There is no magic box, it is just a room. Anthony Cooper is not a manifestation of a smokey or something else -- that is him, in flesh and blood, bound in that chair. Ben Linus has no more magical powers than the Wizard of Oz pulling levers and pushing buttons to create an illusion. Henry Gale, the Wizard's name, was a real appropo alias for Ben Linus. He is the biggest con-man around. He may have even conned the biggest con-man this side of the Island, Anthony Cooper, to get him on the Island.

Ben Linus, the charlatan, is in awe of John Locke. Because John Locke is the real McCoy.

Am I wrong?


char·la·tan [shahr-luh-tn] –noun. a person who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.

There is no magic box, it is just a room. Anthony Cooper is not a manifestation of a smokey or something else -- that his him, in flesh and blood, bound in that chair. Ben Linus has no more magical powers than the Wizard of Oz pulling levers and pushing buttons to create an illusion. Henry Gale, the Wizard's name, was a real appropo alias for Ben Linus. He is the biggest con-man around. He may have even conned the biggest con-man this side of the Island, Anthony Cooper, to get him on the Island.

Ben Linus, the charlatan, is in awe of John Locke. Because John Locke is the real McCoy.

Am I wrong?

honestly, i hope you are. i want more of the fantastic, the extraordinary. i hope there is a "box", and it does produce any thing for the user.

BUT, what you said is more likely the case. unfortunately.

and i am also declaring ben a charlatan. either it is a real-life trait of the actor who plays ben (Michael Emerson) that makes it seem like he is full of it, or the character ben is being played as if he is full of it. whatever the case, IMO, ben linus said nothing but lies all the time.

honestly, i hope you are. i want more of the fantastic, the extraordinary. i hope there is a "box", and it does produce any thing for the user.

BUT, what you said is more likely the case. unfortunately.....

....IMO, ben linus said nothing but lies all the time.

Keep that chin up! There will be more of the extraodinary and fantastic. It just won't be of Ben Linus' doing. The only extraordinary thing about Ben is how extra-ordinary he is. I hate to return to the Wizard of Oz parallel since Lost is inspired by so many different works, but Ben is like the Wizard in that the land is full of amazing happenings and he seems to get the credit for them when they, in fact, would still occur even if there never was a Ben Linus.

Ben Linus? He's been lying to us. Thats why his name sounds like a slurred version of that very phrase. But, somewhat in his defense, I will say that he doesn't always overtly lie, he just quietly lets people come to their own erroneous conclusions. We've got to think how many lies he squarely peg to el fraudo Ben Linus.

honestly, i hope you are. i want more of the fantastic, the extraordinary. i hope there is a "box", and it does produce any thing for the user.

BUT, what you said is more likely the case. unfortunately.

and i am also declaring ben a charlatan. either it is a real-life trait of the actor who plays ben (Michael Emerson) that makes it seem like he is full of it, or the character ben is being played as if he is full of it. whatever the case, IMO, ben linus said nothing but lies all the time.

yeah,but thankfully,the TPTB ve confirmed that theres no box !so ,there!man,that d be rad!a big box with a polka bow on top!and everytime something pops out ,it does with a big ''bop''!

Henry Gale, the Wizard's name, was a real appropo alias for Ben Linus.


I don't want to stir up trouble here, but it should be pointed out that Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle. In The Wizard of Oz (the movie) the Wizard was paralled by Professor Marvel (the charletan fortune-teller) that Dorothy meets up with before the tornado. Thus Henry Gale does not equal The Wizard of Oz, but for sure the Oz references in the series abound.

FYI, from Wikipedia about the Oz books:

After their house was famously carried off to the land of Oz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Oz) by a cyclone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone) in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz), Henry mortgaged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage) his farm in order to rebuild. This crisis, combined with the stress of Dorothy's prolonged disappearance and sudden reappearance, took a toll on his health, and his doctor ordered him to take a vacation. He took Dorothy with him on an ocean voyage to Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia), where he had relatives, but during this trip (in Ozma of Oz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozma_of_Oz)) Dorothy was lost again during a storm, and for several weeks Henry believed she had drowned (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning), until she suddenly returned again, courtesy of the Nome King's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nome_King) Magic Belt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Belt).
In The Emerald City of Oz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emerald_City_of_Oz), Henry and Em finally confessed to Dorothy the extent of their financial problems, and revealed to her that their farm was on the verge of foreclosure. Dorothy solved this problem for them by bringing them to live with her in the Emerald City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_City), as permanent guests of Princess Ozma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Ozma). Henry was given the job of being Keeper of the Jewels in Ozma's treasure hoard for the purpose of keeping him occupied.
Uncle Henry has been featured slightly more than Aunt Em in the Oz books, despite being less featured than Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_%281939_film%29).
thought this might be interesting...

I don't want to stir up trouble here, but it should be pointed out that Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle. In The Wizard of Oz (the movie) the Wizard was paralled by Professor Marvel (the charletan fortune-teller) that Dorothy meets up with before the tornado. Thus Henry Gale does not equal The Wizard of Oz, but for sure the Oz references in the series abound.

FYI, from Wikipedia about the Oz books:
thought this might be interesting...


it IS interesting,yes.but shouldnt we stop with all this ''OZ'' streak,already?the TPTB are laughing at us..they keep joking about watching lost and playing the movie on the background just like dark sad of the moon by pink floyd..i mean,i think we gotta put an end to all the wizard of oz madness.:undecide:

Plus the penultimate episode is called

The Man Behind The Curtain