The plane clears frame, finally free of the Island.posted by WCityMike at 1:40 PM on May 27, 2010 [9 favorites]
Jack Shephard has done what he came to this place to do.
He has found his purpose.
He has found love, and been loved.
He has finally found a way to love himself.
The bamboo sways across the blue sky and Jack Shephard's eye closes one final time.
He is gone.
The end.
CC: Lost is driving toward an ending and that ending is: Are these people getting off this island? What is the nature of this island? What is going to happen to them? What is their ultimate fate? What is their ultimate destiny? Those questions need to get answered.posted by LooseFilter at 2:49 PM on May 27, 2010
EM: And you guys know all of the answers to all of the questions?
DL: We can hand you an envelope right now and we could seal it in a safety deposit box and it would say in that envelope: Here's what the island is. Here's why these people came to this island. Here's roughly what the events of the last episode of the show will be. There are certain things that we cannot predict. If we add a new actor to the show like Michael Emerson [Ben] or Ian Cusick [Desmond] we're still telling the same story but we want to get to it in a different way because we'll put it on the backs of the people whom the audience is jelling with. How we got there and which characters would be involved might be a little bit vague, but the actual answers to the mysteries, the nature of the island, what the monster is, the function of the monster, when the Others came here, why the black rock is in the middle of the island, the explanation for the four-toed statue, those things we know the answers to. How we're going to reveal those answers becomes the slippery slope of the show.
Now Re was all-powerful, and he could take many forms. His power and the secret of it lay in his hidden name; but if he spoke other names, that which he named came into being.From The Story of Isis and Osiris:
In the days before Re had left the earth, before he had begun to grow old, his great wisdom told him that if the goddess Nut bore children, one of them would end his reign among men. So Re laid a curse upon Nut - that she should not be able to bear any child upon any day in the year.From the entry on Senet (the board game the young Man in Black found in "Across the Sea"):
Full of sorrow, Nut went for help to Thoth, the thrice-great god of wisdom and magic and learning, Re's son, who loved her. Thoth knew that the curse of Re, once spoken, could never be recalled, but in his wisdom he found a way of escape. He went to Khonsu, the Moon-god, and challenged him to a contest at draughts. Game after game they played and always Thoth won. The stakes grew higher and higher, but Khonsu wagered the most, for it was some of his own light that he risked and lost.
Appearance: The senet board consisted of thirty squares in three rows of ten. The last five squares generally were marked with hieroglyphic symbols. During the Old Kingdom, each of the two players had seven playing pieces. Later on, this number was reduced to five pieces each. In fancier New Kingdom sets, the pieces were sometimes made in the form of kneeling, bound captives. Movement of the playing pieces seems to be determined by tossing knucklebones or sticks with different colored sides, similar to modern games which use dice. The rules of play are not exactly known.From the entry on Pools (i.e., the pool at the Temple, and the one surrounding the Source):
Meaning: The senet game was connected to the afterlife. Senet boards were often placed in tombs (Tutankhamen was entombed with four, it is assumed that the game was a favorite of his). The game was supposed to be a pasttime for the deceased. However, symbolically the game also was connected with the attainment of the afterlife by the dead. In many tomb paintings and Book of the Dead illustrations, the deceased is shown playing the game with no visible opponent. It may be that in these cases, the person is playing against the powers of the beyond. Winning against these opponents may lead to good fortune in the afterlife.
Like many ancient cultures, the Egyptians believed that the world emerged from primeval waters. The Egyptians personified these waters as the god, Nun. The pool often symbolized these waters of the First Time. The young sun god was often depicted rising from a pool of water that represented Nun. The pool was also related to the Afterlife, as seen in the image to the right.From the entry on Brazier (which bears a resemblance to the uncorked Source):
It was a symbol of fire in Egyptian art and of fire's connotations. Fire was a mysterious and potent entity in many ancient cultures. It is found depicted frequently in Egyptian art.And finally, from the myth of a man seeking a spellbook of the gods:
Fire seems to have a life force of its own and thus was a symbol itself for life. At the sed festival, which renewed and gave new life to his reign in Egypt, the pharoah would light a symbolic fire. The sun was seen as the "fire of life". The uraeus, a symbol of the sun, was often portrayed spitting fire at the sun's enemies. Heliopolis, whose name literally means "city of the sun" was sometimes represented by a brazier. A pair of braziers represented the "Island of Fire" where the sun was born. This island was also a metaphor for the dawn.
Fire was also closely related to the Underworld. Much like the medieval Christian concept of Hell, the Egyptian Underworld was filled with fiery rivers and lakes. The Underworld was also inhabited by many fire demons who threatened the wicked dead. These demons wear depicted with the hieroglyph of the brazier on their heads. The Lakes of Fire in the Underworld were drawn like normal pools of water, but with braziers on each side and fiery red (instead of blue) wavy lines transversing them. The Lakes of Fire were also shown with baboons seated at each corner. These lakes were only troublesome for the wicked, the righteous could drink of them and be refreshed.
'First he created a magic cabin that was full of men and tackle. He cast a spell on it, giving life and breath to the men, and he sank the magic cabin into the river. Then he filled the Royal Boat with sand and put out into the middle of the Nile until he came to the place below which the magic cabin lay. And he spoke words of power, and cried, "Workmen, workmen, work for me even where lies the Book of Thoth!" They toiled without ceasing by day and by night, and on the third day they reached the place where the Book lay.Magic cabins? Invincible "serpents" that are thwarted by dust? Divine knowledge and power imparted by drink?
Then Nefrekeptah cast out the sand and they raised the Book on it until it stood upon a shoal above the level of the river.
'And behold all about the iron box, below it and above it, snakes and scorpions twined. And the serpent that could not die was twined about the box itself. Nefrekeptah cried to the snakes and scorpions a loud and terrible cry - and at his words of magic they became still, nor could one of them move.
'Then Nefrekeptah walked unharmed among the snakes and scorpions until he came to where the serpent that could not die lay curled around the box of iron. The serpent reared itself up for battle, since no charm could work on it, and Nefrekeptah drew his sword and rushing upon it, smote off its head at a single blow. But at once the head and the body sprang together, and the serpent that could not die was whole again and ready for the fray. Once more Nefrekeptah smote off its head, and this time he cast it far away into the river. But at once the head returned to the body, and was joined to the neck, and the serpent that could not die was ready for its next battle.
'Nefrekeptah saw that the serpent could not be slain, but must be overcome by cunning. So once more he struck off its head. But before head and body could come together he put sand on each part so that when they tried to join they could not do so as there was sand between them - and the serpent that could not die lay helpless in two pieces.
'Then Nefrekeptah went to where the iron box lay on the shoal in the river; and the snakes and scorpions watched him; and the head of the serpent that could not die watched him also: but none of them could harm him.
'He opened the iron box and found in it a bronze box; he opened the bronze box and found in it a box of sycamore wood; he opened that and found a box of ivory and ebony, and in that a box of silver, and at the last a box of gold. And when he had opened the golden box he found in it the Book of Thoth. He opened the Book and read the first page - and at once he had power over the heavens and the earth, the abyss, the mountains and the sea; he knew what the birds and the beasts and the fishes were saying. He read the next page of spells, and saw the sun shining in the sky, the moon and the stars, and knew their secrets - and he saw also the gods themselves who are hidden from mortal sight.
'Then, rejoicing that the priest's words had proved true, and the Book of Thoth was his, he cast a spell upon the magic men, saying, "Workmen, workmen, work for me and take me back to the place from which I came!" They brought him back to Koptos where I sat waiting for him, taking neither food nor drink in my anxiety, but sitting stark and still like one who is gone to the grave.
'When Nefrekeptah came to me, he held out the Book of Thoth and I took it in my hands. And when I read the first page I also had power over the heavens and the earth, the abyss, the mountains and the sea; and I also knew what the birds, the beasts and the fishes were saying. And when I read the second page I saw the sun, the moon and the stars with all the gods, and knew their secrets even as he did.
'Then Nefrekeptah took a clean piece of papyrus and wrote on it all the spells from the Book of Thoth. He took a cup of beer and washed off the words into it and drank it so that the knowledge of the spells entered into his being. But I, who cannot write, do not remember all that is written in the Book of Thoth - for the spells which I had read in it were many and hard.
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