just thought it was interesting the way Mikhail paused before using that adjective
as if it meant something

what? well i have no idea, lol

BUT, there is a novel (knowing how much TPTB like to ref literature)

The Magnificent Man

i read a short review of the book, and guess what? it referenced Ann Rand's Fountainhead - the book Sawyer was reading....coincidence?

here's an excerpt from the review.....

The best way to communicate the message of William Mueller’s new book is to look at the quotation which was at the head of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead before she removed it from the final, published book: “The noble soul has reverence for itself.” Likewise, Mueller found a better or a more palatable quotation but in essence was pursuing the same thing. There are very few guideposts to find. The Fountainhead is one. The Magnificent Man is another.

Mueller starts, “The magnificent man is not the type to fall in love so easily, but is the one who is free from all desire and lives a life immense in passion, pulse and power, and seemingly has no time for love, doesn’t want it, for it imprisons his spirit and foils his destiny in life. This is because the magnificent man is stronger than others, stronger behind the hint of emotion and stronger within the very depth of his own actuality.”

I also found the way the book begins to have some interesting parallels to what our magnificent man may be all about.....'free from desire, lives a life immense in passion, pulse and power stronger than others'

any thoughts?

eta: it doesn't seem as though the book's story itself has any relation to the show.....

The Magnificent Man tells of the journey by an investment banker-turned artist, George Beaver, his training at the Villa Catalan in Italy, his solitary struggle to overcome life’s distractions and conventional ideals, and his explosive love affair with Allegra Greffi, a beautiful but troubled Venetian who dares him to love her. Yet the novel’s most unforgettable character is George Beaver’s teacher and friend, Anthony Servadio, a master stone carver known as the Baron of Carrara, who is awarded a Papal commission to replace the Vatican Obelisk with a marble statue in a sweeping story that illuminates the creative process. It poses one of the most challenging concepts ever presented in a work of fiction: that man’s spirit has an inherent certainty for magnificence that is to be discovered and kindled but never betrayed.

unless of course the statue they mention, happens to have 4 toes :biggrin:

I'm going on record right now as predicting that it's Widmore.

Who else would know about the Island and have the resources to support the Others? Remember his obsession with greatness? And how with one conversation he completely crushed Desmond and got him to break up with Penny?

And don't forget that he's a great man, but not a forgiving one. Sounds like Widmore to me.

I like the way you think. It does seem like Widmore. Or Sun's father. He seemed to have the island on screens in his office.

I like the way you think. It does seem like Widmore. Or Sun's father. He seemed to have the island on screens in his office.

If not Widmore, then I'd agree, it's Paik. But Paik seems unlikely to call himself Jacob. But that could be Widmore's middle name, or just a biblical reference to someone who steals another's birthright (the Island, perhaps?).

I agree, Widmore's our guy. Does anyone actually know his first name?

BTW:

The Magnificent Man tells of the journey by an investment banker-turned artist, George Beaver,

George Beaver? What sort of 'magnificent man' has a name like George Beaver? And the woman who 'who dares him to love her'? How hackneyed!

Doesn't anyone think it's Jacob? Hence the list Mikhail was talking about, and Pickett talking about Jack not being on Jacob's list.

Doesn't anyone think it's Jacob? Hence the list Mikhail was talking about, and Pickett talking about Jack not being on Jacob's list.

i think what they're saying is either,

Widmore = Jacob
or
Paik = Jacob

but yes, one way or another, i do believe the magnificent man = jacob

I don't even know that it's Jacob. I think Jacob may simply be a mythological reference.

I still do not believe that any of the "powerful" men in the flashbacks or TLE have anything to do with what's going on on the island right now. Widmore and Paik are window dressing for the flashbacks. Mittelos is a cover company for the Others' off-island recruiting efforts. Hanso is dead along with his initiative.

I don't even know that it's Jacob. I think Jacob may simply be a mythological reference.

I still do not believe that any of the "powerful" men in the flashbacks or TLE have anything to do with what's going on on the island right now. Widmore and Paik are window dressing for the flashbacks. Mittelos is a cover company for the Others' off-island recruiting efforts. Hanso is dead along with his initiative.

Could a mythological reference have made a list? I would agree that the name may be a reference, but the man seems real.

And wouldn't it be odd for "Widmore" to appear at the construction site, on the pregnancy test and on Henry Gale's balloon if he's just window dressing? Somebody with serious money is behind the Others, somebody who knows where the Island is. He may be just another follower of Jacob rather than Jacob himself, but I've got five bucks that says Widmore is up to his ears in this thing.

I don't even know that it's Jacob. I think Jacob may simply be a mythological reference.

I still do not believe that any of the "powerful" men in the flashbacks or TLE have anything to do with what's going on on the island right now. Widmore and Paik are window dressing for the flashbacks. Mittelos is a cover company for the Others' off-island recruiting efforts. Hanso is dead along with his initiative.

Alvar Hanso is not dead. In the story timeline, he's being held captive by Mittelwerk, as per what happened with The Lost Experience. TLE is factually cannon, and that came from TPTB themselves.

Could a mythological reference have made a list? I would agree that the name may be a reference, but the man seems real.

Yes, the man seems real and also speaking to a somewhat broad audience. Pickett never seemed to me a high-ranking guy, yet it was him who mentioned Jacob's list explicitly.

By the way, someone asked what's Widmore's first name before. It's Charles.

Cheers
Rick

In my study of Buddhism I have learned that the ultimate path (Dharma) to enlightenment is to understand the Four Noble Truths:

1- Life is suffering
2- We suffer through attachment
3- There is a way to overcome suffering/attachment
4- There is a path

It sounds like the Magnificent Man is attempting to follow the path -- the Dharma -- to enlightenment, to Nirvana (release) to Shambala that mythological/ideological utopia.

In fact I believe that there are 8 Dharma stations on the islands, representing the Noble Eightfold Path. I believe that whomever is behind Dharma was attempting to develop enlightenment (or higher power) through a physical representation of the NEP.

Alvar Hanso is not dead. In the story timeline, he's being held captive by Mittelwerk, as per what happened with The Lost Experience. TLE is factually cannon, and that came from TPTB themselves.

Yeh you're right, one downside is anyone that's appeared in The Lost Experience isn't going to appear in the show because of the whole present timeline TLE has, and the show being 3 years into the past, which is a shame because there were some dharma figures which sounded really interesting, such as Alvar Hanso. I'm kind of glad they didn't use them though in the show because almost all of the actors they used in the videos on TLE were terrible lol.

Speaking of Lost Experience, did you know that if you mouse over "Sponsored by JJ Abrams" at the top of this website it will change to "Sponsored by The Hanso Foundation."

I looked for it in the Lost Experience to no avail. I started another threaed on it but it was closed without explanation. I don't know what the Big Deal is???

Check it out.

hey johnnywishbone.your avatar RULES!:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

Speaking of Lost Experience, did you know that if you mouse over "Sponsored by JJ Abrams" at the top of this website it will change to "Sponsored by The Hanso Foundation."

I looked for it in the Lost Experience to no avail. I started another threaed on it but it was closed without explanation. I don't know what the Big Deal is???

Check it out.

it's been like that for quite awhile now Eight
I'd don't really think there's much to it
just a little joke by TPTB :)

hey johnnywishbone.your avatar RULES!:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

thank you ma'am :biggrin:

yours.....well....it's, uh......it's disturbing, lol.
but i still like it!