Flight 815: Widmore's Power Play

After weeks spent in my own homemade backyard sweat lodge pondering the mysteries of Lost, I have emerged with a cornucopia of new theories.

First among them is this: Flight 815 was an invasion orchestrated by Charles Widmore in an attempt to take back The Island from Ben Linus as the two continue their real-world game of Risk.

Last week's episode revealed Widmore has been trying to find The Island. We have proof he has sent: a hot-air balloon (it had a Widmore Corporation logo on it), a sailboat (read on), and most recently, a freighter.

But between the sailboat and the freighter, Widmore decided to use a commercial 777 to find the island and recapture it from Ben. Per the rules of their game, Widmore hand-picked his chess pieces: the Lostaways who would be on that flight.

With his limitless connections in business and government, Widmore first swaps out the pilot. He replaces freightee Frank with Seth Norris. Then he calls in favors, or directly contracts with the agents (on the left) to get the following Lostaways (on the right) on that flight:

Mr. Paik - Sun, Jin
Bryan - Shannon, Boone
Libby - Hurley (she had previously recruited Desmond for him)
Ray Mullen - Kate
Robbie Hewitt - Sayid
Brian Porter - Michael, Walt
Abaddon, Travel Agent - John Locke

When he decided on these people or how, I'm not sure. But he must have thought each of them pose a threat to Ben in a specific way. Libby, who was maybe Widmore's executive assistant, joins the flight to watch and report back to Widmore. In describing the mission to her, he most likely left out the part about how the plane will actually arrive on the island - by Desmond pulling it out of the sky when triggered.

That's the sailboat I mentioned. Libby gave Desmond a sailboat so he could join Widmore's agent Kelvin Inman who was already there. (The fact that Widmore controlled the Swan station explains why Ben didn't know Desmond or the station was there.)

Desmond crashes the plane on Sept. 22, 2004 and Widmore's army has arrived. Ben does not seem at all surprised when a plane falls out of the sky -- because he knows about Widmore's hot-air balloon and other attempts at reaching the island. He quickly sends spies and Smoky.

But let's back up a bit. Ben isn't surprised because he knew that plane was coming. In fact, unbeknownst to Widmore, he had put his own pawns on it.

In finding out about Widmore's plans for 815 (of course he found out - he's Ben!), Ben scrambles to get people on the plane. People who will fight for the island. People who can be touched by the island, or who have a connection to it already.

Ben's counter-force is: Jack, Sawyer, Anna Lucia, Claire (and Aaron), Eko, Rose and Bernard. Many of whom are recruited by two of The Island's agents: Christian Shepard and Richard Malkin. Christian Shepard's connection with Jacob (the Island incarnate) is obvious: we've seen him in the cabin and he's said he speaks for Jacob. Malkin's connection is a little less obvious. But when he conned Claire into giving up her baby to a couple in Los Angeles, he said they were "good people." Ben has frequently referred to his side as "the good guys."

A word about Locke: Why did I put him on Widmore's side and not Ben's? When we saw Richard Alpert following him throughout his childhood? The answer: Locke failed the test. I'm guessing a young Ben Linus was also tested at the same age. Only he passed, and was brought to The Island to be the next leader. Widmore discovered who Ben's original competition was -- and that he would make the perfect king piece to checkmate Ben.