Jacob And MIB in cahoot???
just a quick thought… jacob and MIB choose the candidates??? this idea came to me when thinking about richard, jacob says he brought richard to the island, but MIB killed everyone who came on the black rock apart from richard so how was he to know richard was the one of jacobs choosen people???
Isn’t it one of “the rules” that MIB can’t kill the candidates or Jacob’s chosen people? Maybe he couldn’t kill Richard if he tried.
Or MIB saw Richard as an opportunity to prove that anyone can be corrupted. He wanted to use Richard to kill Jacob (he told Richard that Jacob was the Devil).
Also, remember the scene of Jacob and MIB sitting on the beach looking out at the ship? If that ship was the Black Rock, I believe Jacob and MIB both knew that Richard was coming and they both wanted him alive and on their side.