It's not a gift at all, it's a curse; A theory of everything by Mr Clucks

I just finished re-watching Dr. Linus, and a thought came to me while Richard and Jack were chatting in the Black Rock. Sorry if someone else has posted a similar theory, but I haven't read any similar to this.

So, first let's start with what we have seen or learned from characters on the show (assuming they're telling the truth, of course :) )

- Jacob wanted to protect the Island
- MIB wants to leave
- MIB cannot be killed, at least by conventional means (swords, bullets, etc.)
- MIB and Jacob both appeared to be ageless
- MIB could not kill Jacob himself, as much as he wanted to
- Jacob died
- Richard Alpert appears to be ageless, due to being touched by Jacob
- Richard cannot kill himself, but he believes that he CAN die
- Michael could not kill himself
- All of the Candidates have been touched by Jacob
- Ben was not touched by Jacob; Ben had never even met him
- In the flash-sideways, the Island is underwater, and has been since some point after DHARMA came to the Island
- MIB to Ben "After we leave, someone has to be in charge of the Island"
- MIB has knowledge about the Island and Jacob's goals that Richard does not know
- MIB only killed those in the temple who did not want to join him and leave the Island

First, the mini-theory that sparked my larger theory: The dynamite didn't blow up because Jack cannot kill Richard or himself (either by jumping off a bridge or lighting a stick of dynamite). No one who has been touched by Jacob can kill someone who has been touched by Jacob, including themselves.

Seems obvious, but it got me thinking....why did Richard want to die while MIB wants to leave? They both seem to be able to live forever, and they are both frustrated by Jacob. Is MIB simply more concerned with living than Richard, or does he know something?

Now a few more mini-theories that lead to my big, explains-it-all theory.

Mini-theory 2: Jacob touched Michael. This explains why he couldn't kill himself. He died in the explosion because
a) The island was done with him ('You can go now, Michael')
b) He was killed by Keamy or Ben, depending on how you want to place the blame. Neither was a candidate, so it's fair game.
or
c) He's still alive, and pulled a Jin by floating around and washing up on shore. Claire was never found by Sawyer and co.'s search parties; Rose and Bernard went years without being seen; Michael could have too.

I think c) is most likely, but this isn't really important for my larger theory. I was just trying to establish some rules in my head for who can or cannot die, and Michael seemed like an exception. FUN FACT: Assuming that Ghost Christian was MIB, his line to Michael was similar to his message to Bram and crew as well as the Temple dwellers: "You can go now, Michael", "Jacob's dead. You're free. You can leave"

Mini-theory 3: Candidates CAN leave the Island, but it's very, very difficult (you have to leave on a certain bearing or have the donkey wheel turned while you're out in the ocean). Jacob seems to be all about choices, so making leaving impossible seems against his nature. Plus, many people have left the Island (DHARMA subs, Widmore, Michael and Walt, Oceanic 6 with Desmond and Frank, etc.).

Mini-theory 4: Jughead didn't cause the Island to sink, or create the flash-sideways world. I'll explain what I think did cause the Island to sink in my Grand Unified Theory of Everything (after Mini-theory 6), and the flash-sideways world always existed. However the Jughead explosion did cause the final flash that brought our heroes back to 2007/8 (815 crashed Sept. 2004, Desmond spoke to Penny on Christmas Eve 2004, and the Oceanic 6 hung out on Penny's boat for a week. That puts our heroes getting home in January 2005. Ajira 316 crashed three years later, so late 2007 or early 2008). The explosion also caused the women on the Island to be unable to give birth, making Juliet the cause of her own suffering.

Mini-theory 5: The final candidate will be either Jack, Kate (if you freeze-frame the wheel in the lighthouse, 51 is Austen), Sun or Hurley. Nothing to back it up, but they are the only ones who CHOSE to come back (Sawyer never left, Sayid was in handcuffs and Frank had no idea where they were going (was Lapidus' name on the lighthouse wheel too? He should have been on 815, after all. The Island seems to want him there)). However, based on my Grand Unified Theory of Everything (after Mini-theory 6), I'd say it's likely that Ben ends up as the last man standing in the Finale.

Mini-theory 6: MIB plans to kill everyone on the main Island (except the Candidates), after taking everyone who wants to leave (and the Candidates) to Hydra Island and eventually home. Again, nothing to back it up, but if he wanted everyone dead he could have killed everyone, instead of just killing those who didn't want to leave with him.

Grand Unified Theory of Everything: The Island is "a place where miracles happen", but "it's not a gift at all, it's a curse". For years people have been drawn to the Island. It has offered them a beautiful paradise, free of disease and hunger, and providing immortality through it's Messenger (Jacob). However the Island is also home to death, incredible heartbreak and suffering. While the Island itself is Paradise, the people on it are the causes of all of the suffering ("Hell is other people - Sartre"). What if mankind was never meant to live in Paradise? Is incapable of it? This is a common theme in both religion and philosophy (I have to go read some John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Mikhail Bakunin, Edmund Burke (Juliet's ex), etc. to see if they agree with me. I know Jean-Jacques Rousseau does).

MIB's ultimate goal is to destroy the Island, to free mankind from it's trap, expelling them from Paradise (again, if you believe in The Garden of Eden).

We learned early on in the series that we cannot trust appearances, so I haven't trusted Jacob for quite a while. If you've got one man sitting on the beach in white, and another in black, on Lost the safe money if that the Man in Black is the good guy. Jacob is protecting the Island, but that is not a good thing; he's keeping the trap open, and luring more people into it. Jacob may have more faith in mankind than MIB; their chat on the beach showed that MIB believed that human nature doesn't change while Jacob believed that it could. After all, "It only ends once. Everything that happens before that is just progress". However so far MIB has been right, "They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same." FUN FACT: Their conversation begins with MIB saying "Mind if I join you?" to which Jacob replies "Please."

MIB is not evil, and that is why he is not killing those who wish to leave. He is only killing those who wish to stay and protect the Island. Smokey was never a security system, he was trying to scare people away or kill those who wanted to stay. FUN FACT: Eko was killed by MIB/smokey shortly after he dedicated himself to the Island (building a church, pushing the button).

Just like Ben, MIB (and Richard, for that matter) has been 'very patient' with Jacob. Perhaps too patient; Ben was never touched by Jacob, but he did come to care about (and try to protect) the Island. MIB had to wait for someone like Ben who had not been touched by Jacob and yet had a chance of encountering him. Enter John Locke, and MIB's loophole. He finally had someone (Ben) who hadn't been touched, who could be convinced to kill Jacob, and someone (Locke) who could gain access to Jacob while bringing someone (Ben) along with him.

In MIB's final act of manipulation, or in the final act of self-sacrifice by one of our heroes, or both, someone will destroy/sink the Island. How, I don't know. Maybe there's another donkey wheel, or something similar. Regardless of how, it will happen. In the flash-sideways, it already has. And I think Ben is going to do it, because he did in the flash-sideways. And because I think it has to be done by someone who hasn't been touched.

What if, when Ben was a young child, he came across MIB in the jungle instead of Richard. What if the vision of Ben's mother was MIB (this seems pretty likely anyway). In the world we're used to, his mother/MIB told Ben it wasn't time yet; what if in the flash-sideways he spoke to Ben that day. What if he managed to convince Ben to help him by sinking the Island? Assuming it doesn't happen quickly, Ben could have convinced his father to leave, or more likely MIB did, and just before they left Ben did whatever he had to do to sink the Island. Given the time frame (mid 70's), this matches up well with a time that Jacob left the Island (young James at his parent's funeral took place in the mid 70's). MIB must have known that Jacob did leave on occasion to recruit, and waited for the right moment.

In the flash-sideways world, 815 didn't crash, therefore none of the candidates travelled back in time, therefore they were not present on the Island in sideways-Ben's childhood. This probably explains why MIB acted in that reality but not in the other. If they weren't there, sinking the Island wouldn't kill them. What about Richard? Well, maybe he went with Jacob (they carpooled, and while Jacob was giving young Sawyer a pen, Richard was inviting John Locke to science camp). Maybe MIB had Richard on a boat to protect him. Regardless, a moment came when the Island was unprotected, and MIB (through young-sideways-Ben) acted. Why did Jacob leave the Island unprotected? Perhaps he believed MIB was trapped in the cabin. Maybe there was another candidate present on the Island, and MIB had him in the boat with Richard without Jacob's knowledge. Regardless of how or why, whatever happened, happened; we've seen the proof (underwater Island with DHARMA Barracks).

Young Ben sinking the Island in the flash-sideways world will then parallel very nicely with adult Ben sinking the Island in the reality we're used to.

Just as those who have been touched by Jacob cannot kill themselves or others who were similarly touched, the only way sinking the Island can be accomplished is if everyone who has been touched has already left. What better protection than immortal safety valves? In order for MIB to sink the Island, he needs everyone who's been touched by Jacob to leave. Since Jacob kept bringing new candidates/safety valves, he needed to be killed. Since MIB couldn't kill him, he needed a loophole, someone Jacob hadn't touched. Again, enter Ben. As for the Candidates, Jacob was probably counting on Jack's newfound faith in the Island; MIB will convince him to do what he's been trying to do since episode 1, and get everyone off the Island.

I now have to go back and watch the last 5 and a half seasons to see if anything proves me wrong, or adds to the theory.

Comments?