She Made a Deal with the MIB by Jezebel

In episode 3, What Kate Does, Dogen (the man from the Temple) tells Jack that his sister (Claire) has been infected with a sickness, the same one that now plagues Sayid. At the end of this episode Claire is reintroduced to us on the island, and unexpectedly saves Jin from the 2 Others holding him at gunpoint. So what is the sickness Dogen speaks of? I believe this question is answered in the following episode, The Substitute, when we discover that MIB (who has taken the form of John Locke) is recruiting people to join his army. I believe that Claire is one of these recruits, not out of desire, but out of necessity, and that Sawyer is next.

In The Substitute, MIB convinces Sawyer to follow him and that he can answer THE burning question as to why they are on the island. On their way to the Cave, we are introduced to a blond hair, blue eyed boy (who strikingly resembles Claire) appearing in an angelic pose. The vision of this boy seems to have shaken MIB despite his once fearless demeanor... I believe this boy is Claire’s son, Aaron. But how did Aaron get back on the island? I am going to venture a guess that MIB kidnapped Claire, which would explain her disappearance and abandonment of Aaron. Knowing that Claire would be desperate to reunite with her son, MIB cut a deal with her in exchange that she remain in servitude, as one of his “followers”.

Throughout LOST there have been numerous religious undertones (e.g., Charlie once had a vision of Claire and his mother kneeling on the beach in robes in angelic poses; Charlie’s Virgin Mary statues with heroine; Echo’s baptismal of Claire and Aaron) and we get the impression that MIB a.k.a. the Smoke Monster represents evil , where Jacob (the man in white) represents good. Call him what you want - the Devil , Beelzebub , MIB, Smoke Monster – but IT will do everything in its power to overthrow Jacob and his disciples/protectors of the island.

In conclusion, Claire cut a deal with the dark side to be reunited with her son. Sawyer may also be on his way to cutting a deal with MIB to get off the island. In the cave, MIB asks Sawyer if he wants to leave the island, and Sawyer emphatically responds yes. MIB's trickery and deceit may lead Sawyer to believe this will happen (after all how can they defeat Team Jacob if they are off the island?) and seal the deal, in turn binding him to the dark side and infecting him with the sickness. My final questions are, if it is true that Sayid has the sickness, what deal did he cut with MIB? Why was Aaron appearing in an angelic pose and why did it frighten MIB? Could it be that Aaron plays a more central role in this series than we once thought….