This week didn't present us with visions of the altneraverse. Instead, we saw how Richard Alpert came to the Island, and what a story it was. As was basically confirmed two weeks ago (and long predicted by one of my friends), Richard (or Ricardo as he was known back then) was on the Black Rock, a slave being brought to the New World. He was a peasant from the Canary Islands (so what part of the New World were they going to if they went from the East Atlantic to the South Pacific?) who accidentally killed a rich and uncaring doctor while trying to save his wife's life. Poor Ricardo didn't have the money to pay for expensive medicine from the doctor, and when the doctor tried to force Ricardo to leave, Ricardo grabbed onto him and threw him into a table. His wife died, and he was arrested. The prison priest refused to absolve him for murder but was fully willing to sell him to the Hanso family.
Upon reaching the Island, Titus, in the form of the smoke monster, killed the remaining members of the crew, leaving Ricardo chained up and alone. Eventually, Titus returned in the form of Ricardo's wife, explaining that they were both dead and in Hell. Finally, Titus appeared as himself (assuming Titus Welliver's body is his true form), and explained that Ricardo could get his wife back if he killed "the Devil": Jacob. After giving Ricardo the same warning that Dogen gave Sayid upon sending him to kill Titus (don't let him speak, or it will be too late), Ricardo set out to kill Jacob. However, Jacob used some amazing fighting skills (where were these when Ben attacked him?) to subdue Ricardo, and explained his view of the world. Jacob believes in letting people figure out right and wrong for themselves, because it would be pointless to tell people how to think. He also explains that the Island is a kind of cork, keeping malevolence at bay. Is Titus a special kind of malevolence? Because the world is not a nice or innocent place, even with Titus on the Island. Jacob made Ricardo his new lieutenant, gave him immortal life (which Ricardo asked for so that he would never have to die and go to Hell for murder), and gave Ricardo a white rock to give to Titus (many have said that it represents Jacob claiming another soul for his side; when Titus threw the white rock off the scale in "The Substitute," it was probably his way of claiming Sawyer for himself).
In 2007, Richard tried to return to the good graces of Titus, believing he was the only one who could get them out of Hell. But Hurley brought him a message from his wife (not the Titus incarnation, but her actual spirit), stating that failing to stop Titus would be what would send them all to Hell. The final scene of the show was another conversation between Jacob and Titus, ending with Titus smashing a bottle of wine. Jacob had earlier used the bottle as a metaphor, stating that the wine inside was malevolence that could not escape, and the Island was the cork. In his review of this episode for the AV Club, Noel Murray referred to this act as symbolic of Titus contemplating alternatives to merely escaping the Island. That, along with a friend's statement about Titus being present in the alternaverse, led me to this theory: Maybe Daniel died in Ann Arbor in 1977, and the the Daniel who told Jack about detonating the hydrogen bomb was really Titus. After all, he went against everything Daniel ever said; he said that they could change the future and he broke his promise to Charlotte to never tell her not to return. The purpose? He knew that setting off the nuke would destroy the Island, allowing him to escape. If the cork/bottle is destroyed, he will have free reign.
Up next: Hopefully a reunion...
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