{{Theorytabtop}}
== His character ==
===He is good===
* Everything Ben does is in the best interest of the Island and is to serve a greater good. While he has murdered people in cold blood, and is a pathological liar, it is all to protect the Island. Much like the wizard (the man behind the curtain) in "The Wizard of Oz," Ben is a liar but has good intentions for doing so. Any of his wrong deeds can be blamed on either the Island's will, or the greater good.
* Although ordered to kill Danielle Rousseau by Charles Widmore, he spares her life because she was "no threat." He also takes her baby, Alexandra and raises her as his own daughter.
* Benjamin Linus, like the rest of the people brought to the Island, is not a good or bad person; there is good and bad in everybody and it is the choices one makes that determines what kind of person they are.
** When we see Ben with the Others under the leadership of Charles Widmore, he chooses not to kill the Rousseau's baby; he is also responsible for the death of his daughter because of his actions. Ben has made both good and bad choices in his past and continues to.
* Ben would be technically good as Jacob had locked everyone who came to the Island into a cycle of life and death, prompting a rotation of candidates until Jacob's successor would be found. Everything that Ben did therefore safeguarded his position from being wrested from him by the whims of a quasi-immortal "God-king" and his actions also were for the best interests of the Island and his people.
* He is good because he doesn't do anything out of cold blood he does it to better the Island or to protect it in the flash sideways, he decides not to move on meaning he feels bad for what he has done.
===He is bad===
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* Jacob and the Island gave Ben a tumor because he does things for his own personal gain and not the benefit of the Island.
* Ben manipulates Sayid to kill people for his (Ben's) own gain. Everyone who Sayid killed could have prevented them from returning to the Island.
* Ben manipulates everyone to benefit himself, not the Island. Ben was not supposed to return to the Island, but he tricked the O6 into returning, not for the gain of the Island, but because he knew they would be the only way he could selfishly get back.
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* Ben always has a ulterior motive for his actions, usually inconsistent with the lies he uses to justify his actions, meaning the use of the excuse that he is protecting the Island could be false to justify himself.
* When Ben took Locke to see Jacob, he actually took him to the cabin where Nemesis lived. Ben has always followed Nemesis instead of Jacob.
** This doesn't necessarily make Ben bad. It just means that he's a pawn like almost everyone else. He didn't knowingly follow the Nemesis. If he had, Fake Locke would've just been able to tell Ben exactly who he really was and what Ben had to do.
* Ben kills Jacob in cold blood.
** His killing of Jacob was pretty understandable, given that he felt Jacob was responsible for not preventing his daughter's death
* After killing Jacob and learning all about Nemesis he still seeks to try turn the situation to his advantage. (Lying to Richard and the Others).
* He has been bad, but since being manipulated by the Man in Black, Ben has realized the error of his ways and is seeking redemption (thus his comments about Locke and himself at Locke's grave).
* Ben can summon the monster. He should go before Jacob to be judged, not the MIB.
===Neither===
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* Lost is never black and white. Neither Ben nor Widmore is purely bad or purely good.
** What is good, what is bad? The question is somewhat irrelevant given that every main character seems to have some massive flaw. If it really mattered, then why are Kate and Sawyer, two murderers, considered important "good" guy characters in the show? "Good" and "Bad" never truly exists, only a grey scale in between. Ben is doing what he is meant to do, if he cannot change that, which we have been repeatedly told, then how can he be held accountable as bad or good. It is his fate, his destiny.
*** What about Jacob and Esau/MIB/Loops? Granted, ALMOST NOTHING is known about them, but they seem to be reasonably black and white.
**** Perhaps those two are just on a different level than "regular" people like Locke, Ben, Jack, etc...
***** The black/white theme throughout Lost pertains to everybody, including Ben; everyone has a 'scale' within themselves with both good and bad, it is the choices they make that determines what kind of individual they are.
*Though Ben is a chronic liar, and it's never possible to be 100% sure about Ben, after the conclusion of season five it seems apparent that Ben is just as much out of the loop as many of the other characters. In all likelihood, he thinks what he's always done is what Jacob has asked, even if that wasn't actually the case.
==He and Widmore are playing a game==
FileWidmore_banish.jpg* Ben and Widmore, are both playing a game for control of the Island. This is supported by the fact that in {{ep}}, Ben says that Widmore changed the rules. The "rules" are something that Ben and Widmore have agreed upon previously. This games resembles a chess game, in which the winner comes away with control of the Island. Supported by the idea that Ben called Alex a "pawn" to convince Keamy not to kill her.
==="Changed the rules"===
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*The ''Lost'' Universe has to conform to a set of rules and Widmore figured out how to change them.
**Perhaps Widmore tells Ben that Ben himself changed the rules because as far as Widmore is concerned, Ben attacked first because of an above theory that Ben went back in time, killed all of the freighties in the jungle, or actually on the boat (as well as the doctor who suddenly washed up) and then the Monster took over to course correct time. So technically, Ben changed the rules first and that is what Widmore meant by saying that Ben was the one who did the changing. So Widmore is in fact correct in saying this according to a timeline. Maybe this is why Ben comes back so dirty, he's just cleaning up from Rambo mode.
**Ben can't kill Widmore because the Island won't allow it, just like Michael couldn't kill himself. Hence, "We both know that I can't do that."
**It would seem that there was an unspoken agreement to not make this personal or involving each parties direct relatives (Alex wasn't Ben's biological daughter, but he raised her as one and therefore should be counted as one). So when Martin killed Alex, he stepped past the boundary and therefore broke the "rules."
***This seems consistent with Ben's emotional reaction. When Alex died, he didn't seem shocked in the sense that they did something that was impossible to do, but shocked in the sense that the Widmore people crossed a serious line that he genuinely did not expect them to cross. His rage and shock was more along the lines of "how dare they!" than "how could that be possible?"
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* The rules are simply the rules to the bet or the game that Ben and Widmore are playing. They are playing for the Island and pure glory over the other. The Island has its own mysteries as does the Dharma Initiative. Ben uses all he has learned about the island and the "science" behind it to help him win, while Widmore uses his money and violence. Who will win? Ben? Widmore? Some unnamed party? The Island?
* The rules are actual, written rules that tell the Island who can die and who cannot. For example, it is written that Michael cannot die (as shown by his multiple suicide attempts) while other characters can. Ben was certain that his daughter could not be killed and was shocked that Charles Widmore had changed the rules. These rules are either entered into the computer system on the Island or told to Jacob.
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**Unlikely. Time travel is hugely apparent now and when someone already has a destiny it is determined in stone. When someone travelled from the Island to the future and a so-called person was alive, they will be alive till then. That is... if the rules aren't changed and that points back to the Valenzetti Equation equation as the Island is a micro version of that of the whole world.
*Ben will track down Penny who is somehow back together with Desmond. Ben will try to kill Penny but Desmond will kill him first. This is the "great thing" that he will do because Ben has been trying to cheat fate, which is emboided by Mrs. Hawking who told Desmond about the "great thing."
**The great thing Desmond was born to do was to push the button. In fact, as Mrs Hawking said during Flashes Before Your Eyes it is the "only truly great thing he will ever do".
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*Ben and Widmore are playing to a formal set of rules, either dictated by themselves or an intermediary. The fact Sawyer, Locke, and Hurley were playing Risk during this episode is very important here, especially when you take into consideration the dialogue during that scene. This is important not only for the obvious correlation between this board game involving world domination and the apparent battle between Ben and Widmore, but Hurley says "can't believe you're just giving him Australia. Australia's the key to the whole game." My eyes went wide at that line.
* In addition to whatever meaning "changing the rules" has for the story, it also is a production reference used as a joke - the producers had claimed in an interview that all flashforwards will be shown in chronological order. They *changed the rules* by breaking the promised order (Iraq is obviously before Berlin and the Seychelles) and they are admitting it!
FileDanielleshot.jpg's mercenaries!
* Widmore "changed the rules" when he killed Alex. However the "rule" is not that you can't kill family members, children, whatever. The rule is you can't knowingly kill another's "constant". When Charles killed Ben's constant he "changed the rules".
* After {{ep}}, we have some sense of "the rules" for a leader of the Others--foremost, always act in the Island's best interests (meaning, among other things, never leave the Island unless banished, in which case, never return and abstain from fostering contradictory attachments i.e., no fathering of children off-Island). While Ben accused Widmore of breaking the rules by killing Alex, Ben ultimately accepted that it was actually his attachment to Alex that broke the rules.
File1459-ben_linus.jpg*Again we go to the archives of professional wrestling for the quotation. Ben will never move on. Because as Michael 'freebird' said "Heaven don't want me, and Hell is afraid I'll take over. Ben wrote the rules and rewrites the rules at his whim. When Jacob says "and what about you". Ben knows exactly what Jacob means. The remark was meant for MiB. Jacob is telling MiB that killing Jacob was committing suicide. Ben was on the road to picking off Widmore, Jacob, MiB, one by one. He was stopped by Faraday or somebody else. he will teach Walt well because Ben wants another adversary. Beside Michael was his kind of guy.
* Ben WILL move on. Just as Michael is not able to move on yet because he has not fully atoned for his sins, Ben can't for similiar reasons. This is the idea of purgatory that was alluded to when the whispers were explained. certain people can't pass on because they aren't "ready." All of the people in the church at the end had lived fruitful lives, and even those like Sayid who had killed were deemed to be "ready." The misconception is that if the smoke monster "judges" someone to be acceptable, this doesn't mean this person is ready to pass on to the afterlife.
==Charles Widmore is his constant==
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* In case they are ever consciously (not physically) time traveling, Widmore is Ben's constant. While they obviously don't get along, they know enough about the island to know that they need a "constant," so they choose each other. They are both aware of each other during the DHARMA Initiative period on the Island as well as within their off-Island lives as evidenced in {{crossref}}. They are aware of the time-travel features of the island {{crossref}}.
** Unlikely Charles and Ben were ever constants. Though never confirmed, it's far more likely that Ben's constant was his daughter, Alex.
** There are "rules" that define their relationship. These are the rules of time-travel and course-correction {{crossref}}. Figuratively (not literally), they can't kill each other, as they say in {{crossref}}. This is because if each of them does, then the killer loses his constant.
==He knew that Locke would succeed him==
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*Locke was always meant to go to the Island. When Locke didn't join the Mittelos group and go to the Island when he was 16, the Island was forced to find a substitute. Locke would have been 16 years old, from May 30, 1972 - May 29, 1973. Ben came to the Island sometime in 1973. The Island settled for Ben when it couldn't have Locke... and Ben knows it.
* Ben is upset and shoots Locke when Locke hears Jacob in Jacob's cabin, because Ben had convinced himself that Locke could not be his successor.
File3x20-Ben-shooting-Locke.jpg
** Ben shoots Locke to test this. If he is the John Locke who traveled through time and spoke to Ethan and Richard, he can't die because he hasn't traveled through time yet.
** Alternatively, Ben doesn't know that that it's impossible to change something that has already happened, and hopes to kill Locke to prevent him from becoming the new leader of the Others.
* Presumably, Ethan would have told Ben about his encounter with Locke near the beachcraft. At the time, Locke told Ethan that Ben had appointed him as the new leader. Ben was probably quite curious to see who this person was when he arrived.
** But the conversation we see between Daniel and Desmond outside the Swan, and Desmond's sudden memory of it three years later, would suggest that Ethan wouldn't have known he spoke to Locke until after the events of 'Because You Left', at which point he was already dead anyway. These things don't seem to be remembered retroactively, otherwise Desmond would have remembered who Daniel was as soon as he first met him.
==Never supposed to be the leader of the Others==
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* Ben was never supposed to be the leader of the Others. Jacob and the Island are able to cure cancer and heal many medical problems. However Ben was allowed to develop a tumor that would have killed him if Jack would not have arrived on the island and saved his life. He developed the tumor because he was being punished for taking a position without it being ordained for him.
** Christian, who said he was speaking on Jacob's behalf, told Locke (in the FDW) that listening to Ben never got him anywhere. If Ben was truly the leader, then his requests would be considered trustworthy and the right decision.
** Widmore was supposed to be the leader at the time of Ben's reign. Widmore claims that Ben 'stole' the Island from him and 'tricked' him into leaving.
** In the time of the DHARMA Initiative, women did not have a problem giving birth on the Island. This problem arose after Ben took over leadership of the Others. The fertility problems are a side effect of his not being the true leader.
** Ben appears to be able to control the smoke monster; however, when Locke asked Ben what the monster was, he told him he didn't know. Ben 'awoke' the monster but he only appeared to control. He actually told it to do what it would have done anyway.
** Ben was able to gain the loyalty of Bonnie and Greta in the Looking Glass station to lie to the others about the station being flooded. He also gained the loyalty of Mikhail, who killed Bonnie and Greta at his orders. Before Bonnie died she told Charlie how to turn off the jamming devices. She defied Ben only after she realized he had betrayed her. When Ben asked Richard and the Others to stand up against Locke when he was beating Mikhail so that they could visit Jacob, nobody obeyed him. Similar to a king whose subjects only obey when they feel the demand is reasonable.
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* When looking at a character, especially one as dynamic and deep as Ben, you have to give the writers and the character himself a break. Sure he always has a plan, but there are too many people devoted to whatever the cause is that Ben's motive cannot be to become ruler supreme. He never shows signs of wanting to become the supreme ruler, in fact often showing signs that he is lonely, and that he never wanted this position in the first place. Working for the Island, he knows his work is never done, and having been such a clear devotee of what the Island is and what it stands for, it would be not just a strange move for his character to only be in it for the power, but a dumb move on the writers part too, bringing an incredibly multi-dimensional character deeply involved in the story down to the level of a one dimensional "fill in" if you will.
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* Ben is the pawn of Smokey/Jacob's nemesis. He was manipulated into becoming the leader of the Others, but was not Jacob's choice (visions of his mother indicating he was to join the others). He needed to be ready to kill Jacob when the time came. To have him initiated into the others required him to be fatally wounded. Which only happened due to the timey-wimey loop.
** Ben was meant to be the leader of the Others, Locke wasn't. There's no evidence to suggest that Ben's visions of his mother had anything to do with Jacob's nemesis. Nemesis used the time-skips to manipulate Richard into thinking Locke was the future leader, then after he assumed Locke's form he manipulated Ben into killing Jacob. Since Locke wasn't supposed to be the leader, Ben was still Jacob's chosen leader when he entered the statue at the end of {{ep}}. This is backed up by the fact that Jacob was entirely respectful of Ben throughout their confrontation in the statue, even asking him if he liked the tapestry. "What about you?" was not a sign that Jacob had never chosen Ben, but a reminder that Ben had a choice to make and that the conflict he was involved in was bigger than him. As Eloise says, "it's bigger than all of us".
==His off-Island pursuits==
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* Ben has been preparing for a life off the Island. That is the reason for multiple passports and currencies hidden in his house. Ben always has a plan and would plan for living a life off the Island should that day come.
* Ben was able to retrieve countless amounts of information on anyone he chose while living on the Island. After he moves the Island he is still able to find out a lot of information very quickly about Sayid, Nadia and Nadia's murderer.
* You are trusting Ben too much. Perhaps like he was manipulating Kate with blood tests, he was also manipulating Sayid giving fake evidence. Ben has just as big of a motive as Widmore to make sure no one looks for the Island.
* Jacob only wanted Locke to turn the FDW. Ben manipulated Locke because he wanted off the Island in order to find Widmore; and Penny, to avenge his daughter Alex's death. Ben knew that it was supposed to be Locke who turned the FDW but told Locke that he alone was the one capable of moving the Island.
==Ben and Annie, Alex and pregnancies==
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*Ben falls in love with Annie and they try to have a child. Annie is one of the first, if not ''the'' first woman to die on the Island because of the pregnancy problems. Her death leaves a deep impact on Ben.
"Evidence" In "The Man Behind the Curtain" Ben is seen holding the doll Annie gave him on his birthday many years ago. The writers also have stated that Annie will be very important in later storylines about Ben, even more important than the Island's volcano.
**Ben's mother died when he was born and he had to pay for it his whole life through his father's treatment of him, which is why Annie's death during pregnancy has such an impact.
**Annie's death is the final straw that causes Ben to really join the Hostiles/Others, and start the Purge.
File830px-PasMaBaby.jpg's baby is stolen by Ben
**Ben kidnaps the infant Alex, both amazed that a woman (Rousseau) has given birth on the Island without dying and glad that he finally has a child of his own.
**Investigating the pregnancy issues is one of the major goals of the Others when Ben is their leader. That is why Juliet is brought there and she kept from going home until the mystery of the pregnancy issues is resolved, because Ben is determined to find out what is causing them.
**Ben does not want Karl to get Alex pregnant because he does not want to lose his other most important woman in his life and he even goes so far as to lock Karl in and tries to brainwash him.
***It is implied Annie left when the Island was evacuated just before The Incident (event). Annie never had Ben's child. Annie went on with her life and Ben was heartbroken.
* Ben hates Jacob due to that Jacob is the reason that Ben's beloved one get killed during pregnancy.
==Jacob did choose Ben==
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*Richard was telling the truth in "Dead Is Dead." Jacob wanted Ben healed and he wanted him to lead the Others. Ben never lost favor with Jacob. It was MIB that gave him the tumor, in order to manipulate him against Jacob. Re-watch Ben's exchange with Jack in "The Cost Of Living." Ben "Two Days I after I found out I had a tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky. If that's not proof of God, I don't know what is." Jacob brought Jack to the Island, so it's clear to me that Jacob wanted him to save Ben.
*Jacob treats Ben respectfully during almost the entire scene in the statue. He patiently listens to Ben's monologue and he seems to have tears in his eyes. He knows that he caused Ben a lot of pain when he refused to meet with him, just like he knows his words will hurt Ben, but he knows it has to be done. Jacob wanted Ben to kill him, and he touches him when he dies.
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**I agree. Ben was chosen to kill Jacob by Jacob. Jacob is not trying to convince Ben to spare him but to kill him. When Jacob says "what about you?" It is almost as if he is answering the question "someone needs to kill Jacob, who is it going to be?" Jacob answers it "what about you?"... and Ben complies. It is also important that Ben has never had direct contact with Jacob so as not to arouse suspicions from MIB. It is also equalyy important that Ben has gone through hardships and tests of faith so as to provide a resonable background of resentment for Jacob. I have no idea what Jacob's ultimate purpose is, but I am pretty sure Jacob has somehow gotten around MIB's plan.
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*I believe that Jacob knew that only someone in his position (the protector) could kill MIB, but because of the rule Mother made, Jacob was not allowed to. MIB did not need to be killed until he found the loop hole that allowed him to embody Locke and there for in that moment in the Temple, knew that he needed to sacrifice himself to save the Island/possibly the world, and he needed someone to do it. He knew that Ben was the only one who had enough anger and resentment to go through with it and you can clearly see remorse on Jacob's face while Ben is asking him about why he had ignored Ben all those years, as well as for the nonchalant, knife-in-the-back comment "What ABOUT you?" that he knew would hurt Ben so much that it would drive him over the edge and kill Jacob. I also believe that Jacob possibly knew that Ben murdering him would bring about a change of heart in Ben - one that would ultimately lead to him becoming somewhat of a hero at the end of the show and prepare him for becoming the man he needed to be to become Hugo's "number 2".
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