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Jacob

See also: Jacob/Theories

Identity

• Jacob is an entity that reflects the person looking at him.
• Jacob is The Monster
  • As the Monster, Jacob has been attempting to communicate with Locke ever since "Walkabout", and later again in Exodus, when he/it attempts to drag Locke down a hole.
  • Just as the Monster appeared as Yemi and judged Eko, it now appears as Jacob to judge Locke.
• Jacob is a god or some other powerful entity, and existed previous to the arrival of the DHARMA initiative. He has super-natural or super-human powers, and has the ability to take different shapes. He was a leader to the natives in the Island for centuries and the 4-toed statue that Sayid, Sun and Jin saw when sailing round the Island is a tribute to him.
  • But only special people can talk to Jacob, not all of the others. Which is why Richard was so interested in what young Ben's visions and essentially trained and recruited him with "patience". Ben learned to harness his ability to see people and sees Jacob, and Ben feels threatened when Locke speaks to Jacob, because he's afraid Jacob has selected another "special" person, since power has corrupted Ben.
• Jacob is a spiritual representation of Magnus Hanso or someone else from the Black Rock, as evidenced by wearing what appears to be similar clothes to Richard Alpert.
  • The freeze frame of Jacob is actually Locke.
• Jacob is an older, more rugged, Alvar Hanso.

Jacob as seen in "The Man Behind the Curtain". Jacob may be Alvar Hanso.

• Jacob is the spirit of Roger, Ben's father.
• Jacob is Locke in an another timeline.
• Jacob is "The Island", and controls its powers.

Damon Lindelof confirmed that Jacob's character had not been cast in May 2005 which means that up to that point (before Season 4) Jacob didn't have an outer appearance at all.

General

• Jacob is imprisoned by Ben, and the substance that surrounds the Jacob's cabin forms a magic circle to contain him. In some cultures, salt drawn in a circle is said to contain spirits. Jacob's plea of "Help me" can thus be seen as a plea to help Jacob escape from Ben.
  • Ben talks to Jacob in a rather casual way. He does not appear to be scared of Jacob. This may further support the theory that Jacob is somehow being restrained by Ben. He may be restraining Jacob in some way but at the same time keeping him alive: because he needs Jacob to sustain his own authority over the Others.

• Ben shares a unique relation with Jacob, as evidenced by his sole ability to see and communicate with him. This bond allowed him to become the leader of the Others.

• Jacob has grown tired of his relationship with Ben and is in the process of selecting Locke as the new "chosen one". Locke and Jacob share a distaste for technology, and Locke is more honest and true to the Island's way of living.
• Jacob wants Locke to help him work with Ben. However, Ben isn't content sharing his exclusive relationship with Jacob and tries to kill Locke.

• • But Ben expected Locke to be able to see and hear from Jacob when they walked into the cabin. Ben might feel threatened because Jacob said something to Locke that Ben didn't hear, but that's not about giving up the exclusive relationship.

• Jacob was not angry when Locke turned on his flashlight, but instead attempted to prevent Locke from revealing that he was spoken to. Jacob wants Locke's help without Ben's knowledge.
• The scene inside the cabin was purely an act. Ben’s dialogue shows that he knows that he’s introducing Locke to an empty chair and has prearranged the supernatural elements (shaking chains, glass breaking) that work with the low light and creepy setting to create enough power of suggestion that Locke actually sees Jacob briefly.
  • Locke isn't very suggestible, and is in fact very skeptical. If it was a set-up, it wasn't a very good one, because Ben's conversation with Jacob was too overtly Hitchcockian to be persuasive. Ben seems genuinely disturbed by what happens in the cabin.
  • Ben uses the myth of supernatural power to keep some of The Others in line. Only an inner circle of Ben, Richard Alpert, and Mikhail know the truth, and Richard and Mikhail set up the "haunted cabin" bit to further deceive Locke.
• The gray powder actually protects Jacob from other spiritual beings, natural phenomenons, or the Monster.
  • Jacob is one incarnation of the monster, and the monster also inhabits the gray dust surrounding the cabin.
  • The gray powder is the material that was in a container offered (real time)/will be offered (episode time) to the child Locke by Alpert ("Cabin Fever"). That's why Locke pauses to examine it. It's unclear from the events at the cabin whether Locke does or does not remember the exactly where he's seen the powder before. Ownership of the material represents the ability to contain Jacob.
• Jacob is rendered invisible by the same forces that render The Island invisible.

• • Jacob's power is rendering both invisible.
• Demons do not like salt. Maybe the gray line outside Jacob's house was salt, and it was meant to contain Jacob, if he is some kind of evil being.

• The powder is to contain Jacob/The Cabin in one location, making it easier for Ben to locate him if he needs to. Hurley stumbled upon the cabin in the woods and while approaching it, disturbed the circle of powder - lifting the position fix it had. Hence, Locke & Ben cannot find the cabin now as it is moving around the island at will

Ben

• Ben actually can't see Jacob, but knows that Jacob is supposed to be there. His conversation with Jacob is fluent and has the feel of dialogue with a real person. However, when Locke hears and sees Jacob, his voice is strained and says "Help Me". This would suggest that Ben is somehow controlling or manipulating Jacob's will, and why Ben kills Locke, because Locke sees what Ben should see but can't.
  • Technically he "tried" to kill Locke, you don't see him die
  • Jacob asks Locke for help that Ben was unable to provide. Ben is not controlling Jacobs but is no longer useful to Jacob.
• Richard Alpert mentored Ben as an experiment, leading him to believe that he had unique privileges. He is now doing the same to Locke to see how Ben reacts. Since Alpert ages slowly, he would have the time for such a prolonged experiment.
• Ben's fanatical devotion to solving the question of why pregnant women die on the Island is tied with his personal experience with his own mother, and wants to stop it happening again to anyone else.
• Ben's motive for shooting Locke was to prevent him from becoming the next leader of the Others, and scaring the Others into submission.
• As Locke states earlier in the episode, Ben really is "the man behind the curtain." He treats Jacob almost like a child ("That's enough! You've had your fun!") and Jacob does seem to be trapped in a way (saying "Help me" to Locke). Thus Jacob is the wizard - the being with the real power, while Ben is the operator - the man behind the curtain - who controls him.
• Ben is kind of a religious fanatic, who either proselytizes or kills "unbelievers".

Locke as a rival to Ben

• Jacob once asked Ben to "help him", which resulted in Ben outranking Richard and eventually becoming the leader of the Others. This his why Ben flinches when he learns Locke was told the same thing. He fears Locke and sees him as a threat to his power, understanding Locke is the new "Chosen" of Jacob.
• Locke is in the process of becoming the new leader of the Others. The Island seems to be punishing Ben. When he got cancer, Juliet was extremely surprised, giving the impression that people don't get cancer on the Island. Locke so far has shown the most remarkable recovery from an ailment on the Island. Richard indicated in the last episode that such a recovery meant that Locke was very special. Also, Jacob has communicated with Locke, something he has seemingly only done with Ben in the past, which seems to be what makes Ben the leader of the Others.
  • Richard Alpert, Tom, Juliet, and Alex see Locke as a potentially new leader of the Others, which is why no one came to Mikhail's aid.
• Richard saw Ben as something special when Ben claimed to have seen his mother. This is what qualified him to become their leader. Locke is seen as even more special. Little do the Hostiles realize that many of the Losties have had similar and even greater experiences than what Ben has had, and a few as great as John's.
• Ben's attempt to embarrass John by requiring him to kill his own father was an object lesson to the Others. It was a reminder of what he was willing to do to become their leader; something John can not bring himself to do.

The Purge

• Ben's requirement of Locke to kill Anthony Cooper in order to join The Others is a reflection of when Ben killed his father to gain acceptance with the "hostiles."
• Annie wasn't killed in the purge: Ben had no reason to harm her. Annie possibly had a continued relationship with Ben until some point.
  • Annie died as a result of becoming pregnant with Ben's child.
• The children (assuming there were children at the time) were in school just before DHARMA was purged, and were safely taken away.
• Selected children were saved and later brainwashed in a similar way to Karl in Room 23
• After the Purge the hostiles assumed the role of DHARMA, and basically stole their identities. The outside world that supported the DHARMA Initiative thinks the Others/hostiles are DHARMA. The remaining Others were recruited under the DHARMA identity.
  • Regardless of whether they have actually assumed the role of the new DHARMA Initiative, the Others are still constantly supplied by the DHARMA Initiative (as is evidenced by their supplies).
• Ben received leadership because of his role in the purge. Although perhaps he didn't initiate it, Ben made sure he was on the winning side.
• The "purge gas" was later used on Rousseau's expedition.
• Ben & The Others plan to use same "purge gas" to purge the Losties from the Island.
• This was not the Purge at all, but a preemptive strike on the part of the Natives to save themselves and anyone who was sympathetic to their plight.
• The purge is also known as "the sickness".
  • They were giving the same DHARMA shots out (presumingly for the sickness) when Roger received his work assignment, well before the purge.
• The Purge, from Mikhail's words, was an initiative from DHARMA, so it's not the killing of the Barracks' inhabitants: the Purge was the reaction from the DHARMA survivors at the other stations, but they lost the battle and the Hostiles killed them all.
• The Purge was not what we just saw. Rousseau is part of another group of others who then led the Purge against what was then to believed to be DHARMA. The gassing of the barracks took place earlier then 1992. Rousseau has been lying about what she knows.
• Ben was lying in some way to Locke about the Purge. We can realize about Ben's con when he tells to Locke that DHARMA Initiative people died because of the gas. But this is not true at all (at least it is not true for one of the DHARMA Initiative members) because the killed corpse which Locke is observing in the common grave wasn't killed by the gas but by the shot of a gun (the skull has what looks like a bullet hole on it). Furthermore it seems that Locke realize it. And just after that, Ben shoots Locke before Locke can do anything with his knife.

Aging

• The Island has obviously been shown to have some sort of healing power. Due to the odd properties of the Island, aging slows to a very great degree, allowing Richard to appear the same age some 40 years ago as he does now.
  • In Richard Alpert's first meeting with Ben in the jungle, he appeared to be wearing pirate's clothes. This could indicate he is a crew member of the Black Rock and has been on the Island for a very long time.
  • After telling Richard that it was his birthday, Ben Says "You do remember birthdays, don't you, Richard?" This suggests that Richard is very old but does not age normally.
  • Joop (TLE) is an experiment exploring the same island effect that keeps Richard from aging.
• Aging is the "sickness." The DHARMA Initiative workers were seen inoculating themselves much in the same way that Desmond was seen doing in The Swan. Desmond mentioned to Charlie and Claire that the vaccine does nothing, but in reality he would not have noticed its effects (because all it did was make him age normally).
  • This is unlikely however, as Rousseau states the sickness made her crew "Go mad" after a couple of months.
• Certain people on the Island age faster compared to those that are off-Island. Richard is immune to this accelerated process for unknown reasons.
  • This could also explain the problem that women have giving birth on the Island; the reason that the body views the fetus as a "foreign invader" is that it is aging/growing at an accelerated rate.
• While most parts of the inhabitants on the Island are not experiencing aging, the females' uterus' are experiencing normal, or rapid aging. This explains the birth problem, and is supported by the CT scan that Alpert showed Juliet when he convinced her to come to the Island, of a woman whose uterus appeared to be 70 years old, but she was only 26
• The Others are part of the "Life Extension Project". This would explain the Producer's contention on the podcasts that the Losties are not dead, in hell or in purgatory
• Richard is not aging because he's a time traveler. He leaped from the 70s to the 90s, in order to meet an older Ben who can help him in the purge. This is why he did not age during these 20 years.
• The Hostiles are experiencing time backwards. (See the excerpt from the Lewis Carroll book, with Alice having a discussion about experiencing time backwards -- first the king serves jail time, then he's put on trial, then he commits the crime.) Time will only go so far on the island (re: Valenzetti Equation), and then it will start to go backwards, but along the same timeline as the people still going forward. So if there is, for example, a 27-year-old woman with a 70-year-old uterus, it is because that woman is actually 70, but is going backwards over the year in which she was 27.
• Richard Alpert in Ben's flashback is actually just a form of Jacob. Richard shows up later, and he really does age. Jacob is able to project himself in the form of future/Past Island inhabitants. This would explain Ben's mother showing up on the island, because it was really Jacob. Also, this adds to the theory that Ben's mother was on the island at some point before she died, and possibly the reason she died. Perhaps if a child is conceived on the island then the mother will die regardless. Same with Walt and possibly others.
• Four toed people don't age.

The Hostiles and the Black Rock

• The Hostiles are the original crew from the Black Rock and not descendants, since they would not be able to successfully conceive.
  • It is unlikely either is the case. Why would the crew or descendants of a C19th British ship speak with modern American accents? Why do they wear modern (post-70s) clothes?
• The "Hostiles" are the descendants of the crew of the Black Rock who have ceased to age upon their arrival on the Island. This is evidenced by their old, pirate-looking clothing. Ben describes them as the "Original Inhabitants" of the Island, but they are obviously not Pacific Islanders in ethnicity.
  • The "Hostiles," are still involved with the Hanso Foundation. The blast door map says that the Black Rock is the final resting place of Magnus Hanso.

DHARMA

• The DHARMA storyline is largely irrelevant to the overall LOST storyline
  • This season is about shifting from DHARMA mythology (Season 2-3) to island mythology (Seasons 4-6)
  • The Lost Experience was a way to keep fans interested between seasons, but the "secrets" revealed don't contribute to the Island mythology.
  • Alvar Hanso, the Valenzetti Equation, etc. are details of what DHARMA was doing, but are largely irrelevant to the Island and its natives (The Hostiles).
  • The real story is about the natives, where they came from, and what they are capable of.
  • The 4-toed statue, Jacob, and the Monster were mysteries to DHARMA.
• The DHARMA Initiative achieved their goals on the Island despite the Purge.
• Paik Heavy Industries, the Widmore Corporation, Mittelos Bioscience, Apollo Candy and Oceanic Airlines are all fronts for the Hanso Foundation. The various coincidences off the Island are all explicable by the actions of these and other members of this consortium. Ben is still serving Hanso interests on the Island, manipulating the Island "natives" without their complete knowledge. Richard Alpert is a double agent, having ostensibly betrayed his own people in a coup d'etat that set up Ben as leader while working subtly against him. Most of the rest of the present Others are off-Island recruits like Juliet, so effectively Hanso employees.
• The DHARMA employees off the Island were unaware of the attack by the Hostiles. This is because once someone has signed up for the initiative, one effectively signs their life away, with no members allowed to return to the mainland. This is evidenced by Roger saying to Ben that he is "stuck on this island".
  • This doesn't explain how Horace was able to offer Roger the job he so desperately needed. If Horace was not allowed (or not able) to return to the mainland, how could he have gotten involved with Roger's plight?
• The DHARMA Initiative is still active on the Island. Not all DHARMA members were killed, only the ones at the barracks. The rest went into hiding elsewhere on the Island and are continuing their machinations. This is evidenced by the continuous food supply drops

Annie

• Annie, as well as the other children, will play a part in the storyline later in the series
• Annie died before the Purge.
  • In the last flashback Ben is starring at the doll that Annie gave him in a very sad way, she's probably dead or apart from Ben somehow.
    • It's worth noting that the doll that Annie made, aside from the hair color, looks exactly the same as Ben's mother appears to him, in a blue dress. Throughout the flashbacks, you do not see either Ben or Annie wearing these clothes.
• Ben had romantic feelings towards Annie in his youth.
• Annie escaped from the Purge
• Sometime between their childhood and adulthood, Annie went with Ben to join the Hostiles.
• Annie survived the purge and became involved with Ben. Annie died giving birth to their child, and that is why Ben is obsessed with solving the childbirth problem (In "The Brig", Richard tells Locke that many of the Others are tired of focusing all of their attention to this issue).
• Annie became pregnant with Ben's child before the purge. Ben's anger at this was the final trigger to be involved with the hostiles.
• Annie is Rousseau.
  • Unlikely, given change in accent/hair colour/general appearance.
• Ben had twins with Annie before the purge, and they are taking refuge in the "Looking Glass" with the older Annie. They are Bonnie and Greta.
  • Not likely since Ben had Mikhail kill Bonnie and Greta. Besides, Bonnie and Great look nothing alike. Even fraternal twins are somewhat similar. And they don't need to "take refuge" since the other "Others" know about them (Mikhail thought they were "on assignment in Canada").

32 Miles outside of Portland

"Portland" has been verified as being Portland, Oregon. Variations between seasonal vegetation and climate are derived from the series being filmed on the island of Oahu and should not be promoted to any mystical significance.

Volcanoes

• Jacob is in tune with the volcano. His feelings and emotions cause it to rumble and rupture. In the past he caused it to erupt, killing the real 'original inhabitants' of the Island. This will be further explored in Season 4, whose major set piece is rumored to be 'The Ruins' of the Island.
  • Very unlikely - assuming the Island may run similar laws of nature to the real world, the dynamics of volcanic activity would not permit non-stochastic tremors and eruption events.
• The Volcano will become more active in later episodes
  • The lesson in class about volcanoes was simply a set-up for what happened next: a shaking classroom which makes the audience think that a volcano is erupting. In reality, the writers were probably using that as a set-up to introduce the idea of the Hostiles. (Much in the way the episode began with a birth in what looked like a jungle, only to reveal that it was the woods of Oregon.) It's unlikely that the volcano will erupt anytime soon if at all, and it's more likely that the emergency positions the kids took were precautions against gunfire from the hostiles.
• Olivia's instruction about adding WATER to bicarbonate is inaccurate - vinegar or a similar acid is needed for a reaction, water will do nothing.
  • It's not just water, it's bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water. The scene [1] simply started one step late.
    • There is no sense in missing out this part of the scene - it is unlikely that the producers would knowingly miss out this important piece of chemistry if they were aware of the actual reaction involved.
      • it was possibly taken out because it was irrelevant to the plot and they needed to cut down the show to fit into the set time of the show
        • If they were going to cut it down for time, she would have just said 'vinegar' to begin with, since everyone knows that you add vinegar to baking soda to create an 'eruption'. She specifically said 'water' twice. The second time with a bit of emphasis.
          • The producers of shows will usually change one ingredient in a formula as to not give ideas to kids watching TV.
            • Except in this case, children already know the ingredients needed for this formula, I doubt any of us learned about making "volcanoes" as adults.

Ghosts

• All the dead people that are seen are ghosts.
• Ghost stories usually revolve the same themes that are associated with appearances of ghosts on the Island:
  • Warning others of impending doom.
  • Attempts to draw others to death, so they can join them in the afterlife.
  • Help in making the transition to the "other side".
• The dirt was that Locke was checking out was part of a "magic circle" surrounding Jacob's shack in order to protect or keep him in. Alternatively, it could keep the other ghosts on the Island out.
  • The substance that was in a circular pattern is likely volcanic ash rather than dirt. The scene where it is found closely follows Olivia's description of the island's volcano (which erupted "a long time ago"), the substance appeared to have a fine texture, a grey color, and judging from Locke's sniffing it, a strong or strange odor.
    • Although it is unlikely that ash would have fallen into a neat line like this substance was arranged

Mikhail

• Mikhail does not fight back, or retaliate, because he also realizes the shift in power which is happening. He is starting to view Locke as a new authority figure, as opposed to an adversary.
  • He was probably just wiped out. The guy barely survived the sonic fence, ran through the jungle at top speed, got beaten up by Jin, and then ran all the way to the Others' new location. That would be pretty tiring.
• The Others do not step in and assist Mikhail when Locke is beating him up because of how it makes Ben look.
• Or to put it another way, they don't help Mikhail to send a message to Ben or show support to Locke.
• Mikhail was purposefully deceptive when revealing information to Ben; he wanted to mis-inform Locke.
• The others don't help Mikhail because he allowed the Survivors to enter the barracks area, instead of sacrificing himself like Mrs Klugh did.
• Mikhail still has access to a vast knowledge source, as evidenced by knowing the exact distance and direction of Naomi's boat. Alternatively, while he aided Naomi, she told him additional information off-camera.
  • Naomi told her rescuers about the boat and it's distance from the shore. Mikhail could have overheard the conversation and his sudden appearance was a scheme to get closer to Naomi for more information.
• Mikhail still wears the Dharma Initiative uniform because he wants to be recognized by any Hanso people who come to the Island looking for the Dharma Initiative survivors.

Miscellaneous

• Richard's lack of aging is a reference to The Lost Boys from Peter Pan, as suggested earlier in "The Other 48 Days" with the teddy bear
• The plot element of DHARMA arrivals being assigned their new jobs -- and one being angry about it -- is reminiscent of the protagonist Equality 7-2521 in Ayn Rand's novella Anthem. He wanted to be a scholar, and was in fact a brilliant scientist, but was assigned to be a street sweeper. The society in which he lived was averse to change, and afraid of technology. Equality rediscovered electricity and developed a light bulb, but the society was using candles, and thus rejected his invention. He ran away to an overgrown forest, where he rediscovered the concept of individuality.
• Horace's last name is Goodspeed. Goodspeed is an alternative spelling of the word Godspeed, which is the name of one of the 3 original ships that brought the first settlers to Jamestown. Horace brings Ben and Roger and presumably others to the Island, which is like the Jamestown settlement in numerous ways: it is remote from civilization, it offers the promise of a new life, there are conflicts with the existing inhabitants, etc. While Jamestown was not technically an island, the landbridge between Jamestown and the rest of the coast was often flooded, making it appear to be an island. Jamestown was named for the King James I, who nominally ruled the colony although of course the colonists never saw him and the British crown played little role in their daily lives. James is an English variant of the name "Jacob" who may rule the island, although almost noone ever sees him.