I think the most interesting observation in the season finale is Richard's comment to Jack -- that Locke didn't seem particularly gifted. In other words, Locke was never meant to be the leader of the Others. He only became one because of Esau's machinations in getting Not-Locke to manipulate Richard into convincing Locke that he has to get killed. And Richard only listened to Not-Locke because he had come to be convinced that Locke was somehow destined to be the leader. And Locke is only somehow destined to be leader because time travel helped rewrite a history where Locke seemed omnipotent, and where others seemed to have a shared belief that he was meant to be a leader. Even Jack's response in 1977 to Richard -- to not give up on Locke -- helps set up Locke as a leader. All of these events of course, play into Esau's plan perfectly.
The moral of the story may teach something of what happens when people try to worship false gods. When, like Daedalus, they have the hubris to fly a little too close to the sun.
And now an aside: It is very interesting to see the different modus operandi of Jacob and Esau. Jacob, the humanist, prefers to nudge people along. He gives people choices. When Bram kidnapped Miles to tell him to not go on the freighter, he did it with words. Though he looked tough, he didn't rough up miles and even let him go gently. He gave Miles a choice. He also gave Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley a choice when he visited them, even if he nudged them along a little bit.
Esau, on the other hand, has played a grander game. Where Jacob makes small ripples, Esau makes big ones -- from taking control of dead bodies, to demanding sacrifices, to determining people's destinies by measuring their moral worth. Nonetheless, I think Jacob will have the last word in Season 6. His work with the Oceanic 6 will not only help redeem each of the characters (proving Esau wrong), it may even help to save him -- depriving Esau of the checkmate that he's worked so hard to obtain. We have not seen the last of Jacob.
The moral of the story may teach something of what happens when people try to worship false gods. When, like Daedalus, they have the hubris to fly a little too close to the sun.
And now an aside: It is very interesting to see the different modus operandi of Jacob and Esau. Jacob, the humanist, prefers to nudge people along. He gives people choices. When Bram kidnapped Miles to tell him to not go on the freighter, he did it with words. Though he looked tough, he didn't rough up miles and even let him go gently. He gave Miles a choice. He also gave Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley a choice when he visited them, even if he nudged them along a little bit.
Esau, on the other hand, has played a grander game. Where Jacob makes small ripples, Esau makes big ones -- from taking control of dead bodies, to demanding sacrifices, to determining people's destinies by measuring their moral worth. Nonetheless, I think Jacob will have the last word in Season 6. His work with the Oceanic 6 will not only help redeem each of the characters (proving Esau wrong), it may even help to save him -- depriving Esau of the checkmate that he's worked so hard to obtain. We have not seen the last of Jacob.
