So I've been thinking about what the "purpose" of the smoke monster that we last saw destroy Mr. Eko in "The Cost of Living", and I've come up with a couple of theories, stumbled across a couple of interesting parallels, and wound up someplace totally unexpected....  Discuss!

The short version:  The "monster" is Fate.  Fate with a capital F.  We saw it confront Eko and deliver its judgement.  Its got a "personality" if you want to call it that, as we saw when it was manifesting as Yemi ("You speak to me as if I were your brother.")

Thinking that sounds good, I started doing a bit of off-the-cuff Wikipedia research, and came up with this... Namtar.

In Mesopotamian mythology Namtar was a hellish deity, god of death, and the messenger of An, Ereshkigal and Nergal.

Namtar was considered responsible for diseases and pests, because it was said that he commanded sixty diseases in the form of demons that could penetrate different parts of the human body, and offerings to him were made with the purpose of preventing those illnesses. It is thought that Assyrians and Babylonians took this belief from the Sumerians after conquering them. To some the they were the spirit of fate, and therefore of great importance. This being was regarded as the beloved sons of Bêl. Apparently they executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and could also have power over certain of the gods. In other writings they were regarded the personification of death, much like the modern concept of the Grim Reaper.

Whoa! Interesting is the first sentence, no? Could there a be a connection there between the smoke and the so-called "disease?"  Could the "sacrifices the island demands" be the offerings keeping our castaways immune to it?  And of course we've seen the "personification of death" aspect....

Now, digging a little more into the "Fate" concept, I came across some Norse mythological references, specifically the Norns.

The Norns live beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree at the center of the cosmos (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the Bifrost Bridge), where they weave the tapestry of fates. Each person's life is a string in their loom, and the length of the string is the length of the person's life.

Good stuff, that.  If you really wanted to get weird you could even draw a nice parallel to Eko's standing underneath that wicked-looking spidery tree right before the monster took him.  Maybe that's a reach, but that's one of the first things I thought of.

Consider too the "weaving the tapestry of fates."  The entire show is based upon this premise, that all (ok, some) of our characters seem to have crossed paths at least once in their past, and they've wound up here on the island.

AND, tie in the Norse-ness of it all with the Others' funeral rite we witnessed in "The Cost of Living."  Sending a burning funeral pyre out to sea is about as Viking as it gets!

And it gets better, remember Mr. Eyepatch, and the recollection that the tailies found a glass eye back in the Arrow station?  Read on about The Well of Urd, connected to our Norns...

The Well of Urd (ON: Urðarbrunnr) is from Norse Mythology as the well in Asgard which fed one of the roots of the Yggdrasil. Also near the well in a hall are three Norns (or Nornir) that tend the well - Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, personifications of fate. They engrave the fate of all humans onto the trunk of the Yggdrasil and attend to the needs of the tree. Odin, the Poetry god, dropped his eye into the well to gain the "Gift of Knowledge." Odin completed two other tasks to gain the "Gift of Poetry" and the "Mysteries of Nature."

(Big emphasis mine.) Oooh.  Now either I'm going off the deep end in connecting my symbolism or somebody else has been doing their research as well.  Maybe another bit of straw-grasping, but you could even connect the physical configurations of the Pearl and Swan stations to be like "wells."  So which Norn is Desmond, keeper of his "well"?

Is any of this relevant?  Hell, I dunno.  It's just damned interesting that every time I go on one of these information hunts, one thing leads to another and we end up someplace unexpected.

Something to think about.

Technorati Tags: lost, tv, television, theories, smoke, mythology, fate, norse, viking

The "TV Guide" description for "I Do" reads as follows....

Jack makes a decision regarding Ben's offer; Kate feels helpless when it appears that Pickett (Michael Bowen) will carry out his threat to kill Sawyer; and Locke discovers a hidden message that may help him unlock the secrets of the island.

So Jack makes a decision regarding Ben's offer, eh?  Doesn't say if he makes a decision regarding Juliet's offer, though.  Wonder if they'll leave that as a cliffhanger?  Jack standing over an "open" Ben wondering what he should do...

This whole Kate & Sawyer thing, I'm just not feeling it, man.  Sorry.  I wonder whose "side" Pickett is on, though.  Ben's or Juliet's?  Jack's decision about what to do with Ben could influence Pickett one way or the other.

And Locke.  Once again the "Locke and Key" pokes its head up out of the beach sand to leave us hanging.  Will this message be something inside the Pearl that they haven't found yet?  Do they go after Eyepatch and find something there?  Will we have a funeral for Eko?

In any case, between Jack and Locke I suspect we'll have a bit of a cliffhanger to keep us guessing until February.

Technorati Tags: lost, television, tv, I Do, episodes, characters, rumors, jack, ben, locke, kate, sawyer, juliet

Entertainment Weekly interviewed Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje about his leaving LOST and his plans thereafter...

Link: Entertainment Weekly's EW.com | Feature: Life after death for the man behind ''Lost'''s Mr. Eko

Technorati Tags: lost, tv, television, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, characters, eko, cast

OK, so maybe it wasn't the "trouble with the law" curse, but these are a couple of interesting stories on how it came to be.  Unfortunate for us, maybe fortunate for him, and maybe everyone else as well?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje asked to be written off the series. After losing both
parents last year, he wanted to return to his London home and work on a
film he'll direct.

And it comes out that Evi got a parking ticket last week. Oh NOES!

I heard too that if you look into a mirror with the lights out and say "Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje" three times that the smoke monster comes for you.  If you can do it!

Link: TV Guide Community: Ausiello Report
Link: Eko is monster mash - USATODAY.com

Technorati Tags: lost, television, tv, eko, (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Cecilia at The Lost Blog brings up a point or two about Mr. Eyepatch we saw last night.  I had totally forgotten about this!

Eyepatch guy is probably the owner of the glass eye found in the Arrow bunker.

So, was there more to the Arrow than we first thought?  Or did Mr. Eyepatch up and switch stations?  Maybe he is one of "the bad guys!"

Link: The Eyepatch Guy is Not Radzinsky - The Lost Blog

Technorati Tags: lost, television, tv, eyepatch, arrow, pearl, hatch, glass eye

Well, I have to say I was just plain blown away last night.  That was one of the best episodes yet.  It's a shame that we had to lose one of the main characters, but after seeing it I understand why it had to happen.  The timing of it has me somewhat confused, but the end result didn't leave me with that "why?! WHY did you do that?!" feeling I was expecting.  Spoilers abound in the continuation...

USA Today talks with Santoro, aka "Paulo" about his past.  I wonder how much these two new characters will end up playing into the show?  Will we be getting flashbacks and some big character insights like we have the rest or are they just there to look good?

Link: Santoro leaves fame in Brazil to find 'Lost' - USATODAY.com

Technorati Tags: lost, television, tv, rodrigo santoro, paulo, nikki, characters

Andreas at 'The Lost Blog' has some interesting conjecture about Rousseau and the nature of 'the sickness' that seemed to be much concern to everybody...

Some interesting thoughts there.  Big question is, if it's all a big hoax, why were Ethan and Tom so interested in getting Claire (and hence Aaron) inoculated?  Why'd that medical station get abandonded? And what's happened to Rousseau anyway? She's been conspicuously absent these first few episodes.

Link: They were the carriers - The Lost Blog

Technorati Tags: lost, television, tv, sickenss, quarantine, kelvin, others, rousseau, black rock