After my theory post yesterday in which I outlined what I thought was coming for the remainder of Season 5, I decided to post on an issue which is sure to be a central factor for Lost as it ends its storied run next year; That is the showdown between one Benjamin Linus, our creepy, bug-eyed, manipulative leader of the Others and Charles Widmore, our just as creepy, manipulative, former leader of the Others.
So the main question which begs to be asked (and unfortunately won't be fully resolved until the series has ended) is not only who will take final control of the island, but who should we hope takes final control (I am assuming that we all want to see what is best for the island in the end). There has been a long running debate, on this site and many Others (no pun intended), as to who is good and who is evil in the fight between Linus and Widmore. To my surprise, a good deal have sided with Ben. For whatever reason, people look at Ben as the lesser of the two evils. I am here to prove that it is not Ben whom we should, in essence, root for to win back the island but Charles Widmore whom we should "hope" comes out the victor in the end.
Alright, so there's a lot of information to sift through, but I will do my best and if I leave anything out, please feel free to comment and revise (after all we are here to share our ideas and theories). So first let's go over each person's history:
Ben Linus: Comes to the island at some point in the 1970's (presumably some time shortly after Sawyer, Juliet and co. arrived at the DHARMA camp in 1974). He lives there with his verbally abusive father, Roger. He sees his deceased mother in the jungle and some time later chases her only to meet Richard Alpert (It is my belief that this is some time in the late 1970's or very early 1980's). Alpert tells him that he can help Ben, but it isn't time yet. The period between then and the Purge which occurs in '92 or '93 is very unclear (to say the least), but we can presume that at some point during this time period Ben tricks then leader Charles Widmore into leaving the island (in my previous "What to Expect" post, I claim this will almost certainly be explored more in the second half of Season 5, but I've digressed). Ben most likely does this so that when the time comes for him to purge the DHARMA Initiative, Ben can assume his role as leader of the Others. So post Purge, Ben t! akes over the reigns as leader, recruits Juliet Burke into coming to the island (2001; Juliet said in 2004 she had been on the island 3 years). In 2004, Ben is diagnosed with a malignant tumor on his spine. A week later, Oceanic 815 crashes and he sends Etham Rom and Goodwin to infiltrate their camps (he sends Goodwin to get revenge on him for having a relationship with Juliet, as we found out in Season 4's "The Other Woman). Ben learns that Jack Shepard, a spinal surgeon, was among the 815 survivors. Ben is later captured and taken to the hatch where he is interrogated and eventually set free by Michael Dawson. Ben uses Michael to lead Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley into a trap where he captures them (though he later lets Hurley go). To skip ahead, Ben gets Jack to operate on him and his life is saved. Naomi parachutes to the island and Ben is inclined to step in to tell Jack he shouldn't contact her freighter. Jack does anyway, Widmore's boat arrives and a bloody battle b! etween Ben, Martin Keamy, and the rest of the mercenaries ens! ues. Eve ntually, Ben kills them all off, turns the wheel, leaves the island, recruits Sayid as his personal hitman, murders Locke, and eventually convinces the O6 to return to the island, where we are at our current juncture
Charles Widmore: From the episodes "Jughead" and "Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", we have been able to piece together a bit about Widmore's time on the island. We know that in 1954, Widmore was 17 years old and a small time member of the Others (possibly led by Richard Alpert). In "Life and Death", Widmore claimed that 30 years of peace ensued on the island after he left (Widmore is referring to the last time he saw John Locke, which was in 1954; this would make the time period around which he left 1984). So in reference to the time when 815 crashed, Widmore had been off the island for 20 years. We know that Widmore then sent the Kahana freighter, loaded with a team of scientists (headed by Daniel Faraday) and a team of mercenaries (headed by Martin Keamy) to the island, the latter half of that team was sent to capture and extract Ben Linus. His plan fails and Linus escapes in 2005. In 2007, he meets John Locke once again and tells him he needs to go back to the island. T! hat is the last we see of him.
(Deep breath) Alright, so that is essentially what we know about the pasts of our on and off-island foes. Now to explain why it is Charles Widmore is indeed the "good guy" of the island and why Ben Linus is nothing more than villainous. Now we can assume that our perception of who is good and evil will change when we finally learn the circumstances under which Widmore left. But until then, we know that Ben "tricked" him into leaving the island to he could have it to himself. Throughout the course of the series, the only person Ben has worried about is himself. Ben is the most selfish of any character in the Lost's history. Why did Ben trick Charles into leaving? So he could lead the Others without having to deal with a perhaps much older and wiser Widmore. Then came the Purge. Ben, instead of showing any loyalty to his DHARMA roots, protected himself and went undercover for the Others to destroy DHARMA from within. Why? 1. So he could become the leader of the Others and 2. T! o protect himself from the impending doom brought about by the Others. Later on down the road, Ben brings in Juliet and imprisons her because he is in love with her. Ben has Goodwin killed to prevent any interference between he and Juliet and in "The Man From Tallahassee", Ben tricks Locke into thinking he wanted to destroy the submarine to prevent Juliet from leaving the island. Then comes the crash of 815. Ben pits Locke and Jack against each other (something from which their relationship never recovers and both are sworn nemesis's furthermore), recruits Michael to kill Ana-Lucia and Libby, and eventually captures Jack for the purposes of removing the tumor from his spine. Once again, Ben does this for no one but himself. Then comes the impending rescue of the survivors. Ben knows that the freighter is coming for him and he sets out to stop the survivors from being rescued. He claims that everyone will be killed if they come. Though Ben turns out to be correct about the i! ll will of some the freighter members, the only reason he care! d if the y killed everyone on the island was because that included him (look back to "There's no Place Like Home" and "316"; in "Home", Ben single handedly causes the destruction of the freighter even when he knew Keamy was wired to the bomb. When Locke tells him that he just killed everyone on the freighter, Ben replies "So?". And in "316", when Jack asks Ben about the fate of the other passengers, Ben replies "Who cares about them?". It is evident that Ben has and always will put himself ahead of everyone else). Then Ben turns the wheel (which he wasn't supposed to; Jacob instructed Locke to do it), and ends up in 2005 where he manipulates Sayid into becoming his assassin only so he can get him to kill off Widmore's associates. Later, when Locke returns to the mainland, Ben manipulates John into surrendering Jin's wedding ring and information about Eloise Hawking. Why does he do this? The answer is simple: Ben is the only one who wanted to go back to the island. Ben saw the O6 as h! is one chance of getting back to the island. So what does he do? He uses Locke to get the information he needs and then kills him because he doesn't need him any longer (although at some point he realizes he needs him to get back to the island and takes his dead body on 316 with the rest of the O6). Ben doesn't care about the fate of the island or the O6. He wants to go back because he wants to be leader (perhaps another reason why he kills Locke) and he doesn't want Widmore or Locke or anyone else to get in his way. After Locke's death, Ben guilts Jack into going back by making him believe he was responsible for Locke's death. By having Jack, Ben has started a chain reaction leading to Kate, and to Sun (Jin's wedding band) and eventually to the rest of the O6. Ben has never cared about the island or anyone else but himself, making him the true villain of this story.
To the proponents of Charles Widmore being the evil presence of the island, there are fair points to make. Widmore did send Desmond on a race around the world, away from his love Penny, on which he wound up on the island (perhaps Widmore knew Desmond would end up there where he would cause the 815 crash? Well those theories are for another time). Also, Widmore did send the freighter crew to the island for the sole purpose of capturing Ben and killing those who got in their way. This included the death of "his daughter" (actually Rousseau's) Alex. What my question is is why don't we take into consideration that the island played a part in Alex's death? What do I mean? As we all know, the island influences events on and off the island and seems to have select purposes for individuals (Locke, Jack, even Ben has his own destiny). The island healed Locke and Rose. Why did it make Ben sick? The answer: because he is the true evil force. The island knows that Ben is the only true t! hreat to the island's existence. So the island does everything in its power to remove Ben. Unfortunately, Ben continues to find ways around his fate. I believe it wasn't Widmore who killed Alex or who "changed the rules" as Ben stated in "Shapes of Things to Come", but it was the island (remember in the confrontation between Widmore and Ben in the final scenes of the episode, when Ben accuses Widmore of killing his daughter, Widmore replies "I didn't kill your daughter Benjamin, you did."; Perhaps Widmore is referring to the powers of the island working against an evil Ben.) To this point, Widmore has not done anything damning to make him the evil of the island. Ben however, has made it clear that he is the only true force working against the island and all the good on it, making him the clear and (to this point) only evil presence which poses a threat to the island. Theory by OSU93
So the main question which begs to be asked (and unfortunately won't be fully resolved until the series has ended) is not only who will take final control of the island, but who should we hope takes final control (I am assuming that we all want to see what is best for the island in the end). There has been a long running debate, on this site and many Others (no pun intended), as to who is good and who is evil in the fight between Linus and Widmore. To my surprise, a good deal have sided with Ben. For whatever reason, people look at Ben as the lesser of the two evils. I am here to prove that it is not Ben whom we should, in essence, root for to win back the island but Charles Widmore whom we should "hope" comes out the victor in the end.
Alright, so there's a lot of information to sift through, but I will do my best and if I leave anything out, please feel free to comment and revise (after all we are here to share our ideas and theories). So first let's go over each person's history:
Ben Linus: Comes to the island at some point in the 1970's (presumably some time shortly after Sawyer, Juliet and co. arrived at the DHARMA camp in 1974). He lives there with his verbally abusive father, Roger. He sees his deceased mother in the jungle and some time later chases her only to meet Richard Alpert (It is my belief that this is some time in the late 1970's or very early 1980's). Alpert tells him that he can help Ben, but it isn't time yet. The period between then and the Purge which occurs in '92 or '93 is very unclear (to say the least), but we can presume that at some point during this time period Ben tricks then leader Charles Widmore into leaving the island (in my previous "What to Expect" post, I claim this will almost certainly be explored more in the second half of Season 5, but I've digressed). Ben most likely does this so that when the time comes for him to purge the DHARMA Initiative, Ben can assume his role as leader of the Others. So post Purge, Ben t! akes over the reigns as leader, recruits Juliet Burke into coming to the island (2001; Juliet said in 2004 she had been on the island 3 years). In 2004, Ben is diagnosed with a malignant tumor on his spine. A week later, Oceanic 815 crashes and he sends Etham Rom and Goodwin to infiltrate their camps (he sends Goodwin to get revenge on him for having a relationship with Juliet, as we found out in Season 4's "The Other Woman). Ben learns that Jack Shepard, a spinal surgeon, was among the 815 survivors. Ben is later captured and taken to the hatch where he is interrogated and eventually set free by Michael Dawson. Ben uses Michael to lead Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley into a trap where he captures them (though he later lets Hurley go). To skip ahead, Ben gets Jack to operate on him and his life is saved. Naomi parachutes to the island and Ben is inclined to step in to tell Jack he shouldn't contact her freighter. Jack does anyway, Widmore's boat arrives and a bloody battle b! etween Ben, Martin Keamy, and the rest of the mercenaries ens! ues. Eve ntually, Ben kills them all off, turns the wheel, leaves the island, recruits Sayid as his personal hitman, murders Locke, and eventually convinces the O6 to return to the island, where we are at our current juncture
Charles Widmore: From the episodes "Jughead" and "Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", we have been able to piece together a bit about Widmore's time on the island. We know that in 1954, Widmore was 17 years old and a small time member of the Others (possibly led by Richard Alpert). In "Life and Death", Widmore claimed that 30 years of peace ensued on the island after he left (Widmore is referring to the last time he saw John Locke, which was in 1954; this would make the time period around which he left 1984). So in reference to the time when 815 crashed, Widmore had been off the island for 20 years. We know that Widmore then sent the Kahana freighter, loaded with a team of scientists (headed by Daniel Faraday) and a team of mercenaries (headed by Martin Keamy) to the island, the latter half of that team was sent to capture and extract Ben Linus. His plan fails and Linus escapes in 2005. In 2007, he meets John Locke once again and tells him he needs to go back to the island. T! hat is the last we see of him.
(Deep breath) Alright, so that is essentially what we know about the pasts of our on and off-island foes. Now to explain why it is Charles Widmore is indeed the "good guy" of the island and why Ben Linus is nothing more than villainous. Now we can assume that our perception of who is good and evil will change when we finally learn the circumstances under which Widmore left. But until then, we know that Ben "tricked" him into leaving the island to he could have it to himself. Throughout the course of the series, the only person Ben has worried about is himself. Ben is the most selfish of any character in the Lost's history. Why did Ben trick Charles into leaving? So he could lead the Others without having to deal with a perhaps much older and wiser Widmore. Then came the Purge. Ben, instead of showing any loyalty to his DHARMA roots, protected himself and went undercover for the Others to destroy DHARMA from within. Why? 1. So he could become the leader of the Others and 2. T! o protect himself from the impending doom brought about by the Others. Later on down the road, Ben brings in Juliet and imprisons her because he is in love with her. Ben has Goodwin killed to prevent any interference between he and Juliet and in "The Man From Tallahassee", Ben tricks Locke into thinking he wanted to destroy the submarine to prevent Juliet from leaving the island. Then comes the crash of 815. Ben pits Locke and Jack against each other (something from which their relationship never recovers and both are sworn nemesis's furthermore), recruits Michael to kill Ana-Lucia and Libby, and eventually captures Jack for the purposes of removing the tumor from his spine. Once again, Ben does this for no one but himself. Then comes the impending rescue of the survivors. Ben knows that the freighter is coming for him and he sets out to stop the survivors from being rescued. He claims that everyone will be killed if they come. Though Ben turns out to be correct about the i! ll will of some the freighter members, the only reason he care! d if the y killed everyone on the island was because that included him (look back to "There's no Place Like Home" and "316"; in "Home", Ben single handedly causes the destruction of the freighter even when he knew Keamy was wired to the bomb. When Locke tells him that he just killed everyone on the freighter, Ben replies "So?". And in "316", when Jack asks Ben about the fate of the other passengers, Ben replies "Who cares about them?". It is evident that Ben has and always will put himself ahead of everyone else). Then Ben turns the wheel (which he wasn't supposed to; Jacob instructed Locke to do it), and ends up in 2005 where he manipulates Sayid into becoming his assassin only so he can get him to kill off Widmore's associates. Later, when Locke returns to the mainland, Ben manipulates John into surrendering Jin's wedding ring and information about Eloise Hawking. Why does he do this? The answer is simple: Ben is the only one who wanted to go back to the island. Ben saw the O6 as h! is one chance of getting back to the island. So what does he do? He uses Locke to get the information he needs and then kills him because he doesn't need him any longer (although at some point he realizes he needs him to get back to the island and takes his dead body on 316 with the rest of the O6). Ben doesn't care about the fate of the island or the O6. He wants to go back because he wants to be leader (perhaps another reason why he kills Locke) and he doesn't want Widmore or Locke or anyone else to get in his way. After Locke's death, Ben guilts Jack into going back by making him believe he was responsible for Locke's death. By having Jack, Ben has started a chain reaction leading to Kate, and to Sun (Jin's wedding band) and eventually to the rest of the O6. Ben has never cared about the island or anyone else but himself, making him the true villain of this story.
To the proponents of Charles Widmore being the evil presence of the island, there are fair points to make. Widmore did send Desmond on a race around the world, away from his love Penny, on which he wound up on the island (perhaps Widmore knew Desmond would end up there where he would cause the 815 crash? Well those theories are for another time). Also, Widmore did send the freighter crew to the island for the sole purpose of capturing Ben and killing those who got in their way. This included the death of "his daughter" (actually Rousseau's) Alex. What my question is is why don't we take into consideration that the island played a part in Alex's death? What do I mean? As we all know, the island influences events on and off the island and seems to have select purposes for individuals (Locke, Jack, even Ben has his own destiny). The island healed Locke and Rose. Why did it make Ben sick? The answer: because he is the true evil force. The island knows that Ben is the only true t! hreat to the island's existence. So the island does everything in its power to remove Ben. Unfortunately, Ben continues to find ways around his fate. I believe it wasn't Widmore who killed Alex or who "changed the rules" as Ben stated in "Shapes of Things to Come", but it was the island (remember in the confrontation between Widmore and Ben in the final scenes of the episode, when Ben accuses Widmore of killing his daughter, Widmore replies "I didn't kill your daughter Benjamin, you did."; Perhaps Widmore is referring to the powers of the island working against an evil Ben.) To this point, Widmore has not done anything damning to make him the evil of the island. Ben however, has made it clear that he is the only true force working against the island and all the good on it, making him the clear and (to this point) only evil presence which poses a threat to the island. Theory by OSU93
