Not as much humor this time.  More speculation about who the bad guy really is.

How strong is the healing property of the island?

While we still don’t know exactly how it works (witness Ben getting sick and requiring surgery), we know the island increases fertility and curses cancer.  Plus with Locke,  he arrived paralyzed the first time and was healed, then he arrived dead and came back to life.  If he were to leave and return a third time, he’d likely return cremated and be transformed into Tim Tebow.

Was Widmore really the leader of the Others at one time?

I think this is likely to be the truth, if for no other reason than the fact that it makes the story that much more intriguing.

Is there a war coming?

This is what Widmore claims, and it’s why he says Locke has to get back.  In fact, he says Locke never should have left.  I don’t think he really cares whether or not the other survivors return, but since that seems to be the only way Locke will go back, he goes along with it.

So Widmore wants Locke back, but is it really to protect the island or to hurt it?  Whatever this war is, my guess is it involves the USE of the island and not merely control over the island.  That war has essentially already been raised.

Who’s lying, Ben or Widmore?

In the end, it might not be as clear cut as one being the good guy and one being the bad guy.  Widmore claims he was trying to get Ben out of the way so that Locke could be in charge.  But the fact is, Ben had been in charge for awhile and (as far as we know) wasn’t doing anything evil outside of the island.  Plus, he moved it to keep Widmore from finding it, knowing that it would mean he had to leave.  That makes me think Ben has the best interests of the island in mind.

However, Ben killing Locke makes me lean into the camp that he’s the bad guy.  There’s still a question of whether or not he knew Locke would come back to life (remember how earlier this season he refuses to confirm when Jack asks if Locke is dead), but it seems pretty clear when he says goodbye.  It appears that he used Locke to get the information he needed about how to return, then killed him in order to convince the other survivors to return with him.  (And I think the reason he wanted them all to go wasn’t out of their well-being but becaused he NEEDED them there in order to return.)

Maybe Ben only left the island because he was so hell-bent on getting his revenge on Widmore by killing Penny, but he can’t let a chance to return go past like this.

But I’m not 100% convinced that Ben is a villain.  And the fact that I am still on the fence even after seeing him try to kill Locke twice shows how great this show really is.

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