Talk: There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3/Theories

Theories page[]

Why is the article for Part 1 reproduced in the theories page for parts 2 & 3? -- Michael Lucero * Talk * Contributions

Weird isn't it? But in a way, it's better than a theory page at the moment. Really this page ought to be locked by a SysOp until the finale has aired to prevent any spoilers.--TechNic|talk|conts 21:06, 17 May 2008 (PDT)

How do they know where the island is after they move it?[]

A lot of theories assume that the island has been moved before. I think this could be true, because Ben knows the procedure and the consequences, although he could have learnt both things in some other way. But assuming that the island has been moved before, how do the people who stay on the island know where the island is? Let us say, the Others. If the Others have moved the island before, then they have moved with the island, but how do they know where they are moved to? The Others are known to be capable to leave the island, and come back whenever they want. If they do this by travelling physically (like in the submarine), then they need to know the location of the island. And how do they find this out? Perhaps Jacob tells them? Or perhaps they don't travel physically off and to the island? But if they don't travel physically, why is it that Ben cannot return to the island? (The reason for thinking that he cannot return to the island is that he doesn't know where it is, but if they use another way of travelling that isn't physical, then he does not need to know where it is.--Salvora 19:13, 30 May 2008 (PDT)
- There was a homing beacon that supposedly got "knocked out" by the hatch implosion. Either that doesn't matter for the person who turned the wheel, or when Ben said the person can never go back, he just meant nowadays, since the beacon has been destroyed (and he hadn't thought of his "few ideas" for how to get back yet)
Good questions. A related one is how did Ben get off the Island after he moved it? He once claimed to have sailed away. (Ben, of course, would never lie!) Is the person turning the wheel ejected at the moment the Island moves? I'm looking forward to the discourse on this one.--Jim in Georgia Contribs Talk 07:04, 31 May 2008 (PDT)
- When DHARMA was in control, they had the Radio Tower with a broadcast beacon, Later to guide the Sub in there was an underwater beacon. Lets assume they have a backup beacon and someone at Mittelos Bioscience can get the new island coordinates (in the event that The Island is moved) so travel back and forth is restored. --Funk soul brotha 07:14, 31 May 2008 (PDT)
  - Jim, good point. I think we can take it as confirmed that Ben lied when he said he had sailed off the island. Because it has now been suggested that he got "expelled" (or "ejected") from the island when he moved it. So I'm inclined to think he was lying.--Salvora 05:42, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
    - As of the season final, it is pretty clear that Ben was ejected immediately after turning the wheel, given the parka, the frost and the freshly bleeding arm.
    - Point noted, but what was the mechanism? Was Ben ejected because he was holding the wheel? Because he was in the room? Because he went somewhere else on the Island, knowing that if he did not, he would soon die? "Tune in next season!"--Jim in Georgia Contribs Talk 06:36, 7 July 2008 (PDT)
  - Funk soul brotha: those are good points too, I had forgotten about all of that, it's now so back in time! They have the tower, the beacon, the communications station where Mikhail was (Patchy), I guess all of that could be used to guide people to the island.--Salvora 05:42, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
  - I think we're on the verge of needing a page called "Finding the Island" or maybe copying this to the talk page of The Island. Funk soul brotha, I also like your comments, but I have questions: If the Island goes back as far as the days when the Black Rock was sailing, how did they communicate then? (The radio tower is clearly twentieth century technology.) How do they communicate now that the Flame and the Looking Glass are out of commission? Is the Looking Glass really flooded (one room is.)? Is there a backup comm system somewhere? And, knowing this is a completely different subject but believing that the Other don't spend there lives squatting around campfires, where do the Others live? The Temple?
  - I believe the Others live in that town first seen at the start of Series 3. Also, it's possible that they don't need to relocate the Island, because it may not be moving geographically, but rather, through time, we know that Ben had to ask the date including the year when he arrived off-Island, also we know that time does not run smoothly between the Island and the rest of the world.
    - If the Island moves geographically, those on the island would be able to figure out their own location uses the stars. Once they know where they are, then they know how to get there. Granted the use of technical equipment would of course make this easier. --Schwa 22:42, 6 June 2008 (PDT)

Zodiac Passengers: Daniel's visits to the island[]

In response to "When Juliet tells Daniel that she'll look for him "when he comes back," Daniel chuckles to himself about the word "when." Either Daniel has been to the island previously, or he expects to come back at a time other than "immediately."" - It is possible that Daniel HAS been to the island previously (in relation to the timeline of his personal history) but that happened in the future (relative to the time he is on the Zodiac), after the island has been moved. This might also partly explain why he cried in "Confirmed Dead" at seeing the wreckage - he might have learned of the existence of the remaining survivors on the island and their predicament (they cannot leave the island and are presumed dead due to the ruse employed by the Oceanic Six). This would mean that he has not met the Oceanic Six personally before he saw them on the island, but he might have met some of the Others or some of the 815 survivors while on the "future" (moved) island. He might have known how events were generally going to unfold on the island while he will be visiting it again from the people he met on the "future/moved" island, or he might not have been told that. Another possibility is that before he came onto the island at the beginning of Season 4, and before seeing the wreckage footage, he had been to a future where some of the events concerning the island and Flight 815 were revealed to him, and he might not have believed in the story entirely, with the footage of the wreckage he saw confirming the validity of what he had been told in the future and thus making him feel shocked and causing him to weep. This would at least explain why he seems so detached while on the island in Season 4 - like he was looking at a situation that has already played out and going "ok, so this is how it really looks like, well I can't tell these folks what's going to happen but I will play along and not show I already know out of human kindness." Also, his notebook says "if anything goes wrong, Desmond will be my constant." While this could mean that Desmond would be his constant were he to become "unstuck in time" upon arriving on the island (as he does already know Desmond from the episode in his lab), it could also suggest that there is a different "constant" and Desmond could be used as a constant if the other constant failed. The other constant could be Charlotte, and this would confirm the theory where Daniel winds up on the future, moved island, is able to talk to her, where she tells him of the situation (Flight 815 survivors, Dharma Initiative, the moving of the island) and, although he had not met her before, she immediately relates to him and acts like a close friend (as she had met him during the expedition onto the Island in Season 4), which could in turn make him develop an affection for her in response and make him able to use her as the Constant.

A timeline and more ideas are presented below:

OBJECTIVE TIME 1: Any time before the episode with Desmond in Daniel's lab (in "The Constant")
OBJECTIVE TIME 2: The episode with Desmond appearing in Daniel's lab (in "The Constant")
OBJECTIVE TIME 3: Daniel seeing the footage of the wreckage of Flight 815 and weeping (in "Confirmed Dead")
OBJECTIVE TIME 4: Daniel appearing on the Island in Season 4 (beginning with "Confirmed Dead" and lasting the whole season)
OBJECTIVE TIME 5: Daniel appearing on the Island at any time in the future, after it has been moved

("OT" will be used as an abbreviation for "Objective Time")

The sequence of events: Daniel's jumps in time

EVENT 1. OT1: Daniel travels in time in a lab accident, winding up in OT5 and talking to Charlotte, who is a stranger to him. Charlotte reveals certain details concerning OT4 to Daniel, which will be crucial in what he does in OT4 and will contribute to the successful execution of the events that unfolded in OT4 as Charlotte knows them. He is not given the whole story, just certain crucial details (say the bearing one needs to use when traveling to and from the island), including the fact that the passengers of Flight 815 wound up on the island and Charles Widmore fabricated the wreckage of the plane and provided replacement bodies for the passengers. Daniel is full of disbelief but something in the way Charlotte responds to him makes him feel like she knew him well and in turn, he develops an affection. Possibly: he jumps to and fro between OT5 and OT1 several times, and Charlotte tells him he needs to find her in OT1 for these jumps to stop. Finally he manages to find her in OT1 and he ceases to be unstuck in time, however either he decides not to reveal what Charlotte told him in OT5 to the Charlotte from OT1, or he does reveal what he was told to reveal, which points the Charlotte from OT1 in the right direction (e.g. to dig at a specific place in Tunisia), but is undecided as to whether his time-jumping really happened or was just a hallucination. Or he might remain in contact with the Charlotte in OT1, while not discarding the possibility that the time-jumps he experienced were just hallucinations. To explore the degree to which his experiences were real, he sets out to explore time-travel himself (perhaps inspired by OT5 Charlotte in some way as to how it might work).

EVENT 2. The episode with Desmond in OT2 confirms Daniel's theories. Possibly, his first time-jump where he met OT5 Charlotte did not include learning of Flight 815 survivors and the fact that Charles Widmore planted the plane wreckage. However, because the episode with Desmond practically confirmed the validity of his research, Daniel now decides to use his equipment to undergo the time-jump himself. He goes back to OT5 (or a different time that would need to be added) and only THEN learns of Flight 815, the wreckage, etc. This experience, however, leaves him on the verge of mental breakdown. Perhaps it was hard for him to find a constant that time, or he decided to reveal his findings to the world (sometime between OT2 and OT3) and was considered highly delusional and unfit to take care of himself, and was coerced into undergoing psychotherapy and / or pharmacotherapy where he finally began to believe his research and experiences were invalid and indeed delusions - until he happened to see proof that they were true in the news footage of the wreckage of Flight 815, which pushed him towards a recovery and finally towards collaborating with Widmore, Charlotte, etc, in finding the island - since he had already been to it, he would have been able to find the island, having been told how to find it in OT5, although both Ben Linus and Charles Widmore suggest that the island cannot normally be found.

EVENT 3. In OT4, Daniel carries out his mission on the island, knowing certain key details as to what will happen, but not all, so he is both seemingly detached sometimes (like he was watching a re-enactment of a story that was already played out in the past) and actively engaged (surprised, committing mistakes, etc) in things he was not told about in OT5 (he might just be pretending all the time and going along a sequence of events revealed to him in OT5 in EVENT 2 or 1). He knows that Charlotte can probably be his constant were he to get unstuck in time as a result of close proximity to the island, but were he thrown to an unexpected Objective Time period (e.g. any time Desmond had been on the island prior to the arrival of the survivors of Flight 815 or after that, and possibly to a time after OT5 where Desmond is back on the island and Charlotte is not there), he could use Desmond as a constant instead.

There are many possibilities here, of course, including one in which Daniel's first time-jump was to OT5 where he met Charlotte on the island but learned little to nothing about its past history, only that he needed to find Charlotte in OT1 to cease to be unstuck in time, and his second jump (in EVENT 2, i.e. some time between OT2 and OT3) was to a different OT (OT6), where he meets Desmond (on or off the island) and is told that Charlotte had died some time after OT5. An experience like that could have exacerbated or even be the sole cause of his mental instability following the time-jump (e.g. in his becoming obsessive in his attempts to replicate the conditions that lead him to time-jump to OT6, in order to travel to a time after OT5 and before Charlotte's death, in order to prevent it, while he was also burdened with the knowledge that since that death has actually "already" occurred - some time after OT5 and any attempts at preventing it might turn out to be futile). After OT3, Daniel is faced with concrete proof of the validity of his experience in OT6, i.e. proof that the sequence of events that in the end cause Charlotte's death has really started, and this gives him the push to shake off his mental problems and develop a plan which could prevent Charlotte's death from happening. He would make a note about Desmond being a possible alternative constant to make sure that any experience of being "unstuck in time" would not compromise his ability to set his plan in motion, even if he were to jump to a time where Charlotte was either already dead or not in reach. Of course, the event to be prevented is not necessarily Charlotte's death, but any unfavorable occurrence that Daniel is for some reason willing to prevent from occurring in "the future," i.e. after OT4, after OT5, etc. --Symbolt 08:32, 31 May 2008 (PDT)

Second Faction of the Others?[]

This article mentions a second faction of the Others, "last seen dragging a teddy bear through the jungle". Is there actually any evidence that there is a second faction? What is meant by this? How do we know that the group creeping through the jungle wasn't in fact Richard & Co., perhaps with Zac and/or Emma? Could the author/s please clarify?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by sadiemonster (talk • contribs) .

Whoever wrote about a second faction of others is very confused. I have removed it. Integrated (User / Talk) 10:05, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
I am the author of that premise. Sorry I missed the original request for clarification. The "logical" first conclusion is that the child dragging the teddy bear is Zak, but at some point TPTB that the child in the scene is not Zak. We know that there are factions within the others. What are they? One possible answer is that they are modernist and primitive factions (Perhaps Richard moves freely between them). Hence the conclusion that there are "other Others." The entry was NOT based on my being "confused." Nor should it be put aside with a comment of "Give me a break!"--Jim in Georgia Contribs Talk 14:25, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

The Jeremy Bentham Alias[]

John Locke's character on Lost is not an intellectual/philosophical type. He would have no idea who Jeremy Bentham is. Either someone else gave John this name, or the writers gave him this alias without providing any relation to Jeremy Bentham so far, except for the fact that both he and Locke are dead.
- John Locke's character is an "intellectual/philosophical type". He would almost certainly know that he shares his real name with that of a philosopher.
  - Evidence that Locke is not a "philosophical type": 1) We have never seen Locke reading a book. (2) Locke is completely preoccupied with "doing" - he doesn't think things out in advance or plan (e.g. showing up in Australia for his walkabout in a wheelchair - never mentioning this to the tour guides when obviously this will be an issue), rather (3) Locke does what the island tells him to do. When the island stops, he has no idea what he is doing (e.g. the scene at the barracks where Ben calls him on this). (4) Locke gets all his information from personal experience, not by thinking, making logical inferences, or planning. Contrast this to Ben, whose house is full of books, who is always planning, who manipulates people by considering/affecting their relationships with one another as well as their personal motivations and goals.
    - Evidence that John Locke is a “philosophical/intellectual type”: His high school science teacher infers that John is an unusually bright student. He shares his name with a philosopher. He is a “man of faith” to Jack’s “man of science”. He has a driving belief in fate and destiny. As a child he is portrayed as serious, pensive, special. He interprets various occurrences on the island to the Losties in relation to his own religious code (for example, comparing the reincarnation of his sister Jeannie as a dog to the boar that pursues Sawyer). He plays backgammon expertly with a strong sense of its significance in terms of good and evil. He attempted to make a Walkabout not because he was obsessed with “doing”, but because he had been led to believe it was his destiny. He neglected to tell them about his wheelchair not because he didn’t plan ahead, but because he placed so much faith in fate that he didn’t anticipate it being a problem. At the commune, his spirituality is evident: he meditates on his destiny, concluding that he is a hunter, not a farmer. He follows up this transcendental experience in the sweat lodge on the island. He has a strong sense of the aesthetic and beautiful as when he “looked into the eye of this island”. Like Ben, who “is always planning, who manipulates people by considering/affecting their relationships with one another as well as their personal motivations and goals”, Locke coaches Charlie through heroin addiction, encourages a relationship between Walt and his father by allowing Michael to claim he found Vincent, persuades Hurley to accompany he and Ben to Jacob’s cabin while allowing Hurley to think it was his own idea, and manages to coax a number of Losties to follow him to Otherville. He repeatedly attempts to reason with Jack. In fact, he proves himself a manipulator and a mastermind equal to Benjamin Linus. He’s an orator, making grandiose speeches to rival Jack’s famous ‘live together, die alone’ manifesto. He interprets scripture as personal revelation (Eko’s stick). He experiences dreams which deliver supernatural inspiration. From day one, Locke has single-mindedly pursued further understanding of the island’s mythology. Yes, he is a “doer”, a hunter, but this aspect of his character is in constant tension with his true calling. Therefore: philosopher, scholar. Sadiemonster 06:43, 5 July 2008 (PDT)
John Locke chose the alias of "Jeremy Bentham" himself. Our name is one of our most personal items, so growing up, most people would become aware that they shared a name with someone renown or famous. Locke has always been a man fighting against how others have formed him, and now choses a name that is more in keeping with his core beliefs. It is both a mask and a signal.

What did Ben mean by "You all have to go."?[]

Removed this because we know it's the 06 + Locke and Frank who have to return. (and not Walt, Jiyeon, and Aaron)

In response, Jack listed the names of Sayid, Hurley, Sun, and Kate, in that order; in "Because You Left", Ben lists the principals, but does not mention Aaron. Possibilities are:

"All seven of you" the Oceanic Six plus Locke
"All nine of you," the Oceanic Six, Walt, Desmond, and Frank.
"All ten of you," the Oceanic Six, Walt, Desmond, Frank, and Penny.
"All eleven of you" the Oceanic Six, Walt, Desmond, Frank, Penny, and Ji Yeon

There are different mixes available.

On the island except for a brief meeting at the cockpit Desmond and Ben never truly met. Ben may not have even known Desmond to be on the island at all. There's no reason to believe he or any of The Others visited The Swan during Desmond's stay. It's possible Ben does not include Desmond as one who needs to return because he didn't know about him leaving. If Ms. Hawking turns out to be Daniel Faraday's mother then when Desmond shows up in Los Angeles to speak with her Desmond will be swept up in the mess and added to the roster. This will also put Penny in danger as Ben wants her dead as payback for Alex, which is why Charles Widmore warns Desmond to not get caught up in the situation anymore than he already is.

Ben did know Desmond was on the island because he had knowledge of the existance of the Pearl station so presumably he himself or another Other had seen Desmond during his 3 year stint down at the hatch.

Because Locke visited Walt, he, with Aaron, is almost certainly included, even if not mentioned, in Ben's "all."

Sun, who has contacted Widmore, and Ji-Yeon are unknowns.

Some removed theories since we know what has happened so far in Season 5.[]

Returning to the Island[]

The Oceanic Six[]

Name	Intention	Action
Aaron	None.	Return.
Sayid	Unknown, although he works for Ben.	Return.
Sun	Unknown. May be working with Charles Widmore.	Return.

NOTE:* Ben told Jack he had a plan to get everyone on board.

Additional[]

Name	Intention	Action
Ji Yeon	None.	What Sun decides.
Frank	Unknown.	Unknown.
Desmond	Unknown, but, "I'll never leave her (Penny's) side again."	Unknown.
Penny	Unknown.	Unknown.
Ben	Unknown. Told Locke he could not return. Is trying to get the Oceanic Six to Return.	Unknown.
Walt	Unknown. From Hurley's conversation with Walt ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2"), we infer that Walt believes Michael is alive on the island, and one of the people the Oceanic Six are protecting by keeping the secret of the island. Walt did not want to leave the island in the first place, setting fire to Michael's escape raft, in an attempt to remain. It would not be difficult to convince him to return; his grandmother could be an obstacle.	Unknown.

Futures of the Survivors Left on the Island[]

Still on the Island

The remaining survivors of the Island will believe the escaped Losties to be dead having seen the smoke from the freighter.
Many of the remaining non-Others (Sawyer, Bernard & Rose, Miles, Charlotte) have at some point expressed a desire to stay on the island. They will merge with the Others and work toward surviving long term on the island.
The merger of the Others and the Survivors will be an uneasy one. The Survivor faction, especially Sawyer, will not easily accept the dictum that Locke is the undisputed leader. Friction will result.

Locke

Will become leader of the Others. Ben told Locke how to find the people, that they would tell him what he needed to know, and that they would follow him.

Sawyer

Will become leader of the Losties, due to his potential leadership abilites.
Will join the Others along with the rest of the survivors, as they now have an apparent common enemy.
- After Locke's death will become leader of the Others.
Will resist any attempt to merge with the Others and Locke because of his deep distrust and past experiences with the Others, but may have to cooperate out of necessity.
Believing Kate to be dead, will develop a relationship with Juliet.

Claire

Will become a reappearing apparition who helps the Losties.
- We do not know yet that Claire is dead. Her appearance in Kate's dream is not evidence. If Claire shows herself to someone who is awake, we will know more.

Juliet

Will become leader of the Losties, due to her potential leadership abilities.
Will join the Others along with the rest of the survivors.
Believing Jack to be dead, will develop a relationship with Sawyer.
Will be the only one left on the Island who really doesn't want to be there.
Will be mistrusted by the rest of the Others because of her past (e.g. killing Danny, sabotaging the attempted kidnapping at the beach).
Will convince Sawyer to leave and will work with him to get off the Island.

Jin

Will appear as an apparition to someone and speak perfect English, thus them knowing it's not really him.
Is still alive and will be used by Ben to get Sun back to the Island.
Will be picked up by Daniel's raft.
Is alive (Jeremy Bentham will tell Sun) and become Sun's motivation to go back to the Island.

Sun

Will ally herself with Widmore against Ben.
Will ally herself and work with Widmore undercover for Ben.
Will work as a double against for either with her true intention being to find out Jin's fate and (if possible) be reunited with him.

Alpert

Will serve the same role for Locke as he did for Ben, as consigliere.

Daniel

Will continue to explore the Island.
His romance with Charlotte will be further explored.
Is dead.
Is alive and will have a bigger role going forward.
Has been thrown into the past along with the other Zodiac passengers and interacts with the Dharma Initiative as evidenced by the Comic Con '08 video. Only Daniel could have given Pierre Chang the information discussed in the video, and it sounds like Daniel is the one recording Chang. Daniel is still alive on the Island but over 30 years have passed for him.

Charlotte

Will continue to explore the Island.
Her romance with Daniel will be further explored.
Will be revealed as a reincarnation of someone important to the Island. (i.e. Miles' comment about her always wanting to return to the island, even though she did not appear to be aware of any such desire)
Will be revealed to have a connection with Paik Heavy Industries, explaining why she speaks Korean.
Charlotte is a daughter born from a couple from the DHARMA Initiative (possibly connected to Widmore)which she referenced in her cryptic comment to Daniel about wanting to return to where she was born.
Believes the Island to be the source of life on earth - this is her interest in archeology, seeing the birthplace of life. This is what she was referring to in her comment to Daniel about wanting to return to where she was "born."

Miles

Will begin to communicate with the Island's whispers.
Will begin communicating with all the people who have died on the island.
Will continue to explore the Island.
Will attempt to communicate with Jacob.
While challenge Locke as leader of the Others with his ability to communicate with Jacob (as evidenced by his ability to communicate with supernatural forces thus far).

Bernard & Rose

Will join Locke and the Others since Rose believes in the Island's healing powers.
Will not join Locke since Rose will not go anywhere with that man.

Charlotte stays because she believes she was born there.[]

Evidence:

It is possible that Dharma did not have the same fertility problems that the Others experience (indicating that this problem has something to do with them rather than the influence of the island). While the initiative still appeared to be in their early stages and this evidence is not conclusive, the DI had a school full of children, though none looked young enough to have been born on the island.
In either case, if the Others can't procreate on island, and if she was born there, her parents would have to be Dharma.

Counter-evidence:

If so, why didn't Ben recognize her? Why would he shoot her?
Ben already knew her entire history - if she was from the island, he would have mentioned it and she would have shown that she recognized the island/him.
Actually, in the Octagon Global Recruiting advertisement, one of the positions listed is "IVF Consultants". IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization. This suggests that Dharma might have known about conception issues on the island.
- The Octagon Global Recruiting ad was a nice, slick piece of commercial work. It is not necessarily canon.
- Sun conceived on the Island and gave birth off the island later ("Ji Yeon"), whereas Claire conceived off-island and gave birth to Aaron on-island, neither with any problems. Maybe only a critical part of a pregnancy (Juliet: "None of the women made it to their third trimester" ("D.O.C.")) on the island results in the death of mother and child, i.e. children can be both conceived and born on the island as long as that critical part of their development is conducted off-island.
We don't know if she was born on the island, or came there later, like Ben (who also claimed to be born on the Island, before revealing he was not).

How the O6 get back[]

What leverage points do each of the O6 have that Ben could possibly use to get them back to the island? When Jack told Ben the impossibility of getting the O6 to return, Ben replied that he had some ideas. By know, we know what kinds of ideas he means. So what ties do each of these characters to the island to the degree that they would be willing to go back and cooperate with the Others?
- Jack tells Ben that Hurley's insane, Kate won't talk to him etc and Ben replies "Perhaps I can help you with that." So he does want all the O6 to come to the island, otherwise he would've just said "no, Jack, we don't need them".
- No one can make assumptions based on Ben did or did not say. When was Ben ever "entirely" truthful?
  - We can't say for sure if it's absolutely necessary that they all go based on what Ben said, but we can conclude that he wants all of them to come back.

What leverage points do each of the O6 have that Ben could possibly use to get them back to the island?

Kate: Sawyer, Aaron-Claire
Jack: his guilt over his inability to save Claire. Also an apparition of Christian is on the island.
- Both before and after he lives off-island, Jack is a jealous, lonely, self-destructive, emotionally crippled man living a fairly meaningless life. On the island, he is a whole man and a leader with an important purpose.
He only promises, but he does not take any sort of decisive and planned action towards his goal. I would say that he is terrible as a leader. E.g. in all of his clashes with Ben, if he would have listened to Ben, much less people would get harmed.
- But this was true of Jack even before the crash. It didn't stop him wanting to get off the island, even when, as Locke suggests, it was evident that Jack was fulfilling his destiny. He always resisted his role as leader.
Sun: ? - If Jin is dead, she has no connection, but if he isn't ...
- Sun seems to be joining Widmore. She may go to the island as part of their battle against Ben, not realizing that Ben needs her there himself.
Hurley: ? - unless Libby is able to be alive on the island? His mental health would improve if he returned?
- Both before and after Hurley lives off-island, Hurley lives the life of a mentally unstable, insane man. On the island, Hurley is not only completely sane, but he is both content and a great comfort to those around him (as opposed to a burden). Going back is the only way he can regain his sanity and be of value to others.
  - Actually he had a number of mental crises on-island, including the Dave incident.
    - Hurley's life is in danger. Furthermore, he is plainly being visited by the dead (Eko, Charlie) exhorting him to return. He plainly feels that the people they left behind are also in danger. Sufficient reasons.
Sayid: Sayid has expressed a desire to keep the people on the island safe and has no other significant ties that we are aware of.
- Sayid works for Ben now, and has nothing in the off-island world worth living for, now that Nadia is gone. He would gladly go back if it meant somehow getting revenge for her death.

Jack is persuaded to go back because Jeremy Bentham tells him that some very bad things happened after they left, that it was Jack's fault for leaving and that he had to return. Whether this is true or not, Ben may use similar tactics with the other members of the Oceanic 6.

This summary of potential "leverage points" assumes that Ben is going to use personal relationships between the O6 and those left on the island to lure them back. Reasons for various loyalties throughout the series have been diverse,complex and often political rather than personal. It is perhaps more likely that Ben will somehow inspire a unifying sense of responsibility in the O6.