It was to blast the hole in the vault in order to get to the frozen donkey wheel. If Ben wanted to disable the Orchid, he could have done so at his leisure any time over the last 15 years.

I don't think he really took the machine very seriously, hence his "silly experiments" comment. However, his motives are so difficult to decipher, he might have been just trying to prevent Locke from wasting more time in another hatch. Ben is so enigmatic...

I definitely think he knew putting the metal would blow the hole in the wall so that he could access the wheel.

It makes you wonder who built the stations, because they MUST have known about the wheel and were intentionally hiding it...same with the room behind Ben's closet. There's definitely some mystery there that remains to be explained, and based on D&C's comments that next season will focus somewhat more on Dharma, I expect we'll definitely get those answers. I think that now that we have a full-fledged Lostie in with the Others for the first time, we'll probably get the most concrete answers we have ever gotten about what they're about as well. That is one thing that has me more excited than anything else.

Zonker said: "It was to blast the hole in the vault in order to get to the frozen donkey wheel. If Ben wanted to disable the Orchid, he could have done so at his leisure any time over the last 15 years."


And that leads me to another question I have been wondering about. Suggestions/theories across Lost blogs opine that Charles Widmore may have use the wheel to move the Island, sometime in the past. If the entrance to the wheel has been covered by the vault since sometime after Dharma started building the Orchid, then would Charles have had to move the Island even before Ben was in the picture?


Since the writers haven't given us any more information on the wheel "room," then we can only assume, from the canon of the episode, that this is the only entrance to the wheel.


That could bring up questions as to when Widmore actually "lost what was his."


WLN

That little chamber could have been rebuilt any number of times. At some point they must've discovered what happens when there's metal inside, and Ben not only knew about what was behind the wall, he knew exactly what he needed to do to blow a hole in there and make his way to the frozen donkey wheel.

Zzz...

WLN said, "And that leads me to another question I have been wondering about. Suggestions/theories across Lost blogs opine that Charles Widmore may have use the wheel to move the Island, sometime in the past."

I see your question and I raise you: Ben said to John that whoever moves the Island can never return to it, right? Tom tells Michael a person who's been on the Island can't die until it lets them die. We also discovered that Ben couldn't kill Charles in his bedroom, leading us to believe that he was also on the Island. Is it possible that both men actually can return to the Island, and Ben (yet again) wasn't being entirely truthful?

AliKzam said: "...Is it possible that both men actually can return to the Island, and Ben (yet again) wasn't being entirely truthful?"


Good thought. I've been wondering if there is actually a "puppet master" that we haven't seen as of yet. In a former Doc Arzt's front page blog entry, I suggested that Abaddon may be part of that cabel. I threw out the possibility that he is/respresents an aspect of the plot that we haven't seen yet.


Maybe Charles and Ben are really pawns in "game" they don't even know that they are playing.


WLN

The Orchid is no more than a microwave.

In a Podcast the developers stated that Abbadon is working for someone.
additionally.. in season 3 as he visits Hurley u see black smoke when he leaves..

If you go back and rewatch the episode, (and I did several times in HD), there is no sign of Abbaddon turning into smoke when he leaves. My first reaction was similar but when you rewatch, its just his shadow.

Regd: Widmore, He obviously knows about the island which is why he keeps searching for it and artifacts regarding its whereabouts. I think it is very possible that he once turned the donkey wheel. It would explain his knowledge of the island, his gripes with its inhabitants (perhaps they didn't tell him it would banish him), and why he's so eager to get back to it.

What about Widmore being on the BLack Rock's original voyage?

Ariel said: "What about Widmore being on the BLack Rock's original voyage?"


I know that some posters on this blog don't consider the Alternate Reality Games (the off-season online games such as The Lost Experience and Find 815) as canon, but I will answer your suggestion based on TLE ARG. This information is from an entry of mine on Lostpedia.


Circa. 1950s
The log came into the possession of Alvar Hanso some time in the 1950's after he purchased the New World Sea Traders company from the East Ocean Trade Group, renaming it to the Allied Copenhagen Marine Merchants. The New World Sea Traders was the company owned by Alvar's great-grandfather Magnus Hanso. This log was in the records of the New World Sea Traders and described the Island and its powers.


Late 1960s
Sometime after Valenzetti's Equation was made public to the United Nations, Alvar Hanso and his company The Hanso Corporation, became interested in the equation's possible impact on the world. Using the information in the Black Rock's log, he located the Island and set up the Dharma project in order to use the Islands unique properties to aid him in research that was designed to save the world. He may have had additional help and financing from Charles Widmore and the Widmore Corporation.


The 1980s
In 1985, something happened to the project (see the blast door map), probably due to problems with the Island magnetic properties and the Swan Station, other wayward Dharma science projects and some sort of corporate intrigue. At that point Thomas Mittelwerk took over the project (see The Lost Experience). His intentions were not so altruistic, and his interest in the Island was for power, money and possible world domination. Mittelwerk involved Widmore Industries and a number of other companies (IE: Paik Heavy Industries) to put his plan in effect. Sometime around 1988, Danielle and her "science team" discovered the Island, probably through one of the Vortices.


The 1990s
Ben, having knowledge of the direction the Dharma project had taken, instigated The Purge (around 1992), killing off most of the Dharma personal on the Island and shutting down what remained of the Dharma Project. The electronic beacon in the Looking Glass station was shut down, which prevented submarine access to the Island thus Mittelwerk and his cronies were prevented from returning to the Island.


It appears that Mittelwerk continued the Dharma Project's research off island (even as late as 2006), setting up many research facilities around the planet. It seems that in most cases his research methods were dangerous and illegal. A full understanding of what Mittelwerk was doing was discovered by Rachael in The Lost Experience. In Chapter 39 of the book Bad Twin, board members of the Widmore Corporation describe fellow board-member Mittelwerk as "dangerous...ambitious and brilliantly two-faced, a man acting out an agenda all his own."


During this time Ben and the Others continued some research on the Island (i.e. fertility problems), and they still had to keep the Swan Station manned, in order to regulate the magnetic anomaly. Since they were the only ones who had the knowledge of how to enter and leave the Island (they could turn the electronic beacon on when needed and they also knew about the Vile Vortices openings), they used this time to recruit new members of their secret society. Having full understanding of the history of the Dharma project and these subsequent events, they are the good guys, trying to prevent anyone from using the Island for evil purposes.


But Charles Widmore was not going to give up in trying to relocate the Island. He purchased the Black Rock log at an auction in 1996 in an effort to regain information needed to find the Island once more. Widmore may have even tried to divest his relationship with Mittelwerk, since in The Lost Experience, there is indications that Mittelwerk had become a liability to Widmore and his interests.


(end of Lostpedia entry)


Nothing in TLE seems to relate Widmore to the Hanso family or the Black Rock. At the most, Widmore's interest in the Black Rock's log book was to see if it had any information that may help him relocate the Island.


WLN

My feeling was that the Orchid's true true purpose was the frozen donkey wheel. After watching Cabin Fever my whole view of Lost has changed and for once I think I have a plausible theory that the whole Island is Heaven on earth or a Garden of Eden of sorts. And while I don't really have the energy to explain the whole theory I believe that the DI was using the natural supernatural elements of the Island and looking at them with a jaundiced scientific eye (in other words they ate the apple but even then still didn't realize they were naked) thus angering God (Jacob) (the whole Science v. Faith theme going on since at least "Exodus pt. 1 and 2" perhaps earlier but I have to re watch season 1) Not to say that everyone on the Island are dead (though some most certainly are, Mikhail immediately comes to mind) But my thought is that the Orchid was an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a riddle (the FDW, the vault, the botanical station respectively) The idea being (at least in the DI's eyes) they would study the physics behind the FDW. Now since (at least according to my hyper-long theory that the initiates in the DI had no idea of the former civilization on the island even the high ranking ones such as Horace) they had no idea of this once great people inhabiting the Island the DI had to hide that so even at the top-secret true Orchid station things were kept hidden. But since having the initiates come face to face with the wheel would expose them to the previous civilization the DI built the vault as a ruse that directly tapped in to whatever the hell was glowing behind that wall in order to facilitate their experiments. Mr. Candlewax's (yes I know his name in the video was Halliwax but seriously Francois Chau's character has so many names its hard not to condense them) warning not to put metal into the vault was to discourage the scientists working in the station from activating the emergency override by accident. Most likely the only people who knew the true true true purpose of the station were the DeGroots, Alvar, and a few select important Others. I really don't think Ben cared in the least for the DI's plans. It's pretty hard for me to put this all into words so please excuse any superfluous language but to me this is all very important (at least as important as a television show can be).

How the heck does Ben know all this stuff about The Dharma Initiative? He was only a workman up until The Purge (1992?). How could he have known ABOUT, much less known HOW to operate the different Dharma stations, being a lowly "workman"? Can Jacob really tell Ben all the important, detailed, technical aspects about Dharma and the Island? I hope we get some good answers to Ben's mysterious past... he is quickly becoming one of my FAVORITE characters.

Uncle Beaver.....great question. All of the knowledge and power of BEN seems a little far fetched to someone who was merely a "workman" --- unless of course it could easily be explained if the "hostiles" (other others) -- were really ex-Dharma. At that point Ben's knowledge could simply be explained away by stating that some of the hostiles where actually high up ex-Dharma's who conveyed all knowledge to their new leader Ben.

Well after the Purge, Ben would have had over a decade to look at all of their documents, journals, experiments, etc, without any interference. Anything Dharma wrote down, Ben would have knowledge about, and certainly with everyone dead he'd have the ability to research their background further.

Little steve here. Didn't someone use a Dharma polar bear to move the island? How else would a Dharma polar bear end up in Tunisia. That FDW room sure did remind me of a zoo type cage with the ladder going down.

Mikhail is ALIVE I tell you, ALIVE!

Question: Is the Orchid station the "Temple" Ben and Richard spoke of? Or is it yet another area we have yet to see?

WALT!

Okay, so I'm not going to even attempt to theorize (I think that's a word...) about Abaddon. He's a very mysterious character, and although his loyalty seems to be with Widmore since he played a part in picking Naomi and the team, he seems to have ulterior motives.

I do want to mention something about the Widmore/Ben controversy. For me, the biggest scene of Lost this season was Ben meeting Widmore in his apartment, awesome showdown of two bad guys. (Yes, I believe Ben is a bad guy).

The part I keep chewing on like old beef jerky more than any other aspect of their conversation was them mentioning the game they're playing. Also, the revelation that Widmore couldn't be killed by Ben. So, obviously then Widmore had been to the island at some point, but more importantly, the island is using him still. Just as with Michael, the island won't allow him to die until his part is played. I'm not even gong to attempt to guess his purpose for fear I look like an idiot later... haha

Ultimately, what I do want to mention is that this controversy between the two characters makes me wonder. Since Widmore has some favor or purpose with the island, it hasn't fully rejected him or whatever purpose he has. I wonder if Ben took the island from Widmore, his greed making him want to control the island and it's powers. However, he did acquire a tumor, which is complete defiance of the health standards on the island. Nobody should get sick, unless the island chooses to make it happen/allow it to happen. I'm wondering if the controversy between Widmore and Ben is ultimately for control of the island, and that despite what Ben told Locke, both can return to the island.

So, although I have no idea off the top of my head if Widmore has made any mention of his intent with the island or if he's working with Dharma Institute to return to island, the two of them are more focused on their fight with each other and whatever greed is compelling them to fight for the island by any means. The island, however, has some purpose for Widmore and may/may-not have a purpose for Ben still. Whatever the island desires, it's working toward whether it's isolation from the rest of the world or something greater.

In short, I guess in my opinion the two of them are driven by greed to control the island, which really doesn't care about that. The island's goals and purposes are much higher than that.... I guess that makes sense, it does in my head at least...

In short, I think the island gave Ben a tumor because the island knew Jack was coming, and it basically forced Ben to work with Jack. The island needs Jack to stay apparently, and this was it's mechanism to do so. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly work out.

"It was to blast the hole in the vault in order to get to the frozen donkey wheel. If Ben wanted to disable the Orchid, he could have done so at his leisure any time over the last 15 years."

yeah, but he didn't have a reason to destroy it until now, he stated that by moving the island he would never be able to return to it which means he'd never be able to use that time traveling vault again, he probably wanted to make sure no one else (widmore in particular if he was ever able to find and get to the island) would be able to use it either. so i would say that him destroying it so no one could use it again is definitely in the realm of possibility

Ok I have some ramblings: Ben had a secret closet full of passports and "off-island" clothes, showing he could travel on and off the island, yet once he turned the FDW he was transported off island and can no longer return -? He made the way for Locke to become the new leader of the Others, yet Jack made mention at the coffin that "very bad things" had been happening since the O6 had left, insinuating that Locke may have messed things up (not unusual for poor John). Maybe Ben knew that Locke would mess up and wind up killing himself which would cause Island to allow him (Ben) back to the island??? Or maybe Locke wanted Ben back to help him so he knew he had to kill himself to put all that into play?? Oh my head hurts...

"The 1990s
Ben, having knowledge of the direction the Dharma project had taken, instigated The Purge (around 1992), killing off most of the Dharma personal on the Island and shutting down what remained of the Dharma Project. The electronic beacon in the Looking Glass station was shut down, which prevented submarine access to the Island thus Mittelwerk and his cronies were prevented from returning to the Island."

I would think that the island may have been moved at around this point as well by whever was the leader.

"During this time Ben and the Others continued some research on the Island (i.e. fertility problems), and they still had to keep the Swan Station manned, in order to regulate the magnetic anomaly. Since they were the only ones who had the knowledge of how to enter and leave the Island (they could turn the electronic beacon on when needed and they also knew about the Vile Vortices openings), they used this time to recruit new members of their secret society. Having full understanding of the history of the Dharma project and these subsequent events, they are the good guys, trying to prevent anyone from using the Island for evil purposes."

I think that Ben and Annie tried having a child, she died and that is what made Ben become so obssessed with the Fertility problems (Richard seemed very irritated with bens fertility projects).Question I have is, the purge was in 92 and Alex was kidnapped in 88, why did Ben kidnap her even back then?

What is this about the vile vortices? Are they portals? they can leave the island at a certain bearing and quickly or instantly end up across the world? I notice one of the locations is right where the island is supposed to be and another one is right below North America, making it a little more possible for Tom to go see Michael in "Meet Kevin Johnson".

HOW BEN KNOWS ALL ABOUT THE ISLAND:

I read comments about Ben and how he was "just" a workman so how can he know so much. I could be totally wrong in how the producers reveal how he knows but to me it is obvious; he was a workman.

Years ago I was a workman in a factory, I didn't work in every part of the plant (from fabrication, smelting furnaces,assembly, etc) but I spent enough time working there, talking to people, observing, and in some cases during lag time helping out in areas that I knew that place inside and out. I never worked in the tool and die area but I could locate the equipment in there, go down to the water retention tanks, etc....

What I am saying is that BEN being a WORKMAN (delivering Beer, and such) gave him unparalled access to the whole Dharma Initiative. He went everywhere, talked to people,observed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize this, just someone who used to have to work for a living. ;-p

If you notice, no one seems to go into the future, only into the past or present. And it seems to me that it is always for the reason to change, learn or witness events that directly affect the life of the one traveling to the past.

If Desmond had not done so, it is conceivable that Penny would not have known or cared to look for him. It also seems his actions can only effect the present at best, since he failed to save Charlie even with visions of the future.

If this is correct, perhaps Ben couldn't kill Widmore because of actions Widmore was still make.

A personal musing: Did anyone else find it rather odd and suspect that the "looking glass" radio lock out code was "programmed by a musician" as said by the woman before she died, and that Charlie, the only musician on the island, only needed one attempt to enter it correctly? Also, I found it interesting (and maybe an explanation for the polar bears) when Mikhail (sp) said to the one woman, “I thought you where on assignment in Canada?"

BOB, your explanation makes A LOT of sense. Thanks!

I think maybe the wheel was there long before, as long as the statue, the ruins, the temple. And maybe its frozen because is a place of the island that preserves as it really is, and it doesn't matter where the island would be placed, it will remain unchanched. Because come to think of it: if the island moves next to a desertic area, maybe its vegetation etc will also change. And now it looks like that because it was in the pacific tropical area.
Maybe the island was like an "Atlantis" long long ago.

I've been wondering, if the island has been moved since the Dharma initiative, why is the chamber intact? I don't believe the others would blow up the chamber, move the island, and then rebuild the chamber.