Gods from the Game and The Black Smoke by holy1

Deus Ex Machina

Dues Ex Machina is translated as “God from the Machine,” and it was a kick butt episode. Apart from the finale, it is the only episode of Season 1 written by Damon and Cuse. Some major plot points:

• Locke discusses Mousetrap, how he and his “brother” used to play, and how you set up this big elaborate trap and wait for your opponent to land on the cheese wheel.
• Locke was told he was immaculately conceived.
• Locke has a dream in which an aircraft crashes.
• Locke loses feeling in his legs. By the time he finds the Beechcraft, he is basically crippled.
• In the flashbacks, Cooper takes advantage of Locke (steals the kidney). On the island, Locke takes advantage of Boone and winds up being responsible for Boone’s death.
• Once Boone is critically injured, Locke is again able to walk. After bringing Boone to camp, he goes back to the hatch and, as timing would have it, renews hope in Desmond.

I believe that this episode foretold of events to come. The mousetrap description is likely a foreshadowing of the elaborate trap MIB has set in which John Locke is the mouse. The dream/vision was likely presented by MIB. MIB was also likely responsible for Locke’s ability to walk. When the plane crashed, MIB needed Locke to be fully functional so he could “do his bidding.” He may also have removed this ability so that Boone would have to climb to the plane and wind up being critically injured.

“God from the machine” can be a cheesy plot device in which a previously unknown character (or characters) is revealed late in the story to answer certain mysteries. In a way, isn't that what Jacob and MIB are? Were TPTB making fun of themselves?

But let's take God from the Machine more literally. Who is the God? And what is the Machine? To Locke (the key player in this episode), the Island is God. He refers to it in a reverent manner. He even says that the Island demanded a sacrifice (Boone). What he doesn’t know is that his perception of the “Island” is likely MIB. I believe the Machine is MIB’s mousetrap, or his game…a complex maze of wheels, events, twists, and turns, eventually resulting in Jacob’s death. This death, to MIB, constitutes winning the Game. What MIB doesn’t know is that Jacob has likely anticipated his every move and has had his own mousetrap in place with MIB as the mouse. The real end game is proving that people will, in the end, do the right thing...make the right choices. As such, MIB and Jacob are the Gods from the Game.

As a side note, I find too many parallels between Locke and Ben to be coincidence. Both Ben and Locke’s births were included in Lost. Both mothers name their child, but then are out of their lives. Both men played a role in killing their “supposed” fathers. Both men wound up in wheelchairs. Both men led the Others. Both men turned the wheel and were sent away from the island. Both men were manipulated by MIB to achieve his plan of killing Jacob. And these events were spread throughout the series. I think there is a deeper relationship between these two men. We’ve already found out that Jack and Claire were half brother and sister. So what about Ben and Locke? Couldn’t it be the same with them? Couldn’t they be half brothers? Ben is the jealous younger brother asking, “What about me?” Or are they cousins, one the son of MIB and the other the son of Jacob? Not enough evidence to be sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are related.


The Black Smoke

Let’s break down a bit of what we know about the Black Smoke:

• The Smoke has been referred to as a security system.
• During the DHARMA era, Chang stated "Our barracks are surrounded by a high frequency sonar fence to protect us from the Island's abundant and diverse wildlife."
• The Smoke makes both mechanical AND animal sounds.

Let’s bring the MIB into the mix. We can probably agree that MIB can control the dead…take their form. And it even appears that the black smoke can take human form (i.e. Yemmi). What if the Black Smoke was a living security system…both organic and mechanical? I believe that this WAS the case. Now the Black Smoke is more than that…and less than that. I theorize that the original Black Smoke security system was changed and control of the Black Smoke is now in the hands of MIB. This is how MIB is able to appear as the dead…through the Smoke. Maybe MIB is even part of the Smoke now. Maybe the Smoke/MIB is what is now appearing as Flocke. This “power” may have given MIB the advantage he had always been looking for. He could never beat Jacob before this—only watch the game play out…nothing more than an observer. But if he took control of the Smoke…he could interact—pose as dead relatives, read people’s thoughts (an ability of the Black Smoke) and exploit t! heir weaknesses. Eko could not be manipulated…so he killed him. When Locke became distracted by the hatch…he tried to kill him (or maybe kill him and take his form).

Think about when Ben summoned the Black Smoke (from the little toilet drain hole), who appeared from the woods? It was Flocke. Since Flocke is MIB, it means that when Ben summoned the summoned the Smoke, MIB appeared.