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===[[Timeline:September_2004|September 28, 2004]]===
===2004===
 
Centuries later, [[Jack Shephard]] and [[Kate Austen]] [[House of the Rising Sun#On the Island|discover]] the corpses laid side-by-side in the cave, as well as the black and white stones. [[John Locke]] calls the pair "our very own [[Adam and Eve]]."
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[[House of the Rising Sun|Centuries later]], [[Jack Shephard]] and [[Kate Austen]] [[House of the Rising Sun#On the Island|discover]] the corpses laid side-by-side in the cave, as well as the black and white stones. [[John Locke]] calls the pair "our very own [[Adam and Eve]]."
   
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==

Revision as of 19:36, 12 May 2010

"Across the Sea" is the 15th episode in Season 6 of Lost and the 118th produced hour of the series as a whole. It aired on May 11, 2010. The history of the relationship between Jacob and The Man in Black is revealed.

Synopsis

Classical Roman times

6x15 WhoAreYou

Claudia asks the woman who she is.

Claudia is in the ocean clinging to the remains of a ship, she looks around and sees an island. She is washed ashore and when she struggles to her feet her billowing red dress reveals her advanced pregnancy. The beach is strewn with debris from the shipwreck. She makes her way inland and drinks from a stream. As she drinks she sees a woman reflected in the water. The woman takes Claudia to her primitive camp, feeds her and treats her injuries.

6x15thetwins

The twins at birth.

The two have a conversation in Latin, and the woman answers Claudia's questions, telling her that she is alone and that she also arrived "by accident." Eventually she says that every question Claudia asks leads to another question and she suggests that Claudia should rest. She won't allow Claudia to look for other survivors, saying that she will find them.

Claudia soon goes into labor with the woman acting as midwife. A beautiful boy, who Claudia names Jacob, is delivered. Then another boy is born. Unlike Jacob, he is agitated and restless. Claudia says that she had only picked one name. Swaddled in light and dark material, the woman cares for the babies with concern. When Claudia asks to see the second boy, the woman kills her with a blow to the head using a rock.

Thirteen years later

6x15agame

Jacob and his twin explore a new game.

The Boy in Black finds an old Egyptian game on the beach. Jacob runs up and Boy in Black tells him it is a game and that he "just knows" how to play. He agrees to play with Jacob, but only if Jacob doesn't tell their mother because he believes she will take the game away from them.

The same day, Mother is working at her loom and she asks Jacob whether he loves her. He says he does and she says "Then tell me what happened." She joins the Boy in Black on the beach and he immediately guesses that Jacob told her about finding the game. Mother says that Jacob doesn't know how to lie. She tells the Boy in Black that he is "special." She says that it was she that left the game for him. The Boy in Black says that he thought it may come from "Somewhere else, across the sea." She tells him that there is nowhere else, that the island is all there is. The Boy in Black asks where they came from, to which Mother replies that the brothers came from her and she came from her mother, who is dead. The boy asks what "dead" means. His mother says that it is something that he will never have to worry about.

6x15 TheHeartOfTheIsland

The woman introduces Jacob and his twin to the Source.

The boys chase a boar, but it is killed by three hunters; the twins run home and demand an explanation from Mother. She says that these men are not like them because "we are here for a reason." Both boys insist on knowing what the reason is. Mother blindfolds the boys. She tells them that the other people are dangerous because they come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same. She tells the boys that she has made it so they can never hurt each other. Mother removes their blindfolds and they turn and see a cave with a stream running into it; the cave emits a glowing golden light. She tells them that it is the reason they are on the island. She tells them they must never enter the cave. The Boy in Black says that it is beautiful, she agrees and tells them that a little bit of the same light that is in the cave is inside every man but that people always want more. Mother says that while the other people can't take the light, they might try and if the light goes out here it goes out everywhere. Mother has protected the place but when she no longer can then it will have to be one of the twins who protects it.

6x15YouComeFromAcrosstheSea

Claudia's apparition introduces her son to his true heritage.

Some time after, the boys are playing Senet. The Boy in Black tells Jacob that he can't make a move because it is against the rules. He says that one day Jacob can make up his own game and then everyone will have to follow his rules. Claudia appears a short distance away, bathed in light but only the Boy in Black can see her -- because, as she explains, she is dead. She takes the Boy in Black to a place on the other side of the Island and shows him a bustling settlement. She says these people came from across the sea thirteen years ago. She tells him that she is his real mother and Jacob's mother too and that he comes from across the sea.

6x15JacobArgues

Jacob argues with his twin over his plan and views about Mother.

The Boy in Black wakes Jacob up in the middle of the night and urges Jacob to come with him to join the people in the village. He tries to explain to Jacob that the people in the village are their people and that Mother lies about everything, that she doesn't love them and that "She is not even our Mother." Jacob flies into a rage and punches the Boy in Black repeatedly in the face. Mother separates them as Jacob cries out that his brother is leaving and going to the other people. The Boy in Black says he is going to go "home" across the sea and that she killed his real Mother and that they don't belong here. He pleads with Jacob to come with him. Jacob chooses to stay with Mother. Mother tells the Boy in Black that, whatever he has been told, he will never be able to leave the island. He says that one day he will prove that that is not true.

Jacob joins Mother on the beach. She admits to killing his real mother and explains that had she lived she would have taken the boys back to the bad people and that she needed Jacob to stay good. Jacob asks why she loved his brother more and she says that she loved each of them in different ways. Jacob agrees to stay with her, for now.

Thirty years later

6x15 AWheelToTheFuture

Mother inquires about her son's giant wheel.

Jacob has finished a piece of cloth on the loom. Mother claims tiredness as she grinds herbs. Jacob goes to the other side of the island and observes his brother working at a project with the other people. He goes down to the Man in Black and they talk over a game of Senet. The Man in Black tells Jacob that Mother may be insane but she is right about his people being bad. He says they are greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy and selfish. He explains he stays with them as a means to an end, that is, to leave. The Man in Black reveals to Jacob that he has found a way off the Island. He throws his dagger wildly and it is attracted to and adheres to bricks. He talks about the way metal behaves strangely at certain sites around the island and this has suggested a way off the Island. The Man in Black asks Jacob to join him. but Jacob says that the Island is his home and that he doesn't want to leave. The Man in Black says that it is not his home.

6x15ImSoSorry

The woman apologizes to her son for her upcoming attack.

Jacob tells Mother that his brother has found a way to leave. Mother goes to see the him and sees that the other people have dug a well. After they leave she climbs inside. The Man in Black welcomes her coolly and complains how he has searched the Island and has not once come close to finding the cave. He tells her that he then thought about another way to get to the light. He tells Mother that the people have some very interesting ideas about what to do with the light. She gives a look of alarm at the knowledge these people now have. He shows her that he has found a way to dig into the light that exists beneath parts of the Island. He dislodges a stone, allowing the light to stream into the cavern. The Man in Black has constructed a wheel and he plans to dig a large hole into the wall of the well and use it and water to construct a mechanism which will allow him to leave the Island. Mother asks how he knows these things, and with hatred and sarcasm he replies that he knows all of this because he is "special." Mother feigns a goodbye hug and while saying that she is sorry she cracks his head against the brick wall beneath the fissure.

6x15takethecup

"Accept the responsibility of protecting this place for as long as you can."

Mother returns to Jacob and takes him to the glowing cave. She tells Jacob that he is going to protect it now. Jacob asks what is inside the cave and Mother says: "Life, death, rebirth; it's the source, the heart of the island." She asks him to promise that he will never go down there because to do so would be much worse than dying. She pours some wine from a flask making an incantation as she does so. She says that in drinking the wine he accepts the responsibility of protecting this place for as long as he can and then to find a replacement. He is unwilling and is saddened at becoming her successor by default, as she had always favored his brother. She admits she was wrong and that it should have been him all along. Jacob drinks. Mother tells him, "Now you are like me."

The Man in Black wakes. His well is wrecked and filled in and he sees smoke afar. He finds the village destroyed and all his people dead. He finds the burnt remains of his Senet game.

Jacob and Mother are returning home; she says that a storm is coming and sends Jacob off for firewood; she asks him to be careful but does not reply when he says that he will see her back home. At Mother's camp the loom is wrecked and the camp in disarray. Mother finds the game she had left for the Boy in Black thirty years before laying on the ground. As she raises the black playing piece she is run through from behind by the Man in Black's dagger. With tears in his eyes the Man in Black addresses her as "Mother" and asks why she wouldn't let him leave. As she dies she says: "Because I love you... Thank you."

6x15 HereComesTheMonster

Jacob is knocked over by the the Smoke Monster as it rushes out from the source.

Jacob returns and sees what his brother has done and attacks him as he did as a thirteen year old. He drags his brother through the jungle. The Man in Black reminds him that Jacob cannot kill him. Jacob replies that he has no intention of killing him. He brings him to the glowing cave and throws him down the stream towards the mouth of the cave. The Man in Black hits his head on a rock and goes limp, then is sucked into the source. Moments later The Smoke Monster bursts from the cave and disappears into the jungle. Jacob washes himself at a stream and sees his brother's broken body draped over branches nearby. He hugs him tearfully. Jacob carries his body back home and finds the two jewels and places them in a pouch. He lays Mother and the Man in Black's bodies side by side with the pouch at Mother's hand.


September 28, 2004

Centuries later, Jack Shephard and Kate Austen discover the corpses laid side-by-side in the cave, as well as the black and white stones. John Locke calls the pair "our very own Adam and Eve."

Trivia

  • When the Man in Black is born, his mother does not name him, saying "I only chose one name." Throughout the rest of the episode, both his adoptive mother and Jacob always refer to him with pet names ("My Love", "Brother") and personal pronouns.
  • Claudia is now the third woman that we know of who has come to the island pregnant and near term, delivered the baby on island, and then had the baby taken and raised by another - the other two being Claire and Danielle Rousseau.
  • The knife that the Man in Black carries in the episode is presumably the same knife that he gives Richard to kill Jacob, and that Dogen gives to Sayid to kill the Man in Black.

Production notes

Bloopers and continuity errors

  • When the young Man in Black sits at the beach as "mother" approaches we see a sea turtle on the beach in front of him. When the camera pulls out, the turtle is nowhere to be found.
  • When the young Man in Black is talking to his mother about the game he found on the beach, someone can be seen reflected in his eye.
  • When the Man in Black is throwing sticks for the Senet game with Jacob, the sticks shift position throughout the shots.
  • When the skeletons were first discovered in "House of the Rising Sun" (which this episode shows us in flashback) they were separated and not lying side-by-side, as we see Jacob placing the bodies in this episode. This, however, could be explained by the fact that numerous earthquakes have occurred on the Island since the time that they were laid to rest.
    • This continuity error first appeared in "Lighthouse" and was carried over into this episode.
  • Claudia's abdomen remained large despite having delivered Jacob, and even after delivering MIB. While afterbirth would still contribute to girth, the volume of two newborns would have significantly reduced the size of her womb.

Analysis

Recurring themes


  • Claudia arrives to the island pregnant and proceeds to give birth to Jacob and his twin, who is never seen to be given a name. (Pregnancies)
  • Claudia is murdered by the "mother" after giving birth to Jacob and the Man in Black. (Life and death)
  • The mother raises the twins as her own. (Children)
  • After being prevented from leaving, the Man in Black murders his mother by stabbing her through the heart with his dagger. (Life and death)  (Revenge)  (Parent issues)
  • Jacob and the Man in Black hunt a boar, which is taken down by men whom their mother tells them are "bad people." Roughly thirty years later the Man in Black readily confirms this to his brother, having lived among the group of survivors. (Animals)  (Good and bad people)
  • Jacob and the Boy in Black are shown by their mother the source, the heart of the Island, and impressed upon that they must protect it. (Electromagnetism)  (Leadership)  (Secrets)
  • The newly born Jacob and his twin are swaddled in light and dark cloth, respectively. (Black and white)
  • Jacob and the Boy in Black's mother plants the Senet box as an elaborate ruse to test Jacob's inability to lie and the lengths the Boy in Black would go to protect it from her. (Deceptions and Cons)
  • The Man in Black and Jacob play against one another with the Senet board and pieces that young Man in Black "found" on the beach. (Black and white)  (Games)
  • The Man in Black shows Jacob the well is magnetic by throwing his knife at it, a phenomenon he probably had not seen before. (Electromagnetism)
  • When Jacob asks his mother what lies within the light in the cave she replies: "Life, death, rebirth." (Life and Death)  (Rebirth).
  • Jacob thinks his adopted mother loves his brother more. (Parent Issues)
  • Jacob's mother is sympathetic about her request to protect the Island, but at last tells him he really doesn't "have a choice." (Fate versus free will)
  • When the Man in Black is initially confronted by his mother in the well she is bathed in light but he is tinkering in the darkness. (Black and White)
  • Jacob and the Boy in Black's mother convinces them there is nothing outside of the Island and nowhere to go across the sea. She further states the other people are from another part of the Island. (Deceptions and Cons)  (Secrets)
  • The mother has been raising the boys in a cave and has not told them there were other people on the Island. (Isolation)
  • The mother takes the boys to the source and has them wear blindfolds. (Secrets)
  • The Boy in Black and his mother both predict it will rain. (Rain)
  • The Boy in Black seems to have special insight such as knowing the rules to Senet and predicting the weather. (Parapsychology)
  • The brothers were 43 years old when they became ageless; Jacob through drinking the wine and becoming the protector of the Island, and the Man in Black through falling into the Source and becoming the Smoke Monster. (Numbers)


Storyline analysis

  • A woman kills a shipwrecked pregnant woman to steal her babies. (Crimes)
  • The Man in Black is visited by the ghost of his birth mother, sowing distrust and a desire to go 'home'. Despite joining the survivors he remains close to Jacob for a long time. (Relationships)
  • The Man in Black joins his birth mother's people to find sources of the Island's energy so he can try to leave. (O-Missions)
  • The mother stops the Man in Black from leaving and kills the remaining survivors. (Crimes)
  • The Man in Black murders his adoptive mother. (Crimes)
  • Jacob throws his brother into the Source in an act of revenge, a fate worse than death according to his adoptive mother. (Crimes)  (Relationships)
  • Jacob assumes the role of protector of the source after drinking the wine from his adoptive mother. (Leadership)
  • Jacob places his brother and mother's dead body together and has them hold hands. (Relationships)


Cultural references

  • Senet: The Man in Black finds a board and pieces of this old Egyptian game on the beach and claims to know how to play without ever having played it before. Senet may be the oldest board game in the world. Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the afterlife. (History)  (Games)


Literary techniques

  • After helping Claudia give birth, the midwife kills her and steals her babies. (Plot twist)
  • Young Jacob dislikes relying on his twin to provide rules of Senet, and vows one day they will play a game where he makes the rules. (Foreshadowing)
  • The Boy in Black is told by his adopted mother he is special. (Regularly Spoken Phrases)
  • The other people on the Island were killed off in order to stop their knowledge of the source from spreading. (Redshirts)
  • The Man in Black seems to subscribe to a scientific worldview, associating with men who want to use technology to harness the power of the Source. Jacob faithfully follows his mother's teachings. This makes the Man in Black the "man of science" and Jacob the "man of faith." However, the Man in Black eventually assumes the form of John Locke, the "man of faith." (Irony)
  • Jacob protects the Island (and the outside world) from Smoke Monster, but it is Jacob who created him. (Irony)
  • Mother explains to Jacob his future role as protector of the Source and what he has to do and tells him "It's going to be you," clearly sensing the moment of her death approaching; Sayid tells exactly that to Jack after telling him to rescue Desmond and before sacrificing his life. (Juxtaposition)  (Regularly Spoken Phrases)


Episode connections

Episode references

  • Jack, Locke, and Kate find the Man in Black and his mother in the caves and dub them "Adam and Eve". ("House of the Rising Sun")

Episode allusions

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
  1. Do not answer the questions here.
  2. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer.
For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Across the Sea/Theories
  • What is the Source?
  • What is the nature of the wine?
  • What is Mother's incantation?
  • What is the relationship between the the Source and the black smoke?
  • How was Mother able to kill the entire village and fill in the well by herself?


External links