Okay, I don’t think time travel is as much fun as my own pet time theory, but I now have to seriously consider it.
When we saw Ben land on his back in the middle of the Sahara Desert in Tunisia, was it a flash forward? Or is that where he went when he ran back into his little panic room tunnel while his house was under siege from Captain Keamy and the Kahana crew?
If I recall correctly, there was no whoosh sound when Ben first appeared in the desert.
This would be very interesting for many reasons.
Ben asks the Tunisian hotel clerk for the date, including the year. It would seem that he’s used to showing up in unexpected places in the time/space continuum.
If Ben’s trip is in “real time” with the episode – at least partially, because I think we did get a whooshing sound later on, perhaps after he reappeared in the house? – this is very telling. Then he would know that Sayid lives and makes it off the island before October 24, 2005.
I made a flip remark about The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe while I was watching the episode, but the time compression seen in the Narnia trips could hold true for Ben’s little jaunts… If he stayed in Tunisia long enough to hear about (or orchestrate) Nadia’s murder, he could make a little stop in Tikrit to gain Sayid’s loyalty… and still be back in time for his little showdown with Captain Keamy, resulting in the preventable death of his pseudo-daughter Alex.
The only issue with this line of thought is his midnight visit to Charles Widmore at the end. Perhaps that was a separate trip and truly a flash forward?
