Widmore will have a chance to stop him, but will fail by a-Ron

I've always believed that the man in black's true goal is exactly what many people who know what they're talking about (ie Richard, Jacob, Eloise Hawking)have said: to kill everyone. The only way he can do this is by making the candidates kill each other. If you think about it, he already has Jack vs Sawyer, Kate vs Claire, and Sayid vs pretty much anyone. Make no mistake, the scene we saw at the beginning of "The Incident" part 1, was legit. This is a very angry, fearless man (or entity) that, unfortunately for everyone else, will never have faith in people and will stop at nothing to destroy them.

I also believe that we're rapidly approaching a final time "flash" on the island, where a window will open and for a very short period. 2004 Locke, Sawyer, Juliet and crew will appear on the ocean. Remember the outrigger canoe chase scene from "The Little Prince"? The question remains, who was chasing them, and why were they being shot at?

There's a chance that it is none other than Charles Widmore and crew, who's plan involves shooting Locke so that he can never leave the island, die and then return and be used in the grand scheme of the man in black.

When we saw Widmore helping Locke in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" we were given every reason to believe that Widmore wanted Locke to gather up the Oceanic 6 and return them to the island. It was Jacob who wanted them on the island, not the MIB, so why would Widmore help Locke under the instructions of the MIB? Further, when questioned about his own death, Locke was assured by Widmore that he would "do everything he could to make sure he didn't die". Then BEN killed him. I think its clear that Widmore knows, just like Eloise, that the man in black being allowed to leave his "prison" is a bad idea and must be prevented at all costs. How or what our losties have to do I have no idea.

So how does Widmore know where and when to be? My belief is that Faraday's journal is the most plausible explanation. If Faraday recorded the day and approximate location of when the shift occurred, Widmore and Eloise (who would have provided Dan's journal) could have hatched a plan to try and stop him. At least they could know where they were headed (the orchid) and we all know it would be pretty hard not to notice when the flash occurs.

Widmore's plan (to kill Locke during the brief event window) is good in theory: By killing Locke in 2004, the man in black would never be able to take his form. (bodies seem to have to be dead BEFORE being on the island in order for everyone to see him. One exception being Alex but only Ben interacted with her).