a thousand questions from becky

A Thousand New Questions, by Becky

Since last night's "Across The Sea" gave us a long look at Jacob and MIB's childhood, I have no reason to complain about still having questions. We were provided with a few answers, such as: J&MIB are twin brothers, MIB perhaps never got a name (and is thus more of an archetype, perhaps), Jacob took on his Mother's role of protecting the golden-light-pool-which-contains-the-stuff-that's-in-everyone's-soul, and what we see as Smokey most likely got released because Jacob threw MIB into that very same pool. Going off of that, I still have infinity questions, and I thought it might be useful to put them out here. This way you can add to it or provide your answers or theories in the comments section, and at the end of it all, we can look at (a) which questions get answered, (b) which will only get hinted at, and (c) which we will simply have to explain by ourselves. Here it comes!

1. If Mother came from her own mother, I think we can assume that she took over Island Guardianship from her own mother. Who was the first person to take on that post? How did that person first find out what the golden light pool was?
2. Does the golden light pool become the building site for the Temple? If so, why doesn't the Temple water have a similar effect as MIB's adventure in the golden pool? Does Sayid's transformation hint at what MIB's golden pool did?
   
3. Is Smokey something very, very ancient that was released when MIB was thrown into the golden pool, or did MIB become Smokey when he was thrown in? And WHAT IS SMOKEY? All those mechanical clicks and all that puffy black smoke...what makes Smokey take on these characteristics?
4. What would ACTUALLY happen if Smokey made it off the Island? I feel like we're still hearing half-truths on that topic. I'd like to know what would actually happen. Would Smokey take over everyone's corpse-copies and pilfered memories?
   
5. Has anyone ever used the golden pool for his own horrible devices? Why weren't the consequences as bad as what might happen if Smokey gets off the Island? I ask because to me it looks like there's no particular evidence that something bad happened because the golden pool was tapped into. Is the endgame protecting the golden pool, or keeping Smokey on the Island?
   
6. How and why can Jacob get off the Island? And why can't MIB do it the same way?
7. How and why and what The Donkey Wheel?
   
8. How and why can Jacob see things through his lighthouse mirrors?
9. How can it be that a concentration of golden poolwater on the Island is connected to the teensy bits of golden poolwater within all of us who walk the Earth? To ask what the water is would be too open-ended, I think. So I'd like to know more about how people know what they know about it. Basically, what does Mother know that she's hiding from us?
10. Has anyone ever released Smokey through the golden pool before? If not, how did Mother come to collect information on how dangerous it is to enter the pool?
11. MIB mentioned that he was "special." What makes him say that? If he is special, is it that he's innately special? Was his father someone interesting? Is he special because he has the ability to lie? Doesn't everyone (minus Jacob)?
12. Why is Mother so thrilled by MIB's ability to lie when she goes on to condemn his fellow villagers for lying (and fighting, and destroying, and corrupting, and it all always ending the same)?
13. Why did Jacob stay the same age for so long?
14. What gave Mother the rule-making ability to keep Jacob and MIB from ever hurting each other? Why then could Jacob throw MIB into the golden pool and either (a) kill him or (b) make him suffer a fate worse than death? Aren't fates worse than death also "hurtful?"
15. Why could Sawyer see the young boy who appeared to Smokey in the woods? I think the actor who played Child Jacob is clearly the same actor who did both apparitions, but let me check out lostpedia...ah, inconclusive.
    
16. Did Smokey originate when Jacob threw MIB into that golden pool, or did the event just release the Smokey that was already down there? Can't Smokey take on people's memories (because if he can copy their corpses, I guess he can copy their memories?)? We know that MIB's body was left unburied, so it's hard to say that MIB definitely became Smokey just because he appears as MIB. And yet Mother said that to go into that golden pool would be worse than death. Is being Smokey necessarily MIB's "fate worse than death?" Or could there be something else going on?
17. Why does everyone sound so unnatural speaking Latin?
18. What makes Boy Jacob different from BIB? Why could one lie and one not?

Please give me your answers or theories or whatever else in the comment section (or in your own posts, locke-down planners). I don't want to just nitpick a show that I love, particularly while I'm try to watch for character, story, mythology, and entertainment at the same time. I'm frustrated because, although I was entertained last night, I didn't understand any more of Lost's characters, story, or origin mythology. Lying leads to violence - DUH! We knew that when Sawyer got bamboo up his nails in season 1!