So I have wondered why The Others don't travel through time with the rest of the Left Behinders, but I got an idea from this episode. In 5X05 it becomes clear that Smokey has three options with people:
1.. 'Transform' them making them sort of docile and compliant as he did with the French team.
2. Kill them (Eko, Seth Norris the pilot).
3. Leave them be (?Danielle Rousseau).
Importantly, Smokey seems to have the ability to read memories, download information, and even appear to a person in visions before making a decision what to do. I believe one of the purposes of Smokey is identify the 'good people' and transform them into The Others (perhaps these are the people on Jacob's List). When that transformation occurs the person not only loses their free will but becomes a part of the island itself. In this way when the frozen donkey wheel was turned, The Others went with the island and the Left Behinders started skipping through time on their own.
It seems that not all of The Others have been transformed and lost their free will. For instance, Juliet clearly was rebellious even during her time with Ben and The Others which indicates that she was never transformed by Smokey. Consistent with this idea, Smokey was able to scan Juliet's thoughts when she was in the jungle with Kate indicating that it had not come into contact with her before or at least had not yet made a decision about her. This explains why Juliet is skipping through time with the rest of the 815 survivors and the Kahana survivors.
This idea also explains why Ben directed The Others to the Temple. It was the only safe place on the Island because he knew that Smokey would allow them in and keep everyone else out. It also explains why The Others seem to come and go as they please without worrying about the Smoke Monster. Theory by C2IT
1.. 'Transform' them making them sort of docile and compliant as he did with the French team.
2. Kill them (Eko, Seth Norris the pilot).
3. Leave them be (?Danielle Rousseau).
Importantly, Smokey seems to have the ability to read memories, download information, and even appear to a person in visions before making a decision what to do. I believe one of the purposes of Smokey is identify the 'good people' and transform them into The Others (perhaps these are the people on Jacob's List). When that transformation occurs the person not only loses their free will but becomes a part of the island itself. In this way when the frozen donkey wheel was turned, The Others went with the island and the Left Behinders started skipping through time on their own.
It seems that not all of The Others have been transformed and lost their free will. For instance, Juliet clearly was rebellious even during her time with Ben and The Others which indicates that she was never transformed by Smokey. Consistent with this idea, Smokey was able to scan Juliet's thoughts when she was in the jungle with Kate indicating that it had not come into contact with her before or at least had not yet made a decision about her. This explains why Juliet is skipping through time with the rest of the 815 survivors and the Kahana survivors.
This idea also explains why Ben directed The Others to the Temple. It was the only safe place on the Island because he knew that Smokey would allow them in and keep everyone else out. It also explains why The Others seem to come and go as they please without worrying about the Smoke Monster. Theory by C2IT
