Did Ben 'Magic-Box' His Way to the Desert?

[D-Roc]

I think that Ben's arrival in Tunisia confirms the 'Magic-box' theory. It could also explain Tom's 'some of us can came to and from the island when we want' comment to Michael.

There are a few interesting things about Ben's 'teleportation' that I noticed:

For a few seconds after he arrives cold steam is visibly dispersing from his face. He also arrives both eyes closed..as if asleep:



he's wearing a jacket suitable for the artic, with a previously unseen Dharma logo. He also GASPS for oxygen, as if the journey had deprived him of air:


He lies there, arms outstretched, just like iconic Jack and Locke scenes before him.




Another close look at the Dharma logo - is this part of the meterology branch of Dharma studies?

Confirmation of his location - this is where Charlotte discovered the Dharma poloar Bear.


We also see the name tag: Halliwax on his coat. This is the surname of Edgar (Halliwax) also known as Marvin Candle - the Orientation (and Orchid) video guy.



Ben throws up, indicating that the journey was perhaps violent, and that his stomach as only just caught up with his transit.


Ben is wounded on his right arm - it looks like either a claw wouond (from a Polar bear?) or a bullet wound. Did he escape from a battle? Perhaps Marvin Candle shot him moments before he teleported??


Another look at the nametag: Halliwax (aka Marvin Candle), which makes me believe that Ben may well have 'magic-boxed' not only from another 'place'..but another 'time'. Did he teleport from the Dharma Purge?..or at least, from a time period when Dharma we still in existence? He DOES look a bit younger than the Ben we see today..

[Hordriss]

Originally Posted by D-Roc

For a few seconds after he arrives cold steam is visibly dispersing from his face.

That reminds me of the "Back to the Future" films, in which the DeLorean time machine always came out its time warp all frosty and steamy, possibly out of vague deference to Einstein-esque notions of matter, energy, and spacetime (energy= mass x speed of light squared, so an object coming out of a time warp and thus slowing down from lightspeed would lose both mass and energy, which might steam it up a bit or maybe just freeze it solid ... insofar as I have any grasp at all of this). At the very least, Ben has surely teleported, as one would have to be inordinately stupid to wear a parka jacket in the Sahara. Much as I have questioned many of Ben's strategic decisions, I rate his intelligence more highly than that...

[Lauren [is Lost]]

Wow! Amazing stuff, really interesting. Thanks for the caps. I also definately think it is reminiscent of Back to the Future (once again) which i love! Also this time travel business kind of reminds me of apparation in Harry Potter - the ability to appear and disappear in different places at will. I would love it if Lost went down this route, with time difference and time travel and stuff. Brilliant!
I must say this scene did puzzle me when i first saw it, but this theory makes a lot of sense. The steam...Ben throwing up...his jacket...etc etc. Also i did not know that Marvin Candle was called Edgar Halliwax. Where on earth did you find that out?

[KatesFate]

First off I just want to say that I am thrilled to be able to discuss Episode 10 on this site without having to wait for Sky to catch up. It was so hard not to say anything when they were just three days behind, but two episodes behind would have killed me and I love this site too much to go somewhere else.

Good catch with Back To The Future and the cold and frost. I had forgotten about that. Well, he is definitly time traveling. From where? How? Does he teleport from the island or does he have to leave the island to teleport. Considering he is wearing a Dharka, did he come from someplace cold? Just exactly how many other people can do this? Soooo many questions.

[Murgatroyd]

Not sure about the magic box exactly - I suppose that'd involve his saying 'I want to go to Tunisia' three times and clicking his heels - but certainly he didn't seem to get there by natural means. I agree too about its being reminiscent of Back to the Future ... I was trying to think what it reminded me of. To be honest, more than how I got there I'd be interested to know what time period he came from. He seemed unsure as to the date when he arrived. That could just be because leaving the island is a temporally dodgy process, but it could be rather more than that. I particularly want to know if he moved forwards or backwards in time.

And where does his story about leaving the island via Fiji on the Elizabeth come into this?

[Hordriss]

Hard to know what is and what isn't a lie with old Ben, but he may have felt disinclined to tell Sayid his real means of escape. When I think about it, if he'd been somewhere very cold (hence the Parka), that alone might explain why he would be steaming if he instantly appeared in the Sahara (though, in reality, the steam would probably vaporise almost instantly in the heat and not be visible at all, but that wouldn't look as cool). This must surely link in with the remains of the Dharma polar bear unearthed by Charlotte Lewis, though if future-Ben is responsible for that it would hint that the future characters actions can have bearings on the present and past situations... as if this show wasn't complicated enough already.

[Murgatroyd]

Also if I wonder whether the polar bear's appearance in Tunisia was directly and consciously related to Ben's appearance there - if he went there because of the bear or to do something concerned with the burial - or if it's linked only in the sense that Tunisia is one of the places connected to and accessible from the island in whatever form it was that Ben used to travel there. As in, you can get to Tunisia from the island, which is why the bear wound up there and also why it was one of Ben's points of arrival on leaving.

[Lauren [is Lost]]

Originally Posted by Murgatroyd

Not sure about the magic box exactly - I suppose that'd involve his saying 'I want to go to Tunisia' three times and clicking his heels - but certainly he didn't seem to get there by natural means. I agree too about its being reminiscent of Back to the Future ... I was trying to think what it reminded me of. To be honest, more than how I got there I'd be interested to know what time period he came from. He seemed unsure as to the date when he arrived. That could just be because leaving the island is a temporally dodgy process, but it could be rather more than that. I particularly want to know if he moved forwards or backwards in time.

And where does his story about leaving the island via Fiji on the Elizabeth come into this?

Ooh, that's a good point, i'd forgotten about the fact that he didn't seem to know the date, or even the year. Very strange...although my guess is that it's something to do with the island time-difference. Although that would probably mean Ben had come directly from the island? Also, surely the island is in the same year as the real world...?

[Murgatroyd]

Originally Posted by Lauren [is Lost]

Ooh, that's a good point, i'd forgotten about the fact that he didn't seem to know the date, or even the year. Very strange...although my guess is that it's something to do with the island time-difference. Although that would probably mean Ben had come directly from the island? Also, surely the island is in the same year as the real world...?

Maybe leaving the island by whatever method he used is a bit hit and miss? Perhaps Tunisia is one of several places he might land in, but he can't pin it down and was prudently dressing for the coldest ....

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted by Lauren [is Lost]

Wow! Amazing stuff, really interesting. Thanks for the caps.

No probs

I also definately think it is reminiscent of Back to the Future (once again) which i love! Also this time travel business kind of reminds me of apparation in Harry Potter - the ability to appear and disappear in different places at will.

Indeed, this seems to fit in with Ben's description of the 'magic box' metaphor - "whatever you want to be in the box..will be in the box" (words to that effect). I think it could apply to Ben's method of time-travel aswell - as you said the ability to appear in different places at will. Although I do have questions over how accurate this device is, since he wasn't exactly sure where..or 'when', he'd end up.

The process also seemed rather 'violent', causing him to throw up and be disorientated.

It would be mad to see him just phase in and phase out, and they were good to hold off from showing us exactly how he appears in the places he 'travels' to.

it's also interesting to compare his time-travel (or teleportation, depending on how we want to look at it) wit Desmond's, which was via subconscious means..Ben's was physical (and subconscious/conscious). Perhaps this method is safer and doesn't require a 'constant' to be found..although if he did need one, then he found him in Sayid.

I would love it if Lost went down this route, with time difference and time travel and stuff. Brilliant!

Oh, i think Lost went down this route a good season or so ago, when we first saw Desmond in "Flashes". I agree tho, it's brill!

I must say this scene did puzzle me when i first saw it, but this theory makes a lot of sense. The steam...Ben throwing up...his jacket...etc etc. Also i did not know that Marvin Candle was called Edgar Halliwax. Where on earth did you find that out?

I remembered his alias from the Orchid Orientation Video - it's part of the canon of the show. Here ya go, i saw this a couple of months ago:

YouTube - New Lost Season 4 Sneak Peak!!! New...

[firebreathingfishies]

I was just about to come in and post that video

Yeah I rewatched this last night on DVD and it seems so obvious that Ben came from the Orchid. Do we think that Marvin Candle/Edgar Halliwax/Whateverhisfreakinnameis is still alive? Or did Ben just grab his coat expecting to end up somewhere chilly?

[D-Roc]

I think it's possible that Marvin is still alive..although my main thoughts revolve around the idea that Ben 'jumped' from the past (hence him querying the year)..from the time of the Dharma purge, perhaps? Although how that would work with him 'knowing' future Sayid before he met him on the island, I don't know

But yeah, he may have come from the Orchid..although I was thinking that the Orchid video represents an example of 'the magic box' (the rabbits being duplicated and the consequences of..), and doesn't necessarily provide the 'time and space jumping' facility

So as you say, he must've come from some place cold - i'm thinking the artic..or Siberia (as Sawyer referenced Siberia during the game of Risk). It looks as if Ben 'jumped' just as he was in peril, seeing as he has a wound on his arm.

Are there multiple 'magic boxes' or portals around the world? And what are the "rules" of it's usage?..i'm assuming there are rules for everything in this 'war'.