In The Man Behind The Curtain, a 10-year old Benjamin Linus travels out into the jungle chasing after an vision of his dead mother. In the jungle, he encounters Richard Alpert, who appears to be exactly the same age at the time of the purge. The most popular conclusion that most people reached from this revelation was that Richard somehow does not age.
A lot of people have introduced theories involving alternate universes, alternate timelines, time travel, and time loops recently. A number of these theories include the token throwaway line that "this explains why Richard Alpert does not age." Well, none of those theories actually do explain why Richard does not age, while everyone else still ages at a normal rate. Whatever the time properties of the island truly are, they would have to affect all inhabitants equally.
In rewatching The Man Behind The Curtain, study the jungle conversation between Richard and young Ben carefully. Ben never makes any physical contact with Richard, and Richard seems to exaggerate this point by approaching Ben while waving his hands in a nonthreatening way. The previous scenes had already involved Ben seeing an apparation from the past in the form of his dead mother. Perhaps Ben was also seeing an appartition from his future in the form of Richard. The reason that this vision told Ben to be 'very, very patient' was that Richard had not yet arrived at the island in that form. Ben would have to wait many years before Richard would arrive at the island and help him execute the Purge. The show has hinted that Ben has the ability to communicate with Jacob, perhaps another man from a different point in time. If Ben was already special enough to communicate with his mother and Jacob in that same episode, then why couldn't he communicate with Richard as well?
The obvious counterargument is to reference Ben's comment to Richard earlier in the episode: "You do remember birthdays, don't you Richard?". Most people have interpreted this line to mean that birthdays are irrelevant to Richard because he never ages. We know very little about the Hostiles and their beliefs, and this line could have many different meanings. Richard acts like something of a mystic, and birthdays could be irrelevant to him for a different reason altogether. We shouldn't assume that an ambiguous statement only leads to one possible conclusion. Nothing in the previous three seasons had even hinted toward the possibility of ageless people, but many events over the three seasons had indicated that the island causes people to see visions (possibly induced by the Smoke monster).
I'm not even sure if I believe that Richard was merely another one of Ben's visions. However, the most important thing is that you have to admit the possibility that this interpretation could be correct. The episode does not offer any definitive conclusions one way or another, so we should reserve judgment on these issues until we know more. Ironically, ABC's advertisements promoted The Man Behind The Curtain as the episode that would reveal all of the island's secrets, but it surely generated more questions than answers. In other words, don't assume that Richard Alpert is some sort of ageless immortal, even when his actions on and off the island indicate that he is the same flesh-and-blood as any other character.
Theory by Curtis
A lot of people have introduced theories involving alternate universes, alternate timelines, time travel, and time loops recently. A number of these theories include the token throwaway line that "this explains why Richard Alpert does not age." Well, none of those theories actually do explain why Richard does not age, while everyone else still ages at a normal rate. Whatever the time properties of the island truly are, they would have to affect all inhabitants equally.
In rewatching The Man Behind The Curtain, study the jungle conversation between Richard and young Ben carefully. Ben never makes any physical contact with Richard, and Richard seems to exaggerate this point by approaching Ben while waving his hands in a nonthreatening way. The previous scenes had already involved Ben seeing an apparation from the past in the form of his dead mother. Perhaps Ben was also seeing an appartition from his future in the form of Richard. The reason that this vision told Ben to be 'very, very patient' was that Richard had not yet arrived at the island in that form. Ben would have to wait many years before Richard would arrive at the island and help him execute the Purge. The show has hinted that Ben has the ability to communicate with Jacob, perhaps another man from a different point in time. If Ben was already special enough to communicate with his mother and Jacob in that same episode, then why couldn't he communicate with Richard as well?
The obvious counterargument is to reference Ben's comment to Richard earlier in the episode: "You do remember birthdays, don't you Richard?". Most people have interpreted this line to mean that birthdays are irrelevant to Richard because he never ages. We know very little about the Hostiles and their beliefs, and this line could have many different meanings. Richard acts like something of a mystic, and birthdays could be irrelevant to him for a different reason altogether. We shouldn't assume that an ambiguous statement only leads to one possible conclusion. Nothing in the previous three seasons had even hinted toward the possibility of ageless people, but many events over the three seasons had indicated that the island causes people to see visions (possibly induced by the Smoke monster).
I'm not even sure if I believe that Richard was merely another one of Ben's visions. However, the most important thing is that you have to admit the possibility that this interpretation could be correct. The episode does not offer any definitive conclusions one way or another, so we should reserve judgment on these issues until we know more. Ironically, ABC's advertisements promoted The Man Behind The Curtain as the episode that would reveal all of the island's secrets, but it surely generated more questions than answers. In other words, don't assume that Richard Alpert is some sort of ageless immortal, even when his actions on and off the island indicate that he is the same flesh-and-blood as any other character.
Theory by Curtis
