The other day someone set me some links to some cool LOST posters… and today, I was thinking, “Hey, why don’t I make one of my own? That would be fun.”

So I did. Less than a week until the premiere!

A collection of questions, observations and predictions…

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Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

Warning: There are LOST spoilers below if you haven’t watched through Season 5. Don’t read this if you aren’t up-to-date on LOST, or you will be sorry.

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1. Question: We never see the Smoke Monster in the 70’s, though the fence is there to keep it out of Dharmaville. What’s up with that?

2. Question: Why was it so important that Aaron be baptized? This seems like a pretty minor question (it was featured in the episode where Eko baptized Claire and Aaron) but could be important.

3. Question/Major Point of Interest: Is the smoke monster actually Jacob’s nemesis, or is it its own entity? Two thoughts here:

• It makes sense that they’re the same. Locke disappears when the smoke monster appears, and it just seems to fit that the mysterious black-shirted man is the smoke monster. Since Jacob’s nemesis wants to destroy Jacob, he’s constantly evaluating and judging the people that come onto the island. Like we see with Ben, he shows them memories, tests their guilt and remorse, and can then devour those who are guilty (see the Egyptian mythology connection below). The monster looks for those who he can use in his quest to destroy Jacob. Since Jacob is pure, the smoke cannot harm him – therefore he must find someone who will destroy Jacob for him (Ben) and someone who is trustworthy enough to get close enough to do it (Locke).
• If Jacob’s nemesis and the smoke monster are one and the same, it goes against my inclination to believe that the smoke monster is somehow tied to the Egyptian demon Ammut (Ammit). After dying, a soul would be led to the underworld by Anubis, where his or her heart would be judged on a scale. Ammut would sit beneath the scales of judgment and devour the souls of the unworthy. Some parts of this jive, but Ammut seems relatively minor in Egyptian mythology to actually BE Jacob’s nemesis – but it makes sense that it could be on his side, or used as a tool.
• I believe, either way, that Jacob’s nemesis is somehow trapped on the island – or at least was until Jacob was killed.

4. Prediction: The fertility issues on the island began whenever the statue of Taweret was destroyed. (We know the statue was of Taweret because the LOST producers confirmed it).

5. Prediction: We’ll discover that Richard Alpert has been on the island even longer than we may have imagined: since Egyptian times or earlier (S6 Episode 9 is titled “Ab Aeterno” (“since the beginning of time”). I’ll wager this episode is about Richard.

6. Prediction: Time will reset back to 1977, when Juliet set off the bomb. This opens up a slew of alternate timeline possibilities – not only could things with the plane crash be different, but things on the island could be different. Some characters could lead entirely different lives in this alternate timeline. Maybe Sawyer’s parents weren’t conned. Maybe the purge never happened. Maybe Ben isn’t a bad guy. Maybe Kate didn’t kill anyone. Maybe Jack is happily married. Maybe Hurley doesn’t win the lottery. It would be interesting to see all of these characters living in an alternate, very different reality and see if they feel like anything is different or wrong – are they who they’re supposed to be? Will they still be led to the island somehow? Interestingly, this means we CAN see any number of characters who have been killed or have disappeared – but we don’t necessarily have to.

7. Point of interest: We often see the smoke monster take the form of dead people on the island – Christian, Alex, Yemi, and others – but never people that have been buried. This may be part of the reason Dharma folks insist on being buried (or why Horace’s wife insisted on burying the two dead others before they returned to Dharmaville in 1974). Also, remember: Ben’s first conversation with Richard Alpert (when Ben was a child) happened because Ben said he followed a vision of his dead mother into the jungle.

8. Prediction: Locke’s use of the “failsafe” in the Swan will be critically important in Season 6 – and I believe it may present the opportunity to converge two alternate realities/timelines (a quick check on Lostpedia says the failsafe was used 67 days after Flight 815 crashed on the island).  Either way, we’re going to have to get answers about the Failsafe in season 6.

9. Question: Who shot at the time-jumping crew while they were in the canoe?

10. Prediction: “It always ends the same” — things on the island repeat themselves. Somehow, Jacob and the man in black are always bringing in batches of people and testing them (going back to the Black Rock, or perhaps even farther to ancient Egypt). Jacob’s nemesis has lost hope in humanity, but Jacob still believes, and will continue to give them the chance to somehow succeed. So, is Jacob’s “death” part of it always ending the same, or has his nemesis somehow changed the game this time?

11. Prediction/Question: This is a prediction, but it’s so loose it might as well be a question. The numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 – they represent something each time this “game” between Jacob and his nemesis goes around. Could the numbers represent certain people (you know — Enneagram-style). Each time there’s a 4, an 8 – and these six people are the key players each time around. OK, it’s loose, but there’s some semblance of an idea there.

13. Question: Where, oh where, does Widmore fit into all of this? What are his real motives? Whose side is he on, if anyone’s? I have no good ideas here.

12. Non sequitur: I can’t wait for Radzinsky to become a stain on the ceiling.