The issue of Libby will be returned to, or at least ought to, unless the writers drop the ball.
Okay, this theory requires me to return to "The Other 48 Days," "?" and other disparate episodes to pull out some information:
I think it is worth noting that there is no absolute confirmation that Libby was on Flight 815 at all, though I do believe she was on the plane and planted on it (or much less likely, on the Island itself) by Widmore, much like Goodwin was planted with the Tailies by the Others.
The census performed by Hurley precedes the Losties' encounter with the Tailies. Therefore, we are not sure if she was on the manifest or not.
We also have no explanation as to what she was doing in Australia or why she was at the airport or possibly on the plane. It is possible that she (and -- likely -- numerous other) Widmore underlings were on Flight 815; Libby may have been the only survivor of that contingent (numerous ones were planted for better likelihood of a survivor).
Comparing "The Other 48 Days" and "?" does convince me she was on Flight 815, though; she is briefly visible in the crash scene in "The Other 48 Days", and she is wearing the same clothing as in Eko's airport flashback in "?" (minus a green blazer that must have been torn off in the crash); she also has noticeable physical damage in the crash scene. It is worth noting, however, that she is not (to my knowledge) in any of the other airport flashbacks or seen in the airplane in those flashback scenes.
I do believe Flight 815 was planned to *land* on the Island, but not meant to crash; Desmond's failure to enter the code at the Swan turned what was intended to be a landing on the island into a crash. The fact that Flight 815 was so off-course suggests that it had, in reality, a different itinerary from the passengers were aware of. Many of the passengers clearly have a purpose in being on the Island, and it seems that much of the group of 815-ers was highly calculated (Locke as part of the Others'/Alpert's plan, Aaron, Christian, Jack as the neurosurgeon for Ben's tumor, and numerous others who clearly have strong roles in the Island's needs, whatever they may be, etc.). Most likely, in my opinion, the determination of a certain percentage of the passengers was executed by the Others, and Widmore spies infiltrated the ranks as part of what I will call "extra passengers" (a sub-group that includes some 815-ers who may not have an actual purpose in the eyes of the Others ! for having been on the commandeered flight, for example, Rose, red-shirts, etc.).
The idea that Flight 815 has a mission and itinerary other than that made known to the public is not an unprecedented situation in the least. It is at least implicitly well-known that the Kahana was not announced as "searching for a magical island", and its mission as stated by Naomi to rescue the survivors of Flight 815 is not in line whatsoever with its actual mission. In addition, the submarine that takes Juliet to the Island presented in "Not in Portland" and "One of Us" also has a secret itinerary. Misrepresentation of itinerary is a technique we have seen before, and in fact, seems to represent the only method ever used to bring outsiders to the Island, for the purpose of secrecy to the outside world. With this in mind, it is highly feasible to suggest that Flight 815 is another bogus transporter of people to the Island; it never had any intention of landing in Los Angeles.
This, of course, opens a big can of worms that has already been open for some time, though I also think that Cindy must therefore be in on the spy-team as well (also the pilot, etc.). She is therefore the Widmore spy on the Others, hence explaining her quick willingness to integrate into their society and her so-called "disappearance" when traipsing through the jungle with Ana-Lucia, Libby, Eko, Michael, Sawyer, Jin, and Bernard.
Other reasons to support the theory that Libby is a Widmore spy, some of which have been mentioned by other posters:
1) There has been no Libby flashback, so much of her history remains a mystery. We have seen her in Santa Rosa with Hurley (à la Abbadon, who at the very least has some sort of working relationship with Widmore). Here she is most likely somehow working into setting up Hurley's escape so that he will go to Australia; Leonard Simms may also have been something of a ploy to involve Hurley with the mysterious numbers which led him to Australia. I imagine that the entire conspiracy also made it possible for Hurley to make the flight when he clearly should have missed it (his importance is greater than is normally let on, since he is able to see Jacob's cabin, and this importance is also strongly suggested by Libby's nearly-immediate attentions toward him). I do not believe she was a true mental patient, but a well-placed agent in disguise. (Some chronological information would be great to approximate how much time could have elapsed between her stay at Santa Rosa and her gi! ving Desmond the boat, where she clearly appears very well-put-together.)
2) We have also seen her in Desmond's flashback, in which she can be strongly suspected of offering Desmond the boat in Widmore's service of getting rid of him. Seriously, giving away a yacht at no charge is not a commonplace thing; this is most likely with further purpose. Desmond may or may not have been intended to shipwreck on the Island, but sending him on the sailing race was certainly a fine way of Widmore ridding himself of this "family pest". If any of this is correct, it is nicely ironic that Widmore indirectly then caused his own spies to crash instead of calmly land on the Island, since it is Desmond (in his failure to enter the Swan Hatch code) who pulled the plane down with electromagnetic force.
3) The blatant withholding of her last name to the audience by the writers also seems significant. If I am correct, she is the only main character whose last name is not revealed (even in the Oceanic 6 press conference); this is almost certainly intentional on the part of the writers, and I am sure if it is revealed at some point, her last name will point to some important connection or other.
4) We can also possibly tie in Libby’s desire to help Claire recall what happened during her captivity with Ethan and the Others. Since this had been the only first-hand experience that any of the non-captured 815-ers had had to this point, the information that Claire potentially carried would have been of great importance.
5) Libby tells Ana Lucía not to “do anything stupid” with Ben. This smacks of the “rules” of the game and Libby knowing much more than she let on, since if she were purely a casual passenger on Flight 815, she might be more enraged as well at the mysterious Others, who killed and kidnapped so many of the Losties/Tailies.
6) Her constantly changing hair color and style suggests she is frequently in disguise and meant to fly under the radar of onlookers.
With regard to identity, I have seen in other posts that there is much opposition to the idea that Libby may not be Libby. Though I do not necessarily take any particular stance on this issue (e.g. if she is actually Annie, whatnot), since I do not think we have been given enough information at this time. I do believe though that aliases are one of the major tactics of the "game"/offensive ploys used by Ben and Widmore alike. It is not grounded in what we have seen thus far in "Lost" to purport that a given character is necessarily "just that character", as I have seen written in the comments to some theories. This is especially true with characters whose pasts are unclear. There are numerous examples of feigned identity throughout "Lost", and nearly always with the purpose of infiltrating some external group without setting off alarms: 1) Ben posing as Henry Gale during his captivity in the Swan; 2) Kate posing as Monica during her marriage (and numerous other aliases);! 3) The name "Sawyer" is itself an alias; 4) Ben posing as Dean Moriarty in Tunisia and probably elsewhere; 5) Michael posing as Kevin Johnson on the Kahana; 6) numerous, numerous others, but I think the point is made.
The planting of moles, agents, and spies under aliases is one of the primary tactics used in this "game": 1) If Ben's capture by the Losties in "One of Them" turns out to be an intentional capture (taking no stance on this, either, at this point, though I *am* sure he did not plan to get an arrow cross-bowed through his chest), this is another example of planting a mole; 2) Juliet as an intended mole in the Losties' camp for the purposes of identifying pregnant women; 3) Michael served twice as a mole, one as his own person in "Two for the Road" and then as Kevin Johnson on the freighter; 4) Goodwin as a mole with the Tailies in "The Other 48 Days". My point being, that if Ben so freely uses this tactic to gather information and to perform covert operations, it therefore becomes very reasonable to suggest that Widmore is most likely doing the same, but it has not yet come to light. Libby and Cindy (at the very least) fall under strong suspicion of being in-the-know agents ! of Widmore who boarded Flight 815 endowed with specific missions.
I do think all these details fit in nicely together, and I am eager to hear comments and feedback, as this is my first theory posting. The question of Libby’s identity and connection to the overall framework of the show will hopefully be treated at some point in the next two seasons, as I do believe she works for Widmore and played a much larger role than has been expected by most in setting up who made it to the Island.
Theory by Francisco
Okay, this theory requires me to return to "The Other 48 Days," "?" and other disparate episodes to pull out some information:
I think it is worth noting that there is no absolute confirmation that Libby was on Flight 815 at all, though I do believe she was on the plane and planted on it (or much less likely, on the Island itself) by Widmore, much like Goodwin was planted with the Tailies by the Others.
The census performed by Hurley precedes the Losties' encounter with the Tailies. Therefore, we are not sure if she was on the manifest or not.
We also have no explanation as to what she was doing in Australia or why she was at the airport or possibly on the plane. It is possible that she (and -- likely -- numerous other) Widmore underlings were on Flight 815; Libby may have been the only survivor of that contingent (numerous ones were planted for better likelihood of a survivor).
Comparing "The Other 48 Days" and "?" does convince me she was on Flight 815, though; she is briefly visible in the crash scene in "The Other 48 Days", and she is wearing the same clothing as in Eko's airport flashback in "?" (minus a green blazer that must have been torn off in the crash); she also has noticeable physical damage in the crash scene. It is worth noting, however, that she is not (to my knowledge) in any of the other airport flashbacks or seen in the airplane in those flashback scenes.
I do believe Flight 815 was planned to *land* on the Island, but not meant to crash; Desmond's failure to enter the code at the Swan turned what was intended to be a landing on the island into a crash. The fact that Flight 815 was so off-course suggests that it had, in reality, a different itinerary from the passengers were aware of. Many of the passengers clearly have a purpose in being on the Island, and it seems that much of the group of 815-ers was highly calculated (Locke as part of the Others'/Alpert's plan, Aaron, Christian, Jack as the neurosurgeon for Ben's tumor, and numerous others who clearly have strong roles in the Island's needs, whatever they may be, etc.). Most likely, in my opinion, the determination of a certain percentage of the passengers was executed by the Others, and Widmore spies infiltrated the ranks as part of what I will call "extra passengers" (a sub-group that includes some 815-ers who may not have an actual purpose in the eyes of the Others ! for having been on the commandeered flight, for example, Rose, red-shirts, etc.).
The idea that Flight 815 has a mission and itinerary other than that made known to the public is not an unprecedented situation in the least. It is at least implicitly well-known that the Kahana was not announced as "searching for a magical island", and its mission as stated by Naomi to rescue the survivors of Flight 815 is not in line whatsoever with its actual mission. In addition, the submarine that takes Juliet to the Island presented in "Not in Portland" and "One of Us" also has a secret itinerary. Misrepresentation of itinerary is a technique we have seen before, and in fact, seems to represent the only method ever used to bring outsiders to the Island, for the purpose of secrecy to the outside world. With this in mind, it is highly feasible to suggest that Flight 815 is another bogus transporter of people to the Island; it never had any intention of landing in Los Angeles.
This, of course, opens a big can of worms that has already been open for some time, though I also think that Cindy must therefore be in on the spy-team as well (also the pilot, etc.). She is therefore the Widmore spy on the Others, hence explaining her quick willingness to integrate into their society and her so-called "disappearance" when traipsing through the jungle with Ana-Lucia, Libby, Eko, Michael, Sawyer, Jin, and Bernard.
Other reasons to support the theory that Libby is a Widmore spy, some of which have been mentioned by other posters:
1) There has been no Libby flashback, so much of her history remains a mystery. We have seen her in Santa Rosa with Hurley (à la Abbadon, who at the very least has some sort of working relationship with Widmore). Here she is most likely somehow working into setting up Hurley's escape so that he will go to Australia; Leonard Simms may also have been something of a ploy to involve Hurley with the mysterious numbers which led him to Australia. I imagine that the entire conspiracy also made it possible for Hurley to make the flight when he clearly should have missed it (his importance is greater than is normally let on, since he is able to see Jacob's cabin, and this importance is also strongly suggested by Libby's nearly-immediate attentions toward him). I do not believe she was a true mental patient, but a well-placed agent in disguise. (Some chronological information would be great to approximate how much time could have elapsed between her stay at Santa Rosa and her gi! ving Desmond the boat, where she clearly appears very well-put-together.)
2) We have also seen her in Desmond's flashback, in which she can be strongly suspected of offering Desmond the boat in Widmore's service of getting rid of him. Seriously, giving away a yacht at no charge is not a commonplace thing; this is most likely with further purpose. Desmond may or may not have been intended to shipwreck on the Island, but sending him on the sailing race was certainly a fine way of Widmore ridding himself of this "family pest". If any of this is correct, it is nicely ironic that Widmore indirectly then caused his own spies to crash instead of calmly land on the Island, since it is Desmond (in his failure to enter the Swan Hatch code) who pulled the plane down with electromagnetic force.
3) The blatant withholding of her last name to the audience by the writers also seems significant. If I am correct, she is the only main character whose last name is not revealed (even in the Oceanic 6 press conference); this is almost certainly intentional on the part of the writers, and I am sure if it is revealed at some point, her last name will point to some important connection or other.
4) We can also possibly tie in Libby’s desire to help Claire recall what happened during her captivity with Ethan and the Others. Since this had been the only first-hand experience that any of the non-captured 815-ers had had to this point, the information that Claire potentially carried would have been of great importance.
5) Libby tells Ana Lucía not to “do anything stupid” with Ben. This smacks of the “rules” of the game and Libby knowing much more than she let on, since if she were purely a casual passenger on Flight 815, she might be more enraged as well at the mysterious Others, who killed and kidnapped so many of the Losties/Tailies.
6) Her constantly changing hair color and style suggests she is frequently in disguise and meant to fly under the radar of onlookers.
With regard to identity, I have seen in other posts that there is much opposition to the idea that Libby may not be Libby. Though I do not necessarily take any particular stance on this issue (e.g. if she is actually Annie, whatnot), since I do not think we have been given enough information at this time. I do believe though that aliases are one of the major tactics of the "game"/offensive ploys used by Ben and Widmore alike. It is not grounded in what we have seen thus far in "Lost" to purport that a given character is necessarily "just that character", as I have seen written in the comments to some theories. This is especially true with characters whose pasts are unclear. There are numerous examples of feigned identity throughout "Lost", and nearly always with the purpose of infiltrating some external group without setting off alarms: 1) Ben posing as Henry Gale during his captivity in the Swan; 2) Kate posing as Monica during her marriage (and numerous other aliases);! 3) The name "Sawyer" is itself an alias; 4) Ben posing as Dean Moriarty in Tunisia and probably elsewhere; 5) Michael posing as Kevin Johnson on the Kahana; 6) numerous, numerous others, but I think the point is made.
The planting of moles, agents, and spies under aliases is one of the primary tactics used in this "game": 1) If Ben's capture by the Losties in "One of Them" turns out to be an intentional capture (taking no stance on this, either, at this point, though I *am* sure he did not plan to get an arrow cross-bowed through his chest), this is another example of planting a mole; 2) Juliet as an intended mole in the Losties' camp for the purposes of identifying pregnant women; 3) Michael served twice as a mole, one as his own person in "Two for the Road" and then as Kevin Johnson on the freighter; 4) Goodwin as a mole with the Tailies in "The Other 48 Days". My point being, that if Ben so freely uses this tactic to gather information and to perform covert operations, it therefore becomes very reasonable to suggest that Widmore is most likely doing the same, but it has not yet come to light. Libby and Cindy (at the very least) fall under strong suspicion of being in-the-know agents ! of Widmore who boarded Flight 815 endowed with specific missions.
I do think all these details fit in nicely together, and I am eager to hear comments and feedback, as this is my first theory posting. The question of Libby’s identity and connection to the overall framework of the show will hopefully be treated at some point in the next two seasons, as I do believe she works for Widmore and played a much larger role than has been expected by most in setting up who made it to the Island.
Theory by Francisco
