The Man Behind the Curtain

No episode has changed as much as this one in terms of it's meaning to the overall mythology of Lost. After it first aired (and really up until The Incident), this was our only glimpse of Jacob. Various characters had dropped his name here and there, and Hurley and Locke saw the cabin in season 4, but as far as we new, Jacob was not involved in either of those instances. That's what made it such a seminal episode. All we knew (or thought we knew) was that Jacob was a guy who lived in a cabin, was very old-fashioned, could speak to people telepathically, cause violent turmoil, and choose to whether or not to be visible. We assumed Ben took orders from him, that Richard never spoke to him. Now we know some of that is wrong. We have no clue what to make of that scene in the cabin. And after season 6, it will take on an entirely different meaning once we get some answers about the Jacob/Man in Black struggle.

After The Incident, what are we supposed to take away from The Man Behind the Curtain? If Ben has never spoken to Jacob, who was in that chair? Was it the Man in Black? Was it nobody at all? And why did Ben choose to take Locke there if he didn't even know where Jacob was? Had he gone to that cabin previously for instructions? And if so, does that confirm that the Man in Black has been influencing the Others for quite some time? That would certainly suggest that the Man in Black was the one who ordered the Purge, given how nicely that would parallel the flashbacks of the episode.

I have all the confidence in the world that we will get these questions answered in season 6. And when we do, then we will be able to put The Man Behind the Curtain and all it's craziness into perspective.