you'll never know how great a threat they were." Locke

Hmmm . . . any thoughts on why Locke says "were" instead of are? :confused:

I thought that was strange, too, but I can't think of a reason why he would say that. Maybe it has something to do with the whole time-travel thing??? Who knows.

you'll never know how great a threat they were." Locke

Hmmm . . . any thoughts on why Locke says "were" instead of are? :confused:


Wasn't it Ben that said that?

Wasn't it Ben that said that?

Yes! I meant to write Ben. Too much LOST for me. :biggrin:

it's almost as if he knows they will defeat the freighties.

Could he be alluding to all the knowledge he has of the island and how he's told Locke he could "show" him things he could never imagine? If he's dead maybe all the island secrets will die with him?

or he could be saying were because the biggest threat to the island was Dharma who WERE on the island till Ben purged them all. I think they are part of Dharma and that's why Ben uses past tense. It makes perfect sense. Anything else makes no sense because why would these people be considered a past threat but not a current threat? Simple answer is Dharma is no longer a threat because aisde from these four no one else is on the island. Were means all the people who were killing the natives, who Ben purged.

Or, it could be because their main purpose for coming to the island was for Ben. Once Ben is eliminated, the freighties no longer have any real purpose for being on the island, hence they 'were' a threat, but they would no longer be a threat at that point.

Whoa, whoa, reading too much into this.

When someone is using the future tense, events preceding the time of the future verb are referred to in the past tense. It's just proper English.

Alternate example: "I will meet you downtown, and we'll each have walked 2 miles."

I always have to keep in mind that Ben is a consummate liar; nothing that he says
can be assumed to be true.

I always have to keep in mind that Ben is a consummate liar; nothing that he says
can be assumed to be true.

LOL, me too. I don't put stock in much of what he says until I see it on the show.

Whoa, whoa, reading too much into this.

When someone is using the future tense, events preceding the time of the future verb are referred to in the past tense. It's just proper English.

Alternate example: "I will meet you downtown, and we'll each have walked 2 miles."

This is exactly how I was hearing it when watching the show. It never occurred to me to even think twice about his wording until I saw this thread :) I think it is just Ben's way of speaking.