After episode 11, and after reading various responses and theories to Ben's memory wipe, I felt inclined to suggest a theory with regards to what Richard said.
Even in context, that very line is vague: he says Ben won't remember "any of this." "This" can be applied to one of two things; the temple itself, and the healing process; or, what a majority of people assume, the entire incident in general, including Sayid shooting him.
I'm personally leaning towards the first option, and that Ben will simply have no recollection of the temple, but will still remember Sayid shooting him. Now, let me explain why:
1) If Ben is completely wiped of the incident, and therefore cannot remember being shot, cannot remember Sayid, and cannot remember anything after setting Sayid free, then when the Others let him go back to the Dharma Initiative, how smooth would that situation play out? If Ben suddenly returns to the DI 100% healed, he'll surely be asked questions about what happened. If he doesn't know what they're talking about, this will raise suspicions even more so than they have been. There are two reasons why Ben NEEDS to remember getting shot, and why he NEEDS to remember Sayid:
* As I've just mentioned, he needs to be able to manipulate his way back into Dharmaville by telling a convincing story. We know and have always known Ben to be a coniving, sly mastermind. Perhaps it starts here, now, post-temple. His innocence is gone, replaced with malevolence and foresight - the ability to always be five steps ahead of everyone else.
* The second reason goes hand-in-hand with the first. Simply put, Ben needs to go back to the Dharma Initiative after he is healed at the Temple. We've seen that he initiates the Purge and helps the Others claim the Barracks. We KNOW it happens, and we also know it HAS to happen. There is no other way for this situation to make sense if Ben does not remember getting shot. We've had the idea that the past cannot be changed - "whatever happened, happened" - beaten into our heads three times already: by Elosie Hawking, by Daniel Faraday, and by Miles Straume. Ben must return to DI.
2) Just to recap, Ben needs to return to DI, and to be able to do that, he needs to weave a convincing, manipulative story that Horace and his father will believe. If they believe, everyone else will. And in order to do that he needs to remember everything (barring the temple process).
3) Now the biggest question, then, is "If he remembers, why hasn't he ever said anything to Sayid, or to anyone else?"
Here's my question to you: "Why would he have any reason to?" I mentioned it before, Ben's the most brilliant mastermind on the island. He has backup plans for his backup plans. He would never reveal such key, vital information at his leisure. Someone also once asked, "Well if Ben really did remember everything, then why haven't we, as an audience, known about it too?"
The answer to that is simple: We haven't known because there was no reason to know ahead of time. We only now found out, from the episode two weeks ago, that Ben was shot by Sayid as a child. If we had learned this back in Season 2 - when Ben was captured as "Henry Gale" - or even in season 3, well before the time traveling aspect had been introduced, how would we, as an audience, accept this? We wouldn't. It wouldn't make sense to us at that point. So, now that we've learned of the island's special time/space properties, it was the appropriate time (no pun intended) to reveal Sayid shooting Ben.
And in closing, as per the concern about the bullet wound in Ben's chest, I read an interesting theory regarding that:
The island manipulates the perception of the wound for all those who see it. When Sayid shot Ben, he perceived the bullet to have gone through his heart, thereby killing him. To Sayid, and to us as the audience, we had no reason to doubt that he'd be dead. Usually bullets plus hearts equals death. However, when Jin finds Ben shortly after, he sees the bullet wound has moved over to the right side of his chest, far from a lethal-shot. Jin perceives this differently because the island is willing him to perceive it so. And we, again as an audience, are seeing this perception through Jin's eyes. This would not be the first case where the island has influenced the Losties:
1. Hurley is convinced the bird from a previous season whispered his name
2. Locke, possibly more than anyone else, is driven solely on influence/faith in the island.
3. We witnessed Jack's life post-rescue deteriorate into ruin because he finally believed the island was something greater, and therefore, was influenced to return (with the assistance of Ben and Locke nagging him).
4. Many characters have experienced very lucid dreams, all of which can only be explained by the island's will (Locke seeing Horace building the cabin, and Eko's dreams, to name a few).
It's not at all impossible to believe the island can manipulate the perception of others, so much so that it quite literally alters to location of a wound. After all, we've seen it disappear before our own eyes, we've seen a man who seemingly never ages, we've see a formless mass of black smoke kill and attempt to kill several people, and we've see someone with the ability to see the future (Desmond).
As Locke said back in season one, "It's not an island; it's a place where miracles happen." Theory by Elge
Even in context, that very line is vague: he says Ben won't remember "any of this." "This" can be applied to one of two things; the temple itself, and the healing process; or, what a majority of people assume, the entire incident in general, including Sayid shooting him.
I'm personally leaning towards the first option, and that Ben will simply have no recollection of the temple, but will still remember Sayid shooting him. Now, let me explain why:
1) If Ben is completely wiped of the incident, and therefore cannot remember being shot, cannot remember Sayid, and cannot remember anything after setting Sayid free, then when the Others let him go back to the Dharma Initiative, how smooth would that situation play out? If Ben suddenly returns to the DI 100% healed, he'll surely be asked questions about what happened. If he doesn't know what they're talking about, this will raise suspicions even more so than they have been. There are two reasons why Ben NEEDS to remember getting shot, and why he NEEDS to remember Sayid:
* As I've just mentioned, he needs to be able to manipulate his way back into Dharmaville by telling a convincing story. We know and have always known Ben to be a coniving, sly mastermind. Perhaps it starts here, now, post-temple. His innocence is gone, replaced with malevolence and foresight - the ability to always be five steps ahead of everyone else.
* The second reason goes hand-in-hand with the first. Simply put, Ben needs to go back to the Dharma Initiative after he is healed at the Temple. We've seen that he initiates the Purge and helps the Others claim the Barracks. We KNOW it happens, and we also know it HAS to happen. There is no other way for this situation to make sense if Ben does not remember getting shot. We've had the idea that the past cannot be changed - "whatever happened, happened" - beaten into our heads three times already: by Elosie Hawking, by Daniel Faraday, and by Miles Straume. Ben must return to DI.
2) Just to recap, Ben needs to return to DI, and to be able to do that, he needs to weave a convincing, manipulative story that Horace and his father will believe. If they believe, everyone else will. And in order to do that he needs to remember everything (barring the temple process).
3) Now the biggest question, then, is "If he remembers, why hasn't he ever said anything to Sayid, or to anyone else?"
Here's my question to you: "Why would he have any reason to?" I mentioned it before, Ben's the most brilliant mastermind on the island. He has backup plans for his backup plans. He would never reveal such key, vital information at his leisure. Someone also once asked, "Well if Ben really did remember everything, then why haven't we, as an audience, known about it too?"
The answer to that is simple: We haven't known because there was no reason to know ahead of time. We only now found out, from the episode two weeks ago, that Ben was shot by Sayid as a child. If we had learned this back in Season 2 - when Ben was captured as "Henry Gale" - or even in season 3, well before the time traveling aspect had been introduced, how would we, as an audience, accept this? We wouldn't. It wouldn't make sense to us at that point. So, now that we've learned of the island's special time/space properties, it was the appropriate time (no pun intended) to reveal Sayid shooting Ben.
And in closing, as per the concern about the bullet wound in Ben's chest, I read an interesting theory regarding that:
The island manipulates the perception of the wound for all those who see it. When Sayid shot Ben, he perceived the bullet to have gone through his heart, thereby killing him. To Sayid, and to us as the audience, we had no reason to doubt that he'd be dead. Usually bullets plus hearts equals death. However, when Jin finds Ben shortly after, he sees the bullet wound has moved over to the right side of his chest, far from a lethal-shot. Jin perceives this differently because the island is willing him to perceive it so. And we, again as an audience, are seeing this perception through Jin's eyes. This would not be the first case where the island has influenced the Losties:
1. Hurley is convinced the bird from a previous season whispered his name
2. Locke, possibly more than anyone else, is driven solely on influence/faith in the island.
3. We witnessed Jack's life post-rescue deteriorate into ruin because he finally believed the island was something greater, and therefore, was influenced to return (with the assistance of Ben and Locke nagging him).
4. Many characters have experienced very lucid dreams, all of which can only be explained by the island's will (Locke seeing Horace building the cabin, and Eko's dreams, to name a few).
It's not at all impossible to believe the island can manipulate the perception of others, so much so that it quite literally alters to location of a wound. After all, we've seen it disappear before our own eyes, we've seen a man who seemingly never ages, we've see a formless mass of black smoke kill and attempt to kill several people, and we've see someone with the ability to see the future (Desmond).
As Locke said back in season one, "It's not an island; it's a place where miracles happen." Theory by Elge
