Ben's Plan by Stereobot

I don't believe for a second Ben is turning "dark" again. If there is one thing we all should have learned by now is that "good" and "evil" are both subjective. Ben maybe taking part in some things we would consider "evil" but I think they are all a means to an end that is positive, at least in Ben's eyes.

I think Ben is setting FLocke up. I believe Ben's redemption with Illana was quite moving for him and Ben is smart enough to know that FLocke is untrustworthy at this point. Ben probably figures his only hope of survival is to make himself useful long enough to figure out a way to set FLocke up or find a weakness he can exploit. Finally - all his years of learning to manipulate people may be coming in useful to save the losties.

Also, at this point I think Ben is over the idea of being leader of the Island. I think Ben realizes that desire ended up costing him what mattered to him most so I think he has little interest in running the island now. But also he believes the Island is still important and he didn't want to let it fall into Widmore's hands which is why Ben he killed him. Actually - I think it is quite possible Ben shot Widmore to keep him from revealing his plan to FLocke..

At the end of the show, FLocke reveals to Ben (if I remember correctly that Ben was there, I'm almost positive FLocke was speaking with Ben) that he plans to use Desmond to destroy the island. So how can Ben have the island if FLocke is going to destroy it? FLocke already took back that promise he made to Ben right in front of him, he took Ben's motivation to help him away.