1.) Is it ever made clear how Mother gained her role as Protector of the Island?
No, all we get is what we see in Across The Sea.
Do you think she was the original protector or was there someone before her?
My guess is that she was the original. She is surely associated with the Egyptian "mother goddess" statue of Taweret, meaning she is at least 3-4 thousand years old
Who granted her immortality?
I think it is the Source and the role of Protector that gives someone immortality(though obviously not invulnerability), including Mother and Jacob and (I guess) Hurley.
3.) Why can MIB see dead Claudia but not Jacob?
I assume you mean after Jacob is dead. Good question. We might guess that the MIB lost his power to see ghosts after he, himself died in the cave. But the MIB has the power to project the ghosts of loved ones to people on the Island, so why couldn't he see ghosts himself anymore?
I'll chalk it up to being a loose end and/or slightly sloppy screenwriting.
4.) Why did Mother like MIB better?
Because he was more clever and well-spoken and manipulative than shy Jacob. She thought he would make a better leader and protector. He was dark-haired, like her. He was willing to use aggressive violence, like her. But all the things she liked about the MIB are what made him rebellious and want to get off the Island and have a greater sphere of influence than the reclusive "Protector" job would allow for.
I think the satanic quote applies to some degree- "I'd rather reign in hell than serve in heaven".
What exactly did MIB mean when he discussed the light and water in regard to the wheel? Even though Mother blocked his attempt to build it, it still eventually gets built. Who built it?
It seems a bit silly to me that a piece of wood could control the universal Source of life, death and everything else. But hey, we have to accept it.
The MIB built the wheel and dug the well with the help of all the villagers on the Island (whom he secretly hated and despised). The Mother killed them all before it was finished. But then the MIB killed Mother.
Later, Jacob brought more people to the Island and the MIB eventually corrupted all of them into using their skills to do his bidding. The use and abuse of technology is a strong underlying theme of Lost. Hence the army team with the atomic bomb, the Dharma initiative and all their technology and even Rousseau's scientific team.
So we may assume that some group of Island arrivals ("Others") a couple hundred years ago helped the MIB finish building the wheel (obviously it still doesn't work perfectly). Then he killed them, or more likely got them to kill each other. Just for fun, and to prove to Jacob that all human beings are corruptible. That's pretty much what the MIB does.
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danser1
9 years ago
Thanks!
PS - That's a cool quote. It definitely applies to MIB.
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danser1
9 years ago
PS - Not sure if you saw this one -
2.) Why did Mother kill Claudia? Do you think she was coming to the end of her rope as far as protecting the island? Could the two babies be looked upon as candidates in a way?
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bsharporflat
9 years ago
PS - Not sure if you saw this one -
2.) Why did Mother kill Claudia? Do you think she was coming to the end of her rope as far as protecting the island? Could the two babies be looked upon as candidates in a way?
Yep, missed it. Sorry.
Well, the two babies (she thought it was only one) absolutely are like candidates. They were brought to the Island for the same specific purpose that Jacob brought people to the Island for.
The Mother was surely tired of being Protector. After her son stabbed her, she made her feelings about it very clear. She said "Thank you!".
I guess Mother killed Claudia because her motherhood would have interfered with her own raising of the "candidate(s)" she had brought to the Island. Or at least she thought that way.
From a storytelling perspective, I think her killing Claudia then being such a nurturing mother to the boys was a deliberate way of showing Mother's dual nature as violent defender and protective mother. This is reflected in the goddess Taweret (the statue) who is part crocodile, part hippo.
In my view, after Mother dies, her two roles become split between her two sons. Jacob is the protective defender while the MIB is the violent, manipulative leader type. This is why the dark and light stones symbolism is so prevalent and why "balance" between them is so important.
This is also the reason the MIB can't be allowed to escape the Island. Off the Island he has no light/Jacob to balance him. The world would become a place of pure darkness with the MIB in charge. The entire world becoming like The Island, with a god-like demon in power constantly turning everyone against each other.. Not a fun place to live.
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secondscout
8 years ago
3.) Why can MIB see dead Claudia but not Jacob?
I assume you mean after Jacob is dead. Good question. We might guess that the MIB lost his power to see ghosts after he, himself died in the cave. But the MIB has the power to project the ghosts of loved ones to people on the Island, so why couldn't he see ghosts himself anymore?
Flocke was able to see boy Jacob after his death. Living Jacob, on the other hand, for whatever reason, didn't (couldn't?) see the ghost of Claudia in AtS.
Also, I don't think MiB could project actual ghosts of people - his projections were just projections, his own renderings of them - not ghost puppets on strings that he could manipulate.
Btw, why just take his seeing of Claudia at face value? Maybe there was another smoke monster in AtS, and it (maybe it was even Mother herself under the Mother was a smoke monster theory) projected her to him. Or maybe he time traveled and showed her to himself himself ; ) Because, other than Claudia (and boy Jacob as Flocke) he couldn't see any other ghosts and needed people('s minds) or dead bodies to scan - kind of like what Miles did, which was apparently different from Hurley's ability to see and talk to ghosts.
Shut up talking spaceship! I'm trying to watch my favorite sci-fi show.
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