The Rules

The first rule of The Rules is that we don't speak of The Rules.

That rule has been broken by the following individuals: Ben Linus, Charles Widmore, the Man in Black, and forest boy of undisclosed origin. Are they all talking about the same rulebook?

I believe they are not. Ben and Charles are discussing a set of guidelines that have their origin in the related-by-Richard missives of Jacob. Over Richard's time on the Island (and I sincerely wish we could see more of that era) Jacob's wishes have gently shaped the Others. As biblical as Jacob's name and lifestyle are, I like to consider his political philosophy as a sibling of the spirit underlying the U.S. constitution's Bill of Rights, the original charter of negative liberties. The Bill of Rights doesn't say an American has the right to a house. It just says that if an American does have a house, the 3rd amendment protects her from having to house soldiers within it.

On 'Lost', Jacob will bring you to the Island, but once there, you have no explicit right to knowledge of what you should do. Yet, Jacob does offer protection from the influence of your past life, so that when you get to the Island, your past 'doesn't matter'. Jacob is a bit trickier than the founding fathers though, because unlike acquiring a house, knowledge of what you should do on the Island is (to mix my political metaphors)an unknown unknown.

Ben, Widmore, and other Others likely had to pay attention to a few other similarly formulated edicts, perhaps: 'None of you have any right to be the Leader, but if you do, you are under my protection', or 'I force no obligation on you to do anything in particular on this Island, but if you leave you may not return'. I believe its a rule of this type that Ben accuses Widmore of breaking in 'The Shape of Things to Come'.

The rules that jungle boy reminds Man in Black of in 'The Substitute'? They exist on an entirely different level. I believe Jacob and the MiB have rules, and are thus motivated to search for loopholes to avoid those rules, because the order of the Island/World/Universe is sensitive to the dynamics of both entitites. For it to survive, their conflict must be bound by law and executed by proxy.

Jacob and MiB's rules = Speed of Light
Ben and Widmores rules = Speed Limits

The puzzling aspect of all this to me is that the MiB obviously believes that at some crucial point in the distant past, Jacob deceived him. Now, MiB seems like a somewhat arrogant individual. If his opponent tricked him, what stopped him from considering the 'Rules' broken at that point? Why did he respect and follow them for so long that it took the Lockean loophole to accomplish his long sought Jacobean homicide?

THE RULES DOSSIER: QUESTIONS:

1. What is the origin of Ben and Widmore's rules? Which rule did Ben accuse Charles of breaking?

2. What is the origin of Jacob and MiB's rules? Why does MiB follow them, even after Jacob deceived him?

3. Are there consequences for breaking Jacob and MiB's rules? Who determines/doles out the punishments?

The Once and Future Charles

Considering the surprise (not really--thanks very much rules that force a guest star's name to appear in the beginning credits even if he shows up for only the last 5 seconds of the show) appearance of Charles Widmore at the conclusion of Dr. Linus, it appears I've got little time to put this post up.


And I want to. Because Charles Widmore is a tricky guy. And he's lucky enough to be played by three actors who all have the gravitas to make us viewers know that...this is not a dude to be trifled with. But its 2007 Charles that will be returning, and Alan Dale will be a very welcome injection of cold, unyielding will after the coming and going of whiny temple translators, the meekening of Benjamin Linus, and the (funny, but enough already) frequent 'Hurley asking cute questions that the fan community also wants to know' moments.

Recent developments do suggest possible motivations for Charles's actions. When Flocke tells Ben that when he leaves, someone must be left behind 'in charge of things', its a mythology reveal we hadn't heard of before, and also another piece in the puzzle of 'what MiB wants' (a post I'll try to write before next week). But...could Widmore be allied with Flocke and trying to angle his way into this (genuine?) position? Who knows. In Widmore's loyalties are...murky. Two separate posts, one titled 'Why Widmore really works for Jacob' and the other 'Why Widmore really works for MiB' could easily be written. Each would be very long and, and each very well buttressed with incidents in the show to support their respective arguments. So I won't do that here...I'll just go ahead and present:

THE CHARLES WIDMORE DOSSIER: QUESTIONS:

1. What is Charles Widmore’s goal?

2. Is he currently allied with either MiB or Jacob? Has he switched alliances in the past? It’s pretty unambiguous that Bram and Ilana are adherents of Jacob. Yet they tell Miles that Widmore is on the ‘wrong side’. But we know that Widmore (with Ellie? After Ellie?) led the Others for a considerable amount of time…and the Others are Jacob’s boyz.

3. What angle is Widmore playing? Why?

4. Did Widmore expect/anticipate that Desmond would be drawn to the Island. Is he aware of Desmond's specialness?

5. What rules do he and Ben refer to in their nighttime conversation? Are they the same rules as the barefoot forest boy reminds Flocke of?