In season one she said she had never seen them only heard them whisper, in season two she captured Ben and somehow knew he was an other and that he would lie (which I dont know how if she had never seen any of them). Now she is supposed to lead Kate and company to Otherville? i guess lots could have happened off screen but if not, then in season one, when Sayid asked if there were other people she should have said yes, they have a town on the other side of the island. am I missing anything or what??

Maybe all this time Danielle has really been an "Other", the mole in the Losties camp everyone has been looking for.

I am not one of the conspiracy theorists who thinks Danielle IS an Other, but I think she knows more than she lets onto at any given point.

yeah I dont think shes an other but something about her story is not adding up.

You haven't missed anything, bears. I have a feeling that Danielle knows a lot more about the Others and in fact could be one of them. I think Kate went to her because she pieced together that Alex is her daughter and also knows that Danielle has some tracking skills as well as skill with explosives.

Oops! Three of us were posting at the same time and so ignore the spoiler thingy.

She's been on the island 16 years, and she's never had a run in with them?
Why?
I'm not buying that.
I don't buy that she is an other,
though she could have been out casted and 'marked' the way Juliette was

She knows the most about the island, and is a logical choice for help.

p.s. I love her endless ammo supply:rolleyes:

i guess Kate never said take me to otherville, she said you know this island better than anyone, so maybe there is no contridiction but still, how could she not know about them, unless she never went and looked for Alex or is an other (former or current).

Two options.

Danielle is an Other

She was married to Ben (before Juliet) and they had Alex together.
Her voice is on the radio as part of her official duties, or changing the signal got her in trouble with the Others.
She ran away, abandoning Alex, and has been on the lam ever since.
She made up the story about the research ship and baby abduction to cover her shame about abandoning her daughter. This makes sense, as she incorporates a lot of the lies that Dharma tells people as a matter of course. (There's an infection on the island, for example.)
She kidnapped Aaron as a surrogate Alex. Saying she was going to make a trade was just a cover.
Ben voluntarily gave himself to Danielle and convinced her to have her turn him over to the Losties as part of his bid to get Jack. Obviously, he did not promise to give her or let her see Alex, so what did he promise?


Danielle is not an Other

Her research ship story is true.
Alex was kidnapped as a baby and raised by Ben as his daughter.
The Others' community is well guarded, and Danielle was never able to get close enough to see the Others or hear more than whispers.
She's been totally honest, even though her story is far-fetched (but no more far-fetched thnan other people's stories).

I like the "she is marked like Juliet" theory. Over all, though, while I may not feel she is completely otherish, I definitely agree that she knows more than she lets on. Classic example would be when she caught Ben and handed him over to Sayid. "He will never stop lying to you." How did she know? Just automatically assumes that everyone she catches in the jungle is a liar?

I've always assumed that Danielle was lying when she told Sayid she'd never seen Others on the island. She wasn't sure at that point whether he himself was an Other, and she was keeping her cards close to her chest.
Personally, I believe her story about Robert and the disease and the research vessel, but I don't believe that she's never seen another person on the island. Maybe she was lying...maybe it had been so long that she convinced herself she's alone.

The biggest problem with what she told Sayid is the fact that she named her baby Alex, and Ben kept that name when he "adopted" her. How would the Others know the given name of the baby without making contact with Danielle?

The biggest problem with what she told Sayid is the fact that she named her baby Alex, and Ben kept that name when he "adopted" her. How would the Others know the given name of the baby without making contact with Danielle?

Fantastic point!

Doesn't Kate think Jack and the Others are on the small island?

If so, Kate would not need Danielle to lead them to the Others. Kate already "knows" where the Others are. Kate probably just needs help (and Danielle's gun & skills) to rescue Jack.

Fantastic point!

Of course, the Others could have easily known Walt's name just by listening to Michael running around in the jungle shouting "Waaaaaalt!" Maybe they took the baby, and Danielle ran around in the jungle yelling "Alex!!!!" and they heard her and said "hmmm...Alex, eh? Good name. Let's use it."

A little birdie told me that

one of Danielle's teammates may have survived and become a high ranking figure among the others

Doesn't Kate think Jack and the Others are on the small island?

If so, Kate would not need Danielle to lead them to the Others. Kate already "knows" where the Others are. Kate probably just needs help (and Danielle's gun & skills) to rescue Jack.

Kate knows that the Others are the same island as they are, that's why she wants Rousseau's help locating them.

what I always just assumed with Lost, after watching the Season 2 finale, was that someone was ALWAYS in the woods, just out of sight watching the Loasties. Who's to say they aren't doing the same with Danielle.

And do you think they don't know when someone knew comes to the island. They seemed to almost know about the plan crash, but didn't. Like they knew someone was going to land on the island but not when, or in what.

How did the others know about Alex's name, I submit this to the collective:

How did they know Walt's name?
How did they know Henry Gale's name?

They had people watch them for the 2 months danielle and her team got to the island. They watched and collected data. its what any good researcher would do.

just my 3 cents...

Doesn't Kate think Jack and the Others are on the small island?

Yes, but she knows they don't live there - they merely conduct "projects" there, according to Karl.

And do you think they don't know when someone knew comes to the island. They seemed to almost know about the plan crash, but didn't. Like they knew someone was going to land on the island but not when, or in what.

Don't forget that the Others did not know about Desmonds boat. Ben was quite shocked when he found that out.

Getting back to Danielle (and keeping in mind that her elevator doesn't even make it to the 2nd floor, nevermind the top floor), she probably does not know where the Other's village is. I think that she knows more than lets on and has probably seen other Dharma stations and buildings, but not Pleasantville (my brother starting calling Otherville that and I quite like it). We still do not know what the "dark area" is and it is possible that the Others live there.

I've always assumed that Danielle was lying when she told Sayid she'd never seen Others on the island. She wasn't sure at that point whether he himself was an Other, and she was keeping her cards close to her chest.
Personally, I believe her story about Robert and the disease and the research vessel, but I don't believe that she's never seen another person on the island. Maybe she was lying...maybe it had been so long that she convinced herself she's alone.

The biggest problem with what she told Sayid is the fact that she named her baby Alex, and Ben kept that name when he "adopted" her. How would the Others know the given name of the baby without making contact with Danielle?

The "disease": Des believed that he had to give himself shots and could not go out into the open air unprotected: This turned out to be false.
Why would Danielle assume that there was a disease on the island without contact from anyone else?
Didn't she say she killed all of her crew members because of the disease?
Wacko if you ask me.

This just came to me: If Ben didn't know about Des's boat, then he clearly has no contact with any of the hatches (or Patchy), or he would have been notified, yes?

With regards to the name of the baby, we don't know how old Alex was when she was taken. I agree that the research group was probably watched very closely; figureing out the baby's name probably wasn't too hard.
But out of all the children that they're "giving a better life too" why did Ben chose to make Alex his daughter?

The biggest problem with what she told Sayid is the fact that she named her baby Alex, and Ben kept that name when he "adopted" her. How would the Others know the given name of the baby without making contact with Danielle?

Assuming Danielle was not an Other and she was telling the truth, it's probable that the Others had infiltrated Danielle's group as they infiltrated the Losties. The infiltrator likely learned that Danielle was going to name he child Alex.

When they came and abducted Alex, they also probably assumed she would die of the disease like her companions had. So they kept the baby's name out of respect for her mother's dying wish. Only later, when they found out Danielle had survived the plague, it was too lateto change her name.

Heck, Danielle may have cried out for "Alex!" when they came and ripped her from her mother's arms and that's how they knew the name.


Frankly, having thought about it, I find it more believable if Danielle is an Other on the lam (and Ben's first ex-wife), but I suspect Danielle will in fact be a castaway.
100%
Don't forget that the Others did not know about Desmonds boat. Ben was quite shocked when he found that out.

Technically, he was shocked they had a functioning boat. My guess is Inman was an Other (but stranded by Smoky from the other Others) and at some point told Ben about the new recruit. What Inman didn't tell Ben was that Desmond's boat was salvagable.

With regards to the name of the baby, we don't know how old Alex was when she was taken.

She was one week old.

from Solitary:
"The baby and I were together for only one week when I saw black smoke -- a pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came -- they came and took her -- Alex. They took my baby."

Two options.

Danielle is an Other

She was married to Ben (before Juliet) and they had Alex together.
Her voice is on the radio as part of her official duties, or changing the signal got her in trouble with the Others.
She ran away, abandoning Alex, and has been on the lam ever since.
She made up the story about the research ship and baby abduction to cover her shame about abandoning her daughter. This makes sense, as she incorporates a lot of the lies that Dharma tells people as a matter of course. (There's an infection on the island, for example.)
She kidnapped Aaron as a surrogate Alex. Saying she was going to make a trade was just a cover.
Ben voluntarily gave himself to Danielle and convinced her to have her turn him over to the Losties as part of his bid to get Jack. Obviously, he did not promise to give her or let her see Alex, so what did he promise?
Danielle is not an Other

Her research ship story is true.
Alex was kidnapped as a baby and raised by Ben as his daughter.
The Others' community is well guarded, and Danielle was never able to get close enough to see the Others or hear more than whispers.
She's been totally honest, even though her story is far-fetched (but no more far-fetched thnan other people's stories).


Excellant summation! I've maintained ever since the end of Season II that Danielle was at one time an Other, that her supposed "scientific research team" was actually the Others, and that she had some sort of psychotic reaction to whatever sort of stuff they do to people, and ended up flipping out and living on her own out in the jungle for 16 years. I don't believe a lot of the things she has said - they don't add up. I think that she is afraid of the Others because it's part of her psychosis.

I'm really not sure what to make of Danielle. Before Season Three, I totally believed her despite some evidence that suggested she may have fabricated her story (she knew where to rescue Claire, the whole baby stealing incident). Then I saw how out in the open the Others are living. This has made me think that Danielle should not be trusted.

Kate does not think Danielle knows where the Others live. But Danielle is familar with a large part of the island where the Others do not live. If Kate went out to search on her own she would have to search almost the entire island. With Danielle joining her they eliminate all of the area Danielle is familar with and has seached. That gives Kate a giant head start on her search.

I have always wondered about Alex still being named Alex. I thouhgt perhaps it was one of those suspension of disbelief things so we would be clued into the possibility. However just as with Walt we have a person who was running through the jungle calling for the child by name. There is nothing to stop the Others using that name for the abducted child.

excellent points, I dont think Danielle and Ben were ever together because she A. would have probably killed him with that arrow, when she captured him, I know thats what I would do with the person who stole me child or B. she would have said I know he's lying because he's Alex's father.

excellent points, I dont think Danielle and Ben were ever together because she A. would have probably killed him with that arrow, when she captured him, I know thats what I would do with the person who stole me child or B. she would have said I know he's lying because he's Alex's father.


A: How about this take on it: Ben forced Danielle to cooperate with him in his plot to infiltrate the Swan and make it seem as if Danielle had captured him. He used the threat of harming Alex if she didn't comply (or some sort of threat involving Alex). She grudgingly agreed to go along with it, but plinked him in the shoulder with her crossbow just to settle the score. If they were both Alex's biological parents, she still might have some feelings for him. And perhaps it was Danielle who left the Others, not the other way around...

B: She was going along with Ben in trying to fool the Survivors into believing Ben was captured instead of him wanting to use Danielle to get him into the Swan.

Why did Ben want to get into the Swan? To destroy it. Why didn't he do this before? Because Desmond, Radzinsky, Inman and other prior residents were armed to the teeth and knew who Ben was and would not have allowed him to enter the Hatch. So once the former residents had gone, and the Survivors did not know who he was, he used the opportunity to get into it and sow the seeds of doubt in Locke that would later bear fruit after Ben had left (and got clear of any explosion) so that Locke would destroy the Swan. If you notice at the dock when the sky turns purple, Ben is the only person who is not surprised.

Summation: Danielle was an Other at one time, and probably left them because she went kookoo. Just my theory... take it or leave it.

She was one week old.

from Solitary:
"The baby and I were together for only one week when I saw black smoke -- a pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came -- they came and took her -- Alex. They took my baby."


I find this comment to be interesting in it's wording. Danielle doesn't say 'Alex was one week old' or 'I had just given birth to Alex and then one week later she was taken...', she says 'the baby and I were together for one week before she was taken'.

Alex may have been seperated from Danielle prior to her abduction due to the disease or some other circumstances. Alex may have been older when she was taken. A child can be 2 years old and a mother will still call them their baby.

I really like the theory below about Danielle being an other but we really haven't had any evidence to back it up. I still will keep it in my mind that she is an other just like I always knew the people who were taken from the tailies were still alive even though we were never told for sure until last week's episode.

I do wonder, how she has an endless supply of ammo, though?!?:ohwell:


Two options.

Danielle is an Other

She was married to Ben (before Juliet) and they had Alex together.
Her voice is on the radio as part of her official duties, or changing the signal got her in trouble with the Others.
She ran away, abandoning Alex, and has been on the lam ever since.
She made up the story about the research ship and baby abduction to cover her shame about abandoning her daughter. This makes sense, as she incorporates a lot of the lies that Dharma tells people as a matter of course. (There's an infection on the island, for example.)
She kidnapped Aaron as a surrogate Alex. Saying she was going to make a trade was just a cover.
Ben voluntarily gave himself to Danielle and convinced her to have her turn him over to the Losties as part of his bid to get Jack. Obviously, he did not promise to give her or let her see Alex, so what did he promise?
Danielle is not an Other

Her research ship story is true.
Alex was kidnapped as a baby and raised by Ben as his daughter.
The Others' community is well guarded, and Danielle was never able to get close enough to see the Others or hear more than whispers.
She's been totally honest, even though her story is far-fetched (but no more far-fetched thnan other people's stories).

Actually, technically, there are three options, based on what we currently know.

Danielle was never an Other
Her research ship story is true.
Alex was kidnapped as a baby and raised by Ben as his daughter.
The Others' community is well guarded, and Danielle was never able to get close enough to see the Others or hear more than whispers.
She's been totally (or almost totally) honest, even though her story is far-fetched (but no more far-fetched thnan other people's stories). Danielle was an Other but is not any Longer

She was married to Ben (before Juliet) and they had Alex together.
Her voice is on the radio as part of her official duties, or changing the signal got her in trouble with the Others.
She ran away, abandoning Alex, and has been on the lam ever since.
She made up the story about the research ship and baby abduction to cover her shame about abandoning her daughter. This makes sense, as she incorporates a lot of the lies that Dharma tells people as a matter of course. (There's an infection on the island, for example.)
She kidnapped Aaron as a surrogate Alex. Saying she was going to make a trade was just a cover.
Ben voluntarily gave himself to Danielle and convinced/manipulated her to have her turn him over to the Losties as part of his bid to get Jack. Obviously, he did not promise to give her or let her see Alex, so what did he promise?Danielle Is Still An Other

After the plane crashed, Ben sends Danielle into the woods to keep an eye on something of importance there. Her cover story is the "I was a researcher and I'm crazy because I killed my team." She let Sayid escape to spread the tale of the Others and prevent Sayid from continuing on his journey circumnavigating the island.
Her voice on the radio is a lure to give her story credibility.
The Others don't want anybody going after them so Danielle tells everyone the Others do crazy crap like stealing babies. She uses the name Alex, because there is a 16-year old amongst the Others by that name.
She takes Aaron because the Others want Aaron. Sayid catches up to her before she can rendevouz with the Others. She makes the claim about wanting to "trade" Aaron as her cover.
She goes on the trip with Claire to the medical hatch because she knows its fruitless. The Others left there weeks before.
She tells the Losties about the Black Rock because the Others want into the hatch (though we don't know why) and dynamite is the only way they will manage that.
She brings Ben to the Losties because he tells her to, so that his capture looks authentic.I think all three scenarios are likely. I like number two the best, but I suspect we're going with number one.

Why did Ben want to get into the Swan? To destroy it. Why didn't he do this before? Because Desmond, Radzinsky, Inman and other prior residents were armed to the teeth and knew who Ben was and would not have allowed him to enter the Hatch. So once the former residents had gone, and the Survivors did not know who he was, he used the opportunity to get into it and sow the seeds of doubt in Locke that would later bear fruit after Ben had left (and got clear of any explosion) so that Locke would destroy the Swan. If you notice at the dock when the sky turns purple, Ben is the only person who is not surprised.

I'm not convinced that Danielle was in on Ben's plan, but this is actually the first time I've read something that really made me consider it as a possibility. And reading this definitly solidifies the idea that Ben wanted the entering of the numbers to stop. It makes sense that he would want it to happen when he was clear of the hatch too, after seeing what happened inside the hatch in LTDA.

Interestingly, it would appear that by stopping the numbers from being entered, Ben was screwing over the rest of the Others. What was his motivation? Trapping all of his disciples on the island with no means of outside communication? To what end?

Hmmm?

I find this comment to be interesting in it's wording. Danielle doesn't say 'Alex was one week old' or 'I had just given birth to Alex and then one week later she was taken...', she says 'the baby and I were together for one week before she was taken'.

Alex may have been seperated from Danielle prior to her abduction due to the disease or some other circumstances. Alex may have been older when she was taken. A child can be 2 years old and a mother will still call them their baby.

Well, the first part of what Danielle said provides a little bit more context. I think Alex really was one week old when she was taken, though if you really want to parse Danielle's words you could probably still find reason to doubt. Here's the full quote:

"Our ship went aground on this island 16 years ago. There were 6 of us -- my team, 6. At that time I was already 7 months pregnant. I delivered the infant myself. The baby and I were together for only 1 week when I saw black smoke -- a pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came -- they came and took her -- Alex. They took my baby. "

Of course, the Others could have easily known Walt's name just by listening to Michael running around in the jungle shouting "Waaaaaalt!" Maybe they took the baby, and Danielle ran around in the jungle yelling "Alex!!!!" and they heard her and said "hmmm...Alex, eh? Good name. Let's use it."

At what point did they know Walt's name? When they abducted him from the raft, Tom only said "We have to take the boy". The first time they referred to him by name as "Walt" was after he had already been in their captivity for a while. And as Walt is teny ears old and can talk, it's not all that unreasonable for him to have told them his name.

How did they know Walt's name?

Again, WHEN did they know his name?

How did they know Henry Gale's name?

Henry had a driver's license with him.

from Solitary:
"The baby and I were together for only one week when I saw black smoke -- a pillar of black smoke 5 kilometers inland. That night they came -- they came and took her -- Alex. They took my baby."

Wasn't that the same episode that had Sayid claim
1) that Nadia was dead because of him (and we later find out in "The Greater Good" that he knew that Nadia was alive, as he was ON HIS WAY to meet her when the plane crashed)
2) that he had last seen her three years ago, and yet we find out in "Lockdown" that she has been living in Los Angeles for over four years before the plane crash (as Locke still has full use of his legs)?

Imagine, your daughter is kidnapped and you obsess about it for 16 years. You then catch an other in a net, not any ordinary other by the way, but the leader of the others. You then turn that other over to someone you knew for about two days (Sayid). You instruct Sayid not to trust that other. Then you shoot that other in the back with an arrow. Let's not forget, you previously tortured Sayid with electricity because the only thing important in your existence is recovering your dear long lost Alex. Why on earth would you then hand over Ben to Sayid? It makes no sense whatsoever. You would have tortured Ben to the extreme. You would trade Ben for Alex. You would get revenge on Ben. You would do anything except hand over your golden goose to a guy who you hardly know and who you had been torturing only weeks earlier. Makes no sense. Unless, unless, the french woman was blackmailed by Ben. But even still, finding Alex seems to be her reason to exist, and even if Ben said, "I'll kill her and you'll never see her again if you don't turn me over to Sayid," wouldn't she be smart enough to realize that this is her one and only big chance to recover Alex?

She read the script... maybe?

Wasn't that the same episode that had Sayid claim
1) that Nadia was dead because of him (and we later find out in "The Greater Good" that he knew that Nadia was alive, as he was ON HIS WAY to meet her when the plane crashed)
2) that he had last seen her three years ago, and yet we find out in "Lockdown" that she has been living in Los Angeles for over four years before the plane crash (as Locke still has full use of his legs)?

Sorry to go off topic, but I never realized this. Has this topic ever been resolved? Was Sayid lying to Danielle or does the timeline somehow allow for this?

I had the same question. From the first time we met her, Danielle has known (or at least suspected) that the Others abducted Alex. What I don't understand is that Danielle is obviously good at tracking and seems to be a decent shot with a rifle, and yet during 13 years, she's never been able to stumble upon the Others' camp? She's never gone to LOOK for the people who stole her child?

A bit of negligent writing, I think.

Ben would never have had Danielle hand him over to the Losties as an Other. He might have tried to walk up to them as crash-landed balloon pilot Henry Gale to infiltrate them, but I doubt even that, given Ethan's fate.

WAY too much of a control fetish among the Others (and especially Ben) for him to do that.

And I don't think he'd have asked for the arrow in the shoulder either.

Ben would never have had Danielle hand him over to the Losties as an Other. He might have tried to walk up to them as crash-landed balloon pilot Henry Gale to infiltrate them, but I doubt even that, given Ethan's fate.

WAY too much of a control fetish among the Others (and especially Ben) for him to do that.

And I don't think he'd have asked for the arrow in the shoulder either.

Here's my thoughts on these points you raise. Not that I'm trying to say "I'm right and you're wrong", because basically I don't know my rear end from a hole in the ground. But that never stopped me from telling people what I think, so here goes.

Point 1: Ben knew that the Losties knew of the existence of the Others, and that they had killed a couple of the Others who had infiltrated them already. So he did not want to take the risk of just showing up in their camp without any sort of an explanation other than: Hi, I'm here... Having Danielle turn him in as an Other, but then having him have a very convincing cover story, bought him the time he needed to sow the seed of discord within Locke. Ben's specialty is his ability to get people to do things he wants them to, and he knew if he could have some time with the Losties that he would be able to accomplish his goal of having one of them destroy the Swan.

Point 2: It is precisely because Ben is a control freak that he wanted to have the cover story set up of him being "captured" by Danielle. It gave him a means by which he could get inside their compound and observe them close-up.

Point 3: My theory about the arrow in the shoulder is that that was Danielle's way of evening up the score. I'm sure that if she was cooperating with Ben, it was not because she wanted to, but because she was being forced to. So once she had done her end of the bargain, she plunked the arrow into him just to get even.

Why would these control freaks simply let Danielle walk away from Otherville but they planned to execute Julie?

Why would these control freaks simply let Danielle walk away from Otherville but they planned to execute Julie?

Juliet killed an Other. Alex told Jack in "Stranger in a Strange Land" that the Others are very strict about killing their own. So far as we know, Danielle has not killed an Other.