coyote6
Adventurer
Jacob clearly wasn't immortal; he didn't age, but he got stabbed to death, though that required some particular (vaguely defined) circumstances for it to happen.
So, actual "never ever die" immortality didn't seem to be involved.
Turning off the lights seemed to nullify the "can't be killed" clause for everyone; Jack got mortally wounded, and Smokey got shot dead. Turning the lights back on was said to be fatal for anyone except maybe Desmond (though who knows if he was right about that), so Jack died anyways (either because the lights were just that dangerous, or because his immortality didn't come back with the lights, or because by choosing to sacrifice himself, he gave up the nigh-immortality).
I would guess that Hurley and Ben got the Jacob-and-Richard abilities after the lights came back on. Eventually, they either got tired of doing the job(s), and stepped down, and then died; or, some other thing happened that bypassed their nigh-immortality, and they were killed. We don't know; that wasn't part of the Lost story.
Though if ABC treats LOST the way most companies treat properties, in a couple of years there will be plenty of books, comics, and other spinoffs that will explain what happened to everyone at all times of their lives, in excruciating detail.
So, actual "never ever die" immortality didn't seem to be involved.
Turning off the lights seemed to nullify the "can't be killed" clause for everyone; Jack got mortally wounded, and Smokey got shot dead. Turning the lights back on was said to be fatal for anyone except maybe Desmond (though who knows if he was right about that), so Jack died anyways (either because the lights were just that dangerous, or because his immortality didn't come back with the lights, or because by choosing to sacrifice himself, he gave up the nigh-immortality).
I would guess that Hurley and Ben got the Jacob-and-Richard abilities after the lights came back on. Eventually, they either got tired of doing the job(s), and stepped down, and then died; or, some other thing happened that bypassed their nigh-immortality, and they were killed. We don't know; that wasn't part of the Lost story.
Though if ABC treats LOST the way most companies treat properties, in a couple of years there will be plenty of books, comics, and other spinoffs that will explain what happened to everyone at all times of their lives, in excruciating detail.

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