I was watching bits of season 5 again, and noticed that the writers have been dropping hints that Ilana's going to be a major character pretty much since she's been introduced. There's the obvious stuff, like her "what lies in the shadow of the statue" deal, but there was also a funny little moments in Namaste I hadn't remembered. Right after the crash, Caesar wakes her up and she mutters something, sounds like "Sarah?" as she wakes. Then, of course, there's her whole burn victim thing when Jacob visits her. So what do you think? I haven't seen much specuation about her, and if there is, it's usually about what clues she gives us about Jacob and Richard. Are you even interested in learning more about Ilana as a character?
I've noticed that all the Ajira survivors (Illana's followers) are dark haired and dark eyed, like Richard...maybe soem Egyptian thing. perhaps going back millenia.
I think she, and her crew, are Jacob's "soldiers/agents" off the Island. We know all the big players have people off the Island working for them. Ben, obviously has people working for him, The Butcher Shop Lady, is an example. And I am sure he has many others. Also the Others have the Mittlework Biolab people we've seen and probably many more. Widmore had Abandon and many other people working for him. He may have started gathering them before he was exiled, since he was spending so much time off Island back then. And Dharma obviously still has power and influence off the Island along with the Hanso Foundataion. I wonder who The Adversary has working for him off Island, if anyone? He seems very isolationist with not wanting anyone to come to the Island, so it is possible he has nothing to do with off Island events and instead focuses his time on on Island events. What I wonder is where Widmore fits into the Jacob/Adversary conflict? Ben apparently was working for Jacob, but got manipulated by Un-Locke & the Adversary into Killing Jacob. So, does that mean that Ben's enemy Widmore has been working for teh Adversary all along? Or is he truely independant of both Jacob and The Adversary and only out for his own goals? And what about Eloise? Who's side is she on?
I think Ben was a pawn for a bigger game. Ben believed he was following Jacob. Whether he really was following Jacob or was being conned by the Nemesis (who I still think is the Smoke Monster) all this time remains to be seen, but the impression I got from the end of season 5 was that Ben was never really under Jacob's influence, even though Ben thought he was. Widmore, on the other hand, I think is acting alone. (Well, him and his cronies Abaddon, little Dorritt and the rest.) And Hawking is acting even more alone from him, but with some common interests (namely Faraday ). Ilana and the rest? They could well be working for Jacob directly, and, alongside Richard, be the True Others (where Ben, Widmore and Hawking were "false Others" i.e. Others not really under the direct influence of Jacob but who might have been conned into thinking that way, yet desire control of the island for their own means). I still don't know who Caesar was meant to be working for. Perhaps he, like Lapidus, was just happy to be there?
Hmm, that would make more sense. In a way, I'm somewhat relieved too. A mysterious storyline about Ilana and "Sarah" could've made for a frustrating detour.