After our discussions here and others I've had on other sites, I think there are three main candidates for Jacob's ghost. I'm currently revising some existing theories and working on another that's new, so I'm curious which scenario you all find the most plausible. Keep in mind that the theories linked were both posted BEFORE recent events and thus wrong on a lot of details. That said, feel free to offer any general suggestions for revision and improvement.
1) Jacob is the ghost of Magnus Hanso. Ben's special ability is to channel the Mind of Magnus...
2) Jacob is Alvar Hanso, whom Ben has imprisoned in some ghost-like state.
3) Jacob and Alvar are brothers and the descendants of Magnus Hanso. Alvar eventually left the Island but Jacob remained behind. Eventually, Alvar returned and established the Dharma Initiative to determine whether humanity could co-exist with special people like them, who are destined to take humanity's place as the dominant species on this planet. Jacob was killed in the Incident and now longs to wipe out humanity to preserve His people.
So what do you think? Which of these general explanations do you prefer? My current favorite is some combination of one and three, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
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15 comments:
My thought is:
I am confused and have a jumble of thoughts. :)
This is not a bad thing mind you.
I watched the movie The Sixth Sense for all of about 20 min and then leaned over to my husband and said " I think he's dead".
I do this 95% of the time I am watching a show or a movie.
My husband hates it. LOL
So for me to be befuddled is a good thing. I like it it keeps me interested and on my toes.
if i had to choose between these 3 i would say 1) Magnus Hanso
however, i supect jacob can shape-shift
http://synchromysticism.blogspot.com/
Jeez Louise!
I’ve figured it out.
The key to Season 3’s finale is Walt’s comic book: Green Lantern, Faster Friends #1
Alien X – a clairvoyant being with supernatural cognitive abilities – was imprisoned by the US military, but subsequently escaped to unleash havoc on his captors. Jacob is in a similar situation. Are we going to see Locke come to Jacob’s assistance and help him unleash the wrath of super-clairvoyancy on The Others? Is that why the programme can go on no longer than 48 episodes? Will it propel the Losties back into a time-loop a la Dezmond?
Hey Bigmouth, awesome article as always!
I may be way off base here, but I threw together an image of Locke and Jacob because I really think they have similar features. Perhaps Jacob is Locke from another time/dimension? Who knows.
Here's a link to the pic:
http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lockejacobbc1.jpg
This is a darker version to emphasize the similarities:
http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lockejacobdarkhk8.jpg
Nah...I don't think a tertiary character from the supplemental marketing game would necessitate all the secrecy. I mean only the online hardcore would "get it" while alienating most of the people that just know LOST from Wednesday evenings.
I think Jacob could be a brother of Alvar Hanso. I don't think it would be Magnus Hanso himself. My hunch is that Alvar was not born on the island, but maybe he has some surviving relatives who do.
Here's a question: Let's say Richard and his merry band of eyeliner-wearing Others are descended from the crew of the Black Rock. How do they have modern mannerisms and speech patterns? Are they smart enough to simply tap into that knowledge and assimilate it, or have they had an ongoing connection with the outside world and its culture?
-- Aaron
Me: LOL -- I did the same thing during Sixth Sense!
Syncromystic: Interesting! Could you say a bit more what you mean by shape shift? For example, do you think Jacob uses Smokey to assume various forms? Could He be what's possessing animals like Sawyer's boar, the Hurleybird, and the white dove? BTW, very cool blog!
Michael: That is an awesome theory! Unfortunately, Darlton just nixed it in the most recent podcast -- Jacob is not an alien like the one in Walt's comic. That said, I agree that Alien X's imprisonment provides in interesting analogy to Jacob's...
Adam: OK, I've been skeptical of these speculations that Terry O'Quinn was playing Jacob. But I have to admit, your image is the most persuasive comparison I've seen thus far. Could Locke be the reincarnation of Jacob? I've been wondering if that pic of the sheepdog in Jacob's cabin was a reference to Locke's story back in S1 about how his foster sister was reincarnated as a dog.
Katanga: Wait...which possibility are you referring to?
Aaron: Yes, that's a possibility that intrigues me too -- explains why he would be called Jacob instead of Magnus. I also like the Biblical parallel to Jacob and Esau, though I seem to recall Jacob being the one who fled his homeland. At any rate, Alvar may not have been born on the Island but Javi (man, I miss that guy) once suggested that the Island had been a Hanso family secret for centuries. That suggests to me that Alvar had at least visited the Island before setting up Dharma with the DeGroots.
You ask a great question regarding Richard Alpert (Albertus?) and the Others' modern mannerisms. I noticed that Richard had much longer hair and raggedy clothes but spoke perfect modern English when he first met Ben. I confess I'm perplexed, unless Alvar taught them these things himself before Dharma's arrival on the Island. Again, I can't shake the sense that the real purpose of the Initiative was to see if humans could live in "harmony" with the Island's existing inhabitants.
All of the above. Anyone with the last name "Hanso".
I seem to recall Cuse stating The Lost Experience was completely tangential and not part of the main storyline. Having Jacob turn out to be one of these characters would be sort of anti-climactic to the general viewing audience.
"Oh...the mysteriously shrouded Jacob is some old guy I've never seen before...unless I played the internet game then I would be intimately familiar with all this backstory!" That would be frustrating.
Plus, having to play internet games, read comics, or watch animes to propel the story is a big fat cheat. It's lazy storytelling.
I'm thinking Jacob will either be a totally new character...or (most likely) an iteration of a character we know and love...hence all the subterfuge.
Katanga, you make a good point about "Lost Experience," but I think you may go too far. Alvar Hanso and the Hanso Foundation, though they haven't been introdoced to the show yet, are key players in the overall mythology. So as the show broadens and we zoom out to see the worldwide implications of what's happening on the island, it would not surprise me for someone like Hanso to show up.
Also, Magnus Hanso is bound to figure in somewhere. Assuming survivors of Hanso's ship are still around, his family legacy may yet figure into this.
-- A
Katanga: Not quite. Here's what Damon said:
"I would say in terms of all the… background that we did, in terms of the Valenzetti equation and explaining the formation of the Hanso Foundation and doing the other films…we’d consider that stuff canon to the show. Where there’d have to be wiggle room is the Rachel Blake story where she’s in the real world, in the outside world as we define it, the show Lost might be defined in an entirely different outside world so we can’t vouch for the overall fit ability and veracity of everything that Rachel was doing. But we can say that all the factoids that she was uncovering were vetted, in fact many of them were written by us personally so they are canon."
Sorry to disappoint you, but I fear the Hanso family is fair game! But don't worry -- TLE provided very little information re Magnus Hanso beyond that he was captain of the Black Rock, disappeared at the end of the 19th century, and is the grandfather of Alvar Hanso. Personally, I'd feel even more ripped off if, after taking the time to familiarize myself with the information, it all turned out to be completely irrelevant to the show. Besides, they took pains to introduce the Black Rock in S1 -- would seem silly if it had no further significance to the story.
BTW, they've already said Jacob is not a character we've met on the show. Also, are you a fan of Heroes? I think the ARG is supposed to supplement Lost the way the on-line comic supplements Heroes. It's not required reading -- all info you need to understand what's happening is contained in the show. But for fans who want to delve deeper, it's an added resource, not unlike the websites for Memento and Donnie Darko.
Bigmouth: You omitted some details from that interview. Buddy.tv: One thing that’s a bit of controversy in the fan community is whether or not any of the information from The Lost Experience game is actually a factor in the universe of the show. Is that something you could clear up for us?
Carlton Cuse says the internet was a way to reveal information regarding Lost
Carlton Cuse says the internet was a way to reveal information regarding Lost
Carlton Cuse: I think that for us, yeah, I mean, all of Alvar Hanso and his relationship with funding the DHARMA Initiative is part of the mythology. The details of the Hanso Foundation’s demise…it’s tangential to the show but it’s not unrelated to the show. We sort of felt like the Internet Experience was a way for us to get out mythologies that we would never get to I wain the show. I mean, because this is mythology that doesn’t have an effect on the character’s lives or existence on the island. We created it for purposes of understanding the world of the show but it was something that was always going to be sort of below the water, sort of the iceberg metaphor, and the Internet Experience sort of gave us a chance to reveal it.
And:
BuddyTV: Is there going to be another Lost Experience at some point? Will those characters be revisited?
Carlton Cuse: I don’t think those characters would be revisited.
I don't want to seem like I'm tearing down your theories for fun or anything, man. I enjoy your writing!
That said, we're more or less past the half-way point of the series. I think the creators would have to be Stretch Armstrong to make those connections NOW. I think the Lost Experience is back-backstory. Look at the resume of the guy that played Hanso. Not Ready For Prime Time, I'd say.
Keep digging.
I have to agree with Adam...it looks like Locke in a wig with some facial hair or slight changes....
BM -- Back to the 'lage stat man!
They're superimposed across opposite worlds!
Light = Dark
Trench = Mountain Top (up is down)
Sound is reversed
Time is going backward
I need your help!
Katanga: LOL -- your constructive criticism is always welcome. And your point is well taken about the rest of the interview, though I don't think the dialogue you emphasized is key. IMO, the "those characters" reference is to Rachel Blake and Thomas Mittelwerk -- maybe old Alvar, too.
To me, the tougher part is Cuse's statement that "this is mythology that doesn’t have an effect on the character’s lives or existence on the island." I believe he's referring to the Numbers and Valenzetti there, but I can definitely see what you're saying. Still, the Black Rock and Magnus Hanso have both been referenced on the show, so I believe they remain fair game. I still think it's more likely than not that Jacob is at least related to Magnus, Alvar, or both.
Chris: Yes, that seems to be a popular speculation and Adam makes a persuasive case with the screencap. What's your preferred explanation for this scenario?
Micah: LOL! In the immortal words of Arnie, I'll be back...
Alright...
I've got it:
The numbers (polar coords) and the Others included.
And still, no one seems to get it.
Please grace the updated "Get LOST" thread when you have a chance.
Cheers!
Mike
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