Whose Side are Claire and Christian On, Anyway?

Time for the fourth in my occasional series of in-depth theorizing about the Season 5 finale. Previously:

#3: The Mystery of the Cabin
#2: The Fates of Juliet, Sayid, Locke, Jacob, Life, the Universe, and Everything
#1: "The Incident" Preliminary Rambles

In "The Mystery of the Cabin," I tried to work out who had been using the cabin, what the Shadow of the Statue cult expected to find there, and what the broken ash line meant. Two viable theories and the problems with each:

1. Jacob had been using the cabin, and surrounded it with the ash line to keep the Second Man (or Smokey, or both) out. When the Second Man was able to break through, Jacob abandoned it for the Four-Toed Statue. The Second Man had been using it since. But if he wasn't trapped in there, why did he ask Locke, "help me"?

2. Jacob trapped the Second Man inside the cabin with the ash line. (Explains the "help me" line.) Someone later broke the ash line which allowed him to escape. But the Shadow of the Statue cult went there expecting to find Jacob, and they knew about the ash line. If the ash was laid to keep the Second Man in, they would've known Jacob wasn't there and had no need to go there.

Now let's introduce Christian and Claire into the mix. For this, you need to recall two particular scenes. After re-watching both, I've formed a master theory that ties up as many loose ends as I can:

1. Season 4 premiere, "The Beginning of the End":

That's Christian Shephard sitting in the rocking chair, and this is the only time we've ever seen the cabin move. But Lindelof later said about this scene that we should be most concerned with who the eye belongs to. Since the "obvious" guess was Jacob, Lindelof's comment implies that it was someone else -- and now that we know about the Second Man, I think he's the clear choice. That puts the Second Man and Christian in direct allegiance.

2. Season 4, episode 11, "Cabin Fever":

I think the following exchange tips Christian's hand:

Locke: "You know why I'm here?"
Christian: "Yeah, sure. Do you?"
Locke: "I'm here...because I was chosen to be."
Christian: "That's absolutely right."

For one thing, Christian is clearly be playing into Locke's sense of destiny. But ironically, wickedly, he's also telling the truth -- just not the version Locke imagines. The island never chose him for a noble purpose -- instead, the Second Man chose him all along to be the vessel through which he'd be able to kill Jacob.

At the end of the Season 5 finale, the Second Man, as Locke, told Jacob "You have no idea what I've gone through to be here." I propose that Locke has been manipulated almost from day one into being the Second Man's ticket to victory. All the destiny talk -- all of it -- was part of the Second Man's years-long quest for a loophole through which he could kill Jacob. That's what Locke's journey has always been about.

Now the Season 5 finale has set up Locke -- well, Locke's body, being used by the Second Man -- as the major bad guy of the series. And sure, I've heard talk about "he doesn't need to use Locke's body anymore, the jig is up" -- but the though of Terry O'Quinn as next season's villain is just too delicious to ignore.

Some loose ends:

-Why did the Second Man say "help me"? It wasn't because he was trapped; it just reinforced Locke's sense of purpose.

-What does Claire have to do with all this? Christian is definitely working on the Second Man's behalf, and Claire was hanging out very serenely with Christian. Was she relaxed, or drugged out? Right now I'm inclined to say she was clueless to the machinations occurring around her. But with her re-introduction as a regular next season, it might be something we get answers about quickly. Relatively quickly. Maybe.

-What about Locke's vision of Walt after Ben shot him in Season 3? "Get up, John." Was the Second Man (or Smokey) posing as Walt to keep Locke going on his mission? Or was it just Locke's deep bond with Walt -- you know, Locke imagines Walt appearing to him, while meanwhile in New York, Walt has a dream about Locke needing his help? As far as the story goes, the distinction isn't really that important, but it is important when you get into the inevitable question of: who's a ghost, whose side are they on, who's a hallucination, and who's actually Smokey. Which might be my next big post...

TAGS: Cabin, Cabin Fever, Christian, Claire, Hurley, Impostor Locke, Locke, Secnd Man, Terry Oquinn, The Beginning Of The End, The Incident
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