I think all of our original cast of characters (Jack, Kate, Hurley, …) have been on the island before. In fact, each of them was born on the island and grew up there. They lived their entire lives there, each having different type of jobs- some important, and some not so important. Locke grew up on the island too, and went on to become the island’s leader (very important). Our entire cast lived on the island until 2009. It has already happened, and nothing can be done to change that. They existed on the island until some point in 2009.
Ben also grew up on the island, which we have seen glimpses of. He is very jealous of Locke’s position as someone very important. He thinks he should be the island leader, especially since he did the work to gas the Dharma people. At some point, he finds a way to travel through time with the donkey wheel. Ben decides to use this to get rid of Locke and take over as leader. Ben makes a list of all people somehow connected to Locke’s success to becoming eventual leader (our cast members). He goes back in time to when they were infants, and exiles each of them from the island. This creates an alternate timeline. Because they were infants, each now grow up off the island having no memory of the island whatsoever.
Ben thinks now he will be the leader. But there is one flaw. Since our cast existed on the island until 2009, time must eventually self-correct itself by 2009 (the original timeline and the alternate timeline must match back up). “Fate” must bring everyone back to the island. If they don’t get back to the island by 2009, everything blows up because the two time streams never link up again. Ben realizes this, and so he creates the hatch: a way to keep the island in a time loop so it never reaches 2009, and so our cast never needs to return. “Fate” eventually wins, however. To Ben’s surprise, they do make it back, although they still have no memory of the island because they left as infants.
Things happened to our cast as they grew up in the alternate timeline that did not originally happen on the island. Locke was paralyzed. Rose got cancer. Hurley has mental issues. Since these events never happened on the island, when they get back, they return to their normal state (how they were when they grew up on the island). They are not healed as some think.
This also explains why no babies can be born on the island. If because of our cast’s exile, a baby is conceived on the island that was not apart the original time line, the baby never existed there in the first place, and so they die. The black smoke takes care of other people that shouldn’t be there- like people that just happened to be on the flight with the original cast when fate brought them back (the pilot/Mr. Eko). Hurley doesn’t want these type of people on plane the second time so he buys as many seats as he can. Ben does build a fence that keeps the black smoke out so he can bring in other people (Juliet) to help him with his research. He let down this fence when the freighter people were on the island to destroy them (they were also not a part of the original timeline).
At some point Richard finds out what Ben did, so he also travels back in time and leaves the island to find our exiled cast- this explains the scene of him talking to Locke as a small boy- he is trying to find Locke and bring him back, but he doesn’t know if Locke is Locke or not- Locke didn’t respond to the weapons that Richard brought- but why would he- he has no memory of being on the island. Richard has no luck- Ben did too good a job hiding the cast after exile. Richard appears to not age- this is because he went back in time in 2009 and stays back in time looking for the exiled cast- he returns to the island in the past and he stays at his 2009 age until the island time catches back up.
Jacob is some kind of future version of Ben that got messed up with all the time travel. Maybe Ben went back in time and he saw a previous version of himself, and it messed up his existence by being in two places at once. Or maybe at some point he travels back in time again, and gets caught between alternative scenarios. Whatever the reason, Jacob is Ben. This explains why Ben can’t go in the shack but Locke can (Ben is scared of the consequences of meeting himself again), and also explains why Ben is so interested in what Jacob has to say. It’s him saying it.
Jack and Jack’s dad were both exiled at the same time (Jack as an infant, Jack’s dad as an adult). Jack’s dad is different than the rest, because he remembers the island. As much as he tried, he could never find a way to get back- this leads to his drinking/depression (much like what Jack goes through) and eventual death. However, he is on the flight that makes it back to the island, and so he returns to his normal state on the island (i.e. alive).
So why now does Ben want everyone back on the island? He realizes since the time loop is destroyed, they will not be able to stop the return to 2009. If he doesn’t get everyone back before 2009, the two time scenarios will not meet back up, and everything ceases to exist. Ben’s hope is that since our cast doesn’t remember being there originally, he can still be the leader and the cast will live there not knowing how things used to be. The 2010 season will reveal all of this, and the cast will fight to make things how they used to be. Theory by Wampolar Disorder
Ben also grew up on the island, which we have seen glimpses of. He is very jealous of Locke’s position as someone very important. He thinks he should be the island leader, especially since he did the work to gas the Dharma people. At some point, he finds a way to travel through time with the donkey wheel. Ben decides to use this to get rid of Locke and take over as leader. Ben makes a list of all people somehow connected to Locke’s success to becoming eventual leader (our cast members). He goes back in time to when they were infants, and exiles each of them from the island. This creates an alternate timeline. Because they were infants, each now grow up off the island having no memory of the island whatsoever.
Ben thinks now he will be the leader. But there is one flaw. Since our cast existed on the island until 2009, time must eventually self-correct itself by 2009 (the original timeline and the alternate timeline must match back up). “Fate” must bring everyone back to the island. If they don’t get back to the island by 2009, everything blows up because the two time streams never link up again. Ben realizes this, and so he creates the hatch: a way to keep the island in a time loop so it never reaches 2009, and so our cast never needs to return. “Fate” eventually wins, however. To Ben’s surprise, they do make it back, although they still have no memory of the island because they left as infants.
Things happened to our cast as they grew up in the alternate timeline that did not originally happen on the island. Locke was paralyzed. Rose got cancer. Hurley has mental issues. Since these events never happened on the island, when they get back, they return to their normal state (how they were when they grew up on the island). They are not healed as some think.
This also explains why no babies can be born on the island. If because of our cast’s exile, a baby is conceived on the island that was not apart the original time line, the baby never existed there in the first place, and so they die. The black smoke takes care of other people that shouldn’t be there- like people that just happened to be on the flight with the original cast when fate brought them back (the pilot/Mr. Eko). Hurley doesn’t want these type of people on plane the second time so he buys as many seats as he can. Ben does build a fence that keeps the black smoke out so he can bring in other people (Juliet) to help him with his research. He let down this fence when the freighter people were on the island to destroy them (they were also not a part of the original timeline).
At some point Richard finds out what Ben did, so he also travels back in time and leaves the island to find our exiled cast- this explains the scene of him talking to Locke as a small boy- he is trying to find Locke and bring him back, but he doesn’t know if Locke is Locke or not- Locke didn’t respond to the weapons that Richard brought- but why would he- he has no memory of being on the island. Richard has no luck- Ben did too good a job hiding the cast after exile. Richard appears to not age- this is because he went back in time in 2009 and stays back in time looking for the exiled cast- he returns to the island in the past and he stays at his 2009 age until the island time catches back up.
Jacob is some kind of future version of Ben that got messed up with all the time travel. Maybe Ben went back in time and he saw a previous version of himself, and it messed up his existence by being in two places at once. Or maybe at some point he travels back in time again, and gets caught between alternative scenarios. Whatever the reason, Jacob is Ben. This explains why Ben can’t go in the shack but Locke can (Ben is scared of the consequences of meeting himself again), and also explains why Ben is so interested in what Jacob has to say. It’s him saying it.
Jack and Jack’s dad were both exiled at the same time (Jack as an infant, Jack’s dad as an adult). Jack’s dad is different than the rest, because he remembers the island. As much as he tried, he could never find a way to get back- this leads to his drinking/depression (much like what Jack goes through) and eventual death. However, he is on the flight that makes it back to the island, and so he returns to his normal state on the island (i.e. alive).
So why now does Ben want everyone back on the island? He realizes since the time loop is destroyed, they will not be able to stop the return to 2009. If he doesn’t get everyone back before 2009, the two time scenarios will not meet back up, and everything ceases to exist. Ben’s hope is that since our cast doesn’t remember being there originally, he can still be the leader and the cast will live there not knowing how things used to be. The 2010 season will reveal all of this, and the cast will fight to make things how they used to be. Theory by Wampolar Disorder
