The season five finale was a game changer. Lost is famous for giving us the kind of mind blowing season finale that does this, year after year. That’s considerably harder and harder to accomplish given the standards that the show itself, has set up for us to compare it to. For the last episodes leading up to the finale, the writers were building up a tremendous amount of tension and theorizing by the fans. The focus of that buildup was all centered on the ability to change fate and whether or not they would actually explode a hydrogen bomb. By the opening minute of “The Incident” I had forgotten all about the bomb. By the sounds of the podcasts this week, I am not alone. They turned the tables on us once again. I think at this point many of us are less distracted by the outcome of a hydrogen explosion on Destiny island, than we are determining the identity of the man in the black shirt. You can call him Jacob’s enemy. I like Nemesis. But I also belong to the group of fans that can’t help but wonder if this man’s name is Esau.
Comparisons between the Biblical Jacob and Esau and our island version
Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Rebekah favored Jacob and Isaac favored Esau. Rebekah helped Jacob con his father out of Esau’s blessings. These blessings seem to have mystical properties and value. Esau was the eldest twin and Jacob held on to his heal to have Esau doing the work of pulling both of them out. Jacob’s name means ‘grabber’ and ‘cheater’. Esau was covered in hair. Jacob’s mother once had him con his blind father by dressing himself in goat’s fur to simulate Esau’s hairy skin. The first time we see ‘Jacob’ sitting in the cabin he has long wavy hair. I believe it was never Jacob in the cabin. It was Nemesis. Esau was starving one day in the field. Jacob offered to bring him some pottage (soup) if he would give him all his rightful inheritance in trade. Esau agreed, thinking his inheritance is of no value if he died of starvation. Esau was considered a hunter, Jacob stayed home, perhaps comparable to a farmer. We have had the running theme of hunter vs. farmer when it comes to Locke’s self image. Esau often would present his father with offerings of venison and other kills. When faux Locke comes in to Richard’s camp he is carrying a boar over his shoulders and presents it to them. In the opening beach scene Jacob is eating the fish that he has prepared for himself. He offers some to Nemesis, but he refuses, stating, “Thank you. I just ate.” One could either liken that to the fact that the Biblical Esau was a hunter and usually had food in hand. Or you could take that, as the sting from him remembering what happened the last time Biblical Esau accepted food from his brother. They were twin brothers. I would argue that in the Bible, Jacob was the bad twin. On Lost we find the Gary Troupe manuscript of his latest book, entitled “The Bad Twin”. Jacob inherited his father Isaac’s blessings. For a time other people grew jealous of Isaac’s good fortune and drove him off of his lands claiming that Isaac’s water wells belonged to them. The family always acquiesced and moved on, only to find good fortune everywhere they went. Finally realizing that Isaac had God’s blessings, and fearing God’s wrath, the King came to Isaac to bargain a peace treaty. The Philistines grew jealous of Isaac’s wells and filled them with earth until that treaty. The well on the island was eventually found to be filled with earth and rocks. After realizing that Jacob had conned Isaac out of all of Esau’s rightful blessings as the first born, Esau went to his father to beg that he might find some blessing to bestow upon him. This was all Isaac could manage, Gen. 27:40 “you shall hew your way with your sword. For a time you will serve your brother, but you will finally shake loose from him and be free.” Esau threatens to kill Jacob, and Rebekah sends Jacob away to protect him. While on the run to a safer land Jacob sleeps one night with a rock for a pillow. He dreams of a ladder between that spot and Heaven. When he awakens he sets the stone headrest upright, like a memorial pillar and names the spot Bethel, or “house of God”. The island has a large stone pillar that we saw Anthony Cooper tied to. All of Lost is built on Daddy issues. The story of Jacob and Esau is rife with Daddy and Mommy issues. The father seems to take a more prominent role though, in my opinion. They were both vying for there Dad’s, as well as God’s, approval, blessings and rewards. Jacob stays away for 20 years. While he is gone he marries two women. Despite fertility problems, they have 12 children. One of those sons is named Benjamin. Aaron, brother of Moses was also descended from this line of Jacob.
Malachi 1:2-3 I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Malachi 3:16-18 Then they that fear the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Ok, first of all, isn’t it interesting that in a book that references Jacob and Esau, verse 3:16 basically says God made a list of the good ones. And then just to hammer that point home, verse 18 basically says “you shall return and discern between the good guys and the bad guys.” I would encourage further study of all of Malachi. It’s just 2 & 1/2 pages long. Genesis books 25-50 deal with Jacob’s story in greater detail.
A new look at previous occurrences on the island with Jacob vs. Nemesis insight.
I think it’s quite possible that Smokey is Nemesis, or at least linked to him. Smokey seems unable to get past water. We have never seen him on Hydra island, perhaps because he cannot get past it in that form. Ben drained water out of a portion of the tunnels to summon him as if that water was a barrier that he could not breach. When flight 316 arrived on Hydra island it seems a fair assumption that Nemesis was not alive. It would seem unlikely that his spirit could leave his living body and then either enter or replicate the body of John Locke. When the fake John Locke first emerged from flight 316 he did two things, and immersed himself in the enjoyment of them. He stood in the water and later he ate a mango. He said it was the best mango he had ever eaten. No doubt he was simply enjoying the corporeal act of eating. He had not done this in a long time as he had not fully lived in a long time. The same could be said about standing in the water, or it could simply be that he was not able to be in the water, as Smokey, and was finally enjoying it now. I think all the apparitions/visions can be attributed to either Jacob or Nemesis. That is why we have been getting contradictory messages. I think island Christian was always either Jacob or Nemesis. If I had to choose one, it would be Nemesis. Maybe Jacob has a healing touch and Nemesis has a death touch. We have seen Jacob heal. We have heard that Ben negotiated to have him heal Juliet’s sister Rachel. Perhaps it was the force of Nemesis that made Ben have a tumor or even Jack have appendicitis. When Locke fell through the well to the frozen donkey wheel tunnels, he broke his leg badly. When Christian appeared to him, Locke asked him to help him up. Perhaps he refused because he needed Locke to live until he could bring Nemesis’ plan to fruition. If he is the opposite of Jacob then touching him might have killed him. We know that Jacob’s touch can heal. We saw him heal both Locke (partially) from the 8 story fall, and Ilanna from her mystery ailments. I think he may be responsible for all the mysterious healings both on island and off: On island - Locke, Rose and Aaron (in the womb); Off island Sarah Shepherd, Carole Littleton, Michael Dawson (from 2 car accidents), Locke (fall & car accident), Emily Locke, and Anthony Cooper. Anthony said the last thing he remembered after his car accident was a paramedic over him in the ambulance, smiling at him. I used to think that was Richard, but now I think it was Jacob. I think that all the bad things that have happened to Locke, to take away his faith, were likely caused by Nemesis. Jacob and Nemesis talked on the beach about things ending only once. They talked about people as if they were judging them, “They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt.” Perhaps they are testing people just as God and Satin tested Job. I think all the mixed messages that Locke received from both Jacob and Nemesis put him in the vulnerable position that lead to his death. I think Jacob was giving Locke the positive, belonging feeling that Locke felt for his destiny on the island. I think that Nemesis caused the manipulations and cons that he endured via Ben Linus. And on that note, I think the only communication that Ben ever got from the real Jacob was through Richard. I think the cabin had nothing to do with Jacob. Jacob was never trapped, as we had all suspected. On the contrary, Jacob was traveling all over the real world, perhaps as far back to the 19th century, to gather the Black Rock crew to come to the island. And Jacob talked to Hurley only a few days prior, on the day of the flight for 316. I think each flashback we saw with Jacob visiting one of our islanders, could be said to be moments that lead to there coming to the island. No, Jacob was not trapped in that cabin. It was never Jacob’s cabin. It was Nemesis’ cabin. Nemesis was trapped there by the circle of ash (or whatever the substance is). I think once the circle was broken, it freed him, perhaps in ways we don’t understand yet. I think any direct messages that Ben might have received would have been from Nemesis. I think the infamous, “Help me” was Nemesis, not Jacob.
I look forward to seeing what other theories the community comes up with over the next eight months. As someone said this week, even if we guess the real answer to this riddle of a show, the writers are sure to layer other themes and mythologies over it in ways we would never come up with. This show is like an ever changing feast. I can’t wait until season six to see what new flavors we get to dive into. Bon appetit!
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