Light vs. Dark and Jacob’s apologies

From the beginning of Lost, the characters have been taking sides. There have been some characters who have been universally good, making decisions that help others from the beginning and rarely demonstrating cruel or selfish behavior– these characters include Hurley, Sun, Claire, and Jack (that one is debatable, but I think it’s safe to say that Jack is a “good” character). There are other more minor characters that would fall into this category as well, like Rose and Bernard, Penny, and Walt. I’m pretty sure that Kate falls into this category as well, even though she can be a mighty selfish bitch.

Then there are those characters that are born to be bad. It’s not that they aren’t sympathetic and they certainly have their shining moments, but as a general rule these guys would definitely be on the “dark side”. These characters include Sayid, Sawyer, and Ben. I would argue that Locke is on this side as well. Jin probably is too, but his and Sun’s love somehow shifts them both into the “good” category.

Now, with this in mind, think about last seasons finale. Jacob visited Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Hurley, Locke, and Sun and Jin. He touches them all, and gives each of them a nugget of wisdom at a very influential time in their life.

But there is something strange–because he apologizes to some of them, but not to the others. He says “I’m sorry” to Sayid, Sawyer, and Locke — “the bad guys”. He offers no apology to Jack, Hurley, Jin + Sun, or Kate.

We also see the difference in the situations in which he chooses to visit them. He visits Jack after a surgery, Jack is visibly upset but it is not a bad situation for him. Sun and Jin are getting married, clearly a happy occasion. Hurley has just been released from prison, and he has the longest and most intimate conversation with Jacob. Kate has stolen a lunchbox, but the situation isn’t exactly serious. If you understand what I’m getting at, none of the situations in which Jacob visited these guys is particularly bad, and in some cases (Jin + Sun) it’s actually a happy occasion (I’m pretty sure that Jack’s should be a happy occasion too because he ended up saving the girl in that surgery, but he was whining all the same).

Now look at the situations in which he visits Sayid, Sawyer, and Locke. When he visits Sayid, he is basically the catalyst for Nadia’s death (he asks Sayid for directions and Nadia keeps walking into the road where she is hit by a car); he visits Sawyer at his parents funeral; and he visits Locke just after his father pushed him out a window and he has become paralyzed. Basically, he visits them all in very bad situations.

I know that this is more of an observation than a theory, but I feel like there is a greater importance to all this. The crucial theme of Lost can be found in Light vs. Dark, and I feel that Jacob is “recruiting” players for this final showdown. I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on this.