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Lost Season 5 Finale – “The Incident”

Thoughts and Ruminations on Answers and New Questions

Jacob Answers

A Jacob-centric episode as we see the hand of fate; the deus ex machina behind our Lostys machinations, as the debate over Free Will Vs Destiny arises again. Each Losty is touched, both physically and metaphysically… and Hugo is not crazy. period.

“I guess all it needed was a little push” Jacob to Jack

The question is, did Jacob affect our Lostys before or after he was ‘killed’ by Ben… was it a flashback or flashforward? Did he already change the past after coming back even stronger after being struck down Obi Wan style, or have we seen what’s been undone? Ilana, who we now know as a Jacob representative, said nobody’s been ‘using it’ [the cabin] since assumedly 77, when we can assume the circle of ash was broken. Speaking of circles being broken and granting freedom to one who is trapped, you should read Neil Gaiman‘s Sandman, Preludes & Nocturnes, but I digress.

But who is Jacob? I still like the idea of Jacob being Osiris, egyptian god of the Underworld, classically pictured as having the head of a Jackal (as in the sub-Temple hieroglyphics and the Statue). Osiris was viewed as the one who died to save the many, who rose from the dead, the first of a long line that has significantly affected man’s view of the world and expections of an afterlife:

Plutarch recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris’ brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which he then shut, had sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile (sarcophagi were based on the box in this myth). Osiris’ wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was already dead. She used a spell she had learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her. After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert. Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set had been out hunting one night, and he came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus resurrected Osiris as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the crops along the Nile valley.

So what we’re left to ponder is did the Lostys cause the Incident as Miles pointed out? Or just not stop it?
Did Sayid lie about the bomb, and set it to fail on purpose? Is Juliet our new hero in a fantastic sendoff, or the one who ultimately serves some deeper purpose. Just how much of all of this is in fact Jacob’s grand plan?

Significant that Jacob weaves

• In ancient Egypt, men wove with the loom, and the root of the word for ‘weaving’ and also for ‘being’ are the same: nnt.
• In Greece the Fates wove our lives and destiny. Most famous loom, Arachne… the spider (killed Paolo & Nikki)
• In Norse myth, valkyries (ask me about Starbuck sometime) were weavers, chose & carried the dead to Valhalla
• In christianity, Man #1 & Man #2 were Cain & Abel, and in the middle ages Eve was often shown weaving at a loom.
• coffe table book of Rachel and Juliet’s youth was ancient american folklore and in Inca mythology, Mama Cora Ocllo was deified as a mother and fertility goddess. She taught the Inca women the art of spinning thread.

Ilana & Bram are agents of Jacob, and apparently each of the Lostys are recruited by Jacob individually, at key points in their lives. Some ages ago in their youth like Kate or Sawyer, or at pivotal points in their careers like Jack, or even events as recent as Hurley of the Oceanic 6 changing his mind about travel. But what about characters who found redemption ON the island, like Charlie or Eko? Resetting everything is bad for some. What I feel we’re setting up Season 6 for is the classic battle of good vs evil, Jacob as Man #1 vs the evil Man #2

Associating Jacob with a white tree at cabin, and also at the wedding:
Patrick White’s Tree of Man is a mythical novel and the author establishes a myth which is concerned with the relationship of man to God, and God to man. Along with the relationship runs a series of natural conflicts-flood and fire, and we see human desires are frustrated by non-human powers. Thematically, the novel follows an old proverb-“Man proposes and God disposes”. Hostile human desires and distorted consciousness make this novel a story of birth, passion, and defeat by death which is ultimately the results of all human’s common fate-either good or bad. Patrick White does not give a moral lecture as the novel sets in a forest where the cultivation of man and nature occur side by side.

Richard Alpert

Richard may have in fact been a black rock sailor named Ricardos. That would indeed qualify as a ‘long time’. Perhaps his agelessness has simply been given to him, as ‘Jacob made me this way’. Richard’s become less significant and mystically important, but that would explain his Island wisdom, and place in the overall hierarchy. He is their Shaman, their priest, and as such, could never be a Leader. Logically it makes sense to deflate Richard’s status, to make Jacob more significant, especially with new Man #2 conflict coming up for Season 6. Classic Good vs Evil.

Question: “What lies in the shadow of the statue”
Possible Richard Latin translation “he who will save us”
Thanks @aheartofstars @coolhandkate

So Who is Man #2?

• Egyptian: Horus (as in Horace Goodspeed) vs Set who was originally the god of the desert, Storms, Darkness, and Chaos… or Osiris God of Underworld killed and dismembered (giant foot anyone?) by his brother Set
• Greek: Apollo (Jack’s Apollo Chocolate bar) vs Chronos the greek god of Time?
• from @GrateGatsby: 1. check out neil gaiman’s sandman series for a neat look at Cain & Abel 2. i think its more Jacob & Esau than Cain/Abel #LOST

Bottom Line, Man #2 found a “loophole”, and that loophole was a way to tip the scales, and unbalance two equally opposing forces that we can only assume have been battling to a stalemate for eternity. Ben’s unshackling of himself and confessing his honesty of lies to NotLocke, allowed his role as ultimate villain… knowingly, wittingly and out of basic selfish reason. “Incident” now seems more like “Deicide”. Locke’s self-fulfilling prophecy seems to have also come into play, as Richard pointed out that most of Locke’s route to Leader was placed there by himself, and by NotLocke.

Taking Love for Granted

Love remains an important theme and Rose & Bernard provide the Best. Scene. Ever. We find out where they ran off into the jungle to, and they provide the simplest answer to all the mysteries of Lost… priorities. At the very least we’ve seen the end of love square, thanks. JackKateSawyer can move on and continue sharing deep meaningful side glances without Juliet complicating things. And lastly, our separated lovers Sun & Jin were told by Jacob a most important message, that may have roots in this Korean fable about a weaver and a herder “taking their love for granted”

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