Why did Ben lie to Locke?

[JB Sawyer]

Now I know that Ben is the master manipulator, and also that he often has reasons behind his multitude of lies, but this is one bit which even now, at the end of S3, I still don't get.

Why did Ben tell Locke that he never pushed the button? I get why he said that he was coming for Locke, to make Locke feel special, but why say that he didn't press the button? Did he want the Swan to implode? Did he not know the consequences that it would have on his comms? With someone who has the Island knowledge that Ben does, and the knowledge of the Swan, you'd think that he wouldn't really want it blown to pieces...

LOCKE: What are you talking about?

GALE: I crawled through your vents and I stood at your computer as the alarm beeped. And you know what happened? The timer went all the way down to zero, and then some funny red pictures flipped up in its place. They looked like hieroglyphics, but I'm no expert. And then things got real interesting. There was a loud clunking and a hum like a magnet -- a big magnet. It was really very frightening. And you know what happened next? Nothing happened, John. Nothing happened at all. Your timer just flipped back to 108. I never entered the numbers. I never pressed the button.

LOCKE: You're lying.

GALE: No, I'm done lying.


So does anyone have any clues? Cos this is one situation that I am baffled on :P

*By the way I think this is the right episode lol.

[Verix]

I don't know either.

It's always baffeled me really, if Ben knew how powerful the button really is then why would he risk it?

Maybe it was just to screw around with Locke and make him let his guard down.

[Murgatroyd]

I kind of assume it's because he wanted the comms to go down - it made the island even less contactable, and that seems to be what he wanted. Except I'm guessing he didn't know that, for a moment, it'd make the place entirely visible and traceable by the likes of Penny and Naomi. I can't really think of another reason for his tempting Locke into not pressing the button - it's hard to tell how much Ben and his people even know about what the hatches do when the people in them didn't even seem that certain.

[JB Sawyer]

I suppose he could have actually wanted the comms to go down, but didn't they ship in all the stuff to the island using the comms? Plus Richard went scouting off island and there was no proper way off with the comms down so new people couldn't be drafted in.

I'm confused lol

[Him]

I don't think Ben knew what its effects would be... considering that he was part of the Dharma Initiative, and that it was originally intended as a psychological experiment (according to the Pearl), he may have just believed that. His 'the white light brought the comms down!' stuff was no doubt just an on-the-fly lie he came up with, to try and isolate his seemingly unsettled crew. I doubt he was planning that when he was saying the button did nothing to Locke.

However, he did press the button, so who knows... maybe he knows the effects better than we do and thought he'd have escaped by the time Locke or someone decided to let the counter run out (i.e. it wouldn't have had catastrophic results)... or maybe he wasn't sure and pressed it anyway, like many people have.

Either way, I think he was revelling in the fact that he could implant doubt in Locke's mind. It's pretty clear that he knew how to get under Locke skin. He knows that Locke wants a purpose, to be valued by his people etc., and he's used that to his advantage every time. Whether he was winding Locke up to be cruel, or thought it would help him in the long run, is debatable.

His grinning while Locke was wanting answers outside the door though, would suggest the former.

I kind of assume it's because he wanted the comms to go down - it made the island even less contactable, and that seems to be what he wanted. Except I'm guessing he didn't know that, for a moment, it'd make the place entirely visible and traceable by the likes of Penny and Naomi.

I'm pretty sure that it was the key turn that caused the sky to turn purple (which was his excuse as to why the comms were down), not the counter running out. I tend to believe that the button going unpressed without Desmond revealing the fail-safe would have been disastrous.

Good thread btw.

[Kiowa Warrior]

Yeah it is quite a puzzle as to why Ben said that...I also think that if the counter had run down nothing major would have happened (well apart from the magnet going a bit crazy and attracting everything to its walls that is), and Ben knew this and reckoned that if Locke chose not to believe him and carried on pressing the button then nothing would happen so that wouldn't be a problem, but if Locke did believe him and stopped pressing it then still nothing bad would happen and he would have won Locke's trust and gotten him further on his side.

I think the fail safe key turning was the reason the sky went purple and the comms went down and Ben either didn't know anything about this or possibly had heard about it but just didn't believe it, because when he was on the dock with everyone when it happened he really didn't look pleased about it at all.

[IM-LOST-WITH-LOST]

Maybe the swan did something more? I mean we never really got an explanation as to what it does, we just know its a giant magnet that will destroy the world when powered up. If kelvin and the other residents of the swan were Dharma, then perhaps Ben and co. couldn't get into the hatch to try and detonante the magnet? I'm not sure why but why else would ben tell locke that it doesnt work. I doubt it was reverse psycology as Ben knows how easy Locke can be manipulated

[E Pluribus Unum]

I've always believed that Ben went to the Swan, with it's eventual explosion in mind, so that it would give him a 'distraction' to use to pull the plug on the comms himself..

Think about how Ben works: he keeps a submarine around to give people the illusion that they can leave, but then, under the cover of John Locke, does nothing to stop him blowing it up - Bang. Ben gets rid of his problem and it's not his fault...

Now remember a few episodes into season 3, I think it was Tom that said "When the sky turned purple, we lost all comms.." - well, not all comms, but all external communications (i.e. The Looking Glass).
In my opinion, Ben had Bonnie and Greta cut the comms when the sky turned purple. I don't actually think the Swan did anything of note (except, maybe, concentrate the electromagnet)...

I think the most interesting point here (presuming that theory is right) is how did Ben know? How did Ben know that he needed to cut the comms; Why now? Seems a bit of a coincidence to cut the communications just, what, a couple of weeks before Naomi floats in with a radio.

Are the two connected? Did Ben's cutting the comms with (whoever) instigate Naomi's crews 'suspicions'?

Or did Ben's "cutting of the comms" cause the outside world to merely 'see' the Island for a moment (like Penny's boys)?

I dunno..

[-x-madegurl-x-]

i think he did something, i don't think he pressed the buttons in as locke asked, but he pressed some buttons in to create what locke saw on the wall.