Lost!

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

why won't Jacob just let him leave? Is MiB performing some vital function on the Island or is Jacob afraid of what MiB will do off the Island?

And it's not as simple as not wanting the smoke monster to leave the Island......MiB's mother did not want him to leave before he ever turned into smokie. She, in fact, killed a whole bunch of people to insure against it even.

There are 2 different motivations at work. I think MIB's mother didn't want him to leave because A. she wasn't sure, until MIB killed her, which of the 2 brothers would be the new guardian of the island and B. she wanted her "sons" to remain "uncorrupted" by outside influences.

Jacob, on the other hand won't allow MIB to leave because he now holds too much of the light and, if the light is allowed to leave, "it will go out in all of us."