Bolding mine
I really like this idea, but I have a feeling that Windemore will have been kicked off the island because he had gone rogue or something to that effect. The show does do a lot of bait and switching, but I feel confident that Windemore is the real bad guy.
I think your idea would be a much more compelling and less cliched plot line tho. Maybe Ben tricked Windemore into turning the wheel last time and that’s where the mutual loathing comes from.
Right. This is actually a big flaw with my theory. Ben and Widmore clearly have some serious history. If Widmore got booted early, when did their conflict happen?
I wonder if Charles thought he was going to be the next leader of the Others only to have Ben take the mantle.
Maybe at some “future” point, they will dig up the bomb and detonate it. Perhaps two people (Adam & Eve) will stay behind to make sure it detonates, and everybody else will be saved.
Some really good ideas here over the weekend.
The idea of the bears being used to push the wheel is interesting as well; certainly the best explanation I’ve seen yet. What about the sharks though? I’m pretty sure we will learn more about the bears, they’ve popped up enough, but I’m not holding hope for that half second shot of the tattooed fish.
The Widmore/Ben thing is good too, and at this point I think I would bet on Ben having tricked/forced Widmore off the island somehow. Or, ala **middleman **, perhaps Ben is to Widmore, as Locke now is to Ben.
My latest theory regarding Adam and Eve is it being Aaron and Ji Yeon; the two youngest characters are in fact the two oldest (known)characters.
Either them, or Rose and Bernard.
fixed.
I don’t think so. Seems as though it would just continue to decay at it’s same steady rate, no matter what time it is in. Each copy of the compass made would also decay at the same rate, but would obviously start its decay in the condition of the watch that it was copied from, not in new condition I mean.
Can someone remind me: was the compass one of the objects the young Ben was tested with in one of the last season’s bits?
Yes, but a different compass was used (young Locke chose the knife).
Actual spoiler follows do not read if you do not want to read a spoiler.
Episode 5.10 is supposedly called “He’s Our You.”
Here’s a thought…
Maybe Locke didn’t choose WRONG, he just didn’t choose what they were looking for at that time.
Locke chose the warrior’s path (the knife) but what they really needed at that time was a leader with direction (compass).
What do we think?
-Joe
Again, I really like this idea and hope it’s what the producers/writers planned. I have a sneaking suspicion that, as fans, we are much more attached to every little last thing that happened in the “past” on the show and draw parrallels that the writers never intended. I guess time will tell.
As far as Adam and Eve go, I am praying that they are Desmond and Penny, and that Baby Charlie grows up on the island to be Daddy Windemore, who blames Des for the death of his mom/daughter. I think the idea of Charles Windemore being, literally, his own grandpa is too much fun for the writers to ignore.
The only problem with this is that Des and Penny and the gang didn’t appear until the second season. The optimist in me hopes that the writers had enough foresight to foreshadow charecters an entire season before they appeared onscreen. The pessimist inside me is usually the voice I trust most, though 
Possible Adam and Eve Pairs:
Sawyer and Kate
Jack and Kate
Penny and Des
Rose and Bernard
Aaron and Ji Yeon
Kate and Jin
Sawyer and Juliet
Jack and Juliet
Daniel and Charlotte
Widmore and Ellie
Lindelof and Cuse (in drag)
In my experience, that’s what English Majors spend their entire careers doing. “The path less traveled” indeed!
-Joe