Per Tom telling Michael that the Island wants him to live... I have been expecting something of this sort of thing since last season when we were shown how Juliet was recruited by Richard. Recall how, when he asked if she could come work for them "in Portland", she responded by saying that her ex-husband Edmund Burke would never allow it. She said that the only way she could go work for them would be if Edmund got hit by a bus. Then, the next morning: WHAM! Edmund gets hit by a bus...

I think that Edmund was hit by a bus because the Island wanted it to happen so that Juliet would come.

So, perhaps this was the Island wanting Juliet to come to it - just like it wants Michael to come to it. And perhaps just like it wanted all those people on Flight 815 to come to it. Each person who was among the survivors on Flight 815 was on board that particular flight for the very singular reason that the Island put them on it!

Thoughts?

also, though, in the other woman, ben mentions all the trouble he went thru to bring her here and keep her here (creepy!), so whatever the island wants, i'm sure benefits ben as well, or visa versa.

also, though, in the other woman, ben mentions all the trouble he went thru to bring her here and keep her here (creepy!), so whatever the island wants, i'm sure benefits ben as well, or visa versa.

Perhaps this was why the Others gave such allegiance to Ben's leadership...

Ben told them that he was able to speak to Jacob, and they believe him. We have not yet been shown that this is incorrect.

So, just who is Jacob, anyway, and how is he tied in with the Island's "will".... ?

Could it be that the reason that the Island wanted Michael to get on that boat was to prevent some of the people on it from coming to the Island? If so, and if the Island can have a bus hit Edmund Burke in Miami, and make it so that everyone of the survivors of Flight 815 were on board, then why couldn't it just get rid of those bad dudes on the Freighter? Why did it need Michael to come? Perhaps Michael's coming is more than merely to act as a means to prevent those killers on board the boat from landing... Perhaps the Island has other reasons for wanting Michael to come to it...

Per Tom telling Michael that the Island wants him to live... I have been expecting something of this sort of thing since last season when we were shown how Juliet was recruited by Richard. Recall how, when he asked if she could come work for them "in Portland", she responded by saying that her ex-husband Edmund Burke would never allow it. She said that the only way she could go work for them would be if Edmund got hit by a bus. Then, the next morning: WHAM! Edmund gets hit by a bus...

I think that Edmund was hit by a bus because the Island wanted it to happen so that Juliet would come. So, perhaps this was the Island wanting Juliet to come to it - just like it wants Michael to come to it. And perhaps just like it wanted all those people on Flight 815 to come to it. Each person who was among the survivors on Flight 815 was on board that particular flight for the very singular reason that the Island put them on it! Thoughts?

That is always what I thought although I didn't think about Edmund getting hit by the bus being caused by the island. It fits though. Locke said in season 1 that they were all chosen by the island. Then Ben talks about not being able to leave if the island does not want you to leave. The island is apparently like Ben-it gets what it wants.

The island is apparently like Ben-it gets what it wants.

Or rather, Ben knows what the Island wants (or at least up to now he has), and so he goes along with it, since he knows that resisting the Island would be futile.

If we are to believe that the island won't let people die who have work to do for it, that it almost stands to reason that it also chose them for their respective jobs.

Remember the season 1 finale? Most of these people had something come up that almost prevented them from making the flight. But miraculously, they all defeated those obstacles. I have always believed that these people were chosen to be on this island. I just never imagined that it was the island itself doing the choosing.

It's possible though that it is not really the island. Ben just wants people to think that. Yeah, the island has some magical mysterious properties. And I believe that Ben has figured out how to use those to his advantage. He wants to keep his island magic a secret, so he leads them to believe that the island is in control and he is just the messenger. Just like how "Jacob says" and they all comply.

He is manipulating them big-time, and giving all the credit to the island and Jacob. Jacob could be a time experiment gone bad, that left him trapped in this state of limbo. Ben probably promises Jacob help, (like everyone else) to get him to play the game. Maybe anyone could hear him if they went there, but Jacob has been threatened to keep quiet unless otherwise instructed.

Maybe playing the "All Powerful Jacob" game is Jacob's job to do for "the island."

As long as Ben can keep the Losties thinking that the island is in control, and the Others thinking that Jacob is some powerful deity, and he is just the messenger, he comes off looking innocent and uninvolved.

Like Locke would say...'we were all brought here for a reason...'
Later on he says that 'the island' brought them. And, guess what? He IS right.
The reason some of them survived the crash is because the island protected them like he did with Michael. Those people have work to do on the island. And until their job is done, they are not supposed to leave the island. And if they do, the island is gonna do all it can to prevent these people from trying to commit suicide, something that seems to be pretty common on people that have left the island before the right time.

Also, Ben knew that from day one. He knew that some people on that doomed flight might survive. How? Because of Jacob's list. That might very well be a list compiled by Jacob when he mind time traveled to the future.

But what are these people gonna achieve? Whatever it is, I bet it is something pretty important.

It's possible though that it is not really the island. Ben just wants people to think that. Yeah, the island has some magical mysterious properties. And I believe that Ben has figured out how to use those to his advantage. He wants to keep his island magic a secret, so he leads them to believe that the island is in control and he is just the messenger. Just like how "Jacob says" and they all comply.

He is manipulating them big-time, and giving all the credit to the island and Jacob. Jacob could be a time experiment gone bad, that left him trapped in this state of limbo. Ben probably promises Jacob help, (like everyone else) to get him to play the game. Maybe anyone could hear him if they went there, but Jacob has been threatened to keep quiet unless otherwise instructed.

Maybe playing the "All Powerful Jacob" game is Jacob's job to do for "the island."

As long as Ben can keep the Losties thinking that the island is in control, and the Others thinking that Jacob is some powerful deity, and he is just the messenger, he comes off looking innocent and uninvolved.

I think that it seems to me that it's the other way around. I believe Ben is so successful partly due to the fact that he makes sure that what he is trying to accomplish does not go against whatever the Island or Jacob wants to happen. This is why Locke is such a threat to Ben - and why Ben shot him and left him for dead in the mass grave. Locke seems to be able to also hear Jacob - and this poses a huge threat to Ben's power. Not only that, but it appeared to Ben that many of the Others were looking toward Locke for leadership, and not himself (remember when Ben ordered people to stop Locke from beating Mikhail, but nobody lifted a finger?).

So I think that the bottom line is that something or someone - be it the Island or Jacob or whatever - is manipulating the cosmos, and Ben tries to find out what that is going to be and makes his plans accordingly. Just my opinion, though....