My initial thought when I first heard the "What lies in the shadow of the statue" question in Dead is Dead was of that secret group in The Last Crusade whose mission it was to protect the Grail for hundreds of years.
I think its possible that Illana and Bram don't work for Ben, Whidmore, Hawking, Hanso, or the Dharma Initiative. I think maybe they represent a secret ancient order of Egyptians whose mission is to 'reclaim' the island from those who took it from them, probably the Others.
Of course, this is pure speculation, they really haven't showed anything to support this. Then again, they haven't really showed any evidence of who they are working for to begin with, so its possible. The 'war' mentioned by Whidmore may be the Others vs secret Egyptian society. That would be a nice way to tie up the whole Egyptian aspect of the show.
Its likely they are working for someone we already know about, as it is very late in the show to introduce a whole new faction, but I feel like all the Egyptian stuff on the island may have been foreshadowing for these guys, so it wouldn't feel like they came out of nowhere. Who knows, maybe the Egyptians are who the Economist works for.
I think its possible that Illana and Bram don't work for Ben, Whidmore, Hawking, Hanso, or the Dharma Initiative. I think maybe they represent a secret ancient order of Egyptians whose mission is to 'reclaim' the island from those who took it from them, probably the Others.
Of course, this is pure speculation, they really haven't showed anything to support this. Then again, they haven't really showed any evidence of who they are working for to begin with, so its possible. The 'war' mentioned by Whidmore may be the Others vs secret Egyptian society. That would be a nice way to tie up the whole Egyptian aspect of the show.
Its likely they are working for someone we already know about, as it is very late in the show to introduce a whole new faction, but I feel like all the Egyptian stuff on the island may have been foreshadowing for these guys, so it wouldn't feel like they came out of nowhere. Who knows, maybe the Egyptians are who the Economist works for.