Coming Soon – Locke VS Smokey
I’ve been reading a lot of LOST Theories recently on the internet and decided that I should contribute my own. It’s been influenced by a lot of other people’s ideas but is also based on my own reflections.
First off, let’s remember there is only a single season of Lost left to tie up all the story lines they can (not all I’m sure) and leave us with some kind of closure (hopefully leaving a few question marks too – this is LOST after all!), for that reason I favour simplicity in the theories I read and always ask realistically, can this be implemented in a series length of time; many of the theories out there clearly couldn’t.
This influences my descision on the biggest bone of contention right now: Is the MIB Smokey, or are they working together, or are they completely seperate? I say he is smokey. To have three principle players is over-complicating things and there is also strong precedent for a dualistic reading of lost.
Jack and Locke
Science and Faith
Dharma and The Hostiles
Black and White
And now our two figures on the beach, Jacob and Smokey, two demi-gods playing the classic game of the gods – betting on and manipulating the actions of men.
There have been many hints that Smokey is manifesting the spirits that appear to the Losties. The episode with Eko and his brother is one such example, where we see cuts between scenes where smokey rolls on by Eko and then scenes with Eko and Djemi, back and forth. This is a pretty clear statement in film-makers language that they are one and the same thing. The same can be said with Fake Locke and Smokey, when one leaves the screen, the other appears. Another theorist descried this astutely as the Clarke Kent/Superman device. So I assume that Locke is Smokey is MIB, and that Smokey has an ability Jacob does not – to appear to people in the form of those that have died.
However, they also both share an ability – to take the physical form of anyone who comes to the island as a blank slate, such as a recently deceased person, or a baby. Smokey was not able to take Christian Sheppard because he was already in a body, so without Smokey’s knowledge, Jacob took his form and has used it to guide and influence the Losties much like he has always used his volunteer middle man Richard (a crew member of the Black Rock granted agelessness) to communicate with others who have come to the island. Why he needed to posess Christian will be revealed later.
Ben has unknowingly always been manipulated by Smokey, we saw Smokey appear to him as his mother early in life and I predict that we will discover the communications with “mother” have continued throughout his life and manipulated him. The main thing he is manipulated to do is to try and cure the problems with child birth women have on the island. His mother, who died in childbirth leaving Ben with some serious complexes, would certainly be the best vision to inspire Ben to do this. Which brings a problem because it is Jacob who engineered the destruction of the statue of the goddess of childbirth to create the problem in the first place, which was also the solution to Smokey’s stealing of babies as physical manifestations.
Ethan was the previous incarnation of Smokey. The only member of Dharma Ben spared in the purge, even his little girl friend was not protected. He was certainly more scary and phsycotic than any of the other others, and went off Ben’s plan in order to make sure Aaron, a potential new candidate, stayed alive. But by the time Araon was born Ethan had died and somehow, trapped in the cabin (we will find out how in season 6). The cabin simply stopped him from possessing, not roaming in his smoke form, or projecting visions of dead people inot other’s minds. He soon found there were two bigger, fully grown and more influential options to for candidates than Aaron anyway – the faith heavy Eko and Locke. Smokey needs submission from his candidates; some level of consent is needed and he tried to get it from one of these two men. Eko is obvously a stronger physical prescence so he tried him first – but no, despite trying to manipulate him to submit through shame and guilt, he stood up to Smokey. Bye bye Eko. “You’re next” he tells John and he, like has his whole life by his father, twice, the pot growing commune, the undercover cop and almost everyone else he meets, falls for the con hook line and sinker. His need to believe he is special makes him a real treat for Smokey, who can’t believe his luck when he finally manages to get a knife into Jacob…
Of course Jacob is neither stupid nor blind. He has known Ben is being manipulated by Smokey and has his replacement – Locke. Richard even idicates to Locke that it is the childbirth issue which makes Ben unsuitable when he tells him he should be leader. The leaders of the island are chosen from Birth. And while Widmore and Elouise continue to do Jacob’s bidding even years after they have left the island, Ben was always a bluff on Jacob’s part and letting Smokey believe that Ben was his man was all part of the end game. The loophole may well be that Jacob can kill himself but no one else can kill him. Jacob’s right hand men have a part of Jacob’s spirit in them, including Ben and Locke. While Smokey thought he had got his right hand man’s ear, as we now know Jacob never let Ben get anywhere near him because he knew he was compromised. The plan was always for John to lead, hence his resurrecting Locke once, healing spinal inury and so on. But at the same time he did absolutely nothing to let Smokey know he was special, it was vital to his plan that Smokey not know that Locke was Ben’s heir. He waited and then watched as Smokey thought he has and finally absorbed John’s spirit making him phsyical. But John’s spirit is not like a normal man’s which can be easily over whelmed by Smokey – it contains a part of Jacob’s spitit as well, put there at birth to ensure that they come to lead the island. Therefore Locke has the power to fight Smokey FROM INSIDE and win.
What a twist!
Smokey didn’t possess Ben because he knew Jacob’s spirit in him could defeat him, he used him to kill Jacob for the same reason. In fact unknown by Smokey Locke was a weapon against him too! And of course Jacob is just fine, long having exported his spirit into the manifestation of Christian Sheppard.
Smokey loses eventually as over a series we see an epic internal battle between Locke’s soul and Smokey. No doubt meanwhile there will be lots of Jack led action adventuring as well.
Locke’s personality comes back to the physical body and leads those who wish to remain on the island in harmony. Jack, after an emotional scene with Jacob/Dad (it’s still his dads spirit there too even though it’s Jacob) leads the others home.
