Jack will become the protector of the Island.
Well, we are now a few hours into the final season and questions are still being raised while not many are getting answered. I actually wrote a post earlier this week asking if anyone else is ‘Lost’ like me.
Anyway, after spending a bit more time thinking about the most recent episode a few thoughts came into my head.
We now know that Jacob’s task was to find a candidate to become the protector of the island which in itself is very interesting. Up until very recently, we were led to believe that Jacob was the leader of the Other’s and the protector of the Island; this however may now not be the case. We have seen a small blonde haired boy who seems to be the one who has laid down the rules to Nemesis (and we can also assume to Jacob) and Jacob and Nemesis answer to this boy. What these rules are and why they exist is still unknown to us but I guess we’ll find out about this towards the end of Season 6.
Anyway, back to the candidate. I don’t believe that Jacob was the protector of the Island and so I don’t think he was looking for a replacement for himself. He knew that Nemesis would find some way to kill him so Jacob would have made sure that his replacement was already ready to take over his job when he was killed; he wouldn’t have left the island unprotected. Jacob was instead looking for someone who would possibly become his superior or maybe even a replacement to the blonde haired boy.
We know who the final 6 candidates are: Jack, Sawyer, Locke, Hurley, Jin or Sun and Sayid. Each of these has or had some special quality that was required to become the protector of the Island but in my eyes, there is only one person who can now successfully fulfil this task; Jack.
I now must digress slightly but you’ll see why.
What is special about the Island and why does it need protecting?
To begin with, the Island has many special healing capabilities. It cured John’s paralysis and it cured Rose’s cancer, something that may take mankind many decades to learn how to do. There is also a healing pool in the Temple which can heal terrible injuries and in the case of Sayid, it brought him back to life. The other ‘quite’ special thing about the Island is that it can time travel which is a very special trait.
So why does the Island need protecting? Well the first reason is time travel. I’ll just quickly make the point that I’m a firm believer of WHH before I continue as I’m sort of going to go against what I believe. Just imagine that, now we have the second universe, you in fact could travel back in time and change things. You could travel from your universe to another universe where the rules of WHH don’t apply to you; you could travel to any point in time using the island and change what you want. That is a mouth watering prospect for probably 99.9% of people as you could manipulate events for you to become the most powerful person in existence in that universe.
Another scary thought is with regards to the islands healing capabilities; you could make it that someone who is dead or dying would be healed or would come back to life in the second universe. This might seem great to use this power on friends and family but how far would some people go? JFK could be saved, so could Princess Diana but then again so could Hilter!
Virtually nobody would use the time travel and healing abilities of the Island selflessly, both would instead be used for personal gain with guaranteed disastrous consequences. The person who needs to be in charge of Island is a selfless person who would make sure that the Island was protected and not taken advantage of.
Now back to the candidate and back to Jack. Jack has come on a very long journey during the last 5 seasons, probably a much longer journey than anybody else. He has shown that he is a leader and for the most part, put the welfare of everyone else before his own. I believe Jack’s main challenge was to overcome the temptation of Kate which he has done; he told Sawyer this in the Season 5 finale. He also showed that he was prepared to try and prevent all the misery and suffering that everyone had been through by attempting to detonate the nuclear warhead. He wanted to give those that had died a second chance and was even prepared to erase the good times off the island that he had spent with Kate. Jack’s journey has taken him from being a man of science to a man of faith and he has become someone who now won’t do anything that results in any sort of personal gain for himself.
For this reason, it will be Jack who will be the prime candidate to possibly become the protector of the Island; he out of the other 4 remaining people would not use the island for personal gain or use it in any of the ways I have mentioned above; he would protect it. Maybe in his mind he doesn’t know this yet but I’m quite sure that it will be brought to his attention soon enough.
He would not abuse the healing capabilities of the Island, he would not take advantage of time travelling and he wouldn’t mess around with the ability of transporting to other universes.
In this theory I have made the assumption that the Island can be used as a gateway to other universes which may not be the case. However, as very little has been divulged in Season 6, I’m just throwing in my own slightly far fetched ideas!
I can’t agree with all of that.
I believe that little blonde boy IS Jacob. If MIB was used to seeing this boy why would he have acted so confused (and scared) when he saw him?
Jack was orginally writen out of the script on the second episode of the series.
He was supposed to die, instead of the pilot. This makes me question just how important he is. If he’s the one who’s supposed to take care of the island, then this would have had to of been planned (since we all know that Lost was picked up due to it’s fantastic ending that we have yet to see unfold) and therefore Jack would have always have been in the master plan.
Also, why build up Locke for 5 seasons and then have Jack take all of the glory? I just don’t get it. I don’t think it’s only Jack who is important –but the numbers. It’s sort of like a combination to a lock (no pun intended) 4,8,15,16,23,42 , all of these are equally important. Atleast I think so.
Ditto.
I mentioned Jack dying in a post in the Question section (why is Jack important) and suggested that while the overall story was in place and yes the ending, i think it was flexible enough to allow for any character to play the major roles, they kept Jack’s character in because they liked the actor and since then they have placed more importance on the character, building him up for the finale.
The healing pool didn’t bring Sayid back to live. Being infected did, the same way Claire died in the explosion in Dharmaville and yet was alive when pulled out of the rubble.
I have trouble believing that Jack will end up being the protector. Firstly, that is a bit to formulaic that the hero at the beginning would end up the ending hero, or protector and I just don’t think this is that type of show…..in fact, I think it is the opposite. Jack is a pansy ass. He was in real life, he was when he got back off the island, and basically just does what everyone tells him….the group told him to go ahead and get them off the island, he did it, Ben told him he needed to go back, he did it, Faraday said, blow some the island up, he did it. I would not pick him to do the job of protecting the island because he cannot think for himself and needs concensus from a group to be seen as a hero….I think the nature of the island is searching for a leader who can assess a situation and act whether it conventional and good or not, to act in the best interest of the island….perhaps a street smart con-man, who seems like a selfish loner, but has a heart of gold….wait a minute, that is a bit formulaic also, but seems so, so much more plausible to me that Jack staying on that island. Finally, I have always heard (and feel that it has some merit) a rumor that Jack was actually supposed to die in the either the pilot of the next episode (thus leaving the survivors without their protector…..get it) but that they had good feedback so they kept the character. Really, I can’t think of a major plot line for Jack, enough to make it pivotal to the plot……we will see soon;-)
We don’t KNOW that Jacob was listing candidates to take over his position as protector of the island. Jacob didn’t say that, his Nemesis did. And we’ve never seen anyone on the island lie to anyone else in order to get what they want….
Also, if he was listing candidates based on moral value (in protecting the island, etc), why in the world would Sawyer’s name be up there? A con-artist and murderer? There’s definitely a lot more to it than we know just yet.
One more thing to think about.. when considering all past events and episodes, be careful not to give too much weight to things that occurred in Seasons 1 and 2. The producers decided at some point in Season 3 to end it at 6 seasons, and started gearing their writing in that direction more so than they were already doing from the start. Details in Seasons 1 or 2 may detract from main story points as they’re currently presented to us, as they hadn’t entirely come up with the big picture just yet.
jack already tried to use time travel for selfish reasons (having another chance with kate). jack would definitely use the healing powers to help someone whether or not they deserved it.
also the argument that jack was supposed to be written off doesnt matter. eko was supposed to be as main as jack and locke, but was written off due to personal reasons. there is an excellent article i read on the fluidity of tv writing. characters evolve and while the writers have the major ideas down, they can change how they approach them or how they get there.
I know a lot of fans think that Jack is a wimp, but he was the one that everyone turned to in season 1, and season 6 is supposed to be similar to 1. Also Jack, as a doctor, is a healer and protector. As far as Sawyer, it is not the man he was off the island (con man,etc). It is the man he became on the island which was a good, loyal and decent one with leadership quality. He definitely evolved. Plus,he is soooo hot!!! lol
Jack being number 23 tying in once again with Biblical connections – Psalm 23 is known as the Shepherd’s (um, hullo!) Psalm. It portrays God as the Shepherd who will protect, provide and guide us. I believe Jack is it – even if his character was originally supposed to be offed – that was amended before they even started taping the shows. That is why Michael Keaton chose not to play Jack Shephard (he was in for one episode, but not an entire series) and why Matthew Fox was awarded the role. The whole “Jack was supposed to die” thing seems to be a mute point.
oh, yeah…and the whole “HOT” thing too!
Ben was written in as just another Other, and wasnt intended to be the leader of them when they first wrote him into the story either. Things change.
Agreed–lostonlongisland (so am I!)–that both Sawyer and Jack have evolved so much as human beings. Both were so flawed in season 1, Jack in his relationship with his father, and his need to fix/heal for his own ego, and Sawyer in his shallow selfish way. Each of them has come such a long way in these past few seasons, and for that reason either one of them could be the leader. No one is perfect, and it is only in overcoming our flaws and striving for forgiveness and redemption that we truly become human.
Also, love your catch on the connection with Jack Shephard, #23, and the 23rd psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd” itsdesmondbrutha!