Namaste

Give it some time, these videos will definitely get to the millions of views for sure. Content for lost like this has been missing from KZfaq and it will definitely grow!

It wasn't technically Jacob keeping the Man in Black on the island. It was the electromagnetic bubble around the island itself, powered by the Heart of the Island. Killing Jacob and the candidates simply meant that the heart of the island would no longer be hidden/protected from him and he could un-cork The Source and be free from the bubble. It is ambiguous if simply killing the protector (and the successor candidates) would have been enough to break free from the prison. While a protector could manipulate the properties of that energy to create "rules", it seems that the MiB was tethered to the actual energy itself. The only way he could break free was to turn it off.

I like your thinking!

Perhaps it was fate ;)

Just a couple of points I wanted to address from your very well thought out response. The first is about Widmore. I don't see any real evidence that he ordered or authorised the killing of Alex. Keamy coming across Alex was total happenstance. Then the only reason he ended up executing her was because of Ben's arrogance and hubris. Widmore makes a point of saying that her death was Ben's own fault. And Ben, in S5, admits as much to Fake Locke. However, until that personal realisation, Ben holds Widmore accountable because it was far easier to blame his archenemy for creating this situation than it was to take responsibility for his own failures as a father/leader. Still, what Widmore did (sending mercenaries to overthrow a current island leader) was definitely a breach of conduct. Locke would have organically ascended to leadership anyway. Widmore really only needed to send his key people to the Island for the time travel stuff, and just thought he would use this as an opportunity to take out Ben and settle an old score. As for Mikhail and Bea Klugh, they were prepared to sacrifice their lives, both of them. Mikhail shoots Bea at her insistence then goes to shoot himself, but is prevented from following through. I don't think this constitutes a breach of the rules. It is clear that The Others have, to some degree, latitude when it comes to self-sacrifice in situations where their knowledge and weaknesses might be exploited and used against the group. The most devout members of The Others are willing to die for The Island. Mikhail demonstrates this once again when he blows himself up to destroy the communications room in the Looking Glass.

I think we could argue that Locke was on the edge of death and Jacob saved him from that. Jacob could heal him in that almost-dead state (like he healed Dogen's son) but I don't believe he could resurrect the dead if their inner light had returned to The Source. He told Richard that he couldn't bring back Isabella, whether or not that was because her body wasn't present is debatable. I think he meant that he cannot resurrect the dead. Jacob wasn't a god in this way, he had limitations.

me

I get what you mean and I agree that this scene is accurate in its exposition as it relates to the rules and the show in general. I just say it's not "officially canon" because if something isn't technically in the show then it's in this sort-of grey zone, you know? There are so many things tangential to the LOST mythos from deleted scenes to ARGs to Comic-Con special scenes/skits to the Missing Pieces or DVD extras, etc, that what is deemed canon and what is not deemed canon gets very blurry. And the showrunners have made a bit of a meal out of what should and should not be considered canon over the years, usually because the groundwork laid in one of the supplementary materials ended up being superseded by the plot of the show in some way. There is quote from them that came towards the end of the series in which they basically just said: "The only thing we consider canon is the show itself." So, I just wanted to caveat that deleted scene, even though I totally accept it as an explanation of the mechanics behind the rules and how they govern Smokey.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I appreciate your prompt and thoughtful reply. I'd love to see a video on these discrepancies between canon and non canon (superseded or not) from the offshow materials. I was fascinated by Lost back in the day (and caught the podcast on the regular) but even I 'lost' the plot in season 6 and started to feel 'out of it' what with the temple and the watchtower and the candidates so your channel has reignited my fascination - you're doing something amazing 😍

Ah that’s great! I’m glad the channel is clarifying some things. The show definitely had an uphill battle in trying to clearly answer everything because many of the ideas were metaphysical or abstract (like the rules) which would have been nigh on impossible to explain in exposition without losing half of the audience, especially those who just wanted to see if Jack and Kate would end up together or if their favourite characters would get satisfying closure, etc. Tricky balancing act. Great idea about doing a video on the issue of canon btw! That could be really fascinating to go through.

Lots of points to cover here! Ben's superficial understanding of the smoke monster is that it judges people, which comes from the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs adorning the summoning chamber at the barracks. He also implies that he was told by someone or something how to summon the monster. This knowledge could have come from a number of places: dreams, apparitions, hieroglyphic translations, etc. He came back to be judged regarding his guilt over Alex's death because that was his understanding of the monster. I don't think The Others used the smoke monster in this way as a rule. Juliet claims to Kate that none of them know what it is. As for Richard, he *is* acting as the go-between. He passes both lists and instructions from Jacob to The Others. We know this because there are certain activities that The Others engage in that involve some, shall we say, foreknowledge, such as the building of the runway on Hydra Island (so Ajira could land on it three years later). Richard tells Widmore that Jacob wanted Ben healed. Ben claims that Jacob wanted Walt taken. We see Jacob posthumously communicate with Dogen at the temple through an ankh (his personal crest) that contains a written list of candidate names inside. It is implied that making lists began with Jacob and was adopted by The Others when selecting "worthy" recruits. Also worth adding that the leader of The Others does usually get to meet Jacob. We can deduce that Eloise had interactions with him because of her "gift" of foresight. And Widmore directly states that he has met Jacob (more than once). And later MiB as Locke gets to meet Jacob upon making a simple request. That's why Ben's nose was so out of joint, because he was never allowed to meet the man. And this wasn't standard practice. Richard says "only the leader can request an audience with Jacob" and clearly Ben had requested to do so for years, and been refused. He assumed that Jacob didn't approve of his leadership. But it was part of a longer game plan on Jacob's part. Only Richard knew that Ben had never met Jacob. Ben led everyone else to believe that he talked to Jacob regularly. He even passes off his own lists as having come from their island deity. When Locke forced Ben to take him to see Jacob, Ben panicked and took him to the only place he knew of Jacob ever having occupied before: the cabin. Ilana later confirms that Jacob did once use the cabin but hasn't for a long time, which means it was known to some that the cabin was a meeting point for Jacob, Richard and leaders, or even a drop point for lists. But Richard had no idea that Ben had gone there and interacted with the Man in Black. Remember, we do see Richard giving Ben a confused, concerned look when he announces that he is taking Locke to see Jacob in 'The Man Behind the Curtain'. He's like: "you mad, bro?" Finally, "The Rules" are not in reference to the Egyptian era. The Rules are related to what can and cannot happen on the island in both physical and metaphysical terms. These are like natural laws of the island that cannot be broken. They are enforced by the immortal powers of the island, not the powers of mortal man. Some of these rules are about who can and cannot be killed, which go beyond mere written tenets. We are talking about supernaturally enforced laws.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 To be honest I think much of it actually comes down to poor writing from season 5 on not something intended for the story. Much of it boils down to being written to keep the mystery for the audience when it does not make sense for the characters. Why would richard not know locke is mib? It makes no sense that he just takes mib locke to the statue. The only thing we ever hear from jacob is that he does not want to interact with people, that is why richard is there. It makes no sense that richard and those in that group know nothing about mib when those at the temple seem to know tons about it. It is clearly done to keep the audience guessing who is lying which is unfortunately just poor writing. Even after they show locke's body to him richard is still totally lost about who he is until mib mentions the chains. How would he be this clueless? We to believe richard does not know he can appear as dead people? Upon watching again now the entire way they wrote season 5 plots was kinda hard to watch for me personally. Daniel rushes the camp waving a gun around for no reason but to have an excuse to kill him for that big reveal. He had already talked to these people and knew they would not just shoot him on sight. The immortal go between who actually speaks to jacob becomes the most clueless person on the island because he has to for the plot to work. Meh. The writer in me kinda screamed out in pain at some of it since this is one of my favorite shows ever.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 oh yeah, i forgot, as far as Ben interacting with mib early on, at first it seems he has been communicating with mib thinking it was jacob at the cabin. But he clearly tells mib locke that he has never seen jacob so he has never spoken to mib believing it was jacob either.

There were definitely retcons along the way. The writers changed direction with some of their mysteries. Some of the mythology was in a state of flux. Yes, the "ghost" in the cabin clearly changed between Season Three and Four. But I feel that they provided a good explanation to compensate for that change. To me, it doesn't matter if they changed their minds about something later, as long as what they supersede it with is a plausible retcon that still makes sense. I always keep in mind that the writers were under pressure to deliver the episode orders each season to the network TV schedule, and had the first three years of the show hobbled by lack of an end date. It was 120+ episodes of television told over six years by multiple writers. It's not a novel planned out from start to finish by one guy. It's an imperfect story as a result. The writers were upfront and honest about the fact that they had "a road map" and that the map could change depending on time allotment, the needs of each season, and narrative necessity. So, plot elements changed here and there. Sometimes gracefully, other times awkwardly. But I disagree that the last two seasons were badly written. If anything, the show suddenly felt much sharper and had more certainty and focus in its direction from Season Four onwards. The writers had an end date to shoot for. Season Five in and of itself is a remarkable feat of writing and planning. They had to juggle a complicated time travel arc, involving bootstrap paradoxes; the Oceanic Six return storyline; the sewing of the Jacob/MiB endgame and the rules/loophole; the DHARMA/Incident arc, etc. And it is remarkably cohesive in how it was all structured and executed. I actually find the first three seasons the weaker of the bunch because they were playing for time more, and spinning their wheels. Particularly in Season One and Two. There are episodes that jus meander because they didn't know how long they had to stretch the story out. There's a lot going on throughout the series because of this. Ideally, they would have told this story in 3-4 seasons max. But they couldn't do that. As a result, a lot gets thrown in and things go unsaid. We have to infer things and connect dots. I understand that untangling some of these relationships and answers can be frustrating for people. But that's why I do this. To make things clearer and more palatable. And the last two seasons provide the answers that unlock the first four really well. Some answers were planned from early on while others were retcons, but I find that the show adds up to mostly a cohesive whole. Which is a miracle considering the conditions under which it was produced. To get back to your questions, Richard is never told that MiB can shapeshift into dead people. He still thinks the Isabella he saw on the Black Rock was *his* Isabella and that what she told him might be true. All he knows about the MiB is that he is the black smoke and Jacob's enemy. Meanwhile, Jacob only ever told Richard what he needed to know when he needed to know it. Even his cork analogy comes with caveats that we later learn isn't as simple as he describes, but he describes it in a way that a devil-fearing man could understand. People operate throughout the show, particularly The Others, based on a mix of orders, legend/myth and belief. It's one of the themes of the show: people in charge don't always know what's going on and operate off faith alone in the systems they have been indoctrinated into. Jacob understands that The Island has to work things out for itself and guide everyone accordingly. He steps in only when necessary. He makes this paramount to Richard. Jacob says: *"I wanted them to help themselves. To know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them. It's all meaningless if I have to force them to do anything."* The point of installing Richard was so that Jacob could provide a guiding hand to people indirectly, without compromising the free choice of people or, more importantly, the island's influence. This is his way of running things. It's not the best way, as other characters later point out. Jacob was flawed in his planning and ideology. But he was also a slave to destiny more than anyone else. So, because of this, everyone knows a little bit of information, but nobody knows the whole picture. Dogen and Lennon have been prepped for MiB because they were hand selected for that purpose, like Ilana and Bram's group. The Temple Others are shown to be their own pocket. They are the mystics, living separately from their other people. Ben had moved his people away from that old life of superstition and magic, leaning more into science and research at the barracks. The old DHARMA ethos is still in him. Whereas Richard was handpicked to be the intermediary on day-to-day issues, not endgame issues. The breadcrumbs are there to explain all of this stuff. I can reach for whole scenes, dialogue, implications and actions to connect dots fairly easily. I choose to be generous to the writers and their intentions and maintain good faith that, while ideas evolved and changed over time, they had specific meaning and intention behind the mythology.

It's an interesting conversation to have because we know Hurley was not a candidate at this point during S2. But we also know he is technically un-killable as well because he is a predestined time traveller with a destiny to fulfil in the past. How much the Man in Black knew or understood about the time travellers at this point is open to speculation. (I personally don't believe MiB actually contextualised the time travellers until 2007 and engineered things backwards as he experienced them with Locke). As to whether or not Dave was MiB... I had this conversation with another commenter and I will repost my thoughts shared with him here: Man in Black has been watching the Oceanic 815ers from the jungle, perhaps in various guises and forms. I am of the school of thought that believes MiB was Sawyer's boar, which means he could have also possibly been Kate's horse, Hurley's bird, and even Mikhail's cat. It would have been a way to observe and study candidates as well as size up who might be useful and who might be a threat, etc. Therefore, he could have observed Hurley and viewed him as an easy target. If Hurley killed himself, that would have delivered a crushing blow to the morale of the camp in a way other deaths would not have. Sure, slaughtering Hurley would be easy, but the idea that the most positive, optimistic member of these survivors commits suicide is soul crushing. That said, Dave is intentionally an ambiguous apparition. And I think you can absolutely take him simply as Hurley's guilty subconscious manifesting itself. That makes sense to me too and is certainly a cleaner explanation. The same ambiguity surrounds Emily Linus' appearances. She could well be the Man in Black (although we have to theory craft in order to explain away the logistics of that) but the most likely option is that she really is the ghost of Emily. I like to leave these appearances as open to being either/or because it enriches repeat viewings. I flip-flop between possibilities. Even Kate's horse, which I mostly believe to just be a horse, sometimes makes me question its legitimacy. These ambiguous appearances by creatures great and small can be appropriated as part of the MiB mythology, or simply seen on their own terms.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Thanks for your answer, I agree with everything you said. The problem with Lost is that sometimes we don't know who to attribute certain appearances to. As for Dave, I think it makes sense that he is MiB but also just Hurley's subconscious, as you said, because in the flashback Dave was the manifestation of his sense of guilt and fear of change. Same with animals, it makes sense that they are MiB but also that they are just animals. There are other speculations about other apparitions, for example some people think that not all the apparitions of Christian on the island are to be attributed to MiB, which makes no sense to me. But what you say is perfectly clear. going back to my question (sorry maybe I didn't understand the answer) MiB could not even kill the potential candidates, right? (leaving aside for a moment the fact that some characters can't die because they have an important role)

We know he could kill potential candidates because he killed Mr. Eko, who was most definitely a potential. The reasons as to why he wouldn't kill potentials is more related to the way fate works and if the potential had a destiny to fulfil. If MiB was Dave then he did absolutely try to kill a potential candidate (without knowing Hurley was a potential) but he fails because "whatever happened, happened". It's not that he cannot physically try or attempt to murder them, it's just that he will fail if they have a predetermined destiny. The MiB only instinctively senses who is already ordained as a candidate. I don't think he can tell who is a potential without observing them in the way he observed Eko. Then he must decide if they are worth murdering or manipulating. After all, his ultimate plan is to find the right vessel for his loophole to kill Jacob.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 oh, okay!! yes, I didn't think about Eko who was a potential candidate. Now it's clear, thanks!

I answer all of the flash sideways questions in this video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ntl4g7lnya_Oo4E.html

MiB didn't know the statue had that hidden room inside. Jacob says: "No one comes inside unless I invite them in."

It’s all about will. Think about how an old protector passes the torch to a new protector. It happens through touch, as we see. But a protector touches lots of people for various reasons and they don’t automatically become candidates or become healed or get gifted immortality. A touch can do different things. The element that decides what a protector’s touch will bestow upon the receiver is based on conscious thought and will. So for Jacob the thoughts would be things like this: I choose to heal Ilana’s burns. I choose to gift Richard with immortality. I choose to activate Locke as a candidate. I choose to pass my power to Jack to take my place. The Source flows through a protector, so they are able to tune into that power and control it to some extent. They make rules based upon their own will. It’s metaphysical.

Rules are the most unexplained and difficult parts of Lost imo. But Lost is all about reality which is why it's so good. So when you accept there is alternate realities; time travel etc an amazingly complex well thought out situations involving electromagneticism and life after death, surely "I jus will this thing an thats it" is a little bit too simple? That would also imply Light Protector could jus conjour up whatever they wanted to be the way forward an noone could stop them, which could mess with all sorts of stuff inadvertently

The Source is connected with our consciousnesses. Desmond is blasted with EM energy multiple times and his consciousness moves through time and space, and into the afterlife. The Man in Black made contact with The Source and his consciousness was uncoupled from his body. The Source communicates to people via the subconscious mind with dreams, instincts and intuitions. Psychic characters also express a deeper communion with The Source too. We also see the Man in Black demonstrate telekinesis - the power to move materials with one’s mind. So there is a direct connection between the light and consciousness. And the protector wields some of that power and can harness it via their mind. If they make a conscious choice to do something (that is within The Source’s power) then they can make it happen. But it’s also worth remembering that some rules are beyond a protector’s will too, such as the nature of determinism as it relates to the time travel.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 yeah, Im jus not convinced that would therefore mean, as an island protector, you could establish new rules just when you feel like it/ if you fancied jus based on some sort of original connection to the island and management handover. .Jack did switch it with some old water bottle instead with the initation an got away with it. But surely reality with these things there has to be central government oversight approval or Hurley takes over an wants all the trees to turn to marshmellows...

The rules that a protector can make are governed by what The Source can and cannot do. So Hurley couldn’t make tree into marshmallows because The Source cannot reshape reality in that way. It can only control or influence certain things, which is why the rules tend to revolve around power, time, death (or protection from death) and who can come and go from the island. Jacob uses The Source to control the island in the way he think best serves his vision of a peaceful utopia. He cannot force choices but he can influence them. What do we know that The Source can actually do? It can control the flow of time. It can heal people from sickness and injury, and save them from the brink of death. It can bestow visions of the future or prophetic dreams. It can influence the chain of events in the world to bring people to its shores or prevent people from leaving. It can stop people from dying or from killing themselves. It can stop ageing in its tracks. So all of these powers become accessible to a protector as well, and they can bend those powers to their own will. The rules are restricted by the powers of The Source itself, which means a protector cannot simply do anything with this power. They can only create rules that The Source can enforce. I explore The Source in more detail in my Theory of Everything series. Not sure if you’ve watched them yet but I lay out its purpose and powers in full there. When we are talking about “reality” in LOST, it is all relative to the metaphysics that exist within the reality of the show. Also, the ceremony surrounding the ordaining of a new protector all feature different elements. Mother uses wine in her ceremony and an ancient blessing. Jacob uses water from a stream instead of wine when ordaining Jack but includes Mother’s blessing. Jack uses water from a stream like Jacob did but doesn’t include any ancient blessings. Because the ritual itself is malleable. The words being spoken and the actions being performed are ultimately just ceremonial and symbolic. They aren’t necessary when transferring power. The only thing that is the same across all three coronations is physical touch from the protector and a gesture of acceptance on behalf of the receiver. It’s about the transfer of power through will, i.e. consciousness.

Best way to look at it is that Jacob is the guardian of life (therefore life is his dominion), while Smokey is a harbinger of death (therefore death is his dominion).

Had the Man in Black left the island the world would have ended because the only way for him to escape the electromagnetic bubble that he was trapped within was to switch off The Source. And The Source is the battery that powers our existence. If the light goes out there, it goes out everywhere. Remember when the island started to fall apart in 'The End' after the cork was removed? Well, that would eventually spread and happen across the whole planet, because the light exists in more than one place. All the pockets beneath earth and ocean around the planet would eventually extinguish too. And once all the light had burned out in a state of apocalyptic carnage, the light within us (aka our souls) would burn out too. No sideways, afterlife and rebirth for us. Everything would cease to be.

@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Nice, but then the question is why was Man in Black so surprised in the final episode when he got blood on his face after Jack punched him? How is it possible he did not know that destroying the Source will destroy his powers too? And second- Mib could leave the island even if the Source was NOT destroyed, all he had to do is kill all the candidates (or make them kill themselves)..I dunno, it seems silly that he would knowingly participate in his own destruction after his powers were gone

The Man in Black isn't all seeing and all knowing. He follows his intuition (I discuss this in multiple videos). He understands that the light has powers that can be harnessed (as demonstrated in 'Across the Sea') but he doesn't know that the light is the most important life-giving energy on the planet and that the island keeps it contained and in balance. MiB probably thinks the world would go on just fine without the island's existence. After 2,000 years as the smoke monster, he assumed that his transformation was permanent. There is no reason for him to think that destroying the island would turn his powers off and make him mortal again. Killing all the candidates would not have automatically released him from the bubble -- this is an assumption that MiB appears to operate off but it isn't that simple, as we find out in 'The End'. The island and the energy is what MiB is tethered to, like a chain leash. The only way for him to escape from this bubble is to break the chain (i.e. destroy the island). But he cannot do that as long as there is a protector in place or candidates to take over the role. Why? Because a protector is the only thing that prevents MiB (and anyone else) from finding the cave of light. With the protector and all the candidates dead, the cave is no longer hidden and protected. Therefore, the chain can be broken.

Because Jacob continued the rule and The Island continued to enforce it. Both men were needed going into the future.

I get what you're saying but there is a simple explanation for this: Jacob continued Mother's rule. Protectors seem to inherit and pass on certain tenets of guardianship. But even if he hadn't reinforced Mother's old rule, The Island wouldn't allow them to kill each other anyway. Because the Man in Black was now a smoke monster and Jacob had a controlling influence over The Source. MiB couldn't kill Jacob because of this and Jacob didn't want to do further harm to his brother, at least not for a long time. It is factually demonstrated in the show that after a new protector takes over, the old rules fade unless reinforced by the successor. Hence why after Jacob's ashes burn out from the living world and Jack officially takes over, Richard starts ageing again and the bamboo forest could now be found. Or why after Mother dies, Jacob can actually harm his brother to the extent that he does (we can debate the semantics of whether or not he killed MiB in that scene, but he certainly irreparably harmed him). Even Hurley proclaims to Ben in 'The End': "People can't leave the island" and Ben replies remorsefully, "That's how Jacob ran things. Maybe there's another way. A better way." New protectors create new rules, and it's their choice whether or not they continue the ways of the old, or try to create something new.

​@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 You have some valid points I will get to them later. But to adress the points I don't agree with: Even if Jacob couldn't kill MiB because of his black smoke form that doesn't explain why MiB couldn't kill Jacob. So that's why we know there is some rule they can't kill each other and that's why MiB needs loophole. But with that we have some problems. Like if the rules are in place what happens when Jacob tosses MiB into huge shredding machine (before his smoke form)? :D But back to the main point. The episode Across the sea was specifically made to explain that the rule was made by their mother. Why would they make the whole episode about it when it's actually irrelevant and Jacob can change the rules. The point of the episode was to let us know the rule exist because of their mother. Simple as that. Also the explanation it's because of their mother works better then that it stopped working for few hours and then Jacob reinforced it. That's just unnecessarily convoluted from storytelling point of view especially when it's not even hinted in the episode that the rules stopped working. That's why I can't imagine that was the writers intent. Especially when they made whole episode for establishing this rule and why or how it exist. And other prominent thing in the episode is mother explaining what happens when you enter the cave. The whole premise of the episode (cave worse than death, you can't kill each other) is foreshedowing what will happen and at the same time serves as explanation (MiB wasn't killed by his brother bc it's simply not possible and the thing worse than death is smoke monster.) Who know maybe if Jacob could kill his brother he would never turn into smoke monster because he would die from electromagnetism. But that's just speculation and I don't believe that because "worse than death" implies the smoke monster. So when we ask Did Jacob killed his borther? The answer is no because they can't kill each other. And then someone might ask but the brother was clearly dead so what with that. The answer is no he is not dead, thus couldn't even be killed by his brother, what happened to him is even worse than death. The body is just empty vessel and his consciousnes is now smoke monster. Now back to your points, they absolutely make sense. You are right the rules can be changed with new protector, the show made it clear in the finale. So that's why you probably think Jacob had to reinforce this rule about not killing each other. But then the episode Across the sea is totally pointless regarding the lore and the only relevant thing would be the origin of smoke monster. Not even the first dig site is relevant becaus if this EM pockets could be discovered by some ancient civilization I'm pretty sure sooner or later someone else would discover it. Also if rules can be changed after you become protector why didn't Jacob made his own rules like he can't be killed by his brother but he can put leash on him or something? So my guess is the authors just wrote it without much thinking about it not realizing it has holes in it and was simply just oversight. You know what they say, the easier explanation is usually the correct one. Because if it was really true that Jacob kept this rule only because of his mother than he is even more inept, dumb and naive then I previously thought. Which is not impossible considering how he was as a kid and the fact he wasn't supposed to be the protector of the island. Uf sorry for the long post. That's Lost for ya :D

I disagree with this withering view that because Jacob took on some of his Mother's ideas that somehow makes him stupid. We literally see both Jacob and the Man in Black take on different lessons/philosophies from their "Mother". I mean, the Man in Black even directly quotes her 1,900 odd years later on the whole "they come, they fight destroy..." line. One of the major themes of the series was bad parenting and how children end up suffering the sins of the parents, and sometimes even ending up like their parents (Jack and alcoholism being another example). So, of course Jacob was going to be influenced by Mother -- literally the only person he has ever really known in his life beyond his bro. And yes, we see that rules come to an end after a protector dies and is replaced. This is why Jacob can effectively harm his brother to the point where he literally kills his mortal body, because Mother was dead and her rules ceased to be enforced by The Source. Now we don't know how long it took for Jacob to decide his new rules, but we know what some of them were. But a lot is left open to interpretation. I think it would have taken some time for Jacob and MiB to reckon with one another in their new forms/roles. There would have been a lot of soul searching and confusion and guilt and anger before Jacob could start working things out. Nevertheless, it is clearly demonstrated that protectors carried on traditions and rules from their predecessors if they so chose. We see both Jacob and Jack do this. However, the rule that Jacob and the Man in Black cannot kill one another goes beyond Mother. Because the rule is rooted in determinism. They literally *cannot* kill one another because they are inextricably tied to the time loop that starts in 2004. If Jacob killed the Man in Black in say the year 1055, the world would end. If the Man in Black could have killed Jacob in 1867, the world would end. They are trapped within a bootstrap paradox that spans centuries and takes two millennia to be fulfilled. I've discussed this many, many times on this channel in multiple videos. Also, Jacob is limited in the rules that he can make because it depends on whether or not The Island can enforce them, hence why he tells Richard that there are certain things he cannot do, such as raise the dead. It's possible that he might not have even reinforced Mother's rule at all. Because he didn't need to. And, for all we know, it was never truly Mother's rule to begin with. It was The Island's rule, and The Island's will.