Or possibly Ben/Eloise were just lying about needing everyone to go back. Especially since Ben let them off the island to start with (giving them the helicopter) and knocked the frozen donkey wheel off its axis by turning it.
I stand by the prediction I made in last week’s thread. The 70 hour deadline corresponds to a time when the time-jumpers will be in the (off-island) present and the O6 can sync up with them upon arrival.
After all, how could it matter when the O6 arrive on The Island (thereby saving their time-lost comrades) if the chrono-nauts are off in 1881 or 2525?
Remember that, although the remaining losties+* are jumping in time, The Island was clearly shown to have changed location when it disappeared in front of those aboard the chopper. I think that each time-jump must also be a change in location**. What else is Eloise Hawking doing with her calculations if not trying to nail down, not the present, but the near-future location of The Island? A place and a point in time when sending the escapees back to join their brethren can happen.
*I await an explanation as to why, not only losties, but also Widmore’s scientists and Juliet (an Other–at least until recently) are stuck unstuck-in-time together.
**The Nigerian dope-flight crashed during this period of space-time slippage. The Island must have been off the coast of Africa during that interval between flashes.
Of all the crazy things on this show, I bet the creators are wishing they’d never come up with the numbers. I can buy time travel, teleportation, immortality, reincarnation, and cryptic ghost dads – but they started out by essentially stating:
Little hard to swallow.
When Locke was saying goodbye, I hoped he’d say to Miles “Sorry about stringing you up and putting a grenade in your mouth.”
My girlfriend and I have both had bad leg injuries in the past. When Locke took his fall and we saw the broken bone sticking out of his leg, it wasn’t pleasant. Owie.
That sequence with Christian giving cryptic instructions, and Locke having to manipulate the ancient-looking donkey wheel, seemed like a scene from Tomb Raider.
How many hours of his life has Ben spent with somebody pointing a gun at his face while he talks his way out of it?
I think this makes the most sense. Another thing might be that there’s some limit on how long they have to bring Locke back. When Ben brought Locke’s body to that woman at the butcher shop, he said some of his normal cryptic stuff about how everything depends on keeping the body safe. Maybe after this 70 hours they won’t have access to the island for a while, and then it’s too late to bring John back.
How long had Christian been dead when they originally crashed on the island? It was only a couple days, right?
I think some explanation similar to Pyper’s above will be the answer. There’s some Otherization process. Maybe Juliet never did it, or maybe it was removed from her in that season three episode where the Others kicked her out.
Pyper, I like your theory. One of the things that’s been driving me crazy this season is why the Losties who were abducted by the Others (the stewardess, the children) are NOT time-hopping with the rest of the Losties. If they’ve been to the Temple and somehow changed, that would make sense.
Latest lost thoughts – Okay, maybe Charlotte is Daniel’s daughter. He went back to Dharma time, when she was there. In the present he never even kissed her, as he might have if he had been “in love” with her. Or maybe she’s Widmore’s daughter and now Ben has vengeance and can leave Penny alone.
Okay, more “seriously” – what was the deal with that power plant on the island that Daniel & Charlotte felt they had to get to so badly? I can’t remember & am confused with how it might fit with current speculations.
If Widmore can track people and islands so well, you’d think he would have located Ben & crew by now. Esp. if he knows Daniel’s mother.
It was not well-explained. The Tempest | Lostpedia | Fandom
I wanna through out this before the next episode.
Anyone else think that Locke will be paralyzed once he gets off the island?
If not that, his leg is still broken.
Didn’t she say something about going to get the rest of them in a bit? I read her reaction as minor irritation at the delay, but that it wasn’t the end of the world.
By the way, I also thought that Ben seemed shocked that Eloise was Daniel’s mother.
I kind of thought this at first too, but I’m pretty sure Daniel tells Richard that he’s “in love” with Charlotte, not that he “loves” her when he’s trying to convince Richard to let him check out the bomb. That wording makes a difference, in my mind.
I wouldn’t want to be dumped in the middle of Tunisia with a compound leg fracture.
IIRC, Ben’s arm was still injured when he jumped to Tunisia.
I wonder if he will end up in Tunisia. If the island is in a different location now, he might end up somewhere else. And what time will he show up?
She seems to remember her father and past Daniel as distinct individuals.
Well, we can narrow it down to a three year period. 
I think the armless guy is dead. I’m more apt to think the smoke monster after having contact with the guy was using his voice to lure the others in. Similar to when it manifested itself into Mr. Echos brother before killing him.
I’m rewatching some old episodes on Hulu, and something interest occured to me.
In the scene where Farrady is crying at the supposed crash footage of 815, the woman caring for him is only shown from the shoulders down. It never shows her face.
I wonder if she is someone we’ve seen before.
and why was he crying? Is Faraday just a softie, or did he know someone on the plane (from his time travels?).
So the big shocker here is…whose side is Eloise on? Ben clearly thought she’s on his side, but if Daniel, who was funded by Widmore, is her son (no doubt the reason for Ben’s appearance of surprise), then is she really his agent? Or is she saving the island from BOTH of them?
I think both Widmore and Ben know the Eloise is the key to getting back to the island. But Widmore and Eloise had a falling out, and Eloise took Ben’s side. So Widmore decided the best thing to do is to fund Daniel, and try and get him to figure out how Widmore can get to the island. Daniel probably doesn’t know about the whole Widmore/Ben/Eloise connection.