ABC's "Lost"

[I love Lyta]

Funny coincidence that smokey said the island is hell and in the series Supernatural the guy playing Jacob is the devil while the guy playing the orginal human form of smokey is the horseman War.

[Jonas]

I have to say that I thought the last few episodes were excellent. Maybe this will work out after all.

(And I'll be arrogant enough to link to this article I wrote about the matter, shortly after seeing "Sundown". They haven't disappointed me since.)

[I love Lyta]

they did know what the ending was going to be from the get-go

They did?! I wasn't so sure about that...

[NotSoWize]

I really hope they're going to pull a real good one at the end. I'd hate to having looked forward to the conclusion and it then being totally lame.

I'm not too worried about this. While the Lost writer's did not have as strong a storyline from start to finish as JMS did for B5, they did know what the ending was going to be from the get-go. I will very surprised (and disappointed) if the final episodes of Lost are not extremely good television.

[I love Lyta]

I don't really think they'd do so clumsily literal a reprise

I'm not saying that they picture Jacob and Smokey as Vorlon and Shadow on purpose. It's just that the comparison springs to mind somehow.
But to be honest, so would do a "God"/Satan analogy or an Osiris/Seth analogy or what have you.
I really hope they're going to pull a real good one at the end. I'd hate to having looked forward to the conclusion and it then being totally lame.

[Belbo]

Get the hell off my island!

I hadn't really thought of Jacob/Anti-Jacob as Vorlons/Shadows, but that is a pretty decent comparison. We'll have to see if it holds up.

Two thoughts

1) The seriously entertaining "Stu Radzinsky" character last season (not to mention the use of the alias "Jankowsky" when casting him) strongly suggests that the writers have more than a passing familiarity with B5. "The Incident" is on his head!

2) I don't really think they'd do so clumsily literal a reprise, certainly not with all the other possibilities they've set up. Though if JS's son David's mom turns out to be Rousseau, who knows?

Seriously, though, does it really matter? The writers have played us before (and pulling off the Locke fakeout last season is little short of a miracle in the internet age).

In any case, I'm sure loving where Lost looks like it's heading. Right now we're setting up for the big showdown. Should be fun . .

Amen to that.

[NotSoWize]

Get the hell off my island!

I hadn't really thought of Jacob/Anti-Jacob as Vorlons/Shadows, but that is a pretty decent comparison. We'll have to see if it holds up. In any case, I'm sure loving where Lost looks like it's heading. Right now we're setting up for the big showdown. Should be fun . . .

[I love Lyta]

The thing with Jacob and Smokey get's more n more Vorlon-Shadowesque by the week.
Jacob (Vorlon) asking for obedience and sacrifice while smokey (Shadow) promises insight, development and freedom of will. And both of them are recruiting candidates to prove their point/further their cause/fight their battles for them.

[vakie]

maybe the present Locke is smokey the monster. In the past episodes, dead people have appeared, or just people who weren't on the island, like Eko's brother Yemi, and Walt, and producers later confirmed they were in fact manifestations of the monster. So perhaps it has now taken the form of Locke.. and it was also the guy talking to Jacob at the beginning?

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

[I love Lyta]

Okay, I stand corrected.
Have to admit that now I'm much more eager to see how things will develop in season 6 than I was during the last couple of weeks.

[vakie]

It turns out it's not Sobek either, even though I thought the head resembled a crocodile as well. In the official recap on the ABC site, the statue is named as Taweret:

"And as the camera pulls back, we see what we've been waiting to see since we first glimpsed that four-toed foot over three years ago... the towering, majestic statue of the Egyptian goddess Taweret. And we clearly know we're a long time ago, so let's get the finale of season five started --"

Her name means (one) who is great. When paired with another deity, she became the demon-wife of Apep, the original god of evil. Since Apep was viewed as residing below the horizon, and only present at night, evil during the day then was envisaged as being a result of Taweret's maleficence.

Taweret was depicted as a composite of all the things the Egyptians feared, the major part of her being hippopotamus, since this is what the constellation most resembled, with the arms and legs of a lioness, and with the back of a crocodile. On occasion, later, rather than having a crocodile back, she was seen as having a separate, small crocodile resting on her back, which was thus interpreted as Sobek, the crocodile-god, and said to be her consort.

...

As a protector, she often was shown with one arm resting on the sa symbol, which symbolized protection, and on occasion she carried an ankh, the symbol of life, or a knife, which would be used to threaten evil spirits.

As such a protector, Taweret also was given titles reflecting a more positive nature, including Opet (also spelt Ipet, Apet, and Ipy), meaning harem, and Reret (also spelt Rert, Reret, seen as the offspring of Nut)

As the hippopotamus was associated with the Nile, these more positive ideas of Taweret allowed her to be seen as a goddess of the annual flooding of the Nile and the bountiful harvest that it brought. Ultimately, although only a household deity, since she was still considered the consort of Apep, Taweret was seen as one who protected against evil by restraining it.

...

In the Book of the Dead Taweret, the 'Lady of Magical Protection', was seen as a goddess who guided the dead into the afterlife. As with her double nature of protector and guardian, she was also a guard to the mountains of the west where the deceased entered the land of the dead. Many of the deities relating to birth also appear in the underworld to help with the rebirth of the souls into their life after death.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/taweret.htm

[I love Lyta]

Yeah, I read that religion part of the lostpedia in which the references to the different religions throughout the show are listed and described.

One thing I can say with almost certainty is that the statue is one of Sobek.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobek

Some people have speculated that it could be Seth. But it isn't.

[vakie]

Well, it's not all Egyptian, there have been references to various religions, ideologies and cultures. I think they're trying to throw us off by putting in everything they can think of.

The interesting Egyptian symbols I saw were the Eye of Horus on Jacob's tapestry and the Ankh symbols the statue was holding, in a typical Egyptian god pose. But what God is the statue representing? If it's Anubis, I think it's missing the jackal ears..

The Eye of Horus (Wedjat) is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of Horus' mother, Isis, and on other deities associated with her. Often used in funerary amulets to offer protection in the afterlife and to ward off evil. Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors would frequently paint the symbol on the bow of their vessel to ensure safe sea travel.

The ankh was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life". Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the key of life, the key of the Nile, or as crux ansata, Latin for "cross with a handle."

Considered to be the symbol of life, immortality and the universe, the Ankh is both a symbol of the Goddess and God heads. The tau, or loop at the top has also been associated as a symbol of spiritual reflection. This could be a result of it's use by Tutankhamen who often used a large hand held Ankh with a mirror positioned in the loop.

The loop has a couple of common meanings. It represents the three upper chakras, also known as the spiritual chakras, which are associated with the divine. It represents the Godhead (not just the masculine, but God as an all encompassing divine being). It also represents the female principles or the Goddess, within nature and the divine universe.

The staff has a few meanings as well. It is a representation of the masculine God and male principles. The vertical line is a symbol of the lower four chakras also known as the physical chakras. The cross bar represents the division of the male and female aspects of life, and the balance of polarity between the two.

An Ankh was made of many different materials, from wood and precious stones, to metals of gold and silver. Many Egyptians and early pagans placed precious stones within the loop of the Ankh to magnify the spiritual properties of the stone. An Ankh with an amethyst in the center for instance, was through to be a powerful tool for enhancing divination.

As an amulet, the Ankh is worn for both good luck or fortune and to protect against bad luck or energies. It is seen in Egyptian art as a scepter in the right hand of deities, and as a tool used upon the nostrils of the dead to bring them back to life.

The Ankh has long been associated with the Egyptians as a symbol of regeneration. But it also has deep roots as a symbol of magik. In ancient Egypt, the House of Life, symbolized by the Ankh over the door and throughout the interior, was a building, or group of buildings that housed the temple library. These libraries were filled with magical lore, accessible by magicians, priests and laymen alike. One of the largest of these libraries can be found at Karnak along the Nile river.

As a magikal tool, the Ankh can be used for healing and to promote psychic communication with the divine. Some Egyptian art depict a priest or priestess placing an Ankh in the middle of their forehead (over the third eye) as a means to connect to the divine God/Goddess for communication. Healers often placed the Ankh over wounds or areas that required attention, to promote regeneration and divine healing.

[I love Lyta]

Also, remember all the references to black and white?

Of course. That's why I wrote:"Also the whole black and white thingy."
Still I'm wondering why those Odysee quotes are in greek on a tapestry that otherwise shows an egyptian scene. Actually everything else is egyptian. The statue, the temple, the glyphs in the hatch...

[vakie]

There were some other hints given that Jacob is in fact on the "good" side:

The answer to the "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" question was "ille qui nos omnes servabit"; "he who will protect/save us all".

And the tapestry Jacob was weaving had quotes from the Odyssey in ancient Greek:

"theoi tosa doien hosa phresi sÛisi menoinais"; "may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires".

"theoi de toi olbia doien"; "may the gods grant thee happiness".

Also, remember all the references to black and white? Back in the pilot, Locke told Walt about backgammon:

"Two players. Two sides. One is light à one is dark."



Then there were the stones found on the "Adam and Eve" bodies in the cave.



In Claire's dream Locke had one black, one white eye.



etc.