Let me begin with a translation (kindly provided by Chris Jones<\/a>) of the answer to the question\/riddle \u201cWhat lies in the shadow of the statue?\u201d The answer was spoken by Richard Alpert and is \u201cIlle qui nos omnes servabit\u201d. We all heard that, but those of us who never studied Latin, or didn\u2019t catch it, were still left wondering. And so here\u2019s the translation<\/a>: \u201cHe who will protect us all.\u201d<\/p>\n But let\u2019s back up a bit. The episode began in the shadow of the statue, as it were, just as the Black Rock was drawing near to the island. There on the shore we see Jacob wearing white, speaking to another man wearing black \u2013 returning us to the duality of two sides, dark and light, that John Locke spoke of at the beginning of the first season, explaining both Backgammon and the show\u2019s underlying mythology. Whether the background is more Zoroastrian<\/a> (two eternal opposing powers) or Mormon (two siblings, both sons of God, in conflict) we\u2019ve yet to discover. But I will say this: even though the white hats\/shirt vs. black hats\/shirt symbolism seems straightforward, that very simplicity leaves me suspicious. As Frank Lapidus said in the episode, those who find they need to emphasize their status as \u201cthe good guys\u201d are rarely the good guys. And so, for all Jacob\u2019s gentleness, I can\u2019t help but wonder if there isn\u2019t greater complexity to the show\u2019s mythology than \u201clight vs. darkness\u201d might initially suggest.<\/p>\n His weaving is a metaphor. He has apparently been trying to persuade the other man on the island that he is wrong for some time, bringing people to the island who inevitably follow the same path of conflict and destruction. And so Jacob goes out into the world and begins weaving together the lives of various characters we have come to know and love. But to what end? Presumably convinced that this time he can demonstrate what he has failed to in the past. We also learn at the start of the episode that Jacob\u2019s interlocutor wants to kill Jacob, and is looking for a loophole. By the end of the episode, in what may be the most shocking moment on LOST so far, he seems to have found it. The \u201crules\u201d of the \u201cgame\u201d they are playing still need to be fully unveiled. Might it be that here we have two opposing forces playing a game, with humanity as the playing pieces?<\/p>\n Tonight we also learned what was in Ilana\u2019s box, and that was the \u201cmost shocking moment\u201d ever on LOST that I mentioned earlier. In the box was the body of John Locke, which had never left the cargo hold of the plane. Jacob\u2019s opponent was impersonating him this whole time. Here too we find a complication of the show\u2019s use of religious imagery. It was shocking to discover that the apparent resurrection was a counterfeit. And there was still more religious imagery from the Bible, not only as Ben said that \u201cJohn\u201d was ushered into Jacob\u2019s presence like Moses, but also as Ilana\u2019s group carried their box on poles in a manner reminiscent of the ark of the covenant. The idea that God (or Jacob) is weaving the details of our lives towards a greater purpose is one that many today resonate with, but here too we must be wary of assuming we know who the \u201cgood guys\u201d are.<\/p>\n We also discovered that whoever Ilana and company were looking for in the cabin, he wasn\u2019t there and hadn\u2019t been for a long time. They further state that someone else had been using it. Was it Christian Shepherd? Or someone impersonating him? Those are but a few of the questions we were left with after tonight\u2019s episode. The most obvious question is what the results of the detonation of the bomb will be. But also unanswered is what happens now that Jacob was stabbed and burned, what the significance of the ring of ash around the cabin was, and the fact that Ilana\u2019s group found it had been broken, and what Jacob\u2019s (final?) words were (it sounded like he said \u201cKarnak<\/a>\u201d before adding \u201cThey\u2019re coming\u201d), and what they meant. Also an important question is the relationship between Jacob\u2019s counterpart and the smoke monster. Since the smoke monster takes varied forms, and told Ben to do whatever Locke tells him to, my guess is that perhaps the \u201cother man\u201d at the start of the episode is<\/em> the smoke monster. Notice how the monster doesn\u2019t come to Ben until Locke is out of sight.<\/p>\n The episode ended with a negative, as it were, of the familiar logo: black on white rather than vice versa. Has the polarity between the two opposing forces changes as a result of what has happened so far? We\u2019ll find out, presumably, in 2010. In the mean time, I will soon begin blogging my way through the recent book Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its Reasons<\/a> Let me say it from the outset: this post will discuss last night\u2019s episode, the finale of the penultimate season of LOST. If you don\u2019t want to learn what happens in that episode just yet, or you don\u2019t want answers to some of the questions viewers of that episode were left with, then read no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_BtqUSG7RCA0\/SgwtW4zSaQI\/AAAAAAAAAdc\/g-p5jA3Nlf0\/s400\/Jacob%27s+tapestry.jpg\")
<\/a>Jacob, at the start of the episode, is weaving. There are heiroglyphics on the tapestry that I can\u2019t help with, but there was also Greek writing. The top line<\/a> is a quote<\/a> from<\/a> the<\/a> Odyssey<\/a>: \u201cSoi de theoi tosa doien osa fresi sesi menoinas\u201d: \u201cAnd for thyself, may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires\u201d. The bottom<\/a> line says \u201ctheoi de toi olbia doien\u201d: \u201cMay the gods give thee blessings\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1405163151\")
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