Richard- So many levels in this epi

[MrEchoLives]

He is the real man in charge(besides Jacob)...
When the other asked about Widmore and Ellie knowing about this, he replied" I dont answer to either of them"....Thenk he proceeds to take Ben in the temple and heal him..
Also another telling moment was when he said that young Ben would never remeber this and would lose his innocence..HUGE moment right there.Now we know how Ben got the way he is

[alicat]

He is the real man in charge(besides Jacob)...
When the other asked about Widmore and Ellie knowing about this, he replied" I dont answer to either of them"....Thenk he proceeds to take Ben in the temple and heal him..
Also another telling moment was when he said that young Ben would never remeber this and would lose his innocence..HUGE moment right there.Now we know how Ben got the way he is

I agree. Richard answers to no one (with the exception of maybe Jacob). It was great to find out what made Ben into the man he is. All along I was thinking it was a result of his childhood, glad to be proven wrong.

The temple heals, but changes people... Richard said he will become "one of us".

[TuesdaySmith]

I kind of think that Richard, Ellie and Widmore are all on the same level of power.. it would make sense since the other guy asked if he should notify them, but Richard says he doesn't answer to them. If Richard was the supreme boss (minus Jacob or whoever), and he was taking care of a situation, why would someone else think they should notify Ellie and Charles? Unless, maybe they're second in command?

[Jeremy]

I've always had the feeling that Richard only pretends to be an advisor type. He let's Charles and Ben and whoever else came before them(unless there weren't any before them) think that they are in charge when really they aren't. Kind of like how Cooper and Ben have manipulated Locke into thinking the things he's done were his ideas.

[Baibe]

I got so confused and giddy... an idea popped up in my head that Richard is the island in like a human form. Becuz he told Sawyer and Kate u told my people you wanted to see me but no radios or walkies were involved and he just popped up. Sawyer even asked him where'd you come from? Like he just appeared. So of course he would answer to no one. Just a question...

Also... is/was Ellie higher on the leader ladder than Widmore becuase they said her name first then Charles???

[LOSTLOST]

do you think all of the others went through this "process" of releaving ones self on innocence? And i love how Richard has everything under control. And when the other man asked him about charles and ellie, this leads me to believe that they dont truely know who Richard is

[alicat]

I got so confused and giddy... an idea popped up in my head that Richard is the island in like a human form. Becuz he told Sawyer and Kate u told my people you wanted to see me but no radios or walkies were involved and he just popped up. Sawyer even asked him where'd you come from? Like he just appeared. So of course he would answer to no one. Just a question...

Also... is/was Ellie higher on the leader ladder than Widmore becuase they said her name first then Charles???

Excellent point, Richard just appears. It wasn't as if he ran into them and asked what was going on, he walked up to them knowing Sawyer and Kate were looking for him.

If you recall the 1950's flashback when Locke goes to see Richard, it is clear that Richard outranks Widmore. When Widmore tries to interject in a conversation Richard is having with Locke's group, Richard silences him... So Richard is clearly running things. Yet, the island always needs a leader.
I don't know about Richard being the island manifested in the human form, but he is definitely something.

[swaded420]

I got so confused and giddy... an idea popped up in my head that Richard is the island in like a human form. Becuz he told Sawyer and Kate u told my people you wanted to see me but no radios or walkies were involved and he just popped up. Sawyer even asked him where'd you come from? Like he just appeared. So of course he would answer to no one. Just a question...

Also... is/was Ellie higher on the leader ladder than Widmore becuase they said her name first then Charles???

I think one of the people who surrounded Kate and Sawyer probably ran ahead of the group, so while they were walking, the runner got to Richard in a quarter of the time or so and let him know what was poppin' in the jungle. And I think that Ellie and Widmore would be at about the same rank, because we saw them both as regular ol' Others in '54, and they looked to be around the same level, but that's going on 50% guess and 50% unproven fact.