*ATTENTION! For viewers who take issue with the text-to-speech voice* All of these older videos have been entirely revoiced and remade in better quality (and feature A LOT more detail). They have been combined together as part of a six part video series called The Theory of Everything, which you can watch here: ua-cam.com/play/PL5iTj9psbPrNovFOg4pJJIyxiLAv2WAKB.html Namaste! 🙏
I think Egyptians is the better option. We know so little about that period that it would give the writers more or less a blank slate to work with, and Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver would be the only actors they would need to convince to return.
@@nelyag1275 yeah I know we got a season on the dharma initiative but it only show us how they got killed. I want to see the beginning how did they know about the island who started the dharma initiative earlier relations between the others and the dharma initiative that's what the new series should be about
I deff agree that it's important to take evidence from within the show. And you always point out details I missed! The ladder part combined with the other strange things that episode. It's very convincing.
Another great episode! One question I had is; why does Jack not become a smoke monster once the man in black is dead, Hurley is protector, and Jack is then engulfed by the light while re-corking the source?
The MIB became the Smoke-monster because the Source was uncorked, and, being thrown down there unconscious, he was carried by the water into the hole itself, which is where he was transformed. Jack, on the other hand, lowered himself down carefully and didn't go into the hole, so no transformation. 🙂
Drew C. is absolutely correct. Jack was not exposed directly to The Source as a result of the cork being in place, therefore he could not become a smoke monster. In fact, after the cork system was originally installed during the Egyptian period, it made it pretty much impossible for a smoke monster to be created again.
What I also like about Mother's appearance down in the wheel chamber is the harsh lighting. The same way vision-Claudia was lighted when Boy-in-black saw her earlier in the episode. Not that it's a connection. Mother is real. But it's someting off and "not human" about her.
One of my all time favorite shows. Ive literally watched it 4 different times over the last decade and each time i finish watching I'm always left clueless at some of the episodes so that what draws me in even more. Your video(s) shed so much light on those missing link's that can easily go over one's head. I appreciate your videos and breakdowns because when i do watch it over again i will remember how you connected the dots that were not connected for me and other viewers, its going to be wonderful with the newfound knowledge rewatching lost. Thanks once again
Your videos are amazing. I love Lost, but I always disliked the contradictions and sloppy writing that seemed to make some mysteries impossible to explain. Your theories and ideas have changed my mind about that and have helped increase my understanding and appreciation of Lost.
I always wondered if it was supposed to be Calypso's island at one point. Maybe Calypso ruled the island before 'mother' or maybe she was mother. Calypso kept Odysseus on the Island for 7 years and promised him immorality if he stayed. She was also said to weave on a loom. Some versions also say she bore Odysseus two sons. Athena makes Calypso release Odysseus because it's not his 'destiny' to die there. Edit... I had to come back and edit because I realized that Desmond's whole goal is to get on his boat and get back to his wife Penny, which is short for Penelope... which was the name of Odysseus' wife, who he wanted to build a boat and get back to... and Odysseus wanted to get back to his own island, Ithaca, and they made a point to say Desmond also wanted to get to his home island. I copy and pasted this from my comment on another video, but I think it makes more sense here.
Great comment! Very thoughtful. I think LOST features and includes many different references to various mythologies and concepts throughout history, from Egyptian god myths to echoes from Judeo-Christian theology. It touches upon so many influences that it’s possible the writers thought about and were influenced by some of the ideas you suggest. Perhaps the island isn’t literally supposed to be Calypso Island from Greek mythology, anymore than Jacob and the Man in Black are supposed to be Jesus and Lucifer (or Horus and Set), but the influences are there. The idea in LOST is that everyone who comes to the island projects their own mythologies and beliefs onto what they see. Just like we the fans do with the show. It’s one of the reasons why it’s such a rich story to dissect and discuss.
Love these vids, have watched them all. Could you do one about “The New Man In Charge” epilogue? So many questions raised with that epilogue. Like, after becoming island protector how did Hurley change the rules (as suggested by Ben)? How did Desmond get home? How was Walt supposed to help his dad? Did Hurley give Ben “the immortal touch” like Jacob did to Richard? Theories on who could be protecting island after Hurley and (most likely) Walt? …..etc etc etc
Loved the use of Apocalypto visuals to illustrate past island civilizations... Can you imagine an Egyptian Era spin-off series that is produced the way Apocalypto was?????!!! INSANE!!!
I loved your reveal of the cork and how that was the key difference between how different era smoke monsters could be killed. Why didn't I ever put that together... What I find so great about your explanations is how logical they are. You don't make up too much fan-fic or go off on too many elaborate theory tangents. A lot of it is rooted in what we see or hear in any given episode, but you connect various dots to draw your conclusions. This might be my fav video of yours simply because you make the best case I've ever seen for why the mother character was a smoke monster and how the intricacies of that worked. Honestly these chapters have been so illuminating for me. Thank you for all the hard work. Can I ask what's coming up next?
Love your content, mate. You are either the light, the writers incognito, or someone of profound intelligence and dedication. Cheers, and thank you again 💙🖤💙
Also another aspect about the Mother=Smoke Monster is the connection to Locke's comment about her and MIB being Adam and Eve. The story of the original sin, where they were both tempted into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve ate it first. Then Adam. And they are both cursed by God.
I prefer the idea that Adam ate it first then blamed it on Eve, which an author suggested. After all, who wrote down the Bible stories from oral stories? Men. I once read about God having a wife before the priests got rid of her, so women wouldn't pray to her (have no other god before me) and do what the men say.
So if Mother is both protector and smoke monster, can she leave the island like Jacob can or is she bound to the island like the MiB is? If she can leave, can she become the smoke monster elsewhere?
Great video. Mother’s communion with the island as protector meant she had an understanding of the future, and the subsequent destiny of Jacob and his brother. So she made them candidates for her role and knew that they wouldn’t die until they fulfilled said destiny.
Thank you again for such an enlightening work! If you don't mind answering a question... why can we assume that Mother was the very first protector and smoke monster? Can't there have been previous ones in even more ancient times?
I always assumed that there were other Protectors of the Island before Mother. It seems more intuitive and logical to me. It's just that the segment of the Island's history that is shown to the viewers begins from the moment Claudia and her people arrive on it, a moment in time during which it was Mother who protected the Source.
A glitch with UA-cam Studio somehow erased my response to you. I wanted to repost an approximation of what I said for anyone else who reads this thread and is curious about the same question: The reason why I think Mother was the first protector is based on several factors: 1. She never mentions any protectors that came before her. 2. 'Across the Sea' takes place roughly 2000 years ago. When we first meet Mother, the implication is that she has been occupying this role for a very long time. Which means she likely hails from an early human civilization. It’s hard to believe that there had been many, if any, protectors predating her. 3. We have to ask ourselves where the powers of a protector comes from. How are they connected to the source? How did the first protector gain their abilities? Surely it wasn’t simply drinking wine or water via a ceremony. Anyone could do that, doesn't make them a protector. Something more fundamental must have happened to kickstart the role. I think the writers subtlety explain to us the origins of all these powers with their introduction of the Mother character and the implications that she is a smoke monster. By going down into the light and becoming the first of her kind, she created a physical human link to The Source and a lineage of power that would be passed down through the ages from protector to protector.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Such amazing Work. However, I would like to believe that: 1. There could be a lineage of Protectors ( such as with Avatars in in Avatar the last Air Bender), But if we are taking it from what's in the show, yes, understood 2. When you say that "Across the Sea" was 2000 years ago, and "Which means she likely hails from an early human civilization." - I think that you are thinking of a Biblical timeline to these years. Humans started settling in and around Egypt around before 5000BCE.... so there were certainly people around the world millennia before ATS.... and "a very long time" is subjective, but no definitive. It could be 500 years, or 2,000.. but does not mean that not even ONE person before here couldn't have been a Protector.
I discussed the following on that subject with another poster: The implication in 'Across the Sea' is that Mother is extremely *old*. So old that she predates many civilizations, hence why she is so tired of the repetitive cycle of human beings coming to cause bloodshed and chaos, and why she is so desperate to find fresh blood to replace her someday. Her rule most likely goes beyond Jacob's 2,000 years. She could hail from as far back as Ancient Mesopotamia, as alluded to in the video. And it appears that she spent a very long time alone on the island from whenever the last civilization was there because few traces remain that we see beyond some basic tools. It also explains why she is so enthralled with Claudia and her pregnancy because there hasn't been any opportunities for raising a child in her own image to take over for a very, very long time.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Fascinating. That is basically what she means when she says 'it's worse than death'. Because she went down there and became the smoke monster, she can't leave the island.. thus she can't do what Jacob does to draw people to the island. She's doomed to suffer immortality alone. A good candidate for Mother's homeland is the Minoans IMO, it fits in the timeline pretty well. It's also plausible that Mother has never been human, and she's a deity from an ancient past. Trapped on the island, forgotten by a civilization long since destroyed. Love me some lost. :)
I do like this theory, however I have always assumed that there were other Protectors before Mother. In fact, I inferred that Mother’s own mother was the previous Protector. The current iteration of humanity is tens of thousands of years old and (if you are correct about the Island’s original fixed location) the Mediterranean has been continuously inhabited for most of that history. I like to think that Mother’s tenure as Protector is just the previous chapter in a VERY story long story. The current chapter being Jacob’s tenure and the next chapter being Hurley’s tenure. There were many many chapters before that about the tenures of previous Protectors. We as the viewers only needed to see what was relevant to the story being told to us, and thus we saw the end of Mother’s tenure because it was the beginning of Jacob’s. I do subscribe to your theory that Mother was a Smoke Monster. Possibly the only previous Smoke Monster. I can’t argue with the logic (or the thematic brilliance/cool mythology expanding) behind that. I hope you don’t think I’m poo pooing on your theory or your videos because I actually really love them. This has been the only point I “disagree” with any of your explanations or theories.
By all means, feel free to disagree with anything you like, Ashley. I'm not infallible! And you articulate your point very well and very reasonably. Mother being the first protector isn't a hill I would necessarily die on, I just found it an interesting possibility worth bringing up. Because we are never told how this protector lineage began, or how a mortal person absorbed the powers of The Source and became able to pass them on to others. But the idea of cross-pollinating that unknown protectorship origin with Mother going down into the cave and entering the light is what helped me to build a bridge between ideas. I believe she is really, really ancient and that she reigned for longer than Jacob ever did, hence why she was so tired and done with the work by the time we meet her. However, it's not a theory I would argue to be definitive or provable in any way at all. It just makes for interesting speculation.
I've watched this show thoroughly multiple times. I agree with nearly everything you said in all your videos, and i also noticed the rope in the well in an you mentioned in an earlier video. But i believe the part where you say splitting the roles, i respectfully disagree. I do believe she was the smoke monster, but not that the roles had to be split. She passed on the role to Jacob of protector and that is that. The man in black becoming a smoke monster was Jacobs mistake, and nothing more. He expresses this. You could argue the island wanted it that way, but I don't believe it is necessary that a smoke monster must exist, the smoke monster is a violation in the first place. When hurley took over I assume there was no smoke monster again. While it is true there can't be one because of the masonry in the heart of the island and the dammed light, it would still contradict the necessity of the smoke monster. That line Dogen says that the smoke monster can be killed without him uttering a word, there may be truth to that as the mother was killed in that fashion.
Yes, she was. She represented both sides ofbthe nature of island guardian. Just connect these things: buried well when MiB woke up and later killing the mother without letting her speak (MiB stabbed her in the back). The heart of the island after that just became "resetted to default settings" so new person had to enter there and became new smoke monster (technically it should be new guardian of the island so normally Jacob should do this, and became a "monster". "Monster" form for island guardians allowed them to protect better the light from the source, but also prevented them from leaving the island forever). By throwing his brother into the source of the island, Jacob allowed to create second guardian - his brother (he always wanted to leave this place, and because of Jacob's action, he became chained to the island). This is why MiB hated his brother and wanted to kill him so much at all costs. Hope this explained that part of the plot a bit.
That was great point regarding the character arc of James and Michael. James was awful and for the only thought of himself. Then after he killed John’s father he made so many sacrifices to save his friends when he would not do that at the beginning of the show. Then Michael was good person, but once the Others took his son he was willing to kill two passengers of 815 to get his son back and off the island. Since he was a good person, he had a hard time forgiving himself for killing them which prevented him from crossing over into the light.
The wine (or drinking of liquid from a receptacle of some kind) are simply part of the ceremony. Notice how Mother uses wine but Jacob and Jack use water from a stream. Mother and Jacob use incantations as well, whereas Jack does not. All of this is ritual. But the actual "magic" happens through *touch* specifically. It is the one common factor across all coronations. Mother touches Jacob's hand. Jacob touches Jack's arm. Jack touches Hurley's shoulder. The power is in the touch. Then the predecessor either needs to "retire" (presumably by leaving the island) or they have to die in order to complete the transfer of power.
Hello, Would it be possible to put the transcription of all your videos in the corresponding descriptions ? In fact, I am not English and I can only understand 3/4 of a video. Your videos are very interesting and I understood a lot of things thanks to you ! Have a nice day. Julian.
My theory: Smoke monster was on the loose since the beginning and intended to kill the mother/protector to escape. In order to kill the protector of the island, it lured MIB as his real mother, telling him about the outside world. After that, he killed the people to push MIB against the mother/protector. But it was too late, because the new protector was Jacob. Smoke monster is not the Mother. But it acted to frame her. MIB is not the smoke monster. But the smoke monster embodied him to taunt Jacob.
Congratulations on another fine video, and once again I'm 99% in agreement with your theories. Personally, I've always felt that Mother, already imbued with Protector powers, was able to somehow survive the trip into the Source that made her part Smoke-monster, rather than her original body being discarded, but I have no good evidence to support it. My one small question, with regard to Mother only becoming mortal after she'd "sourced" a replacement, is why the Island was prepared to let Jacob die before his replacement had been chosen? Or do you take the view that Jack's ruptured appendix was evidence that "destiny" had already identified Jacob's replacement?
I think it's more about the timing being right for a protector to die. The Source has to allow it. Just as it only allows candidates to die when the time is right. Hence why Mother says: "My time is over", which is something she senses coming when she visits with MiB in the well (and perhaps even long before then). Jacob later senses this as well when MiB visits with him in the statue. The important thing to note is that each time we see a protector die in LOST, there is always someone(s) waiting in the wings to continue the line. Whether fully ordained or merely activated. Also, in terms of the grander plan, had the next protector been in place immediately after Jacob's death then everything that The Island had been building towards would not have taken place the way it did. There needed to be a power vacuum for the Man in Black to fill so it could lead to his destruction and The Island could be purged of his poison.
What about smoke monster with judge people on island.He was judge Ben and would like judge one man from Rusoe team earlier after they come to island, also in season 1 this same monster with judge people would like take Lock under ground and judge him then Jack or kate put dynamite on this place were this smoke momster would like take Lock and judge and he was gone .?
It doesn't seem definitely clear that "mother" was the original protector of the island/smoke monster. Minor question: will there be a smoke monster again or is that done?
It's supposed to be ambiguous so that we can discuss the possibilities. However, as laid out in this video, I feel there is far more evidence to support her being the smoke monster than not. As for whether or not another smoke monster can be created post-MiB, the answer is no. After the ancient incident and the installation of the cork, no more smoke monsters can be made. Because you need to enter the aperture of The Source to become a smoke monster, which has been rendered impossible by the cork's placing. MiB was the last of his kind.
I always liked Flocke as a nickname. He had so many - the Lockeness Monster, UnLocke, Not Locke, etc. I tend to call any MiB manifestations “Fake Name” like Fake Locke or Fake Christian mainly because not everyone is familiar with the unofficial nicknames.
This channel is absolutely fantastic content! I love Lost it’s my favourite TV show of all time but despite watching it numerous times your channel has explained so much!! Thank you!!
i also wonder if there is only 1 smoke monster. mother died pretty unceremoniously. you'd think, when she 'died', the smoke inside would go back to the source. same as when fake locke died, nothing happened. this gives me the idea, there isn't just one smoke monster, each version was different. a different demon if you like. mother was vanquished, so was locke. in the future, a new smoke monster would be created..... or, the smoke is the soul of the person who entered the source. neither light or dark. maybe mother looked the same, we just never saw it, because we were always with her. or maybe, because she wasn't raged, she was more like a ghost. like jacob, who can just appear anywhere. but the man in blacks soul was angry when he entered the light, didn't die in peace, so he manifested as a cloud of smoke. when jack went into the light, he didn't become a monster either, he most likely became like mother, and could have stayed alive on the island, for as long as he wanted. so I think there are many 'protectors' of the island, just the man in black manifested as a cloud of smoke. i wish it was explained better though, like who built the intricate drain system in the source, and how did they not become another smoke entity. unless jacob and his brother built it, maybe together. i also wonder if jacob even had a body any more, because nobody ever saw him, unless he wanted to be seen. this also confirms that jacob is like a smoke monster entity too, just manifests differently. its also interesting, that we look at this in a spiritual sense, yet desmond was able to withstand the EM radiation from a scientific view. why? did he not have a soul? those who can withstand EM radiation can't become smoke entities? and why the horn and mechanical sound in the monster? and why is he vulnerable to sonic fences? souls can't travel through those? so maybe he was mechanical. nanorobots or something weird. maybe the light is a gateway between universes, like a black hole. desmond could survive it, scientifically speaking, while others could not. maybe, because the body of the mib entered the source in a deceased state, the thing that came from another universe, is some darker, techno advanced version of himself. think marvel multiverse. an infinite number of men in blacks could have come through, just by chance, the one that did was from a world, where his consciousness exists in a biomechanical body. OR, travelling to other universes vaporizes/de-molecularizes your body to travel to the other side, and unless put back together, you stay in this limbo state. when you die, you take up your corporal form again. mother and mib had 2 bodies, because the second was a traveller from another universe, or somehow duplicated, like in the movie the prestige. darma tried to experieriment with time travel, maybe they were super close to a gateway to other universes, and could have built a machine, that would have allowed the atoms of MIB to fuse together correctly and permanently. so maybe, desmond and jack are both smoke monsters in other universes, unless those universes have the tech to re-molecularize them. problem is, the writers tried to be both spiritual and scientific, and as a result, didn't really achieve either. how was the power of the protector simply transferred by drinking with the previous one? unless that water was special, and technically, the previous protector could have still lived forever. how was jacob able to stop richard from aging? gave him some water? but then why didn't richard become a protector too? why did the island move with the wheel? and the person who turned it and got exposed to the light, just travelled across the world, instead of becoming a smoke entity. same light, right? why didn't jack and mib just time travel like others who were exposed to the EM radiation? egyptians came after jacob and mib, cos they built a temple and a chamber to worship the 'cerberus', who judges them before death. I like how you talk about positive and negative terminals of a battery. we know the light is electromagnetic, maybe falling in there splits your body into its atoms because of the strong magnetism. the same shield that makes the island invisible to the outside world is the shield that stops him from leaving. that's why, even with jacob dead, he needed to destroy the island/become mortal, in order to leave. its not jacobs fault he was stuck there, he couldn't have left, even if jacob let him. and if he did somehow manage to leave, he'd be just a normal, mortal guy, maybe even in his original skin, same as locke becoming paralyzed again, off the island. idk. who knows, maybe someone could continue the story.
so the smoke monster (MIB) was the islands security system but he also wanted to destroy it....honestly doesnt make sense if the island is omniscient and would have known this would happen why even let it get that far?
I explain how this works in better detail in my Theory of Everything series. The Island is trapped within a self-perpetuating time paradox that it must fulfil in order to ensure the survival of itself and everyone/everything else. Knowing everything that can and will happen doesn’t mean you can prevent anything. On the contrary, knowing the future traps you into a deterministic feedback loop that forces you to cause the future.
Rewatch the video again I kinda have theory of what happened. So before mother was the protector, I believe the island protected it self. That why it could move through time and space. But the problem is the electromagnetic properties would always draw ppl to the island. So to protect the island it created the smoke monster and the reason why it black smoke was so it could blend in wit the night or the campfire smoke. The problem is the island didn’t like the senseless killing of humans so it gave the smoke monster the ability to scan ppl tell wether their evil or good in there hearts. This also didn’t work because ppl are not just all good or all bad the heart changes so the smoke monster would end up killing all people anyway once he sense any kind hate or emotion. So the island decided to great a human protector who understand the humans and have their same thoughts and emotions. That when mother show up to Island and that when the decided to make her a protector. The only problem was the island wanted to make her protector and the smoke monster. So the island made the monster kill her and that how she became the smoke monster. So why does she want jacob and mib to be protector so bad. Was that before she was killed she was pregnant and she lost her child. That why first person she appear to is Claudia and that why end up killing her and take the kids. But the kids end up being twins so she name one Jacob because that was the name she was going to give her child before she died. She couldn’t think of name for the mib that why through out the whole show we never know his name. Mother seeing that the island drew more to mib then Jacob I believe she made him a candidate or a protector and once you become a protector you can see the past. The mib finding out that mother kill him is real mom and family. He grew to hate her and hate the island and knowing that she couldn’t make him the protector so she made Jacob the protector but she didn’t want him killing mib cause she still love him, she made the rule that they couldn’t kill each other. So once mib got older he wanted to leave the island and be free. But mother didn’t let him because he knew everything about the island including the source. So what stopping him from leaving the island and coming back with army of people and destroy the island and the source. I know what you saying why didn’t she make a rule that he couldn’t leave the island ever. Because she wasn’t the protector nomore Jacob was and only the protector can the make rules. So while she was still the smoke monster she destroyed any chance he had of leaving the island and with Jacob of believing that the mib was the so called embodiment of evil even if she died Jacob wouldn’t let him leave. Once mib realize she wasn’t going let him leave, he decided to kill her. So when Jacob kill his brother and he became the smoke monster he knew that there was always a chance for him to leave the island that why he always search for new protector so if he die they keep protecting the island. Cause what proof do we have that the mib is all the evil in the world.
@@JHallenbeck so basically all I’m saying was yes mother was the smoke monster and also the mib wasn’t source of all evil. She only told Jacob that so he can keep him on the island. When does he become the source of all evil, before or after she wanted him to be the protector of the island. Maybe it was when he became the smoke monster, which Jacob causes and if that the case that means mother was the source evil too.
@@blogking477 But Mother never tells Jacob that MiB is evil, nor that there is anything evil down in the cave. She never once mentions there being evil or darkness associated with the light either. She only talks about the light and how it needs to be protected from being put out. The only time the idea of evil being down there is ever really articulated is by Jacob centuries later when he uses a metaphor to explain what the MiB is to Richard Alpert. LOST EXPLAINED actually summed up why this metaphor was used in one of his earlier videos. Alpert is a hell-fearing man and there is no way Jacob could have explained the complicated mechanics of how MiB was connected to the light source at the heart of the island, or how MiB could only leave by putting out the light which would destroy the world. It was easier to tell Alpert that he is holding back evil from escaping. In 1867, that logic could fly! Notice how Jacob does not use this simplistic analogy with our Losties in the 21st century.
So why does mother stop him from leaving and she kill his camp. The only reason why he have to stop the source is because he became the smoke monster and who cause that Jacob.
@@blogking477 You should just watch the videos on this channel because all of this has been explained in a better way than I can say it. Mother spent years believing that MiB was destined to take over as protector. It is only when she realises that he is going to tamper with the light in a bid to escape that she decides to destroy the well, wipe out his village and pass the torch on to Jacob. She can't risk the MiB or his people putting the light out! This all leads to both her death and the MiB's transformation.
I have a question. I believe there can not be light without darkness. And I don't mean good and evil. Both light and darkness have all kinds of shades. If there is no longer a "Mother" figure, then either Hugo must be both light and dark, or there must be another entity that is dark. We love Hugo -- everybody loves Hugo -- but could he hold both light and dark, as Mother did? I guess that's possible, but I rarely think of Hugo as having any darkness. I suppose he does. No one eats himself nearly to death without inner demons. (And I'm saying that as a person with a weight problem, not to cast judgment. I would never judge either the fictional Hugo or the "real" Jorge.) So I think I answered my own question: the Island protector can contain both the light and the dark within one, as Mother did, and as Hugo will.
What a great question! I agree with the idea that light always needs darkness in some way. There always needs to be a balance in order for the island to function properly -- like a battery with a positive and negative charge. My reading of how this polarity continues on after Jacob and the Man in Black are gone is this: we have Hurley as protector of the island but we also have him recruit Ben as his number two. Hurley is most definitely an embodiment of light (whether you read that as literal good or simply that he harnesses the most positive of human qualities) whereas the darkness is provided by Ben, who is a man more than suited to being the negative charge. Ben represents the darkness of humanity; the worst that it’s capable of. Their battery isn’t as literal and absolute as their predecessors, it’s more subtle and human than that; fragile good and redeemable bad. And I think this balance is struck the moment Hurley makes the offer and Ben accepts. No coincidence that such balances are found almost immediately after a new protector takes over.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Well, my other theory -- which many people hate and you probably do, too -- is that Jack became the Smoke Monster. His essence would have remained good, because he's Jack, but his role would have worn on him eventually and he would become darker. (I feel Jacob's brother was basically good at first, too, but eons in his role turned him much more evil/dark - though not entirely.) I acknowledge there are a lot of problems in this theory, but his coming out of the light at the same place MIB did strongly suggests it to me.
I actually address the whole "Jack is the new smoke monster" theory in my video "What Happened After the End?" It is established that only someone entering the open aperture of The Source can be transformed into a smoke monster. After the ancient incident during the Egyptian era, and their installation of the cork, it made it so that this could never happen again because in order to get to the light you need to uncork The Source, but by doing that you also turn the light off. Creating smoke monsters is no longer possible. The Man in Black was the last of his kind. Furthermore, Jack is clearly alive after being transported out from The Source and dies of his wounds in the jungle, not in The Source. Whereas the Man in Black was transformed instantly and his empty vessel of a body was spat out from the cave, dead on arrival.
in Tabula Rasa, we learn that we are not "blank slates", and that explains why people are not freed from their pasts just by "being born" on the island. The MIB and Jacob have opposite temperaments as babies : Jacob is accepting and happy, MIB constantly crying (at his fate?). I think MIB was on the "left hand path" before birth. Anger, vengeance, control lead him into the abyss; as a contrast, Jacob demonstrates responsibility and redemption. That's what is meant by "corruption"; just being on the island (Earth plane) is a hazard.
I might just be a dumb dumb, but how does corking the light make the island so powerful (jumping around physical and temporal locations, exacting its will on people, healing people like Locke and Rose, etc.) while uncorking the light, like Jack did, makes the island die? Wasn't it uncorked for its whole existence before the Egyptians? It dont make no sense!
It all comes down to what I call ‘the ancient incident”; an event that is heavily alluded to from the pieces we see throughout the show. This ancient incident, much like the incident of 1977, fundamentally changed the operational nature of The Island. The damage required a cork to be built to plug up the leak, which thereby bottled up the power of The Island and obstructed the flow of light. This is what made MiB essentially indestructible in a way that Mother had not been. I get into the whole story in this video here: LOST Explained - The Theory of Everything: Part Two (Mother, Jacob, Man in Black & The Egyptians) ua-cam.com/video/aB4kvRxN7Hc/v-deo.html
Let the show speak for itself. That’s a nice cop out when your best writing skill is the JJ What’s in the Box without ever consistently world building to an ending. Lost was a cluster fuck
"Let the show speak for itself" means that all the information you need is in the text. Also, JJ Abrams wasn't involved with the show past developing the Pilot. People always blame him for LOST, but if you have a beef with the show then you should direct it towards Damon Lindelof and Calrton Cuse, who actually led the creative team on each season. JJ Abrams was a producer in name only going forward. But if you hate LOST so much then what on earth are you doing looking up explainer videos about it 14 years after it ended? That's weird to me. Either you liked enough of the show and felt let down by where it went but still have an interest in the story, and want to see it discussed further, or you are just looking to troll other people who were satisfied with where LOST went because you hate them loving something you don't. Get over it.
Every time I think your explanation creates a new plot question - you are then right on top of then explaining what feels like that new question or plot hole... like with Mother and her death... I was literally about to start writing a comment about how could it be possible that she was so easily killed without the light from the source going out... but lo and behold you answer the new question which your answers to the main question raised... that's truly impressive... the time you must have taken to firstly answer the largest questions for each topic... then to step back and then find the answers to the new questions each original answer has now raised... and then to make sense of those new questions or what seem to be new plot holes all connected together... man, it just must have taken so much creativity, research and planning. Great, great work on this video series!
Absolutely, it has taken a long time to unpack the mysteries of the show. At least to a point that I have a proper understanding of both the established mysteries and the new questions raised from answering those established mysteries. Like Mother said: "Every question I answer will lead to another question." Only I'm trying to head off those questions in advance lol. I really appreciate your kind words, and I'm glad that these videos are proving to be edifying/entertaining!
@LOST EXPLAINED Yes they're great. I think they're the best I've seen - as much as it's nice that everyone can have their own theory and thoughts - I think it is great to provide an overview that looks at every theory and compares them all and ultimately works towards an overall narrative. I'd love to see a complete timeline and concept visuals for a lot of your overview and explanations, if there was ever a creative visual artist that could help with it... there's all these great books for the Star Wars universe that include complete illustrations of locations, vehicles and really enhance the world-building visually and narratively.. I think your videos would form the perfect source material for a complete works in that sense... I mean there is "The LOST Encyclopedia" which is a great overview... however I feel like your explanation of the story provides even more detail and new story. I think your channel is the start of a complete synthesis and it could lead to some even more amazing work and storytelling in the future! Great, great work!
One thing that you didn't mentioned that how MIB was devstated when he saw the spirit of his real mother and she told him about the truth that how she was killed brutually by their mother. This event had huge impact on the character arc of MIB as it was revealed to him that he was not born on the island and it developed strong desire inside him to leave the island at any cost
Amazing as usual! I love the detail about Mother's dark and light clothing. It's interesting that they choose blue and beige instead of the obvious black/white. Also, both Sawyer and Jack wear blue shirts in the final season.
My response disappeared for some reason, so I'm not sure if you got a chance to read it. I said something along the lines of: Mother wore blue and beige clothes to show that she wasn't completely light nor totally dark. Also, another symbolic metaphor is the wine that Mother uses in Jacob’s coronation. We know that there is nothing magical about the wine itself, it’s simply part of Mother’s version of the ceremony. But what is notable is the fact that it is the same wine bottle that Jacob uses two millennia later to explain the cork metaphor to Richard Alpert. In that metaphor, the red wine is representative of the smoke monster. In 'Across the Sea', Mother is using that same bottle with wine inside. And the wine represents her power that she is passing on to Jacob. This was a deliberate creative choice by the writers. Apparently, in the original script, Mother originally dipped a cup into the water stream for the ceremony. But Darlton changed it purposefully to the wine. They perhaps wanted to make a point to the audience that 1.) it's not the water drinking in this ceremony that makes someone a protector, and 2.) the wine represents something very specific.
What I noticed is that we see 3 protectorship ceremonies. The first one between Mother and Jacob is very formal. There's the wine and a bottle, blessings in Latin etc. Then the ceremony between Jacob and Jack is with the blessings in Latin but with water. The final ceremony between Jack and Hurley has no blessings and is done with murky water and a plastic bottle. The only common factor is the touch and"now you're like me". Everything else about the ceremony becomes secondary.
@@raeliamrussi2679 Exactly! You've got it :) It is the physical touch and intentions of the two parties that matter. It is about physical connection and internal will. Jack chooses and ordains Hurley but, most importantly, Hurley accepts. Then the touch is what seals the deal and makes Hurley like Jack. Those are the consistent elements that we see across all three coronations.
I've always thought that she was a smoke monster with both jobs. Smokie literally was the protector...a security system. She got lucky finding a pregnant woman. She saw twins and thought 'I can split the jobs and free myself".
@@АннаРузянова-ю5о but there needed to be balance? I don't know. I've just always believed that she had both roles, and wanted to quit. But to do so, she needed replacements.
The question going forward is, Does there needed to be a smoke monster to protect the island and mind-read dead people (similar to what Miles does)? I would say no at this time, as Jacob was able to do what he needed to do without those powers (perhaps even preventing nuclear war in the real world).
I also believe that Mother was SM and that the decision to nuke the village was made while taking to the MIB. HOWEVER, I missed the part on how She was able to die or the explanation was very vague.
21:50 No cork. Seems a non-sequitur, or does not follow. The author also suggests that the time loop earliest appearance was when Sawyer and Locke left the rope in the ground before the well to the donkey wheel was dug, so they couldn't get rid of him until after the Ajira landed and MiB/fake Christian got Locke to "start" the loop by fixing the wheel. Makes more sense that the island didn't need her anymore after she ceremonially passed on the protectorship. And that Smokey figured out how to be invulnerable in his assumed forms, just as he might not have needed to eat or drink. Now how vulnerable was Jacob? Could anyone kill him, one of his followers, or just one of his candidates? Perhaps the third, which might be considered a loophole. Curious that after Jacob died, his brother lost some of his powers. But not until it was uncorked and the light stopped did he become mortal. Before the cork there was water going into the light, so an inconsistency. It should have been a sluice or something Desmond triggers to send water elsewhere to make it dry up and turn off the light. Maybe the light would be dimmer than before the construction with some water going to other parts of the island like the temple? Of course destroying the Swan Station could have damaged the island.
Why doesn't the man in black use his original body after the Oceanic 815 crashed, apparently after his death before Jacob lays it next to Mother, he becomes a smoke monster, but he can still use his body even centuries later. We see such an example in episode 8 of the sixth season, after the shipwreck on "Black Rock". I wonder why he has to use foreign bodies every time his own is in the caves. I only understand why he uses this on Locke to deceive Richard and Ben, аpparently the other bodies are to play mind games with the rest of survivors. I don't think he needs them to look like human.
Well, it's important to make this distinction. The smoke monster does not inhabit the actual dead bodies. He merely replicates them so he can look like the person. Sometimes he hides the bodies so they cannot be found, which means he might actually be mistaken for the real person (e.g. Christian, Yemi, Locke). The reason why he needs a body present on the island is so he can scan their memories and become them completely. Without the body, he can only really be an approximation of the person, like an impression. We know the Man in Black used his original guise for centuries, mainly as a way to communicate with Jacob. By the time Jacob went into hiding in the 20th century, there was less and less need to appear as MiB. We also know that he appeared as other dead people, such as Isabella on The Black Rock. So, for a long time, he probably appeared as both himself and other dead people (most likely to manipulate an island occupant). By the time Oceanic 815 crashes, the MiB is well into planning Jacob's demise as long as he can gain access to his whereabouts. All of MiB's confirmed appearances as dead people seem to be directly tied to manipulating other people: Christian Shepherd appears to Jack, Locke, Michael, Sun, Frank and Claire (all of whom are led astray). Yemi appears to Eko to test his amenability for coercion. Alex appears to Ben to get him to do whatever Fake Locke says. And we know that Fake Locke appears to Ben and Richard in order to fool them into thinking he is Locke. He later uses the familiarity of Locke's guise to lull the candidates into a false sense of security. By the time Jacob is dead he can no longer change his face anyway and is stuck as Locke. But from 2004-2007, there was very little need for him to appear in his actual MiB form.
Jack was teleported out of the heart once he got it restarted. We know that the light has the ability to teleport people. We see this happen to Desmond, Eko and Locke after the hatch implosion, and also with all the time travel.
I don't like what ifs, but what would have happened if MiB succeeded in leaving the Island? For my understanding, after 2000 years of this existential torture (I can't call his life "living") he just wanted to leave the Island for the sake of leaving and proving his brother wrong (just as his brother wanted to prove MiB wrong).
Had the Man in Black left the island, the world would have ended. Because the only way for him to escape the electromagnetic bubble that he was trapped within was to switch off The Source. And The Source is the battery that powers our existence. If the light goes out there, it goes out everywhere. Remember when the island started to fall apart in 'The End' after the cork was removed? Well, that would eventually spread and happen across the whole planet, because the light exists in more than one place. All the pockets beneath earth and ocean around the planet would eventually extinguish too. And once all the light had burned out in a state of apocalyptic carnage, the light within us (aka our souls) would burn out too. No sideways, afterlife and rebirth for us. Everything would cease to be. The whole point of everything Jacob had planned and set-up to get to this point was so that our Losties could kill MiB once and for all. So an era of peace could begin on the Island without the smoke monster undermining and trying to destroy it. The Man in Black did not care about nor consider the disastrous consequences of his actions. He was a victim of bad parenting 2000 years ago, but that's no excuse for everything he did afterwards.
I'm still curious, if resetting the cork turned the Man in Black into flesh and blood. What would have happened if he hadn't died, when Jack replaced the Cork? Would he have become the smoke monster again, or would he remain flesh and blood?
Well, the Man in Black is powered by The Source. When it gets effectively turned off, so too does the Man in Black, at least in terms of his smoke powers. So, logic dictates that if he was still alive when Jack turned The Source back on then the Man in Black would have gotten his powers back too, and everything that happened down in that cave would have been for nothing. That's why it was essential MiB be killed while the cork was out.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I watched the finale in 2010, and that question was eating at me. Then there is the sheer horror of being disembodied, and the abomination of MIB's resurrection in a copy of Locke's body. It's insane.
Great job. The idea of the source containing an evil energy aswell as a good energy never really made sense. I only accepted it as its in the Lost Encyclopaedia, which was supposedly checked by Lost writers, but as you pointed out there are issues with its accuracy at times, although it is useful. Are there any mysteries left to cover in the show? I think you've got them all now? Time for a holiday...if only there was a nice Island somewhere.....
Oh yes, the infamous Lost Encyclopaedia! I do understand why people use it as a source for clarification. It's the closest to an official answer book that exists. But its officialness remains questionable. It does have a foreword by Damon and Carlton at the start, but that's as far as their contribution went. Perhaps the key takeaway from their foreword is the line: "This text will not confirm nor deny your theories about the show. It's a great reference guide but what it does NOT (their capitalisation, not mine) provide are answers to the great unknown. It was incredibly important to us to maintain the purposeful interpretative quality of the show. And although it's frustrating at times to puzzle things out for yourself, the show was called LOST for a reason." And, as previously discussed, the book itself is riddled with inaccuracies, so it remains a contentious source for canonical info. It is good as a reference guide though, like they said, since it lists the generally agreed facts established within the show under each section. There isn't much in the way of elaboration on the clear answers we already got though. The section on the smoke monster (and the darkness) doesn't even make sense with what Damon and Carlton have talked about in their commentaries and interviews. It certainly doesn't marry up to what we understand about The Source. But what can we do? Either we go with it or against it. For me, the book is part catalogue, part fan guide, and part fan speculation. As for what mysteries are left to explore on this channel, there is still some grander mythology to talk about before I wrap up this series and delve into the minutiae of the show more. Next up... explaining the mechanics of how and why the island moves. Keep your eye out for that one!
The distinction that needs to be made is that smokey is completely separate and optional. It just happened that mother was both protector and smokey. This doesn’t mean anything, like protector and smokey are opposites, good/evil nonsense(it just happened that later they come from twins so it sort of looks like that, and MiB just wanted to see the world(explore; a positive human quality) while protectors are killers so definetly not only good, maybe even worse then the “bad”). This is also why mother can only give the protector part. When mother died there was no smokey for some time. Smokey is separate and work with different rules.
If mother was a smoke monster why did she get to keep her body and the man in black didn't? Also why did Jack or Desmond become a smoke monster after going down there
I think a simpler and more likely explanation is that Mother WASN'T always the Protector, and she became the Smoke Monster by accident or by ignoring the warnings of the protector before her. I don't think Mother was around in the time of the Egyptians.
How was Mother able to be killed if she’s indeed a SM? Isn’t the SM tethered to the Light of the Island? After all, that’s the only way Jack was able to kill the Locke-SM …by temporarily turning off the Light. Was Mother-SM privy to different rules due to also being the Protector as well as a SM? And perhaps giving up Protector status made her mortal (even though still being a SM)?
Was jack turned into a smoke monster? Hurley was the protector. Jack went into the light and put the cork back. He had to become the new smoke monster. Didn’t he?
Jack was not exposed directly to The Source as a result of the cork being in place, therefore he could not become a smoke monster. In fact, after the cork system was originally installed during the Egyptian period, it made it pretty much impossible for a smoke monster to be created again as you couldn't get to the light directly without turning it off.
MiB is drawing from Dead Locke's memories of when Charles Widmore said to him off-island: "There's a war coming, John. And if you're not back on the island when it happens, the wrong side is going to win." MiB was making a twisted and ironic comment.
I love your channel and vids, this one was excellent as well! Thank you, but just a little suggestion, could you pls change your mic as the sound quality could def be better. Keep up the great work
If there must be both a smoke monster and protector amongst the brothers, can we assume that during Hurleys time there was also an equivalent “man in black”?
Well, what the Egyptians did in that cave, approximately 2,000 years ago, changed this dynamic forever. After the ancient incident and the installation of the cork, no more smoke monsters could be made. Because a person needs to enter the open aperture of The Source to be transformed as we see in 'Across the Sea'. This process was rendered impossible by the cork's placing because it blocks the light, and to remove it would mean the light going out. The Man in Black was the last of his kind, hence why killing him was so crucial.
@incelpolskatv3855 Good questions by you and original poster. I think Jacob did alright protecting the island (and perhaps humanity from accidental nuclear war) without being the Smoke Monster, so Hurley doesn't need the power or to have someone in that role. Unless his "battery" theory is valid, in which case he does. Perhaps that thing with the knife was the brothers imagining how to kill each other, after knowing Mother died by the knife through the back. MiB thinks someone coming upon Jacob unawares could stab him and Dogen thinks it might work against MiB. But they got it wrong. I think this video said passing the protectorship made Mother vulnerable.
Just a few thoughts: 1 - I forget which episode it was, but there is a scene where Jacob and MiB are children that features the noises of the Monster - this makes me think the monster exists as a separate entity. 2 - Wasn't the MiB's body found after he floated down into the light? So isn't it more about the Monster becoming, or being able to become, him, than him becoming the monster? 3 - I don't think Mother was the OG, and she could very well be being manipulated by her own Jacob/Monster to manouver things to the next stages for them - but I understand the writers needing a beginning. 4 - "They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same." - It would have been interesting to know how some of these iterations played out, do you think they all just died off since Jacob and MiB are still there? 5 - If the events that happened to human MiB were recreated, could it release the monster/make a monster again? Or were the actions with the cork definite?
I was wondering about one point you didn't address. Sayid was told to not let MiB speak before trying to kill him but he did get to speak and Sayid stabbed him anyway. I thought this was related to how mother died. I always thought she got rid of the village to make MiB want to kill her as a way of ending her torment as a smoke monster. She waited with her back turned and didn't speak. I always thought that was part of it.
Not letting MiB speak is a reference to his ability to manipulate, not some arbitrary rule that allows him to be killed. So, when Dogen tells Sayid to not let MiB speak to him or else "it will already be too late", it is the exact same warning that MiB gives to Richard in regards to Jacob in ‘Ab Aeterno’. Both lines essentially use the same words: “Do not hesitate, do not let him say a word. If he speaks, it will already be too late.” Although the MiB qualifies this statement by adding: “He can be very persuasive.” The idea being that if a person - whose soul is in the balance and could go either way - speaks to Jacob or MiB then they are at risk of being convinced and turned to their side. We see this happen with both Sayid and Richard, respectively. And after both men return to those that first warned them, the same line is again repeated to them: “You let him talk to you.” Dogen says that to Sayid and MiB says that to Richard. Meaning: you let him talk you out of it That’s the significance of those interactions. It’s not supernatural. It’s about manipulation and persuasion, of which both Jacob and MiB are very accomplished at doing.
I don't think Mother was the first watcher on the island. I think the story goes way deeper than that. I believe it makes sense that there has been a watcher/guardian of the island since day one. (Which would make a great prequel story.) And yes, I believe she was a form of the smoke monster... We really don't know her full back story. Maybe she was born there. Maybe she ended up there.. Maybe she was in war with people. ... We really don't know
I’ve been wondering for a while how mother could be killed in a corporeal form in across the sea if she was indeed a smoke monster. Then I thought of how when the source is turned off, the man in black turns into a corporeal body. So whether or not it’s the light turning off in man in blacks case, mother transferring light side to Jacob, or maybe she was a different iteration of light and dark as a protector and a smoke monster so this candles each other out and she was always corporeal, never the less the power for a smoke monster to be come corporeal exists in the world of lost
The man in black (dark side) and Jacob (light side) is similar to the situation in The Dark Crystal when the beings, split their energies into alter ego's of light and dark. Ultimately, the brothers of Jacob and Smokey closely resemble Enki and Enlil which is the occult knowledge that writers are really drawing on. The Egyptian theme and Egyptian gods are a shallow facade for the Annunaki demi-gods that later gave rise to the Egyptian main gods.......Egypt was originally the land of Khem, and its meaning is transfromation. Hence Kh(ch)emicals,Kh(ch)emistry
Thank you for another high quality video! However, I'm not convinced by your debunking of alternative theories on Mother, the Black Smoke and the initial "conflict" in LOST, so I’d like to share my interpretation of this topic: Mother is the Protector of the Island to whom the Black Smoke obeys originally (basically to frighten or to eliminate those who are considered as a "threat" to the Island). The Black Smoke is not the incarnation of "evil," but most and foremost, an extremely powerful and violent force that can crush "perceived ennemies" of all sorts. This force is not autonomous: it responds to the Protector's demands and could be seen as his/her very efficient "weapon." However, things change when Mother is killed and when Jacob's brother is thrown into the glowing cave. At this moment, the Black Smoke liberates itself from its initial function by absorbing Jacob's brother vital essence and by adopting his identity (however, most probably without being totally reducible to Jacob's twin's identity). From this precise moment, the Balance which existed on the Island is disrupted. The Protector of the Island (Jacob) cannot control the Black Smoke anymore; it's even worse than that: the Black Smoke becomes his enemy with opposite goals (it/he wants to kill Jacob and to leave the Island). This is why Jacob starts to bring new people to the Island: he wants them to find a way to stop the "new" Black Smoke, as it/he reinforces chaos on the Island. When Desmond removes the cork and the Light in the Heart of the Island goes out, the extraordinary properties of the Island disappear. The Black Smoke becomes human (unknowingly to itself/himself, its particular form was always connected to the Light). Jack kills him and then restores the Light again. That's how the problem created by Jacob thousands of years ago is resolved. A new cycle begins with Hurley as the Protector of the Island. The Black Smoke reappears as an impersonal force where it originally belongs: in the Heart of the Island. Balance is reestablished. The Protector of the Island can summon the Black Smoke and use it, but knowing Hurley and his personality (his kindness and intrinsic non-violence) one can presume that he won't do that, as he will try to find more pacifistic ways to resolve conflict with the potential "threats" to the Island. For me, this interpretation sounds more convincing, even though the theory you share in your video is pertinent and solid.
I don’t see much proof of this particular theory. If the smoke monster always existed and wasn’t really MiB’s disembodied consciousness then why does Jacob refer to it as having once been human? Why does he not make a distinction between the Man in Black and the smoke monster? He says “he” and “him”, not “it”. He says “I made *him* that way” - this isn’t an ambiguous statement. He is literally confirming what happened in ‘Across the Sea’. Is the implication of your theory that Jacob didn’t know the difference all this time? That for 2,000 years he has been operating under the wrong idea about what the smoke monster really was? Because all evidence is to the contrary since we see his elaborate plan to kill the MiB play out in season six, which suggests he understands what is going on with Smokey in a deeper way than anyone else. I always find that this theory has to twist events and evidence to make them fit the narrative we see. Saying that the MiB going down into the cave of light somehow merged his essence with Smokey makes little sense because we know that Smokey has to scan a person for a considerable amount of time to absorb their memories. And we see that MiB is transformed almost instantaneously. So how exactly does this alleged “merging” work? Would it be the exact same process that I have described as happening to the MiB’s consciousness being uncoupled from his body? And how does the black smoke go back to The Source after Fake Locke is killed? It’s a contradictory statement. You say that the black smoke is made mortal/human but then it is killed in its mortal body. So how can it suddenly go back to The Source? It’s dead! Literally the whole point of season six (and arguably the entire show) was to create a series of causal events that led to the Man in Black’s demise. When Jack re-corks the aperture of The Source, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the black smoke has returned to living beneath that hole with the light. I just don’t understand where that idea comes from at all. Furthermore, saying that Smokey thought it really was MiB is a way of getting around the fact that Smokey talks and behaves exactly like MiB, and appears to complete strangers like Richard Alpert (almost two millennia later) as the Man in Black. Season six goes to a lot of trouble to explain to us that the smoke monster used to be human and was this particular guy. It reinforces this over and over again. And this theory tries to dismiss all of that. So, it is safe to say that I not only reject this theory (with all due respect) but I actively dislike how it has to make up its own internal logic and ignore everything else in the show that goes against its hypothesis. I feel very strongly about this lol.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 First of all, thank you for your reply to my original comment. Let me clarify some points of my interpretation/theory by answering your questions. I won’t answer to each one of them, as I don’t want to be excessively long and heavy, but normally, the answers that I’ll give should provide enough information to tie up the loose ends and implicitly resolve your remaining questions that are not explicitly mentioned here: "If the smoke monster always existed and wasn’t really MiB’s disembodied consciousness then why does Jacob refer to it as having once been human?" - Jacob is taking about his brother in the scene you evoke, and not directly about the "thing" one calls the Black Smoke as such. Jacob simply insists on his own responsibility in changing/transforming his brother, who once was a mortal human, into a violent incontrollable force that cannot find peace. So, there is no contradiction: the Black Smoke existed before Jacob, but it was his anger that led him to turn his brother, a mortal like him, into a "monster," by unwillingly merging his identity/consciousness/soul with the mysterious and supernatural force residing in the Heart of the Island. Of course, Jacob had no idea of the terrible consequences that would come after his impulsive vengeful act. "Why does he not make a distinction between the Man in Black and the smoke monster?" - He doesn’t need to do a distinction in the specific context of his speech in "What They Died For" (which you refer to). As you noticed, the information he gives to Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer is very partial and brief, because he wants to focus on the aspects that seem the most crucial to him in this situation. He needs to explain to the remaining candidates what he thinks is their main task (to stop the current version of the Black Smoke that became too dangerous); he doesn’t have the time (and possibly doesn’t feel the need) to describe its complex nature and history. "Is the implication of your theory that Jacob didn’t know the difference all this time?" - No, it’s not implied in my theory (but it may be the case though). We cannot know to what extent Jacob understands the nature of the Black Smoke (and the Source itself, which, obviously, is even more complex and hard to grasp). What Jacob knows for sure is that his terrible act destroyed his brother’s humanity, by making him consumed by a "transcendent" force far beyond the reach of ordinary human understanding. "Saying that the MiB going down into the cave of light somehow merged his essence with Smokey makes little sense (…). So how exactly does this alleged “merging” work?" - As I said in my original comment, during Mother’s time as a Protector (and possibly before too, if we believe that she was not the first Protector), the Black Smoke served the function of a weapon against those who are perceived as a "threat" to the Island. That’s why Robert (and Danielle Rousseau many years later) affirm that it is a security system protecting the Island. Well, for me that’s exactly what the Black Smoke was originally. For instance, Mother summoned the Black Smoke to slaughter Claudia’s people, because she considered that it would be safer this way (or possibly for her own selfish reasons, but that’s another question). Originally, the Black Smoke didn’t have autonomy and it was controlled by the Protector. But when Jacob threw his brother into the glowing cave, the Black Smoke acquired an identity, a consciousness, a soul: the one of a very desperate, broken and furious man, hating those who were once the closest persons to him (Mother and Jacob) and wishing more than anything to leave the Island. That’s how the Black Smoke "liberated" itself from its initial function and gained a will (to leave the Island basically). That’s what Mother tried to warn Jacob about during the "passing of the torch": it’s extremely risky and dangerous for a human being to descend into the glowing cave, because that’s the place where the Black Smoke can absorb one’s identity / disembody one’s consciousness, through its privileged connection to the Source. "And how does the black smoke go back to The Source after Fake Locke is killed?"; "So how can it suddenly go back to The Source? It’s dead!" - When the cork is removed, all the extraordinary properties which make the Island miraculously special, unique and sacred are extinguished. Simultaneously with the disappearing of the Light, the Black Smoke is rendered powerless. Those disruptions start the process of the Island's collapsing/sinking. When Fake Locke is killed during the "system failure" of epic proportions (;)), the twisted, abnormal, chaotic and destructive iteration/version of the Black Smoke created during the beginning of "Jacob’s reign" thousands years ago is eliminated. When Jack re-corks the aperture of The Source and touches the stream of water, the extraordinary properties of the Island reemerge - the Light comes back, and with it, the Black Smoke, as a potentiality always existing within the Source. Thus, the unplugging of the cork, followed by the killing of Fake Locke and the re-plugging of the cork, constituted a "restart" or a "reload" of the Island's system and the reestablishment of its long LOST Balance. This is how Jacob's great error, which affected thousands of years of the Island's history, was corrected, allowing a new cycle to finally begin, with the return of the Black Smoke to its initial function, becoming again an ally of the Protector and not his/her enemy. And of course, the Black Smoke that returned to this state has nothing to do with The Man in Black's identity, as the remaining aspects of Jacob's twin's consciousness were finally "put to rest" through the killing of Fake Locke. More generally speaking, Black Smoke exists as long as the Source exists. Only if the Source is turned off can the Black Smoke be suppressed, but then, it would also mean the end of the Island, and quite possibly, the end of the whole world as we know it... "Furthermore, saying that Smokey thought it really was MiB is a way of getting around the fact that Smokey talks and behaves exactly like MiB, and appears to complete strangers like Richard Alpert (almost two millennia later) as the Man in Black." - As I said before, the Black Smoke gains an "autonomy" and a "personal will" through The Man in Black. Without Jacob’s brother fatal fall into the glowing cave, the Black Smoke would have remained an impersonal force. That’s why the appearance of The Man in Black is the most used: it is simply the form which is the most natural and organic to assume for interacting with other humans.
@@erawa2740 Wow, so much to cover there! Jacob literally says: *"You call him the monster. But I'm responsible for what happened to him. I made him that way."* This is pure disambiguation that requires no reading between the lines. He is telling us that the smoke monster is the Man in Black and vice versa. In direct, plain terminology. He is not separating the two entities or making any distinction between them. Because there is no distinction to be made. The contradiction in your interpretation of this scene still remains, regardless of you claiming otherwise. You are claiming that Jacob is saying something that he clearly isn't saying. We also *can* know to what extent Jacob understands the light and the smoke monster. Watch my videos on both The Rules and The Candidates, as it is too complicated to sum up here, but by the time we meet Jacob in the statue in the S5 finale, he knows exactly what MiB/Smokey is, what needs to happen in order to kill him (Widmore is already on his way to the island with Desmond to remove the cork remember), and he also knows exactly what would happen if the light were to go out. Everyone would die and the world would end. Once again, he states this directly and without ambiguity. Can I ask you what evidence is there to suggest that the smoke monster existed down in the cave without any autonomy and could be summoned by Mother? We see no such indications that this was the case. 'Across the Sea' is taking place pre-Egyptian period on the Island too, so Mother's time predates the temple and summoning chambers. I recommend you watch my video on The Egyptian period too, which further helps to solidify what was happening pre and post-cork. Also, why and how does the black smoke merge with MiB? You never actually answered how you think that works. We know Smokey has to scan someone to absorb their memories. This is an established fact in the show that we see happen on several occasions. What you're saying doesn't make any sense in terms of what has been previously demonstrated. Are you saying that by MiB going into the light, this "attack dog" smoke monster somehow took on his memories and essence by osmosis without the need to scan him? This is what always makes me frustrated with this theory, because it has to go out of its way to try and explain why Smokey is so much like the MiB, otherwise the theory would contradict what we see happening in season six. Smokey is so much like MiB in your theory that it practically may as well be the MiB. You know why? Because it *IS* the MiB lol. All the in-show evidence is telling us this. How does Mother know that descending into the cave would mean the black smoke would absorb the person's identity? This is another contradiction. If Jacob, as protector, doesn't fully understand what the smoke monster is or how the light works (going by what you were implying), surely neither would Mother understand these things either. How could she possibly know what would happen if someone went down into the cave and into the light? Think about it... The only way she could know what the consequences are is if she had gone down there herself. It happened to her first! I'm not sure if you've watched all my videos on this channel yet, but I have gone to great lengths to explain that a smoke monster is raw disembodied consciousness rejected by the light. The Source in the cave is the source of all consciousness and life, but you can only re-join with it through natural means, aka death. The very foundations of the LOST mythology are related to consciousness and time, neither of which have anything to do with original darkness or original evil, or elemental smoke monsters that always existed in the cave. Your theory, by default, rejects my whole thesis on the show. Which is fine, of course. You've got to embrace what makes the most satisfying sense to you. But you're basically arguing against everything I have posted on the channel to some extent, which makes it difficult to counter because there is simply too much for me to get into here. And my videos state all of these points far better than I can do in a single message. If you haven't watched all of the videos then I suggest you give them a go and perhaps that will help you to reconsider your theory. If you have already seen all the videos then I don't think there is anything I can say to convince you otherwise.
Oh for crying out loud, why does everyone hate on immortality? I’ll be happy to take up the never dying torch if none of you want it. Death is the end of existence so not dying is the best.
The idea of living forever might only appeal to those who are afraid of dying more than they are of outliving all those they have loved. There is a quote from the film 'The Life of David Gale' that I often think of when ruminating on the idea of life and death: "We spend our whole life trying to stop death. Eating, inventing, loving, praying, fighting, killing. But what do we really know about death? Just that nobody comes back. Then there comes a point -- a moment -- in life when your mind outlives its desires, its obsessions. When your habits survive your dreams. And when your losses... Maybe death is a gift."
14:42 I noticed there is a crack in the earth above where the water travels in. You can see this crack in scenes where characters are inside the cave, and also notice the beam coming from the top of the cave in this one. It's possible someone or something made the cave afterwards.
Did it ever occur to you as being strange that the MIB, despite being a man of great intellect, does not seem to express any curiosity upon witnessing what mother has apparently just single-handedly done to his wheel chamber and village? He weeps for his destroyed hardwork, but doesnt at all seem to be fearfully in awe of what an old lady has apparently just done all by herself. It seems like he'd have some real questions for her about how she was able to do it that he'd want answers to before just blindly murdering her in cold blood as an act of revenge. It must all seem fairly impossible from his POV as the only resident man of science on the island..
I don't think her sudden appearances are evidence of being a smoke monster considering there's no mechanical sound preceeding her arrival, and many other characters have sudden, surprising appearances in the same way but are clearly not the smoke monster. Why do you think Mother's knowledge of going in to the heart being worse than death is from first hand experience and not the intuitive knowledge a protector gets?
The sudden appearances of Mother are merely compounding evidence not the evidence in and of itself. It is only when we marry all of the evidence from the episode together that it paints a smoke monster-y picture. However, I would add to this that many sudden appearances of characters on the show *have* been related to the smoke monster, with some of those appearances often being ambiguous in nature (e.g. Emily Linus and Harper Stanhope), in that they could be actual ghosts or smoke monster apparitions, or even real living people. I made a video on this very subject going through all of them. Yes, it's perfectly possible to assume that Mother's knowledge about entering the light being a fate worse than death is based upon protector intuition. That line on its own isn't enough to argue that she is a smoke monster. But when we look at all of the evidence laid out, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain away everything as protector-related powers. For instance, the total destruction and eradication of MiB's whole village. It is never remotely suggested that a protector has the power to kill multiple people like that with some kind telekinesis. If we had gotten a scene like that beforehand then I'd lean more towards it being a protector-ability, but protectors don't appear to have the capabilities to kill on that scale. However, we have seen multiple instances of the smoke monster doing exactly this. The Roman village's destruction is a mirror scene of the temple destruction that occurred several episodes prior. And it's intentional symmetry. Watch those scenes back-to-back. They are basically the same scene, minus MiB's angry grief. To be more pointed on this issue, Lindelof and Cuse have heavily alluded to this interpretation as being their intention, which is just worth keeping in mind. From the commentary track for 'Across the Sea': Damon Lindelof: It is worth mentioning the idea that Mother is the smoke monster at this point in the game. Because later we will see that... Carlton Cuse: That is interesting. Damon Lindelof: She has laid waste to the entire village. And what an interesting theory that is because one of the questions that keeps arising is: if Jacob's smoke monster was his brother, then who was the smoke monster before him? Or was the smoke monster actually created in this episode? Does good always need evil? And that is an excellent question to be asking. They wanted to leave the ambiguity there for this to be debated, so I'm not saying everyone has to agree with this interpretation or that it's the only way to read the events of 'Across the Sea', but I do think it has an evidential basis both inside and outside of the show. And it makes sense thematically in terms of how Mother split her role between two twin brothers, each one becoming a different embodiment of her own duality. They definitely wanted us to have this debate in any case.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I'll check out your vid on sudden appearances. I know there are ghosts and the smoke monster appear suddenly, but if i recall so do some normal people like Kate at some points. I don't remember exactly who because I wasn't looking for that detail. Doing things normal people can do isn't evidence of super natural character, unless otherwise stated, as how fake Loche says he likes to feel the ground on his feet or however he says it. I'll check out your vid on the appearances and see what you think. I've no doubt about her needing to be the smoke monster to overwhelm the whole village/fill in the well, and the comparison between that and the temple aftermath. I appreciate your channel, being thorough in your work and I'm enjoying your videos. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, that's appreciated as well. I hope you have a great day.
what's weird is, back in time, the cork WASNT there...but the island wasn't falling apart. So why did the island start dying/sinking when the cork was taken out in the present?
That’s because “the ancient incident” had not happened yet, which destabilised the entire island. I explain how, why and when the cork was placed in my video on the ancient past, which you can watch here: LOST Explained - The Theory of Everything: Part Two (Mother, Jacob, Man in Black & The Egyptians) ua-cam.com/video/aB4kvRxN7Hc/v-deo.html
The MiB's real mother was murdered and he was abducted by, lets face it the last person who should be near children - who pretended she was his mother while being the killer of his real mom. She then was incredibly toxic and played mind games with the two boys, lying to them about life off the island. She murdered the people the MiB found and was trying to make a normal life with them, then his own brother killed him turning him into something worse than death. Trauma - he was just a guy who was very damaged as a child by an adult and then was continually abused and controlled by her. I feel sorry for him.
Jack did not get turned into a smoke monster because the cork was in place when the light was turned back on. Only someone entering the open aperture of The Source can be transformed into a smoke monster. The ancient incident during the Egyptian era and their installation of the cork made it so that this could never happen again because in order to get to the light you need to uncork The Source, but by doing that you turn the light off. The Man in Black was the last of his kind.
*ATTENTION! For viewers who take issue with the text-to-speech voice*
All of these older videos have been entirely revoiced and remade in better quality (and feature A LOT more detail). They have been combined together as part of a six part video series called The Theory of Everything, which you can watch here: ua-cam.com/play/PL5iTj9psbPrNovFOg4pJJIyxiLAv2WAKB.html
Namaste! 🙏
Lost needs to come back either a series about the egyptians or the dharma initiative
I think Egyptians is the better option. We know so little about that period that it would give the writers more or less a blank slate to work with, and Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver would be the only actors they would need to convince to return.
Definitely the Egyptian Era
Why not have both? You could have it span multiple timelines.
We got a whole season on the dharma initiative
@@nelyag1275 yeah I know we got a season on the dharma initiative but it only show us how they got killed. I want to see the beginning how did they know about the island who started the dharma initiative earlier relations between the others and the dharma initiative that's what the new series should be about
Just discovered your channel - I'm absolutely stunned by how good this content is!
Thank you!
Great reference of the cork unplugging to the unplugging vending machine. Completely missed that subtlety. Thanks for all the insights.
I deff agree that it's important to take evidence from within the show. And you always point out details I missed! The ladder part combined with the other strange things that episode. It's very convincing.
I don't know if Mother was a smoke monster but she was a monster for sure.
Another great episode! One question I had is; why does Jack not become a smoke monster once the man in black is dead, Hurley is protector, and Jack is then engulfed by the light while re-corking the source?
The MIB became the Smoke-monster because the Source was uncorked, and, being thrown down there unconscious, he was carried by the water into the hole itself, which is where he was transformed. Jack, on the other hand, lowered himself down carefully and didn't go into the hole, so no transformation. 🙂
Drew C. is absolutely correct. Jack was not exposed directly to The Source as a result of the cork being in place, therefore he could not become a smoke monster. In fact, after the cork system was originally installed during the Egyptian period, it made it pretty much impossible for a smoke monster to be created again.
@@drewc.4061 Ah of course, thanks for clarifying!
@@drewc.4061 if that's true, why does the island nearly sink without the cork, even when MIB is killed?
The Egyptians pluged the source so no one else can transform into a black monster
I was just watching one of these older videos and then this one comes out
It was meant to be!
What I also like about Mother's appearance down in the wheel chamber is the harsh lighting. The same way vision-Claudia was lighted when Boy-in-black saw her earlier in the episode. Not that it's a connection. Mother is real. But it's someting off and "not human" about her.
One of my all time favorite shows. Ive literally watched it 4 different times over the last decade and each time i finish watching I'm always left clueless at some of the episodes so that what draws me in even more.
Your video(s) shed so much light on those missing link's that can easily go over one's head. I appreciate your videos and breakdowns because when i do watch it over again i will remember how you connected the dots that were not connected for me and other viewers, its going to be wonderful with the newfound knowledge rewatching lost.
Thanks once again
Your videos are amazing. I love Lost, but I always disliked the contradictions and sloppy writing that seemed to make some mysteries impossible to explain. Your theories and ideas have changed my mind about that and have helped increase my understanding and appreciation of Lost.
This is exactly why I make the videos. Thank you :)
Thank you once again for brightening our Sunday afternoon with your informative video, I always look forwards to your uploads, never a dull moment.
I always wondered if it was supposed to be Calypso's island at one point. Maybe Calypso ruled the island before 'mother' or maybe she was mother.
Calypso kept Odysseus on the Island for 7 years and promised him immorality if he stayed. She was also said to weave on a loom. Some versions also say she bore Odysseus two sons.
Athena makes Calypso release Odysseus because it's not his 'destiny' to die there.
Edit... I had to come back and edit because I realized that Desmond's whole goal is to get on his boat and get back to his wife Penny, which is short for Penelope... which was the name of Odysseus' wife, who he wanted to build a boat and get back to... and Odysseus wanted to get back to his own island, Ithaca, and they made a point to say Desmond also wanted to get to his home island.
I copy and pasted this from my comment on another video, but I think it makes more sense here.
Great comment! Very thoughtful. I think LOST features and includes many different references to various mythologies and concepts throughout history, from Egyptian god myths to echoes from Judeo-Christian theology. It touches upon so many influences that it’s possible the writers thought about and were influenced by some of the ideas you suggest. Perhaps the island isn’t literally supposed to be Calypso Island from Greek mythology, anymore than Jacob and the Man in Black are supposed to be Jesus and Lucifer (or Horus and Set), but the influences are there. The idea in LOST is that everyone who comes to the island projects their own mythologies and beliefs onto what they see. Just like we the fans do with the show. It’s one of the reasons why it’s such a rich story to dissect and discuss.
Love these vids, have watched them all. Could you do one about “The New Man In Charge” epilogue? So many questions raised with that epilogue. Like, after becoming island protector how did Hurley change the rules (as suggested by Ben)? How did Desmond get home? How was Walt supposed to help his dad? Did Hurley give Ben “the immortal touch” like Jacob did to Richard? Theories on who could be protecting island after Hurley and (most likely) Walt? …..etc etc etc
Loved the use of Apocalypto visuals to illustrate past island civilizations... Can you imagine an Egyptian Era spin-off series that is produced the way Apocalypto was?????!!!
INSANE!!!
I loved your reveal of the cork and how that was the key difference between how different era smoke monsters could be killed. Why didn't I ever put that together...
What I find so great about your explanations is how logical they are. You don't make up too much fan-fic or go off on too many elaborate theory tangents. A lot of it is rooted in what we see or hear in any given episode, but you connect various dots to draw your conclusions. This might be my fav video of yours simply because you make the best case I've ever seen for why the mother character was a smoke monster and how the intricacies of that worked. Honestly these chapters have been so illuminating for me. Thank you for all the hard work. Can I ask what's coming up next?
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Can't wait! :D
Your kind comments are appreciated as always! The next chapter will explore the mechanics of how and why the island moves.
@LOST EXPLAINED love your content and theories, I hope you have many, many more theories and content for years to come! Namaste 🙏
Love your content, mate. You are either the light, the writers incognito, or someone of profound intelligence and dedication. Cheers, and thank you again 💙🖤💙
Another great video, thanks mate !!!
Also another aspect about the Mother=Smoke Monster is the connection to Locke's comment about her and MIB being Adam and Eve. The story of the original sin, where they were both tempted into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve ate it first. Then Adam. And they are both cursed by God.
That's a great observation!
Religion is a mental illness, nothing more than scaremongering and child-like imaginations...
I prefer the idea that Adam ate it first then blamed it on Eve, which an author suggested. After all, who wrote down the Bible stories from oral stories? Men. I once read about God having a wife before the priests got rid of her, so women wouldn't pray to her (have no other god before me) and do what the men say.
So if Mother is both protector and smoke monster, can she leave the island like Jacob can or is she bound to the island like the MiB is? If she can leave, can she become the smoke monster elsewhere?
Great video. Mother’s communion with the island as protector meant she had an understanding of the future, and the subsequent destiny of Jacob and his brother. So she made them candidates for her role and knew that they wouldn’t die until they fulfilled said destiny.
Smoke Monster here. Thanks for doing this video for me. Will see you soon. ;)
I'll be waiting inside the statue for you.
Thank you again for such an enlightening work! If you don't mind answering a question... why can we assume that Mother was the very first protector and smoke monster? Can't there have been previous ones in even more ancient times?
I had that exact same question
I always assumed that there were other Protectors of the Island before Mother. It seems more intuitive and logical to me. It's just that the segment of the Island's history that is shown to the viewers begins from the moment Claudia and her people arrive on it, a moment in time during which it was Mother who protected the Source.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 fair enough! It makes sense, thank you!
A glitch with UA-cam Studio somehow erased my response to you. I wanted to repost an approximation of what I said for anyone else who reads this thread and is curious about the same question:
The reason why I think Mother was the first protector is based on several factors:
1. She never mentions any protectors that came before her.
2. 'Across the Sea' takes place roughly 2000 years ago. When we first meet Mother, the implication is that she has been occupying this role for a very long time. Which means she likely hails from an early human civilization. It’s hard to believe that there had been many, if any, protectors predating her.
3. We have to ask ourselves where the powers of a protector comes from. How are they connected to the source? How did the first protector gain their abilities? Surely it wasn’t simply drinking wine or water via a ceremony. Anyone could do that, doesn't make them a protector. Something more fundamental must have happened to kickstart the role. I think the writers subtlety explain to us the origins of all these powers with their introduction of the Mother character and the implications that she is a smoke monster. By going down into the light and becoming the first of her kind, she created a physical human link to The Source and a lineage of power that would be passed down through the ages from protector to protector.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108
Such amazing Work.
However, I would like to believe that:
1. There could be a lineage of Protectors ( such as with Avatars in in Avatar the last Air Bender),
But if we are taking it from what's in the show, yes, understood
2. When you say that "Across the Sea" was 2000 years ago, and "Which means she likely hails from an early human civilization." - I think that you are thinking of a Biblical timeline to these years. Humans started settling in and around Egypt around before 5000BCE.... so there were certainly people around the world millennia before ATS.... and "a very long time" is subjective, but no definitive. It could be 500 years, or 2,000.. but does not mean that not even ONE person before here couldn't have been a Protector.
Brilliantly explained as always! I wonder how long Mother was protector before Jacob took over, if she had any candidates of her own during that span.
I discussed the following on that subject with another poster:
The implication in 'Across the Sea' is that Mother is extremely *old*. So old that she predates many civilizations, hence why she is so tired of the repetitive cycle of human beings coming to cause bloodshed and chaos, and why she is so desperate to find fresh blood to replace her someday. Her rule most likely goes beyond Jacob's 2,000 years. She could hail from as far back as Ancient Mesopotamia, as alluded to in the video. And it appears that she spent a very long time alone on the island from whenever the last civilization was there because few traces remain that we see beyond some basic tools. It also explains why she is so enthralled with Claudia and her pregnancy because there hasn't been any opportunities for raising a child in her own image to take over for a very, very long time.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Fascinating. That is basically what she means when she says 'it's worse than death'. Because she went down there and became the smoke monster, she can't leave the island.. thus she can't do what Jacob does to draw people to the island. She's doomed to suffer immortality alone.
A good candidate for Mother's homeland is the Minoans IMO, it fits in the timeline pretty well. It's also plausible that Mother has never been human, and she's a deity from an ancient past. Trapped on the island, forgotten by a civilization long since destroyed.
Love me some lost. :)
I have been looking for this kind of channels for so long and finally found it. Thank you for your work!
Next 27 minutes will be amazing :)
I hope so!
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Well I was right)) good job as always
I do like this theory, however I have always assumed that there were other Protectors before Mother. In fact, I inferred that Mother’s own mother was the previous Protector.
The current iteration of humanity is tens of thousands of years old and (if you are correct about the Island’s original fixed location) the Mediterranean has been continuously inhabited for most of that history.
I like to think that Mother’s tenure as Protector is just the previous chapter in a VERY story long story. The current chapter being Jacob’s tenure and the next chapter being Hurley’s tenure. There were many many chapters before that about the tenures of previous Protectors. We as the viewers only needed to see what was relevant to the story being told to us, and thus we saw the end of Mother’s tenure because it was the beginning of Jacob’s.
I do subscribe to your theory that Mother was a Smoke Monster. Possibly the only previous Smoke Monster. I can’t argue with the logic (or the thematic brilliance/cool mythology expanding) behind that.
I hope you don’t think I’m poo pooing on your theory or your videos because I actually really love them. This has been the only point I “disagree” with any of your explanations or theories.
By all means, feel free to disagree with anything you like, Ashley. I'm not infallible! And you articulate your point very well and very reasonably.
Mother being the first protector isn't a hill I would necessarily die on, I just found it an interesting possibility worth bringing up. Because we are never told how this protector lineage began, or how a mortal person absorbed the powers of The Source and became able to pass them on to others. But the idea of cross-pollinating that unknown protectorship origin with Mother going down into the cave and entering the light is what helped me to build a bridge between ideas. I believe she is really, really ancient and that she reigned for longer than Jacob ever did, hence why she was so tired and done with the work by the time we meet her. However, it's not a theory I would argue to be definitive or provable in any way at all. It just makes for interesting speculation.
Wow. Never made that vending machine/island connection.
I've watched this show thoroughly multiple times. I agree with nearly everything you said in all your videos, and i also noticed the rope in the well in an you mentioned in an earlier video. But i believe the part where you say splitting the roles, i respectfully disagree. I do believe she was the smoke monster, but not that the roles had to be split. She passed on the role to Jacob of protector and that is that. The man in black becoming a smoke monster was Jacobs mistake, and nothing more. He expresses this. You could argue the island wanted it that way, but I don't believe it is necessary that a smoke monster must exist, the smoke monster is a violation in the first place. When hurley took over I assume there was no smoke monster again. While it is true there can't be one because of the masonry in the heart of the island and the dammed light, it would still contradict the necessity of the smoke monster. That line Dogen says that the smoke monster can be killed without him uttering a word, there may be truth to that as the mother was killed in that fashion.
Yes, she was. She represented both sides ofbthe nature of island guardian. Just connect these things: buried well when MiB woke up and later killing the mother without letting her speak (MiB stabbed her in the back). The heart of the island after that just became "resetted to default settings" so new person had to enter there and became new smoke monster (technically it should be new guardian of the island so normally Jacob should do this, and became a "monster". "Monster" form for island guardians allowed them to protect better the light from the source, but also prevented them from leaving the island forever). By throwing his brother into the source of the island, Jacob allowed to create second guardian - his brother (he always wanted to leave this place, and because of Jacob's action, he became chained to the island). This is why MiB hated his brother and wanted to kill him so much at all costs. Hope this explained that part of the plot a bit.
That was great point regarding the character arc of James and Michael. James was awful and for the only thought of himself. Then after he killed John’s father he made so many sacrifices to save his friends when he would not do that at the beginning of the show. Then Michael was good person, but once the Others took his son he was willing to kill two passengers of 815 to get his son back and off the island. Since he was a good person, he had a hard time forgiving himself for killing them which prevented him from crossing over into the light.
Great analysis. I do have one question, how are the powers of being the “protector” transferred from person to person through the wine?
The wine (or drinking of liquid from a receptacle of some kind) are simply part of the ceremony. Notice how Mother uses wine but Jacob and Jack use water from a stream. Mother and Jacob use incantations as well, whereas Jack does not. All of this is ritual. But the actual "magic" happens through *touch* specifically. It is the one common factor across all coronations. Mother touches Jacob's hand. Jacob touches Jack's arm. Jack touches Hurley's shoulder. The power is in the touch. Then the predecessor either needs to "retire" (presumably by leaving the island) or they have to die in order to complete the transfer of power.
Excellent
The Conversation Written Out For Us Regards DAMON and CARLTON is so obviously pointing us in a particular direction.
Hello,
Would it be possible to put the transcription of all your videos in the corresponding descriptions ?
In fact, I am not English and I can only understand 3/4 of a video.
Your videos are very interesting and I understood a lot of things thanks to you !
Have a nice day.
Julian.
All of my videos should have an option for subtitles. Just click the button on the video that reads: CC. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Yes I saw, but it's automatic transcription.
It is therefore imperfect (Auto transcription from youtube is crappy)
My theory: Smoke monster was on the loose since the beginning and intended to kill the mother/protector to escape. In order to kill the protector of the island, it lured MIB as his real mother, telling him about the outside world. After that, he killed the people to push MIB against the mother/protector. But it was too late, because the new protector was Jacob.
Smoke monster is not the Mother. But it acted to frame her.
MIB is not the smoke monster. But the smoke monster embodied him to taunt Jacob.
8:02 Fake Locke has one black eye and one white eye. I didn't catch that while watching the series, only during this video. 😮
That's a dream Locke talking to Claire while she's pregnant in season 1
Can you do an iceberg of Lost which includes every theory, dark facts, secrets and alternative endings etc? I would love to see it!!!!
Congratulations on another fine video, and once again I'm 99% in agreement with your theories. Personally, I've always felt that Mother, already imbued with Protector powers, was able to somehow survive the trip into the Source that made her part Smoke-monster, rather than her original body being discarded, but I have no good evidence to support it. My one small question, with regard to Mother only becoming mortal after she'd "sourced" a replacement, is why the Island was prepared to let Jacob die before his replacement had been chosen? Or do you take the view that Jack's ruptured appendix was evidence that "destiny" had already identified Jacob's replacement?
I think it's more about the timing being right for a protector to die. The Source has to allow it. Just as it only allows candidates to die when the time is right. Hence why Mother says: "My time is over", which is something she senses coming when she visits with MiB in the well (and perhaps even long before then). Jacob later senses this as well when MiB visits with him in the statue. The important thing to note is that each time we see a protector die in LOST, there is always someone(s) waiting in the wings to continue the line. Whether fully ordained or merely activated.
Also, in terms of the grander plan, had the next protector been in place immediately after Jacob's death then everything that The Island had been building towards would not have taken place the way it did. There needed to be a power vacuum for the Man in Black to fill so it could lead to his destruction and The Island could be purged of his poison.
Magnificent video man.
What about smoke monster with judge people on island.He was judge Ben and would like judge one man from Rusoe team earlier after they come to island, also in season 1 this same monster with judge people would like take Lock under ground and judge him then Jack or kate put dynamite on this place were this smoke momster would like take Lock and judge and he was gone .?
It doesn't seem definitely clear that "mother" was the original protector of the island/smoke monster. Minor question: will there be a smoke monster again or is that done?
It's supposed to be ambiguous so that we can discuss the possibilities. However, as laid out in this video, I feel there is far more evidence to support her being the smoke monster than not. As for whether or not another smoke monster can be created post-MiB, the answer is no. After the ancient incident and the installation of the cork, no more smoke monsters can be made. Because you need to enter the aperture of The Source to become a smoke monster, which has been rendered impossible by the cork's placing. MiB was the last of his kind.
I love your breakdowns, I just wish you called him flocke because he’s fake locke
I always liked Flocke as a nickname. He had so many - the Lockeness Monster, UnLocke, Not Locke, etc. I tend to call any MiB manifestations “Fake Name” like Fake Locke or Fake Christian mainly because not everyone is familiar with the unofficial nicknames.
This channel is absolutely fantastic content! I love Lost it’s my favourite TV show of all time but despite watching it numerous times your channel has explained so much!! Thank you!!
i also wonder if there is only 1 smoke monster. mother died pretty unceremoniously. you'd think, when she 'died', the smoke inside would go back to the source. same as when fake locke died, nothing happened. this gives me the idea, there isn't just one smoke monster, each version was different. a different demon if you like. mother was vanquished, so was locke. in the future, a new smoke monster would be created.....
or, the smoke is the soul of the person who entered the source. neither light or dark. maybe mother looked the same, we just never saw it, because we were always with her. or maybe, because she wasn't raged, she was more like a ghost. like jacob, who can just appear anywhere. but the man in blacks soul was angry when he entered the light, didn't die in peace, so he manifested as a cloud of smoke. when jack went into the light, he didn't become a monster either, he most likely became like mother, and could have stayed alive on the island, for as long as he wanted. so I think there are many 'protectors' of the island, just the man in black manifested as a cloud of smoke. i wish it was explained better though, like who built the intricate drain system in the source, and how did they not become another smoke entity. unless jacob and his brother built it, maybe together. i also wonder if jacob even had a body any more, because nobody ever saw him, unless he wanted to be seen. this also confirms that jacob is like a smoke monster entity too, just manifests differently.
its also interesting, that we look at this in a spiritual sense, yet desmond was able to withstand the EM radiation from a scientific view. why? did he not have a soul? those who can withstand EM radiation can't become smoke entities? and why the horn and mechanical sound in the monster? and why is he vulnerable to sonic fences? souls can't travel through those? so maybe he was mechanical. nanorobots or something weird. maybe the light is a gateway between universes, like a black hole. desmond could survive it, scientifically speaking, while others could not. maybe, because the body of the mib entered the source in a deceased state, the thing that came from another universe, is some darker, techno advanced version of himself. think marvel multiverse. an infinite number of men in blacks could have come through, just by chance, the one that did was from a world, where his consciousness exists in a biomechanical body. OR, travelling to other universes vaporizes/de-molecularizes your body to travel to the other side, and unless put back together, you stay in this limbo state. when you die, you take up your corporal form again. mother and mib had 2 bodies, because the second was a traveller from another universe, or somehow duplicated, like in the movie the prestige. darma tried to experieriment with time travel, maybe they were super close to a gateway to other universes, and could have built a machine, that would have allowed the atoms of MIB to fuse together correctly and permanently.
so maybe, desmond and jack are both smoke monsters in other universes, unless those universes have the tech to re-molecularize them. problem is, the writers tried to be both spiritual and scientific, and as a result, didn't really achieve either. how was the power of the protector simply transferred by drinking with the previous one? unless that water was special, and technically, the previous protector could have still lived forever. how was jacob able to stop richard from aging? gave him some water? but then why didn't richard become a protector too? why did the island move with the wheel? and the person who turned it and got exposed to the light, just travelled across the world, instead of becoming a smoke entity. same light, right? why didn't jack and mib just time travel like others who were exposed to the EM radiation? egyptians came after jacob and mib, cos they built a temple and a chamber to worship the 'cerberus', who judges them before death. I like how you talk about positive and negative terminals of a battery. we know the light is electromagnetic, maybe falling in there splits your body into its atoms because of the strong magnetism. the same shield that makes the island invisible to the outside world is the shield that stops him from leaving. that's why, even with jacob dead, he needed to destroy the island/become mortal, in order to leave. its not jacobs fault he was stuck there, he couldn't have left, even if jacob let him. and if he did somehow manage to leave, he'd be just a normal, mortal guy, maybe even in his original skin, same as locke becoming paralyzed again, off the island. idk. who knows, maybe someone could continue the story.
so the smoke monster (MIB) was the islands security system but he also wanted to destroy it....honestly doesnt make sense if the island is omniscient and would have known this would happen why even let it get that far?
I explain how this works in better detail in my Theory of Everything series. The Island is trapped within a self-perpetuating time paradox that it must fulfil in order to ensure the survival of itself and everyone/everything else. Knowing everything that can and will happen doesn’t mean you can prevent anything. On the contrary, knowing the future traps you into a deterministic feedback loop that forces you to cause the future.
Rewatch the video again I kinda have theory of what happened. So before mother was the protector, I believe the island protected it self. That why it could move through time and space. But the problem is the electromagnetic properties would always draw ppl to the island. So to protect the island it created the smoke monster and the reason why it black smoke was so it could blend in wit the night or the campfire smoke. The problem is the island didn’t like the senseless killing of humans so it gave the smoke monster the ability to scan ppl tell wether their evil or good in there hearts. This also didn’t work because ppl are not just all good or all bad the heart changes so the smoke monster would end up killing all people anyway once he sense any kind hate or emotion. So the island decided to great a human protector who understand the humans and have their same thoughts and emotions. That when mother show up to Island and that when the decided to make her a protector. The only problem was the island wanted to make her protector and the smoke monster. So the island made the monster kill her and that how she became the smoke monster. So why does she want jacob and mib to be protector so bad. Was that before she was killed she was pregnant and she lost her child. That why first person she appear to is Claudia and that why end up killing her and take the kids. But the kids end up being twins so she name one Jacob because that was the name she was going to give her child before she died. She couldn’t think of name for the mib that why through out the whole show we never know his name. Mother seeing that the island drew more to mib then Jacob I believe she made him a candidate or a protector and once you become a protector you can see the past. The mib finding out that mother kill him is real mom and family. He grew to hate her and hate the island and knowing that she couldn’t make him the protector so she made Jacob the protector but she didn’t want him killing mib cause she still love him, she made the rule that they couldn’t kill each other. So once mib got older he wanted to leave the island and be free. But mother didn’t let him because he knew everything about the island including the source. So what stopping him from leaving the island and coming back with army of people and destroy the island and the source. I know what you saying why didn’t she make a rule that he couldn’t leave the island ever. Because she wasn’t the protector nomore Jacob was and only the protector can the make rules. So while she was still the smoke monster she destroyed any chance he had of leaving the island and with Jacob of believing that the mib was the so called embodiment of evil even if she died Jacob wouldn’t let him leave. Once mib realize she wasn’t going let him leave, he decided to kill her. So when Jacob kill his brother and he became the smoke monster he knew that there was always a chance for him to leave the island that why he always search for new protector so if he die they keep protecting the island. Cause what proof do we have that the mib is all the evil in the world.
You need to use paragraphs. This wall of text is hard to read. I gave up.
@@JHallenbeck so basically all I’m saying was yes mother was the smoke monster and also the mib wasn’t source of all evil. She only told Jacob that so he can keep him on the island. When does he become the source of all evil, before or after she wanted him to be the protector of the island. Maybe it was when he became the smoke monster, which Jacob causes and if that the case that means mother was the source evil too.
@@blogking477 But Mother never tells Jacob that MiB is evil, nor that there is anything evil down in the cave. She never once mentions there being evil or darkness associated with the light either. She only talks about the light and how it needs to be protected from being put out. The only time the idea of evil being down there is ever really articulated is by Jacob centuries later when he uses a metaphor to explain what the MiB is to Richard Alpert.
LOST EXPLAINED actually summed up why this metaphor was used in one of his earlier videos. Alpert is a hell-fearing man and there is no way Jacob could have explained the complicated mechanics of how MiB was connected to the light source at the heart of the island, or how MiB could only leave by putting out the light which would destroy the world. It was easier to tell Alpert that he is holding back evil from escaping. In 1867, that logic could fly! Notice how Jacob does not use this simplistic analogy with our Losties in the 21st century.
So why does mother stop him from leaving and she kill his camp. The only reason why he have to stop the source is because he became the smoke monster and who cause that Jacob.
@@blogking477 You should just watch the videos on this channel because all of this has been explained in a better way than I can say it. Mother spent years believing that MiB was destined to take over as protector. It is only when she realises that he is going to tamper with the light in a bid to escape that she decides to destroy the well, wipe out his village and pass the torch on to Jacob. She can't risk the MiB or his people putting the light out! This all leads to both her death and the MiB's transformation.
FINALLY I get it 😅
I love when you talk about the source, because every time you say it all I can hear is "the sauce"
LOST is all about the condiments!
I have a question. I believe there can not be light without darkness. And I don't mean good and evil. Both light and darkness have all kinds of shades. If there is no longer a "Mother" figure, then either Hugo must be both light and dark, or there must be another entity that is dark. We love Hugo -- everybody loves Hugo -- but could he hold both light and dark, as Mother did? I guess that's possible, but I rarely think of Hugo as having any darkness. I suppose he does. No one eats himself nearly to death without inner demons. (And I'm saying that as a person with a weight problem, not to cast judgment. I would never judge either the fictional Hugo or the "real" Jorge.) So I think I answered my own question: the Island protector can contain both the light and the dark within one, as Mother did, and as Hugo will.
What a great question! I agree with the idea that light always needs darkness in some way. There always needs to be a balance in order for the island to function properly -- like a battery with a positive and negative charge. My reading of how this polarity continues on after Jacob and the Man in Black are gone is this: we have Hurley as protector of the island but we also have him recruit Ben as his number two. Hurley is most definitely an embodiment of light (whether you read that as literal good or simply that he harnesses the most positive of human qualities) whereas the darkness is provided by Ben, who is a man more than suited to being the negative charge. Ben represents the darkness of humanity; the worst that it’s capable of. Their battery isn’t as literal and absolute as their predecessors, it’s more subtle and human than that; fragile good and redeemable bad. And I think this balance is struck the moment Hurley makes the offer and Ben accepts. No coincidence that such balances are found almost immediately after a new protector takes over.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Well, my other theory -- which many people hate and you probably do, too -- is that Jack became the Smoke Monster. His essence would have remained good, because he's Jack, but his role would have worn on him eventually and he would become darker. (I feel Jacob's brother was basically good at first, too, but eons in his role turned him much more evil/dark - though not entirely.) I acknowledge there are a lot of problems in this theory, but his coming out of the light at the same place MIB did strongly suggests it to me.
Thinking of your idea further, I think it works the best. I just like the idea of Jack being a character on the Island. :)
I actually address the whole "Jack is the new smoke monster" theory in my video "What Happened After the End?"
It is established that only someone entering the open aperture of The Source can be transformed into a smoke monster. After the ancient incident during the Egyptian era, and their installation of the cork, it made it so that this could never happen again because in order to get to the light you need to uncork The Source, but by doing that you also turn the light off. Creating smoke monsters is no longer possible. The Man in Black was the last of his kind. Furthermore, Jack is clearly alive after being transported out from The Source and dies of his wounds in the jungle, not in The Source. Whereas the Man in Black was transformed instantly and his empty vessel of a body was spat out from the cave, dead on arrival.
in Tabula Rasa, we learn that we are not "blank slates", and that explains why people are not freed from their pasts just by "being born" on the island. The MIB and Jacob have opposite temperaments as babies : Jacob is accepting and happy, MIB constantly crying (at his fate?). I think MIB was on the "left hand path" before birth. Anger, vengeance, control lead him into the abyss; as a contrast, Jacob demonstrates responsibility and redemption. That's what is meant by "corruption"; just being on the island (Earth plane) is a hazard.
I might just be a dumb dumb, but how does corking the light make the island so powerful (jumping around physical and temporal locations, exacting its will on people, healing people like Locke and Rose, etc.) while uncorking the light, like Jack did, makes the island die? Wasn't it uncorked for its whole existence before the Egyptians? It dont make no sense!
It all comes down to what I call ‘the ancient incident”; an event that is heavily alluded to from the pieces we see throughout the show. This ancient incident, much like the incident of 1977, fundamentally changed the operational nature of The Island. The damage required a cork to be built to plug up the leak, which thereby bottled up the power of The Island and obstructed the flow of light. This is what made MiB essentially indestructible in a way that Mother had not been. I get into the whole story in this video here:
LOST Explained - The Theory of Everything: Part Two (Mother, Jacob, Man in Black & The Egyptians)
ua-cam.com/video/aB4kvRxN7Hc/v-deo.html
Let the show speak for itself. That’s a nice cop out when your best writing skill is the JJ What’s in the Box without ever consistently world building to an ending. Lost was a cluster fuck
"Let the show speak for itself" means that all the information you need is in the text. Also, JJ Abrams wasn't involved with the show past developing the Pilot. People always blame him for LOST, but if you have a beef with the show then you should direct it towards Damon Lindelof and Calrton Cuse, who actually led the creative team on each season. JJ Abrams was a producer in name only going forward. But if you hate LOST so much then what on earth are you doing looking up explainer videos about it 14 years after it ended? That's weird to me. Either you liked enough of the show and felt let down by where it went but still have an interest in the story, and want to see it discussed further, or you are just looking to troll other people who were satisfied with where LOST went because you hate them loving something you don't. Get over it.
The Egyptians were like the liquidators from the Chernobyl disaster
Every time I think your explanation creates a new plot question - you are then right on top of then explaining what feels like that new question or plot hole... like with Mother and her death... I was literally about to start writing a comment about how could it be possible that she was so easily killed without the light from the source going out... but lo and behold you answer the new question which your answers to the main question raised... that's truly impressive... the time you must have taken to firstly answer the largest questions for each topic... then to step back and then find the answers to the new questions each original answer has now raised... and then to make sense of those new questions or what seem to be new plot holes all connected together... man, it just must have taken so much creativity, research and planning.
Great, great work on this video series!
Absolutely, it has taken a long time to unpack the mysteries of the show. At least to a point that I have a proper understanding of both the established mysteries and the new questions raised from answering those established mysteries. Like Mother said: "Every question I answer will lead to another question." Only I'm trying to head off those questions in advance lol. I really appreciate your kind words, and I'm glad that these videos are proving to be edifying/entertaining!
@LOST EXPLAINED Yes they're great. I think they're the best I've seen - as much as it's nice that everyone can have their own theory and thoughts - I think it is great to provide an overview that looks at every theory and compares them all and ultimately works towards an overall narrative.
I'd love to see a complete timeline and concept visuals for a lot of your overview and explanations, if there was ever a creative visual artist that could help with it... there's all these great books for the Star Wars universe that include complete illustrations of locations, vehicles and really enhance the world-building visually and narratively.. I think your videos would form the perfect source material for a complete works in that sense... I mean there is "The LOST Encyclopedia" which is a great overview... however I feel like your explanation of the story provides even more detail and new story.
I think your channel is the start of a complete synthesis and it could lead to some even more amazing work and storytelling in the future!
Great, great work!
One thing that you didn't mentioned that how MIB was devstated when he saw the spirit of his real mother and she told him about the truth that how she was killed brutually by their mother. This event had huge impact on the character arc of MIB as it was revealed to him that he was not born on the island and it developed strong desire inside him to leave the island at any cost
Amazing as usual! I love the detail about Mother's dark and light clothing. It's interesting that they choose blue and beige instead of the obvious black/white. Also, both Sawyer and Jack wear blue shirts in the final season.
My response disappeared for some reason, so I'm not sure if you got a chance to read it. I said something along the lines of:
Mother wore blue and beige clothes to show that she wasn't completely light nor totally dark. Also, another symbolic metaphor is the wine that Mother uses in Jacob’s coronation. We know that there is nothing magical about the wine itself, it’s simply part of Mother’s version of the ceremony. But what is notable is the fact that it is the same wine bottle that Jacob uses two millennia later to explain the cork metaphor to Richard Alpert. In that metaphor, the red wine is representative of the smoke monster. In 'Across the Sea', Mother is using that same bottle with wine inside. And the wine represents her power that she is passing on to Jacob.
This was a deliberate creative choice by the writers. Apparently, in the original script, Mother originally dipped a cup into the water stream for the ceremony. But Darlton changed it purposefully to the wine. They perhaps wanted to make a point to the audience that 1.) it's not the water drinking in this ceremony that makes someone a protector, and 2.) the wine represents something very specific.
What I noticed is that we see 3 protectorship ceremonies. The first one between Mother and Jacob is very formal. There's the wine and a bottle, blessings in Latin etc. Then the ceremony between Jacob and Jack is with the blessings in Latin but with water. The final ceremony between Jack and Hurley has no blessings and is done with murky water and a plastic bottle. The only common factor is the touch and"now you're like me". Everything else about the ceremony becomes secondary.
@@raeliamrussi2679 Exactly! You've got it :) It is the physical touch and intentions of the two parties that matter. It is about physical connection and internal will. Jack chooses and ordains Hurley but, most importantly, Hurley accepts. Then the touch is what seals the deal and makes Hurley like Jack. Those are the consistent elements that we see across all three coronations.
I've always thought that she was a smoke monster with both jobs. Smokie literally was the protector...a security system.
She got lucky finding a pregnant woman. She saw twins and thought 'I can split the jobs and free myself".
I thought she wanted to pass the protector role only
@@АннаРузянова-ю5о but there needed to be balance? I don't know.
I've just always believed that she had both roles, and wanted to quit. But to do so, she needed replacements.
The question going forward is, Does there needed to be a smoke monster to protect the island and mind-read dead people (similar to what Miles does)? I would say no at this time, as Jacob was able to do what he needed to do without those powers (perhaps even preventing nuclear war in the real world).
I like your Lost related videos, you sound like a Tech-priest from the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The only thing I would like to know is why did she kill all those villagers?
Because she did not want people on the Island and needed to protect the source.
I also believe that Mother was SM and that the decision to nuke the village was made while taking to the MIB.
HOWEVER, I missed the part on how She was able to die or the explanation was very vague.
21:50 No cork. Seems a non-sequitur, or does not follow.
The author also suggests that the time loop earliest appearance was when Sawyer and Locke left the rope in the ground before the well to the donkey wheel was dug, so they couldn't get rid of him until after the Ajira landed and MiB/fake Christian got Locke to "start" the loop by fixing the wheel.
Makes more sense that the island didn't need her anymore after she ceremonially passed on the protectorship. And that Smokey figured out how to be invulnerable in his assumed forms, just as he might not have needed to eat or drink. Now how vulnerable was Jacob? Could anyone kill him, one of his followers, or just one of his candidates? Perhaps the third, which might be considered a loophole. Curious that after Jacob died, his brother lost some of his powers. But not until it was uncorked and the light stopped did he become mortal. Before the cork there was water going into the light, so an inconsistency. It should have been a sluice or something Desmond triggers to send water elsewhere to make it dry up and turn off the light. Maybe the light would be dimmer than before the construction with some water going to other parts of the island like the temple? Of course destroying the Swan Station could have damaged the island.
Smoke monster or not she had some type of powers
Why doesn't the man in black use his original body after the Oceanic 815 crashed, apparently after his death before Jacob lays it next to Mother, he becomes a smoke monster, but he can still use his body even centuries later. We see such an example in episode 8 of the sixth season, after the shipwreck on "Black Rock". I wonder why he has to use foreign bodies every time his own is in the caves. I only understand why he uses this on Locke to deceive Richard and Ben, аpparently the other bodies are to play mind games with the rest of survivors. I don't think he needs them to look like human.
Well, it's important to make this distinction. The smoke monster does not inhabit the actual dead bodies. He merely replicates them so he can look like the person. Sometimes he hides the bodies so they cannot be found, which means he might actually be mistaken for the real person (e.g. Christian, Yemi, Locke). The reason why he needs a body present on the island is so he can scan their memories and become them completely. Without the body, he can only really be an approximation of the person, like an impression.
We know the Man in Black used his original guise for centuries, mainly as a way to communicate with Jacob. By the time Jacob went into hiding in the 20th century, there was less and less need to appear as MiB. We also know that he appeared as other dead people, such as Isabella on The Black Rock. So, for a long time, he probably appeared as both himself and other dead people (most likely to manipulate an island occupant).
By the time Oceanic 815 crashes, the MiB is well into planning Jacob's demise as long as he can gain access to his whereabouts. All of MiB's confirmed appearances as dead people seem to be directly tied to manipulating other people: Christian Shepherd appears to Jack, Locke, Michael, Sun, Frank and Claire (all of whom are led astray). Yemi appears to Eko to test his amenability for coercion. Alex appears to Ben to get him to do whatever Fake Locke says. And we know that Fake Locke appears to Ben and Richard in order to fool them into thinking he is Locke. He later uses the familiarity of Locke's guise to lull the candidates into a false sense of security. By the time Jacob is dead he can no longer change his face anyway and is stuck as Locke.
But from 2004-2007, there was very little need for him to appear in his actual MiB form.
Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I like the image of a MIB like Titus Welliver would be nice to see him in more episodes.
What does all this mean in relation to Jack teleporting in the Finale?
Jack was teleported out of the heart once he got it restarted. We know that the light has the ability to teleport people. We see this happen to Desmond, Eko and Locke after the hatch implosion, and also with all the time travel.
Sounds like a movie. "Mother Was A Smoke Monster". lol
I don't like what ifs, but what would have happened if MiB succeeded in leaving the Island? For my understanding, after 2000 years of this existential torture (I can't call his life "living") he just wanted to leave the Island for the sake of leaving and proving his brother wrong (just as his brother wanted to prove MiB wrong).
Had the Man in Black left the island, the world would have ended. Because the only way for him to escape the electromagnetic bubble that he was trapped within was to switch off The Source. And The Source is the battery that powers our existence. If the light goes out there, it goes out everywhere.
Remember when the island started to fall apart in 'The End' after the cork was removed? Well, that would eventually spread and happen across the whole planet, because the light exists in more than one place. All the pockets beneath earth and ocean around the planet would eventually extinguish too. And once all the light had burned out in a state of apocalyptic carnage, the light within us (aka our souls) would burn out too. No sideways, afterlife and rebirth for us. Everything would cease to be.
The whole point of everything Jacob had planned and set-up to get to this point was so that our Losties could kill MiB once and for all. So an era of peace could begin on the Island without the smoke monster undermining and trying to destroy it. The Man in Black did not care about nor consider the disastrous consequences of his actions. He was a victim of bad parenting 2000 years ago, but that's no excuse for everything he did afterwards.
I'm still curious, if resetting the cork turned the Man in Black into flesh and blood.
What would have happened if he hadn't died, when Jack replaced the Cork?
Would he have become the smoke monster again, or would he remain flesh and blood?
Well, the Man in Black is powered by The Source. When it gets effectively turned off, so too does the Man in Black, at least in terms of his smoke powers. So, logic dictates that if he was still alive when Jack turned The Source back on then the Man in Black would have gotten his powers back too, and everything that happened down in that cave would have been for nothing. That's why it was essential MiB be killed while the cork was out.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I watched the finale in 2010, and that question was eating at me.
Then there is the sheer horror of being disembodied, and the abomination of MIB's resurrection in a copy of Locke's body.
It's insane.
Great job. The idea of the source containing an evil energy aswell as a good energy never really made sense. I only accepted it as its in the Lost Encyclopaedia, which was supposedly checked by Lost writers, but as you pointed out there are issues with its accuracy at times, although it is useful. Are there any mysteries left to cover in the show? I think you've got them all now? Time for a holiday...if only there was a nice Island somewhere.....
Oh yes, the infamous Lost Encyclopaedia! I do understand why people use it as a source for clarification. It's the closest to an official answer book that exists. But its officialness remains questionable. It does have a foreword by Damon and Carlton at the start, but that's as far as their contribution went. Perhaps the key takeaway from their foreword is the line: "This text will not confirm nor deny your theories about the show. It's a great reference guide but what it does NOT (their capitalisation, not mine) provide are answers to the great unknown. It was incredibly important to us to maintain the purposeful interpretative quality of the show. And although it's frustrating at times to puzzle things out for yourself, the show was called LOST for a reason."
And, as previously discussed, the book itself is riddled with inaccuracies, so it remains a contentious source for canonical info. It is good as a reference guide though, like they said, since it lists the generally agreed facts established within the show under each section. There isn't much in the way of elaboration on the clear answers we already got though. The section on the smoke monster (and the darkness) doesn't even make sense with what Damon and Carlton have talked about in their commentaries and interviews. It certainly doesn't marry up to what we understand about The Source. But what can we do? Either we go with it or against it. For me, the book is part catalogue, part fan guide, and part fan speculation.
As for what mysteries are left to explore on this channel, there is still some grander mythology to talk about before I wrap up this series and delve into the minutiae of the show more. Next up... explaining the mechanics of how and why the island moves. Keep your eye out for that one!
The distinction that needs to be made is that smokey is completely separate and optional. It just happened that mother was both protector and smokey. This doesn’t mean anything, like protector and smokey are opposites, good/evil nonsense(it just happened that later they come from twins so it sort of looks like that, and MiB just wanted to see the world(explore; a positive human quality) while protectors are killers so definetly not only good, maybe even worse then the “bad”). This is also why mother can only give the protector part. When mother died there was no smokey for some time. Smokey is separate and work with different rules.
If mother was a smoke monster why did she get to keep her body and the man in black didn't? Also why did Jack or Desmond become a smoke monster after going down there
Because they both made it out before they died maybe?
i dont understand well yet why was so important to Jack use the bomb in season 5 ending. :(
Entertaining video, A LOT of speculation though..
Of course, it’s LOST 😆
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 fair enough :) .
I have to say your videos are as entertaining as the the actual series so props to you.
Aw thank you, that’s a very generous compliment! 🙏
Hm I wonder why Jack wasn't healed being so close to the source
I think a simpler and more likely explanation is that Mother WASN'T always the Protector, and she became the Smoke Monster by accident or by ignoring the warnings of the protector before her. I don't think Mother was around in the time of the Egyptians.
How was Mother able to be killed if she’s indeed a SM? Isn’t the SM tethered to the Light of the Island? After all, that’s the only way Jack was able to kill the Locke-SM …by temporarily turning off the Light.
Was Mother-SM privy to different rules due to also being the Protector as well as a SM? And perhaps giving up Protector status made her mortal (even though still being a SM)?
Never mind, just finished the rest of the episode lol! Pretty amazing and deep explanation!
Was jack turned into a smoke monster? Hurley was the protector. Jack went into the light and put the cork back. He had to become the new smoke monster. Didn’t he?
Jack was not exposed directly to The Source as a result of the cork being in place, therefore he could not become a smoke monster. In fact, after the cork system was originally installed during the Egyptian period, it made it pretty much impossible for a smoke monster to be created again as you couldn't get to the light directly without turning it off.
When the mib in the form of locke said "a wise man once said war is coming to this island, I think it just got it" who was the wise man?
MiB is drawing from Dead Locke's memories of when Charles Widmore said to him off-island: "There's a war coming, John. And if you're not back on the island when it happens, the wrong side is going to win." MiB was making a twisted and ironic comment.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Oh I see now, thanks I really enjoy and appreciate all these explanations videos and comments.
I love your channel and vids, this one was excellent as well! Thank you, but just a little suggestion, could you pls change your mic as the sound quality could def be better. Keep up the great work
It’s not my real voice. It’s an AI text to speech voice. And I cannot adjust the pitch much more than I already am.
If there must be both a smoke monster and protector amongst the brothers, can we assume that during Hurleys time there was also an equivalent “man in black”?
Well, what the Egyptians did in that cave, approximately 2,000 years ago, changed this dynamic forever. After the ancient incident and the installation of the cork, no more smoke monsters could be made. Because a person needs to enter the open aperture of The Source to be transformed as we see in 'Across the Sea'. This process was rendered impossible by the cork's placing because it blocks the light, and to remove it would mean the light going out. The Man in Black was the last of his kind, hence why killing him was so crucial.
@incelpolskatv3855 Good questions by you and original poster. I think Jacob did alright protecting the island (and perhaps humanity from accidental nuclear war) without being the Smoke Monster, so Hurley doesn't need the power or to have someone in that role. Unless his "battery" theory is valid, in which case he does.
Perhaps that thing with the knife was the brothers imagining how to kill each other, after knowing Mother died by the knife through the back. MiB thinks someone coming upon Jacob unawares could stab him and Dogen thinks it might work against MiB. But they got it wrong. I think this video said passing the protectorship made Mother vulnerable.
Just a few thoughts:
1 - I forget which episode it was, but there is a scene where Jacob and MiB are children that features the noises of the Monster - this makes me think the monster exists as a separate entity.
2 - Wasn't the MiB's body found after he floated down into the light? So isn't it more about the Monster becoming, or being able to become, him, than him becoming the monster?
3 - I don't think Mother was the OG, and she could very well be being manipulated by her own Jacob/Monster to manouver things to the next stages for them - but I understand the writers needing a beginning.
4 - "They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same." - It would have been interesting to know how some of these iterations played out, do you think they all just died off since Jacob and MiB are still there?
5 - If the events that happened to human MiB were recreated, could it release the monster/make a monster again? Or were the actions with the cork definite?
I was wondering about one point you didn't address. Sayid was told to not let MiB speak before trying to kill him but he did get to speak and Sayid stabbed him anyway.
I thought this was related to how mother died. I always thought she got rid of the village to make MiB want to kill her as a way of ending her torment as a smoke monster. She waited with her back turned and didn't speak.
I always thought that was part of it.
Not letting MiB speak is a reference to his ability to manipulate, not some arbitrary rule that allows him to be killed. So, when Dogen tells Sayid to not let MiB speak to him or else "it will already be too late", it is the exact same warning that MiB gives to Richard in regards to Jacob in ‘Ab Aeterno’.
Both lines essentially use the same words: “Do not hesitate, do not let him say a word. If he speaks, it will already be too late.” Although the MiB qualifies this statement by adding: “He can be very persuasive.” The idea being that if a person - whose soul is in the balance and could go either way - speaks to Jacob or MiB then they are at risk of being convinced and turned to their side. We see this happen with both Sayid and Richard, respectively. And after both men return to those that first warned them, the same line is again repeated to them: “You let him talk to you.” Dogen says that to Sayid and MiB says that to Richard.
Meaning: you let him talk you out of it That’s the significance of those interactions. It’s not supernatural. It’s about manipulation and persuasion, of which both Jacob and MiB are very accomplished at doing.
I don't think Mother was the first watcher on the island. I think the story goes way deeper than that. I believe it makes sense that there has been a watcher/guardian of the island since day one. (Which would make a great prequel story.)
And yes, I believe she was a form of the smoke monster... We really don't know her full back story. Maybe she was born there. Maybe she ended up there.. Maybe she was in war with people. ... We really don't know
I’ve been wondering for a while how mother could be killed in a corporeal form in across the sea if she was indeed a smoke monster. Then I thought of how when the source is turned off, the man in black turns into a corporeal body. So whether or not it’s the light turning off in man in blacks case, mother transferring light side to Jacob, or maybe she was a different iteration of light and dark as a protector and a smoke monster so this candles each other out and she was always corporeal, never the less the power for a smoke monster to be come corporeal exists in the world of lost
The man in black (dark side) and Jacob (light side) is similar to the situation in The Dark Crystal when the beings, split their energies into alter ego's of light and dark. Ultimately, the brothers of Jacob and Smokey closely resemble Enki and Enlil which is the occult knowledge that writers are really drawing on. The Egyptian theme and Egyptian gods are a shallow facade for the Annunaki demi-gods that later gave rise to the Egyptian main gods.......Egypt was originally the land of Khem, and its meaning is transfromation. Hence Kh(ch)emicals,Kh(ch)emistry
So is Ben the smoke monster for Hurley? Or is one not necessary?
My only question is that if she were a smoke monster, how did she leave behind a body after MiB killed her which Jacob laid to rest?
This is explained in the video at 15:23.
Thank you for another high quality video! However, I'm not convinced by your debunking of alternative theories on Mother, the Black Smoke and the initial "conflict" in LOST, so I’d like to share my interpretation of this topic:
Mother is the Protector of the Island to whom the Black Smoke obeys originally (basically to frighten or to eliminate those who are considered as a "threat" to the Island). The Black Smoke is not the incarnation of "evil," but most and foremost, an extremely powerful and violent force that can crush "perceived ennemies" of all sorts. This force is not autonomous: it responds to the Protector's demands and could be seen as his/her very efficient "weapon." However, things change when Mother is killed and when Jacob's brother is thrown into the glowing cave. At this moment, the Black Smoke liberates itself from its initial function by absorbing Jacob's brother vital essence and by adopting his identity (however, most probably without being totally reducible to Jacob's twin's identity). From this precise moment, the Balance which existed on the Island is disrupted. The Protector of the Island (Jacob) cannot control the Black Smoke anymore; it's even worse than that: the Black Smoke becomes his enemy with opposite goals (it/he wants to kill Jacob and to leave the Island). This is why Jacob starts to bring new people to the Island: he wants them to find a way to stop the "new" Black Smoke, as it/he reinforces chaos on the Island.
When Desmond removes the cork and the Light in the Heart of the Island goes out, the extraordinary properties of the Island disappear. The Black Smoke becomes human (unknowingly to itself/himself, its particular form was always connected to the Light). Jack kills him and then restores the Light again. That's how the problem created by Jacob thousands of years ago is resolved. A new cycle begins with Hurley as the Protector of the Island. The Black Smoke reappears as an impersonal force where it originally belongs: in the Heart of the Island. Balance is reestablished. The Protector of the Island can summon the Black Smoke and use it, but knowing Hurley and his personality (his kindness and intrinsic non-violence) one can presume that he won't do that, as he will try to find more pacifistic ways to resolve conflict with the potential "threats" to the Island.
For me, this interpretation sounds more convincing, even though the theory you share in your video is pertinent and solid.
I don’t see much proof of this particular theory. If the smoke monster always existed and wasn’t really MiB’s disembodied consciousness then why does Jacob refer to it as having once been human? Why does he not make a distinction between the Man in Black and the smoke monster? He says “he” and “him”, not “it”. He says “I made *him* that way” - this isn’t an ambiguous statement. He is literally confirming what happened in ‘Across the Sea’. Is the implication of your theory that Jacob didn’t know the difference all this time? That for 2,000 years he has been operating under the wrong idea about what the smoke monster really was? Because all evidence is to the contrary since we see his elaborate plan to kill the MiB play out in season six, which suggests he understands what is going on with Smokey in a deeper way than anyone else.
I always find that this theory has to twist events and evidence to make them fit the narrative we see. Saying that the MiB going down into the cave of light somehow merged his essence with Smokey makes little sense because we know that Smokey has to scan a person for a considerable amount of time to absorb their memories. And we see that MiB is transformed almost instantaneously. So how exactly does this alleged “merging” work? Would it be the exact same process that I have described as happening to the MiB’s consciousness being uncoupled from his body?
And how does the black smoke go back to The Source after Fake Locke is killed? It’s a contradictory statement. You say that the black smoke is made mortal/human but then it is killed in its mortal body. So how can it suddenly go back to The Source? It’s dead! Literally the whole point of season six (and arguably the entire show) was to create a series of causal events that led to the Man in Black’s demise. When Jack re-corks the aperture of The Source, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the black smoke has returned to living beneath that hole with the light. I just don’t understand where that idea comes from at all.
Furthermore, saying that Smokey thought it really was MiB is a way of getting around the fact that Smokey talks and behaves exactly like MiB, and appears to complete strangers like Richard Alpert (almost two millennia later) as the Man in Black. Season six goes to a lot of trouble to explain to us that the smoke monster used to be human and was this particular guy. It reinforces this over and over again. And this theory tries to dismiss all of that.
So, it is safe to say that I not only reject this theory (with all due respect) but I actively dislike how it has to make up its own internal logic and ignore everything else in the show that goes against its hypothesis. I feel very strongly about this lol.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 First of all, thank you for your reply to my original comment. Let me clarify some points of my interpretation/theory by answering your questions. I won’t answer to each one of them, as I don’t want to be excessively long and heavy, but normally, the answers that I’ll give should provide enough information to tie up the loose ends and implicitly resolve your remaining questions that are not explicitly mentioned here:
"If the smoke monster always existed and wasn’t really MiB’s disembodied consciousness then why does Jacob refer to it as having once been human?"
- Jacob is taking about his brother in the scene you evoke, and not directly about the "thing" one calls the Black Smoke as such. Jacob simply insists on his own responsibility in changing/transforming his brother, who once was a mortal human, into a violent incontrollable force that cannot find peace. So, there is no contradiction: the Black Smoke existed before Jacob, but it was his anger that led him to turn his brother, a mortal like him, into a "monster," by unwillingly merging his identity/consciousness/soul with the mysterious and supernatural force residing in the Heart of the Island. Of course, Jacob had no idea of the terrible consequences that would come after his impulsive vengeful act.
"Why does he not make a distinction between the Man in Black and the smoke monster?"
- He doesn’t need to do a distinction in the specific context of his speech in "What They Died For" (which you refer to). As you noticed, the information he gives to Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer is very partial and brief, because he wants to focus on the aspects that seem the most crucial to him in this situation. He needs to explain to the remaining candidates what he thinks is their main task (to stop the current version of the Black Smoke that became too dangerous); he doesn’t have the time (and possibly doesn’t feel the need) to describe its complex nature and history.
"Is the implication of your theory that Jacob didn’t know the difference all this time?"
- No, it’s not implied in my theory (but it may be the case though). We cannot know to what extent Jacob understands the nature of the Black Smoke (and the Source itself, which, obviously, is even more complex and hard to grasp). What Jacob knows for sure is that his terrible act destroyed his brother’s humanity, by making him consumed by a "transcendent" force far beyond the reach of ordinary human understanding.
"Saying that the MiB going down into the cave of light somehow merged his essence with Smokey makes little sense (…). So how exactly does this alleged “merging” work?"
- As I said in my original comment, during Mother’s time as a Protector (and possibly before too, if we believe that she was not the first Protector), the Black Smoke served the function of a weapon against those who are perceived as a "threat" to the Island. That’s why Robert (and Danielle Rousseau many years later) affirm that it is a security system protecting the Island. Well, for me that’s exactly what the Black Smoke was originally. For instance, Mother summoned the Black Smoke to slaughter Claudia’s people, because she considered that it would be safer this way (or possibly for her own selfish reasons, but that’s another question). Originally, the Black Smoke didn’t have autonomy and it was controlled by the Protector. But when Jacob threw his brother into the glowing cave, the Black Smoke acquired an identity, a consciousness, a soul: the one of a very desperate, broken and furious man, hating those who were once the closest persons to him (Mother and Jacob) and wishing more than anything to leave the Island. That’s how the Black Smoke "liberated" itself from its initial function and gained a will (to leave the Island basically). That’s what Mother tried to warn Jacob about during the "passing of the torch": it’s extremely risky and dangerous for a human being to descend into the glowing cave, because that’s the place where the Black Smoke can absorb one’s identity / disembody one’s consciousness, through its privileged connection to the Source.
"And how does the black smoke go back to The Source after Fake Locke is killed?";
"So how can it suddenly go back to The Source? It’s dead!"
- When the cork is removed, all the extraordinary properties which make the Island miraculously special, unique and sacred are extinguished. Simultaneously with the disappearing of the Light, the Black Smoke is rendered powerless. Those disruptions start the process of the Island's collapsing/sinking. When Fake Locke is killed during the "system failure" of epic proportions (;)), the twisted, abnormal, chaotic and destructive iteration/version of the Black Smoke created during the beginning of "Jacob’s reign" thousands years ago is eliminated. When Jack re-corks the aperture of The Source and touches the stream of water, the extraordinary properties of the Island reemerge - the Light comes back, and with it, the Black Smoke, as a potentiality always existing within the Source. Thus, the unplugging of the cork, followed by the killing of Fake Locke and the re-plugging of the cork, constituted a "restart" or a "reload" of the Island's system and the reestablishment of its long LOST Balance. This is how Jacob's great error, which affected thousands of years of the Island's history, was corrected, allowing a new cycle to finally begin, with the return of the Black Smoke to its initial function, becoming again an ally of the Protector and not his/her enemy. And of course, the Black Smoke that returned to this state has nothing to do with The Man in Black's identity, as the remaining aspects of Jacob's twin's consciousness were finally "put to rest" through the killing of Fake Locke. More generally speaking, Black Smoke exists as long as the Source exists. Only if the Source is turned off can the Black Smoke be suppressed, but then, it would also mean the end of the Island, and quite possibly, the end of the whole world as we know it...
"Furthermore, saying that Smokey thought it really was MiB is a way of getting around the fact that Smokey talks and behaves exactly like MiB, and appears to complete strangers like Richard Alpert (almost two millennia later) as the Man in Black."
- As I said before, the Black Smoke gains an "autonomy" and a "personal will" through The Man in Black. Without Jacob’s brother fatal fall into the glowing cave, the Black Smoke would have remained an impersonal force. That’s why the appearance of The Man in Black is the most used: it is simply the form which is the most natural and organic to assume for interacting with other humans.
@@erawa2740 Wow, so much to cover there! Jacob literally says: *"You call him the monster. But I'm responsible for what happened to him. I made him that way."* This is pure disambiguation that requires no reading between the lines. He is telling us that the smoke monster is the Man in Black and vice versa. In direct, plain terminology. He is not separating the two entities or making any distinction between them. Because there is no distinction to be made. The contradiction in your interpretation of this scene still remains, regardless of you claiming otherwise. You are claiming that Jacob is saying something that he clearly isn't saying.
We also *can* know to what extent Jacob understands the light and the smoke monster. Watch my videos on both The Rules and The Candidates, as it is too complicated to sum up here, but by the time we meet Jacob in the statue in the S5 finale, he knows exactly what MiB/Smokey is, what needs to happen in order to kill him (Widmore is already on his way to the island with Desmond to remove the cork remember), and he also knows exactly what would happen if the light were to go out. Everyone would die and the world would end. Once again, he states this directly and without ambiguity.
Can I ask you what evidence is there to suggest that the smoke monster existed down in the cave without any autonomy and could be summoned by Mother? We see no such indications that this was the case. 'Across the Sea' is taking place pre-Egyptian period on the Island too, so Mother's time predates the temple and summoning chambers. I recommend you watch my video on The Egyptian period too, which further helps to solidify what was happening pre and post-cork.
Also, why and how does the black smoke merge with MiB? You never actually answered how you think that works. We know Smokey has to scan someone to absorb their memories. This is an established fact in the show that we see happen on several occasions. What you're saying doesn't make any sense in terms of what has been previously demonstrated. Are you saying that by MiB going into the light, this "attack dog" smoke monster somehow took on his memories and essence by osmosis without the need to scan him? This is what always makes me frustrated with this theory, because it has to go out of its way to try and explain why Smokey is so much like the MiB, otherwise the theory would contradict what we see happening in season six. Smokey is so much like MiB in your theory that it practically may as well be the MiB. You know why? Because it *IS* the MiB lol. All the in-show evidence is telling us this.
How does Mother know that descending into the cave would mean the black smoke would absorb the person's identity? This is another contradiction. If Jacob, as protector, doesn't fully understand what the smoke monster is or how the light works (going by what you were implying), surely neither would Mother understand these things either. How could she possibly know what would happen if someone went down into the cave and into the light? Think about it... The only way she could know what the consequences are is if she had gone down there herself. It happened to her first!
I'm not sure if you've watched all my videos on this channel yet, but I have gone to great lengths to explain that a smoke monster is raw disembodied consciousness rejected by the light. The Source in the cave is the source of all consciousness and life, but you can only re-join with it through natural means, aka death. The very foundations of the LOST mythology are related to consciousness and time, neither of which have anything to do with original darkness or original evil, or elemental smoke monsters that always existed in the cave.
Your theory, by default, rejects my whole thesis on the show. Which is fine, of course. You've got to embrace what makes the most satisfying sense to you. But you're basically arguing against everything I have posted on the channel to some extent, which makes it difficult to counter because there is simply too much for me to get into here. And my videos state all of these points far better than I can do in a single message. If you haven't watched all of the videos then I suggest you give them a go and perhaps that will help you to reconsider your theory. If you have already seen all the videos then I don't think there is anything I can say to convince you otherwise.
This sounds a lot like the relationship between Neo and Agent Smith in the Matrix sequels.
Oh for crying out loud, why does everyone hate on immortality? I’ll be happy to take up the never dying torch if none of you want it. Death is the end of existence so not dying is the best.
The idea of living forever might only appeal to those who are afraid of dying more than they are of outliving all those they have loved. There is a quote from the film 'The Life of David Gale' that I often think of when ruminating on the idea of life and death:
"We spend our whole life trying to stop death. Eating, inventing, loving, praying, fighting, killing. But what do we really know about death? Just that nobody comes back. Then there comes a point -- a moment -- in life when your mind outlives its desires, its obsessions. When your habits survive your dreams. And when your losses... Maybe death is a gift."
Gotta feel bad for the man in black, mother really destroyed his life
14:42 I noticed there is a crack in the earth above where the water travels in. You can see this crack in scenes where characters are inside the cave, and also notice the beam coming from the top of the cave in this one. It's possible someone or something made the cave afterwards.
Did it ever occur to you as being strange that the MIB, despite being a man of great intellect, does not seem to express any curiosity upon witnessing what mother has apparently just single-handedly done to his wheel chamber and village? He weeps for his destroyed hardwork, but doesnt at all seem to be fearfully in awe of what an old lady has apparently just done all by herself. It seems like he'd have some real questions for her about how she was able to do it that he'd want answers to before just blindly murdering her in cold blood as an act of revenge. It must all seem fairly impossible from his POV as the only resident man of science on the island..
I don't think her sudden appearances are evidence of being a smoke monster considering there's no mechanical sound preceeding her arrival, and many other characters have sudden, surprising appearances in the same way but are clearly not the smoke monster.
Why do you think Mother's knowledge of going in to the heart being worse than death is from first hand experience and not the intuitive knowledge a protector gets?
The sudden appearances of Mother are merely compounding evidence not the evidence in and of itself. It is only when we marry all of the evidence from the episode together that it paints a smoke monster-y picture. However, I would add to this that many sudden appearances of characters on the show *have* been related to the smoke monster, with some of those appearances often being ambiguous in nature (e.g. Emily Linus and Harper Stanhope), in that they could be actual ghosts or smoke monster apparitions, or even real living people. I made a video on this very subject going through all of them.
Yes, it's perfectly possible to assume that Mother's knowledge about entering the light being a fate worse than death is based upon protector intuition. That line on its own isn't enough to argue that she is a smoke monster. But when we look at all of the evidence laid out, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain away everything as protector-related powers. For instance, the total destruction and eradication of MiB's whole village. It is never remotely suggested that a protector has the power to kill multiple people like that with some kind telekinesis. If we had gotten a scene like that beforehand then I'd lean more towards it being a protector-ability, but protectors don't appear to have the capabilities to kill on that scale. However, we have seen multiple instances of the smoke monster doing exactly this. The Roman village's destruction is a mirror scene of the temple destruction that occurred several episodes prior. And it's intentional symmetry. Watch those scenes back-to-back. They are basically the same scene, minus MiB's angry grief.
To be more pointed on this issue, Lindelof and Cuse have heavily alluded to this interpretation as being their intention, which is just worth keeping in mind. From the commentary track for 'Across the Sea':
Damon Lindelof: It is worth mentioning the idea that Mother is the smoke monster at this point in the game. Because later we will see that...
Carlton Cuse: That is interesting.
Damon Lindelof: She has laid waste to the entire village. And what an interesting theory that is because one of the questions that keeps arising is: if Jacob's smoke monster was his brother, then who was the smoke monster before him? Or was the smoke monster actually created in this episode? Does good always need evil? And that is an excellent question to be asking.
They wanted to leave the ambiguity there for this to be debated, so I'm not saying everyone has to agree with this interpretation or that it's the only way to read the events of 'Across the Sea', but I do think it has an evidential basis both inside and outside of the show. And it makes sense thematically in terms of how Mother split her role between two twin brothers, each one becoming a different embodiment of her own duality. They definitely wanted us to have this debate in any case.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I'll check out your vid on sudden appearances. I know there are ghosts and the smoke monster appear suddenly, but if i recall so do some normal people like Kate at some points. I don't remember exactly who because I wasn't looking for that detail. Doing things normal people can do isn't evidence of super natural character, unless otherwise stated, as how fake Loche says he likes to feel the ground on his feet or however he says it. I'll check out your vid on the appearances and see what you think.
I've no doubt about her needing to be the smoke monster to overwhelm the whole village/fill in the well, and the comparison between that and the temple aftermath.
I appreciate your channel, being thorough in your work and I'm enjoying your videos. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, that's appreciated as well. I hope you have a great day.
what's weird is, back in time, the cork WASNT there...but the island wasn't falling apart. So why did the island start dying/sinking when the cork was taken out in the present?
That’s because “the ancient incident” had not happened yet, which destabilised the entire island. I explain how, why and when the cork was placed in my video on the ancient past, which you can watch here:
LOST Explained - The Theory of Everything: Part Two (Mother, Jacob, Man in Black & The Egyptians)
ua-cam.com/video/aB4kvRxN7Hc/v-deo.html
What is the ancient incident? Did I miss it in a previous video or is there not much known about it?
I explain the ancient incident in detail in the video that came previous to this one called “The Egyptians”.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Thanks you very much👍. I’ve enjoyed this series a lot.
The MiB's real mother was murdered and he was abducted by, lets face it the last person who should be near children - who pretended she was his mother while being the killer of his real mom. She then was incredibly toxic and played mind games with the two boys, lying to them about life off the island. She murdered the people the MiB found and was trying to make a normal life with them, then his own brother killed him turning him into something worse than death. Trauma - he was just a guy who was very damaged as a child by an adult and then was continually abused and controlled by her. I feel sorry for him.
Jacob was the heir of mother, were as the MIB was a spare.
Ok, but why wasn't Jack killed and turned into a smoke monster as well?!
Jack did not get turned into a smoke monster because the cork was in place when the light was turned back on. Only someone entering the open aperture of The Source can be transformed into a smoke monster. The ancient incident during the Egyptian era and their installation of the cork made it so that this could never happen again because in order to get to the light you need to uncork The Source, but by doing that you turn the light off. The Man in Black was the last of his kind.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Ok, thanks for answering!
Egypt lost would be epic
Imagine if tech support has a solution to fix the source. Try turning it off an on again.
The Black Smoke is not masquarading Jacob’s brother. The Smoke’s and MIN’s goals are congruent the each other.
The smoke monster IS Jacob’s brother.