Charles Widmore/Theories

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Theories about Charles Widmore

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Theories may be removed if ...

Stated as questions or possibilities (avoid question marks, "Maybe", "I think", etc). More appropriate for another article. Illogical or previously disproven. Proven by canon source, and moved to main article. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead). This does not include responses that can stand alone as its own theory. Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response. See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

Involvement with Main Characters

Theory 1: Widmore was instrumental in getting the passengers of Flight 815 to the Island

Evidence:

Widmore and Desmond

• His employee Abaddon put the walkabout idea in Locke's head

Abbaddon

Counter-evidence

• Widmore only "helped" Locke get to the Island -- and no one else -- because Locke was the only person Widmore knew would actually live on the Island at one point in his life, since he saw him there in 1954.
• Widmore had no idea 815 was going to crash.
  • If he knew it was going to crash he would know where the Island is, so why not just send a team to extract Linus at that point rather than waiting for a plane to crash there?
    • Just because he knew the plane was going to crash, does not mean he knew where the Island was. He may have needed the crash to help him find the Island.
• If Widmore could somehow see the future (Which would be required to predict the thousands of variables required to get certain people on the plane) why send the freighter? The two actions of A) sending a military and science team on a specific mission to extract one man using brute force and direct transportation and B) minutely altering people's lives in order to conspire events that they would survive a plane crash onto the island could NOT be the actions of the same person.
• The various coincidences involving Widmore prior to the crash are no more or less likely than the many other coincidences involving characters on the show.
• Widmore has no relation with Thomas whatsoever, the painting is not proof, it is reused props. The painting in his office is at least 7-8 years before the painting is in Thomas' apartment. Desmond had the meeting in Widmore's office in 1996 and Claire realizing she was pregnant in early 2004, the time line in which above screen shots were taken.
• Jacob's Nemesis said that Jacob was the reason they were all at the Island.
• Charles Widmore was looking for a way to get back to the Island ever since he left. One of his options would have been to track down John Locke, who had claimed, in 1954, to be a future leader of the Others. If Locke was telling the truth, then Widmore could presume that Locke would end up on the island at some point in the future. If he did believe that Locke was destined to be leader as Locke had said (which Widmore may well have, because it seems that Richard believed it just because he kept bumping into Locke at different times) then maybe Widmore hoped that Locke would accomplish whatever it was Widmore wanted to accomplish anyway. Widmore may have found out that 815 crashes on the Island through the Others' encounters with the survivors that were moving through time, especially if Eloise talked about Faraday's notebook with him. So perhaps by manipulating Locke into going on the Walkabout, he hoped that he would end up on the flight back to LA that he knew would crash.

Theory 2: Widmore was instrumental in getting Desmond to crash on the Island

Evidence:

• Charles intentionally antagonized Desmond so he would be driven down the path of going to the Island.
• Widmore continued to intervene in Desmond's life, long after Penny had moved on, giving him the money that he used to finance his training and ultimately sail to the Island, leading to the crash of Flight 815 on the island.
  • In Live Together, Die Alone, Desmond tells Libby that he did not take Widmore's money. It is arguable, however, that offering Desmond money was more of a motivation to enter the sailing race than actually having the means to do so; it insulted Desmond's sense of honor that Widmore thought he could be paid to abandon Penny.
• When Desmond got sent back in time, it was to the very day he met Charles Widmore. Everything that happens on the island hinged on that day, that meeting.
• Ms. Hawking may have also worked for Widmore, we saw her picture with the Monk who originally recruited Desmond away from marriage and to the monastery - where on the day he was fired, Widmore had ordered wine from the abbey, Penny went to pick it up, and Penny and Desmond became a couple.
• We know from Season 5 that Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore had a relationship on the island and are the parents of Daniel Faraday. We have never seen evidence that Hawking was Widmore's "employee".
  • If Ms. Hawking is working for Widmore, then he too must know the way things are "supposed" to be; it would take a tremendous amount of foresight to know that sending Penny to pick up wine would lead to Desmond turning the fail-safe key, plus the entire thing hinges on Penny and Desmond falling in love, which is not something Widmore would have even wanted to happen.
  • The producers admitted that Ms. Hawking is a temporal policeman that is there to make sure that Desmond makes it to the Island. Brother Campbell is also a temporal policeman in that he makes sure that Desmond meets Penelope at the monastery.
• Penny is presumably using Widmore (her father's) money to search for Desmond who is on the island.
• Widmore was holding a race around the world in hopes of someone finding the island for him.
• We know Widmore sponsored Daniel Farraday and his research. Daniel told Widmore about his encounter with Desmond (in Desmond's mind traveling from The Constant). This prompts Widmore into creating the race itself and hiring someone (Libby) to give Desmond the boat which may or may not have had a gps tracking device in it. Widmore also manipulates Desmond into actually wanting to go on the sailboat race in order to prove himself to Widmore as not a coward. Widmore learns from Daniel that Desmond will spend 3 years in the hatch and cause the crash of 815 and that he will turn the failsafe key which allows Widmore to find the island in the first place.

Counter-evidence

• None of Widmore's activities seem to have foresight or omnipotent knowledge. For the most part he has very little idea where the island is.
• If he knew Desmond would crash on the Island, why not travel to the Island directly?
• Why would he want Desmond to crash there? He still could not find the island even once Desmond crashed.
• The race and the hot air balloon sponsorship are likely sneakier means of trying to find the Island. That is why the race began in LA, to ensure the highest number of boats would still be in the race during the Pacific stretch. Widmore hoped that a boat with a radio would inform the race committee about an Island that was not on their charts.

The Reasons for Widmore's involvement with particular passengers of Flight 815 before the crash

• Somehow, the Others seemed to have an interest in Locke, as well as an ability to find him, way before he ever came in contact with the island. Widmore, someone familiar with the island and DHARMA, may have access to similar knowledge.
  • They are interested in him because of their encounters with him during the time skips.
• Widmore wanted people on Flight 815 because he knew it would crash, and he put particular people on that flight because they had the ability to overthrow Ben - Widmore's enemy, and might help him get closer to reclaiming the island.
• As we see from above, there is reason to suspect that he is watching Claire, Locke, Desmond, and perhaps Hurley via Libby in Santa Rosa.

Birth

• Charles was not born on the Island. The Island has a rule that the leader of the Others, the one who speaks to Jacob, must come from off the Island. This is why Charles, then Ben, and then John Locke are leaders.
  • There is no long lost tribe of natives on the island. No one is indigenous to the island. Some people have simply been there longer than others. Some ancient Egyptians probably crashed there and stayed just like everyone else. Richard isn't native. He has simply been on the Island longer than anyone else. He has a covenant with the island. If he follows the leader he can keep his immortality. Richard isn't that special. The Island gave him immortality but that's all he got. Charles/Ben/Locke etc can speak to Jacob unlike Richard. They're chosen... Richard isn't.
    • As of the Season 5 finale, we know that Richard Alpert can communicate with Jacob. We have seen Ben with Jacob, but the "Jacob" Ben preached to the others was one he made up and never actually communicated with.
    • If you think of it that way, then no one is indigenous to the Island because based on migration patterns and evolution, it would be impossible to have humans there unless they arrived some how through travel (whether time, sea, air, etc.)
    • As of Season 6, we know that other than Jacob and MiB, Ricardo is the only living person on the Island from the date of the Black Rock wreck in 1867.

All the people that for the Others must have come since that date. As they all seem to age normally, they are representative of their time. We are unaware if anyone has been born on the Island besides Ethan Rom, and we know pregnant women cannot presently give birth on the island if the child is conceived there.

Widmore is Prepared

Submarine

Note these facts:

• Widmore has a sub that has arrived at the Hydra Island a short period after Ajira 316 crashed.
  • Subs do not travel as fast as jet planes. While we don't know where the sub comes from, it is likely it has been travelling as quick as possible to the Island.
• The sub is crewed with a select team (eg Zoe being a geophysicist)
• He has Desmond on board
• He has a sonic pylon system to defend against the MiB.

All these items indicate that Widmore has been preparing for some time, but that he also got things together very short time to be already at the Island.

• We last saw Widmore at the airport, talking with Sun before the Ajira flight that day.
• We last saw Desmond in hospital, after being shot and fighting with Ben at the LA marina, the day before the Ajira flight. Widmore was outside that hospital that night.
  • Widmore must have dashed to LA from the UK, as that day he was taunted by Ben on the phone. Ben saying how he was returning to the Island, and going to kill Penny first.

He has been keeping track of Desmond, over the years and more specifically now. The question is why?;

• Widmore knows that Desmond is special in relation to the Island and/or to time and events in the past. In some way, Widmore knows Desmond can be utilized to defeat or stop the MiB.

How Widmore made his fortune

Since we've seen that Widmore's company manufactures medical supplies, the Island has curative properties, and Ben has accused Widmore of wanting to exploit the Island, it stands to reason that Widmore made his fortune exploiting some of the medical secrets of the Island.

Charles Widmore

And his reason for finding the Island

• Charles Widmore wants to find the Island
  • to take advantage of the unique healing properties
    • for exploitation for personal gain
    • to cure himself or someone he cares about who is dying of some kind of inoperable cancer, or paralyzed like Locke.
  • to continue the work DHARMA started or start some new sort of experimentation on the Island's strange properties.
  • simply because he missed the island, as it was his home. He wanted to go back because he was kicked out of his home, as most people would.
• Charles Widmore ordered Charlotte and Daniel to disable to the Tempest system as one of their first steps on arriving on the Island.

And the reason for him finding the Island's "exit" point

• Widmore learned of Charlotte's find of the DHARMA polar bear in Tunisia
• the appearance of a mysterious man (Benjamin Linus) in 2005 pinpointed the exact location
• before John Locke arrived at the same location in 2007, Widmore had set up a surveillance system

and the Kahana

The Kahana

• Charles Widmore is a powerful man - he knows about the boat and he told the crew of the boat not to answer phones from Penelope (he doesn't want her to find Desmond).

• Abaddon works for Widmore and hired the crew.
  • The members of the expedition have been told different stories and have different objectives.
  • Naomi stated they were on a search and rescue mission and that Oceanic 815 had been found on the ocean floor. If the objective of the search mission isn't the plane, the Black Rock is the only thing on the island worth the expense of a search.
  • Widmore convinces some that an objective is finding Desmond on behalf of his daughter Penny; or he instructs Naomi to lie to the people she finds on the island and tells Minkowski not to answer the phone.
  • The scientists have objectives related to the island's properties and may, with Widmore, be connected to the Dharma Initiative.

Widmore's children

• Penelope is older than Daniel
  • In the episode The Constant, Desmond visits Daniel at Oxford in 1996. Daniel would have been only nineteen. Given that Desmond had a long history with Penelope prior to 1996, it is unlikely that she is younger than Daniel. Widmore had an affair with a woman off the island sometime prior to 1977.

Death

Ben couldn't kill Charles is London, because it wasn't the right place for him to be killed. Charles's death on the Island was the right place for his death by Ben, because the Island healed Ben. With the death of Widmore, this would heal his revenge.