As we head to the Season 5 Finale of Lost, there are a few questions that are expected to be answered by the time we’re hit with a huge cliffhanger that’ll make us dread the 8 month wait till the final season of Lost. Let’s begin.

Who is Jacob?

Both Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse joked that Jacob was a 60 foot high wall of fire. We know better than that. Though, Cuse and Lindeloff can treat this mystery with a touch of humor, the fact is it has been a question that has followed fans from the moment we learned of his List. Who is Jacob?

The question might be answered in the Season 5 Finale. Locke, dead and back again, has just informed Benjamin Linus that he intends to find Jacob so that he could kill him. The irony will of course present itself if half the fans are right in their prediction that Jacob is in fact John Locke.

If there ever could be a better cliff hanger heading into Season 6 it would be learning that Jacob is someone we know but never expected. It’s difficult to sit back and pick a character that would feed us questions for 8 months as we wait for the Season 6 premiere, but there are a few that come to mind.

Jacob is Aaron.

This will be difficult to prove if Aaron is a man. Compounding the problem is no one currently in 2007 being able to recognize the fellow. Sun might have the advantage having known Kate and seeing a young Aaron, but it doesn’t assure us of anything. That would mean that someone would have to explain to us that Jacob is Aaron. That issue alone leads me to believe that this theory is not happening.

Jacob is Jack.

Ok, this is where the other half of fans sit with the Jacob theory so it’s not exactly something we wouldn’t expect. But, it’s worth mentioning because Jack is undoubtedly the leader of the clan, and Matthew Fox has already been given information on how to handle his character because he knows the ending of the series. Does this mean he’s Jacob? Probably not. It does, however, present an interesting conflict for Locke. Would he kill Jacob if he learned that he was Jack? Likely no.

Jacob is Walt.

Why not? Walt has shown an inexplicable ability to be two places at once. Is it not possible that he could be on the Island and off the Island causing the illusion of his appearance being invisible? Yes. Also, who else would want Locke leading his people but Walt? Not to mention, the actor portraying Walt has go to be about 40 years old by now, right, so this should work out fine.

(For those that don’t know, that’s a joke).

Jacob is an Entirely New Character

Sort of. I find it difficult to believe that Jacob is someone we have never met. Lost is confusing, but it has never purposely try to throw us off track. When there was a dead body in a casket, it ended up being a character we knew, John Locke. When Chang picked up a young baby boy, it ended up being Miles. When Juliet delivered a baby, it ended up being Ethan. Catching a pattern here?

It’s possible that Jacob is a character that was never deemed that important from the start. Someone that appeared in flashes a few times. That list goes on for a long time and the only minor character that comes close to being instantly recognizable is Cooper, Locke’s father. But he’s dead and he arrived on the Island via Magic Box Express.

So who is Jacob? We don’t know and it’s highly likely that it’ll be someone we never suspected. Of course, it’s just as likely that it’s someone we do expect and that’ll sure be a fun conflict for Locke to face.

One time line vs. Alternate Realities

When it comes to time travel there are two commonly accepted schools of thought here: you either travel through time and cannot change the events of the past or future, or you travel through time and a simple untimely death of a butterfly can create an alternate reality that becomes your new future.

Lost has seemingly taken the one time line approach. We have witnessed that the actions taken in the past were actions that always occured. There is no changing of the future, only the actions that create the future we already know. This theory continues to be questioned because Daniel Faraday presented the idea of variables and Jack is convinced that he can change the future. The constant reminder that there are people looking for ways to change the future, makes it difficult to accept Lost’s path. Is it one time line or not? We are not exactly certain.

The finale will tell the tale of The Incident that became so famous through Chang’s Orientation tapes. Since that story will definitely be told in the finale (it is titled The Incident), we will definitely be given an answer to this question. Either Jack fails or Jack succeeds. The only thing that could create more havoc in figuring out which theory stands true in Lost is not knowing how Jack’s failure or success affecrts the future.

The single thing that makes The Incident so dramatic for viewers is us not knowing what exactly happens in The Incident. We are led to believe that there are two possibilities here. There is the ripping of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere and there is the explosion of the hydrogen bomb. So, what’s the problem? There is no actual proof that either occured.

If there happens to be a detrimental unleashing of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere then we should assume that that energy is catastrophic. Yet, in 2003 there is a Swan Station (which is being built in 1977) that is specifically designed to keep this energy withheld. Consider this, if catastrophic electromagnetic energy is out in the open, how would anyone be able to finish building a Station that holds it in? The only logical explanation is that the energy never released and the Station’s purpose was reassigned to keep that energy down.

Now imagine yourself miles away from a site that has just been bombed. Walk to that site and what do you see? More than likely a large hole, debris, and total chaos. Let’s move back to reality (or the reality of Lost) and consider a bomb exploding in 1977 and then the look of the Island in 2003. There is no evidence in 2003 that a large hydrogen bomb exploded causing massive chaos and destruction on the Island. Logically speaking, no bomb set off. So what gives?

What gives is that The Incident may not be what we expect. It’s possible that The Incident is a fairy tale created by the Losties and Chang to give DHARMA members reason to push a button or study the psychological level of people in particular Orientation Stations. Or it’s possible that we’ll finally really learn the truth once we’re given enough information. The door is wide open here.

The Ending

This is vague and it’s meant to be. There’s no real way we could know the end of Lost after the Season 5 Finale, but Lindeloff and Cuse both stated that after tonight’s finale (and along with the Season 6 Premiere) fans will be able to logically put together a theory that holds water. They believe that up to this point, we have not been given enough information to fully understand the happenings of Lost and not many fans are going to disagree with that. There’s still a lot of mystery and confusion with the series and it’s direction. This mystery and confusion has even led to the belief that the writers just make it all up as they go.

It’s important for this series to start making sense. Cuse joked that we should definitely get it by the end of Season 6 (key word: joke), but the producers do understand that there is frustration. We won’t know everything, but fans do feel they should know at least a little bit. There might not be a choice here.

There will be a lot of tying up of loose ends in Season 6 and the producers both confirmed that there are stories that just won’t have complete answers (likely pushing my belief that Lost will continue in either novels or comics. It only makes sense to continue milking the franchise). In order to tie up those knots, fans are going to know what’s going on. It’s the only way it can be logically done.

So, sit back and prepare for the Two-Hour Season Finale on Wednesday. What are your thoughts on the Finale and the still mysterious cliff hanger?