Forget everything I said previously about what I thought about who the potential candidates are to replace Jacob, and conceivable MIB. I have a new, even more compelling theory, based on what seemed to be an almost throw-away line by Sun in last week's Richard Alpert-centric episode.
Before I go into that, however, a few words about that episode.
We finally learned a lot about Richard Alpert last week, though any reveal concerning him wasn't exactly earth-shattering. We did learn why he never ages. Jacob did not possess the power to restore to life his lost love Isabella, nor did he have it within his means to forgive "Ricardo" his sin of accidentally killing the doctor who refused to heal her of the tuberculosis that eventually claimed her life. Since Riccardo could find no one to forgive him for this sin, he opted for the one gift Jacob could bestow-eternal life, a life that unfortunately would keep him eternally separate from Isabella.
We also learned how the statue of Tiawaret was destroyed-a gigantic tsunami wave crashed the Black Rock into it, while somehow leaving the Black Rick itself intact. We'll just assume for the sake of argument that the wave actually gets the lion's share of the credit for smashing the statue, and the Black Rock just helped it along.
We saw how the island was explained as a cork in a bottle which contained the evil of the Smoke (by the way, could MIB, and Jacob as well, possibly be Djinn?). MIB symbolically destroyed the bottle, telling Jacob that the latter would see him "sooner than you think".
Finally, Riccardo, now convinced that he has been dead and in hell all along, digs up the crucifix necklace that had belonged to Isabella from where he had buried it after the MIB had given it back to him, having found it after the wreck of the Black Rock, the ship on which Riccardo had been destined to voyage to a life of slavery in the "New World", a previous bit of good fortune he had experienced due to his rudimentary at best knowledge of English, and his strong, white teeth. (evidently his lush eyebrows were not a factor).
Anyway, having dug up the necklace, Riccardo proclaimed that he was now ready to accept MIB's previous offer, provided it still stands. That's when Hurley appeared, and convinced him that Isabella was still with him, relaying her messages to him. Riccardo was convinced to stick with the good side. It probably was not that hard a sell. MIB had previously scanned Riccardo's mind and presented an illusion of Isabella, which told him they were in hell and the devil was after them. She run and was seemingly attacked by something Riccardo assumed was the same smoke monster that had earlier destroyed the ship's crew and Captain Whitfield, plus what few of the slaves were left that Whitfield himself had not run through with his sword.
MIB appeared and convinced him the devil was-Jacob, of course. When Riccardo went with the dagger, given the same speech by MIB as Dogun had earlier given Sayid, he got his ass kicked. He was then almost drowned by Jacob, which convinced Riccardo he was still alive after all.
Riccardo now has the mission of acting as an intermediary between Jacob and the Others, and anyone else Jacob brings to the island, including the survivors of Flight 815, all of whom Jacob would prefer to avoid. He wants them to make the right decisions of their own initiative. He thinks they have that capacity. The MIB does not. He thinks all mankind is by nature evil, violent, and corrupt.
It all goes back to the season five finale, "The Incident", where MIB and Jacob were engaged in conversation outside the statue, both watching the approach of a ship that may or may not have been the Black Rock, depending on who you believe.
MIB declared that "it always ends the same", that they come, they fight, they corrupt, they destroy, etc.
Jacob's response was telling.
"It only ends once", he replied. "Everything else is just progress."
It only ends once. In other words, this "game" has been going on for, presumably, centuries at least. All of which begs the question-and it is an important one-
Why would Jacob and MIB appear-in 1867-to Richard, a Spanish prisoner and slave with a rudimentary at best knowledge of English-as two English speaking Americans? Would this conceivable be the true forms of two entities who have existed for centuries, if not thousands of years?
The obvious answer to this would be that the forms of Jacob and MIB are themselves former candidates-chosen replacements of previous replacements, all of whom have taken on the mantle, for a limited time span, of what I hold to be two different sides of the same schizophrenic personality, the life force of the island.
You have the coldly calculating, shrewdly rational Jacob, in an ageless conflict with the primal, emotional, contained rage and chaos of the MIB.
So, if it only ends once, it stands to reason that the coming end will be more than just which candidate replaces Jacob, and presumably which of the other candidates replaces MIB. Whoever replaces him (or them) this time around will finally bring the ages old contest to an end. But how? Will MIB be killed, or destroyed, his vast terrible energy broken up and dissipated?
I don't think so. For one thing, while that might sound reasonable (even obvious), its a bit too pat of an answer. I think there's more to it than that. I think that the goal will turn out to be to establish a resolution to the on-going conflict that will entail re-integrating the two sides of the personalities of this schizophrenic entity.
To that end, I remind those who watched last week's episode of what might have been the biggest reveal of the evening, yet one that went so fast, if you blinked, or farted, or burped, you might well have missed it.
That reveal, which had nothing to do with the Riccardo saga-
Sun identified herself as a candidate.
Whoooahhh! Think about that. Sun-identified herself as a candidate. That is a significant development.
Previously, we only knew that one of the candidates was named Kwon, and that the Kwon in question might be Sun, or it might be her South Korean mobster husband Jin. Not even Illana expressed a knowledge of which one of the two was one of the six candidates, and some have even speculated that the candidate might be Sun and Jin's child.
But let's think about this. All of the candidates have one thing in common. They have daddy issues. Sun does, but insofar as I am aware, Jin does not. He was simply a hired thug of Sun's Korean mobster father, who more or less arranged for the two of them to marry.
However, there is another point that might be even more pertinent. And that is-what if both of them are the true candidates? What if Sun ends up being the candidate to replace Jacob, while Jin ends up being the candidate to replace MIB-or vice versa?
Remember, even though Sun and Jin were forced into a marriage, they grew to love each other, and have sought each other for three years, ever since they were separated by events on the island.
Remember also, that when MIB takes on a form, he seems to also adapt the personalities, and well as memories, of the form he takes. This was on full display in episode four of this season, when False Locke (Smokey in the form of John Locke) on being reminded by the unknown child who confronted him that he could not kill somebody, went into a rage and screamed "Don't tell me what I can't do!"
So there you have it. If Sun takes on the identity of Jacob (or MIB), and Jin takes on the identity of MIB (or Jacob), does it not stand to reason both Jacob and MIB will adapt the same personalities, emotions, memories, etc., as these two prospective candidates?
If this is true, could this not help but lead to a re-integration of the two warring personalities?
Remember-It only ends once. Everything else is just progress.
For that matter, it could well be that the other candidates are yet not out of the picture in the grand final scenario. With the island now transformed into a veritable hidden paradise, they too could have a role, as candidates for other missions. Hurley could be a replacement for Riccardo, who might finally find peace and salvation, and go off to spend eternity with his beloved Isabella. Sayid, hopefully healed of the darkness taking him over, could be a replacement for Dogun, whom he killed, as Temple Master. Jack could be the new leader of the Others. And so on.
Tonight's episode, the tenth of the season, will be Sun and Jin-centric, so maybe we'll see some more clues that might shed more light on things.
