This past episode really shed a lot of new light on the Alex character, despite barely seeing her at all. It also revealed a lot about what the island wants.
I'm still a firm believer that Ben is very much aware of what year the Oceanic 6 are currently in. He always knows everything. From the start of the series it has always seemed that Ben has been 3 steps ahead of everyone. He is a master of manipulation and he always knows how people will react and how he can work with that. He'll tell you he's your best friend and then shoot you in the back a minute later if it will accomplish even a small part of his eventual goal. I think he even already knows what that goal is, but it's not like he can tell anybody.
The only thing that Ben doesn't know is the exact path that he needs to take to get to that point. The only entity that knows that is the island. I know I'm being vague, but I feel like that is a fair enough assessment by now. It could be Christian, it could be Jacob, it could be Richard, it could be the smoke monster, they could all be the same thing, they could all be enemies. That's not really what I want to focus on. It's more about the island's endgame. The place it knows it has to end up, and there are puzzle pieces that it has to use. Ben is one of those pieces. The island gives him just enough information to do his part of the master plan. No more, no less.
Let's go back to Ben's childhood now...
His mother died at childbirth. He grew up with his alcoholic dad, and then pulled out of wherever they lived at the age of 12 to live on an island for an undetermined time. That is not a normal childhood. When Ben was a child, despite all of this, he seemed like a nice enough kid. He tried to make the best of the situation but his dad just got worse and worse until he eventually runs away.
We don't know if the island can get off the island (though it certainly seems so), I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it had him pegged from the beginning. Just as it had Locke pegged as well. It might have every one of the surviving 815ers pegged, but that's another theory entirely. Ben was chosen to lead the pack, and that's why Richard accepted him from Kate and Sawyer. I doubt that just anyone would be allowed to go through that ceremony with Richard. Ben is special.
Another theme of Lost is choice. If our goal is predetermined then do we have choices or is everything already chosen already? That's what I think the island deals with, and why sometimes it has to intervene directly as opposed to just conveying the message through specific people. The island crafted Ben to be a leader by making him very smart, and making his mother die, and making his father become an alcoholic. This leader would have no remorse and would be able to make the hard decisions that the island demands. It didn't count on Ben's insecurities though, and more specifically the need to be the good father that he never had. Life (and fate) isn't without it's ironies.
When Ben talked to Richard he decided his fate, but the island wasn't really worried. It knows Ben is going to be integral to it's plans. What it didn't plan on is for a French science team had accidentally found their way through the only tiny entrance from the outside world (I'm not sure if they are in another dimension or something, so leaving that alone). The island knew right when it happened, and that's why the rest of Danielle's team turned crazy so fast. Danielle was crafty enough to survive, and with her baby no less. When Ben was sent to get rid of them I don't think he counted on that baby. Either Richard or Charles didn't tell him or they didn't know. I'm thinking the Others don't have a very lenient marriage or birthing process back then. When Ben saw that baby he saw his chance to become the father that he never had. A good and loving father. Sure it seems selfish, but Ben was about to kill this woman for the island. It was pretty messed up to take her baby but! he considered that the absolute best way to keep them both alive. In Alex he saw him, and in Danielle he saw his mother. That is why he couldn't pull the trigger.
I'm thinking that Jacob is the true speaking voice of the island's will. He is the one that gives the leader of the Others their specific orders on what to do. I'm guessing when Ben found that baby it was a very tense time for the Others. Ben is right that Charles messed up by having a family outside of the island. This is obviously not someone who is committed to running the island with an iron fist. This was the transition time from Charles to Ben. It hadn't happened yet but it was just a matter of time. I think Jacob hadn't been talking to Charles for a long time and Ben may have assumed that, so he decided to call him out and ask what Jacob thinks. That is why Charles didn't answer, because Jacob wasn't talking to him. Richard didn't intervene because he is just another one of the island's tools, just waiting to play his part and intervene when necessary.
That little confrontation may have led to Widmore's eventual downfall. But Ben never had his discussion with Jacob about Alex, and Jacob never forgot that. He kept talking to Ben throughout the years, but only because the next leader hadn't yet arrived. Ben remained the leader for years, changing the Others from a more hunter/gatherer society to the Dharma barracks. That is the point when he stopped talking to Ben completely. He realized that Ben didn't want to lead, he wanted to be a father. He wanted to live in the suburbs and start a book club and be the normal father figure for his little girl. He turned "the Others" into a costume that they wear when they leave the neighborhood. I'm not sure if Ben ever realizes if Alex was ever OK with the island, but since he was never told to get rid of her he figures that it must be alright.
I don't think Alex is really that important of a figure either. Her eventual death was because the island needed Ben to realize that this isn't what he was brought here to do. His part in the plan didn't involve raising a daughter and it was making it more of a pain to get done. You see the island is really like Daniel Faraday described it earlier this season: a string. You can bend the string, you can even stress that string as hard as you want, but it will never break. It will, however, find the easiest means necessary to get to the end of that string with as little stress as possible. The island chose to kill Alex at the point where it could most get the message across that you have to know your role. It might not be the easiest thing, but you realize that you are important, and necessary. It was heartbreaking and sobering for Ben. Probably one of the few times in his life after leaving that temple where he didn't know how things would pan out.
Now obviously since I mentioned earlier that whoever talks to Jacob is the leader of the island, Locke is now that person. That is why he was given the mission to get the rest of the Oceanic 6 back to the island, so they could play their roles in the future events. Ben realizes that the island might be through with him since the new guy has arrived, and he might not be as essential a puzzle piece that he was before, and that is scaring the crap out of him. He knows he's not untouchable. He can still rely somewhat on his intelligence but his being able to read people, especially Locke, is long gone now. His judgement in front of the smoke monster, and the appearance of Alex later, seemed like a very harsh way of saying that she isn't important, she's dead, so stop being such a wimp and do whatever the new leader says. Theory by Kevin
I'm still a firm believer that Ben is very much aware of what year the Oceanic 6 are currently in. He always knows everything. From the start of the series it has always seemed that Ben has been 3 steps ahead of everyone. He is a master of manipulation and he always knows how people will react and how he can work with that. He'll tell you he's your best friend and then shoot you in the back a minute later if it will accomplish even a small part of his eventual goal. I think he even already knows what that goal is, but it's not like he can tell anybody.
The only thing that Ben doesn't know is the exact path that he needs to take to get to that point. The only entity that knows that is the island. I know I'm being vague, but I feel like that is a fair enough assessment by now. It could be Christian, it could be Jacob, it could be Richard, it could be the smoke monster, they could all be the same thing, they could all be enemies. That's not really what I want to focus on. It's more about the island's endgame. The place it knows it has to end up, and there are puzzle pieces that it has to use. Ben is one of those pieces. The island gives him just enough information to do his part of the master plan. No more, no less.
Let's go back to Ben's childhood now...
His mother died at childbirth. He grew up with his alcoholic dad, and then pulled out of wherever they lived at the age of 12 to live on an island for an undetermined time. That is not a normal childhood. When Ben was a child, despite all of this, he seemed like a nice enough kid. He tried to make the best of the situation but his dad just got worse and worse until he eventually runs away.
We don't know if the island can get off the island (though it certainly seems so), I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it had him pegged from the beginning. Just as it had Locke pegged as well. It might have every one of the surviving 815ers pegged, but that's another theory entirely. Ben was chosen to lead the pack, and that's why Richard accepted him from Kate and Sawyer. I doubt that just anyone would be allowed to go through that ceremony with Richard. Ben is special.
Another theme of Lost is choice. If our goal is predetermined then do we have choices or is everything already chosen already? That's what I think the island deals with, and why sometimes it has to intervene directly as opposed to just conveying the message through specific people. The island crafted Ben to be a leader by making him very smart, and making his mother die, and making his father become an alcoholic. This leader would have no remorse and would be able to make the hard decisions that the island demands. It didn't count on Ben's insecurities though, and more specifically the need to be the good father that he never had. Life (and fate) isn't without it's ironies.
When Ben talked to Richard he decided his fate, but the island wasn't really worried. It knows Ben is going to be integral to it's plans. What it didn't plan on is for a French science team had accidentally found their way through the only tiny entrance from the outside world (I'm not sure if they are in another dimension or something, so leaving that alone). The island knew right when it happened, and that's why the rest of Danielle's team turned crazy so fast. Danielle was crafty enough to survive, and with her baby no less. When Ben was sent to get rid of them I don't think he counted on that baby. Either Richard or Charles didn't tell him or they didn't know. I'm thinking the Others don't have a very lenient marriage or birthing process back then. When Ben saw that baby he saw his chance to become the father that he never had. A good and loving father. Sure it seems selfish, but Ben was about to kill this woman for the island. It was pretty messed up to take her baby but! he considered that the absolute best way to keep them both alive. In Alex he saw him, and in Danielle he saw his mother. That is why he couldn't pull the trigger.
I'm thinking that Jacob is the true speaking voice of the island's will. He is the one that gives the leader of the Others their specific orders on what to do. I'm guessing when Ben found that baby it was a very tense time for the Others. Ben is right that Charles messed up by having a family outside of the island. This is obviously not someone who is committed to running the island with an iron fist. This was the transition time from Charles to Ben. It hadn't happened yet but it was just a matter of time. I think Jacob hadn't been talking to Charles for a long time and Ben may have assumed that, so he decided to call him out and ask what Jacob thinks. That is why Charles didn't answer, because Jacob wasn't talking to him. Richard didn't intervene because he is just another one of the island's tools, just waiting to play his part and intervene when necessary.
That little confrontation may have led to Widmore's eventual downfall. But Ben never had his discussion with Jacob about Alex, and Jacob never forgot that. He kept talking to Ben throughout the years, but only because the next leader hadn't yet arrived. Ben remained the leader for years, changing the Others from a more hunter/gatherer society to the Dharma barracks. That is the point when he stopped talking to Ben completely. He realized that Ben didn't want to lead, he wanted to be a father. He wanted to live in the suburbs and start a book club and be the normal father figure for his little girl. He turned "the Others" into a costume that they wear when they leave the neighborhood. I'm not sure if Ben ever realizes if Alex was ever OK with the island, but since he was never told to get rid of her he figures that it must be alright.
I don't think Alex is really that important of a figure either. Her eventual death was because the island needed Ben to realize that this isn't what he was brought here to do. His part in the plan didn't involve raising a daughter and it was making it more of a pain to get done. You see the island is really like Daniel Faraday described it earlier this season: a string. You can bend the string, you can even stress that string as hard as you want, but it will never break. It will, however, find the easiest means necessary to get to the end of that string with as little stress as possible. The island chose to kill Alex at the point where it could most get the message across that you have to know your role. It might not be the easiest thing, but you realize that you are important, and necessary. It was heartbreaking and sobering for Ben. Probably one of the few times in his life after leaving that temple where he didn't know how things would pan out.
Now obviously since I mentioned earlier that whoever talks to Jacob is the leader of the island, Locke is now that person. That is why he was given the mission to get the rest of the Oceanic 6 back to the island, so they could play their roles in the future events. Ben realizes that the island might be through with him since the new guy has arrived, and he might not be as essential a puzzle piece that he was before, and that is scaring the crap out of him. He knows he's not untouchable. He can still rely somewhat on his intelligence but his being able to read people, especially Locke, is long gone now. His judgement in front of the smoke monster, and the appearance of Alex later, seemed like a very harsh way of saying that she isn't important, she's dead, so stop being such a wimp and do whatever the new leader says. Theory by Kevin
