So... Juliet got slightly more specific in describing how women who conceive on the island die. She said they experience extreme nausea, then shortness of breath, then go into a coma.

For some reason I'm suddenly wondering if they're really dying of "natural" causes or if Ben is making them die on purpose.

For some reason I'm suddenly wondering if they're really dying of "natural" causes or if Ben is making them die on purpose.

Oooh...that's a scary thought...and another way for him to keep Juliet on the island!

This is what I've been thinking in view of what Ben said to Juliet re everything he'd done to keep her there.

Well, what I learned was that a mother can conceive on island and be able to give birth off island, and that's something I wasn't sure of before.

Babies conceived before the island can be born on the island (if they have the drug CR-4815162342?).

Weird. Can't make sense of that yet.

For some reason I'm suddenly wondering if they're really dying of "natural" causes or if Ben is making them die on purpose.

Just when I thought Ben couldn't possibly get any creepier than last week...

I really don't think Ben has anything to do with this. I like the theory that Ben got Annie pregnant and she died because of the pregnancy. Ben was really close to her and this would explain his eagerness to solve this mystery. After last weeks episode, I can see why you might think Ben is up to something though.

I don't know if Ben would be so keen on solving the pregnancy problem if it were just because Annie died in childbirth.

He doesn't seem to care abbout the mothers...he even says to someone..."we'll have to get more mothers," and plans to kidnapp the woman who may be pregnant.

I get the feeling the goal of solving this problem is major, but not the only goal.

I think it may be a goal to give Jacob a body...

I'm thinking he doesn't want to recruit outsiders and instead would like to populate Othersville the natural way. Maybe to make a "worthy" society it's best to mate those who are on Jacob's list? Plus I'm sure Ben himself would like to spread his genes. It's like he's a king and he needs a son to take over the throne once he's gone. But then one can argue that the Others can mate off-island and come back. Who knows. :biggrin:

I wonder if the acceleration of time on the island (or lack thereof, ah, my head hurts) is related to the pregnancy problems. Women in their last trimester often feel very short of breath (because the baby is taking up space made for your lungs)...what if the alteration of time on the island screws up the pregnancy symptom timeline somehow?

When Juliet was describing the symptoms to Sun, I immediately thought of Watership Down (the book Sawyer was reading way back when) in which was told that when rabbits believe they're in danger, they assimilate their young, destroying the fetus. Though I'm not sure if it was written that the mommy rabbits themselves die. The rabbits on the island must be there because Juliet would have been studying this trait in them for her own research. I'm wondering why was Ben so concerned about rabbit #8 when Locke brought him dinner?

Rabbit #8 was Ben's pet rabbit.

For some reason I'm suddenly wondering if they're really dying of "natural" causes or if Ben is making them die on purpose.

...or subconsciously. That's my thought, sometimes.