Ben is by far the most fascinating character on Lost. He seems to be able to manipulate anyone and everyone in order to get what he wants. He's a master of the mind-f*ck and like many cult leaders, doesn't have to physically kill someone if he wants them dead, and doesn't have to actually perform an action himself if he wants it accomplished. He's a dictator of the grandest sort, and yet everyone thinks he's not calling the shots. I'm on the band wagon with John's thoughts during "The Man Behind the Curtain" that Ben is the all powerful Oz and that Jacob is just a front. We'll soon find out the true nature of Jacob, but it has become quite clear that Ben is a master manipulator and that everything that has been planned and will be planned is planned by Ben.
With all that said, I think I'm onto something that has been brewing since the beginning of season 1. We all know that in "The Man Behind the Curtain" Ben oversaw a purge of all the Dharma Initiative members on the island. Early on in that episode when we see Ben as a child, he states how much he hates living in the barracks with the Dharma people and how he wants to live with Richard and the hostiles. He clearly has trust issues (which has been evident since Ben was introduced as a character) and he knows that he has specific goals to accomplish and we know that he will do anything he has to, to make his goals happen.
So Ben offed the Dharma people for various unknown reasons, but clearly also because he didn't trust them to do the work that needed to be done on the island the correct way.
And now it seems he has been conducting a second purge.
Of who?
Of his own people of course.
It comes as no surprise that the number of "others" has dwindled down to near-zero by this time in the show. In the finale of Season 3 alone, most of them were decimated. The question is, is Ben killing them off on purpose.
This became more apparent to me in "Through the Looking Glass" but was basically spelled out to me during "The Other Woman" when Juliet accuses Ben of sending Goodwin out to the tail-section survivors because he knew they would eventually kill him (skewered by Ana-Lucia).
If that was the case with Goodwin, then why not Ethan too, who he also sent out to the mid-section survivors who eventually killed him (shot by Charlie).
Ethan was Ben's only surgeon by the way.
We've seen Ben order the deaths of Bonnie & Greta. He whispered something to Juliet while on the operating table and then boom, a few minutes later Juliet shoots and kills Danny Pickett (an out of character move for Juliet).
He also sends all his best men to go down to the beach camp in "Through the Looking Glass" where they all get blown up or shot by our Losties.
Not to mention Bea Klugh's inexplicable suicide when she asks Mikhail to kill her (kind of reminiscent of a cult suicide).
Then of course there's Mikhail who survives death several times (I think it was the universe's way of course correcting things until it was his time to die - as proved by Michael's suicide attempts in "Meet Kevin Johnson). The producers have confirmed that Mikhail is actually dead after detonating the grenade which eventually kills Charlie. But who sent Mikhail down to the looking glass? Yup, Ben again.
Then there's the strange fact that Ben started recruiting the Losties. First there was the weirdness of Cindy Chandler the flight attendant and the two children Zack & Emma. Not to mention the multiple taillies that were kidnapped during "The Other 48 Days". We see Cindy seemingly happy to be an "other". Was she brainwashed in Room 23? Was she made to sacrifice someone like Locke was supposed to in order to gain entrance to their gang? Hopefully they'll do a flashback on Cindy soon.
Then there's Locke. Locke has survived death many times (the universe course correcting itself again probably) and even at the hands of Ben. It was almost as if Ben knew that Locke wouldn't be killed by the bullet that went through his stomach. He seems to be breeding Locke for recruitment, since way back in season 2. He told Locke he came for him. He told him he was special. And now Locke is head of the new team of Losties, who are "gasp" all now joining up with Ben. We'll see who stays and who leaves their little gang.
Ben has been building himself a new army. Did he do this on purpose? Did he know Flight 815 was going to crash. Is this what Jacob's list was all about?
He even has Sayid killing for him in the future segments.
We'll soon see what Ben was up to, but for the meantime I think it's safe to say that he was purging his "others" himself and recruiting Losties as his new team.
Theory by Scott Gingold
With all that said, I think I'm onto something that has been brewing since the beginning of season 1. We all know that in "The Man Behind the Curtain" Ben oversaw a purge of all the Dharma Initiative members on the island. Early on in that episode when we see Ben as a child, he states how much he hates living in the barracks with the Dharma people and how he wants to live with Richard and the hostiles. He clearly has trust issues (which has been evident since Ben was introduced as a character) and he knows that he has specific goals to accomplish and we know that he will do anything he has to, to make his goals happen.
So Ben offed the Dharma people for various unknown reasons, but clearly also because he didn't trust them to do the work that needed to be done on the island the correct way.
And now it seems he has been conducting a second purge.
Of who?
Of his own people of course.
It comes as no surprise that the number of "others" has dwindled down to near-zero by this time in the show. In the finale of Season 3 alone, most of them were decimated. The question is, is Ben killing them off on purpose.
This became more apparent to me in "Through the Looking Glass" but was basically spelled out to me during "The Other Woman" when Juliet accuses Ben of sending Goodwin out to the tail-section survivors because he knew they would eventually kill him (skewered by Ana-Lucia).
If that was the case with Goodwin, then why not Ethan too, who he also sent out to the mid-section survivors who eventually killed him (shot by Charlie).
Ethan was Ben's only surgeon by the way.
We've seen Ben order the deaths of Bonnie & Greta. He whispered something to Juliet while on the operating table and then boom, a few minutes later Juliet shoots and kills Danny Pickett (an out of character move for Juliet).
He also sends all his best men to go down to the beach camp in "Through the Looking Glass" where they all get blown up or shot by our Losties.
Not to mention Bea Klugh's inexplicable suicide when she asks Mikhail to kill her (kind of reminiscent of a cult suicide).
Then of course there's Mikhail who survives death several times (I think it was the universe's way of course correcting things until it was his time to die - as proved by Michael's suicide attempts in "Meet Kevin Johnson). The producers have confirmed that Mikhail is actually dead after detonating the grenade which eventually kills Charlie. But who sent Mikhail down to the looking glass? Yup, Ben again.
Then there's the strange fact that Ben started recruiting the Losties. First there was the weirdness of Cindy Chandler the flight attendant and the two children Zack & Emma. Not to mention the multiple taillies that were kidnapped during "The Other 48 Days". We see Cindy seemingly happy to be an "other". Was she brainwashed in Room 23? Was she made to sacrifice someone like Locke was supposed to in order to gain entrance to their gang? Hopefully they'll do a flashback on Cindy soon.
Then there's Locke. Locke has survived death many times (the universe course correcting itself again probably) and even at the hands of Ben. It was almost as if Ben knew that Locke wouldn't be killed by the bullet that went through his stomach. He seems to be breeding Locke for recruitment, since way back in season 2. He told Locke he came for him. He told him he was special. And now Locke is head of the new team of Losties, who are "gasp" all now joining up with Ben. We'll see who stays and who leaves their little gang.
Ben has been building himself a new army. Did he do this on purpose? Did he know Flight 815 was going to crash. Is this what Jacob's list was all about?
He even has Sayid killing for him in the future segments.
We'll soon see what Ben was up to, but for the meantime I think it's safe to say that he was purging his "others" himself and recruiting Losties as his new team.
Theory by Scott Gingold