There are two factions. There is us, and there is them. The 'us' is the inhabitants of the island, the indigenous people. Us includes Richard Alpert, Jacob, Ben, and now John Locke. They protect a source of unique energy from 'them', the various peoples who have sought to harness that energy for their own devices. They include Hanso's trading group, who arrived on the Black Rock, They include Dharma, and now Widmore.
In the ages old battle between Us and Them, when things get too hairy, team Us simply pushes Them off the island and turns the wheel, forcing Them to start all over from scratch.
But suppose team Them finds a way to contain the energy that team Us uses to move the island?
The Swan is that device. It contains the energy, rendering the frozen donkey wheel useless.
After the Black Rock, Alvar Hanso spends years searching for the island, and it isn't until a military convoy arrives several years later when the island is found. The military is purged, the island is moved, and twenty years later, Dharma finds the island again, using the Lamppost. This time, they erect the Swan. This forces the Purge.
But, the hostiles, the US, don't know where the Swan is. They can see inside it, using the Pearl. But suppose that Jacob predicts Locke's arrival, and that Locke will be the key to destroying the Swan. Ben crossed the island and subjected himself to several gun-butts to the face. For a surgeon? He could have found a surgeon off-island and brought that surgeon using the Galaga. His real purpose was finding Locke, finding the Swan, and persuading John to stop pressing the button, giving control of the energy finally back to the island's protectors.
With the Swan destroyed, and the Flame, and the Looking Glass, and the Submarine, the island was cut off from the world once more. All that was left was to "purge" Widmore's freighter folk, now that the Lamppost was controlled by former hostile Eloise Hawking.
The island was free to be moved, and the Them is forced finally back to square one. Theory by JT
In the ages old battle between Us and Them, when things get too hairy, team Us simply pushes Them off the island and turns the wheel, forcing Them to start all over from scratch.
But suppose team Them finds a way to contain the energy that team Us uses to move the island?
The Swan is that device. It contains the energy, rendering the frozen donkey wheel useless.
After the Black Rock, Alvar Hanso spends years searching for the island, and it isn't until a military convoy arrives several years later when the island is found. The military is purged, the island is moved, and twenty years later, Dharma finds the island again, using the Lamppost. This time, they erect the Swan. This forces the Purge.
But, the hostiles, the US, don't know where the Swan is. They can see inside it, using the Pearl. But suppose that Jacob predicts Locke's arrival, and that Locke will be the key to destroying the Swan. Ben crossed the island and subjected himself to several gun-butts to the face. For a surgeon? He could have found a surgeon off-island and brought that surgeon using the Galaga. His real purpose was finding Locke, finding the Swan, and persuading John to stop pressing the button, giving control of the energy finally back to the island's protectors.
With the Swan destroyed, and the Flame, and the Looking Glass, and the Submarine, the island was cut off from the world once more. All that was left was to "purge" Widmore's freighter folk, now that the Lamppost was controlled by former hostile Eloise Hawking.
The island was free to be moved, and the Them is forced finally back to square one. Theory by JT