Your Voice: What Happens If Ben Returns to the Island?
Submitted by Gary Anderson
As we know, after the Island is moved the person moving it cannot return. What happens if that person tries to return anyway? What happens if that person, Ben, finds out where the island is, finds a loophole back in and manages to get back to the island?
Will there going to be a dire set of consequences for that?
I was just thinking about this today. I was having a theory about whether or not the Locke in the Coffin was the REAL Locke, or whether it was a "Dupe" Locke and that Ben had planned this to convince the O-6 to get on the plane with their golden tickets and thus the island would bring those six back to the island.
I’m guessing that Ben would also buy a ticket and would be on the plane when it crashed. Only there are a few problems here.
1. I quickly discarded that theory of Locke being a duplicate and not the REAL Locke.
2. It brought up another theory.
What if Ben is not supposed to return, and Ben is instead saying "I don’t care what you say, Island, I’m coming back. I HAVE to come back."
We saw what happened to Jack when he disobeyed the island. I’m guessing that the Island let Alex die because of Ben’s disobeying the island somewhere along the way. If the Island did not want Ben away from the Island, would it have let him leave by moving it? I don’t think so. I think that Ben has been used up by the Island and it no longer has any use for him. Ben may feel he’s protecting the Island, but the Island doesn’t need him.
While it may be offensive to some to bring up this analogy, the first thing that comes to mind is an abusive spouse. Ben has betrayed the trust of the Island, and the Island has kicked him out of it’s life. Ben still believes that he’s doing what’s best for the Island, and that it’s his mission in life to do so. Even if the Island does not want him to.
So what happens when Ben violates the Island’s wishes and tries to return? If he boards that airplane, I feel he’s not going to survive the crash. And if he DOES survive the Crash, I think he will be mortally injured in the crash and will not last long.
The Island has healing properties, but only for those who obey it and do what the Island wants. The Island will not save Ben, because Ben has betrayed the Island time and time again. Ben has disregarded the Island’s wishes, and tried to return when he was not welcome.
That’s why I feel that next season begins the final walk for Benjamin Linus. Whether he is aware of it or not, the flight back to the Island will be the last flight he will take.
————————————
Have your theories posted on The Tail Section!
"Your Voice" is a new TTS series in which Tail Section fans submit their articles, theories or reviews to be published on The Tail Section for all their fellow fans to read. Have you spent far too much time pondering the origins of the DHARMA Initiative? Have you alienated your co-workers by rambling about Daniel Faraday’s wacky time anomaly experiment? If so, we want to hear from you. Send your own Lost theories, reviews, or general thoughts to Editor(at)TheTailSection.com. Please keep all submissions between 300 and 1,000 words. We will read through all submissions and contact you if we publish your entry. You will also receive byline credit on our site.
I think season 5 will be about Ben helping Jack get the others to go back. That would mean he won’t have time to get Penny Widmore. That’ll revenge will be season six. So I can’t see them killing of Ben Linus in season 5.
Did Ben actually say all the 06′ers need to get on a commercial plane with their golden tickets? Bringing down another jumbo jet with more passengers on in doesn’t seem to intelligent to an island bent on remaining hidden. I think it is more plausible that John Locke botched his leadership duties and the island needs Ben back to help save it. I think Locke is still alive, but regardless, the island needs Ben’s ruthlessness. Can you think of any cases where Ben has done something against the islands wishes? I can’t recall any off the top of my head. Everything Ben has done has been for the island, he says it so much it’s almost like Michael’s catch line of “WAAAAALLLTTT!” The island or someone on it brings/requests Ben come back to help. I see no motivation for him to go back to the island at this point for his own self interest, he has to be gathering the O6′ers per the island or Locke on behalf of the islands wishes.
Comment by blutoschmooto — June 19, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
I don’t think so. Ben is fairly compliant with the island’s/Jacob’s wants. He knows he’s off the island and not the leader anymore and he’s okay with that.
His agenda is getting Widmore via Penny. Penny’s not on the island. Why would he want back?
Comment by cj — June 19, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
I don’t think Ben knows anything of the kind. There are 2 things we have seen over and over about Ben. 1) He loves the Island and is ruthless in defending it and 2) he frequently is “not exactly truthful.”
I think Ben lied about never being allowed back. I also think he is still the island’s leader - perhaps on hiatus taking care of the island’s outside interests - but still the island’s leader.
Someone is still providing for Ben and giving Ben information. I don’t think it is Widmore, especially since alot of the information Ben gets is how to track down Widmore’s people. Remember, Ben always has a plan .
Comment by itsMrsB — June 19, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
I agree that Ben was lying to John about not being allowed back. We know Locke LOVES the island and wants to stay on it no matter what, so telling him he can’t go back if he went with Ben forces John to stay. This allows Ben to fufill Jacob’s wishes, for one, and also go off the island again, only so he can deal with Widmore.
Comment by Herb — June 19, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
When he says the person can never come back, I think that’s only meant to mean that the person leaves and doesn’t know where the island is anymore, they won’t be able to locate it. If I’m right and Mr. Whidmore was the last person to turn the wheel, then the only way he found the island was with Charlotte who was chosen because she had been there before. Now Ben is trying to enlist The Oceanic 6 to get himself back to the islnd.
Comment by Izikavazo — June 19, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
I cant really recall anything Ben has done against the island’s wishes either…however, we dont know the full story; I still dont think we’ve seen the full extent of Ben’s intentions, manipulations, or power (and power over people). We already know of some kind of resentment between the Others and Ben, or at least Alpert and Ben…truth is, Ben may love the island, but we dont know whats going on inside his head.
Comment by Heather — June 20, 2008 @ 7:34 am
“Will there going to be a dire set of consequences for that?”
Er…what?
Comment by Bob T. — June 20, 2008 @ 8:32 am
“I cant really recall anything Ben has done against the island’s wishes either…”
How about when he shot Locke and left him for dead in the pit? My guess is Jacob only talks to the people he wants to lead. When he spoke to Locke Ben became enraged because he knew Jacob wanted Locke to lead the island. So he tried to kill Locke even though he knew Jacob needed him.
When Ben moves the wheel he looks up and says, are you happy now Jacob? Ben probably thinks he is making it up to Jacob by sacrificing himself and allowing Locke to finally lead the island.
Random thought: Widmore was very involved with this island. If you remember back to season 3 in Claires flashback getting tested by Ethan, the pregnancy tests were labled Widmore Construction and I remember seeing Widmore’s name on a lot of other products as well. I like the idea that Widmore moved the wheel at one time and that is why he can’t get back to the island.
Comment by Gavin — June 20, 2008 @ 9:16 am
Ben is not going to die. He is one of the driving forces of the series. Ever since Ben was held captive in the hatch, people have loved to hate him and it has been his enigmatic personality that has given the series suspense and wonderment since. Ben is more important to “Lost” than anyone, besides Jack.
I doubt that they will get back to the island through another plane crash. That would be way too easy for the writers. The only way Ben makes it back to the island, is if that is what the island wants him to do. And I imagine the writers will answer that question with something along the lines of “if someone brings back something the island desires, and it could not have been done without that someone’s help, then the island will allow him or her to return.
Another thing… if you are going to post an “article” on the website, then try to maintain a little integrity, and at least read over what you have written before you post it, so it doesn’t have so many gramatical errors. It seriously takes away from the opinion of the writer when the reader has to reread things over and over again, correcting along the way. Just a little constructive criticism.
Comment by Kalbowski — June 20, 2008 @ 9:46 am
Well “Kalbowski” I’m sorry if my “article” did not live up to your expectations of what things on this site should be. Please accept my most sincere apologies. From now one I will run my pieces through at a bare minimum, four University English professors, to make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.
Please forgive me oh wise one!
And as far as Ben not dying because he’s a driving force, I believe that at one point Charlie was considered untouchable as well. I seem to remember reading an article that said that Dominic was told that he was the only person on the show that was assured that he was not going to be killed off (this was during the first season), because of the mass appeal of his character.
What happened to Charlie again?
Also, this show is on the back end of it’s run. Why wouldn’t people start getting killed off? What’s to say that Ben won’t die before the final season? Unless they’re one of the Oceanic 6 they could be killed off this coming season and an O-6′er could be killed off in this next season’s finale (if that’s when they hit the island again).
Comment by Gary — June 20, 2008 @ 9:53 am
I disagree with all of you who said Ben was lying for the following reason:
Ben was crying and clearly emotional and depressed in pushing the wheel. Ben rarely shows that kind of emotion so if he could come back he would not have broken down like that.
Comment by Matt4 — June 20, 2008 @ 11:21 am
Gavin, You raise good points, but I have to disagree about Ben being punished by the island for shooting Locke. Ben has reacted to his emotions only once, killing Keemey which resulted in the freighter blowing up. Do you think a man as calculating as Ben would shoot Locke, not killing him mind you as Locke points out he was shot in the non-kidney part of the body, had his kidney been there he would have died. If Ben wanted Locke dead, Locke would be dead. With all Ben has done for the island(its his life!) he isn’t about to piss the island off. Shooting Locke was part of his master plan, Locke then killed Naomi and at the time presumably saved the island from Widmore. Don’t think the island would have been to mad about that.
Also, if Widmore can’t get back to the island what is the point of him trying to find it? Who wants to watch a show about a guy trying to find something that he can’t never set foot on? In order for Widmore to be a credible villian, he has to be able to take the island back himself! He is angry at Ben for hiding the island from him. Why would he care about the islands whereabouts if he cannot go back? Widmore needs a more powerful reason to return than just to have his business enterprise set up a money making scheme there.
Gary, Charlie died because he had no central role in the happenings of the island. Charlies goal was to save Claire and he met his goal so he could die. Ben has unfinished goals in this show, they aren’t going to kill him off until he either kills Penny or Widmore dies and the island has been saved. DO you see any of these three things being resolved in season 5? I don’t, I see these being resolved towards the end of season 6. Once they are, then he can die.
Untouchable characters who are driving forces of this show, they need to be alive:
Jack- Good guy. The good guy doesn’t die.
Locke- He is the middle guy, the catalyst between Ben and Jack, the balancer of good and evil.
Ben- Villian (good bad guy or bad good guy, he’s the archetypal antagonist and isn’t going anywhere)
Untouchable characters for the next season:
Kate - Has to resolve love interest with Jack/Sawyer and guard Aaron and fulfill Sawyers wish
Sawyer- Can’t die until Kate tells him his wish was fulfilled and she makes her choice between Jack and Sawyer
Aaron- The island wants him back and we don’t even know why yet. Has to be something important
Juliet- There are too many tragic figure in this show, she shouldn’t be one. She needs to be reunited with her sister and get off the island or at least resolve her creepy relationship with Ben.
Important people for first few episodes of season 5, but could be killed anytime during it
Hurley- This guys has no goals, he could be killed off at any time. Only reason for keeping on is so the writers can give Sawyer jokes to make about Hurley.
Sun- If she is playing Widmore she could be killed off at anytime IF Jin is dead. If Jin is alive they will have to have a reunion and she last through the season. If she is aligned with Widmore then she could probably be alive through season 6
in trying to get revenge against Jack.
Sayid- no goals, kill him off or give him some goals.
Comment by blutoschmooto — June 20, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
It is obvious that Ben wants the O6 to get back to the Island….But I don’t think we have been given the impression that he is desperate to get back. We have been led to believe that his motivation is revenge on Widmore…..I don’t recall any “off island” scenes that indicate Ben even has the slightest interest in going back.
We have been shown that he has used up any share of “island magic” that he had…(spinal tumor, dead daughter, etc.) — so what does he have to go back to?
Comment by dtt — June 20, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
I think too many people here seem to have the wrong impression here. This isn’t me saying “this is 100% going to happen”
I’ve had various theories on how things end, it’s just that. A theory. One that will no doubt turn out to be wrong. It’s a guess, folks. It’s a “hey, what if it was like THIS?”
I’m not saying this is what I believe is going to happen, this is me saying this is a possibility, that may not even come to fruition, but hey…it’s an idea.
The only theory I’ve come up with that I think would be kinda cool if it happened is my Dark Tower theory I posted on here recently. Most of the others are all just things I’ve thought of and was like “hey, I’ll post this up there and see what people think”
Comment by Gary — June 20, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
Gary — A Dark Tower type ending to Lost is very plausible…..As a matter of fact I could see a Dark Tower ending for BSG also.
Comment by dtt — June 20, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
Bluttoshmooto you wrote more in the comments section than most people write in their articles, maybe you should just get writin’. I’m not trying to be mean or anything it just seems like you have a lot to say and we need that in the off season.
Also I think that a Dark Tower ending for Lost would be so depressing. I don’t want to ruin the books for anyone so I won’t go into detail. It could very well happen but I think it just wouldn’t be right for Lost (at least for me).
Keep posting those articles Gary, and don’t worry these jackasses will rip you apart for any little thing they can find. A lot of people seem to be jealous that their articles don’t get posted or they don’t have the gump to write one themselves.
CRITICISE AWAY *%$#ERS!!!!
Comment by DeGroots — June 21, 2008 @ 3:07 am
http://www.thetailsection.com/lost-theories/your-voice-the-lost-tower.php
That’s the Dark Tower theory I posted. I’m actually almost 100% in favor of this one. The baton thing, I don’t think is really gonna happen, but it would be cool if it was, and it would lend even MORE credence to it.
But some of the comments were spot on about how JJ and Co. are supposed to do the Dark Tower movie, so this might not emulate that.
But it’s interesting anyway. I think it’s one of my better theories, and the one that’s the closest to actually being correct. Whether it is correct, we’ll find out in a couple years. lol
Comment by Gary — June 21, 2008 @ 10:12 am
I’m going to have to read this Dark Towers saga since I’m the only one in the world who hasn’t!
Gary, I think most people understand that you’re making theories and not saying this is fact, the only people who can say for sure what is going to happen have their name in the biggest letters in the opening credits of the show. I appreciate people’s theories and feedback because they help my views of theories. I can’t tell you how many times I fell like I’m on to a great idea and then someone posts an example that completely contradicts my theory and I’m left to rethink the entire thing ending up on the complete other side of the fence. It is part of the reason I enjoy trying to figure this, it is so complex and there aren’t always black and white answers.
Degroots, I don’t take offense to your opinion, I will find a theory to post. I appreciate everyone’s theory as I said, whether I agree with them or not. They help you see the happenings from other angles or viewpoints. I just like throwing my opinions out there because I have gained a lot of details that I may have forgotten about or overlooked by others feedback. I like to look at the whole theory community as a collaborative effort, not and individual one.
Comment by blutoschmoot — June 21, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
Please no Dark Tower ending.
Comment by Larry — June 21, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
I also agree with the camp that says that Ben only meant that if you left the Island you couldn’t come back because you can’t find it.
Now, considering “Jeremy Bentham” most likely visited Ben before “dying”, I would venture to guess he told him how to get back.
Comment by Flurb — June 22, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Hey guys, I haven’t read all the replies so forgive me if I repeat anyhthing previously stated, but season 4 was not the first time Ben told someone they cannot come back to the island. He also said it to Michael in season 2 before he took the boat. “you know if you leave you cannot come back” So I think it’s more about not being able to find the island again because it moves, than some force that doesn’t let you physically step on the island. How else does Mr. Friendly and Alpert et all go back and forth?
Comment by The Bauman — June 23, 2008 @ 1:27 pm