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Theories about Loophole

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Stated as questions or possibilities (avoid question marks, "Maybe", "I think", etc). More appropriate for another article. Illogical or previously disproven. Proven by canon source, and moved to main article. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead). This does not include responses that can stand alone as its own theory. Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response. See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

This article has been marked for merging It has been suggested that this article be merged with Jacob's nemesis/Theories - Discuss

Contents 1 The Loophole: Time Travel 2 The Loophole: Characters/Rules 2.1 Rules 2.2 Character 3 The Loophole: Things and Concepts 4 The Loophole: Relevance for Jacob's Nemesis

The Loophole: Time TravelEdit

The Loophole may be that the only way the Nemesis can kill Jacob is by taking the body of someone Jacob himself has touched and so brought to the Island.

• The loophole refers to a way of changing the already-existing time loop. The time loop, as stated in the recent podcast, is essential to the show - and Jacob's enemy took possession of Locke using the time loop (by which Locke tells Richard he's his leader, in the past).
  • I do believe the time-loop theory is a sound one with the evidence we have. For instance, Jacob's Nemesis, when referring to the ship off the coast of the Island (presumably the Black Rock) wearily goes over the details of what will happen when the sailors come onto land, saying, "...it always ends the same." At first glance this could just be taken as a wider reference to people coming to the Island, i.e. every time an outside presence comes to the Island it ends in "fight(ing) destroy(ing)" and "corrupt(tion)." However, the cryptic nature of this conversation, along with J.N.'s exhausted, bored demeanor, could imply that this specific event has happened many times before. Such a theory is perhaps further bolstered by Jacob trying to "prove (his nemesis) wrong", for one reason or another, in attempting to produce a different outcome in this iteration of the time loop. Obviously, the true motives of this strange relationship are unclear at the time, but there's more than enough half-clues in their conversation to at least suggest something resembling this.
    • This could be an even broader statement about "man" - Jacob proving people are basically good and will do the right thing, JN that people are basically bad and will always destroy themselves, and they keep playing the time loop to prove their views.
    • I also agree and point to the fact that Locke only 'died' because the posessed Locke told Richard to tell Locke that he needed to die. This entire circumstance of Locke dying was merely a ploy so that Jacob's enemy could inject himself into the group and be assimilated. Perhaps this is part of the loophole?
    • An even stronger clue in support of this theory lies in Jacob's response to his nemesis: "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that..just progress." This strongly suggests a time loop, with Jacob maintaining that something only truly "ends" one time, and the other time loops are simply "progress" toward that final ending in which the time loop is broken.
      • This could be alluding to the time-loop finally converging to something that won't change: Something, at some point, started the time loop. Maybe the "end" refers to something breaking the time loop - i.e., something preventing the next iteration of the time loop from making _further_ changes to the past.
  • Let's not forget that everything is possible (even FLocke telling himself he will die) thanks to Ben. It is Ben that kills Locke (and makes him die). It is Ben that dislodges the wheel and causes time shifts that make possible to Lock time travel, for instance).
• The loophole is a possibility of killing Jacob without causing a time paradox. As we know, many things Jacob did caused several things to happen - some things that he will do in the future cause something, that happened in the past (a loop is created); therefore, his nemesis cannot kill him, because Jacob still needs to do something and cause the things which have already happened. His nemesis is referring to a loophole, a moment in time when he will be able to kill Jacob without causing a time paradox.
  • Ok if Jacob's nemesis used the loophole to take Locke's form, then who took Christian Shephard as the loop? Because really it was him that convinced Locke to leave the island. Thus the consequence of that caused Locke's death which was then put onto the plane to be transported to the island and thus have Jacob's nemesis take its form. Also it would be safe to assume that it was never Jacob in the cabin ever! Or that it was Jacob himself that put the ring of ash to hold his nemesis in. Which then brings up who broke the ring to allow him out of the cabin and take the form of Locke
  • Moreover, who formulated the plan for Illiana to use Locke's body to convince Richard Flock wasn't Locke and to what end? Presumably Jacob did this, implying he does not die and that he visited Illiana's past from the island's future.
  • Jacob's Nemesis kept Jacob prisoner in the cabin until he could find the 'loophole'. It was he who used Christian's body, until he was then able to get closer to Jacob via Locke's body.
• There is a point where time resets, and starts at the beach with Jacob and his nemesis. They only meet at the start and end. The passengers of flight 815 is different each run through, and Jacob finally found the ones needed to end his own life. He has grow tired of it all, and caused his own loophole, that's why he wasn't shocked by Ben and Locke entering his home.
• The loophole is ... wait for it ... Jack! Or simply the idea that people can change things, as Jack has done, when he told Richard to trust John Locke (remember: "wouldn't give up on him!") Now if it weren't for Daniel Faraday and his journal, he wouldn't be there in the first place. But Daniel did break the loop by passing the flag to Jack. Daniel might not have stopped the hatch from being built (we don't know this yet) but Richard trusting in John Locke has led the Nemesis to the "shadow of the statue" where Jacob resides.
• The loophole is the fact that Esau cannot directly kill Jacob. He had to convince Ben to kill Jacob. I believe Esau is a shapeshifter who has taken the shape of Locke. Locke was in fact the person who took Ben to answer for his crimes. While there, Locke did not go in with Ben, which gave him the ability to change into Ben's daughter. Ben's daughter told him that he must do everything that Locke told him, or she'd come back to destroy him. Since Esau, who is now Locke, cannot directly kill Jacob, he tells Ben that he must kill Jacob.
  • Ok then how was "Locke" able to push him into the fire which would have killed him??
    • It was not the fire that killed Jacob. The fatal wound had been inflicted by Ben and while not completely dead when thrown into the fire, he was likely seconds away from it. The act of pushing Jacob into the fire did not result in his death, only in his (now dead) body being turned to ash.
• The loophole is that only people who have once been leaders on the island can kill Jacob. That's why once new leaders take power, the old leaders are banished, like Widmore and Ben. Ben came back to the island when he was supposed to be banished and "Locke" manipulated him to kill Jacob.

The Loophole: Characters/RulesEdit

RulesEdit

• Jacob can only be killed by his own "flesh and blood," i.e., one of his people. The loophole is Ben killing Jacob.
• Jacob can only be killed by a follower who has lost faith in him (Ben).
• Jacob can only be killed by one of his own people.
• Jacob can only be killed withing in the statue. His nemesis can not enter the statue in his flesh and blood. The loophole is nemesis needs to take the form of a human to enter the statue.
• Esau cannot kill Jacob personally so someone else must, however they cannot be forced to kill Jacob it must be a choice made with free will
• Jacob can only be killed by his own power. Ben was touched by Jacob's power when he was saved by Jacob as a kid (which he forgot) Jacob healed him when Richard took him to be healed as a child. Somehow Ben's hand is Jacob's own hand.
  • This is faulty. No where does it say Ben was healed by Jacob. (This is a theories page!) Also Daniel said that things that happen in the past will not change the outcome of the future. Eloise also states this to Desmond in his time travelling. So the only difference from old Ben and new Ben is the time that he started with the Others.
• Jacob's Nemesis cannot personally kill Jacob. The loophole is just getting someone else to do it.
  • Would be a pretty poor loop-hole, particularly given the rate people kill each other at on Lost.
• The 'rules' apply to both Jacob and his people. That is why the Others live in the jungle without protection from the smoke monster (i.e. Jacob's nemesis)... he can't kill them, either.
• The loophole is simply that Jacob and his enemy can't kill each other (possibly the Island won't let them) so his enemy persuades Ben to do it.
• The loophole is that only a mortal can kill Jacob. Ben got manipulated (now how does he like it?) into doing the dirty work.
• The loophole is that only someone Jacob "saves" can kill him. It's clear that Jacob's touch has powers to heal/prevent injury. When young Ben was shot, he was taken to Jacob. That's how he lost his innocence.
• Jacob is permitted to defend himself outside the statue (Richard). Jacob is not permitted to defend himself inside the statue (Ben). A non-candidate must be invited to be granted an audience with Jacob inside the statue (Richard). All candidates have an open invitation to be granted an audience with Jacob inside the statue (leap of logic). The LOOPHOLE is that, having taken the form of John Locke (a candidate), the nemesis/MIB/smokie DID NOT REQUIRE AN INVITATION to gain an audience with Jacob inside the statue; thus, "opening the door" for Ben's betrayal.

CharacterEdit

• The loophole is John Locke. Locke has shared a connection with the Monster since his arrival on the Island, and his shape or identity was required to be the host for Jacob's enemy.
• The loophole is that only the leader of the island can meet with the actual corporeal form of Jacob, and there can only be one leader at a time, just as Richard said. Since Locke was actually dead the leadership role reverted back to Ben, who was indeed able to meet and kill Jacob. (Un-Locke was able to be present as well because his duality allows him to freely be around Jacob at any time as in the cold open but he cannot physically harm him.)
  • The Loophole involves a tweak on several rules. First, that the Jacob and the Nemesis are not allowed to directly harm one another. Second, that Jacob and the Nemesis are not allowed to tell anyone exactly what is at stake between them, as evidenced by Jacob's very sparse conversation with Ben, never revealing to him any information that might persuade Ben not to kill him. Third, that only the Leader can have an audience with Jacob. The Nemesis exploited these rules, and others, to effect his attack on Jacob. The whole "long con" is a Loophole, but the most important point, as above, is the confusion in Leadership.
• The loophole is the same as Widmore "breaking the rules." Widmore, who works for Jacob's enemy, found a way to "break the rules" by killing Alex. This was the first step in a chain of events that led to Ben killing Jacob. The loophole refers to whatever Widmore figured out that allowed him to break the as-of-yet unspecified rules.
• Widmore is working more for Jacob. Widmore was trying to get Ben off the island because he ulitmately knew that Ben would result in the death of Jacob whom Widmore had followed from the beginning. This is also why Jacob went to the Oceanic survivors off the island to set in motion the chain of events that would have Charlie turn off the looking glass and have the Freighter team sent in to capture Ben.
  • I disagree. In Miles' flashback, we see that he was actively recruited by two warring factions. One was the statue people who we can definitely link to Jacob. The other is Widmore's group. Also, Ben is on the side of Jacob up until the point that he kills him, and we've seen that there is a definite split between Ben and Widmore. I feel like Ben and Widmore is the modern incarnation of an ancient game played between Jacob and his rival. If we see that Ben has been taking orders from Jacob the entire time, Widmore must be on the opposite side. Of course, an argument can be made for either viewpoint and the question has yet to be answered definitively.
    • But Ben "thought" he was taking orders from Jacob. Though Ben never actually talked to Jacob himself. It was always through Richard. But it was Ben who went to the cabin and not the statue. So it could have been Jacob's nemesis that Ben and Locke saw the first time. This is also shown by Ilana's question "what lies in the shadow of the statue".
      • I think the beardiness of the nemesis and the cabin guy suggests so.
      • But what was richard doing all the times that Ben was going to the Cabin, or that Jacob 'called' Ben (as Richard says that Jacob would have done for Locke eventually)? I mean, if Richard knows where Jacob actually is (in the statue) and Ben obviously doesn't, and Richard knows Ben has been talking to Jacob (as far as Ben knows) at the cabin, then Richard must know Ben has been talking to...the adversary??
        • And this was why when Locke first "met" Richard on the island when they had Locke's father that Richard wanted Locke to kill his father and take the role as leader. Richard wanted someone that was in favour with Jacob and not Jacob's nemesis. Richard knew this from the time that Locke visited him in the past that Richard thought it was Jacob guiding him. And Jacob could have actually been guiding him. But then his nemesis had Ben go in, try to kill him twice but then was smart enough to use Locke as a vessel to kill Jacob.
• The "Loophole" is an individual who has never betrayed Jacob. This gets back to the theme of betrayal running through the entire series. Looking at all the flashbacks, each of the characters has gone against whatever they "promised" Jacob (Kate still steals, though she promises not to; Sawyer finishes the letter; Jin and Sun don't always follow their love, since Sun cheats on Jin, Locke does not believe that he will be alright, etc.). However, Ben has always done exactly what Jacob has told him, without question, and his first act of betrayal against Jacob is killing him.
  • Jacob didn't ask Sawyer not to finish the letter... in fact he gives him a pen that works. The man who asks him not to finish the letter is (to my knowledge) previously unknown and presumably a relative / family friend.
  • Does Ben taking Alex and leaving Danielle alive not doing what Jacob wants, and therefore an act of betrayal. This event itself also contributed (through Alex's death) to Ben's desire to kill Jacob.
  • The "Loophole" that Jacob's "Opposite" or "Nemesis" is refering to is obviously some way he can get around killing Jacob. The Loophole implies that there are Rules that Jacob and his Nemesis must follow, these "Rules" include that no one is able to kill Jacob, whatever these rules are I agree that they are similar to the Widmore/Ben rules(or possibly even the same rules which is why Widmore and Ben simply havent just killed each other yet. there is something keeping them from doing this). Jacob's Nemesis wants to kill Jacob for reasons unknown to us so far(possibly he is jealous of Jacob or he doesnt agree with the way he is running the island,i.e. the argument about the ship coming to the island). Jacobs's Nemesis must find a way of getting around these "rules" to kill Jacob, he states that he has gone through alot to get where he is meaning that he has been trying for a very long time. I believe that Jacob's Nemesis doesnt have the same abilities as Jacob (the power to influence people just by toughing them, its also obvious that Jacob also has similar powers as Walt,i.e. being able to make things appear just by imagining it)he can only "Influence" people by talking to them, which would explain why he enlists Ben to kill Jacob instead of just killing Jacob himself, he cannot physically touch Jacob possibly because he is only a spirit at this point. Jacob's Nemesis has to kill Jacob in order to "become whole again/gain control of the island". Jacob is also aware of what his Nemesis is trying to do which is why he trapped him in The Cabin so that he cannot get out. He then embodied himself in Christain and possibly The Smoke Monster in order to influence Locke. But somehow the Ring of Dust was disturbed around the Cabin which allowed him to leave and go to The Orchid, Khana, around the island, ect. to influence other people. By getting Ben to kill Jacob he has effectivley found his "loophole" and will now gain control over the island.

• An alternate theory. The loophole refers to Esau's possession of Locke. This theory rests on a few assumptions that seem justified. 1) Esau is Smokey. 2) Esau lost in someway the ability to inhabit the body introduced at the start of the episode. (I don't want to say died because it may or may not be appropriate, but the concept is similar.) Since then, his ability to manifest himself consisted of: a) smokey the monster and b) Smokey the dead people. So far, we haven't been able to discern a real pattern in Smokey's behavior, but presumably it has all been some complex plan to manipulate events in Esau's favor. The major point though is that so far, when Smokey manifested himself as dead people, he has been unable to interact with the physical environment. As Smokey the monster he could thrash things, but he could not inhabit a human body that could be said to be alive. With all the other bodies he had inhabited, like Christian, he has not had a direct connection with them before their death. Several pieces of evidence support this: First, if Smokey's other manifestations had been able to achieve either of his goals (gaining a body and killing Jacob) why would he not have already done so? Second, the instant that Jacob saw Esau-Locke, he immediately recognized him as Esau in another body and then made the loophole comment. On the basis of closeness, this implies that the loophole pertains to Esau gaining a new body and not Esau's plan to kill Jacob. If this all holds, the loophole is not a reference to the time loop—although a dual meaning is certainly possible. Instead, it should be read literally, as the glitch in the system that would allow Esau to re-inhabit a human body. It might function as follows. Locke had already been scanned by Smokey, who found him both compatible and established a direct connection with him. He had already been shown to have a connection with the island viz. his being healed. So when Locke's body was brought to the island, Esau/smokey was able to use the connection to create a body that was "alive." See discussion below for further evidence that might support this.
  • This is plausible. A - Esau can only inhabit a dead person THAT WAS BORN AND DIED OFF ISLAND, and the body has to be on the island, AND unburied - Yemi, Christian, Locke. B - only the leader can be taken to see Jacob. B1 - Leaders had to grow up on the island, eg Eloise and Ben, and be appointed by the previous leader. B2 - Jacob had to want to see them (which is why he never saw Ben, for reasons explored elsewhere). C - Esau cannot physcially kill Jacob. So, the glitch is inhabiting a human body, already dead elsewhere and brougt to the island + only leader can be brought to see Jacob + only someone else, presumably actually alive, could physically kill Jacob. Therefore, Esau could be brought to see Jacob because he was the "leader" - obviously Esau already knew where Jacob was and didn't really need Richard to bring him - and bring Ben, the living leader, who, after some manipulation, could physically kill Jacob.
    • Alex was born and died on the island BUT only inhabited in the temple, not above ground.
• The loophole is the fact that Jacob's enemy made John Locke the leader of the Others from nothing. Locke tells Richard he's the leader of the Others because future Richard believes Locke will become the leader because Locke told him in the past. This loophole allowed Jacob's enemy to gain an audience with Jacob, which ultimately leads to his death.
• The Loophole is the O6. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayyid. This is why Jacob went and touched them, because his touch has created a new path in their destiny, one which they can control. While we are lead to believe that the Loophole is Ben, or what caused Essau to kill Jacob, maybe it's the way it always ends, with Jacob's death. But Jacob's line: "They're coming" was a reference to the O6 back from the past, and it's their detonation of the bomb that led to the loophole, not Jacob's death. This is why Jacob visited them [Sawyer was on the helicopter, but the free will given to him by Jacob's touch allowed him to jump off], and this is what changed this time.
  • Also, the fact that Jacob was not surprised or tried to fight off Ben, knowing that he will kill means that he's been through this a lot before.
• When Ben told Locke to kill his father to be accepted by the Others, he gave Locke a knife to use. Instead, Locke manipulated Sawyer into killing Cooper, much like the false Locke manipulated Ben into killing Jacob, after giving him a knife with which to do it. That could be the reason why it worked both times: you aren't supposed to do it yourself, you have to get a surrogate to do it for you. Both surrogates had reasons of their own to hate the intended victims, and they both acted out of long-held hatred and resentment. But Ben killed his father himself; that could be why Jacob never spoke to him.
• Jacob getting killed CANNOT have been the loophole, as it was referred to during the conversation between MIB and Jacob, where Mib tells Jacob that he will kill him, and Jacob responds by saying "Someone will take my place". This is a loop, and therefore not the loophole. The only possible way for this to change is if Mib himself becomes leader, thus the new "protector" of the island.

The Loophole: Things and ConceptsEdit

• The Loophole is literally the loop hole, or the hole in the ash loop around Jacob's cabin that provides the Nemesis with a way to kill Jacob. Locke accidentally broke the ash loop when Ben took him to the cabin. Ben walked over the ash loop while Locke walked through it, creating the loophole.
• The threads in the loom represent people. Jacob is weaving their destinies in and out of each other. He's much like the Norns in Norse mythology.
• Breaking the circle of ash around the cabin -- found a hole through the circle of ash.
  • Similiar to Goethe's "Faust" where Mephisto is able to enter the house because of a little loophole in the circle of the pentagram.
• At the Cross, Satan found a "loophole" by which he could finally kill the omnipotent God (that loophole being that God the Son, as an Incarnate human being, had voluntarily subjected Himself to mortality). Similarly, Jacob well aware of whatever loophole his nemesis has discovered and has willingly subjected himself to death knowing the good destined to result from it (a providential outcome of which his enemy is unaware).
  • Piggybacking on this idea, Ben could prove to be sort of a "Judas" character that believes/trusts Jacob and then turns on him in the end.
• The loophole is the compass. Jacob's enemy puts this into motion when he tells Richard to help John. The time loop the compass is on allows Jacob's enemy to control Locke's fate and take control of Locke as the leader of the Others, ultimately allowing him to slip in and use Ben to kill Jacob.
• The loophole refers to free will. The Nemesis, was able to convince Ben, through a very long series of events, to really want to kill Jacob. This is evidenced by all the Nemesis had to do get there, and Jacob telling Ben he had a choice.
  • This was my thought as well. The Nemesis could never kill Jacob directly, including telling someone else to do it or convincing someone else directly. If we go by the theory that The Nemesis is also the smoke monster, then Ben's recent visit to the temple (led there by Locke/Nemesis) only reinforced for Ben everything he has lost by being devoted to the Island/Jacob his entire life, most importantly, his daughter. The entire time that Locke/Nemesis interacted with Ben since the Ajira crash, he has taunted Ben with Ben's failures as a leader and a father and emphasizing how Locke was everything that Ben was not. By the time Ben and Locke/Nemesis met Jacob, Ben needed no coercion from Locke to kill Jacob, Ben wanted to of his own free will, reinforced by Jacob literarily telling Ben he had a choice. Ben wanting to (as much as the Nemesis expressed wanting to in the opening scene) kill Jacob of his own free will was the loophole. This moment made me think to Ben telling Jake that he wanted Jake to want to perform the surgery to heal Ben of his own free will and not because Jack was forced to.
  • Except that the Nemesis is pretty blunt - he specifically tells Ben "I'm not going to kill Jacob, you are.", he gets smokey to order Ben to do anything he says, etc. The Nemesis definitely needed Ben to kill Jacob for him but the hard bit was getting Ben in a frame of mind that he would do it.
  • The Nemesis has been living in the Cabin all these years, not Jacob and he's been manipulating Ben (and all the Others) from the beginning.
• Jacob didn't interact with Ben because the monster had healed him, maybe this is also why he can kill Jacob?
  • Maybe the Nemisis has similar powers to jacob such as the touch and they are each converting others to thier cause, or manipulating them.
• The Loophole is the Nemesis' dilemma: the fact that Jacob's Nemesis (Esau?) cannot kill Jacob and vice versa; it's the endless battle of good versus evil (white and black - tunics worn by Jacob/Esau... black and white in backgammon pieces Locke shows Walt, black and white stones found by Jack on the Adam/Eve skeletons). How does Esau/Jacob's Nemesis find a loophole to kill Jacob -> thru the guise of John Locke (Jacob's follower's leader).

The Loophole: Relevance for Jacob's NemesisEdit

• The same loophole applies for Jacob's Enemy too. This is why he is shocked to hear that "they are coming" because this could eventually lead to him being exposed to the same threat as Jacob. This concept is true independently of what the loophole actually is.
• After Jacob told his enemy, "They're coming," Flocke was enraged and finished him (Jacob) off. This suggests that the point of finding a loophole was at least in part to avoid the arrival of the mysterious "they," in which case Jacob's revelation would inform Flocke that his efforts were all in vain - his response would then seem more than appropriate. Or, the "them" mentioned might be an unavoidable consequence of Jacob's death, which he mentioned at his death as a last jab at his opponent's pride; in this case, the enemy didn't equate the arrival of "them" with a breaking of the contract, and his aid in Jacob's death was (to his knowledge) within the bounds of the loophole. This would suggest that Flocke was simply irritated at Locke's reminder, not frightened and enraged. However, it is interesting that, given what we know of the enemy, he wouldn't savor Jacob's last painful moments - after all, Jacob had "no idea what I've been though," certainly implying quite a dose of pain, and a desire for revenge. After fulfilling all his obligations, it would be odd for him to shorten Jacob's suffering - or at least his time to enjoy it - by kicking him into the fire. This would further imply that he realized that he hadn't fulfilled the terms of the agreement, hadn't found a loophole after all, and wanted Jacob out of sight as quickly as possible, wanted as little reminder of this unpleasant realization as possible.

• Ok. First of all, I've never posted anything on here before and I'm new to Wiki posting period, so forgive this for being a bit rough around the edges:) I am finding that writing about Lost thoughts and theories is very difficult! I am just the only person I know in real life who has watched all of Lost (I have convinced a couple people to start watching it and they are totally addicted but still on like Season 2:( ) I just want to talk to somebody about the show now that I have to wait soooo long for the actual answers!! :) I do realize this does not fit with the theory rules, but there isn't a loophole discussion page started yet, so I'll just throw this up here and hope it isn't too inappropriate! So, anyway I wanted to break down this whole Locke/Flocke/Smoke Monster/Jacob/loophole scenario. The answers to all the questions about these things must gel to form a solid theory without holes. First of all, it is important to note that Flocke coming/appearing as the specific person John Locke is apparently essential to whatever is going on. We know this to be true because if just any dead person would do or just appearing in the form of another human being, the Adversary could have walked through that loophole long ago. This gives us a clues as to what exactly is happening based on what makes Locke a unique candidate to appear as. I think that the Adversary has been looking for a true leader of the island for a long time. Someone who actually communes with the island...which Locke appears to do. Jacob also seems to have been selecting specific people to come to the island...he actually seems to have chosen Locke. The Adversary has been waiting, perhaps in the guise of Smokey?, for Jacob to bring someone over whose essense he could steal and use...for whatever reason Locke fits that bill. I use the term essense because since we also have Locke's dead body, Flocke isn't something using Locke's physical body... unless somehow two physical Locke's came into existence at some point.. But that still leaves the question of what suddenly made Jacob mortal (if he is in fact dead...)? It isn't as easy as just stabbing him or the Adversary wouldn't have felt the need to explain he would find the "loophole" to be able to kill him. Is it significant that Ben actually dealt the blow? Maybe for some reason Ben and only Ben could kill Jacob and for some reason Ben can't be controlled directly so the "loophole" could be inhabiting a person that could 1. Find Jacob 2. Lead Ben to Jacob 3. Convince Ben to kill Jacob. It is possible that the Adversary somehow figured out the correct pattern to jump through time and space and do certain specific things that would lead to Ben stabbing Jacob. He had to make sure he had someone who had been on the island, that then left the island, died, and then whose body returned to the island after death...because somewhere about that pattern allowed the Adversary to become Flocke. Perhaps the Adversary (who might also be known as Smokey) has been manipulating Locke somehow ever since he arrived on the island to set the stage, but could not become Flocke until after Locke's dead body arrived on the island. Jacob may have been trying this whole time to save the world at some point in the future, and the Adversary wanted the world to end... Armagedonesque... The Adversary thought that killing Jacob would stop him from saving the world. When Jacob says "they're coming" he is talking about whoever he already has in place to save the world... perhaps save the world FROM the Adversary... and I think these people are the O6+Jen and maybe others. Anybody have any more thoughts on these ideas?

(WOW! That was long! lol Sorry but it is written now and too much effort to delete:) I suspect it will get deleted anyway as I am new and stupid and apparently verbose and confuse to boot!)