A Loophole is difficult to manipulate

Greetings all!!!  First I would like to say how excited I am that this site is back up.  Second I would like to apologize if I ramble a bit in this theory.  I just worked 34 hours straight, but knew I would not be able to sleep till I posted this.

I’ve got two different theories here that I believe will link together. 

First, in the beginning scene of the season 5 finale, I’ve always assumed when we see Jacob and the MIB on the beach we are seeing them in their original bodies.  However, maybe we are not.  Jacob recognizes the man when he approaches him right away, but he also recognized him right away when he was wearing Lockes body inside the statue.  So, what if Jacob and the MIB do not have actual physical bodies of their own but just wear the bodies of the dead like suits.  The bodies they are wearing on the beach are simply their favorite suits.  However they wear different suits when they are trying to manipulate someone either in a positive or negative way.  For example what if all the Ghosts that Hurley sees like Charlie and Ana Lucia  are actually Jacob trying to get Hurley to come back.  However this just freaks Hurley out, so Jacob puts on a suit that won’t freak him out.  When Locke sees Christian by the FDW, perhaps this is MIB putting his plan into motion.  I will get back to that. 

This brings me to my second theory, which is about the loophole.  What if the loophole is that Jacob (and possibly MIB) can only kill the other while wearing the dead body of who the island acknowledges as the true leader?  There did not seem to be any great struggle for MIB to kill Jacob, I mean Jacob put up almost no fight at all.  So perhaps the reason it was so difficult was that MIB had to be wearing the right suit. 

I believe that until Locke arrived that Richard has always been the true leader since he arrived (whenever that was).  Jacob saw he had the qualities to qualify for the position, and deemed him the leader.  However, he knew if Richard were to die, that MIB could use his body to find the loophole.  So, he makes Richard not to age.  This does not mean that Richard is invincible, he can still be killed, but would not die of natural causes due to non-aging (essentially his body has never changed since Jacob gave him this gift).  Richard, as you notice, is very peacful, tactful, and non-confrontational.  Even people (such as the losties) who stand on opposing sides of him have never been given a reason to want to kill him.  I believe Jacob saw this in him, and this is largely why he picked him.  The only reason someone (especially MIB) would want to kill Jacob is if they knew he was truly the leader.  So, part of Jacob’s deal with Richard was “I’ll make you the true leader, but you can’t let anyone know that you are the true leader.”  Hence, Richard would find different people to “play the role” while he advised them on the side.  Then when Locke came to the island the torch was to be passed from Richard to Locke.  Richard knew that this would happen all along.  When we see him visit John as a young boy, he is not upset because John picked the wrong item, but because he picked the right one and he knows his time as the true leader is coming to an end.  Something happens between the time when Locke is a young boy and when he is in High school and offered the “science camp” that makes Richard okay with passing the torch. 

When Locke arrives on the island, the island starts prepping him to take over as the true leader.  MIB realizing this sees an opportunity and starts manipulating the situation.  After the oceanic 6 leave as well as Ben, he realizes that all who would want to kill Locke are gone.  So he stays down in the FDW chamber and keeps the wheel off of it’s axis, causing time to skip.  This leads locke to go down into the chamber and move the wheel again (this is when he sees MIB as Christian).  This causes Locke to leave the island and puts him in the path of a man who would want him dead, Ben, since Ben has always been jealous of Lockes relationship to the island.  Once, Ben kills Locke, Mrs. Hawking (who I believe is being manipulated or legitamately working for MIB) convinces Jack he must take Lockes body back.  Once Lockes body is back on the island, the Loophole has been fulfilled.  The Leaders dead body is on the island and can be worn by MIB.  MIB also sees an opportunity to use Ben to do the heavy lifting for him.  Appearing to Ben as Alex he tells Ben that he must do whatever John says.  MIB actually kills Jacob himself by kicking him into the fire, but after Ben has weakened him by getting close and stabbing him.  Is this the end of Jacob, I hope not.  Perhaps “they’re coming” will be the loophole that Jacob needs in order to survive.  Perhaps being killed by MIB was part of Jacob’s plan all along.  Guess we’ll have to wait to season 6 to see.