Exiled from the Magic Kingdom by Sin In The Suburbs

Long ago, there was a peaceful land, ruled by a King and Queen. The Queen was pregnant. One day something went wrong and she gave birth prematurely. She had twins. The Queen died. The twins should have died too; in fact, all their life signs ceased, but the King persuaded the shamen, against their better judgment, to save the lives of the twins using magic.

The twins grew up, and became what we now now as Jacob and MIB. Jacob was the rightful heir to the king. But MIB was jealous. Dying and coming back to life as a baby had placed a darkness in his heart. Upon reaching adulthood, the darkness took over. He aligned himself with the kingdom's dark magicians who bewstowed (near) immortality on him.

To seize the throne, MIB first killed his father, and planned to kill his brother, Jacob, too. The white magicians in the kingdom were unable to come up with a spell that would kill MIB. However, they did the next best thing. They gave (near) immortality to Jacob. They were also able to banish MIB from the kingdom, sending Jacob with him as a prison guard, to The Island.

Because the wizards of the opposing sides were both casting conflicting spells, the banishment has rules, after a fashion. Jacob's behaviour is limited by the dark side's magic. For example, he cannot - directly - kill MIB. Vice versa for MIB.

However, both MIB and Jacob know that they are not totally immortal. If MIB can kill Jacob, his guard, then he is en route to overcoming his banishment. Whereas if Jacob can kill MIB, his prisoner, then he no longer needs to remain in exile; his kingdom will be safe, and he can return to rule it.

Due to the their understanding of a cryptic prophesy, made by those who did the banishing, both Jacob and MIB know something about who "THEY" are. It has been foretold that some outsiders will come to the Island and will end the stuggle, by killing either Jacob or MIB: no-one knows who.

So, for centuries, both MIB and Jacob have tried to recruit visitors to The Island onto their team. But, for centuries, it hasnt worked. There has been stalemate. The newcomers have killed each other, but havent come close to killing Jacob or MIB.

By the start of the S5 Finale, MIB is getting tired of all this. Or at least, he is pretending that he is. He still wants Jacob dead, but he is beginning to think that the game will never end. Jacob, however, still believes that he has right on his side, and that he will eventually prevail.

When Jacob and/or MIB are bringing people to The Island, to join in the battle, there are a few things that they look for. Already being a killer is a useful trait (and hence this is shared by many of the 815ers). Having Daddy Issues is something which MIB considers an advantage (and so many of the Islanders have that too). It's also possible that the prophesy gives some clues as to who "THEY" are. Eg that one is in handcuffs, one is in a coffin, etc. So when a group passes the Island that fits that description, they are particularly likely to be nabbed. Hence Mrs Hawking arranged for the passengers on Flight 316 to correspond to the (different) passengers on Flight 815.

MIB as put all his eggs in the Ben basket. Ben doesnt meet the requirements of the prophesy, but what the hell. At least he is a natural born killer. He resented his own dad, and killed him. MIB believes he can get him to resent Jacob too. Ben often thinks that the Island treats him as if there was a magic box on it. But really it is just MIB spoiling him, and priming him to be very disappointed by seeing Alex die, and never getting to meet Jacob.

MIB believes he has won the battle by killing Jacob. However, MIB has ignored the prophesy at his peril. He thought he had found a loophole to the propesy. ie he thought he had found a way to kill Jacob without using the specific individuals required by the prophesy. However, Jacob has studied the prophesy fully. He has identifed Jack, Locke, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Sun and Jin as the people referred to in the prophesy. He has made sure he has touched each of them to claim them for his side. Just as MIB thinks that he has his triumph, Jacob calmly reminds him that merely using Ben cannot work, and, what's more, "they" are coming because Jacob has already recruited "them".

Jacob will prove to be correct. The prophesy will be fulfilled when "they" (Jack, Locke, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Sun and Jin) bring an end to The Island. Their actions will eventually cause The Island to sink (a long time before 2004). "They" will go on to live long and fulfilling lives.

Jack will enable Locke to walk, reinvigorating his belief in his own calling, and convincing him he can step out of his dad's shadow.

Locke will get to go on his walkabout, and meet up with Helen.

Kate will prove her innocence, and will be a good friend of Claire.

Claire will have her baby. Her mum will come out of her coma to help her. In seeking to contact Christian to let him know that he has a grandson, she will learn of his death.

Claire and Jack will be united as brother and sister. Through Claire, Jack and Kate will meet and there will be a spark of recognition/romance.

Jin has brought lots of money to the US to try to cure his infertility. He is going to see Juliet. Juliet will cure him, and Sun and Jin will have Ji Yeon.

Sawyer will try to con Juliet, but fail. However, she'll take a shine to him and suggest that they go dutch on some coffee.

Hurley is happy with his fortune, especially because he has been able to share it with his grandad who worked 3 jobs all his life.


Of course, the unanswered question at the end will be "Is this the end?" Jacob has said that there can only be one ending, and everything else is just progress. Whereas Jack has said "Nothing is irreversible". So just when the final credits are about to roll, and it looks like everything is wrapped up, we'll catch another glimpse of Jacob &/or MIB. The implication being that they might want to play with time again, and so it might not be all over for the Losties after all. Flight 815 might have to fly again.