Ohhh yes lost fan big time. but gotta say i have some problems with your theory. first of all, the island is just skipping through time, thats already been explained by the all-knowing farraday. so that kinda opposes your theory about the island no longer existing and such, and most of your theory following from that. plus, sawyer saw kate helping claire give birth to aaron, so thats proof that the oceanic 6 are still present in the past (if that makes any logical sense) and havent been taken out of the island's timeline like you suggest.
i do like your idea that widmore was sent off the island by turning the wheel. didnt someone say at one point that widmore cant go to the island? but based on what happened when ben turned the wheel, that seems like it would have other implications for what would follow that dont seem to fit in with the story we know. but then again, i get the feeling ben did something strange when he turned the wheel, considering it disconnected the island from the normal progress of time, and because hes just a manipulative bastard like that.
in general, i think ben is essentially what weve come to know him as in the past: a selfish manipulator with an incredible ability to make people do his bidding without them quite realizing it. this makes me think that the whole deal of trying to get the 6 back to the island might not actually be in the best interest of the 6 somehow. the one thing that makes me less sure about this is that richard feels the same way, and richard is pretty much the chief good guy in my book.
ben and widmore are for sure working against each other. the confrontation in widmore's bedroom at the end of last season should be proof of that. but i think theyre two powerful men (each in their own way) both looking out for themselves at the cost of whoevers in their way. (widmore sent the freighter to cover his ass and kill the losties, and ben... what hasnt he done? i think the next episode will show just how much damage hes going to cause to the losties with this grand scheme of his.)
good to find another lost fan who actually bothers trying to figure all this shit out. for the record, i was super skeptical of the time traveling storyline (ok i hated it) when it first began with desmond, but by the second episode (where desmond barely escapes having his brain skewered through time with pennys help) i was in love with it. it is a bit scifi, but the crazy shit theyre doing with it just does it for me.
feel free to pm me if you want to debate this stuff some more.
vago187
I don't think Ben is pulling any srings, if anything he's another puppet.
As far as the Oceanic 6, they shouldn't have left the island (why?) The only thing I know is that their going to come back, but what I'm sure of is that the only one that should have left the island in the first place was John Locke.
have a few Qs
What aren't they freaking out about Walt? the spent the first two seasons talking about how "special" he was, shouldn't he come back too?
Does the Smoke monster have a specif trail? why in the pilot it looked like it was way clooser to the beach.
WHY DID CHARLIE HAD TO DIEEEEE!!!! Honestly w/o Charlie the show has gotten tooooo serious and its way too easy to pick up Mathew Fox's bad acting.
egh way to go a kill the comic relief! Hurley isn't the comic relief! he's just Hurley.