After watching the season 6 finale, many things finally fall into place, while many things are left up in the air and unanswered. First and foremost, we finally discover the identity of Jacob (at least physically) and we begin to understand his role on the island.
The episode begins with a thread wheel spinning, which seems to be symbolic of the chronological time loop that Jacob and his unnamed counterpart are stuck in. Although the conversation between Jacob and his counterpart on the beach is very brief, it reveals much information about each of their role's on the island, as well as the overarching ideologies which they seem to represent. Jacob, wearing a white shirt, immediately seems to represent a good/godly figure, while his counterpart, wearing a black shirt, seems to represent an evil/devilistic figure. It is clear, based on their conversation, that they both have knowledge of what is going to happen and that they are stuck in a time loop. However, their beliefs regarding this time loop and what is destined (or not) to happen are quite antithetical.
Although we do not know what the exact end event that they are discussing is, it is clearly some type of catastrophic event. Jacob's counterpart states that "they come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt" and that it always ends the same way. Jacob's counterpart represents the evil and devilistic nature of humans. He also represents the idea of fate and destiny and believes that no matter what Jacob does to try and change what is going to happen, that things will always end the same way. On the other hand, Jacob represents the good and free will in people. He believes he can change what is going to happen by influencing others to exercise their free will and make the right decisions. Throughout the finale, he continually repeats that people have free will and can make whatever decision they choose. He tells Hurley that it is his choice and completely up to him whether or not he wants to board the plane back to the island. In the final scene, Jacob tells Ben that the cho! ice is his and he does not have to go through with the planned murder if he does not want to. While he does attempt to influence many of the characters, at no point does Jacob ever give explicit demands or orders, and he continually reinforces and represents the idea of man's free will to make the decisions they choose. As the opening scene continues, we soon realize that Jacob has brought the Black Rock Ship to the island in an effort to try and change what is supposed to happen, to which Jacob's counterpart again tells him that no matter what he does, it always ends the same. Jacob's views are underscored when he states "It only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress."
Again, it is important to consider that Jacob and his counterpart are stuck in some type of time loop where the seemingly inevitable always ends the same way. Jacob continues to take actions that he believes will change the way things end. If you look back, you can start to piece things together which show that Jacob is indeed in a time loop and does indeed know how things will end if he is unable to change them. For instance, Jacob visited Ilana in the hospital and tells her that he needs her help. Although we do not hear him say it, it is safe to assume that he tells her to bring Locke's body to Richard. The reason for this is that he was aware how the future would play out (or already has played out), and was aware that his counterpart would assume Locke's body in an attempt to deceive and manipulate Ben and get him to kill Jacob. Jacob knew that Locke's body must be brought to Richard so that Richard and his people learned that Locke was indeed dead and that it was Jacob! 's counterpart in Locke's body. Another example of this goes back a few seasons to when Sawyer and Kate were captured by the others and were forced to help build a runway. Richard stated that he had orders to build this runway, although he did not know why. It is safe to assume that Jacob influenced Richard and the others to build this runway, and this would be the eventual runway that Lupidas would land the Ajiras 316 flight on and bring the Losties back to the island.
Like Jacob had been working behind the scenes for some time to try and change the course of events and the eventual end, so too was his counterpart. His counterpart inhabited several dead bodies (Christian, Alex, Locke) as well as the "Black Monster" in an effort to manipulate Locke and Ben. He takes over Christian's body at the bottom of the well and tells Locke that he must prevent the island from continuing to skip and that he, not Ben, must be the one to leave the island. He takes over Alex's body and tells Ben that he must blindly follow all of Locke's orders (notice that although Ben sees all 3 within minutes, he never sees any combination of the black smoke, Alex, or Locke together, as they are all Jacob's counterpart appearing as different entities). Again, Jacob's counterpart assumes the appearance of the black smoke and although we do not see it, Locke tells of how he saw something beautiful when he looked into the eye of the smoke. This experience seemed to streng! then Locke's sense of purpose and destiny, but in reality, this was Jacob's counterpart beginning to work on Locke. Going back even further, we can assume that Jacob's counterpart also assumed the black smoke and witnessed Rousseau's baby, Alex. Later down the line, Rousseau tells Jack "I delivered the infant myself, the baby and I were together for only 1 week when I saw black smoke. A pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came, they came and took her, Alex, they took my baby." Alex proved to play a vital role, as Jacob's counterpart assumed her body and convinced Ben to follow all of Locke's orders. However, had Jacob's counterpart never taken Alex from Rousseau and put her under the possession of Ben, they would have never had the bond they did and she would have never been able to convince him to follow Locke's orders. As Rousseau tells Jack, her baby was taken the very night that she saw the black smoke, and this all makes perfect sense. Lastly, Ja! cob's counterpart takes over Locke's body and tells Richard to! tell th e actual Locke of the past that he must die in order to bring everybody back to the island. At the time, we think that this is reincarnated Locke telling Richard to deliver the message to Locke so that he can fulfill his destiny, however, we now know that this was merely Jacob's counterpart in Locke's body, tricking Richard into delivering a message to the past Locke so that Locke would indeed kill himself and Jacob's counterpart could assume his body.
As many others have alluded to, Jacob and his counterpart are opposing players in a chess match, and most of the Lost characters are merely pawns in their chess game that they use in an attempt to reach their respective goals.
So the question is: Who is right? Can Jacob actually manipulate variables and change how things end, or will it always end the same way as his counterpart states. Well, although the answer to that seems unclear, it is evident that Jacob has succeeded in changing the course of many events. Desmond, who I believe will have a major role in the final season, seems to be an extension of Jacob and carried out some of his work in changing the course of certain events. Desmond had many visions of Charlie dying (these visions represent the inevitable end that Jacob's counterpart speaks of), however, he was able to save Charlie many times and delay his death. Beyond merely changing the course of events by saving Charlie's life so many times, he changed the course of events on a much larger scale because of what Charlie went on to do. Because Desmond saved Charlie from death, Charlie was able to realize his purpose and unjam the signal between the island and the freighter, which ultima! tely allowed many of the Losties to be saved on the freighter and get off the island. This changed many things, such as Sun getting off the island and having a successful birth off the island. Based on prior history, and as Juliet informed her, if Sun had not gotten off the island, she would have died during labor. So, it is unclear whether Jacob will ultimately change the end, but he has clearly demonstrated that it is indeed possible to influence many of the character to exercise their free will and change the course of events. It is my guess that Jacob was responsible for Desmond's visions, which allowed him to save Charlie, which allowed Charlie to unjam the signal, ultimately allowing many of the Losties to get off the island.
There are a few more unrelated things that I pieced together after watching the finale. First off, from earlier episodes, we know that the Black Rock ship reached the island and that it was a Spanish ship. When Ilana approached Richard near the end of the finale, she asked if his name is "Ricardes", to which he answers yes. Richard is an English derivation of the Spanish name Ricardes, which leads me to believe that Richard reached the island on the Black Rock. I believe that he was captain of this ship and that he and his people were the first people to reach the island. He and his people then accepted Jacob and their leader and I believe Jacob gave Richard the power of never aging so that he could be the ambassador between Jacob and the people for all of eternity.
Another thing I connected was from a much earlier episode, where Jack discovers 2 skeletons in a cave on the island. I believe that these were the skeletons of Rose and Bernard, who decided to stay on the island and eventually perished.
Another prediction I have is that Jacob and his counterpart are brothers and possible decedents of god. I believe Jacob and his counterpart represent a strong biblical allusion to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were the first and second son of Adam and Eve. As the bible tells, Cain commits the first murder by killing his brother Abel after god accepts Abel's sacrifice but rejects Cain's. Like the biblical story, Jacob's counterpart (who I believe to be his brother) vows to find the loophole and eventually kill Jacob. Interestingly enough, Cain was a shepherd, which, among other things, leads me to believe that there is a strong connection between Jacob and Jack Shepherd. Although I do strongly believe they are brothers and they strongly represent the biblical story of Cain and Abel, I am still unsure of why his assumed brother could not kill Jacob and why he had to find a loophole. Perhaps they are each others constant, just as Whidmore and Ben could not kill each! other because they were each others constant.
With all this being said, there is still much left unanswered. Is the bomb that Juliet detonated at the end of the finale the explosion that makes Oceanic 815 crash in the first place or was it Desmond's actions in the hatch that caused the plane to crash? Will the bomb detonation cause the hatch to never be built and the plane to never crash? The season 6 preview showed Jack's eye, the same eye that we see in the first episode of the season 1 pilot..Perhaps things will start all over again on the island...Or perhaps the Losties will be brought to Richard's time and join with Richard and his people in the war that is to come. I believe that Jacob's warning to Ben that "they are coming" was warning of Whidmore and Hawking who are coming to the island. The battle between Jacob and his brother will be represented by Richard, his people, and the Losties battling against Whidmore, Hawking, and whoever else will be on their side. In season 6, we will also learn much about the time! that Jacob and his brother come from, how they got to the island, the statue that was built, the heiroglyphics we have seen, the meaning of the "shadow of the statue" and many more unknowns.
The episode begins with a thread wheel spinning, which seems to be symbolic of the chronological time loop that Jacob and his unnamed counterpart are stuck in. Although the conversation between Jacob and his counterpart on the beach is very brief, it reveals much information about each of their role's on the island, as well as the overarching ideologies which they seem to represent. Jacob, wearing a white shirt, immediately seems to represent a good/godly figure, while his counterpart, wearing a black shirt, seems to represent an evil/devilistic figure. It is clear, based on their conversation, that they both have knowledge of what is going to happen and that they are stuck in a time loop. However, their beliefs regarding this time loop and what is destined (or not) to happen are quite antithetical.
Although we do not know what the exact end event that they are discussing is, it is clearly some type of catastrophic event. Jacob's counterpart states that "they come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt" and that it always ends the same way. Jacob's counterpart represents the evil and devilistic nature of humans. He also represents the idea of fate and destiny and believes that no matter what Jacob does to try and change what is going to happen, that things will always end the same way. On the other hand, Jacob represents the good and free will in people. He believes he can change what is going to happen by influencing others to exercise their free will and make the right decisions. Throughout the finale, he continually repeats that people have free will and can make whatever decision they choose. He tells Hurley that it is his choice and completely up to him whether or not he wants to board the plane back to the island. In the final scene, Jacob tells Ben that the cho! ice is his and he does not have to go through with the planned murder if he does not want to. While he does attempt to influence many of the characters, at no point does Jacob ever give explicit demands or orders, and he continually reinforces and represents the idea of man's free will to make the decisions they choose. As the opening scene continues, we soon realize that Jacob has brought the Black Rock Ship to the island in an effort to try and change what is supposed to happen, to which Jacob's counterpart again tells him that no matter what he does, it always ends the same. Jacob's views are underscored when he states "It only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress."
Again, it is important to consider that Jacob and his counterpart are stuck in some type of time loop where the seemingly inevitable always ends the same way. Jacob continues to take actions that he believes will change the way things end. If you look back, you can start to piece things together which show that Jacob is indeed in a time loop and does indeed know how things will end if he is unable to change them. For instance, Jacob visited Ilana in the hospital and tells her that he needs her help. Although we do not hear him say it, it is safe to assume that he tells her to bring Locke's body to Richard. The reason for this is that he was aware how the future would play out (or already has played out), and was aware that his counterpart would assume Locke's body in an attempt to deceive and manipulate Ben and get him to kill Jacob. Jacob knew that Locke's body must be brought to Richard so that Richard and his people learned that Locke was indeed dead and that it was Jacob! 's counterpart in Locke's body. Another example of this goes back a few seasons to when Sawyer and Kate were captured by the others and were forced to help build a runway. Richard stated that he had orders to build this runway, although he did not know why. It is safe to assume that Jacob influenced Richard and the others to build this runway, and this would be the eventual runway that Lupidas would land the Ajiras 316 flight on and bring the Losties back to the island.
Like Jacob had been working behind the scenes for some time to try and change the course of events and the eventual end, so too was his counterpart. His counterpart inhabited several dead bodies (Christian, Alex, Locke) as well as the "Black Monster" in an effort to manipulate Locke and Ben. He takes over Christian's body at the bottom of the well and tells Locke that he must prevent the island from continuing to skip and that he, not Ben, must be the one to leave the island. He takes over Alex's body and tells Ben that he must blindly follow all of Locke's orders (notice that although Ben sees all 3 within minutes, he never sees any combination of the black smoke, Alex, or Locke together, as they are all Jacob's counterpart appearing as different entities). Again, Jacob's counterpart assumes the appearance of the black smoke and although we do not see it, Locke tells of how he saw something beautiful when he looked into the eye of the smoke. This experience seemed to streng! then Locke's sense of purpose and destiny, but in reality, this was Jacob's counterpart beginning to work on Locke. Going back even further, we can assume that Jacob's counterpart also assumed the black smoke and witnessed Rousseau's baby, Alex. Later down the line, Rousseau tells Jack "I delivered the infant myself, the baby and I were together for only 1 week when I saw black smoke. A pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came, they came and took her, Alex, they took my baby." Alex proved to play a vital role, as Jacob's counterpart assumed her body and convinced Ben to follow all of Locke's orders. However, had Jacob's counterpart never taken Alex from Rousseau and put her under the possession of Ben, they would have never had the bond they did and she would have never been able to convince him to follow Locke's orders. As Rousseau tells Jack, her baby was taken the very night that she saw the black smoke, and this all makes perfect sense. Lastly, Ja! cob's counterpart takes over Locke's body and tells Richard to! tell th e actual Locke of the past that he must die in order to bring everybody back to the island. At the time, we think that this is reincarnated Locke telling Richard to deliver the message to Locke so that he can fulfill his destiny, however, we now know that this was merely Jacob's counterpart in Locke's body, tricking Richard into delivering a message to the past Locke so that Locke would indeed kill himself and Jacob's counterpart could assume his body.
As many others have alluded to, Jacob and his counterpart are opposing players in a chess match, and most of the Lost characters are merely pawns in their chess game that they use in an attempt to reach their respective goals.
So the question is: Who is right? Can Jacob actually manipulate variables and change how things end, or will it always end the same way as his counterpart states. Well, although the answer to that seems unclear, it is evident that Jacob has succeeded in changing the course of many events. Desmond, who I believe will have a major role in the final season, seems to be an extension of Jacob and carried out some of his work in changing the course of certain events. Desmond had many visions of Charlie dying (these visions represent the inevitable end that Jacob's counterpart speaks of), however, he was able to save Charlie many times and delay his death. Beyond merely changing the course of events by saving Charlie's life so many times, he changed the course of events on a much larger scale because of what Charlie went on to do. Because Desmond saved Charlie from death, Charlie was able to realize his purpose and unjam the signal between the island and the freighter, which ultima! tely allowed many of the Losties to be saved on the freighter and get off the island. This changed many things, such as Sun getting off the island and having a successful birth off the island. Based on prior history, and as Juliet informed her, if Sun had not gotten off the island, she would have died during labor. So, it is unclear whether Jacob will ultimately change the end, but he has clearly demonstrated that it is indeed possible to influence many of the character to exercise their free will and change the course of events. It is my guess that Jacob was responsible for Desmond's visions, which allowed him to save Charlie, which allowed Charlie to unjam the signal, ultimately allowing many of the Losties to get off the island.
There are a few more unrelated things that I pieced together after watching the finale. First off, from earlier episodes, we know that the Black Rock ship reached the island and that it was a Spanish ship. When Ilana approached Richard near the end of the finale, she asked if his name is "Ricardes", to which he answers yes. Richard is an English derivation of the Spanish name Ricardes, which leads me to believe that Richard reached the island on the Black Rock. I believe that he was captain of this ship and that he and his people were the first people to reach the island. He and his people then accepted Jacob and their leader and I believe Jacob gave Richard the power of never aging so that he could be the ambassador between Jacob and the people for all of eternity.
Another thing I connected was from a much earlier episode, where Jack discovers 2 skeletons in a cave on the island. I believe that these were the skeletons of Rose and Bernard, who decided to stay on the island and eventually perished.
Another prediction I have is that Jacob and his counterpart are brothers and possible decedents of god. I believe Jacob and his counterpart represent a strong biblical allusion to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were the first and second son of Adam and Eve. As the bible tells, Cain commits the first murder by killing his brother Abel after god accepts Abel's sacrifice but rejects Cain's. Like the biblical story, Jacob's counterpart (who I believe to be his brother) vows to find the loophole and eventually kill Jacob. Interestingly enough, Cain was a shepherd, which, among other things, leads me to believe that there is a strong connection between Jacob and Jack Shepherd. Although I do strongly believe they are brothers and they strongly represent the biblical story of Cain and Abel, I am still unsure of why his assumed brother could not kill Jacob and why he had to find a loophole. Perhaps they are each others constant, just as Whidmore and Ben could not kill each! other because they were each others constant.
With all this being said, there is still much left unanswered. Is the bomb that Juliet detonated at the end of the finale the explosion that makes Oceanic 815 crash in the first place or was it Desmond's actions in the hatch that caused the plane to crash? Will the bomb detonation cause the hatch to never be built and the plane to never crash? The season 6 preview showed Jack's eye, the same eye that we see in the first episode of the season 1 pilot..Perhaps things will start all over again on the island...Or perhaps the Losties will be brought to Richard's time and join with Richard and his people in the war that is to come. I believe that Jacob's warning to Ben that "they are coming" was warning of Whidmore and Hawking who are coming to the island. The battle between Jacob and his brother will be represented by Richard, his people, and the Losties battling against Whidmore, Hawking, and whoever else will be on their side. In season 6, we will also learn much about the time! that Jacob and his brother come from, how they got to the island, the statue that was built, the heiroglyphics we have seen, the meaning of the "shadow of the statue" and many more unknowns.
