I think they were meant to go back and make sure the "Incident" was stopped so the "Swan" could be created. Remember Desmond’s key? The white flash was very similar
7. What is John Locke's future in the series?
I don't think he'll stay "dead". Jacob has already showed he can bring people (Locke himself) back from the dead. He brought Lockes body back to the Island for a reason. Other than to prove "Esau" isn't who he says he is. Because when you think about it, he never would have been able to impersonate Locke if they hadn't brought him. Which leads me to believe Jacob has a way of saving himself, most likely something Ilana and her group already have in motion?moreless
jacob gave the pen to sawyer in order for him to finish the letter not to prevent him doing so
*their
To add fact to all the confusion, the statue is indeed Tawaret, as officially confirmed on abc's website. I'm afraid it is not Sobek, even though I agree they look very similar. So the person who said it "freeking was Sobek" has to check there facts.
Great article :)Thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
ok we have had comments on who people think jacob and nemesis are..but any thoughts on what the temple is and what makes it special that it has a black monster alarm system in it that black monster will destroy any 1 with evil in their heart the temple only seems to let people with the pure of heart enter.. could it be a spaceship remember the sickness the frenchies got.. radiation poisening???? remember J.J. Abrams a science fiction nut so aliens dont seem to be that absurd...in all honesty i think most of the answers are there already you just have to put the pieces together and notice how that when the island transports people it transports them into the middle east?? think about that for a second!
Jacob told Kate to "be good" because he knew based on her character, that she'd probably do the opposite of what she was told. As for Sawyer, Jacob gave him the pen to finish his letter, he did NOT tell him not to finish it, as you said. Some other dude told him to not finish the letter. Do your research.
and to find out what happened to then original people...why did they leave were they killed or just decide to go out into the world and leave jacob and nemesis behind obviously the 2 of them can leave the island so what keeps them there??And what are the rules???
also remember ben still knows alot about the island and its rules remember his confrontation with charles and he couldnt kill charles because of the rules..also how he mentions charles changed the rules....what requires rules.....A GAME i believe this whole thing is a huge chess game between light vs dark and humans are the chess pieces..what id like to see most from this is at least a few episodes of the time of the temple people back the hundreds maybe thousands of years before hand to get some answers...just explaining there presence their wont be enough but to see it would be awesome
Do you remember the last time there was an explosion, a flash of white. My theories are that perhaps they did change the future and they do land safely in LA but with full recollection of the past events (like Desmond remembering and time travelling confusion we saw previously).
Don't know if this has already been said, but. The whole thing with Jacob telling Ben he had a choice, got me thinking about 'free will'. Angels?Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Lucifer jealous when God gave man free will? Which resulted in him being cast from Heaven.Could the whole thing just be a wager, to see what man does with the power of free will? About how our most insignificant choices can have such widely felt ramifications?Ok. I'm thinking out loud again.
i remember watching season1-4 in 4 days.well i ddnt sleep.it was that good.anywhaeres obviously here we know jacob has been killed or sort of killed thrown into the fire 90% we know hes going to be the smoke monster.on the other hand dead locke is dead for real but has resurrected from the dead as isau.i do think isau knows who jacob is like a LORD i guess and sends BEN to kill him so his hands dont hold any blood.in season 6 im sure we are told about the black rock(anyone ever wondered how it ended up inside the jungle).im sure the black rock must have thrown a missille to the statue n left the foot.i do think in the end theyl end up on the camp and look for rescue.time travel has had a huge impact on the show...cant waitmoreless
Great article :) Not because I think it's right (this is Lost, right?)... but because it has some great ideas :) I was of the opinion that time cannot change. Lost has done such a great job of saying nothing can change and I've liked its time travel because of this. BUT Daniel Faraday's idea of this "one big change" is intriguing for the story. In this "new timeline", it's possible that Daniel never left the island - nor did the doctor's son Miles and Charlotte (who was on the sub escaping the island). Perhaps the Dharma guys were never killed by the others? Sure Jacob's grand plan would still be in action - there's enough reason for him to still touch the same people. Perhaps those most touched by the island will remember their other timeline. Imagine if the series opens with child Ben waking up in the island cave (after being healed from being shot), and remembering EVERYTHING that had happened in his future, except the blast, and he now has a chance to develop an entirely different relationship with the island. The humans could come together in this war-of-the-gods.moreless
Personally I don't think the bomb went off. To be all practical and stuff: there is no way the mechanism in the bomb would have worked in the crazy intense magnetic field down that hole. If anything (other than a strategic edit and computer generated white flash) happened it was that the magnetic anomaly pulsed like it did when the hatch blew. If you remember Desmond and Locke were "transported" when that happened. Why wouldn't the same thing have happened to Juliet? And note they showed an extreme close up of an eye opening as a teaser for next season. Could it be Juliet? The whole "Let's blow up the magnetic anomaly with an h-bomb to change the future" thing never made much sense to me. I think Faraday had kind of gone looney and was not thinking clearly with that bomb ideaAnd who cares about Claire and or Charlie? Those story lines are dead and gone. I hope the mystery guitar case doesn't attempt to bring them back.moreless
With all respects, I disagree with some facts to the 10 lingering questions answered. 1. Jacob wants everyone to return to the island or land there in the first place. He saves sayid as he would have been killed with Nadia.
2. Jacob saves Kate being taught a lesson aabout doing the wrong thing. When Jacob came to her aid, she discovered that it was good to do bad as long as there is always a way out.
3. Jacob gives Sawyer the pen to finish the letter as Sawyer would maybe have not finshed the letter without a working pen.
4. The thing with Hayley and Locke is obvious.
5. With Jack trying to change the future? I don't thing anything changed. If they did change future, the time line with fake locke having jacob killed would become void and all that would change meaning none of that ever happens and well the LOST writers are smarter than that.
6. To me it seems that fake Locke and Jacob are some kind of exiled demigods. In the begining Jacob offers him the fish and the evil thing (whatever it is) doesn't want it saying "I have already eatten". And I don't think it eats just fish. Fast forward to where F.LOcke is taking the others to see Jacob and tells them "You should take a good rest, coinsidering what I have planned for you" Maybe a feast for the beast is in order? 7. I was hoping for the answer to the question hayley rasied whike the hatch in season two. "Why not just have a button to press instead of punching in the numbers?" This wasn't ever answered and as I am saying nothing has changed so maybe this will be answered in season 6 and somehow the survivors make it back to their own time just to see the final battle between the orignal suprenatural forces of the island.
8. It is obvious Jacob is dead but not gone. For a man who can see in to the past and the future and maybe even master time traveling, he didn't go to all the trouble of bringing them to the island, if it ends with him being killed off by Ben.moreless
Um Jacob never told Sawyer not to write the letter, he gave him a pen to WRITE the letter. He was obviously trying to get them ALL to GO to the island. These were hardly answers....
Even if the bomb goes off, I believe nothing will change at all, only come in a slightly different order. Jacob will still have visited them all in childhood (Kate, Sawyer) or in other parts of their lives, and all the other events that lead up to them being together on th Island in the first place- will have had an impact on them. This means they´re all predestined for this, and only the order of things might be moved...
I also believe Jacob and the other guy are som kind of double identity gods - deitys that are 2 sides of a coin - they are one and the same - good and evil - yin and yang - god and the devil. They obviously can´t just kill eachother off by knocking the other on the head, but have to do it more elaborately- thus meaning otherwise they can´t change eachothers destinys. The fact that "evil" needed Ben to do it was simply because he cannot do it himself - he cannot kill "good" - only man can...moreless
I do hope that the bomb did go off, and they changed the future or the past. The fact that Locke, Juliet, Sayid, Daniel are dead is just unacceptable to me. :(
or they just mean a candidate for their group.. they asked him what lies in the shadow of the statue and he didnt know.. and they brought him along because they dont want to kill any1 they dont have to and what possible threat is he also he ties in with the other lost survivors so why not bring him along they brought him that far...
i think when illana said that lupidus could be the candidate she meant candidate for killing Esau as Locke is the loophole for killing Jacob
tell you what would be awesome tho that after the bomb goes off instead of going back to there own time they travell right back to the beginning when the origanl island dwellers the ones that built the temple are there and the learn what the island is all about and thats where they get all the answers from then get sent back to their own time for a showdown with nemesis armed with all the knowledge he has...
ok the case.. anyone think jacob gave it to him as a gesture to assure hurly that he wasnt nuts and the conversation he had with him was real.. if you think about it hurly was thinking he was crazy talking to dead people and such notice tho after that conversation hurly accepts wats happening to him as real remember the conversation he has with miles in the van when miles tells him he can talk to dead people and hurlys like me 2 but seems more at ease with it than hes been before..
Something I pointed out to my frieds that I have always found amusing about Lost: The names John, James and Jack are derived from Jacob. Jacob means successor.
I think the Esau guy is Jacob's brother like Cane and Abel and he is the evil and jelous brother. Can't wait to see what happens next with Jacob
About "answer" 9. Anyone remembers what Miles had said? Everything what they did might be exactly as they did before and what's gonna lead them to get to the oceanic 815 etc. I think Miles was right. Doing nothing (witch is extremely difficult, I dare say - impossible) could be a solution. But then again, that case could be the one leading them on to the plane.. When it comes to time travel you can't really be sure if what you're doing - you haven't done before. I guess they will end up in the old camp 30 years later with no change at all. It's gonna be interesting..
Nice answers :) maybe some are just like supposition but possibly... why not ?? :) 1 - correctI think answer about Jacob is good in 100%2 - wrong3 - can be correct4 - correct5 - don`t know6 - misterious...7 - don`t know it can be everything...8 - I dont think about that like this but ... It can be true...9 - ?10 - go go go Season six ( Ocean six, six numbers ... )