Horace's Cabin in the Sky

It was pretty obvious to me that the latest episode, "Cabin Fever," gave us our first look at Jacob. Otherwise known as Horace the Mathematician.

The most obvious clue being that he said he was building his own cabin. Slightly less obvious being that Jacob, in an earlier episode, let out a creepy plea to John Locke to "HELP MEEEE." Now his ghost is showing Locke a map, perhaps so John can unearth the truth about his death and put him to rest. Horace seems to be in some type of purgatory, having to chop down the same tree for eternity. Which is another reason he would ask for John's help.

But who is Horace? My theory on Jacob/Horace is that he is actually Horus - the ancient Egyptian deity. Very recently we saw hieroglyphics on a door in my Ben's home. This room may have previously belonged to Horace. Coincidentally, while pondering Jacob/Horace this morning, I got an email from an atheist mailing list with the following text:

The Basis for the Story of Jesus Christ
HORUS an Egypician god 3000 BC -- the holy ghost impregnates a virgin and a child-god is born on 25 Dec. this child is adorned by 3 kings who followed the star of the east (Sirus) , this child prodigy and teacher at age 12, baptized at age 30 began a ministry and traveled with 12 disciples and preformed miracles of walking on water and heeling the sick. After betrayal was crucified, buried for three days and resurrected. Horus was in conflict with Set, sun vs. dark, good vs. evil. as in "sunset". Horus as in "hour".

Maybe I'm missing the big picture, but what struck me about this was the "sun vs. dark, good vs. evil" bit. Lost expert, Jay Wood, made an excellent point in his book that the opposing forces of light/dark, black/white and good/evil are very important in Lost.

Wikipedia says that Horus was known as the god of the sky, his name meaning, "he who is above." It was said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other -- did you just see a picture in your head of Locke holding the black and white backgammon pieces to his eyes? Horus was represented by a man with a hawk's head. Could Jacob/Horace also be the Hurley bird?

Now that we know Jacob is actually the ancient Egyptian god of the sky, we know where the island is: in the sky. A picture on the cover of the comic book Richard Alpert shows a young John Locke, in fact, contains a picture of a floating island. (Shout out to Mike for spotting this and positing the first floating island theory I've heard).

It may not always be in the sky, but it can rise up and float around, and I think that's what we're going to see next week. If I had to guess, I would say it will look much like Morla rising from the swamps of despair in the Neverending Story. But of course, every devoted fan would let out a horrified scream if they saw a magnificent CG shot next week of the island pulling up roots and floating off to a new location (as little Australian children look and say "mummy, what's that?"). That will be happening in my imagination, though.

This image also brings up other literary references, most notably, Gulliver's Travels, where Swift describes the rebellion of the surface city of Lindalino against the flying island of Laputa. The island could pick up and fly around to defend itself.

Seeing this picture of Morla brings up another theory: maybe the smoke monster actually IS the island. Imagine Morla here, with holes in her shell from which she could send out vicious columns of smoke. Next week, we could see the island rise, and the face of the black smoke monster has been beneath the water the entire time. And even further down, he wiggles his four toes.

Another tidbit: Horace's jumper says he's a mathematician. Who's on record for having the first written numbers? You guessed it, the Egyptians. Remember too when we first saw hieroglyphics-- when nobody pushed the button. Perhaps programmed by Horace?

Flight 815: Widmore's Power Play

After weeks spent in my own homemade backyard sweat lodge pondering the mysteries of Lost, I have emerged with a cornucopia of new theories.

First among them is this: Flight 815 was an invasion orchestrated by Charles Widmore in an attempt to take back The Island from Ben Linus as the two continue their real-world game of Risk.

Last week's episode revealed Widmore has been trying to find The Island. We have proof he has sent: a hot-air balloon (it had a Widmore Corporation logo on it), a sailboat (read on), and most recently, a freighter.

But between the sailboat and the freighter, Widmore decided to use a commercial 777 to find the island and recapture it from Ben. Per the rules of their game, Widmore hand-picked his chess pieces: the Lostaways who would be on that flight.

With his limitless connections in business and government, Widmore first swaps out the pilot. He replaces freightee Frank with Seth Norris. Then he calls in favors, or directly contracts with the agents (on the left) to get the following Lostaways (on the right) on that flight:

Mr. Paik - Sun, Jin
Bryan - Shannon, Boone
Libby - Hurley (she had previously recruited Desmond for him)
Ray Mullen - Kate
Robbie Hewitt - Sayid
Brian Porter - Michael, Walt
Abaddon, Travel Agent - John Locke

When he decided on these people or how, I'm not sure. But he must have thought each of them pose a threat to Ben in a specific way. Libby, who was maybe Widmore's executive assistant, joins the flight to watch and report back to Widmore. In describing the mission to her, he most likely left out the part about how the plane will actually arrive on the island - by Desmond pulling it out of the sky when triggered.

That's the sailboat I mentioned. Libby gave Desmond a sailboat so he could join Widmore's agent Kelvin Inman who was already there. (The fact that Widmore controlled the Swan station explains why Ben didn't know Desmond or the station was there.)

Desmond crashes the plane on Sept. 22, 2004 and Widmore's army has arrived. Ben does not seem at all surprised when a plane falls out of the sky -- because he knows about Widmore's hot-air balloon and other attempts at reaching the island. He quickly sends spies and Smoky.

But let's back up a bit. Ben isn't surprised because he knew that plane was coming. In fact, unbeknownst to Widmore, he had put his own pawns on it.

In finding out about Widmore's plans for 815 (of course he found out - he's Ben!), Ben scrambles to get people on the plane. People who will fight for the island. People who can be touched by the island, or who have a connection to it already.

Ben's counter-force is: Jack, Sawyer, Anna Lucia, Claire (and Aaron), Eko, Rose and Bernard. Many of whom are recruited by two of The Island's agents: Christian Shepard and Richard Malkin. Christian Shepard's connection with Jacob (the Island incarnate) is obvious: we've seen him in the cabin and he's said he speaks for Jacob. Malkin's connection is a little less obvious. But when he conned Claire into giving up her baby to a couple in Los Angeles, he said they were "good people." Ben has frequently referred to his side as "the good guys."

A word about Locke: Why did I put him on Widmore's side and not Ben's? When we saw Richard Alpert following him throughout his childhood? The answer: Locke failed the test. I'm guessing a young Ben Linus was also tested at the same age. Only he passed, and was brought to The Island to be the next leader. Widmore discovered who Ben's original competition was -- and that he would make the perfect king piece to checkmate Ben.