Jacob’s Purpose

So, onwards to some half interpretation, half headcanon or just complete utter rambling from my side about Jacob’s purpose. He always goes on and on about other’s purpose and reveals his own in the very last part of his campaign:

So he sees himself as only there to die for his brother. That is his purpose and following his own principles, he shall fulfil it. Even gladly.

There is another interesting part in “The Book of Joseph” that can be combined with this statement:

“Every member of the family is ready to die for our Project, but from them, Jacob has selected three hundred warriors. Many of them are former soldiers. They are the fiercest and the most skilled.

They form an elite troop of three hundred Spartans who will guard the entrances to our refuges, against which the waves of violence and despair will crash. Until everything quiets down.”

- Book of Joseph, Chapter 12

So we get a definite number of how many hunters/warriors Jacob has. 300. They are even called Spartans by Joseph. Almost everyone should know who the Spartans were, and when the number 300 is associated with Sparta, the talk often is about the “Battle of Thermopylae”:

“The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, fighting to the death. […] One theory provided by Herodotus is that Leonidas sent away the remainder of his men because he cared about their safety. The soldiers who stayed behind were to protect their escape against the Persian cavalry. “

- Wikipedia

Combining this leads to an interpretation, that Jacob and his Hunters were always meant to die in the act of protecting the rest of the Project at Eden’s Gate against those who would come to them after the Collapse began. All the people who despised them formerly and then wanted to save themselves into their bunkers – be it by force and violence, they should be kept away and fought back by Jacob and his 300 “Spartans”.

They were always meant to sacrifice themselves for Joseph and the others whom they protected. That was their purpose.

What I also found quite interesting in that, was when Joseph tells you about his past and Jacob stands in the background, the viewpoint zooms in until Jacob is blurred and unrecognisable in the background. BUT the very moment Joseph says the word “sacrifice”, you can see Jacob again. The following screen is taken in that very moment Joseph says ‘sacrifice’, but the subtitles do not match with the spoken word - you can check yourself if you really want to.

Now we do not know whether Joseph was aware of this and he told Jacob about his purpose or whether Jacob came to the conclusion of his true purpose by himself. But add Joseph’s words after he admits to killing his own baby daughter in order to follow his path with Eden’s Gate:

After Joseph revealed this, he leaves, telling Jacob he has ‘done well’. Then Jacob steps forwards and simply opens the music box. There is no commentary coming from him whatsoever. No mockery, no speech about ‘purpose’. He doesn’t even look at the Deputy – and when you look at his face, you see that he seems distant, somehow somber as if what Joseph just told you hit home a lot more than he liked and he is in his own thoughts. Joseph will serve God, no matter what he asks. Be it killing his own daughter or sacrificing his own brother.

Personal emotions and bonds don’t seem to have a place there, but Jacob seems to understand and really accept it. As he tells you with himself and his past with Miller: “It wasn’t something I wanted… it was something that I had to do. It was, it was my test.” and “Miller’s sacrifice wasn’t about me walking out of that desert. It was about bringing me here.”

To his true purpose. To be Joseph’s test, to be the protector, to be the sacrifice. Jacob knew he would never see the end of the Project, he would never see the new world. Because he was meant to be sacrificed in the process. Either when the collapse came or before it, because:

And maybe that is why he repeatedly tells the Deputy that they are no hero. They are a tool, trained by Jacob to kill Eli - and ultimately fulfil the sacrifice and kill him, too.

Because heroes sacrifice themselves for others. Just like Leonidas and his 300 have created a “hero cult” - Jacob and his 300 would have been the true heroes because they were meant to be the sacrifice to ensure survival of the other brothers and sisters. They would not ‘win’, but they would have been heroes in their death.