'Lost': Letters from the Flame, 'The Incident' edition, part 2

OK, it's time to open the ol' "Lost" mailbag for more of your questions concerning "The Incident." Let's get right to 'em.

Who is coming? I believe Jacob was referring to Oceanic survivors and/or Ilana and crew, but many people seem to believe he means a 3rd party danger to the island.
John C

I think if it were The Shadow People, Jacob would have said, "They are here." Because, after all, they are literally 50 feet away when Ben stabs Jacob. Maybe Jacob, in touching the Lostaways at different points in their lives, gave them a type of psychic geotag that allowed them to "come" when Jacob died.

My sense is that while Randall Flagg (my new name for The Man in Black) was plotting Jacob's demise over the course of potentially centuries, Jacob was planning his defense for just as long. He was visiting important people, directing the construction of a runway on Hydra Island, and doing a variety of other things in order to counter Randall's inevitable attack predicted in the threads he spent his life weaving. Only when Jacob says, "They are coming," does Randall realize just how clever Jacob has been all along. That doesn't mean Randall loses in that moment, but he realizes that he hasn't won yet.

How long did Ilana, et al know about the 2 Lockes? Because BetaLocke was hanging out at the campfire with the rest of the 316-ers, right?
mri

Yea, there's an important scene left out of Season 5, in which someone alerts Ilana to the fact that the man who took off with the dude with the creepy eyes happens to also be dead in a metal box.

In "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," Ilana tells Caesar of a man standing in the water. It makes little sense to think she'd allow Jacob's enemy a free pass to the mainland, so one has to assume she only discovered the real deal Locke after the fact. And yes, when John Locke dies at the end of "Bentham," that's it. That was the end of John Locke. The title literally told us this and yet fooled us at the same time.

(And while I like "BetaLocke," I feel like we need another nick for Randall-Posing-As-Locke. RaPaL? Nah, sounds too much like RuPaul.)

We all seem to assume that Jacob is good, but what does "good" mean in the "Lost" world?
beachgirl

This was a pretty common refrain across the interwebs, with some going so far as calling Jacob the actual evil one of the ancient pairing. I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I think it's smart as well as fair to not paint Jacob as a complete saint. And Sayid would most certainly agree with that.

Jacob talks to Randall while gazing at the Black Rock about "progress," a word that might apply as much for himself as for humanity as a whole. And while he can heal with his touch, he can't exactly feel emotion. At least not in a human way. And that's why, I think, humans fascinate him so much. It's the old trope, rife in sci-fi, concerning humanity's extreme potential for both good and bad. The bad's downright awful/genocidal, but the acme of humanity stands uniquely alone. Randall doesn't believe in such an apex, and thus seeks to drag humanity down to fuel his viewpoint.

But while Jacob believes in humanity's potential, he's not human. And so if Nadia has to die in order for Sayid to fulfill his purpose, that's fine. It's utilitarianism but without a moral component. Yes, saving the Island might indeed save the world, but there's little thought towards the loss of life it takes to achieve that end. (See: dude who gets sucked into the propeller in the pilot.)

Jacob is not inherently a benevolent figure, but in giving humanity a chance to advance its own moral state, he's certainly a necessary figure.

One idea that popped into my head came from Terminator 3. When Arnold and John Connor are driving in the pickup, John Connor says, "I thought we changed everything. I thought we stopped Judgment Day." Arnold replied, "You only delayed it; Judgment Day is inevitable." When Juliet whacked the bomb, she stopped the Dharma Initiative from building the Swan Station...in 1977. Those that survive the blast could conceivably go back and build the Swan Station in the 80's. The plane would still crash and the events that follow, for the most part, would remain the same with slight variations here and there. Do you think they will take that approach, or do you think that they will offer some other explanation to return the Losties to the same point in 2007?
Pete

I put this in since it concisely sums up how I think The Numbers were broadcasting when Frank Lapidus crash-landed Ajira 316. And it's potentially the way in which to think about a scene in "The Little Prince" in mind-blowing new ways.

I predicted, incorrectly, that we'd see the other side of the scene in "Prince" in which a mysterious group of figures shoot at Locke and Company after they visit a dilapidated version of the beach camp. Since I figured Ilana and Company for baddies, I thought their outrigger would chase Locke's outrigger. Well, of course, it didn't actually happen. And I'm hoping in happens in Season 6. Here's how.

As Pete points out, the version of The Incident that we saw might in fact have slightly varied from the one described in the Swan orientation video. If so, that potentially creates a ripple affect of Island history, not world history. And in this new timeline, the Kahana never comes, the donkey wheel never gets turned, Jin never meets 1988 Danielle, she goes into the Temple, and never changes the message. But many things stay roughly the same, just in a slightly altered or delayed manner. Including Oceanic 815 crashing on the Island.

But I think it's still a different crash. Suppose the anomaly doesn't mean that Oceanic 815 lands safely in Los Angeles: it means that it crash lands on the Island, but with certain people possessing new insight into what Jacob wants them to do. Those touched by Jacob, who go through the "progress" of the past five seasons, now understand the point at which things went off the rails first time through, and are able to change things this time around. They still build their camp, but go about things in a different way.

I'm not sure I am totally sold on this variation, but it seems a better way to go than have Oceanic 815 land safely in L.A. I don't see one possible way in which that ends well for the show or the fans. The idea of them being blown through time to 2007 via some type of boom tube seems the most likely, with Jacob sending the Jack/Kate/Hurley/Sayid collection there to collect those incorrectly placed in time by Ben's turning of the donkey wheel.

But I'm kinda fascinated by the idea of Season 6 being Season 1, but an alternative version of it. The mind sorta boggles, doesn't it?

Coming soon: yet more of your questions!

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude. He invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed

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