The Smoke Monster existed before ‘Across the Sea’: two clues
Up until recently I did not think that the Smoke Monster existed before Jacob’s brother entered the cave. I thought that Jacob’s brother ‘created’ the Smoke Monster when he entered the cave, but now I think the Smoke Monster was ‘freed’ by that act instead:
There are two small clues that the Smoke Monster did indeed exist before ‘Across the Sea’. I may have interpreted the clues incorrectly, and am posting to get opinions.
Clue #1: The game Senet, which is what Jacob’s brother “finds”, is an Egyptian game that traces back to 3000 B.C. The villagers in ‘Across the Sea’, based on the dagger that Jacob’s brother inherits from them, are of Roman descent in the time period of 0-100 AD or so.
-The knife is a pugio, a military dagger used as a sidearm by Roman legionaries. On the sheath, it depicts the Roman she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus.
So — a time gap of distance BC to 0-100 AD. Quite a stretch between the two.
Even with the strange goings-on in terms of time bending and the like around the island, I think it is rather unlikely that a very old game would naturally be ‘found’ on the beach. The discovery in fact seemed staged (by Mother).
Also — it is possible that the game, like chess, was still in practice/existence, and in the possession of someone from the Roman village. But I don’t think so — it strikes me as something that does not belong in the ‘Across the Sea’ timeframe.
So where did it come from? I think it came from the Egyptian part of the island: the statue, the temple — all of which exist on the island in the time period of ‘Across the Sea’ but are likely abandoned and overgrown.
Clue #2: In the temple catacombs, there is a depiction of the smoke monster facing the Egyptian deity Anubis. If these hieroglyphics are authentic, then they must date back to BC times — far before the ‘Roman’ villagers and Jacob and his brother came to the island! Therefore, the Smoke Monster did indeed exist before Jacob’s brother entered the cave….
Now, I realize time travel could be one way to argue against this, or even time bending. My argument against time travel is the following: the time travel that takes place in Lost is based on the “Consistent Histories” property (described by Stephen Hawkings in his book A Brief History in Time). Based on that, if time travel to the past occurs, whatever happens must fit into the model of the present. So, if Jacob somehow time traveled after ‘Across the Sea’ back to 3000 BC and summoned Egyptians to the island and they built the statue, etc., everything that they build would ALREADY EXIST in the ‘Across the Sea’ time, because, based on Consistent Histories, what happened, happened. Time travel to the past does not change that.
So — I don’t think time travel was involved, or time bending. I think this was a straight timeline. I think the Egyptians came to the Island first and, in fact, may have even been Mother’s people (the descendants of Adam and Eve are Egyptian — I say that because I believe Mother may possibly be Eve).
Therefore, I think the Egyptian structures are present in ‘Across the Sea’, we just don’t see them. The island is a big place, after all.
It fits into the Senet game as well. Where else do you find an Egyptian game from 3000-2000BC on the island? I think it is likely that Mother either had the game herself, having kept it from the time when she was among the Egyptians, or she goes over there, gets the Senet game, and places it on the beach for Jacob’s brother to find (for motives of her own).
Now, to clarify something (in my own mind). I believe the Smoke Monster existed before Jacob and Jacob’s brother due to the clues above. However, I do not think the Smoke Monster is a servant to anyone, including Mother. I think it is trapped — as Evil Incarnate, it may be a Fallen Angel, Satan, lost souls — I’m not sure what, but with all the chains rattling about as it moves (read that from a recent theory — nice observation by the writer) — it does make it seem like a prisoner.
Why a prisoner in the Light? I’m not sure. But, if the Divine Light is made up of Fire and Water (see I recent theory I wrote about that), Smoke (Monster) and Ash (the ward of Smoke Monster) are byproducts — all of which are symbolic in Lost and fit together.
To include a quick example of why I think the Smoke Monster is independent of Mother: I do not think Mother used the Smoke Monster to destroy the village. I think it was an electromagnetic event from the well (that Jacob’s brother and the villagers dug, where the donkey wheel was).
The electromagnetic event burned the village and those in it just like a similar event burned Widmore’s man in the cabin meant to test Desmond.
I site this example to clarify that Mother is against the Smoke Monster — she is holding it at bay. Jacob is supposed to do the same, but frees it unintentionally from the cave when he sends his brother into the Divine Light, which is not meant for mortals… perhaps the Smoke Monster is freed because it grabs a soul that allows it to escape, or Jacob’s Brother’s soul is “trapped” in place of the Smoke Monster…some kind of swap….
More on Mother’s role before the brothers’ arrival: The Egyptians knew about her as evidenced in the hieroglyphics. Mother appears to be Anubis (figuratively); sitting across from the Smoke Monster in the hieroglyphics, she is in the way of the Smoke Monster, i.e. not allowing the Smoke Monster freedom to move on; and my guess is each candidate after her (Jacob, and Jacob’s replacement) are meant to take the ‘role’ of Anubis. A protector of the Divine Light, a protector of the Afterlife.
So — Mother knew of the Egyptians when they were on the island. And they knew about her and the Smoke Monster. Mother said something in the episode about humans, how they are all corrupt, and that it always ends the same with them. This would mean that she would have experience with humanity, and perhaps the Egyptians on the Island were one of these experiences that made her so bitter.
Most likely, something happened to the Egyptians that caused their destruction, just like with the Roman villagers, and the cycle continued…
This is a pretty long theory based on only a few clues…but, it’s rare that we get more than a few clues at a time!
Thanks for reading.
Very nicely done Clairespeanutbutter. I also believe that Smokey was there well before Jacob and Brother and that Smokey was released by Jacob accidentally. I also think your idea about the village is very plausible; but so is the idea that Smokey was summoned. At this point it can go either way as we were not shown what destroyed the village. You do present a good case though.
If we are to believe that everything truly is a circle then perhaps MIB is not the first Smoke Monster and in fact someone was thrown into the light back in Egyptian times only to be vanquished some time later. What we are seeing now with MIB and Jacob and the losties is simply another cycle of a continuing process where a monster is created and destroyed.
That’s just an alternative hypothesis to explain the same evidence. Based on what you’ve pointed out, it would seem that there has to have been a Smoke Monster on the island long before Jacob and MIB were born. What I can’t seem to buy is that it is the exact same entity as the current Smoke Monster.
Nicely put! I share the same view on Smokey being pre-existent to both MIB, Jacob and the mother.
In fact I’m inclined to think that neither the Jacob or the MIB we see in “current days” are the same from the “ancient days”.
Two points that left me intrigued on Across the Sea
1. What is worse than dieing?
2. What does the mother thanks MIB for killing her?
But what’s already annoying me is the fact that the writers of the show already said that LOST will have a open end. Something that in my opinion isn’t exactly acceptable for a show that raised a whole lot of questions, answered pretty much none and took 6 years to get close to an end.
At this point I’m pretty sure we will never know what the Smoke monster really is, what’s the connection with the Egyptians, what the island really is (instead of that cheap generic dumb down explanation of it being a cork) or any of those questions regarding the myths of the show that we would like to get an answer. They will probably just focus on giving an end to the characters and their missions and leave the mystery open for interpretations. Something that if true for me will feel like a cheap long con.
@achalli and metaldude, thanks for the comments. The summoning of the smoke monster and the cycle of a continuing process made me think of something that counters my own theory (or at least needs an explanation) –
What about the fact that in the temple where the hieroglyphics are, there is also a ‘vent’ for the smoke monster to enter through (remember when the smoke monster appeared before Ben as Alex)?
If that vent were created by the Egyptians in BC per this theory, that would mean they could/would summon it. One on hand, maybe that’s why Mother took them to task. But, according to my theory, the smoke monster is trapped in the Light, so it would be impossible for the Egyptians to summon it until Jacob’s brother goes into the cave to ‘free’ it.
So either the temple was built after “Across the Sea” (time bend/time travel DID occur and the Smoke Monster was trapped), the grate and all of the smoke monster travel tubes etc were built afterwards by someone else (theory still holds – but who else? doesn’t seem likely), or the smoke monster is not trapped by the Light and can be summoned or this is a cyclic event….
I’ll have to ponder this for a while. Any thoughts that may help us figure this one out…?
Remember that the first desscription of the Smoke Monster that we are given is that it is the Island’s security system. IMO it is originally meant to be a tool at the disposal of the Island’s guardian. Before Brother was thrown into the light the Smoke Monster may have been an entity that just acts on instinct much like a animal; it was trained to come when called, do it’s purpose, and then return. When Brother was thrown into the light it gained a higher intelligence which allowed it to leave when it wanted to. That’s my current thinking until we get more info (assuming we do get more info).
Security system, good call. It seems in the first episodes of the show smokie was lurking about in the forest like a guard dog keeping the lost crew at bay on the beach. When they went and discovered the plane wreckage and found one of the pilots, smokie shows up and foils them as if to say there is no easy escape as long as I’m guarding this island.
I wonder if the Smoke Monster was ‘forced’ into becoming a security system of sorts?
Recall that the Others /Dharma (whoever?) put up the electromagnetic fences to keep the Smoke Monster out, which makes me think they didn’t have full control of it. However, they could ‘release it to the wild’ when needed, and let it to its thing to intruders outside the safe zone….
I say this because I feel the Smoke Monster was/is not a servant per se, but some of the island inhabitants were able to utilize its deadly force against their own foes…
Hmmmm … island security system.
So, it would scan people and not kill those who were protectors – esp. candidates.
That could be why it left the Others alone, but Dharma was there to get to that warm light that needed protectin’, so they needed the sonar fences.
It could have left the men alone because they weren’t a threat … until they were about to tap into the light (and have a candidate removed).
Mother summoned them to keep MIB there and smacked his head into the rock not to injur him – but to knock him out so he couldn’t be scanned, since at this point he was ‘one of them’.
It would explain why Richard was left alone.
And MIB is both ‘summoned’ (as a slave to the island he hates) and able to ‘turn on the charm’ at will (and in conflict with Smokies real purpose).
I also like the Egyption connections. Good thoughts.
Good discussion and some interesting points. One thing that has bothered me for quite a long time is Ben’s vision of his Mother when he was a boy. If it was the Smoke Monster as we’ve been lead to believe then how did it get inside the sonar fence (Mother appeared at Ben’s bedroom window) and why would it appear at all?
Could it be that Smokie planned Ben’s entire life leading up to his killing Jacob and this was the first step to bring Ben into the Others’ group? If so it still doesn’t explain how it was able to get past the sonic fence in the first place.
Jukin – perhaps Ben’s vision of this mother was really his mother’s spirit.
I believe that some of the spirits are real, and some have been ‘faked’ by the Smoke Monster. For example, I think the vision of Richard’s wife inside the Black Rock was the Smoke Monster manipulating Richard, but the vision of Richard’s wife that Hurley brings Richard to really is her (as a spirit).
So perhaps in the case of Ben’s mom, it really is her spirit and not the Smoke Monster…