The first 4 seasons or so were dedicated to the slow transformation of Jack from Man of Science to Man of Faith. It was accompanied by Locke’s sudden and tragic loss of faith which was followed by his fateful attempts to repair what he had done.
Then we had Locke’s sudden transformation into the smoke monster.
The theme of Season 6 has been Jack’s slow transformation into Jacob’s heir. Jacob knew he was ready.

With Jacob’s confirmation that the ultimate goal of the game is to protect the light from Smokey, I’m almost satisfied that we have sufficient guidelines to understand the island. I still think that the Smoke monster is a representation of Chaos and I thought of something that reinforces that: Remember how we had a strange scene of a butterfly floating around the Black Rock before Smokey appeared to Richard? The butterfly effect is part of Chaos theory so it could have been a hint.

The writers will probably give us a bit more about the island but the real mystery now is how will Jack win the game? How will he kill Smokey and get everyone off the island?

Strangely, I had always only been concerned about the mysteries of the island, now a burning question is what is Desmond up to?
- He lied to Jack about retrieving his father’s coffin.
- He beats up Ben to make him remember.
- He says that he wants John to let go which makes John accept the surgery.
- He arranges for Kate and Sayid to escape so they can attend the concert where almost everyone else will be.

Another strange thing is that Jacob’s best candidates over the years, Ben, John and Jack would all have been crossed off the cave’s walls because they are happy in Sideways world. John is getting married while Ben looked happy with Danielle and Alex. More importantly, Jack is a dad which was enough to cross out Kate. Even Sawyer isn’t troubled as much about his past. Jin and Sun have freed themselves from Sun’s father. Is that part of Smokey’s loophole? It seems Jacob would have to choose between Kate and Sayid only, two names that were crossed off on the island. I think Desmond has to make them want to go to the island.

Questions and ramblings…
Have all the dead people Miles “sensed” been dead only in one world? When he felt Alex’s presence, could he have been sensing her presence in Sideways world?

As for Richard, I guess we now have proof that Smokey's offer doesn’t stand anymore!

So, Widemore wasn’t working with Smokey. I guess it means Smokey knew Widemore well enough to anticipate he would put explosives in the plane.

Locke told Ben he could have the island to himself after he leaves.
Ben had no problem selling out Widemore or killing him despite the previous rules.
Then Locke said he wanted to use Desmond to destroy the island. What will Ben think about inheriting a destroyed island?
Could Jack find a loophole and use Ben to kill Smokey? It would have symmetry.