My first theory post since the season 5 finale folks, and I've got some food for thought for you...
Alex was not the smoke monster. When Ben summoned smokie, smokie didn't come because smokie is afraid of or can't be near Black. Flocke went into the woods because he knew that smokie was indeed on his way, and he needed to make sure that neither Sun nor Ben would see smokies reaction to Flocke. (flee flee flee)
In the depths of the temple, smokie appeared only after Flocke left. We see Ben judged, but we do NOT see if smokie would have killed him. Falex shows up and smokie is forced away. (watch the torch) Black knew that Ben would be killed, but also knew that the moment he set foot in that room smokie would flee. Notice how Ben was not allowed to leave Flockes side post judgement. Flocke takes him everywhere because if he was to leave Ben alone, smokie would come back to finish him off.
So what have we learned here? We know for certain that anytime smokie was near Locke, it was the real Locke and not Flocke. In fact, anytime smokie approaches any character we can be sure they aren't a doppleganger.
Go back and watch "The Man behind the Curtain". This was Flocke's first attempt at killing Jacob. He got the leader of the others to bring him to Jacob after a good long con. But he was hamstrung when he found out Ben was a great big phony... and whatever loophole he thought he had found was wrong. Now he had to figure out who would/could bring him to Jacob.
But Black may not have been aware that he was "made" by Jacob in that cabin. Only a leader of the others can see OR hear Jacob... and at the time of the cabin visit that leader was either Charles or Ellie. Ben has been outed as being unable to see Jacob, meaning the previous leader is still the rightful leader. Black, after not "seeing" Jacob in the chair, assumes the "help me" was yet another Ben ploy. Assume for a moment Jacob IS in that chair. Ben doesn't know if he is or isn't, but this is where Richard brought Ben to "meet" Jacob (and Ben pretends to be special enough to see him). Since Locke had zero business seeing or hearing Jacob, the fact that he did just tipped off Jacob that Locke is actually Flocke. Ben is a pawn in this whole charade. Jacob has allowed Ben to "fake it" all this time, because....
Black suspected that Jacob knew Black had found a loophole. Without the loophole, Jacob wouldn't have needed to "hide". This is why Black was so surprised to find Jacob at the Statue (but not at the decoy cabin). Black simply assumed that Jacob was over confident when he said you could "find me right here" when you have your loophole. Jacob hid in the one place Black wouldn't expect to find him, right where no-loophole Jacob would be. (Vice-Versa, if Jacob had a loophole to kill Black, Black would have high-tailed it. Black's assumption that Jacob would hide is *why* Black couldn't find him.)
Since the real Locke could never have seen or heard Jacob (Richard says he found nothing "special" about Locke in all his years of trying) the cabin was a test not to find out if Locke was worthy, but a setup to find out if Locke was Black. Because Black "heard" Jacob (but thought it was Ben cheating) Jacob has been on to Black without Black knowing since the first cabin visit.
So, Black knows that Jacob knows that Black found a loophole, but Black doesn't know that Jacob knows that Locke is Black. (Get all that?)
Whatever the "rules" of the game our, we know Black can't just outright kill Jacob. It would probably mean banishment from the island or turn smokie against him, or something that would put an end to Black's longevity. What it does tell us though is that Black's loophole may not be all he thinks it is.
It seems to me that what happens under that statue after the Season 5 finale is probably the Season 6 finale. Everything is presented out of order on this show, and there isn't any reason to suspect that the game needs to progress very much further than that pivitol event. I'm guessing season 6 will focus on the two sides battling to make sure that the loophole either is or is not valid for Flocke, thereby sealing Black's and/or Jacob's fate.
Jacob is likely dead, but tricked Black into breaking the rules. Black will have to answer for that. Jacob knows that to be rid of Black once and for all, he will have to lay down his own life to do it.
Alex was not the smoke monster. When Ben summoned smokie, smokie didn't come because smokie is afraid of or can't be near Black. Flocke went into the woods because he knew that smokie was indeed on his way, and he needed to make sure that neither Sun nor Ben would see smokies reaction to Flocke. (flee flee flee)
In the depths of the temple, smokie appeared only after Flocke left. We see Ben judged, but we do NOT see if smokie would have killed him. Falex shows up and smokie is forced away. (watch the torch) Black knew that Ben would be killed, but also knew that the moment he set foot in that room smokie would flee. Notice how Ben was not allowed to leave Flockes side post judgement. Flocke takes him everywhere because if he was to leave Ben alone, smokie would come back to finish him off.
So what have we learned here? We know for certain that anytime smokie was near Locke, it was the real Locke and not Flocke. In fact, anytime smokie approaches any character we can be sure they aren't a doppleganger.
Go back and watch "The Man behind the Curtain". This was Flocke's first attempt at killing Jacob. He got the leader of the others to bring him to Jacob after a good long con. But he was hamstrung when he found out Ben was a great big phony... and whatever loophole he thought he had found was wrong. Now he had to figure out who would/could bring him to Jacob.
But Black may not have been aware that he was "made" by Jacob in that cabin. Only a leader of the others can see OR hear Jacob... and at the time of the cabin visit that leader was either Charles or Ellie. Ben has been outed as being unable to see Jacob, meaning the previous leader is still the rightful leader. Black, after not "seeing" Jacob in the chair, assumes the "help me" was yet another Ben ploy. Assume for a moment Jacob IS in that chair. Ben doesn't know if he is or isn't, but this is where Richard brought Ben to "meet" Jacob (and Ben pretends to be special enough to see him). Since Locke had zero business seeing or hearing Jacob, the fact that he did just tipped off Jacob that Locke is actually Flocke. Ben is a pawn in this whole charade. Jacob has allowed Ben to "fake it" all this time, because....
Black suspected that Jacob knew Black had found a loophole. Without the loophole, Jacob wouldn't have needed to "hide". This is why Black was so surprised to find Jacob at the Statue (but not at the decoy cabin). Black simply assumed that Jacob was over confident when he said you could "find me right here" when you have your loophole. Jacob hid in the one place Black wouldn't expect to find him, right where no-loophole Jacob would be. (Vice-Versa, if Jacob had a loophole to kill Black, Black would have high-tailed it. Black's assumption that Jacob would hide is *why* Black couldn't find him.)
Since the real Locke could never have seen or heard Jacob (Richard says he found nothing "special" about Locke in all his years of trying) the cabin was a test not to find out if Locke was worthy, but a setup to find out if Locke was Black. Because Black "heard" Jacob (but thought it was Ben cheating) Jacob has been on to Black without Black knowing since the first cabin visit.
So, Black knows that Jacob knows that Black found a loophole, but Black doesn't know that Jacob knows that Locke is Black. (Get all that?)
Whatever the "rules" of the game our, we know Black can't just outright kill Jacob. It would probably mean banishment from the island or turn smokie against him, or something that would put an end to Black's longevity. What it does tell us though is that Black's loophole may not be all he thinks it is.
It seems to me that what happens under that statue after the Season 5 finale is probably the Season 6 finale. Everything is presented out of order on this show, and there isn't any reason to suspect that the game needs to progress very much further than that pivitol event. I'm guessing season 6 will focus on the two sides battling to make sure that the loophole either is or is not valid for Flocke, thereby sealing Black's and/or Jacob's fate.
Jacob is likely dead, but tricked Black into breaking the rules. Black will have to answer for that. Jacob knows that to be rid of Black once and for all, he will have to lay down his own life to do it.
