It's now becoming clear how Ben knew so much about many of the Oceanic passengers and how Alpert's file on Sawyer was, as Locke indicated, bafflingly detailed. That's because Sawyer himself is the one who created the file. And Ben's knowledge of the Oceanic passengers came from the passengers themselves. These unusual circumstances were made possible due to Ben's relationship with the Oceanic time jumpers when he was a child.
The reason for Ben's obsession with Juliet is also beginning to make sense. Harper's comment to Juliet, "You look just like her," was popularly interpreted as Juliet either resembling Ben's dead mother or his childhood friend, Annie. Now it seems likely that Juliet resembles Juliet. As a child, Ben will probably befriend Juliet who may even become a comforting mother figure when Ben suffers his father's mental abuse.
Ben's relationship with the time jumpers also explains Ben's ability to always have a plan and seem to be two steps ahead at all times. Previously, a popular explanation for this phenomenon was that Ben was aware that he was in a time loop and his shock at witnessing Alex's death was because she survived in previous iterations of the time loop. Now I suspect that Ben was shocked by Alex's execution because he was promised by one of the time jumpers that his daughter survives.
As for the shape of things to come, my prediction is that the Oceanic folks who time jumped into the Dharma days will eventually begin piecing things together and realize what's truly at stake on the island. They will learn more about the 'war' that Widmore spoke of and the ramifications of 'the incident'. I'm sure this will all involve Jughead, the donkey wheel, and the fate of everyone on the island. Unfortunately, it's too early to give a educated guess on those details. But my prediction is that once they learn of this information, Juliet and the Oceanic crew will discover that Ben was a good guy all along and begin preparing Ben for their return to the island in 2004 when Flight 815 crashes on the beach. This discovery about the 'war' and 'the incident' and 'the purge' will also make Jack understand that this chain of unfortunate events all began because he left the island. And Jack will tell young Ben that no matter what happens, not to let him leave. He'll impl! ore Ben to do whatever it takes to keep Jack on the island and equip Ben with information that he could use to manipulate Jack's future skeptical self. In season 2, Ben gives Michael a list of names of people to retrieve in exchange for Walt. I think that list was Jack's idea.
So why, if Jack and friends knew the future, did the plan ultimately fail? Desmond.
I've noticed a lot of theories mentioning how Desmond is special and he was never supposed to come to the island because his presence on the island is what caused Oceanic to crash. I disagree. I think Oceanic was supposed to crash. Because at the time of the crash, Desmond was not yet special. I don't think Desmond became special and therefore absolved of "the rules" until after he turned the failsafe. THAT wasn't supposed to happen. That is the event that gave him his foresight. I know this has already been said in numerous theories, but prolonging Charlie's life long enough to deactivate the Looking Glass jamming signal is what led to Jack leaving, not Desmond's presence on the island.
I'm also preparing for the shock of the possible deaths of Sawyer, Kate, Juliet, Hurley and Jack when they are purged with the rest of Dharma. If you think that's too dark for a season finale, just remember what Charlie told Hurley. "I am dead. But I'm also here." Jack and friends may die in the 80s, but they're still there in 2004. So they're not really dead. Weird. Theory by timeisrelative
The reason for Ben's obsession with Juliet is also beginning to make sense. Harper's comment to Juliet, "You look just like her," was popularly interpreted as Juliet either resembling Ben's dead mother or his childhood friend, Annie. Now it seems likely that Juliet resembles Juliet. As a child, Ben will probably befriend Juliet who may even become a comforting mother figure when Ben suffers his father's mental abuse.
Ben's relationship with the time jumpers also explains Ben's ability to always have a plan and seem to be two steps ahead at all times. Previously, a popular explanation for this phenomenon was that Ben was aware that he was in a time loop and his shock at witnessing Alex's death was because she survived in previous iterations of the time loop. Now I suspect that Ben was shocked by Alex's execution because he was promised by one of the time jumpers that his daughter survives.
As for the shape of things to come, my prediction is that the Oceanic folks who time jumped into the Dharma days will eventually begin piecing things together and realize what's truly at stake on the island. They will learn more about the 'war' that Widmore spoke of and the ramifications of 'the incident'. I'm sure this will all involve Jughead, the donkey wheel, and the fate of everyone on the island. Unfortunately, it's too early to give a educated guess on those details. But my prediction is that once they learn of this information, Juliet and the Oceanic crew will discover that Ben was a good guy all along and begin preparing Ben for their return to the island in 2004 when Flight 815 crashes on the beach. This discovery about the 'war' and 'the incident' and 'the purge' will also make Jack understand that this chain of unfortunate events all began because he left the island. And Jack will tell young Ben that no matter what happens, not to let him leave. He'll impl! ore Ben to do whatever it takes to keep Jack on the island and equip Ben with information that he could use to manipulate Jack's future skeptical self. In season 2, Ben gives Michael a list of names of people to retrieve in exchange for Walt. I think that list was Jack's idea.
So why, if Jack and friends knew the future, did the plan ultimately fail? Desmond.
I've noticed a lot of theories mentioning how Desmond is special and he was never supposed to come to the island because his presence on the island is what caused Oceanic to crash. I disagree. I think Oceanic was supposed to crash. Because at the time of the crash, Desmond was not yet special. I don't think Desmond became special and therefore absolved of "the rules" until after he turned the failsafe. THAT wasn't supposed to happen. That is the event that gave him his foresight. I know this has already been said in numerous theories, but prolonging Charlie's life long enough to deactivate the Looking Glass jamming signal is what led to Jack leaving, not Desmond's presence on the island.
I'm also preparing for the shock of the possible deaths of Sawyer, Kate, Juliet, Hurley and Jack when they are purged with the rest of Dharma. If you think that's too dark for a season finale, just remember what Charlie told Hurley. "I am dead. But I'm also here." Jack and friends may die in the 80s, but they're still there in 2004. So they're not really dead. Weird. Theory by timeisrelative
