It's just occurred to me... how long ago do you think 'the purge' was? Because what just hit me is that Kelvin certainly seemed to have been the genuine, recruited-by-Dharma article, complete with calling the island inhabitants 'the hostiles'. And we know he turned up on the island sometime after the Gulf War, yes? Meanwhile, Juliet was recruited by Ben in 2001, and she certainly didn't seem to have been among the first.

I presume the so-called hostiles didn't know about the Swan station, but Kelvin must've arrived on-island back when Dharma was still active, I should think.... So, does that put the purge sometime in the mid-90's, maybe?

I think Ben was supposed to have just come of age when that happened - it looked like the first time he put on the Dharma uniform to me. So, maybe he was supposed to be 21 (not that he looked it, lol!)... He came to the island around 10 years old.. So I'm guessing it was earlier than that, like in the early 1980s.

The Purge :Was it all Ben's idea ?


I notice Ben already seemed to have a position of authority by the time of the Purge - Richard asked him what to do about Roger's body. And the fact that the Purge occurred on Ben's birthday suggests perhaps he was at least involved in the planning it. Do you think the purge was orchestrate by Ben, as a way to become the leader of the island?

comment, views, opinions are welcome

I think when Richard asked Ben about retrieving his dad's body, it was more a respect thing, thinking Ben wouldn' t want to do it. (Then of course, Ben is in true form when he basically says, let him sit and rot).

I think the Others had planned on taking over the Dharma group prior to Ben meeting Richard. Richard may have seen something in Ben that he thought would be useful to his own group someday. He said "You will have to be very very patient," so it must have been in the planning for a while. Ben was probably in on how it would be done, and probably met with Richard occasionally, or frequently, in the years in between their first meeting and the "purge." Just imo.

From the way that Ben seem so authoritive during that scene, I thought it was Ben's idea. I'm sure he tricked Richard into believing it was his idea, the master of manipulaton Ben is.

That's a good point. Alex said as much herself. (I can't remember to whom now)

I think Ben was supposed to have just come of age when that happened - it looked like the first time he put on the Dharma uniform to me. So, maybe he was supposed to be 21 (not that he looked it, lol!)... He came to the island around 10 years old.. So I'm guessing it was earlier than that, like in the early 1980s.

I think it was more that he knew it was the LAST time he'd put on a Dharma suit. His dad said something about him usually being chatty in the morning, which means he had already been living as a workman.

I think it was all of the "Hostiles" (Alpert and crew) that orchestrated he purge.
Ben was the mole. He checked his watch a few seconds before 4pm then made his move with the gas mask and gas.
It was probably Ben's idea to take care of his father alone for 2 reasons:
1. Why not, after years of verbal BS
2. If the purge was a failure at least Ben wouldn't appear to his Dharma people as a traitor.

For the whole Kelvin / Swan thing, could it be that the hostiles simply 'forgot' about Kelvin or didn't know about him? When Ben infiltrated the hatch, he didn't know about the button and certainly didn't think it was real. He didn't understand the significance of it at all. The experiments going on on the island could have been conducted at different levels of security, with Kelvin being high on the list. Few people could have know about it, or the real reason why he had to be completely sequestered inside the hatch. Ergo, the hostiles invade, kill everyone they can find and think they are completed purged, blissfully unaware that one little Dharma worker remains inside a well hidden hatch.

For the whole Kelvin / Swan thing, could it be that the hostiles simply 'forgot' about Kelvin or didn't know about him? When Ben infiltrated the hatch, he didn't know about the button and certainly didn't think it was real. He didn't understand the significance of it at all. The experiments going on on the island could have been conducted at different levels of security, with Kelvin being high on the list. Few people could have know about it, or the real reason why he had to be completely sequestered inside the hatch. Ergo, the hostiles invade, kill everyone they can find and think they are completed purged, blissfully unaware that one little Dharma worker remains inside a well hidden hatch.

Seems likely, but the only problem I see is if you remember in season 2, Ben entered the numbers in Lockdown. A couple of episodes later, he told John he didn't enter the numbers. That seems to imply to me he knew something was going on, unless he was totally just trying to screw with John's head.

ben didn't necessarily plan on taking care of his father alone. his dad invited him to go have a beer unexpectedly and thats why they were up there alone.
plus maybe the others didn't know about the swan and neither did ben? like part of dharma was mind experiments, but it was important to press the button for whatever reason so the dharma people didn't make it known to everyone.
plus maybe didn't know about all the parts since he was just a workman also

ben didn't necessarily plan on taking care of his father alone. his dad invited him to go have a beer unexpectedly and thats why they were up there alone.
plus maybe the others didn't know about the swan and neither did ben? like part of dharma was mind experiments, but it was important to press the button for whatever reason so the dharma people didn't make it known to everyone.
plus maybe didn't know about all the parts since he was just a workman also

To me it seemed like Ben was loading up the van with his dad and heading over to the hatch to make a delivery together. I think at 4:00 the plan was to be executed, it just happened to be afterwards at the look out point. I wasn't suggesting it was Ben's idea to bring him to that exact location. I would think that Ben knows his dads schedule and plans pretty well, which would allow him to ensure a good time for the purge to take place.

For the whole Kelvin / Swan thing, could it be that the hostiles simply 'forgot' about Kelvin or didn't know about him? When Ben infiltrated the hatch, he didn't know about the button and certainly didn't think it was real. He didn't understand the significance of it at all. The experiments going on on the island could have been conducted at different levels of security, with Kelvin being high on the list. Few people could have know about it, or the real reason why he had to be completely sequestered inside the hatch. Ergo, the hostiles invade, kill everyone they can find and think they are completed purged, blissfully unaware that one little Dharma worker remains inside a well hidden hatch.


Well...What if....

"Kelvin" was a "plant"?

Remember Inman was in Iraq during the 1st Gulf War recruiting Sayid in the early 90's...then cut to 3 years BEFORE the crash...there he is again...rescuing Desmond from the beach and taking him back to the Swan...in 2001. My theory is Chuck Widmore wanted Des out of Penny's life so badly...that he knew there was ONE place in the entire world Des would never be able to escape from...the island. Widmore sponsors a boat race, that he counts on Desmond wanting to to enter to "prove his worth" to ask for Penny's hand in marriage..The race's path convienently will take Des on a crash course with the island...Then, he recruits Inman...posing as "Kelvin", a Dharmite...LONG after the purge actually occurred. I think the 3 years Inman spent with Des in that hatch was to convince him that the button HAD to be pushed..."to save the world"...and keep Penny safe. Thus, making the Swan a "prison" that Des would never WANT to escape from.

When the time was right...he decided to "test" Des's faith in the button pushing duties....by offering him up his "repaired" sailboat as a way off the island. When Inman realized Des didn't WANT to leave...that he felt he had to get back and keep pressing that button...he knew it was safe to "fake" his own death and disappear.

I don't think Kelvin EVER worked for Dharma...as the real Dharmites had already been purged (possibly at Widmore's doing, but that's another thread)...He was just "pretending" to be a Dharmite for Des's sake. Him mentioning "the hostiles" was just another way of keeping Des safe and secure in the hatch and not out exploring the island.

Who knows...perhaps Kelvin was always wearing that gas mask & biohazard suit when he ventured out just in case the real Hostiles were to pull another purge manuver on him. But I have a feeling he was leaving the hatch to make contact with Charles Widmore.

I think it was more that he knew it was the LAST time he'd put on a Dharma suit. His dad said something about him usually being chatty in the morning, which means he had already been living as a workman.
Yeah, that sure could be true. So maybe it WAS the 90s. Maybe it was around the time Danielle's crew came, which I guess was 1988? Did they get sick from the purge?

I don't think the Purge was entirely Ben's idea, but he was certainly instrumental in carrying it out. He served as the "inside man" on the job, making it all possible. I'm sure he used this to leverage his way into a powerful position among the others.