I feel the same way. At the end of the last episode he seemed diminished to the same level as the other characters. Especially when Ben started putting the spin on ole Richard about Locke.
I hope they haven't made a bad move.
Who is Richard?
- Thread starter Mistral
- Start date
I feel the same way. At the end of the last episode he seemed diminished to the same level as the other characters. Especially when Ben started putting the spin on ole Richard about Locke.
I hope they haven't made a bad move.
I like the snarky Richard who says things like, "That's orange juice... with a considerable amount of tranquilizer."
I really didn't get the, "Hmmm... Jack, Jin, Hurley... oh,. wait, that's right, I remember them now. Quite clearly, in fact. It's all coming back, now."
All season I've wondered why Richard apparently kept the time traveling castaways a secret all this time from Ben and everyone else, but that scene made it seem like it wasn't anything he gave any thought to before. "Oh, wait, that's right, Jack and the others were back in the 1970s, weren't they? So they traveled through time. I get ikt now. Ain't that a son of a bitch. Okay, excuse me, I have some work to attend to."
Richard isn't just an observer though. Remember, he's the one who basically got Locke appointed the new leader of the island and doomed Ben's roll as leader. When Locke failed to "prove" himself to the Others by killing his father and the Others had basically given up on him, it was Richard that secretly gave Locke Sawyer's file and that in turn allowed Locke to "trick" Sawyer into killing Locke's father. Locke then took the credit for this and "proved" himself to the Others. Without Richard doing that Locke would never have gained the Other's acceptance. In fact, you could say that Locke doesn't deserve to be the Other's leader since he never actually passed their test by killing his father himself. Sawyer on the other hand...
Another person of interest, along with Richard, is the lady who is the Sheriff. We've only seen her the once at Juliet's trial, but she also seemed to have lots of power over the Other's society acting as judge & jury for any crimes committed by the Others. Apparently even Richard doesn't have that power. She must have been the one that banished Widmore back in the day. I wonder where she is now? With the other Other's at the Temple? What would her views on Ben's return be? And the things he has done like trying to kill the Other's leader? They were going to put Juliet to death for killing that one guy, I can only imagine what they would do to Ben.
Also, as for going on and off the Island, I wonder how Richard managed it back in the days before the sub? How much power, money & influence do the Other's have off Island? They own/run Mettlework Bioindustries out of Portland and they must have other business's going. How many Other's are there off Island? Ben had all those passports and such so he must have been coming and going quite often. Heck, he even had agents running butcher shops in LA. They (the Other's) must have lots of connections off island, but why? Is it just for the fight against Widmore or is it for something else?
I assume Richard is like a senchel for the Others. He handles all the day-to-day affairs, keeps track of who is where, doing what, etc... Sort of like the lead (only?) bureaucrat of the Others. He makes sure everything runs smoothly for whoever is in power.
I'm going to put it into film industry terms for the hell of it:
In film industry terms the Island is the "Studio". A big, powerful orginization whos goals are to remain in business and stay afloat for the long term.
Leader of the Others (Ben, Locke, Etc...) is a "Director". They call the shots for a certain amount of time making sure a certain project is handled.
Richard is like the permanent "Producer" on the Island. He works for the "Studio" not the Director. But his job is to make sure the Director is doing his job and making sure the Director has everything he needs to run thing effeciently. Producers also have to think longer term in what's best for the "Studio". They bring in new staff, look for rising stars who could be future directors, etc... While helping the Director finish the project. And if the Director isn't doing a good job, he has to get someone else to take over, because the "Studio" comes first.
That's how I see Richard. The permanent Producer, working for the Island but his job is to help the Director get things done.
Another person of interest, along with Richard, is the lady who is the Sheriff. We've only seen her the once at Juliet's trial, but she also seemed to have lots of power over the Other's society acting as judge & jury for any crimes committed by the Others. Apparently even Richard doesn't have that power. She must have been the one that banished Widmore back in the day. I wonder where she is now? With the other Other's at the Temple? What would her views on Ben's return be? And the things he has done like trying to kill the Other's leader? They were going to put Juliet to death for killing that one guy, I can only imagine what they would do to Ben.
Also, as for going on and off the Island, I wonder how Richard managed it back in the days before the sub? How much power, money & influence do the Other's have off Island? They own/run Mettlework Bioindustries out of Portland and they must have other business's going. How many Other's are there off Island? Ben had all those passports and such so he must have been coming and going quite often. Heck, he even had agents running butcher shops in LA. They (the Other's) must have lots of connections off island, but why? Is it just for the fight against Widmore or is it for something else?
I assume Richard is like a senchel for the Others. He handles all the day-to-day affairs, keeps track of who is where, doing what, etc... Sort of like the lead (only?) bureaucrat of the Others. He makes sure everything runs smoothly for whoever is in power.
I'm going to put it into film industry terms for the hell of it:
In film industry terms the Island is the "Studio". A big, powerful orginization whos goals are to remain in business and stay afloat for the long term.
Leader of the Others (Ben, Locke, Etc...) is a "Director". They call the shots for a certain amount of time making sure a certain project is handled.
Richard is like the permanent "Producer" on the Island. He works for the "Studio" not the Director. But his job is to make sure the Director is doing his job and making sure the Director has everything he needs to run thing effeciently. Producers also have to think longer term in what's best for the "Studio". They bring in new staff, look for rising stars who could be future directors, etc... While helping the Director finish the project. And if the Director isn't doing a good job, he has to get someone else to take over, because the "Studio" comes first.
That's how I see Richard. The permanent Producer, working for the Island but his job is to help the Director get things done.
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Richard was a high priest of Atlantis [which the island is the last remaining part of], and was fated/doomed to be the island's guardian for all eternity. Something will change at the end and he'll do a classic old-movie dissolve-to-dust-before-our-eyes ending...
Nah, he said Jacob is the reason he doesn't age. The ship last night was the Black Rock, he's onboard(as First Mate) and when the ship came to the Island Richard lived to become Jacob's Voice.
Richard being makes sense, especially if they are speaking Latin to each other. If they spoke ancient Egyptian or something then maybe his history is older, but it looks like he is around 400 year old.
Richard was a high priest of Atlantis [which the island is the last remaining part of], and was fated/doomed to be the island's guardian for all eternity. Something will change at the end and he'll do a classic old-movie dissolve-to-dust-before-our-eyes ending...
I believe the title "LOST" is also a metaphor.
Iilana refered to him as: "Ricardus"
The recap on MSN says "Ricardus".
The opening scene of The Incident makes me more convinced than ever that this has to be true.
I dunno why, but there's something about him that's made me think he was part of the Black Rock crew from the start...was there ever any dialogue backing up that notion? (I also think Mr. Friendly was part of the crew...)But "Ricardus" is probably just being protected magically from aging. Which is too bad because the idea that he's a normally aging person who appears immortal because of his time-travelling tendencies is a less usual explanation.
But how would she know to do that?
Well, I guess that remains to be seen. We don't really know yet who exactly she is. Or her whole company, for that matter.
I just love how the writers manage to make the whole thing even more interesting with letting a character call him Ricardus. As if he wasn't mysterious enough already.
Well, Jacob has met with her before, and is giving her assignments off island, so he probably said, "Hey, when you get to the island look up a buddy of mine named Ricardus. He'll help you out." or something to that effect.
It seems to me Jacob must have had two groups working for him for a long time. Those on the Island and those off of it. Now we've just seen them actually meeting up for the first time.
But the leader is supposed to answer to Jacob. Smokey basically set up Ben to follow Esau (disguised as Locke).
Also, how often has Smokey let anyone live? Just Locke, that we know of, right? And if Ben knows about that, he'd be more willing to trust Smokey's orders to follow Locke, who 's actually Esau.
You answered that as if you thought my post was written after the season finale.
However, your argument doesn't change the essence of the thought. Richard may well have been given an ultimatum by Jacob the same as the one given Ben by (we're assuming) Esau.
Once Jacob "dies", Esau may have Jacob's 'powers' and give Ben eternal life - as long as he does what Esau wants him to do.
Richard may not know anything at all about Esau.
And once Jacob 'dies', Ben will forget all about him and give all the new leaders orders from Esau and assume that if the island tells someone anything or if the smoke monster appears to someone, that Esau is the one behind it.
However, your argument doesn't change the essence of the thought. Richard may well have been given an ultimatum by Jacob the same as the one given Ben by (we're assuming) Esau.
Once Jacob "dies", Esau may have Jacob's 'powers' and give Ben eternal life - as long as he does what Esau wants him to do.
Richard may not know anything at all about Esau.
And once Jacob 'dies', Ben will forget all about him and give all the new leaders orders from Esau and assume that if the island tells someone anything or if the smoke monster appears to someone, that Esau is the one behind it.
Uhh..i don't know about that theory. i think Esau is just using Ben, as Ben has manipulated many others before him. Esau just got Ben to kill Jacob. What's going to happen when Ben fins out that was NOT Locke, and that Ben has been played. I think he'll have no qualms trying to kill Esau, and not believe the conequences Alex suggested.
Esau will play a hand (either directly or indirectly) in the death (or long term punishment) of Ben.
