a good vs evil thing, with a little religious mumbo jumbo thrown in, I will feel a little disappointed.
Things that are "explained":
-Richard (angry and confused that Jacob has been killed) has told his Lostie group that they are dead and that they are in hell.
-Jacob has told Richard that the island is more like a cork, stopping the evil swirling out from the bottle.
-Jacob cannot bring people back from the dead or absolve their sins.
-Jacob also told Richard that he brings people to the island to prove that they can make good choices without interference.
-Richard has been granted eternal life by Jacob, after being shipwrecked on the island in the 19th century.
-Smokey (as the Man In Black) told Richard that Jacob was the devil and needed to be killed.
-Smokey has said that he just wants to go home.
-Richard gets his as* handed to him on a platter when he tries to stab Jacob, whom then dunks him in the ocean a few times and confirms he is actually living.
-Jacob has denied being the devil. Claims Smokey to be the bitter and angry one.
-Hurley speaks to Richard's dead wife, and passes on the message that Smokey is the devil.

What?!

It still feels a little tacked on to me at this late stage in the series. There are gaping plot holes if this turns out to be the sole explanation (which hopefully it isn't). What interests me, which has not been explained so far, are the strong Egyptian references in the show.
Consider:
- The broken statue is the Egyptian fertility goddess Tauret, destroyed by the Black Rock on a tidal wave. Being able to give birth here seems to be a long term problem.
-The Egyptian hieroglyphics in the hatch on the time panel.
- Egyptian hieroglyphics in the temple's secret passageway.

There have even been theories flying around how the island is actually Eden, which some evidence points to. But so far I'm getting strong vibes of Stephen King's "The Stand".

How can you say the good vs. evil thing is tacked on, though? It's pretty clear that it's one of the central themes of the show, and it was established all the way back in the second episode (I'm not saying they had the whole show planned out at that time, but the basics where there, at least) with the black/white thing.

At this point I'm just really wondering who or what Jacob and the Man in Black are.

Has there been an explanation yet, as to how Charles Widmore fits into this whole thing? In that case, I must've forgotten about it. Cos for a long time I thought this primarily was about Widmore vs. Jacob, but then the Man in Black showed up... :P

I guess that I think it's tacked on because it's more of a non-explanation than an explanation. As you've said, good vs evil has been a central theme. The sense that Smokey is bad and Jacob is good has been around for a while. It's almost too simplistic for a show that has become intricately convoluted. I still think that there will be more big reveals to come, and a twist. There's always a twist.

Well, I'm not sure if it's that black and white (no pun intended). The Man in Black, especially in his Locke form, can be quite sympathetic at times, and Jacob's motives and methods remain questionable. I think despite all the black/white stuff, the show emphasizes the shades of gray. I wouldn't worry about things being too simple.

Other than the fact that he used to be the (co-)leader of The Others? I don't think he was ever stated to be anti-Jacob, just anti-Ben. It seems as if he also might be anti-MiB, but that may be just Sawyer assuming things.

Well since he was a co-leader of the others at one point, that would kind of mean he'd have to be anti-MiB. I mean if you're pro-Jacob (which the others clearly were at least until Jacob's death) then by default you'd be anti-MiB.

Well if they're just gonna do the Egyptian theme and the statue is Taweret, the Hippo/Lion goddess of Fertility, then Smokey would be Apep aka Apophis (the demon god of darkness and chaos) as she (Tawaret) was his wife!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawaret
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apep

It's funny that Apep is described as the demon god of darkness because that is what Jacob describes him as - 'darkness' (again with the black/white references). Smokey has also said that Jacob turned him into a disembodied form. Following the link, Apep appears to be a serpent-like god. Other people have suggested that the Island may be the garden of eden, again Smokey being the devil serpent.
I'm still not utterly convinced that Jacob is the good guy, either.


Another explanation in the Egyptology vein:
Seth and Horus battle it out on a floating island. Sound familiar? More info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFf3Xcs8qBU
http://forum.lostpedia.com/great-bat...th-t51871.html

So by this reasoning-
Seth = MIB/Smokey
Horus or Osiris = Jacob

This season has been amazing. The Richard episode this Tuesday was my favorite of the entire series. I had been waiting for an episode about Richard for a while and this one gave us his entire story, along with a lot of answers about Jacob and MiB.

I love how the good vs evil theme is playing out. I find it amazing that in all of this craziness over the past 5 years, the story is as simple as that. That's the beauty of it all.

We found out why Jacob brings people to the island and it all makes perfect sense.

The four letter word that people have speculating over is revealed as "cork".

People I know are taking the statements about being in hell too seriously. They are not dead. They are not in hell. Jacob was speaking metaphorically.

I have been this psyched for Lost since season 2. I hope the next two months build of the awesomeness that was "Ab Aeterno".

Word is, though, episode 6.15 is supposed to be centered around both Jacob AND the MiB.

I agree that the last episode was the best of the entire series. And I'm really excited for the inevitable back story of MiB and Jacob. I mean if MiB is to be taken at his word when he spoke with Kate, we do know that he has a "crazy" mother. I'm wondering if this plays into his and Jacob's relationship at all or if he was just making it up to manipulate Kate.

This episode seemed to drag out something (the war?) that is going to eventually happen, eventually. It was pretty dull compared to last week, but the fact that we get to see Mikhail again (Andrew Divoff: whom should get an Oscar just for existing) made up for it.

That Desmond is some kind of package that can stop the Man In Black, had me at a bit of a loss...and why they are seeking the places of magnetic energy as mapped by the Dharma group? Hm.