So I’ve been thinking a lot about the smoke monster/Man in Black connection as well as the use of ash that we’ve seen in the past and which featured prominently last night. The ash seems to create a barrier across which the smoke monster cannot cross. Bram circled himself in a ring (albeit far too small) of ash which temporarily held off the monster until he stepped outside the ring. The Others at the Temple beginning spreading the ash everywhere to “keep him out”. I read a theory (I think at Slate) that Jacob’s cabin was surrounded in ash to protect him from the smoke monster and was the only place he was safe but at the same time created a prison for him. When the ash broke, the theory goes, Jacob fled to the shadow of the statue. This doesn’t make sense. The smoke monster can’t kill Jacob, it’s part of the rules. Why would Jacob need to protect himself? I think it was literally a prison for the Man in Black. He was trapped in the cabin and it was surrounded with ash so that he couldn’t escape. But there are also problems with this theory. When Ben brings Locke to see Jacob in “The Man Behind the Curtain” the ring of ash is unbroken. If the smoke monster is trapped inside, and presumably would have been trapped inside for some time, who is the smoke monster that has been seen around the island up until this point? I just can’t wrap my head around this one.
When Ilana and Bram arrive at the cabin they are presumably there to see Jacob. But they are unnerved to find that the ring of ash is broken. This would lend itself to the theory that Jacob used it as protection and with it broken there was cause for concern. But for reasons mentioned above I don’t see how that makes sense. Jacob doesn’t need protection from the smoke monster.
Also, the smoke monster is supposed to be the island’s security system and apparently resides under the wall to the Temple. If he is protecting the Temple, why do the Others freak out about keeping him out? I think that the Flocke as Smoke Monster reveal may not be the end of the story. I’m already starting to question where my allegiances lie in the Jacob/Nemesis battle.
