Ok, so I have watched the show since season 1, but have not been involved in any of the on-line blogs so I have very little knowledge of the in-depth analyses that many of you have participated in. I have searched around to see if a similar theory has been posted, but was unable to find anything. If this theory has already been explored and discredited, I apologize.
My theory is that the reason the island had previously been undiscovered in season 1 is that the island had not yet come into existance. The island is created some time in the future when the electromagnetic energy, surfaces, or is about to surface, naturally. This could threaten the existance of the Earth. Jacob and the man being referred to as Esau, find themselves on the island in an attempt to prevent the event (think of the movie, Armageddon) and either intentionally or accidentally start the time loop that we have seen, by sending the island back in time.
So, now they are caught in an infinite loop and can not die because of the "what happened will happen" principle, much like Ben did not die when shot by Sayid because of his important role in the future. Jacob and Esau keep going back in time over and over in an attempt to change what ultimately happens to them in the future. They can only do so by trying to manipulate the "variables" (our heroes).
At the begining of the season 5 finale, the two men are on the beach and what is presumably the Black Rock boat is approching the island. The two men are speaking in English, but in a modern dialect, which was the first clue that they may originate from a time period in the future. During that conversation, Jacob says something along the lines of "the only thing that matters is what happens in the end and everything until then is progress". I think that Jacob is of the opinion that they still may be able to manipulate the future to accomplish their original mission. Esau, on the other hand, has given up and has decided that the only way to get out of the time loop is to kill Jacob and prevent him from initiaing it to begin with. Of course, he has learned that he is unable to kill Jacob, so he is trying to manipulate someone else into doing it, thus the "loophole". So it is a chess match to see who wins out in the end, with the characters that we have grown to know as t! he pawns.
My theory is that the reason the island had previously been undiscovered in season 1 is that the island had not yet come into existance. The island is created some time in the future when the electromagnetic energy, surfaces, or is about to surface, naturally. This could threaten the existance of the Earth. Jacob and the man being referred to as Esau, find themselves on the island in an attempt to prevent the event (think of the movie, Armageddon) and either intentionally or accidentally start the time loop that we have seen, by sending the island back in time.
So, now they are caught in an infinite loop and can not die because of the "what happened will happen" principle, much like Ben did not die when shot by Sayid because of his important role in the future. Jacob and Esau keep going back in time over and over in an attempt to change what ultimately happens to them in the future. They can only do so by trying to manipulate the "variables" (our heroes).
At the begining of the season 5 finale, the two men are on the beach and what is presumably the Black Rock boat is approching the island. The two men are speaking in English, but in a modern dialect, which was the first clue that they may originate from a time period in the future. During that conversation, Jacob says something along the lines of "the only thing that matters is what happens in the end and everything until then is progress". I think that Jacob is of the opinion that they still may be able to manipulate the future to accomplish their original mission. Esau, on the other hand, has given up and has decided that the only way to get out of the time loop is to kill Jacob and prevent him from initiaing it to begin with. Of course, he has learned that he is unable to kill Jacob, so he is trying to manipulate someone else into doing it, thus the "loophole". So it is a chess match to see who wins out in the end, with the characters that we have grown to know as t! he pawns.
