The Loophole by subtle observer

Credit to anyone who may have stated this before now.

Much debate has occurred on the topic of the loophole. While talking to a friend today about Season 6, an idea hit me that is simple, comprehensive, profound, and right in front of us all.

My friend was talking to me about the S5 finale, "The Incident." He was musing about the Man in Black's ability to push Ben to willingly kill Jacob. He cited this as the loophole. I felt this was incorrect, and immediately understood everything when I began discussing the candidates with him. I drew my conclusion as to what the loophole really is from the following story 'facts 'revealed so far.

---Jacob and the Man in Black are unable to kill each other directly. They must persuade another to act as an intermediary, and they may not force this individual to kill the other. The individual must willingly kill the other, with no help.

---Ben is not the first person who the Man in Black has tried to persuade to kill Jacob. We recently saw him try to persuade Richard also. This makes me seriously doubt that this is the loophole.

---The Man in Black makes it very clear that his only goal is to leave the island, and to be free to 'go home'...wherever that may be.

---Jacob reveals that one of his main 'duties' is to keep the Man in Black confined on the island. The Man in Black tells Jacob that this is exactly the reason why he attempts to persuade others to kill Jacob.

---Jacob assures the Man in Black that if he is successful in killing Jacob, that there are others who will replace him in his position as guardian of the Man in Black. The Man in Black promptly replies that he will "kill all of them too."

---We know that there are chosen individuals called 'candidates' who are brought to the island as potential replacements for Jacob's role.

---John Locke was a candidate. The Man in Black tells Richard that he looks like Locke, because Locke could "get me access to Jacob, because John is a candidate.

Obviously, the loophole is the Man in Black's way of circumventing the rules. The plan, its method, and its execution have been going on throughout every season so far.


So, simply put:

The Man in Black deliberately takes the form/body of a candidate.

He persuades someone to kill Jacob.

He proceeds to attempt to gather the remaining candidates.

He has vowed to kill anyone who stands in his way from leaving the island. This specifically means targeting candidates.

If he kills the remaining six candidates, the only "candidate" left, by default would be... The Man in Black, incarnate as the form of John Locke.

The Man in black will then technically remain a prisoner, and simultaneously become his own guardian. The imprisoned will become his own warden, essentially giving him the power to grant himself the freedom to leave, which he so desperately wants.



The loophole's existence propably relies heavily on the effects of time travel, catastrophic electromagnetic energy release, possible negation of such energy with high levels of radiation, and other 'natural' phenomena of the island. Even though I am a physicist, I won't even begin to speculate on the intent of the writers of this epic TV show with respect to all the extreme physics at work in the story. My guess is that it really isn't that relative to the story HOW the events happen, the importance lies in the fact that the events DID happen. The HOW is simply a 'just so' story, similar to any given creation myth. (for example: The importance of Adam and Eve in Genesis is that they WERE created by God, not HOW they were created.)

As an afterthought, the birth failures could also be an attempt to thwart any plan of Jacob to raise candidates on the island from birth. Thus all candidates must be brought to the island by Jacob, increasing the chances that they will 1) lose hope or faith in their situation, 2) become angry, greedy, violent, generally exhibiting the worst traits of humanity, and 3) die earlier than someone who had lived on the island their whole life. Outsiders would also be more likely to kill anyone already on the island, due their desperate situation.

Thanks