Willy105 said:
You took something very simple and inflated it until it lost the cohesiveness it had before.
Dude. I didn't change anything.
So as it turns out the island was needed to be destroyed for him to get out, that's why he set out to destroy it. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Ah, so we do agree that's what you said and meant.
All right, then:
If the Man in Black needs to destroy the island in order to escape (your theory), what is Widmore so worried about?
Wasn't Jacob and Widmore's plan to have Desmond unplug the island in order to "de-power" the Man in Black?
If that's the source of the Man in Black's powers, doesn't that mean that destroying the island would turn him back into a mere mortal? If he needs to do that in order to escape, doesn't that mean that he can't escape with his powers?
In short, the threat level of an escaped Man in Black would barely reach "Pissed-Off 48-Year-Old Hobo" on a bad day. My money is on mankind surviving that one. And yet, Widmore talks about the End of Days. What gives?
"Ah, but you see, destroying the island would kill everything on the planet as a result! That's what Mother was warning the kids about, with the magical light and everything! The Man in Black would kill everybody indirectly, merely by escaping! See? It all makes sense!"
Nope, not quite. If
that were the problem, why would Widmore discuss the safety of his daughter with the Man in Black? This exchange would make no sense:
MAN IN BLACK: Now, Charles, it's clear you're not afraid to die. So, there's only one way to motivate you to tell me what I want to know. Soon, this will all be over. I'll get what I want. And I'll finally leave this island. And when I do, the first thing I'm going to do is kill your daughter...Penny.
WIDMORE: You'll kill her whether I talk to you or not.
MAN IN BLACK: No, I won't. I give you my word.
WIDMORE: And I'm supposed to take your word?
MAN IN BLACK: You tell me why you came back here and I won't hurt your daughter.
WIDMORE: I brought Desmond Hume back here because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism. He was a measure of last resort.
... or should I say, it would make
even less sense... 'Cause that whole sequence is still pretty damn bad even if the Man in Black doesn't need to destroy the island...
First off, what were Widmore, Zoe and the Man in Black doing there anyway? Widmore and Zoe acted like there was a reason (aside from the glass of tap water, I mean), but
oh no! the Man in Black showed up before they could explain! Now, that's just bad luck. Just like when Tom was about to tell Jack how exactly the Swan explosion/implosion/whatever prevented the Others from sending Ben to a facility for his tumor but couldn't finish his sentence. It's not that the writers had no idea and were merely
pretending there was a good reason (but you'll never know what it was)! Not at all!
So they just all show up in the same place and at the same time. Ah, but we don't want Miles and Richard to die, so they leave (why do Widmore and Zoe stay? because
fuck you, they just do, okay?). No, wait: it's been a while since the Man in Black turned into the Smoke Monster so let's say Richard inexplicably decides to go talk to him. And then, he (somehow) survives the encounter and reunites with Miles ("somehow" still: Miles just wasn't in a hurry after all), so it makes no difference in the end.
That's not contrived.
And then...
"Am I supposed to take your word? Yes? Cool. Just checking. I'll just forget about you slicing my assistant's throat seconds ago simply because I asked her not to say anything. Oh, and that thing about you being THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS. Allow me to spill the beans regarding our secret last resort plan right away."
I mean, c'mon... Really, Widmore?
Really? Weren't you supposed to be some kind of ruthless badass who plays by his own rules? And in just one episode, we learn that one talk with Jacob "made you see the error of your ways" (somehow, and whatever that entails: we'll never know the specifics, naturally), and now, one talk with the Man in Black, "Evil Incarnate" and all that jazz, and
you just take his fucking word?
And then you're just shot by Ben because, well, turns out
you weren't protected by magical rules after all. I just
love how the audience is supposed to buy that those "rules" that appeared to prevent those two from killing each other were actually just a "gentleman's agreement". That doesn't sound like a shitty cop-out of a retcon at all. "Killing you would be unseemly... so I'll go after your daughter.
Like a gentleman."
Damn, Widmore. Is
that what your character amounted to, in the end? Good thing you weren't hyped as a major antagonist...
So Widmore is okay with spilling the beans to the Man in Black... but he'll just whisper
because he doesn't want Ben to hear. "Evil Incarnate Dude? Sure,
he can hear it. But
Ben?
No way! Can't let that happen!"
What's up with those weird priorities, Widmore? Just how many idiot balls did you ingest before coming to the island?
Of course, the real reason is that the writers want to keep that mystery intact for the next seaso... Er... Wait, no. There's just one episode left, so there's not much of a point, really. Hmm.
Could it be that the writers simply didn't know what to have Widmore say? I mean, how would you put it, exactly? It
is quite troublesome to have Widmore explain Jacob's plan to dispose of the Man in Black
and have the Man in Black go "hey, that sounds like a sweet plan! I guess I'll go ahead and do just that! what could possibly go wrong? oh, hi, Jack! what? you want to come, too? because you believe you could use Desmond against me? hahaha! silly Jack, why would you think that? I've never heard anything so stupid since, well, a couple of hours ago, in fact!" (and of course, later: "noooo! I'm mortal again! and completely shocked at this turn of events even if part of me feels I really shouldn't be!").
Aaaaaanyway...
Say, guys, why did Locke wait so long before attacking Widmore's camp? I mean, the fence apparently was an issue in "Recon", but not so much at the end of the season. What changed?
