Notes on Chapter 6, Return to Xanadu

[stefanie_bean]

Some random notes on "Jack is Laid to Rest":

The castaways did their best with funerals, even if some of them were downright weird (like John Locke's, or Colleen's Viking-style burning boat.) I wanted to give Jack a unique send-off, and I wanted to take some time with it.

We saw in canon that the circumstances surrounding a Protector's death are unusual. Jacob, for instance, burned up like paper, in a fire that didn't seem to really have that much wood in it (for a fire of its size.) Also, it seemed terribly sad to me that Jacob died as he had lived, alone and unmourned.

That wasn't what I wanted for Jack, especially as Jack's major theme for six seasons had been, "If we don't start living together, we're going to die alone."

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The torches which don't burn out came from this LOST promo image.

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You could write a book on Biblical references in LOST.

In the series finale, Jack lifts his shirt to look at the wound in his right side, which bears resemblance to traditional artistic representations of Jesus's spear wound (here and here.)

Also, Jack's laying-out had some visual help from this Pieta by von Stuck.

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Rose's (incomplete) recitation at the funeral is from Psalm 22.

At the time I picked that Psalm for this chapter, I either didn't know the lore about Bashan, or had heard it long ago and forgotten it. The phrase "bulls of Bashan" has always given me gooseflesh, just as it did Hugo. Even through several major edits, that psalm stuck.

After I finished the second draft, just out of curiosity I dug a bit into the lore behind the phrase "bulls of Bashan." Apparently Bashan (today the Golan Heights in Palestine) was home to the last kingdom of the Nephilim, those descended from the mating of human women and incarnated fallen angels. The Nephilim remnants were also called the Rephaim, a term which also means spirits of the dead, as well as the descendants of fallen angels.

In Genesis 14:5, the Israelites win a decisive battle against Og, the last king of the Rephaim. "Bulls of Bashan" can be a poetic reference to his army, as Og himself (Deuteronomy 3:11) was reputed to be an enormously tall man, over ten feet in height.

To me, the "bulls of Bashan" represent the enormous strength and power latent in the Island, some of which the Man in Black was able to tap. Jack struggled with that power, as the Israelites struggled with Og. While Jack lost his life, "Og" was defeated and Hugo incardinated.

The "bulls of Bashan" are on Hugo's side now.

Comments

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

I picked up a few of these references, but not all. I was wondering about the bulls of Bashan and thinking that perhaps they referred to the Smoke Monster/MIB, but I can see that the symbolism runs much deeper.

I really like that picture of Hugo holding the torch.

[stefanie-bean.livejournal.com]

Yup, lost-media.com is a treasure-trove. They have lots of promotional pictures, which are often quite creative. I'm pretty sure that's where the torch pic came from.

Re: bulls. Mikhail kept cattle at the Flame Station, including the red bull which Frank sees in 4x02. (http://return-to-xanadu.tumblr.com/post/100955338968/frank-sees-a-bull-in-confirmed-dead-4x02-his)