Posted by Sir Four at 11:41am Feb 28 '11Again: Massive spoilers.
So, the last season finally revealed a bunch of information about the spiritual nature of the island. The good son (Jacob) and rebellious son (Man in Black), the white and black rocks, etc. represent good and evil. The evil wants to escape the island. Jacob, as the protector of the island, has three roles (as far as I can tell): protect the island's "heart", keep the evil trapped, and identify a successor. There are certain "rules", apparently enforced by the spiritual powers of the island, such as: Jacob and the Man in Black cannot kill each other. The protector of the island can seemingly set these rules, as it was the woman who raised Jacob and MiB who "made it so" they couldn't kill each other (is that correct?). The woman eventually gave island powers to Jacob, and he "did things his way", as Ben says to Hurley (regarding candidates not being able to escape the island's pull), implying that Hurley could set his own island protector parameters. (Or, maybe Ben didn't really know what he was talking about?)
So, the alternate reality we see during the final season ends up being an afterlife. As the characters get in touch with each other and experience flashbacks to their former lives, they apparently end up with their own happy endings (Hurley is no longer cursed, Sawyer reunites with Juliet, etc). I suppose this is heaven? Or, a path toward heaven?
I think it was a pretty good ending. They faked us out a few times, at earlier points in past seasons. For example, when Hurley's imaginary friend stated that Hurley was still institutionalized, and the island was his hallucination. And when Richard said that everyone is dead, and they are in hell.
It's not clear to me the exact time and nature of the afterlife reunion, though. On first impression, I assumed the timing is shortly after the final events on the island. But Hurley and Ben compliment each other on playing island caretakers, implying there was a whole span of time that occurred with Hurley as the island protector, which we did not see. That would mean the afterlife reunion was far in the future. Or maybe outside of time itself. We don't really know when some of the characters died.
There are a lot of loose ends the show neglected in the end. I'll post them in a reply.
So, the last season finally revealed a bunch of information about the spiritual nature of the island. The good son (Jacob) and rebellious son (Man in Black), the white and black rocks, etc. represent good and evil. The evil wants to escape the island. Jacob, as the protector of the island, has three roles (as far as I can tell): protect the island's "heart", keep the evil trapped, and identify a successor. There are certain "rules", apparently enforced by the spiritual powers of the island, such as: Jacob and the Man in Black cannot kill each other. The protector of the island can seemingly set these rules, as it was the woman who raised Jacob and MiB who "made it so" they couldn't kill each other (is that correct?). The woman eventually gave island powers to Jacob, and he "did things his way", as Ben says to Hurley (regarding candidates not being able to escape the island's pull), implying that Hurley could set his own island protector parameters. (Or, maybe Ben didn't really know what he was talking about?)
So, the alternate reality we see during the final season ends up being an afterlife. As the characters get in touch with each other and experience flashbacks to their former lives, they apparently end up with their own happy endings (Hurley is no longer cursed, Sawyer reunites with Juliet, etc). I suppose this is heaven? Or, a path toward heaven?
I think it was a pretty good ending. They faked us out a few times, at earlier points in past seasons. For example, when Hurley's imaginary friend stated that Hurley was still institutionalized, and the island was his hallucination. And when Richard said that everyone is dead, and they are in hell.
It's not clear to me the exact time and nature of the afterlife reunion, though. On first impression, I assumed the timing is shortly after the final events on the island. But Hurley and Ben compliment each other on playing island caretakers, implying there was a whole span of time that occurred with Hurley as the island protector, which we did not see. That would mean the afterlife reunion was far in the future. Or maybe outside of time itself. We don't really know when some of the characters died.
There are a lot of loose ends the show neglected in the end. I'll post them in a reply.
Lost discussion, anyone? (Massive Spoilers) - Sir Four