Ben and Widmore’s Secret
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By dnalsi
- Ben and Widmore’s Secret
- Created: May 30, 2008
- Last updated: Sep 24, 2008
- After episode: 4.13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3
- Status: Current
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Now imagine going forward in time 10 or even 100 years. So essentially you did not exist between now and then because you jumped. So you check a few stock quotes, read some history, check some baseball scores, etc. Then you use the time machine to go back to 1 millisecond after you initially jumped forward and live those 10 or 100 years.
Think you could build an empire like Widmore’s?
— dnalsi
When thinking about using the time travel machine on the island, I always thought about going backward in time – until the season 4 finale when the video talked about the bunny being sent forward 1 millisecond, and appearing to disappear for a split second until normal time progresses and you see the bunny because you catch up.
Now imagine going forward in time 10 or even 100 years. So essentially you did not exist between now and then because you jumped. So you check a few stock quotes, read some history, check some baseball scores, etc. Then you use the time machine to go back to 1 millisecond after you initially jumped forward and live those 10 or 100 years.
Think you could build an empire like Widmore’s?
I believe this is what Widmore originally, and Ben later, have done. They are both living these skipped years and have some insight as to what happens and can take advantage of situations – Ben mainly on the island, and Widmore in the real world (by leaving on the 305 degree heading).
The only issue is that you have to repeat the process (forward and back) before you get to the time in the future where you originally jumped to – just to make sure you don’t run into yourself in the future … or else smokie or fate will have to take one of you out.
The kicker is that the time machine is on the island and you have to get back to the island in order to repeat the time travel process.
Widmore could have been doing this repeatedly for hundreds of years until … for some reason he can’t get back to the island - because it moved. This is why Widmore is desperately trying to find the island – he needs to jump again before he meets himself in the future. Ben may also only be jumping forward a few years at a time, where Widmore may have taken a larger leap.
A few additional details – the numbers being punched into the computer (see the valenzetti equation) are an attempt by the creators of the machine to figure out the end of the world – just to make sure they don’t jump to far. Further, to make yourself invincible while reliving the skipped years, you must do something significant in the future (during the initial jump) to make sure that fate preserves you so you can carry out that task.
Thoughts?
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben | Benjamin Linus | 3.20, 4.9, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 1716 |
| Charles | Charles Widmore | 406 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.13 | There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3 | 5-30-2008 | Jack, John, Ben | 348 |
| 4.12 | There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1 | 5-15-2008 | Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Sun | 143 |
| 4.4 | Eggtown | 2-21-2008 | Kate | 37 |
| 1.18 | Numbers | 3-2-2005 | Hurley | 113 |
Key events
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| Michael shoots Ana-Lucia and Libby | 2.20 | 121 |
Key locations
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| The Orchid Station | & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 138 |
| The Swan station | 2.20, 2.23, 2.14, 2.17, 2.1, 2.2, 1.11, 3.3, 3.8 | 461 |
This is a very good observation/theory. It only leads me with one thought provoking question. If one were to travel to the future and come back successfully, BUT for some reason then died while in the now present time, would they still be ‘dead’ considering they have to exist at some point in the future? Sorry if this is confusing, but think about it.. I believe this could explain why some characters are unable to die and why some may already appear dead.
Yep jstyle214 - think that has something to do with it, probably when the island moves forward or backward (taking the time machine with it), anyone who comes to the island via the 305 heading could potentially exist at the same time - being dead in one thread and alive in another?
Wow, I think you’ve solved that.
an idea…remember in the season 4 finale when Sun approaches Widmore in London, he says he has never heard of her before, and keeps on saying after she says “You know who I am…” he still says he is unsure. Three options: A, he is lying, or B, that is his “twin” in the future, or C, the time jumping hasn’t let him cover who Sun is yet… Also, jstyle214 is rite–maybe that’s why Claire and Christian and Cooper were all visible on the island…but, great theory =)
Nice theory, will be hard to explain, unless we get a bunch of flashbacks of Widmore doing this exact thing. The show would completely change into a more standard science fiction themed show, but I guess that’s the trajectory the next two seasons are on as we get to know more about the Island’s powers.
Anyone here seen “Primer”? I think Cuse and Lindelof have…
We know from the Ben-in-Tunisia episode that at least he jumps forward. His certainty about so much happening in real” time (ie, on the island) also suggests knowledge about the future.
I like the idea that Widmore needs to find the island to jump back. But assuming that when the island “moves” it moves in time, it’s interesting that the path to it is a physical one - the heading 3.25 (?). I guess it’s not inconsistent to mingle space/time like this. It would seem to present a problem, though, for someone arriving on the island: they’d need to know what “island time” was, before they could “jump”, wouldn’t they? or risk missing their target?
In other news, I’m not convinced that the hatch computer numbers are DHARMA’s attempt to figure out when the world will end; Cuse and Lindelof have confirmed that the punching in of the numbers was to release EM energy and prevent the end of the world.
wow i really like this theory! and i really think your onto something with the numbers being an attempt to find out when or how the world will end. if the writers even said punching the number was to prevent the end of the world, maybe there is a designated someone special (like locke) who is supposed to jump in the the future and somehow prevent some traumatic event that leads to the end of the world from happening. jacob, richard and the others may have been searching for the “one”, first assuming ben could be him, but then discovering it is really locke. +1