Richard Alpert is the Sun

After hearing Sawyer refer to Richard as "your friend with the eyeliner", it suddenly struck me. Yes, we've all made the declaration that Richard looks Egyptian, but once Sawyer confirmed it, I thought, "Richard Alpert, R. A., Ra!" Richard is the sun god Ra, and the fact that we saw an Egyptian statue at the beginning of the episode sort of solidified that for me.

Ra's arch enemy was Apep, a serpent (like the smoke monster?) and a part of the underworld, who attacked the sun each night.

Horace (Horus in Egyptian) also reeks of Egyptian influence. Horus was the god of the sky and the Eye of Horus was associated with Ra, his father.

Questions I Want Answered

I'm making a list of questions I care about knowing the answer to. We'll see how long it takes for the show to get to these:

1. What the fuck is the smoke monster?
2. Why does the smoke monster kill some people and "infect" others?
3. How did Whidmore get to the island? Was he born there?
4. What's the deal with the 4-toed statue?
5. Is Miles Dr. Chang's son?
6. Why don't Mrs. Hawking and Richard Alpert age?
7. What happened to the slaves and crew on The Black Rock?

Obviously there are a million other questions, but I really only care about these. If you think you know the answers, go ahead and sound off. We'll see if you're right in the end.