As the producers of LOST begin to reveal more of Charles Widmore's role in how events unfolded on the Island - particularly with respect to Ben - there is one nagging question: how did the man become so incredibly well off in so short a time (no more than 15 years)? Or, a better question: if he was born into wealth, what on earth could've led him to such a rudimentary life on the Island? Answer: he WASN'T.
Let me advance a chain of theoretical events to perhaps explain how the MacCutcheon-swilling industrialist we've seen came to be: it's now clear that DHARMA's arrival on the Island presented a persistent and formidable threat to the Others' more austere way of life, and unfettered access to the Island's unusual attributes (especially the Frozen Donkey Wheel as it was now, more or less, part of the Orchid complex). Recognizing this, a middle-aged Charles devised a plan to cut off the Initiative at its source and possibly (re)gain favor with Jacob in doing so (it's likely that Ben was responsible for Jacob's current dismal circumstances and part of why Richard wouldn't stand in the way of him eventually being deposed) or had been facilitated by.....another interested party: by taking over the Hanso Foundation and reducing Alvar to, at best, a puppet (there are those LOST followers that thought what little we saw of the deGroots' benefactor revealed a very subdued man, the mirr! or of Jacob).
He did this by insinuating Thomas Mittelwerk into its operations and slowly taking over, but may not have anticipated The Purge and thus, 2 different factions of Others emerged just as the producers suggested 2 seasons ago, one led by Benjamin Linus and the other by Charles. In the process, Widmore also helped himself to Hanso's own vast holdings and wealth including, of course, knowledge of Alvar's familial connection to the Black Rock through Magnus and determination of its final resting place.
Waitaminute, you say - couldn't Charles, so obviously familiar with the Island after 30+ years, have already known about the shipwrecked slaver? Did he too have any part in embellishing Radzinsky's Swan blast door map? Yes to both - exiled from the Island, he somehow learned of the Black Rock's logbook being put up for auction, and through his hired gun Inman; we were even SHOWN Kelvin augmenting it in the second season as a retroactive hint to his loyalties, but we really need to see more of Inman's backstory, as I suspect we will in 2010, if not sooner. As for how exactly Ben helped to get Charles and Ellie off the Island so that she and Penny wouldn't die (strongly reinforced by Mekkio's brilliant deduction earlier in the Theories section) we need to know what prevented Widmore from doing it himself and why Ben is now at cross purposes with him; possibly the dynamic resembles that of Locke and Ben (i.e., the Island wouldn't let Ben turn the wheel on this occasion either..! ...or was it out of order at that time due to the Incident?)
Two further questions remain, though: why WAS Widmore, in his words, 'exiled'? Was this some sort of 'cover story' to fool Ben as the Island already had sufficient reason to remove him from power? Or did Charles somehow betray the movement in his efforts to assume control of DHARMA and the Hanso Foundation, get greedy and more like Ben? Theory by ogam5
Let me advance a chain of theoretical events to perhaps explain how the MacCutcheon-swilling industrialist we've seen came to be: it's now clear that DHARMA's arrival on the Island presented a persistent and formidable threat to the Others' more austere way of life, and unfettered access to the Island's unusual attributes (especially the Frozen Donkey Wheel as it was now, more or less, part of the Orchid complex). Recognizing this, a middle-aged Charles devised a plan to cut off the Initiative at its source and possibly (re)gain favor with Jacob in doing so (it's likely that Ben was responsible for Jacob's current dismal circumstances and part of why Richard wouldn't stand in the way of him eventually being deposed) or had been facilitated by.....another interested party: by taking over the Hanso Foundation and reducing Alvar to, at best, a puppet (there are those LOST followers that thought what little we saw of the deGroots' benefactor revealed a very subdued man, the mirr! or of Jacob).
He did this by insinuating Thomas Mittelwerk into its operations and slowly taking over, but may not have anticipated The Purge and thus, 2 different factions of Others emerged just as the producers suggested 2 seasons ago, one led by Benjamin Linus and the other by Charles. In the process, Widmore also helped himself to Hanso's own vast holdings and wealth including, of course, knowledge of Alvar's familial connection to the Black Rock through Magnus and determination of its final resting place.
Waitaminute, you say - couldn't Charles, so obviously familiar with the Island after 30+ years, have already known about the shipwrecked slaver? Did he too have any part in embellishing Radzinsky's Swan blast door map? Yes to both - exiled from the Island, he somehow learned of the Black Rock's logbook being put up for auction, and through his hired gun Inman; we were even SHOWN Kelvin augmenting it in the second season as a retroactive hint to his loyalties, but we really need to see more of Inman's backstory, as I suspect we will in 2010, if not sooner. As for how exactly Ben helped to get Charles and Ellie off the Island so that she and Penny wouldn't die (strongly reinforced by Mekkio's brilliant deduction earlier in the Theories section) we need to know what prevented Widmore from doing it himself and why Ben is now at cross purposes with him; possibly the dynamic resembles that of Locke and Ben (i.e., the Island wouldn't let Ben turn the wheel on this occasion either..! ...or was it out of order at that time due to the Incident?)
Two further questions remain, though: why WAS Widmore, in his words, 'exiled'? Was this some sort of 'cover story' to fool Ben as the Island already had sufficient reason to remove him from power? Or did Charles somehow betray the movement in his efforts to assume control of DHARMA and the Hanso Foundation, get greedy and more like Ben? Theory by ogam5
