Playing the Numbers by Dan

After "The Incident" last season, we found out that Jacob and MIB have this dispute.

MIB wants to kill Jacob, but there is a reason why he can't.

Some call this the Jacob & Essau reason. In the Bible, the brothers promised their father they could not kill each other.

I would say, for some reason these two god-figures cannot kill each other.

MIB says 'they come, they destroy each other...it always ends the same.' Jacob replies, 'it does not have to be that way...anything other than that is progress.

Jacob invites the ship to the island. Was this the first attempt to prove MIB wrong?

Based on the numbers in the cave and the the Dharma initiative's use of the numbers in the Swan, they are very important.

At the beginning of the show we are introduced to a few people...the numbered people on the cave who are not checked off with the exception of one...Kate.

The writers of the show wanted us to get to know these people. Why? The question is how do these people of importance factor into MIB's wish to kill Jacob and Jacob's wish to prove MIB wrong about human civilization. I'm assuming the other people on the island (the others, the Dharma Initiative) have played parts in this plot. Somehow the story of the island and the struggle between MIB and Jacob is shouldered on the "numbered" individuals from the cave. We could spend all night outlining like English Majors how these "numbered" people have been involved with the two major plot twists that have brought us to today; 1)setting off the hydrogen bomb, 2) the plot against Jacob.

In reality the story began with the Black Swan and the conversation between MIB and Jacob on the beach.

What questions do we still have? Why do we have two story lines today (LAX and the island)? What is MIB/Flocke planning? What purpose is he enlisting Sawyer for? Why is the temple on such high alert? Is MIB/Flocke needing to attack the temple? Who is left to save the island from MIB/Flocke? Is Flocke's end goal to get off of the island and attack the rest of the human race? Who can stop him? The scale with the white and black rocks could symbolize good and evil or Jacob and MIB. MIB/Flocke's comment as he threw the white rock in the ocean was a small jab at Jacob and a quiet way of saying 'the scale is now in my favor now that Jacob/good is out of the way.'