Rules Clarification

[lostsense]

So let me get this straight,

Mothers rules are 1) MiB cannot leave the island. 2) MiB and Jacob cant hurt each other directly. 3) Mother states that MiB does not ever have to worry about dying.
Exception to rule 1: MiB can leave the island if he finds electro magnetism and builds a wheel to turn and thus must be prevented from leaving physically by someone (mother).
MiB can leave the island if Jacob AND any/all candidates have been killed.

Exception to rule 2: They can actually hurt each other (jacob beats the snot out of MiB a few times) and can kill MiBs physical body OR kill each other indirectly (loophole, using a proxy, i.e Ben and Richard)

Exception to rule 3: If island power gets turned off if MiB is smoke monster, MiB becomes mortal again and can be killed by anyone (kate) or new protector of island (Jack) or a combination of the two or perhaps anyone in the vicinity.

Jacobs rules are 1) a continuation of Mothers rules..MiB cannot leave island, MiB and Jacob cant kill each other directly. In addition 2) MiB cannot kill any candidates
exception to rule 2) MiB can kill candidates indirectly (planting a bomb that if tampered with by candidates could kill candidates).

Additional fuzzy rules: 1) Only the leader can request an audience with Jacob if Jacob deems it worthy.
Exception: If one is forceful enough, you can see him without jacob deeming it worthy and also if forceful enough you can bring someone else with you. (MiB with Ben telling richard)

2) Dead is Dead
Exception: People can communicate with the dead (Hurley Miles) and MiB can pretend to be dead people (possible exception to only being dead people: Walt, Harper). Also Jacob can communicate when he wants to post mortem (jack, MiB, Kate, Sawyer) but only until his ashes are burnt again and dissolve. Or if dead and tried to revive in healing pool, you may come back to life, but you may have some "infection" that turns you into a shadow self with no feelings. Exception: You can be talked out of zombie state and have feelings if speaker is convincing enough (desmond).

3) MiB cannot go over water (that is seen as leaving the island, cant scoot over to hydra island via smoke.
Possible Exception: MiB is seen on the freighter as christian, also Jack sees Christian after he leaves the island and Michael sees libby after leaving the island but these could just be hallucinations.

4) MiB cannot cross over circle of ash directly. However he can force someone out of the ash by dropping a rock on their head forcing them out of the circle. Also if leader of the temple is dead perhaps ash loses its power (ash was made with dogen parts? and therefore loses its power?)

5) Ben and Widmore cannot directly kill each other.
Exception: Perhaps if Jacob dies this rule no longer exists. Perhaps its not a strict rule and just something that was told to both of them. You can also "change the rules" by killing daughters of people. Possible exception: If not real daughter, you can kill them.

6) Whatever happens happens.
Exception: Desmond is special and can alter things/Course correction--saving charlie will die another way.

7) Certain people cannot die until the island (jacob?) is done with them. (open to interpretation)

8) Island is not purgatory
Exception: If you have not been forgiven by island/jacob/god, you are stuck on island after death aka purgatory. (Whispers)

9) If you are banished from the island (either by leader of the others or by turning wheel to get off the island), you cannot ever return to the island.
Exception: If jacob needs you back you may come back. This rule may have been a lie to force issues to get to end result of killing jacob and MiB.

10) MiB can change into any person as long as they are dead, until jacob is killed (not any protector since jack was protector of the island and MiB was still locke) in which case he is stuck using the last person he imitated.

Any other rules I am forgetting? Im just trying to get them all straight into my head. Please make corrections where necessary if i have something wrong.

[JackMarco]

Pretty much spot on.

Some people will probably complain about this

3) MiB cannot go over water (that is seen as leaving the island, cant scoot over to hydra island via smoke.
Possible Exception: MiB is seen on the freighter as christian, also Jack sees Christian after he leaves the island and Michael sees libby after leaving the island but these could just be hallucinations.

and claim that this was actually the real Christian. Doubtful.

So pretty much spot on^^

[stan kubrick]

this is one of the things that really bugs me , none of the rules are rules . as an audience we suspend disbelief and accept that theres magic , but we expect that the writers play fair and have sorted out the story's own internal logic and its parameters , but not Darlton .

and they're always going on about this 'iceberg' they constructed , this iceberg would have sank long ago

[lostsense]

added a 10th rule regarding MiB.

[Matt A.M]

10) MiB can change into any person as long as they are dead, until jacob is killed (not any protector since jack was protector of the island and MiB was still locke) in which case he is stuck using the last person he imitated.

I think MiB being stuck as Locke after there was a new Protector was because the Light went out (MiB was mortal).

[lostsense]

I think MiB being stuck as Locke after there was a new Protector was because the Light went out (MiB was mortal).

gotcha. Could be.

[rachelskid]

I think MiB being stuck as Locke after there was a new Protector was because the Light went out (MiB was mortal).

Illana said he was stuck that way long before the light went out. jacob's death is the presumed event that makes him stuck.

[Matt A.M]

Illana said he was stuck that way long before the light went out. jacob's death is the presumed event that makes him stuck.

But if another Protector was in place, MiB might not be stuck.

[jack static]

I posted this in another thread but parts of it apply to this thread as well:

I pulled out the Encyclopedia to reference another thread and it specifically says "The Man in Black took on Christian Shephard's form immediately after discovering his dead body flung from the twisted wreckage of flight 815. He became aware of all of Christian's memories, including full disclosure of his son, Jack, and daughter, Claire." It also says "Until Jacob's death, the Man in Black had the ability to take on different forms at will and also be in two places at once."

It also says that "Back in Los Angeles, Jack's experience of seeing Christian's form on the island led to him imagining seeing his father. In one such moment, as Jack heard the beep of the smoke alarm, he thought his father was in front of him."

Then it goes on to list the exact same piece of info slightly rewritten on opposite pages as a continued demonstration of the lack of editing that went into this book.

[Choekaas]

People tend to forget the rules that we are given in "Stranger in a Strange Land", a set of rules most likely from Jacob (since they remind of the rules of Mother/Jacob's rules)

Juliet was sentenced to death by the Rules to the Others because:
- She killed one of their own, Danny Pickett. In other words: An "Other" is not allowed to kill another "Other".
- She gave Jack instructions to kill Ben. An "Other" can't kill another "Other" indirectly (through another person that is not one of them)

These crimes are, by the rules, punished with execution.


Even though I find it very weird that it's punished by execution, and not banishment (which makes most logical sense considering what we know about The Others now).
But I find it interesting to put these rules up to. Makes me think more about the rules Ben mentions in "The Shape of Things to Come" and probably what he meant with Widmore breaking the rules.