Ben’s Abilities – feigned power
We all know Ben has some claim to the island, and there is no definite reason why, other than the island heals him after the Losties get involved.
I think Ben gets his knowledge in other ways besides Jacob. Jacob is being held captive by Ben, at least it seems that way the first time Locke sees “Jacob” and he says “help me …”
Ben always has a plan, as he says. Ben goes to and from the island with no hassle … i.e. the Orchid. It isn’t broken until Ben breaks it, so he as access to it no problem. Also, he knows everything about everyone and what is going to happen (freighter, Locke leaving the island, Jack returning, 316 landing as he built a runway for it, etc.). Could it be that he’s using the Orchid to foresee events, and also to leave the island and that is how he gains his power – through knowledge of what’s coming and being able to Benipulate? Also, is that why he says Widmore breaks the rules? He’s travelled to the future and seen how the freighter situation plays out, and the first time Alex didn’t die, but this time Keamy shoots her?
i think the rules arent time related, but like the rules of the truce, they can be broken, but there will be consequences. like widmore had a baby off island-broke the rules and got kicked out.
the rules faraday and chang and hawking discuss are different. in my view.
Good thoughts, mojo!
I have always thought that with Ben, even with all of his many sources and connections on the outside world, that gather information for him, that he must have an uncanny ability of foresight.
However, even that wouldn’t be enough for him to absolutely be able to predict every single thing, which he seems to do, without effort.
Something is going on with Ben, and we have not learned what that is yet.
When Richard Alpert saves Ben’s life as a child, could Ben have developed some psychic abilities of his own, that lends itself to him being able to accurately predict all that is going to happen, or, has he some kind of divining powers that are in sync with ‘the island’?
Or, could it be, that Ben has travelled this road before?
I love it! I like those ideas much better than the simple answer of the Orchid! I would love to see the twist of Ben in his own time loop.
BTW, the “Benipulation” term came from someone on this site, and I am using it cuz I love it! Credit to whomever penned that one. Also, I didn’t mean in my theory that Ben uses the Orchid to go on and off the island. He has many ways to do that; rather, I meant that the Orchid could be one way he’s gaining access to info about the future.
Another thought that comes from highbrow’s theory is the use of the Pearl. Maybe Ben has knowledge of these things since being Dharma and others for so long previous to the purge, and uses some of the twisted experiments from the DI to his benefit.
mojo, Ben is definitely ‘hooked’ into something!
I think it has not been explained how Ben, Richard, Tom and Ethan were able to travel to and from ‘the island’.
I have long suspected that it may be via the underground tunnels and caves, in some manner.
You have to know that Ben, of all people would have made it his total business to use whatever means possible that Dharma had been experimenting on, to his full advantage.
He also would have had this work continued, albeit in complete secrecy.
Perhaps, the one thing Ben was able to perfect, was the ability to ‘time travel’, by way of his consciousness.
Hmm … love the caves and tunnels idea. That fits with another comment somewhere of the others traveling via the tunnels and caves, and that’s how they appear out of nowhere. It also makes me wonder if they all lead to the temple, and we don’t know, at this point, what powers the temple holds.
Not so sure about the consciousness thing, only because Des only traveled to the past that way.
Brilliant theories and possibilities here, I really like this line of thinking.
As for Ben I always thought he made up for the fact that he was not really the islands chosen leader, and not really “special” by using manipulation and cunning. I thought he lied to the others and claimed to be able to speak to Jacob and the others bought Ben the false prophet never suspecting that Jacob had been sitting there for years with no real contact with anyone who could truly speak to him on the level of say John Locke. Which is why he implores him for help.
If anything, Ben would use (and I think we have seen he has) Jacob as a tool to get what he wants.
Thorn, I like your comments on all the posts thus far. Jacob has definitely been an excuse for Ben to act in authority. I wonder if Smokey and Jacob are really related, since Ben was judged by Smokey. You’d think if Jacob and smokey were connected the judgment would have been a lot harsher …
That’s assuming that Ben has done something bad to Jacob! It could turn out that Ben really was deffering to Jacob for advice all along and doing his bidding and maybe because of that Jacob was able to influence the smoke monster into letting Ben live.
*deferring
hmm maybe. But what about his comment for help?
Well, he could have been asking Locke to help him escape from Ben but he could have meant anything really. Here’s the thing… If we believe that Jacob is someone that summons you and not someone you summon, like Ben said, then why wouldn’t Jacob’s cabin just appear in front of Locke later when he’s alone so Jacob can ask for help in private? Why would he go into that while Ben was standing right there if it was Ben he needed help from?
also. when ben first meets alpert in the jungle, alpert suddenly becomes interested in ben when he says he saw his dead mother.
hmm, good questions, HB. There could be a lot of ways/reasons to see Jacob, though, too. I’m not set that he summons you. Maybe it isn’t about summoning, but more about who is supposed to see him based on certain criteria. I can’t figure out why Hurley would ever see Jacob, except to play into Ben’s manipulation of Locke during the freighter/Orchid situation. The help comment makes me think that Jacob doesn’t have as much power as we are led to believe.
good point eko… this leads to the debate over whether the dead people are in fact dead but living again, or if they are the smoke monster/jacob. If the mother appeared because it was smokey/jacob appearing as his mom, then the island did appoint Ben in charge.
Lots of questions now …
yes… always more questions than answers…
I think Walt had the ability to ‘move’ in time (either conciously or physically) once the Others brought these powers out of him with their tests in Series 2. This was also the time when Walt started ‘backwards’ appearing to other Losties.
I think Walt gave information to the Others about future events during series 2, hence Ben’s ‘we got more out of Walt than we ever imagined’ (or words to that effect).
We know he dreamed of Locke being surrounded by people ‘out to get him’ when last seen.
Good thoughts, Strunt! I like this point, which adds to the suspicion that Ben gets his knowledge form sources other than Jacob or the island, and so may not actually be representing. After all, it was Richard who encouraged Locke to find a way to rise to leadership, and told him they’d been waiting for him.
Cheers, the only reason I say this is that Ben really hasn’t had a chance as far as we know to leave the island since the Losties first appeared, but he still knew to build the runway after he let Walt and Michael go. He also seemed to know that Keamy was on his way.
The alternative is that there are others who’ve come back from the future (like our Losties back in 77) and told their stories to the Others..
At least we are led to believe he hasn’t had a chance to leave the island, but I do wonder if he isn’t constantly time-traveling using the Orchid or something so that he is still able to attend to his duties on-island. After all, we know that time on the island lags from the time on the freighter. Maybe there is a bigger discrepancy than we realize.