MIB and Jacob = Jack and Locke by Leyla79

I know I am supposed to be convinced that MIB is all evil after Sundown because he is manipulating people and such, but I am still not convinced that he is "evil incarnate" and that Jacob is "goodness incarnate". In fact, this rivalry seems to parallel one we have had played out in front of us for the last 5 years, in which there was no clear good versus evil argument.

I have no reason to believe MIB doesn't really want off the island and to "go home". I have no reason to doubt that he is there because of Jacob. Based on his powers, I am also inclined to believe that he and Jacob may have at one point been "partners", or otherwise have a similar relationship as Jacob has with Richard. I think at some point these two had a fundamental disagreement about whatever it is that their purpose is on the island, MIB's powers at this point had grown to big for his own good (but not as great as Jacob's), and in the interest of protecting the island based on his own faith, Jacob has kept MIB at bay. Now, if you were in MIB's position and you have felt like a prisoner for God knows how many years, you're likely to reach a point where you are willing to do some of the things he has done - come on, we empathize with Sayid, a man who has tortured and killed many. With respect to Smokey and manipulating Sayid as proof of evil, I wonder about Smokey be! cause Ben was able to summon him when he was an other, and everyone is assuming he promised Sayid Nadia back, but we never saw him say that. In Sayid's position it would probably be enough to tell him it was Jacob who was responsible for the distraction that led to her death, and if Jacob had never come into his life, it's possible his plane would never have crashed and Nadia would be alive - CUE ALT.

I have no reason to believe Jacob is goodness incarnate. So far we have seen him manipulate plenty of people to serve his own purpose, and he hasn't even disclosed what that is. He has taken people from their homes and kept them on this island, against their free will in many cases. He knows they come and corrupt and kill, but he brings them there anyway. Whatever alt is right now, it's clearly a world without Jacob (so far) and we have seen that for most of them, their lives would be better off at this point off island. We also see that the island is underwater and the world is still going on as normal so you really have to question whether or not what Jacob is doing is truly for the greater good of mankind, or for himself because of his own faith in the island - a faith MIB doesn't share.

We have seen something very similar play out for the duration of the show, and it's probably no coincidence if Jack ends up the candidate in a face-off with fake Locke. Locke, like Jacob, had faith in the island. He felt like they had a purpose for being there and he didn't think anyone should leave and he was willing to do anything to protect it - even kill. Jack wanted nothing more than to go home. He didn't believe it was their destiny or purpose to be there, and he was willing to do anything to get himself off. He also thought Locke was off his rocker for believing otherwise and told everyone he was crazy (on his way to "evil" after throwing a knife in the freighter chick's back?) - interestingly the only person Jack was ever ready and willing to kill while on island was Locke. The fact that Jack otherwise couldn't kill (if I am remembering correctly that he didn't kill anyone), may be why he ends up being the candidate over Locke. Neither Jack nor Locke were good! or evil. They just represent two perspectives that clash in such a way that it led to a pre-war-like conflict, with two sides pitted against each other because of what they believed in - think of how many wars there have been over "Faith". This is exactly what we are seeing unfold now, and with role reversal to boot as Jack steps into original Locke's shoes and "Locke" steps into Jack's. I won't be surprised to see that this is not a clear cut good versus evil battle - I think there is more to this; clearly enough that some of our characters won't be easily swayed to switch sides even when told the truth, and certainly enough to lead to a potentially bittersweet as opposed to outright happy ending.