Lost Theory - Little Ben

Wow, what an ending eh? Let’s be honest, most of us saw it coming. It was watching it go down that was actually the fun part. But let’s take a deeper look. Things may not exactly be what they seem…

So I’ll go out on the record and say that Little Ben isn’t dead. This is a pretty divided subject in the Lost world right now. Ask a group of 10 Lost fans, and five will say he’s dead, while the other five will say there’s no way. Count me as a member of the second group of five. I’m going to do my best to explain to you why I think Little Ben isn’t dead.

First off, let’s start with the fact that we never actually saw him die. And on Lost, nothing is official until it’s announced on the show. People have survived gunshots in the past. Most notably…John Locke. Actually, he’s survived at least two that I can remember right off the top of my head. One of which was a point blank shot to the midsection. People survive things on this island that they probably wouldn’t survive elsewhere.

At this point in time, the island still needs Ben. Remember the issue from season four? The island wouldn’t let Michael kill himself, it wouldn’t let Jack kill himself. The island won’t let you die if it still has use for you. Perhaps John Locke is really as important as everyone thinks. And in turn, if the island needs Locke, it also needs Ben to help turn Locke into the person he’ll become. A lot of Locke’s decisions and actions for the past two seasons have been as a result of direct manipulation from Ben. Therefore, in order for Locke to become who the island needs him to be, the island needs Ben to stay alive.

Another thing we can’t forget, is the fact that “Whatever happened, happened.” Ben was here before. He’s always gotten shot. Just because we’ve never seen it, doesn’t mean it’s never happened. Ben has always known about Sayid, Jack, Sawyer, Juliet, Kate, Hurley, Jin, Miles, Faraday, etc. How do you think he has so much info on these people? Remember the list from season two? Funny how all the names on that list are people Ben knew as a kid. Sawyer was always the head of Dharma security, Hurley always worked in the cafeteria, and Ben was always supposed to get shot by Sayid.

I think what we saw last night was just one step in turning Ben from innocent to “evil.” I mentioned this yesterday, and I still have the same idea. Ben is miserable in his Dharma life. He hates everyone and just about everything. But then…along comes Sayid. He’s able to trust Sayid, and wants to help him. This is despite the fact that doing so gets him trouble with dad. Ben goes way out on a limb for this guy, because he thinks it’s the sign he’s been waiting for. And once he busts that guy out…he gets shot down. I don’t know about you, but that’d cause me to become a little pissed off.

Now that we’ve seen this first step being taken, how’s it all going to add up to what we’ve seen of Ben so far? Here’s how I think it’ll all go down:

Little Ben will be left on the road. Lucky for him though, he’s actually on the road. Jin will wake up and see the boy face down in the dirt. He’ll pick him up, throw him in a van, and rush back to Dharmaton. At the Dharma hospital, they’ll bring in all the doctors and such to fix him up. They’ll need some extra help, and so Sawyer will ask Jack. Jack will refuse, because…well…why the heck would he want to save the life of the person who’s going to be such a pain in the ass later? After Jack refuses, Sawyer will turn to the next doctor he knows: Juliet.

Juliet’s a fertility doctor, so she won’t be too much help. But after some crazy island stuff, Ben will come out just fine. And who is he going to thank? Juliet. This will cause Ben to develop a little crush on Juliet (but seriously, who doesn’t have a crush on her, I mean come on.) Maybe Juliet will accept this in an attempt to try to steer Ben in a different direction. Once this happens, she’ll become somewhat of a mother figure for Ben. Maybe after she leaves the island for whatever reason, Ben has a painting made in her memory. A painting of her in a wicker chair…

Once Ben grows up, he’ll set out on a mission to bring her back. People will see the painting, and some will even remark: “You look just like her.” Why does she look just like her? Because she is her. The her that Harper Stanhope refers to is actually Juliet herself.

So that’s just where I think this whole thing is going.

Note: Please refrain from posting any spoilers in the comments. Thank you.