Why did Ben return to the island when he wasn't supposed to? To face judgment, he tells Locke. Ben is haunted by his actions, which led to the death at Alex.
In a series of flashbacks, we see how he came to become Alex's father and learn more about his conflicts with Charles Widmore.
Widmore, as leader of the Others, it seems ordered Ben to kill Danielle, Alex's mother, because she is an interloper on the island. Ben and a young Ethan go to do the job, but aren't aware Danielle has a baby. Instead of killing Danielle, Ben takes the baby (Alex) and tells Danielle to stay away from the Others.
Back at the Others' camp, Widmore isn't happy about this. But Ben questions whether the island would "want" the Others' to kill an infant.
In later flashbacks, we see that Ben has supplanted Widmore as the Others' leader. Widmore--who evidently broke "rules" by repeatedly leaving the island and having a daughter with a woman who is an outsider--is banished from the island, taken away on the Dharma submarine.
In another flashback, we also see that Ben had tracked down Desmond and Penny before the Ajira flight and had intended to kill Penny to get back at Widmore, who's soldiers killed Alex. Desmond, however, prevents this from happening, beating the heck out of Ben and throwing him in to the ocean. This explains Ben's beat-up appearance on the flight.
Back in the present (or whatever) Locke and Ben decide they must leave the Ajira crash survivors and go to the main island. Caesar, who has assumed leadership of the group tries to stop them, but is shot dead by Ben, who has stolen a sawed-off shotgun earlier brandished by Caesar.
On the main island, Lock and Ben meet up with Sun and Frank in the otherwise abandoned Dharmaville. Sun and Frank inform them that Jack, Kate, Hurley and the rest are back in the 1970s. The ghostly Christian Shepherd told them that Locke could reunite them all. Somehow. Locke seems confident he can do so and briefly disappears into the jungle, most likely to consult with Jacob/Christian.
Frank, on the other hand, decides things are getting a bit weird, what with Locke previously having been dead and all, and goes back to rejoin the Ajira folks.
Meanwhile, Ben goes to work summoning the smoke monster, who evidently is to judge him. When the monster fails to show up, Locke brings Ben to the Others' "temple," the same spot a young Ben was saved from his gunshot wound. Ben falls into a lower level of the temple and becomes separated from Locke.
Ben then encounters the smoke monster. He sees images of his past actions and what happened to Alex as a result. Then a seemingly very alive and real Alex appears. She tells him that he must follow Locke now, he mustn't try to supplant Locke's authority. Ben seems pretty rattled and agrees to do this. When he meets up again with Locke he says the island decided to "let me live."
Back on the smaller island, we see Frank meet up with Ilana. She and another passenger, a man, have guns. Ilana asks Frank "what is in the shadow of the statue," but Frank is baffled by the question. The man with Ilana then knocks Frank out and takes him prisoner.
Questions/observations/speculation:
* What is in the shadow of the statue? Is Ilana referring to the huge four-toed Egyptian-style statue? This is a password, but for who? Widmore's people? The Others? Who is Ilana working for?
* Will Ben really follow Locke?
* If Widmore broke the rules by leaving the island repeatedly, what about Ben? We've seen that he had fake passports, etc., indicating that he did the same thing while leading the Others.
* Who is Penny's mother?
* How did Widmore come to be leader of the Others?
* What is the history of the temple? Who built it? Who is it to?
* There are Egyptian-style hieroglyphics in the temple, although the temple itself seems pretty Mayan. Are the Others part of some lost civilization? Richard, with his eyeliner look and seeming immortality may be an ancient Egyptian ruler or priest or something.
* There's a "Risk" gameboard set up in Ben's old Dharma pad. In last season's episode, "The Shape of Things to Come," Locke, Hurley, and Sawyer were seen playing the game in this same spot--before Widmore's mercenaries showed up. It's as if Dharmaville has been vacant since that time--nothing's happened there since and nobody, except for maybe ghostly Christian Shepherd has been there since.
* In a flashback, Widmore is angry at Richard Alpert for having saved Ben, but Richard says Jacob "wanted" Ben to be saved. Is this true? Why?
* How will Locke bring Sun back to the 70s? Can he bring Ben, since Ben already exists on the island in that time period?
* Ben tells Sun that "dead is dead." But Locke seems pretty lively. Was he resurrected, or is he a ghost?
Also see:
See a preview for next week's episode: "Some Like it Hoth."
What we STILL don't know.
Previous episodes:
* 5.1/5.2: "Because You Left" and "The Lie"
* 5.3: "Jughead"
*5.4: "The Little Prince"
* 5.5: "This Place is Death"
* 5.6: "316"
* 5.7: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
* 5.8: "LaFleur"
* 5.9: "Namaste"
* 5.10: "He's Our You"
* 5.11: "Whatever Happened Happened"
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