from another thread:

I'm not so sure that's the implication. Ben said, "we're the good guys, Michael", and didn't rule out another group as the bad guys. We don't know their relationship to DHARMA, to interests outside the island, to other potential hostiles/others on the island. I've kind of assumed there was a worse "bad guy" lurking out there.

Yeah - many people seem to be assuming that Ben saying "we're the good guys" implied "and you're the bad guys". I don't think so, and agree that there is likely another group of people on the island - the people who are still a part of the dharma initiative.

The "Others" seemingly led by Ben are, I'd guess, folks who used to be a part of dharma, but are no longer. After all, Jack asked Juliette "So you people are just whatever is left over of them?" And Juliette responded "That was a long time ago. It doesn't matter, who we were. It only matters, who we are."

I think that there's still a group that ~is~ a part of dharma, who are still working the hatches, and that perhaps mr eyepatch (seen on the screen in the pearl station) is one of them. If you remember the episode when the tail section folks find the hatch that they take refuge in, there was a box in there that they opened. Inside was a bible that had the cut section of the orientation video, AND a glass eye.

After all, both Kelvin and Desmond made reference to "the hostiles"...ben & co.? Ben and the others don't seem to have had anything to do with them for the three years that Desmond was in the hatch.

And, when Locke was trapped under the door, ben went and pushed the button, but later when he was discovered not to be Henry Gale he told Locke that he ~didn't~, and that nothing had happened. He put the initial doubt into Locke that was cinched up when Locke saw the pearl video. And after uncovering his ears, he didn't even seem phased when the hatch blew and the sky turned violet.

So, if we were to ponder that there may be a group on the island of Dharma people, who are "the bad guys", perhaps the Others seemingly led by Ben feel their ways and means are justified in regards to waht they must do to counter them.

Worth pondering.

This theory has been floating around for some time. Whether or not there is another group on the Island, good or evil, I don't know if I can be convinced that the Others are good guys after all they have done. There might be an even more malevolent force on the Island, but the Others still need to learn some manners.

I agree to some extent, but I think you have to look at it from the perspective of what they believe to be good. I mean, we all have a certain way of thinking on which our actions are based. It's the whole "greater good" thing. It's all over, throughout history. People in some parts of the world think that way people in the United States live is disgusting, although many US citizens probably would disagree. Who's right? It's all based on the filter through which you see the world. To say The Others (whoever the real "others" are) are good or bad is a somewhat simplistic viewpoint, imo.

the others...its complicated

I don't agree with the idea in this thread that there is another group on the island that the others consider "the bad guys." There's absolutely no proof for it.

Akham's (sp?) Razor dicates that all things being equal the simplest conclusion must be the correct one. Now we know all things aren't equal in Lost, but we still have no evidence of other others.

Also, last night Karl stated that the others lived on the same island as the Losties. Karl also said they had back yards. As we saw from the opening show of this season they have a nice little community that resembles anywhere USA.

Until I see something more concrete there's no reason to believe in a third group.

If there's another group of people on this island... island chain...whatever, I think I'll cry. There are too many questions about the ones we already have!

Well, at the very least, there's still the eye patch man and Rousseau that are outside of the "others" and the Losties. There might well be more.

Especially given that the whispers have never been fully explained.

I don't agree with the idea in this thread that there is another group on the island that the others consider "the bad guys." There's absolutely no proof for it.

Akham's (sp?) Razor dicates that all things being equal the simplest conclusion must be the correct one. Now we know all things aren't equal in Lost, but we still have no evidence of other others.

...Except for the aforementioned Desmond/Kelvin "hostiles" reference. Kelvin told that to Desmond 3 years before the plane ever crashed.

So, if you've got just the one group on the island, who are the hostiles?