MIB's loophole and course-correction by Utterly Lost

Hello all. Perhaps it is no longer necessary to say that most of these ideas have certainly been mentioned before. (Maybe we can all stop being so polite now then, since most everyone’s theories are based on knowledge of everyone elses anyway..lol). By the way, this is kind of a long read, but a much easier one than my confusingly long one on free-will.

But in light of some recent theories and revelations, I wanted to reiterate a few ideas that have been mentioned, and attempt to tie them into some semblance of a theory:

1) that the MIB/Jacob are likely mortal time-travelers
2) because of exposure to the exotic matter, they have future insight (even beyond Desmond’s)
3) the loophole is finding a way to change/achieve certain things without facing course correction, or negating the circumstances that got you there in the first place.

First, in Desmond’s flashback, when he meets Eloise and rethinks his decisions of the past, there are several interesting things going on. First, course correction; She couldn’t save the guy with red shoes on, because, as she states, “If I had, he would have been hit by a bus”. Thus, course correction there.

However, if Desmond would have decided to stray away from his path, her response is “you’ll kill us all”. This is of course a much more devastating outcome than the course-correction mentioned above. However, some have argued that Eloise herself serves as course-correction (as she does end up stopping him from changing things), but that doesn’t seem to negate the idea that: theoretically, he has the power to change things in these “consciousness flash-backs”.

Although course correction might be doing everything in its power to prevent the path from changing/negating itself, it seems it can only do so much to prevent a person who is hell-bent on using their future knowledge to affect the past/future. It might be able to help persuade them (or even kill them if that’s their path), but it seems that fate does not necessarily trump free-will in these unique instances such as Desmond’s.

In fact, regardless of what is supposed to happen, we already know that Jacob and MIB have used their future knowledge to keep people on certain paths. Jacob does this with simple “nudges”, while the MiB is more coercive, but the effect is often the same.

Because they seem to have the same future knowledge as Desmond (and in fact, much more insight), then this could be why they are able to know what actions/changes will have desirable outcomes, and conversely, ones in which course-correction will not allow them to achieve their desired outcome.

Further, I do not believe that Jacob and MIB are gods/spirits, as it seems ridiculous that one could kill a supernatural entity by stabbing it. Rather, it seems more likely that they are either from the future or originally from the past. I am still not sure exactly how time travel could account for agelessness, but I know there are a number of crazy physics theories on here on that subject.

But I digress. Maybe the following points might shed a little more light on why I believe they are from a different time, and possibly even dislodged more so than Desmond.


To answer those questions I must first ask my own question: Why is there course correction? The obvious answer: because there is an intended path to maintain; But it seems that the only way that the path won’t be maintained is if people from a different time (or maybe even those who are dislodged from time), are interfering in the path. Otherwise, course correction isn’t really needed, because, as we all know: WHH. Why would you need course correction, if it’s as simple as WHH?

As has been mentioned many times, the smoke monster might be the tangible manifestation of course-correction, helping to ensure that things go the way that they’re supposed to. But again, this wouldn’t mean that one can’t make changes, or influence others to act differently, etc. It just means that they could end up necessitating the smoke monster by attempting to change/alter things too drastically from the intended path.

In the example of Desmond, we’ve already shown that it is theoretically possible for one to influence/change the timeline, even if it can only been done through these consciousness flashbacks(although there is no solid proof that this is the only way). Perhaps this is the difference here though:

If one becomes dislodged from time, then they gain the ability to potentially change anyone’s fate (as a consequence of changing their own fate), whereas those who are lodged to time(even if it’s not their own) are bound to their fate. This doesn’t mean that fate can’t change, but it means that those who are lodged to time can’t change fate. (Have I lost you yet?)

With the power to potentially change the fate of one’s timeline would come great responsibility, and that is perhaps why the MIB needed a loophole. To me, the loophole is finding a way to change an outcome without facing course-correction, or negating other intended outcomes. If Desmond could “kill them all” with one different decision, then maybe the MIB and Jacob’s meddling could also have undesirable side effects if they try to change things too much.

There is one more reason I believe the men are from another time(or completely dislodged from it). If someone wants to kill someone that badly, then there should be no way that fate could truly prevent him from doing it; Unless of course, if it was already written into history differently. To me, this means that they must be from the future, one where he doesn't end up killing Jacob (unless there is another good explanation why MIB wasn't able to kill Jacob, but someone else could).

But as for where things go from here, that brings us back to pure speculation.

Maybe it was in fact Ben’s fate to end up killing Jacob later on for the same reasons. MIB just might have manipulated John and him so that he could have that date moved up to pre-war times. Or maybe the MIB did in fact succeed in changing that piece of fate after all, but he couldn’t be the catalyst. Who knows for sure at this point.

But if we can draw anything from Widmore’s statements, “The wrong side is going to win”, then maybe the war’s pending outcome might have been what led to the men going back in the past, to inevitably build stronger armies or gain an edge for the upcoming war.

As for the game of the MIB and Jacob are playing, perhaps it is a bet with these rules:

1)Both men follow their philosophies. Jacob only “nudges” free will, while the MIB only uses coercion. Both are trying to dispute the idea that man will inevitably corrupt and kill.

(Perhaps this is one of the outcomes in this timeloop that hasn’t quite played out yet, and can be subtly changed). However, as both men know, there can be consequences to their meddling actions. Much like two guys playing chess (or backgammon in this story), they have to be thinking at least 4 steps ahead before making their moves. The added difficulty is this game has real consequences, and their actions could face course-correction and/or even the possibility of negating their existence in the first place.

Like a back and forth game of hot-potato where one of the goals
is to not drop it and negate yourself.

Does this all make sense to anyone else, or should I just give up, and go back to giving Fantasy Football advice...