For thousands of years, man has come across this mysterious island where strange occurrences happen that cannot be explained.
Beginning of timeline can be traced back to Egyptian times.
Egyptians arrive at some point, realize the island has "special" properties. Some good (healing), some bad (infertility). So the Egyptians attempt to discover or understand as best they can using their knowledge up to that point.
For example, the statue was one of the Tawaret, the goddess of childbirth and fertility.
And their attempts to use this inexplicable power source that was on the island led to the realization that they could not use or release it, so they built the "cork" we see in the finale to contain it.
Fast forward to Pregnant woman landing on island after shipwreck and meeting "mother". Based on the fact that "mother" is speaking Latin, we can assume we're looking at some point during the Roman empire rule. She is a protector and that is passed on the job to Jacob.
Now, before I move on, let me say that I think the producers of the show purposefully left many things ambiguous and vague without stumbling too much into religious territory. They left these ideas open to interpretation, evidenced by the glass window behind Christian Shepard during the final scene. It had signs of a few different religions. It applies to all, but we're not speaking of one in particular.
I believe that the source of power on the island is inexplicable and deals with the afterlife, paranormal and the higher powers we as humans cannot comprehend. Which is why humans have spent thousands of years trying to understand it, without success. This also explains why characters cannot explain it either (Jacob's mom, Jacob, Albert, Farraday).
What the show has taught us is that the island is special because it has very powerful pockets of energy. It's location makes it perfect for holding these pockets. This energy can be explained how YOU the viewer sees fit. It is both highly powerful electro magnetic energy and it's also something else entirely. It heals and mystifies. It turns men evil and good. It is faith vs science (one of the shows main themes throughout).
Now, let's get back to Jacob and the man in black. The man in black was struggling with his curiosity to leave and see what the world has to offer. But Jacob was ok with staying and following the rules. Their mother was afraid of them being corrupted by man, who come to the island and try to tap into this energy.
Man cannot comprehend it nor should they, it should be kept from them for their own good. It can also be interpreted as man must be kept from this or else they can unleash evil by putting out the light. The protector of the island sees fit as to how to protect it, but the one main goal is constant throughout. Never let the light be released. Once chosen as the protector, he/she can use the power given to them by the island to be somewhat "magical".
Man in black becomes obsessed with the idea of using the energy and leaving the island. So much so, he kills the woman who raised him. The once balanced struggle of good and evil inside of him, has now changed. The obsession is making him evil. Fast forward to Jacob throwing the man in black into the cavern. Since he can't be killed according to the rules, he is turned into a being of evil (smoke monster) who can only take form of the dead. His goodness is wiped away, replaced by the evil he allowed to corrupt him. He remains nameless, because you as the VIEWER can call him the devil, or whatever else you like.
Jacob must now make sure man in black never reaches the light again.
Richard and the ship crash on island. Rousseau crashes on island. Desmond crashes on island. People are still crashing on the island, and man in black tries to corrupt them to use for his own benefit.
Fast forward to 1970's. Dharma Initiative arrives and begins building stations all around the island. They attempt to study the energy scientifically. According to an old video that came out after season 2, the DI was created to study and try to attempt to change the core values of the Valenzetti equation by science alone.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-eHEYswgK8[/ame]
They failed because the core values weren't environmental or scientific. They referred to the candidates. What the DI understood to be core values of the Valenzetti equation was nothing more than names Jacob, who was unaware of such an equation to begin with. He had other names with numbers next to them, but they were crossed off as candidates, so only the 6 remained - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Valenzetti correctly determined the correct numbers, but he was unaware it was the Losties themselves.
The Losties hold the key to saving the world by stopping Man in black (Locke). But, as we were told by Farraday during season 5, what we didn't realize was that the numbers are fixed, but it's the humans who are the variables. In other words, Fate vs Free Will.
The island is a place that is close to the afterlife/paranormal/etc. That's why we hear voices who are the dead who can't move on. It's so close to being a place of timelessness, which Farraday and his team show by launching that test rocket which ends up landing with 8 minutes missing or so during season 4. So that's why we also get the inexplicable time skips. Being on the island too long, and you lose your sense of time/space (like Desmond did in the episode "The Constant").
In the end, the flash sideways were merely a world where they needed to find each other again. Reason being that they all have died at different times.
"Some have died before you, some long after." - Christian Shepard
Hurley was already done with his job as the island protector. We're not sure how much time has passed, but it doesn't matter. The world we are in now is one of no time and no place. That's why hurley says to Ben, "You were a great number 2."
The producers have stated throughout the entire series run, that this show was always about the characters. Their relationships have always been the main focus. It's about how man deals with a notion of higher power, and inexplicable forces. It's about they deal with science vs religion, fate and freewill, good vs evil. And how we as an audience grow to love them and care about what happens to them. It's why we can name all of them by face, because they made sure we do.
The end...
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