Means to an End

We can also tally “playing favorites” under the imperfections column, as she apparently preferred Esau to take over for her, at least initially. She justifies this to Jacob later by saying she loves them both “in different ways.” Gee, thanks, Mom.

Why would she prefer Esau, though? Jacob was the one who “could never lie,” the more innocent of the two kids. Thus we assume Esau’s capable of deceit and other, “dark” personality traits. That’s not to say he was inherently bad, but the scale’s weighted in that direction. Why would such traits make him a more ideal candidates to take over for her? She goes to great lengths to protect the Light, even if it means the brutal murder of a tribe of villagers. Whatever Mother’s special abilities may be (if she was able to take down a whole tribe of villagers), it’s her willingness to use them that’s important.

Jacob, the goodhearted son, wasn’t capable of performing such deeds to protect the Island; the Light; humanity. But is it truly necessary that a “at whatever cost” role be taken by the Protector of the Light? Or had Mother herself started to become corrupted by the steps she had to take as more and more humans found their way to the Island by “accident?” Whichever the case, her choice was made when Esau found out about his real mother and disowned Mother Earth. Esau (while in Locke form) told Kate earlier this season that his mother was “crazy; a very disturbed woman.” Perhaps he was right.

On to the two brothers. There are obvious parallels between them and Claire and Aaron. The Australian psychic told Claire that she must be the one that raise Aaron which, to this point, hasn’t worked out so well. If Mother truly was being selfish and could have carried on as Protector of the Light, Claudia could have just raised her sons; there wasn’t anything inherently “special” about them, was there? There are allusions to Mother applying rules and somehow making the two “special.” Whether that was a case of preordained determination or just blind luck that she stumbled upon two kids remains to be seen. In addition to whatever special abilities she granted them, she fosters a certain competitiveness between the two boys, kicked off by her planting the gamebox on the beach for Esau to find.

Did she know how things would turn out between the two? Doubtful. So why instill the concept in the two kids? When she first shows Jacob and Esau the golden light, she tells the boys one of them will eventually take over as protector; it was never her intention for both of them to take on the responsibility. The game was a way to start the boys thinking of that eventual crossroads and how to decide the “winner.”

As with any game, there are rules, and whatever Mother actually is, she has the ability to set them herself. She’s made it so that Jacob and Esau can never hurt each other, and neither can ever leave the Island. The latter point becomes especially relevant now, as Esau/Locke is trying to do just that. What if, all this time, Esau’s been operating under a false assumption he can actually leave? All his work over the centuries to kill all the candidates and gain his release have all been for naught. Perhaps, what Mother meant is that, if Esau were to succeed, the Light would be extinguished and all life would be at an end, herself, Jacob and Esau included. Esau’s Island prison is the very thing keeping him alive.

The key turning point in the episode comes when Mother visits a grown Esau in one of the many wells dug in an attempt to tap into the Light and exploit it. Esau tells her he’s figured a way off the Island, having determined the Light and water can be channeled in such a way as to transport him off-Island. And while he’s right about the science (as we’ve seen both Ben and Locke use the frozen donkey wheel successfully in past seasons to do just that), the Rules Mother’s established may prevent him in particular from taking advantage of it.

Perhaps to save him from himself, Mother knocks out Esau and sets off to destroy the village and fill the well. Esau retaliates by stabbing her in the back. As she lay dying, she tells him “no matter what you’ve been told, you will never be able to leave the Island.” Try all you want, Esau, but rules are rules.

After Mother quite literally passes the torch to Jacob after Esau’s defection, she tells him coming into contact with the Light wouldn’t kill you but instead result in a fate “worse than dying.” That apparently equates to turning into a giant pillar of black smoke capable of scanning the memories of anyone it comes in contact with, as well as taking the form of the dead.

The one question I continue pondering is whether or not the Smokey/Esau/Locke we’ve seen since the show started is actually Esau or is another entity altogether. Esau’s body, unless there was a switcheroo at some point, is devoid of life and rotted away in the Caves for years and years. It’s still there now. So either his consciousness transferred to Smokey form, or Esau as we knew him is dead and is just another face for Smokezilla to use.

Of course, why would Smokey share Esau’s desire to “get home” / off the Island? Haven’t quite figured that one out yet. As for where we go from here, another of the Rules include the granting of eternal life to both Jacob and Esau (“[death] is something you will never have to worry about”). On top of that, Jacob was given a drink out of the wine bottle we’ve seen a few times, which cemented his place as Mother’s replacement. It gives the moment where Jacob gives Esau the bottle (several episodes back) a little more meaning.

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