This is my first theory...and I came up with it while commenting on Vozzek's article for "This Place is Death." I will clean it up, clarify things, and add to it in the future.
I think Ben was supposed to move the Island all along. If he hadn't then Locke would have never time jumped to 1954 and talked to Richard like some of you have mentioned. Also...if been had not turned the wheel, the wheel would not have dislodged, the time jumps would not have happened and Locke would not have been able to turn the wheel and freeze the island in the Dharma days.
I honestly think that the world was going to end somewhere in the near future after the crash...say year 2010. The only way to prevent this would be for the island to bring certain people to the island to alter the island's past...these people are the survivor's of flight 815. The only thing is...these people don't have enough time to complete the "work" before 2010. In order to do this the island had to ensure that certain people (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Daniel, Jin, Desmond, Juliet, Locke, Ben, Miles, etc.) would all be together on the island back in the Dharma days...giving them plenty of time...about 30 years to get things right.
I also think that when Ben said that whoever leaves the island can't return he wasn't necessarily lying. I think that means that he can't return to the island ALIVE in the YEAR HE LEFT. Meaning Ben cannot go back or exist on the island past the year 2004. Locke on the other hand apparently moved the island in the 1970's during Dharma meaning he can't return to the island ALIVE past the 1970's. I do however believe that you can return to the island DEAD sometime after the time you moved it and that the island will "resurrect" you in that time in some form if you indeed have unfinished work to do...which I believe Locke does. (For clarification...if Ben wanted to return to the island in a time after the year 2004 then he would have to come to the island DEAD like Christian and Locke...then if Ben had important "work" to be done the island would resurrect him in some form upon arrival). Kind of like...if you want to return to the island that bad you have to prove it...by sacrif! icing yourself and trusting that the Island will make it possible for you to complete your tasks in some form (totally resurrected, seemingly immortal like Alpert, or in ghost form ala Christian).
This is where it gets interesting...the island knows when its time is up. And the island knows all the people that it needs to change it's end date and prolong it's existence PAST the arbitrary year 2010 that I mentioned earlier. It knows what it's capable of (time travel, healing, semi-resurrection, preserving the people it needs, destroying those it doesn't ala Smokey) and it's using those tools. It's also using the original inhabitants of the island to "collect" all the people it needs (Richard trying to recruit Locke, recruiting Juliet, Abaddon (yes I believe he was an original inhabitant of the island) guiding Locke to the island, Dharma coming to the island, Desmond washing up on shore so that he could slack on his job JUST long enough to crash flight 815). But the thing is...the island has been collecting these special people SINCE ITS CONCEPTION!! That's right the island has been bringing people to the island for hundreds of years...and all of them play a part in sav! ing it. The island is also extremely smart and can change it's plans if things don't go the way it expected...and who is responsible for things not going as it expected...but who also has the power to ultimately fix those things? Well none other than our good buddy Desmond.
Desmond turned the failsafe key, and prolonged Charlie's death long enough so that he could stop the jamming signal...which allowed the island to be located by Widmore. THESE THINGS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!! But what does the island do? It doesn't panic...it uses this as an opportunity to get the last few people it needs on the island as time is ticking away. The Island contacts Abbadon(one of it's recruiters like Richard) and gets him to recruit Faraday, Miles, Naomi, and Charlotte the final pieces of the puzzle...and what is even better...he uses its number one enemy's freighter to get them there. NICE. And also makes sure that all the bad guys and people it doesn't need die. Oh and the island doesn't want Widmore to find it so it's gonna go time jumping...while still ensuring it's survival.
So Jack and the other O6 don't want to accept their destiny yet? Well that's fine...the island doesn't need them yet...he needs them back in the Dharma days...so go ahead and go back to the mainland...oh and take Desmond with you. You can have Desmond so that he doesn't alter anything while my MAIN MAN LOCKE steps up and delivers the pieces I need (Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Miles, Jin...sorry Charlotte don't need you) to the year I need them in...in Dharma's hey day. Oh and Ben you gotta go to so that you don't distract Locke from his task. My boy Locke's gotta be focused and hellbent on stopping the time jumps and delivering the one's that left to the TIME I NEED THEM IN. Ben you can help with that in the mean time. Oh and Ben...you're also in charge of making sure nothing happens to Locke and making sure he gets back here too...cuz I got a gift for him and all the diligent work he did on my behalf...it's called resurrection yo.
See...the island made sure all of this happened, it made sure it got stopped in the Dharma days. And once the O6 (and Desmond to help out if something else goes awry...cuz he's miraculously special and can change things) return to the island in the 1970's the island will FINALLY HAVE ALL THE PIECES IT NEEDS TO SAVE ITSELF. And by pieces I mean everyone (Richard, Dharma, others, freighter folk, remaining castaways and O6). All it can do now is wait while the people on its "list" do the work they need to do so that the island (and I believe the world as well) can continue to exist past the arbitrary year 2010.
Phew...sorry if I rambled a bit...but I think I'm on to something. Let me know what you think...while I post this as a theory. Theory by SoniZero
I think Ben was supposed to move the Island all along. If he hadn't then Locke would have never time jumped to 1954 and talked to Richard like some of you have mentioned. Also...if been had not turned the wheel, the wheel would not have dislodged, the time jumps would not have happened and Locke would not have been able to turn the wheel and freeze the island in the Dharma days.
I honestly think that the world was going to end somewhere in the near future after the crash...say year 2010. The only way to prevent this would be for the island to bring certain people to the island to alter the island's past...these people are the survivor's of flight 815. The only thing is...these people don't have enough time to complete the "work" before 2010. In order to do this the island had to ensure that certain people (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Daniel, Jin, Desmond, Juliet, Locke, Ben, Miles, etc.) would all be together on the island back in the Dharma days...giving them plenty of time...about 30 years to get things right.
I also think that when Ben said that whoever leaves the island can't return he wasn't necessarily lying. I think that means that he can't return to the island ALIVE in the YEAR HE LEFT. Meaning Ben cannot go back or exist on the island past the year 2004. Locke on the other hand apparently moved the island in the 1970's during Dharma meaning he can't return to the island ALIVE past the 1970's. I do however believe that you can return to the island DEAD sometime after the time you moved it and that the island will "resurrect" you in that time in some form if you indeed have unfinished work to do...which I believe Locke does. (For clarification...if Ben wanted to return to the island in a time after the year 2004 then he would have to come to the island DEAD like Christian and Locke...then if Ben had important "work" to be done the island would resurrect him in some form upon arrival). Kind of like...if you want to return to the island that bad you have to prove it...by sacrif! icing yourself and trusting that the Island will make it possible for you to complete your tasks in some form (totally resurrected, seemingly immortal like Alpert, or in ghost form ala Christian).
This is where it gets interesting...the island knows when its time is up. And the island knows all the people that it needs to change it's end date and prolong it's existence PAST the arbitrary year 2010 that I mentioned earlier. It knows what it's capable of (time travel, healing, semi-resurrection, preserving the people it needs, destroying those it doesn't ala Smokey) and it's using those tools. It's also using the original inhabitants of the island to "collect" all the people it needs (Richard trying to recruit Locke, recruiting Juliet, Abaddon (yes I believe he was an original inhabitant of the island) guiding Locke to the island, Dharma coming to the island, Desmond washing up on shore so that he could slack on his job JUST long enough to crash flight 815). But the thing is...the island has been collecting these special people SINCE ITS CONCEPTION!! That's right the island has been bringing people to the island for hundreds of years...and all of them play a part in sav! ing it. The island is also extremely smart and can change it's plans if things don't go the way it expected...and who is responsible for things not going as it expected...but who also has the power to ultimately fix those things? Well none other than our good buddy Desmond.
Desmond turned the failsafe key, and prolonged Charlie's death long enough so that he could stop the jamming signal...which allowed the island to be located by Widmore. THESE THINGS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!! But what does the island do? It doesn't panic...it uses this as an opportunity to get the last few people it needs on the island as time is ticking away. The Island contacts Abbadon(one of it's recruiters like Richard) and gets him to recruit Faraday, Miles, Naomi, and Charlotte the final pieces of the puzzle...and what is even better...he uses its number one enemy's freighter to get them there. NICE. And also makes sure that all the bad guys and people it doesn't need die. Oh and the island doesn't want Widmore to find it so it's gonna go time jumping...while still ensuring it's survival.
So Jack and the other O6 don't want to accept their destiny yet? Well that's fine...the island doesn't need them yet...he needs them back in the Dharma days...so go ahead and go back to the mainland...oh and take Desmond with you. You can have Desmond so that he doesn't alter anything while my MAIN MAN LOCKE steps up and delivers the pieces I need (Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Miles, Jin...sorry Charlotte don't need you) to the year I need them in...in Dharma's hey day. Oh and Ben you gotta go to so that you don't distract Locke from his task. My boy Locke's gotta be focused and hellbent on stopping the time jumps and delivering the one's that left to the TIME I NEED THEM IN. Ben you can help with that in the mean time. Oh and Ben...you're also in charge of making sure nothing happens to Locke and making sure he gets back here too...cuz I got a gift for him and all the diligent work he did on my behalf...it's called resurrection yo.
See...the island made sure all of this happened, it made sure it got stopped in the Dharma days. And once the O6 (and Desmond to help out if something else goes awry...cuz he's miraculously special and can change things) return to the island in the 1970's the island will FINALLY HAVE ALL THE PIECES IT NEEDS TO SAVE ITSELF. And by pieces I mean everyone (Richard, Dharma, others, freighter folk, remaining castaways and O6). All it can do now is wait while the people on its "list" do the work they need to do so that the island (and I believe the world as well) can continue to exist past the arbitrary year 2010.
Phew...sorry if I rambled a bit...but I think I'm on to something. Let me know what you think...while I post this as a theory. Theory by SoniZero
