Zap2It reader "Shaggysteve" left quite the interesting comment yesterday in response to my entry, which posited that the majority of Ben's actions can be explained if they are all done for the love of his life, Annie. Steve took this one step further than I had considered and dropped the following knowledge on Al Gore's Internet:

"I know Ben has a way of manipulating things, but they may or may not be for his own good. Perhaps he is doing someone else's bidding so that he can save Annie."

That "someone else", he believes, is Jacob. Now, this is a subtle, but powerful, twist on what I had conceived: namely, that Ben went against the Island's will in his efforts to produce children on the Island, and since Annie is the nominal reason for such research in the first place, Ben stands between the Island and Annie. But in Steve's configuration, the Island stands between Ben and Annie. And that to me is a very
powerful idea.

Without explaining the full import of this suggestion, let me offer up a few tidbits of information I feel are relevant to the broader concept of Ben as the Anakin Skywalker to Jacob's Emperor Palpatine, with Annie in the role of Padme. (So help me God if Ben screams "Nooooooooo!" the way elder Skywalker did at the end of Revenge of the Sith.)

• Remember the CT scan shown to Juliet at Mittelos Laboratories...could this be a scan of Annie?
• Remember when Juliet encountered Smokey, and it flashed, as if it had never encountered Juliet before? Had Ben been hiding her from the smoke monster, and by extension hiding her from Jacob?
• Remember when Pickett said Jack was not on Jacob's list? Is this again a way Ben is subtly altering the rules of the game with Jacob?
• Remember in "Maternity Leave" how scared Tom is of Jacob finding out about Ethan's abduction of Claire? Could all of these hidden maternity issues be part of Ben's endgame to defy Jacob under his very nose? Is this why Jacob ultimately chooses Locke as Ben's heir to help him?

I am sure there are plenty more you can think of as well. These were just a few off the top of my head. And before writing it all down, I want to hear what you have to say. Offer proof, offer things that
contradict this theory, offer anything in your noggin. Lost is a show that demands communal, cooperative interactivity. I'm only a starting point at best. I need you all to help me further this inquiry as we wait for Season 4 to start. With your input, Ill be able to formulate a much larger analysis later this week.

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.

Comments

Thank you for considering my point of view. Much appreciated.

Due mainly to the fact that we can not see him, I still think that Jacob doesn't exist in this time. He may be from the future trying to change the past. I'll even take this a step further and wonder if Jacob is someone else. What if Jacob is someone from the island who is trying to change events to create a different future.

This opens a whole other door as to who this may be. Desmond perhaps, Locke, or maybe even Ben? There are a number of possibilities and reasons behind them.

Shaggysteve | Nov 30, 2007 3:28:56 PM | #

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