The Island Trifecta: Rules, Responsibilities, and Recruiting by WhitmansLearner

Since 'The Substitute' aired, I've given up on my position that Jacob and MIB are actually 2 halves of the same person, and thinking about it now, there is a lot of evidence that there are actually [b]three[/b] entities on the Island. Many people have begun to theorize that Jacob, MIB, and 'the bloody kid' are 3 separate forces on the Island; however, not many people have thought deeply enough about what their places actually are (i.e. what they are doing there, what their motives are, and etc.) I will attempt to uncover the answers to some of these questions.

Think back a bit. When Richard Alpert was sent off to find 'gifted' people for the position of Leader of the Others. Now, I believe that the Leader position was actually reserved for the person most favored by Jacob to become the Protector, the 'Supreme Candidate', if you will. Therefore, Ben Linus, Charles Widmore, and (perhaps) John Locke were all at one time considered to be the ideal person(s) for the job. At some point, however, Jacob was forced to cross them off his Master List, for unknown reasons. Locke was crossed off by MIB, and NOT Jacob, so I still consider Locke a Candidate.

Locke is special. We know this because he knows things-- at least, subconsciously: he knows what either Jacob or 'the bloody kid' actually looks like (from 'Walkabout'), and he knows about MIB when he's very young:

[img]http://www.buddytv.com/articles/Image/LOST/egg411-blacksmoke.jpg[/img]

This may be because of the time-traveling he committed later on, but even so, the ability to retain that information is unique (the only other person to do so is Desmond).

Now, to the main part of my theory. The Island Trifecta. Now, we have come to understand that Jacob 'protects' the Island, that MIB is 'trapped' on it, and that 'the bloody kid' sort of oversees the rules of the Island. But are these roles exclusive? I don't think they are. I'll outline my theories numerically-

1. A Trifecta in politics is a mechanism that allows an executive to appoint his successor, and then appoint an elected official to fill the position that the successor lost. This goes well with what is happening in Lost: Jacob, MIB, and the 'bloody kid' were all chosen to go to the Island. Each were given duties to fulfill.

2. Jacob was not the Protector. [b]MIB was.[/b] This follows logically, since the smoke monster has been called 'a security system', 'protector of the Island', and various other things of that nature. When MIB told Sawyer about the Candidates, he was talking about himself-- because he [b]was the original Candidate.[/b] In this way, MIB is currently trying to find the true Candidate, the one who can be manipulated into taking the job from himself, the final loophole, so to speak. Then, what was Jacob's job? Jacob was given the job of Island Lawyer, in a way. His job was to bring people to the Island, for unknown reasons; to conduct business with them in some way. Jacob was the one who coordinated how the knowledge of the Island got out into the real world; and all that knowledge is the contributing factor for every major invention on Earth. But something happened... something horrible, and MIB went rogue. Jacob was forced to trap him on the Island for good, and bega! n searching for Candidates to take over MIB's job. So what was the bloody kid's job? He was the balance between the two, the referee, so to speak. All 3 are old friends, and were brought to the Island when they were very young, chosen by some secret government (probably alien) to use the Island's special properties to progress humankind.

3. The tapestry made by Jacob reveals more than meets the eye. On the top, it shows a great Eye, which references the government of the aliens that put both the energy and the 3 boys on the Island, the people who really control the Island, who oversee them. Underneath the Eye are those who are chosen, the Candidates themselves, being watched by 2 kings (I believe these are meant to represent fate and free will). Below the Candidates are dancing people, those who have been given the chance to communicate with and learn about the Island, 'the enlightened'. These are the Others. Below them are the laborers, normal human beings who cultivate their crops with the blessings of the Eye. And below them, 3 ships, symbols of the Trifecta, with the hieroglyphs 'Inundation, Winter, and Summer' written there ('bloody kid', MIB, Jacob):

[url]http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Polotno-reconstraction.jpg[/url]

All of these humans are being manipulated by an alien government who are using the Earth as an experiment (think of the Twilight Zone episode, 'The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street'). Jacob believes that the aliens are good, and are helping human beings along; MIB believes the aliens are manipulative and have mischievous goals; the bloody kid has remained neutral, but tends to side with Jacob.

Just a quick theory, nothing major, thanks for reading.