I'm not expecting this theory to be one of the most popular, or the most probable on the site, but I thought I'd throw this out there and see if anyone sees this as a potential scenario, as I did today in a bit of a "Holy s**t!" moment.
I was re-watching "Meet Kevin Johnson" from Season 4 this evening, and I was taken by the exchange between Ben and Michael. Michael has just "set off" the bomb, only to be greeted by a lovely "NOT YET" flag. After Michael is summoned to the telephone, told that Walt is wanting to speak with him, Ben is the bearer of bad news and the two begin to have a discussion.
During this discussion, Michael accuses Ben of "killing" AnaLucia and Libby, and Ben responds with an obvious, "You killed them, Michael. No one else told you to. But what wouldn't a man do for his son?" I'm paraphrasing that quotation, but I was blown away by the spiteful tone in Ben's voice, making him seem more evil and macabre than ever.
That got the ol' wheels turning in my mind, and gets to the crux of my theory. You know how this entire show has dealt with relationships, or lack thereof, between fathers-sons-daughters? Jack, Claire and Christian, Sawyer and his deceased father, Kate and her stepdad, Locke and "Sawyer", Hugo and Cheech, Michael and Walt, and of course Ben and his father. Well, are the writers are leading us up to an event that will turn everything on its head?
When we first learn of Ben's back story, it's from the standpoint of his parents, and his mother is giving birth in the backseat of a car. Over time, we come to find out that she did not survive the birth, and that his father has come to resent Ben for this. The relationship is a cold one, which ends up in Ben biding his time, and enacting revenge on his father in the Dharma van.
Well, my friends, what if the real reason that Ben's father is bitter about his son isn't because of his deceased wife, but because he later finds out that he isn't the father at all. We have a 9-11 year window of Ben's childhood where NOTHING is revealed, and we simply go from his birth (and death of his mother), to a time where Ben and his "father" arrive on the Island.
I propose that Ben's father is not the man we have met, but is instead Charles Widmore. Due to events yet untold, we will learn that Ben's mother and Widmore met in some capacity and had a fling. Ben's father finds this out, but is unaware of who the true father is. We will also find out that Widmore (perhaps when he was "in charge of the island" as many of us believe") found a way to lure Ben and his "father" to the island, with the job offer, with the hopes of observing his son and seeing if he deemed him worthy to "inherit" his position.
While this is unlikely, I haven't seen this brought up yet, and I think it would make for an unbelievable "WOW" moment in the show, when many of us feel there aren't many of those left. The show has circled around the issue of father-son non-relationships for its duration, and would anything be more fitting than for our entire view of this villainous Ben-Widmore connection to be completely given a 180? The apparently age difference is appropriate and it would be the perfect TV equivalent to, "Luke, I am your father."
Think of the ramifications of Widmore killing Alex (via Keamy) in this capacity, "changing the rules" by killing his grand-daughter. This might explain Ben's extreme shock, not simply because his daughter is dead, but he figured no scenario where his father could kill one of his own.
I apologize if someone else has brought this theory to the forefront, but I simply had to regurgitate my thoughts on paper before I forgot them. I think this would be an unbelievable Season 5 Finale episode, or perhaps even a late Season 6 twist where everything is just completely turned on its head. Any thoughts are welcome.
Theory by Mrjohnst
I was re-watching "Meet Kevin Johnson" from Season 4 this evening, and I was taken by the exchange between Ben and Michael. Michael has just "set off" the bomb, only to be greeted by a lovely "NOT YET" flag. After Michael is summoned to the telephone, told that Walt is wanting to speak with him, Ben is the bearer of bad news and the two begin to have a discussion.
During this discussion, Michael accuses Ben of "killing" AnaLucia and Libby, and Ben responds with an obvious, "You killed them, Michael. No one else told you to. But what wouldn't a man do for his son?" I'm paraphrasing that quotation, but I was blown away by the spiteful tone in Ben's voice, making him seem more evil and macabre than ever.
That got the ol' wheels turning in my mind, and gets to the crux of my theory. You know how this entire show has dealt with relationships, or lack thereof, between fathers-sons-daughters? Jack, Claire and Christian, Sawyer and his deceased father, Kate and her stepdad, Locke and "Sawyer", Hugo and Cheech, Michael and Walt, and of course Ben and his father. Well, are the writers are leading us up to an event that will turn everything on its head?
When we first learn of Ben's back story, it's from the standpoint of his parents, and his mother is giving birth in the backseat of a car. Over time, we come to find out that she did not survive the birth, and that his father has come to resent Ben for this. The relationship is a cold one, which ends up in Ben biding his time, and enacting revenge on his father in the Dharma van.
Well, my friends, what if the real reason that Ben's father is bitter about his son isn't because of his deceased wife, but because he later finds out that he isn't the father at all. We have a 9-11 year window of Ben's childhood where NOTHING is revealed, and we simply go from his birth (and death of his mother), to a time where Ben and his "father" arrive on the Island.
I propose that Ben's father is not the man we have met, but is instead Charles Widmore. Due to events yet untold, we will learn that Ben's mother and Widmore met in some capacity and had a fling. Ben's father finds this out, but is unaware of who the true father is. We will also find out that Widmore (perhaps when he was "in charge of the island" as many of us believe") found a way to lure Ben and his "father" to the island, with the job offer, with the hopes of observing his son and seeing if he deemed him worthy to "inherit" his position.
While this is unlikely, I haven't seen this brought up yet, and I think it would make for an unbelievable "WOW" moment in the show, when many of us feel there aren't many of those left. The show has circled around the issue of father-son non-relationships for its duration, and would anything be more fitting than for our entire view of this villainous Ben-Widmore connection to be completely given a 180? The apparently age difference is appropriate and it would be the perfect TV equivalent to, "Luke, I am your father."
Think of the ramifications of Widmore killing Alex (via Keamy) in this capacity, "changing the rules" by killing his grand-daughter. This might explain Ben's extreme shock, not simply because his daughter is dead, but he figured no scenario where his father could kill one of his own.
I apologize if someone else has brought this theory to the forefront, but I simply had to regurgitate my thoughts on paper before I forgot them. I think this would be an unbelievable Season 5 Finale episode, or perhaps even a late Season 6 twist where everything is just completely turned on its head. Any thoughts are welcome.
Theory by Mrjohnst
