What may have happened had MIB escaped the island... by Jeremy Wolfe

During the final season of Lost it was stated several times that an escape by MIB would be catasto phic. It was not clear exactly what would have happened though. During "The End" we saw MIB become mortal when Desmond removed the "cork" and the light and water were disrupted. Had Jack failed, MIB would have escaped in a mortal body. Locke's body was that of an approximately 55 year old man so a mortal MIB running amuk in the world "across the sea" is not much of a risk. The damage to the world that MIB could have caused would have been limited. The biggest danger that we saw during "The End" would have been the fallout from MIB's plan... a sunken island and the death of all life. It is not clear if that death would have been immediate or gradual, but clearly life would end if the island had sunk.

The bigger risk would have been if MIB would have found a way to escape in an immortal body. Had all of Jacob's candidates had died or turned down the job, and the failsafe (Desmond) had turned away from his task of "disabling" the island, then MIB would have been free to leave the island. With the island intact he would have held on to his power and immortality. Clearly from the statements from Widmore, Jacob, Illana, and Richard's late wife the idea of MIB walking in the world was a danger.

I'm sure that some will take issue with the idea that MIB could have potentially left the island with his powers intact. The statements made about the repurcussions of MIBs escape though never hinted at the island being destroyed. The statements implied that MIB would be a destroyer, or as Isabella would say "we all go to hell".

So what would have happened if MIB had gotten off the island and kept his power as an immortal smoke monster? Well we can surprise what MIB would have done based on what he said and did on the island. MIB was similar to Jacob in that although he interacted with people, he was never really one of them. While Jacob seperated himself from the common man while manipulating things according to what he felt was right, MIB used people. It was clear from the beginning that even when MIB lived among the people of the island he utilized them as a means to an end. MIB was always about manipulation. He had the people of the island helping him channel the water and the light via the frozen donkey wheel and his only goal was escape from the island.

It's hard to tell what MIB's original plan would have been had he escaped the island in his youth. I have no doubt that had he escaped the island at age 25, he would have sought out his people and ancestry and perhaps lived somewhat of a normal life. However by the time you've arrived to 2004 when the events of Lost started, MIB had been living on the island for almost 2000 years. So what would he have done had he escaped?

I doubt that MIB would have been content to find a nice girl and settle down. I think we can surprise what he would have done based on his history and actions on the island. MIB showed us that he was charismatic, highly manipulative (particularly targeting those with faith), faithless, obsessive and angry.

Lost always made allusions to the Bible, Biblical stories and characters. However JJ and Darlton never gave us the idea that anyone or anything on Lost corresponded to anything that was actually in the Bible. For example we were never meant to beleive that Jacob was the Jacob from the Bible, but by calling him Jacob it was a nod to the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau. Had MIB escaped though, I do beleive that he would have matched up perfectly with an actual Biblical character. I surmise that had he escaped that MIB would have fulfilled the role or very closely mirrored the role of Antichrist.

As I mentioned a mortal 55 year old man, no matter how charismatic or manipulative has limited power. However an immortal man who faithless, highly manipulative, and has power to destroy could cause a great amount of damage. Had MIB escaped with his power in tact I beleive he would have essentially try to rule the world. Since we know that he enjoyed utilizing those with faith to manipulate I have no doubt that he would have turned to the faithful people of the world and used their faith to give himself power. The difference between MIB and any other person who preys on people's faith is that MIB would have had the ability to perform miracles and be impervious to death.

So why would MIB want to rule the world? What would be his motivation? Well we know that at this point, roughly 2000 years after his birth he would have no home. No relatives to introduce himself to. The only thing that MIB would have had left would be to manipulate peopel and consolidate wealth. I beleive his primary motivation for doing this would be to continue his angry argument with Jacob. Even though Jacob wouldn't have been there, every manipulation would be a mental point in his game with Jacob. MIB had no faith in humanity and by ruling over them and causing them to turn evil or follow him would have been MIB's final revenge against humanity.

We also know that MIB was attracted to the light source. It's also possible that had he left he may have sought at some point to come back and either harness the island's power or put it out. This would have been his final revenge against mother.

To recap, had MIB escaped with his power intact I think that it's safe to say he would have continued his pattern of manipulation and anger. Once you couple that with supernatural power you quickly have yourself an Antichrist.