If I understood correctly this episode shows that the others were wrong when they assumed the event they call "the sky turning purple" (what we know was Desmond activating the Swan Station failsafe) was what caused their communications to fail. Ben used that event to purposely disrupt their own communications for some unknown reason.

Right?

Agree.

So what you are saying is that when Desmond turned the key, Ben told the girls in the Looking Glass station to begin jamming the communication signals?

If that is true, then Ben knew that the purple sky meant something. And what was that?

This is a really interesting idea. One that I don't recall anyone else mentioning.

Well obviously people like Penny now had access to the island.
That's why Ben shut down communications.

Sky turns purple. Ben realizes that island is now visible to the outside world, or can be seen by it. Ben realizes that people are going to come and investigate. Ben orders all transmissions out of and more importantly INTO the island blocked. Basically a blackout.

I love this theory and I totally agree.

so was there anything blocking Danielle's transmission? Perhaps the magnetic anomaly?

^That's what I'd guess. I'm pretty sure Damon said in an interview after LTDA that the Island had a EM force-field-esque thing around it that cloaked it from the world.

Yes I have always wondered why Ben never really seemed too concerned with the Purple sky big huge bass noise while it was happening? It was like he covered his ears looked around and when it stopped they just continued what they were doing... no one said HEY WTH was THAT?

Now we are back to not knowing exactly what the purple sky caused on the island. But as you wrote we do know that Ben lied about what it meant. He used it to manipulate his own people. Or so it seems.

The women in the Looking Glass spoke as if they had been in that station for a long, long time. Mikhail indicated that they had been on assignment to Canada. Also, as we learned last night, Danielle's transmission was jamming the signal even when the Looking Glass was unjammed. Why wouldn't Mikhail have known this beforehand? He was in charge of communications for Ben's group. Why even allow that transmission to loop for 16 years? It seems that a lot of Ben's people were not paying attention. So maybe Ben didn't entirely lie. Maybe he just exploited weaknesses and manipulated his soldiers.

so many questions...

Sky turns purple. Ben realizes that island is now visible to the outside world, or can be seen by it. Ben realizes that people are going to come and investigate. Ben orders all transmissions out of and more importantly INTO the island blocked. Basically a blackout.

Agreed.

Good catch, this does explain a little.

No, you guys are missing a big piece of this.

Juliet said that Ben's jamming blocked all signals BUT HIS OWN. Meaning, the Others could communicate with the outside world whenever they wanted to. This was evident in "One of Us" when Mikhail was gathering information on the Losties and Richard showed Juliet her sister.

The electromagnetic disruption took out ALL radio signals, including Ben's. That's why they were talking about their comms being down in the early part of this season. However, Naomi's phone wouldn't have been affected by that, since it wasn't on the Island to be affected by the EMP. The reason her phone wouldn't work was because of the Looking Glass.

The only thing unknown at this point is why Ben didn't simply tell his people that Bonnie and Gretta were in the Looking Glass.

Here's how I see it.

Ben and the Swan: From his days at Dharma, Ben had a vague idea about the Swan. At the last "incident", while Ben was a teen, he saw the sky go purple. (Possibly, only he and Richard remember that) But otherwise, it was a fairly harmless EM Pulse. But now, in 2004, he knows that onle he understands that. (Even though Richard experienced the purple sky, as a Hostile, he had no idea what it meant.)

Looking Glass: The Looking Glass jams transmissions and uses the island's EM field to prevent satellites and other sensors from finding it and to prevent all communication with the outside world, except through it. The Looking Glass is located on the edge of the field and is the only way in or out of the Island (via sub).

Ben's Dilemma: Ben doesn't want anybody to leave the Island. Ever. He wants the Island utterly cut off from the rest of the world. He fears Hanso Foundation will return. But his followers want to know that people can leave and return, that they can communicate with the outside.

Ben Is Captured: Ben sees the button being pushed. He sows dissention. He knows if it isn't pushed, something dramatic will happen. He suspects eventually one of these yahoos is going to do something stupid. This is what he's waiting for.

Ben is Freed: Ben sends the two women to the Looking Glass and tells them that when the sky turns purple, they should begin jamming all transmissions and maintain radio silence. He tells them this means the island is under attack and silence is essential. He tells the others he sent them out on assignment to Canada.

Purple Sky: When the Swan blows up and the sky turns purple, the Looking Glass jams transmissions. Ben tells everyone that because of the Purple Sky, there was an accident at the Looking Glass and it's now uninhabitable. He also tells them the purple sky knocked out transmissions, even though it was really the Looking Glass.

The Flame: He sends Mikhail to the Flame to see if he can get around the jamming signal created by the uninhabitable Looking Glass. It is a fool's errand, though, only designed to make it look like Ben is trying to restore communications. Ben is perfectly satisfied with Locke blowing up the Flame. (Except for Ben's jealousy at Locke's closer relationship to Jacob, Ben and Locke seem to have the same goal in mind.)

In my opinion, when Ben had the chance, he was going to go to the Looking Glass himself, kill the women and never tell anybody ever about the deception. They would forever think they were isolated when, in fact, the Looking Glass was never uninhabitable.

Charlie: Of course, this all goes to pot when Charlie and Desmond end up at the Looking Glass, causing the women to break radio silence and reveal Ben's deception. The women, by the way, were in the Looking Glass for a full month, at least, if not longer.

The Others could communicate with the outside world whenever they wanted to. This was evident in "One of Us" when Mikhail was gathering information on the Losties and Richard showed Juliet her sister.

The electromagnetic disruption took out ALL radio signals, including Ben's. That's why they were talking about their comms being down in the early part of this season. However, Naomi's phone wouldn't have been affected by that, since it wasn't on the Island to be affected by the EMP. The reason her phone wouldn't work was because of the Looking Glass.

If you remember back to when Mikhail was talking to Ben, he asked "Why wouldn't you have told me this?" as if expecting to be kept closer in the loop than many of the other... well, Others.

I heard an interesting theory a while back that seems to be more and more right every time and I'm going to add a little to it. They said that the Others were actively convincing the Foundation (the part of the Hanso Foundation that is continually funding DHARMA) that DHARMA still exists and is active on the island. This is apparent by the food drops and communications to and from the island.

Remember back to the end of LTDA, the EM disturbance was picked up by Penny's crew in the Antarctic. Who's to say the disturbance wasn't picked up by anyone else? Perhaps maybe the people Naomi's ship belongs to? They've been trying to find the island by performing a grid search. Why would they be doing this if they knew where the island was? In "Enter 77", we were told that the sonar beacon was disabled. No one from the outside knows how to get to the island. Presumably, the EM disturbance did knock this out but that is, admittedly, the one weak part of my story.

Anyways, the entirety of my theory is that Naomi is part of DHARMA, sworn to keep the island secret. We all know that she is (sorry, was) playing the castaways to be able to communicate with her ship. Now that Jack has made contact with the ship, they're coming to the island... and when they find out about Ben's ruse--that DHARMA no longer exists on the island--they're not going to be very happy... probably why Ben's so scared.

And, an added bonus to this theory, maybe this is why Jack was so distraught in the flash forward. Maybe his impulsive, bull-headed actions that he believed to be helping everyone get off the island, in fact, caused something a lot worse to happen, leading to his survivor's guilt.

No i don't think that Ben used the sky turning purple totally as a communications mask. I think that the sky turning purple knocked out the sonar ping that was used to guide the submarine in. The communications were jammed anyway with Ben's 2 girls in the looking glass.

I think that Ben did partially lie about it as he could use it as a feesable excuse but it was mainly the sonar that was knocked out

so was there anything blocking Danielle's transmission? Perhaps the magnetic anomaly?

The jamming equipment in the Looking Glass took care of that as well.

No, you guys are missing a big piece of this.

Juliet said that Ben's jamming blocked all signals BUT HIS OWN. Meaning, the Others could communicate with the outside world whenever they wanted to. This was evident in "One of Us" when Mikhail was gathering information on the Losties and Richard showed Juliet her sister.

The electromagnetic disruption took out ALL radio signals, including Ben's. That's why they were talking about their comms being down in the early part of this season. However, Naomi's phone wouldn't have been affected by that, since it wasn't on the Island to be affected by the EMP. The reason her phone wouldn't work was because of the Looking Glass.

The only thing unknown at this point is why Ben didn't simply tell his people that Bonnie and Gretta were in the Looking Glass.

So it was just coincidence that Penny's video call came in as soon as Charlie disabled the jamming? Clearly the comms gear in the Looking Glass was still working, just blocked.

And how come Penny was making avideo call to the Island? She must know a lot about the Island and how to communicate with it.

Which makes you wonder what Naomi was up to. If she wasn't with Penny, why did she have Des' picture on her and claim to be looking for him specifically.


Damn you for screwing with my head, Powers That Be!

No, you guys are missing a big piece of this.

Juliet said that Ben's jamming blocked all signals BUT HIS OWN. Meaning, the Others could communicate with the outside world whenever they wanted to. This was evident in "One of Us" when Mikhail was gathering information on the Losties and Richard showed Juliet her sister.

The electromagnetic disruption took out ALL radio signals, including Ben's. That's why they were talking about their comms being down in the early part of this season. However, Naomi's phone wouldn't have been affected by that, since it wasn't on the Island to be affected by the EMP. The reason her phone wouldn't work was because of the Looking Glass.

No, I'm not so sure. Mikhail, their communications guy, was genuinely shocked. He said Ben told him the Looking Glass was "inoperable". When he got down to the station he was further shocked to find that Ben had the women "blocking transmissions OFF the island". When he talked to Ben from the station Ben told him "everything I did I did for the island". Mikhail responded, "the island told you it was necessary for you to JAM YOUR OWN PEOPLE". Ben said, "Yes it did".

If the Swan incident was responsible for the disruption of all signals, why would Ben have the Looking Glass girls blocking signals off the island and making sure his people didn't discover he was doing so?

No, I'm not so sure. Mikhail, their communications guy, was genuinely shocked. He said Ben told him the Looking Glass was "inoperable". When he got down to the station he was further shocked to find that Ben had the women "blocking transmissions OFF the island". When he talked to Ben from the station Ben told him "everything I did I did for the island". Mikhail responded, "the island told you it was necessary for you to JAM YOUR OWN PEOPLE". Ben said, "Yes it did".

If the Swan incident was responsible for the disruption of all signals, why would Ben have the Looking Glass girls blocking signals off the island and making sure his people didn't discover he was doing so?

Yes - it's looking like Ben was using the Swan incident, the destruction of 'The Flame' and the destruction of the Submarine (both by Locke) as a ruse against his own people to isolate the island.

The question is why he wants to isolate the island. Given that his people can't reproduce that's not a great idea.

1) Ben has no problem with adoption or, apparently, celibacy. So he figures that as long as the island keeps on sucking castaways his little Jacob cult survives. Also, until her betrayal, he had faith that Juliet would fix the problem.

2) Just as an aside, Locke blew up all three: Swan, Flame and sub! I'm surprised he didn't pull down the radio tower while he was leaving! :)

I'm surprised he didn't pull down the radio tower while he was leaving! :):rotflmao2: