LOST Theories - DarkUFO

In season four, we were made to believe that Lost’s major conflict was being fought between Charles Widmore and Ben Linus, and that the coming war would be fought between them. Seasons 5 and 6, however, changed that.

Now, we know of a larger conflict – the conflict between Jacob and the Man in Black (MIB). After episode 6.09, we also know the origins of their conflict. MIB is some kind of source of very powerful evil (obviously) with the abilities to take the form of the smoke monster, take the forms of other people, and infect people with some kind of darkness. The island – whatever it is – is the prison keeping him from bringing this darkness to the rest of the world. Jacob is – or was – the supernatural guardian keeping him on the island.

Now, we have two new major conflicts that will play out through the end of season 6: Ilana trying to find the right candidate to replace Jacob and ensure that MIB stays on the island; and MIB manipulating people to ensure his escape from the island.

Now, looking back through the series, these conflicts do seem to fit in with what has happened. After Ilana and her team burned Jacob’s cabin down, and after we finally saw the purpose of the ash surrounding the cabin, it now seems apparent that MIB was being kept there, locked up. The “Help me” that Hurley heard was MIB’s plead to help him escape. The Christian Shepherd we have seen – whether in the cabin or helping Locke get to the frozen donkey wheel – has been MIB. When we saw Claire in the cabin earlier with Christian Shepherd, she had already been infected by MIB’s darkness. When Christian helped Locke to the donkey wheel, he was continuing his plan to find a loophole to kill Jacob (by having Locke die and the others come back, etc…).

This means that Ben has rarely, if ever, actually received orders from the REAL Jacob. (He hasn’t even seen Jacob anyway.) Richard also seems to have had limited access to Jacob of late. He and Ben seem to have no idea what is happening on the island. Ben was genuinely shocked when Locke came back to life, and scared out of his mind when it turned out to be NOT Locke.

So this is where Ben and Widmore fit into everything. Widmore was once the leader of the others – and probably quite a good one. But when it was revealed that he had a child, Ben and the rest of the others ousted him, and Ben became the new leader. Ever since, Widmore has been doing the best he can to get back to the island. Why? Not just because he loves it, but because he UNDERSTANDS it. Despite what Ben likes people to think, it has become apparent that he has no idea what is going on. He seems to know virtually nothing about MIB or Jacob or their conflict. He has a very selfish view of the island.

When Widmore reappeared on the island in episode 6.08, his conversation with Sawyer made it obvious that he understands what has happened to Locke, and who has possessed Locke’s body. This makes me think he knows a lot more about the Jacob/MIB conflict than Ben does, so he probably knows a lot more about what the island is than Ben does. In the past, Widmore has constantly called Ben “boy.” I think Widmore’s dislike for Ben grew not just out of the anger of being ousted, but out of the knowledge that Ben doesn’t know what he’s doing, and knows nothing about what the island truly is. Widmore’s goal has been to get back to the island so that he can regain control of what is happening – of the war that is brewing. What side he is currently on remains to be seen. It would make sense for him to want to keep MIB on the island, but he WAS instrumental – whether he knew it or not – in helping MIB get Locke’s body. I for one think he is on Jacob’s side,! and just doesn’t see eye to eye with Ben. But that remains to be proven.

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