Man in Black's Loophole debunked - The Seduction of John Locke by Coolpeace

I have read that many have wondered why Season 5 and time travel was used in the show. Both Season 5 and time travel were very important to the core of MIB’s loophole. Season 5 apart from giving us many answers about the DI and some of the history of the Island –was pivotal to the loophole MIB swore to Jacob he would find at the end of that season’s episode “The Incident”. Basically, season 5 explained MIB’s loophole.

I enjoyed the exercise of going through the seasons and tracing back the loophole. I have shared this exercise on The Transmission blog a while back, I have expanded it somewhat and I thought you all might enjoy it, especially if you are doing a rewatch.

Jorge mentioned on the podcast with Jay and Jack, when Locke claims to have seen the heart of the island and it was beautiful - that was the beginning of the 'seduction' of Locke by the Man in Black. This prompted MIB to use Locke as part of his loophole. Which loophole required that the Island be skipping through time. I do believe that somehow MIB managed to cause the donkey wheel to skip. I also believe that MIB caused the chaos at 'Jacob's cabin' and had been using Jacob's cabin to mislead Ben.


All dialogue was taken from the transcripts posted on Lostpedia.

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Man in Black's Loophole debunked:


With Ben’s comment about being summoned by the monster in the episode 'What they died for', I believe Ben realized that he was part of MIB’s planned loophole all along. In fact, I would say since the beginning of the show, and particularly since Ben introduction.


In fact MIB’s loophole, did have 3 components to it.

1) Get Locke to trumpet his coming to the 1950’s Others, by speaking with Richard and Ethan (follow Locke and the compass during time flashes). This would cause a myth to be born among the Others, and Ben would inevitably hear that a leader would come to the Island to take his place. Setting up both Richard and Ben.

2) After meeting Locke in 1954 Richard sets out to observe and look out for Locke as a child (the test : which item already becomes to you – it was the compass). When Locke finally “lands” on the Island in 2004… and goes to the Others camp and decides to stay, causes Richard to accept that perhaps his 1954 meeting with Locke foretelling his arrival was indeed what Jacob wanted. That is why he helps Locke by giving him Sawyer’s file and helps Locke kill his father, which was a test Ben had set up to bring Locke down from the pedestal his was on… placed there by the myth that began when Locke visited Richard in 1950.

Certainly, the writers were setting up MIB's loophole since Season 3, particularly evidenced in the episode The Brig.

In season 3 :

Remember how the Others were staring at Locke when he went with Ben to the camp in the Valley after leaving the Barracks (in The Brig) :

[Cindy notices Locke looking at more people staring]

CINDY: Don't mind them. They're all just excited you're here.
LOCKE: Excited?
CINDY: We've been waiting for you.

The reason Cindy says to Locke that the Others have been waiting for you is because Richard was visited by Locke in 1954 and also Locke tells Ethan that he is their leader.

3) Ben has been manipulated by MIB since he was a child. Seeing his dead mother, getting Sayid to shot young Ben and getting Richard to take him to the temple waters, are all part of his manipulations. Grooming Ben into believing that he was “special”. I believe that Ben was lead to the Cabin by MIB. MIB was leaving for Ben the lists and made Ben believe he was working for Jacob… but in fact was doing MIB’s bidding. Having Widmore banished, getting the Others to move to the Barracks, trying to solve the fertility problem … all things that eventually caused Richard to doubt that Ben was keeping the best interest of the Island in mind. This undermining of Ben’s leadership played nicely into MIB’s plan to make Ben primed to kill Jacob.

Ben really only wanted to do what was good for the Island, but was played by a better con man. One that had many many more years to plan his actions, and understood that Ben needed to feel special and that he would be threatened by someone who was deemed “more” special than he was (Locke).



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Below, I describe how MIB planed all the machinations to get Locke to move the Island, causing the time travel, in order to have Locke get shot by Ethan and helped by Richard who gives him the compass and tells Locke to find him (Richard) to give him back the compass, Locke tells Richard that he, Locke, is their future leader, causing Richard to visit Locke as a child…. Yada, yada, yada…. read at your own risk - nosebleeds may result :


In Season 4:

Christian (MIB) tells Locke that they will need to move the Island. Ben, who thinks that Locke is now in the good graces of Jacob and is the new leader to the Others, realizes that he (not Locke) must turn the wheel. Because he knows that to turn the wheel, means you leave the island. Ben understands that Locke must stay to lead his people - ergo: Ben will turn the wheel.

In the season 4 finale Ben and Locke discuss the turning of the wheel in the Orchid:

BEN: He told you what to do, but he didn't tell you how because he wants me to suffer the consequences.

LOCKE: What consequences?

BEN: Whoever moves the island can never come back. So I'd like you to get on the elevator, John, and go back up. Richard and my people will be waiting 2 miles east of the Orchid.

Then when Ben starts to turn the wheel he says out loud :

BEN: I hope you're happy now, Jacob.


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In season 5 :

We know that when Locke was shot by Ethan (in Because You Left) he tells Ethan then that his name is John Locke and that Ben had appointed him leader;

LOCKE: My name is John Locke. I know this is gonna be hard to understand, but Ben Linus appointed me as your leader.

ETHAN: That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

*** A side note here : This exchange with Ethan and Locke occurred before 2004, before the plane crash and before our Losties arrival on the Island – no doubt Ethan goes back and tells Ben that someone named John Locke says that he is our leader and you told him that. This bit of information, should make us rethink the events in season 2 in a whole new light – the events of the hatch when Ben was caught in Rousseau’s net and brought to the hatch. He wanted to see this Locke person and “played” John Locke against Jack and lied about the button to Locke when he was pinned under the hatch door. BEN knew all along who this Locke character was and he was afraid of him, and jealous of him and he tested him…. he thought that Locke was special, as mentioned by Ben in front of the church in The End.


Then just after the above encounter with Ethan, Locke flashed to 2007 (although we did not know that at that time) and Richard showed up to tell him that he must bring back the Oceanic 6, gave him the compass and told him he would have to die in order to bring them back…. Richard was acting on John Locke’s (as MIB) orders.

[Richard Alpert emerges from the darkness carrying a torch.]

LOCKE (as MIB): Richard?
RICHARD: Hey, John.
LOCKE: Richard... what is happening?
RICHARD: What's happening is that you're bleeding to death. Here.
RICHARD: I need to get the bullet out.
LOCKE: How did you know there was a bullet in my leg, Richard?
RICHARD: Because you told me there was, John.
LOCKE: No, no. No, I didn't.
RICHARD: Well... you will.
LOCKE: It was Ethan who shot me.
RICHARD: Well... [donning eyeglasses] what comes around, goes around.
LOCKE: Aah! When am I?
RICHARD: Well, John, that--that's all relative.
……….

LOCKE: I don't understand. How--how did you know that I was here? How did you know where to find me?
RICHARD: I wish I had time to explain it, John. But you're gonna be moving on soon, and we need to go over a couple of things before you do.
…….

RICHARD: Second thing--no, no, pay attention. Next time we see each other, I'm not gonna recognize you. All right? You give me this. All right?
LOCKE: What is this?
RICHARD: It's a compass.
LOCKE: What does it do?
RICHARD: It points north, John. Look, I wish I had time to be more sensitive about this because it's a lot to swallow, but you need to know it in order to do what you gotta do. So I'm just gonna say it, okay? [Sighs] The only way to save the Island, John, is to get your people back here--the ones who left.
LOCKE: Jack, Kate... The chopper was headed for the boat. The boat--
RICHARD: No, they're fine, John, and they're already home, so you have to convince them to come back.
LOCKE: How--how am I supposed to do that?
RICHARD: You're gonna have to die, John.



In the episode Follow the Leader, John arrives to the Others camp in 2007 and sees Richard for the first time since coming back to the Island (as MIB) – he is about to set Richard up with the fateful meeting scene above … giving Locke the compass and telling him he will need to die.

LOCKE: I brought dinner.
[Locke sets the boar down in the sand.]
RICHARD: John?
LOCKE: Hello, Richard. It's been a while.
RICHARD: It's--it's been, uh, three years. What happened? What--where--where were you?
LOCKE: I'll explain on the way.
RICHARD: On the way where?
LOCKE: It's gonna be night soon. You and I have an errand to run, and we don't have a lot of time.
LOCKE: What's wrong?
RICHARD: Something different about you.
LOCKE: I have a purpose now.

***Later in the episode :

RICHARD: I'm ready, John.
LOCKE: You still have that compass I gave you?
RICHARD: A little rusty, but she can still find north.
LOCKE: [Shouting] Ben, I'd appreciate it if you'd join us.
BEN: [Shouting] What, John, don't you trust me here with my former people? Afraid I'll stage a coup?
LOCKE: I'm not afraid of anything you can do anymore, Ben.
[Ben nods.]
BEN: Well, in that case, I'd love to come.


***They arrive at the spot overlooking where Locke was shot by Ethan, in this scene MIB is setting up the scene I describe above where Locke is given the compass and gets the bullet removed by Richard – this closes the loop as regards the compass. :

LOCKE: A man's about to walk out of the jungle. He's been shot in the leg.
[Locke pushes a backpack into Richard's chest. Richard grunts.]
LOCKE: You'll need this to get the bullet out.
RICHARD: Uh, I'm sorry, John. I'm not--
LOCKE: Now just listen. This is the important part. You're gonna need to tell him that he has to bring everyone who left back to the Island. And when he asks how to do that... You tell him he's gonna have to die.
BEN: Who is that man, John?
LOCKE: Me.


***A scene between Locke as MIB and Ben – while Richard is doing his thing with Locke, waiting for Richard to get back :

BEN: This must be quite the out-of-body experience.
LOCKE: Something like that.
BEN: Your timing was impeccable, John. How did you know when to be here?
LOCKE: The Island told me. Didn't it ever tell you things?
BEN: No, John. And clearly it hasn't told you where Jacob is, or you wouldn't need Richard to show you.
LOCKE: You've never seen him.
BEN: What?
LOCKE: Jacob. You've never seen him, have you?
[Whooshing thud]

***Here the flash occurred and shot Locke vanishes (flashing back to 1954) and Richard goes back to MIB and Ben.

BEN: What just happened? Where did you go?
LOCKE: To give Richard his compass back.
RICHARD: You want the bullet?
LOCKE: Keep it. Everything go all right?
RICHARD: Well, you--you seemed pretty convinced, especially when I said you were gonna die. I'm certainly glad that didn't have to happen.
LOCKE: Actually, Richard, it did. We better get back to camp.



So the compass loop goes like this :

In 2007 MIB finds Richard, asks if Richard still has the compass he gave him in 1954. Richards says yes, MIB asks Richard to follow him, tells Ben to come along. MIB leads them to the place where Locke was left during the first flash and subsequently shot by Ethan.

MIB tells Richard to give the compass to Locke (and Richard also has to tell Locke that he needs to give Richard the compass back to him the next time they meet ... which was in 1954), remove the bullet and tell him that to bring back the Oceanic 6 Locke will have to die.

Locke then flashes to 1954, finds Richard (in Jughead) gives him the compass, tells him he is from the future and their future leader, tell Richard that he will be born in 1956 and that he should visit him then. Of course, we see Richard at John’s birth, and then again he visits Locke at the foster home – here he gives him several items and asks him to choose which items already belonged to him – of course he should have chosen the compass.

And so Richard keeps the compass, until in 2007 MIB now comes and asks if Richard still have the compass he gave him in 1954.

This is the compass loop, which is part of the loophole MIB devised to have Jacob killed so he may be free to leave the Island, which serves to fool Richard into accepting Locke as leader, which in turn leads Richard in eventually undermine Ben as leader and helps MIB set Ben up to kill Jacob.

And there you have it – bonus points to all who actual made it to the end of this post. Thank you for your time in reading this very long post – your comments are welcome.