Updated (4/26/08):  Who is Charles Widmore?

Review: Ep 4.9 The Shape of Things to Come

One day, a young boy named Benjamin Linus came to the island with his father.  Ben’s mother had died while giving birth to him, and his abusive father never let him forget it.  Ben hated the path his life had taken.  His only bright spot was a young girl named Annie who befriended him as soon as he came to the island.  Ben loved Annie, and the two of them promised that, no matter what, they would never be apart.

One night, on Ben’s birthday, he saw an apparition.  His dead mother appeared to him and led him away from the Dharma camp.  Eventually, Ben found a way outside the sonic shield that protected Dharma from “the hostiles.”  While in the jungle, Ben met Richard Alpert, a member of “the hostiles.”  Ben told Richard that he hated Dharma, and he wanted to come and join the original inhabitants of the island.  Richard told Ben that in time he might be able to join them, but he would have to wait and be very very patient.

Ben returned to Dharma and waited.  He told no one about his encounter with Richard – no one except for Annie.  Ben continued to sneak away from Dharma to meet “the hostiles,” sometimes taking Annie with him.  Richard introduced Ben to Jacob, the leader of “the hostiles.’  Jacob was a great man – a powerful man – a kind and forgiving man.  He became a second father to Ben.  Ben loved and respected him and was especially in awe of his great power. 
 

Jacob gained his power from the island itself but shared its power and secrets with only a select few who had proven themselves worthy.  He taught them to “unstick” themselves in time and space, but warned them of the hazards that would come if they tried to leave the island.  Ben wanted to learn these secrets and prove himself worthy, but again, he was told he would have to be patient and wait.

Jacob was in tune with the Universe, with God, and was a staunch protector of fate.  He was very concerned about Dharma’s sinister attempts to exploit the power of the island, but he was confident that their efforts would eventually fail.  He had seen the future – he knew what Dharma was trying to do – and he knew that their own chemical experimentations would shortly be used against them.
 

On the prescribed day at the prescribed time, Ben and Annie and a few other Dharma defectors assisted “the hostiles” in their purge against Dharma.  The purge was successful and the connection between Dharma and the outside world was severed.  The island had been saved from the outside world, once again.

After the Dharma purge, life on the island returned to normal – a peaceful, idyllic bliss.  Ben and Annie were married, but then tragedy struck.  Annie had a terrible accident and was killed.  Ben was grief stricken.  He appealed to Jacob to use his great power to go back in time and save Annie from her fate, but Jacob refused. 

“It wouldn’t matter,” he explained to Ben.  “If you saved her from that death another would soon follow.  The Universe has a way of course-correcting.  That is simply Annie’s path.  You cannot change it – not even with all the power this island could give you.”
 

But Ben refused to accept it.  He delved more deeply into his studies of the island.  He began to recruit others – people who wanted more than what Jacob and the island were offering – people like Richard and Tom who wanted to experience life off the island – a benefit allowed only to the few elect who had been found worthy to be taught all the secrets of the island.  These elect people had proven themselves worthy and been taught by Jacob to “unstick’ themselves in time and space and to transcend their very natures.  They became part of the island, and when “unsticking” themselves in time and space would manifest themselves as black smoke-like creatures with amazing power and ability.  Ben wanted this power and ability for himself, so he went along doing all he needed to be deemed worthy, to become one of the elect – and eventually he was rewarded. 

Once he learned the secrets of the island, however, Ben tricked Jacob and imprisoned him.  When Jacob did not return to his people, Ben spread the word that Jacob had lost favor with the universe – that he had lost favor with God.  He began to speak of Jacob as a man who was neither kind nor forgiving.  Jacob had been lost, but not permanently.  He could still be redeemed if his followers gathered together and worked for a common goal.  And Ben – as the new custodian of the island’s powers – could still communicate with Jacob, so he could show his people the way to reclaim him from his tragic fate. 

This was the lie Ben used to assume his power.  He also taught his chosen supporters secrets that Jacob had safeguarded and reserved for the elect.  This included making himself the "constant" for people like Richard and Tom who wanted to travel off the island.  Ben made these things possible for them, and thus secured their loyalty.

But most importantly, once Ben assumed control, he used his new power to go back and save Annie from her original cause of death.  But sure enough, when one death was avoided, the universe course-corrected and another death followed.  Still, each time Ben found a way to avoid it and postpone it.  He used the lie about Jacob to recruit others to assist him in his efforts, and thus developed a powerful network of followers, both on and off the island, who could help him with any task he assigned. 

Not all Jacob's people accepted Ben.  Some of the elect abandoned the island, and set about working against Ben in their attempt to free Jacob.
 

But Ben had what he wanted, and all was going as he had hoped, until he used his powers to defy nature.  He and Annie wanted a child, but she and Ben could not conceive.  Ben used the powers of the island to increase his potency.  Annie got pregnant with Ben’s son, but in another course-correcting death, she died early in the third trimester – a death that too ironically echoed Ben’s own birth into the world.

In classic Ben form, however, when one door closed, another opened (even if he had to force it open himself).  He lost his child, but the island brought him a daughter – Alex – who he took from Rousseau (or – as Ben would put it – who was given to him by the island, depending on how you want to look at it).  But this was only a temporary fix for him as he worked to solve the pregnancy problem that he could use to save Annie once again.

Ben found a fertility expert miracle-worker in Juliet Burke who, in another ironic twist of fate, bears a strong resemblance to his beloved Annie.  Ben brought Juliet to the island and is working to find a cure to the pregnancy problem so he can take it back and save Annie.
 

But this is only a small piece of the overall story.  Despite their defeat with "the purge," the men behind Dharma, lead by Charles Widmore, have never stopped looking for the island. 

On the island,  some of Ben’s supporters are growing uncomfortable with his leadership and direction.  

And the Universe itself is seeking to free its beloved Jacob from Ben’s imprisonment. 

Enter Oceanic flight 815.
 

The universe knows the future.  It has seen the overthrow of Benjamin Linus and the restoration of Jacob.  It knows who will play important roles in Benjamin’s final drama.  And so it arranged for several key players to board a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles.  It arranged for a man named Desmond to be guided to the island years earlier so he would “accidentally” bring down the plane (and later turn a failsafe key that would make the island visible, if only momentarily, to other parties who would play a role in Benjamin’s demise).  John Locke, Jack Shepherd, Charles Widmore – many people have a role to play – and the Universe will not lose.

But Ben is smart.  When he encounters new people, he gathers names and uses his tremendous powers to research everything about them.  He travels into the future to see what role they will play, and he does what he can to stop them or make them ineffective. 

But the Universe knows this as well, and often creates reasons why Ben cannot simply eliminate a threat – reasons that make that threat beneficial to Ben, at least for a time.  For example, he can’t kill Jack when he first meets him, because he needs Jack to remove a tumor.  Afterwards he sees another reason he cannot kill him, because of a role he will play in helping Ben stop Widmore, so he makes a deal with him to leave the island and perpetuate the lie of the Oceanic six.

It is like a move in chess, where, sure, you could take out the other player’s bishop, but then they would simply take your Queen, and then you would be in check mate, game over.  The game being played between Benjamin Linus and the Universe is a series of moves and counter-moves and positioning with more than simple anticipation of the opponent’s next move.  They know what is coming, because they have been there -- they have seen it -- then they move backwards in time to prepare for it and overcome it.
 

This is one example of hundreds and hundreds of moves Ben is making to protect the island – the source of his power – while simultaneously trying to solve the problems of Annie’s death, something he can only do while he maintains control of the island. 

However, Ben does not know that Jacob allowed himself to be tricked.  Jacob is fighting a bigger war against the people behind Dharma, and while "the purge" was a temporary victory, he saw that Ben would play an important role in the ultimate defeat of these people.  To do so, however, Jacob knew he would have to allow himself to be tricked and imprisoned, but he knows it will all work out in the end (like Anakin Skywalker fulfilling the prophesy of restoring order to the galaxy, but only after he turned to the dark side, became Darth Vader, gained the Emperor's trust, and then used it against him to restore balance in the end).  Jacob’s sacrifice will make all the difference.  And Ben won’t ever see it coming.

Eventually, Charles Widmore and his Dharma connections will regain control of the island, at least temporarily.  Benjamin Linus will use key members of Oceanic 815 (Jack, Kate, Sayid, etc.) to play a significant roll in his defeat, but the Universe is also using these same Oceanic players to overthrow Ben.

It is also using the spirits of dead characters like Christian Shephard, Boone, Charlie, and Libby to help move the right pieces to the ultimate goal.

In the end, just as Widmore is defeated, the Universe will make a move using John Locke in a way that Ben will not see coming.  The Universe will course-correct, Jacob will be freed, and our beloved Losties will fulfill their magnificent destinies.  Series over.  Erect that statue of Locke in Tallahassee.  Now bring on the zombies.