***Originally posted 5/14/09***

Last night was all about Jacob, the island’s most intriguing character… so let’s start at the beginning!

In the shadow of the statue in the year 1845, blonde-haired, blue-eyed white-clad Jacob and his dark-haired, dark-shirted nemesis spotted the Black Rock just offshore. This was clearly a nod to the show’s black vs. white theme:

Sidenote: The Others funeral garb is identical to Jacob’s white tunic.

The unnamed nemesis then asks how the ship found the Island and accuses Jacob of having brought it there (which he didn’t deny). The man claims that people brought to the Island always bring destruction, corruption, and “that it always ends the same”. Jacob replies that it only ends once and anything before that is just “progress”. The unknown man tells Jacob he badly wants to kill him and that one day he will find a “loophole” which will allow him to do so.

This scene reminded me of the late-night London confrontation between Widmore and Ben, with Widmore in white and Ben in black, saying something like killing each other was against the rules… Perhaps they are the next-generation Bad Twin power struggle of good vs. evil?

The rules of this game seem to be: They are prohibited from spilling each other’s blood. The loophole? Embody a dead guy to do the dirty work for you.
The Biblical legend of Cain and Abel tells us that Cain’s punishment for slaying his brother was to wander the world for eternity. But Cain remained mortal; indeed, he was kept alive by a mark that warned people away from messing with him lest they wanted to get smited by God. Cain then settled east of Eden, in the mythical ”land of Nod,” or ”land of wanderers.”

It is widely believed that this man in black is based on biblical Jacob’s fraternal twin, Esau. Not only are they actual twins (Bad Twin theme), but when “Esau” later possesses Locke’s body, he creates a Bad Twin version of the same person (Locke).

More about Jacob, Esau, and Benjamin…

The Bible says Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham and Sarah and of Bethuel, and the twin brother of Esau. He had twelve sons and one daughter, the last of whom is named Benjamin. Before the birth of Benjamin, Jacob is renamed “Israel” by an angelic being, the name after which the modern nation of Israel is named. As a result of a severe famine in Canaan, Jacob resettled his whole family in Egypt, in the Land of Goshen, at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. Jacob died there 17 years later, and Joseph carried Jacob’s remains to the land of Canaan, where he gave them stately burial in the same Cave of Machpelah as were buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca and Jacob’s wife Leah.

Jacob and his twin brother, Esau, were born to Isaac and Rebecca after 20 years of marriage. Throughout that time, both Isaac and Rebecca prayed fervently to God for offspring. Rebecca was extremely uncomfortable during her double pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering so. The Midrash says that whenever she would pass a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to come out; whenever she would pass a house of idolatry, Esau would agitate to come out. She received the prophecy that twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, and after they became two separate nations. The prophecy also said that the older would serve the younger; its statement “one people will be stronger than the other” has been taken to mean that the two nations would never gain power simultaneously: when one fell, the other would rise, and vice versa. Traditionally, Rebecca did not share the prophecy with her husband.

When the time came for Rebecca to give birth, the first to come out emerged red and hairy all over, with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out. Onlookers named the first Esau. The second is named Jacob, meaning “he who follows upon the heels of one”). The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. “Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Moreover, the attitudes of their parents toward them also differ: “Isaac loved Esau because game was in his mouth, but Rebecca loved Jacob.”

SALE OF THE BIRTHRIGHT:
According to the Talmud, immediately after Abraham died, Jacob prepared a lentil stew as a traditional mourner’s meal for his father, Isaac. The Hebrew Bible states that Esau, returning famished from the fields, begged Jacob to give him some of the stew. (Esau referred to the dish as, “that red, red stuff”, giving rise to his nickname, Edom, meaning “Red”. Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn), and Esau agrees; the Talmudic dating indicates both men were 15 at the time.

Now did you catch the reference to this lentil stew/birthright story in the show last night? RED fish! In fact, it’s a “red herring” on a “black rock.” (symbolism)

Jacob grills and eats a fish on the beach; this is similar to an action of Jesus following his resurrection in John chapter 21.

DECEPTION OF ISAAC:
Much later, Isaac became blind in his old age and decided to bestow the blessing of the firstborn upon Esau. Uncertain of death, he sent Esau out to the fields to trap and cook a piece of savory game for him, so that he could eat it and bless Esau. Rebecca overheard this conversation and realized prophetically that Isaac’s blessings would go to Jacob, since she was told before the twins’ birth that the older son would serve the younger. She therefore ordered Jacob to bring her two goats from the flock, which she cooked in the way Isaac loved, and had him bring them to his father in place of Esau. When Jacob protested that his father would recognize the deception and curse him as soon as he felt him, since Esau was hairy and Jacob smooth-skinned, Rebecca said that the curse would be on her instead. Before she sent Jacob to his father, she dressed him in Esau’s garments and laid goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate hairy skin. Thus disguised, Jacob entered his father’s room. Surprised to perceive that Esau was back so soon, Isaac asked how it could be that the hunt went so quickly. Jacob responded, “Because the LORD your God arranged it for me”; Rashi (on Genesis 27:21) says Isaac’s suspicions were aroused because Esau never used the personal name of God. Isaac demanded that Jacob come close so he could feel him, but the goatskins felt just like Esau’s hairy skin. Confused, Isaac exclaimed, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau!” (27:22). Still trying to get at the truth, Isaac asked him point-blank, “Are you really my son Esau?” and Jacob answered simply, “I am.”  Isaac proceeded to eat the food and to drink the wine that Jacob gave him, and then he blessed him with the dew of the heavens, the fatness of the earth, and rulership over many nations as well as his own brother. Esau was filled with hatred toward Jacob for taking away both his birthright and his blessing. He vowed to himself to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac dies. When Rebecca heard about his murderous intentions, she ordered Jacob to travel to her brother Laban’s house in Haran, until Esau’s anger subsided.

Jacob and Esau were very deceptive, filling them with hatred towards one another. As predicted before their birth, Esau (the older twin) was made to serve the younger (Jacob), through a series of cons by Jacob and his mother, Rebecca. Esau vowed to kill Jacob, but was unable to do so until their father Isaac passed away 57 years later (he was 180 at death and 123 when he delivered Jacob’s blessing)….

JOURNEY BACK TO CANAAN:
As Jacob neared the land of Canaan, he sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau. They returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. With great apprehension, Jacob prepared for the worst. He engaged in earnest prayer to God, then sent on before him a tribute of flocks and herds to Esau, “a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob”. Esau’s spirit of revenge, however, was apparently appeased by Jacob’s bounteous gifts of camels, goats and flocks. Their reunion was an emotional one. Esau offered to accompany them on their way back to Israel, but Jacob protested that his children were still young, and suggested eventually catching up with Esau at Mount Seir. According to the Sages, this was a prophetic reference to the End of Days, when Jacob’s descendants will come to Mount Seir, the home of Edom, to deliver judgment against Esau’s descendants for persecuting them throughout the millennia. Jacob actually diverted himself to Succoth and was not recorded as rejoining Esau until, at Machpelah, the two bury their father Isaac, who lived to 180 and was 60 years older than them.

Jacob transported his family and flocks across the ford Jabbok by night, then recrossed back to send over his possessions, being left alone in communion with God. There, a mysterious being appeared, and the two wrestled until daybreak. When the being saw that he did not overpower Jacob, he touched Jacob on the sinew of his thigh, and as a result, Jacob developed a limp. Because of this, “to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket.” Jacob then demanded a blessing, and the being declared that from then on, Jacob would be called Israel (meaning “one that struggled with the divine angel”). Because of the ambiguous and varying terminology, and because he refused to reveal his name, there are varying views as to whether this being was a man, an angel, or God.

Jacob then made a further move while Rachel was pregnant; near Bethlehem, Rachel went into labor and died as she gave birth to her second son, Benjamin (Jacob’s twelfth son). (Sound familiar of Benjamin Linus’ birth, causing the death of his mother??)

THE EGYPT CONNECTION:
Joseph was separated from his father Jacob at the age of 17 when his brothers, who had been jealous of his dreams of kingship over them, sold him to traders heading down to Egypt, then-capital of the slave trade. Jacob was deeply grieved by the loss of his favorite son, and refused to be comforted. Unbeknownst to the family, Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chief butcher. He resisted the advances of his master’s wife for a long time until she accosted him and then accused him of trying to rape her; he was then thrown into prison.

After Joseph had spent twelve years in prison, the Pharaoh of Egypt had two troubling dreams, and his butler recalled having met Joseph, a successful interpreter of dreams, in Pharaoh’s prison. Joseph was called from prison and interpreted the dreams as prophesying seven years each of abundance and famine; Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph viceroy (second in command) over Egypt and the manager of Egypt’s grain stores, due to the prophecy of famine. When the prophesied famine struck throughout the known world, Joseph sold stored grain to men of all nations.

In the first year of famine, Jacob sent ten sons to Egypt, excluding Benjamin, to procure grain for their starving families (Genesis 42:3). Joseph recognized them but did not reveal himself to them; desirous to see his full brother Benjamin, of whom they had spoken, Joseph accused them of being spies, imprisoned Simeon as a hostage, and demanded Benjamin be produced to verify their claims. Jacob was distraught by this news, concluding that Simeon was as lost as Joseph, and refusing to send Benjamin, even in response to a rash vow by Reuben. Benjamin is taken to represent all that is left to Jacob of his favorite wife’s children.

When famine worsened the second year and food stores ran out, Judah pledged his own honor to Jacob that he would protect Benjamin from harm, and Jacob relented and sent the brothers again. On meeting them, Joseph threatened to imprison Benjamin, but Judah offered himself in Benjamin’s place. Interpreters say Joseph had tested his brothers with this threat and recognized that Judah passed the test, by refusing to sell Rachel’s son into slavery as he had done once before. Overcome with emotion, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and provided for them to move Jacob’s entire family to Egypt. Jacob’s family, including 66 direct descendants, were housed by Joseph in the Egyptian province of Goshen. Jacob’s final 17 years were spent in peace and tranquility in Egypt, with all 12 sons.

The problem with this comparison is that Jacob and Esau ultimately forgave each other. I didn’t get sense that that kind grace and détente are possible for Lost’s Jacob and…whomever. But for now we’ll refer to him as Esau 😉

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The Black Rock arrives in 1845, and it is apparently not the first time the island has had outside visitors. I’m betting this is how/when Richard arrives, since he was shown building a model of the Black Rock last week…

The shot then slowly moves up, revealing the statue from the side in its entirety. The statue appears to be that of an Egyptian deity with the head of a crocodile and holding two Ankhs.

And suddenly, with the slightly different camera angle, we find out the statue is Sobek, not Anubis…

For comic nerds!
Sobek is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. The Golden Age version of the character was one of several alien Crocodile Men who joined the Monster Society of Evil under Mister Mind. The current Sobek was first believed to be a bioengineered humanoid crocodile, created in Dr. Sivana’s lab. Sobek is found in Dr. Sivana’s residence and befriended by Osiris. He is named Sobek after the Egyptian god. From then on, Sobek puts on a facade of cowardice and timidness (essentially becoming the Black Marvel Family analogue of Mister Tawky Tawny) to fool everyone around him. He convinces Osiris to give up his powers after Osiris had killed Persuader. Once Osiris becomes human, Sobek quickly devours him. Sobek is revealed to be Yurrd the Unknown, one of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips, representing Hunger. Yurrd has been created along with Roggra, Zorrm, and Azraeuz as a group of bioengineered monstrosities sent to attack the Black Marvel Family. Yurrd was the first to be sent out as a sleeper agent until the time looks right to strike. Yurrd is killed by Black Adam. A shot shows Black Adam wearing new boots, which the writers revealed in interviews to be in fact made of Sobek’s flesh.

Egyptian God Sobek:
Sobek, a morally ambiguous dark god who oversees dark waters and preys on sinful souls in the afterlife. (Very Smokey.) Even worse, Set, the Egyptian god of chaos and evil, was a shapeshifter who often morphed into crocodiles and hippos (another candidate for Four Toed’s face) in his clashes with archenemy Horus (aka Horace Goodspeed). A Christ-like figure dwelling within a statue that’s a monument to evil makes for a nifty metaphor for redemption. But it could mean Jacob is the devil. Time will tell.

Wiki:
Sobek was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River. Egyptians who worked or travelled on the Nile hoped that if they prayed to Sobek, the crocodile god, he would protect them from being attacked by crocodiles. The god Sobek, which was depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile was a powerful and frightening deity; in some Egyptian creation myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos to create the world. As a creator god, he was occasionally linked with the sun god Ra. (“R-A”…Richard Alpert!) Gradually, Sobek also came to symbolize the produce of the Nile and the fertility that it brought to the land; its status thus became more ambiguous. Sometimes the ferocity of a crocodile was seen in a positive light, Sobek in these circumstances was considered the army’s patron, as a representation of strength and power. Sobek’s ambiguous nature led some Egyptians to believe that he was a repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself, for example, going to Duat to restore damage done to the dead as a result of their form of death. In this way, he was seen as a more primal god, eventually becoming regarded as an avatar of the primal god Amun, who at that time was considered the chief god. When his identity finally merged, Amun had become merged himself with Ra to become Amun-Ra, so Sobek, as an avatar of Amun-Ra, was known as Sobek-Ra.

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FLASHBACKS
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Jacob was shown interacting with our characters in every flashback last night… Except Juliet’s, curiously. I’m betting she was merely brought in to help with the fertility issues and not FATED to be there like Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Kwons, Locke, etc. hence no Jacob interaction pre-island.

But when Jacob appeared as an apparent random stranger to our heroes, he sure had a thing for physical contact:

Tapping Kate’s nose (“Promise to never steal again.”):

Additional quick notes on Kate’s: Kate is seen trying to steal the lunch box that she and Tom Brennan buried as a time capsule. In addition, Tom is seen playing with his toy airplane.

Handing Sawyer a new pen (“I’m very sorry about your mother and father, James”… Did Jacob have a hand in orchestrating their death via Anthony Cooper??):

Asking Sayid for directions (“Can you help me? I’m lost.” Hehe…):

Handing Jack an Apollo candy bar (“Maybe all it needed was a little push.”):

Healing Locke with a touch on the shoulder after his fall (“Everything will be fine. I’m sorry this has happened to you.”):

Exiting the cab with Hurley (“Ajira Flight 316…all you have to do is be on that plane.”):

Wishing Sun & Jin well after their wedding (“Cherish the time you have together and never let it go.”):

Each of these close encounters included a conspicuous touch. The touch of his hand on Locke’s shoulder appeared to have brought him back to life, a miraculous outcome for his 8-story fall, courtesy of island magic. His effect on everyone else was not as clear… But we know that Kate and Sawyer’s path leading them to the island has been set for them since they were children.

Jacob seemed to be building loopholes and failsafe devices into each castaway’s life that will allow them to cheat death by Jughead. By physically touching each of them, he marked them in a magical way. And more, I’ll bet you that they will retain all the memories of their past lives. Which means, for example, that Young James Ford will have knowledge of his fate — and can choose to try to change it, if he wishes. This is part of the great gift Jacob has given them: Not only new life, but the capacity to create their own destinies — a destiny which could include, if they wish, to go to the Island of their own free will… And they will.

In Locke’s, Jacob is seen reading “Everything That Rises Must Converge” — a collection of short stories by Flannery O’Connor that was published posthumously in 1965, containing 9 short stories:

• “Everything That Rises Must Converge”
• “Greenleaf”
• “A View of the Woods”
• “The Enduring Chill”
• “The Comforts of Home”
• “The Lame Shall Enter First”
• “Revelation”
• “Parker’s Back”
• “Judgment Day”

In the title story, human weaknesses are exposed and important moral questions are explored through everyday situations. Critics view the story as a prime example of O’Connor’s literary skills and moral views. In the story an arrogant young man takes a fateful bus trip with his bigoted mother. The mother doesn’t like to ride the recently racially integrated bus alone. Their relationship shows tensions when a black mother and son enters the bus. Through irony, the blindness and ignorance of the characters are exposed. The title “Everything That Rises Must Converge” refers to an underlying religious message central to her work: aiming to expose the sinful nature of humanity that often goes unrecognized in the modern, secular world.

”O’Connor…claims that it is her specific goal to offer a glimpse of God’s mystery and, thus, to lead readers — whom she sees as, for the most part, spiritually lost in the modern, secular world — back toward the path of redemption.”

(That could indeed be Jacob-esque, provided he’s good…)

As it happens, Flannery O’Connor’s aforementioned book takes its title — “Everything That Rises Must Converge” — from a phrase coined fellow Catholic provocateur named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who concocted a theory of evolution called “Omega Point.” Basically, it’s the idea that there is some kind of transcendent entity or consciousness that is guiding everyone and everything toward greater complexity and enlightenment, until everyone and everything becomes transcendent, too. More simply, it’s Jacob’s view: There is a single end; everything before then is progress. Chardin believed his Omega entity was basically Jesus Christ himself. His phrase, “everything that rises must converge,” is a poetical expression of a key Christian idea known in the Greek apokatastasis. It’s like the opposite of apocalypse, or rather, what comes after apocalypse. Apokatastasis is the idea that in the end, Satan will be defeated and that all of creation will be redeemed and unified under Christ. “Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.” (John 12:31-32) Or, again, to use a line from the show: “He who will save us all.” That, my friends, is the answer, translated from Richard Alpert’s Latin, to Ilana’s riddle: “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”

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In Juliet’s flashback, Jacob is not present. HOWEVER, we get a Jacob connection with the presence of Juliet’s sister, Rachel… Which also happens to be the name of Jacob’s favorite wife, and the mother of his 12th and favorite son, Benjamin.

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In Ilana’s flashback, she is badly wounded and in Russian-speaking hospital. Jacob arrives and apologizes that he couldn’t be there sooner, then asks for her help. I found this scene infinitely intriguing, because it sets up Ilana – who seemed up until now to be a pretty minor character – as someone who has a direct relationship with Jacob himself. She’s his right-hand woman, so to speak (i.e. getting Sayid on the Ajira plane, acting as a marshall). Her connection with the island seems to be similar to Richard’s. Perhaps she’s the non-aging female force of the island’s history, Richard’s counterpart? The name Ilana is of Greek origin, and its meaning is “Trojan”. The poetic name for the ancient city of Troy was “Ilion”.

– – – –
1977
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When Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet arrive back on the island from the sub, they are greeted by Vincent (!), who has been in the care of Rose and Bernard for the past three years. Rose explains to the trio that she and Bernard are now retired and live a quiet life near the beach, scavenging food and avoiding detection from the Dharma Initiative.

Know what else is near the beach? The caves…where the Adam & Eve skeletons were found! Could Rose & Bernard be Adam & Eve? Jack found a bag with 2 stones near the bodies… One black and one white… Rose & Bernard themselves are black and white… They may have died last night in 1977… Hmm…

In the tunnels, there’s some bomb-dismantling going on led by apparent bomb expert Sayid (who knew! haha…) When Eloise is about to enter the basement to secure the area, Richard knocks her out to prevent her traveling with them to detonate the bomb because she is pregnant. I think this pregnancy is what Charles and Ellie were arguing about over future-Dan’s dead body last week, sidenote. Also, Richard may have just saved Dan’s life by stopping her.

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Miles was completely correct when he suggested that Jack’s quantum suicide-bomber act would actually produce the very ”incident” they were trying to subvert — that they would be fulfilling history, not re-making it.

Nevertheless, this brilliant plan winds up getting Sayid shot in the abdomen. Jack and Sawyer get into a fist fight, which is broken up by Juliet, who now agrees with Jack that they must detonate the bomb. When Sawyer asks why she’s changed her mind, she tells him it was the way he looked at Kate, and although they love each other, they are not meant to be together. If they never meet then she will never have to lose him. What a FANTASTIC reason to detonate a bomb, Juliet! I think the island’s way of course-correcting comes into effect by unrealistically wrapping a huge metal chain around Juliet’s midsection which drags her to certain death within the pit. She was not visited by Jacob as a child = she wasn’t meant to be there. She does, however, survive the massive fall. Realizing her mortality, she picks a rock and hits the hydrogen bomb’s thermonuclear core 8 times until it seemingly detonates.

As Jughead KABOOMed! and the screen flooded as white as a clean slate — a reverse-negative of The Sopranos’ infamous cut-to-black series finale — we were left to wonder: Was paradox produced? Did the timeline collapse? If so, to what extent will things be different, if at all? And why didn’t it detonate on impact in the first place? We’re left to wonder if Sayid tried to sabotage Jack’s Jughead plan…

Sidenote: the bomb in the show is named and historically represented by the code name Jughead for Operation Castle nuclear test on Bikini Atoll, which took place March/April 1954. Jughead appears to be a Mark 16 nuclear bomb, which has a design yield of 6-8 megatons. A bomb this big would absolutely disintegrate the tiny island!

– – – –
2007
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Locke assigns Ben the task of killing Jacob and provides motivation by reminding Ben of the all the bad things that have happened to him. Quite the role-reversal! Remember when Ben was trying to manipulate Locke into killing his father to determine if he was “ready” to join the Others? But this wasn’t actually Locke, it was “Esau” coming back 162 years later to exact his revenge on his estranged twin Jacob via a mysterious “loophole”. Ben’s discussion with Jacob about his misfortunes despite his loyalty to Jacob, a higher power, is similar to the story of Job and God in the Book of Job.

At this point, the group stops to take a brief break at the survivor’s old campsite, and they make a big deal of showing Sun finding Charlie’s DriveShaft ring in Aaron’s cradle. Foreshadowing for more Charlie involvement??

The Ilana/Bram/Lapidus group travels to Jacob’s cabin where they find the ring of ash around the cabin disturbed. Ilana enters the cabin and finds it deserted except for a scrap of cloth bearing a picture of the Statue. Ilana tells the others that Jacob hasn’t been to the cabin for a long time and that someone else has been using it. She orders the cabin set on fire, and the group proceeds to the Statue.

I now think I think that Esau (from the first scene) and the smoke monster are one in the same, and that he/it can embody whoever has passed away (Christian, Claire, Locke, and Alex). Ghost Alex is the one, after all, who told Ben to do whatever Locke tells him to do. And in that scene it is implied that Alex is the smoke monster (it scurries away just as she appears)… And if Esau is portrayed in the first scene as the Black side of things, it fits that he is associated with the black smoke, the black dark cabin, the black ash surrounding the cabin, etc. I also think this was Esau’s eye, as seen by Hurley in his accidental encounter of the cabin alone at night:

– – – – –

At the remains of the statue, Locke demands to be led to Jacob, and brings Ben with him against Richard’s wishes. Richard pushes a stone door open, and Ben and Locke enter a chamber in the base of statue. Locke hands Ben a knife, telling him that “things will change” once Jacob is gone.

Things will change, indeed! Jacob has been providing a very different rule of the island than Esau would have liked. Jacob allows outside visitors, he sees their presence as “progress”. He brought the Oceanic bunch, as well as the (implied) Black Rock, among others. Esau seemed to see history — or at least, history on the Island — as an endless cycle of darkness and despair. You also got the sense he was weary of playing whatever role it is he plays in this drama. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed to see history/just Island history as a forward moving saga marked by incremental progress. These castaway dramas he stages on the Island are building upon each other and leading toward something that he desires very, very much. Esau, on the other hand, expressed homicidal contempt for Jacob and his ambitions.

We see the completed tapestry that Jacob had been working on in 1845. Front and center is the Eye of Horus — a reference to both Alpert’s guyliner and Horace’s namesake. What I find AWESOME here is that there are 2 levels of figures shown bowing and worshipping what looks like a representation of the sun god, Ra (shown with rays. Further proof that Richard is Ra, in my opinion!  There’s also a lot of Greek writing at the top… Potential nod to Ilana’s Greek name origin (Ilion)?

Ancient Greek (from Homer’s Odyssey 6:180 and 8:413):
“ΘΕΟΙ ΤΟΣΑ ΔΟΙΕΝ ΟΣΑ ΦΡΕΣΙ ΣΗΣΙ ΜΕΝΟΙΝΑΣ”, which means, “may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires”
“[ΘΕΟΙ ΔΕ] ΤΟΙ ΟΛΒΙΑ ΔΟΙΕΝ”, which means, “may the gods give you happiness”

Outside, the Ajira group arrives, and Ilana asks for “Ricardos.” Richard identifies himself and Ilana asks, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” Richard replies in Latin, “Ille qui nos omnes servabit” – “He who will protect/save us all.” (obviously referring to Jacob)… Which got me thinking, is this the “war” Widmore spoke of… Jacob vs. Esau? Jacob has assembled his team: Widmore, Abbadon, Richard, Ilana, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Jin, and possibly Lapidus (a candidate). Locke now plays for the other team, and Jacob’s offhanded remark to Ben has him changing sides as well. Team Esau: Ben and the dead folks (Locke, Claire, Christian, Alex). A battle royale between the living and the dead 😉

Jacob tells Ben that whatever he has been told, he still has a choice. (Fate vs. Free Will) …Ben chooses to kill him anyway. (“Psycho”: This film is referenced as Ben stabs Jacob. Both his hand motions and the music refer to the famous shower scene.) It seemed to me that Jacob willingly submitted himself to death, all but baring his chest and walking his heart right into Ben’s knife. So who was playing whom??

Jacob whispers to Locke, “They’re coming”. (Team Jacob to the rescue??) Alterna-Locke realized immediately that he’d been checkmated. Hence, why he angrily kicked Jacob into the fire.

The camera movement that reveals Locke’s body in the crate is exactly the same as the camera movement used to reveal Locke’s body in the coffin at the end of season 4. The big reveal!

Ironically, the season 5’s secret scene happens to be identical to that of season 4’s scene: the revelation of a deceased man’s identity as John Locke.

More on how season 5 is definitely meant to mirror season 2…

”The Incident” certainly resembled season 2’s finale, the title of which, ”Live Together, Die Alone,” was name-checked by Juliet last night. There was a story line involving castaway treachery (Michael = Alterna-Locke). Both episodes shared the Four Toed Statue as a plot point, although ”The Incident” gave us a better look at what it once looked like back in the day. Both episodes culminated with the destruction of the Hatch, perpetrated in each case by lovelorn characters hoping their sacrifice would somehow save the lives of their friends. And finally, both episodes were about activating ”quibbles”. As in: A plot device, common to fantasy/science fiction, that allows a character to cheat the literal obligations of a promise, contract, or prophecy. Also see: loophole.

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Til next season!