I read in the comments on one of the recent theories posted here, someone (sorry for not having checked for due credit) doubting of Richard Alpert's loyalty to Jacob.
That made me think about Flocke telling Jacob something like "You have no idea what I had to go through" prior to Ben stabbing him, I realized that Ben has been just another poor pupet in MIB's hands... for a very long time, and Richard was the man that carried MIB's orders for using Ben.
It was Richard that took young dying Ben to the healing underworld, then molded him to become the new Other's leader. A new leader that wasn't supposed to be, defying Widmore and taking a new direction by later making the Purge (with Richard's full cooperation) and moving the Others to Dharmaville. Why didn't Richard lived there too? To keep himself tuned with Jacob.
My idea is that the underworld is MIB's (darker) grounds while Jacob rules at much lighter surroundings.
So Richard took Ben to be saved by MIB, guided Ben to become the leader that unknowingly was not fulfilling Jacobs will - thus making Jacob ignore Ben. So all along Ben was really acting under MIB's orders (via Richard) while thinking he was following Jacob's. That's why babies became impossible to deliver on island, as Jacob punished them because of the road the Others were taking.
At the end of season 5, after a lifetime of being ignored by is "boss", we finally get an angry Ben stabbing Jacob.
Richard is the double-agent that allowed MIB to undermine Jacob's plans. His motivation? Probably be allowed to get old and die, just like any normal human being; or to stop the real bad guy, Jacob.
That made me think about Flocke telling Jacob something like "You have no idea what I had to go through" prior to Ben stabbing him, I realized that Ben has been just another poor pupet in MIB's hands... for a very long time, and Richard was the man that carried MIB's orders for using Ben.
It was Richard that took young dying Ben to the healing underworld, then molded him to become the new Other's leader. A new leader that wasn't supposed to be, defying Widmore and taking a new direction by later making the Purge (with Richard's full cooperation) and moving the Others to Dharmaville. Why didn't Richard lived there too? To keep himself tuned with Jacob.
My idea is that the underworld is MIB's (darker) grounds while Jacob rules at much lighter surroundings.
So Richard took Ben to be saved by MIB, guided Ben to become the leader that unknowingly was not fulfilling Jacobs will - thus making Jacob ignore Ben. So all along Ben was really acting under MIB's orders (via Richard) while thinking he was following Jacob's. That's why babies became impossible to deliver on island, as Jacob punished them because of the road the Others were taking.
At the end of season 5, after a lifetime of being ignored by is "boss", we finally get an angry Ben stabbing Jacob.
Richard is the double-agent that allowed MIB to undermine Jacob's plans. His motivation? Probably be allowed to get old and die, just like any normal human being; or to stop the real bad guy, Jacob.
