Jacob ex Machina by M

Ok, here's what I'm working off of: it's undeniable that Jacob's touch has an affect on the receiving party - how this factors in to who the candidates are or what 'gifts' he passes on remains to be seen. Does his touch designate a candidate, or is it a transference of some divine guidance to assist in the end-game selection? I think it's safe to say that being 'touched' does not make one a candidate - ie Richard - but it will always have an effect.

Now, when Jacob is murdered by Ben, who else clued in that Ben and Jacob made contact? It didn't hit me until I'd watched Dr Linus a second time, and started making connections. Jacob's ability to shape, or manipulate fate has moved to the forefront of plot progression, so it's an interesting play by the writers to have Ben change so dramatically this last season. Was it contact with Jacob that made Ben realize his remorse? Seeing as this is the Ben who was "cleansed" at the Temple as a child, I think that Jacob "knew" that he could still make an impact on Ben - a bit of an oversight on Smokie's part, but we'll see.

What I'm getting at, is that Jacob's plan is built upon Ben's redemption. Here are the scenarios. As you can see,the result is the same:

Ben kills Jacob, making contact in the process. Ben resists FLocke.

Ben doesn't kill Jacob, Ben resists Flocke.

I can't help but think to the final scene of Dark Knight between the Joker and Batman. Joker wasn't going to weigh the future of Gotham with a fistfight with Batman, instead 'I took Gotham's White Knight, and brought him down to our level.'

I believe that Jacob would not condone killing in any manner whatsoever - he'd never give that order. He knew MiB would not limit himself, however, so he put his chips on everyone else, the same way he did in the monumental opening to "The Incident." And thus we have Ben taking a side we would have never expected - how this will play out in the end, only time will tell (assuming time doesn't go on the fritz again... so unreliable).