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what a great fkn episode.. but i'm still very confused..lol

Is it hell or is it not? So in order for MIB to leave, jacob must be killed, but he can't leave if there is a replacement for Jacob either. Also, if he leaves, everyone will go to hell.... soooo confused.

Correct me of I'm wrong, but last season when people traveled through time, didn't Richard meet up with them? That was the same time they seen the statue intatct.

Is this a lost mishap, or did I miss something?

Or was one of those experiences traveling through time way before Richard even got there?

The first ten minutes of this was really good.. than I began to think this flashback is taking way too long.. just about the half way point I started enjoying seeing his character develop from so many years ago, and wondered how he got his powers.

The ending to this episode = EPIC! I now understand so much more, and this show is definitely sucking me in and making me love it more and more each week.

Correct me of I'm wrong, but last season when people traveled through time, didn't Richard meet up with them? That was the same time they seen the statue intatct.

Is this a lost mishap, or did I miss something?

Or was one of those experiences traveling through time way before Richard even got there?

I think it was before he got there. They were jumping all over and I don't think they saw Richard during that one.

So what's the deal with Isabella's ghost talking to Hugo. Previously when we've seen dead people on the island it's been attributed to the work of MiB or Jacob. Was it really Isabella or Jacob talking to Hugo as Isabella to keep Richard from turning to FLocke?

So what's the deal with Isabella's ghost talking to Hugo. Previously when we've seen dead people on the island it's been attributed to the work of MiB or Jacob. Was it really Isabella or Jacob talking to Hugo as Isabella to keep Richard from turning to FLocke?

I think it was really Isabella, we have seen Hugo talk to dead people off the island, whats to stop him from talking to them on the island? He also semi-regularly talks to Jacob who is supposedly "dead", on the island.

I think it was really Isabella, we have seen Hugo talk to dead people off the island, whats to stop him from talking to them on the island? He also semi-regularly talks to Jacob who is supposedly "dead", on the island.

Maybe all the dead people really are dead people and like the living people on the island they choose sides with MiB or Jacob. The only exception of course being Flocke taking Locke's form for whatever reason. Which leads me to wonder if we'll see a Locke ghost on the island at some point. Although makes me wonder about the Isabella in the past he saw on the ship. Was it MiB that temporarily took that form or was it her ghost convinced by MiB?

sooo

the island is what keeps the black smoke from getting out

the black smoke can't leave as long as jacob is alive

the list of candidates is a replacement list for jacob

because jacob is "stuck" with this job, he summons people to the island for some kind of social studies experiment to kill time?

...

the "loophole" is killing jacob before the list can be narrowed down to the last candidate?

because jacob is "stuck" with this job, he summons people to the island for some kind of social studies experiment to kill time?

Maybe before Ricardo came a long but it seems he's found a purpose for bringing people to the island since then. He didn't know who Richard was when he first arrived. I wonder how the lighthouse came to be but I'm guessing we may never find that out.

Now that's what this season is supposed to deliver! A fantastic episode. So much meat to chew on.

I can't help but wonder: in the other timeline, is the man in black free or permanently trapped with the island being underwater? Jacob said the island was like the cork keeping evil out. How the island got underwater is a big mystery, but I think even bigger is the answer to my first question. The answer could weight heavily on the outcome of the other timeline if it's the latter, assuming we see any finality in that timeline.

It's funny how Jacob uses the wine analogy to describe the evil that MiB would spread yet he and Richard are sitting there having a drink from it and Jacob brings all these people to the island which causes all that death and destruction. Then there's Richard who acts as the voice for Jacob through all the Others/Dharma conflict.

I think Smokey is free in the other timeline. Jacob says the island is the cork so maybe the breaking of the wine bottle was sort of akin to the destruction/sinking of the island. If MiB destroys the island then he's free and everybody on it dies (goes to hell?).

Something else that came to mind is that MiB is now stuck in Locke form and Smokey form. Maybe the magnetic anomaly is keeping the Smokey entity bound to the island somehow. Now that MiB is bound to a physical form (because he killed Jacob?) again he is able to leave the island.

Re: Ab Aeterno (Episode 9)

You're in for a super treat this episode I tell you this!

I absolutely loved this episode.

It was an amazing piece of storytelling and acting. It's 3am and I was wide awake wondering if this was actually LOST I was watching because I've not seen this level of presentation in LOST for a long time now. This is what it's all about and totally makes up for the slower mid series build-up.

As someone already mentions (on tv.com), it's clear now what the Island is most likely all about, a game between two gods, one (Jacob) trying to stop the other from damaging the world - or at least it seems that way. I won't spoilt the episode but it truly is absolutely amazing. I thought the Desmond and Penny story (and its continuation later on) was a nice touch to the series but this is something else.

Many questions answered about a lot of things and a new found respect for actor Nestor Carbonell playing Richard, such a good actor.

Next week can not come sooner...

I concur with those saying 6.9 is the best (or at least one of the best) episodes of Season 6 so far....I feel none of the other episodes have really answered many questions, or have opened up more questions then they answered, whereas this episode taught us basically who Richard is, how he got to the island, why he doesn't age, and a bit about MiB/Jacob and the island itself.

The only thing I found somewhat off (just thought of it actually). Back when Richard said he cannot kill himself no matter what he tries, he said if someone else lit the dynamite (in this case, Jack) then it would go off and he would finally die. BUT, his wish to Jacob was "I never want to die", or along those lines at least. That means either A) The dynamite did not go off because Richard cannot die, no matter who attempts to kill him or B) The dynamite did not go off because Jack was touched by Jacob (in much the same was as he touched many others), and it didn't go off because Jack stayed there with Richard.

I am thinking that Richard simply cannot die, which is why the dynamite did not go off, which means if Richard left Jack after he lit the dynamite, Jack would have been blown to bits. :P

Anyone else have any thoughts on the above? It is possible that both of the above (A and B) are true as well, but it makes you think a little bit (at least, I hope it does).

Great episode but it confused me quite a bit.

Am I wrong in remembering the statue was perfectly fine in the 70's time line from last season? I remember speculating/reading about the statue possibly being destroyed during that time, which is why the children could no longer be born on the island.

Now we find out it was the black rock that destroyed it. Unless I'm missing something....

Great episode but it confused me quite a bit.

Am I wrong in remembering the statue was perfectly fine in the 70's time line from last season? I remember speculating/reading about the statue possibly being destroyed during that time, which is why the children could no longer be born on the island.

Now we find out it was the black rock that destroyed it. Unless I'm missing something....

It got destoryed in 1887 and has never been around since, at one point when our losties were jumping through time we saw the statue which means they jumped to a pre-1887 time and then back again before finally setting into 1970's when locke turned the donkey wheel.

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