Biblical... Jacob and Esau.

why was it so easy to kill Jacob.

Maybe the loophole is to get someone else to strike the lethal blows, then "Locke" could then finish him off by rolling him into the fire. Where did the Black Rock come from?

Biblical... Jacob and Esau.
I don't see how the story of Jacob and Esau applies to this show at all. Care to explain your theory?

I understood that the person (which is what I'll refer to him as) with Jacob at the start can't kill Jacob (and Jacob can't kill him) for whatever reason. The loophole was then that the leader of the Others (Locke) was murdered, so the person could take over his identity and as a result get to see Jacob. And as an added bonus Ben would do whatever he wants him to.

One thing I really don't understand is how this guy knows everything about Locke. And another thing I don't understand is why he needed Alpert to take him to the statue, he'd been there before. Why couldn't he and Ben just go?

Your thinking is similar to mine. There are some metaphysical "rules" whereby Jacob and his rival can't kill each other, just as Ben and Charles Whidmore can't (as discussed in Whidmore's room off the island). The loophole that Jacob's Rival found was to get someone else to kill Jacob for him. Problem is that only the Leader can meet Jacob.

I think that when Ben killed Locke and then subsequently got back to the island, Ben was in fact the leader again, although no one knew it. Locke was still dead, but was just being impersonated by Jacob's rival. I assume that the reason Locke/rival needed Richard Alpert to show him where Jacob lived was merely to keep up the ruse that he was a resurrected Locke.

Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins who spent the majority of their lives in a fierce rivalry. When Esau finally got the upper hand and killed Jacob, Jacob's children rose up and overpowered Esau and his followers.

Ben was in fact the leader again, although no one knew it

That makes perfect sense. Wow I never thought I would say that about Lost. ;)

Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins who spent the majority of their lives in a fierce rivalry. When Esau finally got the upper hand and killed Jacob, Jacob's children rose up and overpowered Esau and his followers.
I guess there are some similarities, but I think with all of the Egyption references (Statue, Jacob's tapestry showing the Eye of Horus, other hieroglyphics, etc), my Osiris/Set battle makes much more sense, although sense probably means little!

Also, I noticed that on the ABC website, the episode recap indicates the statue is that of Taweret (the Fertility Goddess), although I still think the head of the statue looked a lot more like a crocodile (ie Sobek), than it looked like a hippo.

Here's Taweret:

http://www.zarifas.com/images/products/h/hippo_goddess.jpg

Sure looks like the statue on Lost. Check the toes...

The statue was almost certainly a depiction of the ancient Egyptian god Sobek. My guess is that Jacob and his antithesis are either the Egyptian gods Sobek and Set, or Osiris and Set. They are using the people as their pawns.

In the episode recap on ABC's website the statue is identified as Taweret, a hippopotamus-headed goddess. I am not at all convinced. The head looks a lot more like a crocodile (Sobek) but it has fairly pronounced ears and no large head-piece. I do not believe it is Sobek, or Anubys (as has been previously thought by most). I looked in several places and did not find any that had all the characteristics of the statue in the show. On top of everything, the statue is holding not one, but two ankhs. I believe this is not a previously known Egyptian god or goddess, but something created specifically for this show. Notice also that the writing on the walls has a lot of Greek letters, and Richard and the Others from the '50s spoke Latin.

Should have read all th eposts. That picture of Tawaret is holding two ankhs, and is a lot less hippo-like than the one I saw elsewhere. Tawaret was the goddess who protected women during bpregnancy and childbirth.

Tawaret was the goddess who protected women during bpregnancy and childbirth.

Interesting...

Actually, if you look at a freeze of the scene that shows the statue, the face looks like a lizard. JJ Abrahms may be doing a bit of a Star Trek shout out there. :rolleyes: It would have been funny if, upon seeing the statue destroyed (only the foot remained), Locke had kneeled down on the beach and shouted "Damn you all, you finally did it." :D (See closing of Planet of the Apes 1968 for those unaware.)

I heard a rumour that they have actually shot some of the last season waaay back in the first as the plane ends up crashing again but with a different outcome. This way the actors would look like they did back in 2004. JJ and crew have stated that this was always a series with a definite "end" to it. So it would have been prudent to shoot back then. The actors at the time would not really know what the scenes were for, but would be told not to reveal what they shot. Hmmmmm.

Great show. Looking forward to the last season. Hope they keep the writing/directing/acting up.:cool:

Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins who spent the majority of their lives in a fierce rivalry. When Esau finally got the upper hand and killed Jacob, Jacob's children rose up and overpowered Esau and his followers.
Not sure why you think that Esau killed Jacob. The bible indicates that Jacob and Esau reconciled. In the book of Jubilees, Esau and his sons rise up against Jacob, but Jacob kills Esau and defeats the rest of the attackers.

I just watched the finale today so here goes...

Osiris and Set or God and the Devil, I think in the end it's obvious that there is a "good" being and an "evil" being and the whole thing has merely been a struggle of good vs. evil.

At first I couldn't figure out which one was good and which one was bad. Then I was convinced that Jacob was the bad one for several reasons. In bible stories and such it is always the devil who tempts people, or tries to push them in certain directions and God usually stays out of it. But then it dawned on me that Jacob was there, in a lot of moments that helped people out and he was trying to ensure that they would all make it to the island because for one reason or another they deserved to be there. And then at the end the other guy kills him so now it seems even more likely to me that Jacob is/was good and the other guy bad.

So here's my theory, it's very biblical but hear me out. The island is the garden of Eden. Jacob (or God) wants to bring people to the island so that they can be happy and all that, since in the conversation with the other guy at the beginning the other guy asked him why he keeps trying to bring people to the island. But human nature being what it is, no one on the island is ever content and they end up fighting each other (apparently over and over as the other guy mentioned) and in one way or another people are banished and not allowed to ever come back (Adam and Eve).

Also, Jacob brought the Black Pearl to the island which was a slave ship. If anyone deserved to be in paradise it would have been the slaves on that ship. Also if Richard was the captain of the ship (as some one said previously) his punishment could have been to always be in the service of Jacob and to act as the middle man between him and the "leader" and that's why he never ages.

Now the ending, where black turns to white and white to black. That kind of threw me since white is good and black is bad right... but I think that it just means that the situation will now be the opposite. For now Jacob was running everything and even though it all seemed so bad (black background) the intention was really good (white logo) and now everything will seem good on the island (white background) but really things will be controlled by the evil guy (black logo).

Anyways, it's far out there and I have no idea what they could do with this next season but that's my theory.

Best theory I've read so far, s-fuzzy. I'm on board with that until someone shows me something better.