Libby isn't who she claims to be...

[chris]

I thought I'd start some theories going with the latest one I'm working on:

Libby works for Widmore!

We see her in Desmond's flashback giving Des a boat. It is very convenient. Des defies Widmore, saying that he is not going to take his money. I believe he gave Libby the boat to give to Desmond to get Des to the island. Follow me on this: We see all throughout that Des is called a coward and Widmore wants him to have nothing to do with Penny. Yet, in The Constant, when Widmore is asked to give up Penny's location, he does leading us to believe that he did so because Penny will rebuff Des. What if he gave it because he had a sense of what would happen? It's his race that ended up getting Des to the island that he wants to find. In order to survive, Des needs a constant 8 years later, which Widmore provides him. Des says he will contact Penny in several years at that number. When future Des is gone, past Des tries to contact Penny, only to have his letters intercepted by Widmore, possibly to not mess up the constant? Widmore wanted Des on the island not only to get far from Penny, but maybe as an agent (unbeknownst to Des) to help Widmore gain back the island.

We also see Libby in Santa Rosa with Hurley. I pose that she is there because there's been a report of the numbers being told. Widmore knows that the numbers come from the v-equation which Dharma is trying to change. He also knows that Dharma is trying to change the constant of the numbers to save the world with their island experiments. I pose that Libby is there to see what Lenard knows and who he's told. When Hurley is released, he uses the numbers, wins the Lotto, and is ultimately put on his path to the island.

The last time that we see Libby in a flashback is in ? with Eko. Charlotte is there to give Eko a message from Yemi and Libby shows up in the middle of their discussion as they are about the board 815. I feel Widmore placed her there to get another one of his people on the island to upset the balance of power (I believe this is why John is there as well). Libby interrupts Eko yelling at Charlotte why she is doing this. It gives Charlotte the break to summarize and leave.

We see Libby once again in Meet Kevin Johnson. There she is a ghost, for lack of a better word, much like Christian Shephard. She is there to stop Michael from pushing execute on the bomb, much like Walt, Ana, and Yemi have been guides to people on the island. I think she is on Widmore's side and Christian represents the other side. Two factions fighting for the island, of which Libby is on one side.

Write me your thoughts...

[darlinclementine]

Well.....Chris (I certainly hope it´s "Christopher" and not "Christian", but then again it´d be awesome if it were ;D) I´ve been chewing the end off a pencil pondering the depths of your theory, considering the possible ramifications if it were true, and I can say......yeah....I´ll buy it. For the longest time I´ve felt there´s more to Libby than meets the eye. I believe your theory is very plausible, my friend. I can see one flaw in it, however, and I shall comment on it, if I may. What would have happened if she hadn´t been shot by Michael? She would have met up with Des at the beach....and he would have recognized her......I thought it was very convenient how when Des mentions her (because he mentions the fact that someone gave him the boat, I just don´t remember when) she just happened to be dead. He didn´t know she was buried a few feet away. Was she planning to steer clear from Des once on the island? Or did she think he´d be in the hatch forever and not run into each other? This puzzles me a bit...... What do you think? Do you see what I mean? If Widmore sent her to the island, was she perhaps meant to finish off Des once he served his purpose? It´s the only logical explanation.
I feel a mild headache coming on....
Clem

[chris]

It's Christopher when I'm in trouble and I happen to be a Christian, so it could be both.

I don't think it would matter to Libby much whether she ran into Desmond or not. Des ran into Jack, whom he met at the stadium. Also, Libby tends to lie... a lot. One statement she made that stands out to me is that she said that Hurley stepped on her foot when he boarded the plane. We saw Hurley get on the plane at the front and walk to his seat in the mid-section. Libby would be seated in the tail section, so how could Hurley ever step on her foot? That's always been glaring to me and made me not trust her, which got me to thinking the above thoughts. Hopefully time will tell one way or the other. ;D

[Len]

The feeling I always got as far as where they were going with Libby was more 'mentally-ill/pathological liar ' than actually 'mastermind/conspirator'. Of course, that was before we saw her give Desmond the boat. Now I'm not as sure. I still don't think she necessarily has to be working for any particular player plot-wise, more of an unknowing pawn maybe, but she definitely bears watching.

She wouldn't be the first character involved in highly unlikely coincidences with other characters (as far as past-crosses go) that wasn't 'in-on' the big picture. I also think who her deceased husband is could change the whole equation as well, since we still don't know what part he may play in the story.

If I had to guess at what's going on in the flashback scene with Hugo - it would be that she became unstable after losing her husband to cancer (if anything she's said is true, husband included) and had to be put away. It could be she doesn't explicitly remember Hugo but finds herself drawn to or comfortable with him because of her vague memories from this seeming 'breakdown' period. If this was the start of her apparent mental issues or not however we don't know. I'm not even sure if that works timeline wise.

I do think alot of her scenes while on island strongly hinted that at the least she may have been a compulsive liar. Whether her lies were 'harmless' or involved actual cunning or malice though would be the question.

Or I could be completely wrong - She may have been assigned to watch Hugo and to plant the boat and all the rest, who knows.

[clayb]

Libby definitely works for somebody. Widmore probably makes the most sense since she gave Desmond the boat. In fact I'll go one step further. Libby doesn't work for Widmore, she is a a Widmore.

Charles seems like the kind of man, much like Christian Shephard, that would have multiple families. Libby, or Elizabeth, was one of his many daughters (How ironic would it be if Widmore was just hanging on long enough because he has wanted a son all these years). Libby, was told by daddy to give the boat to Desmond.
Elizabeth probably took a more active role in her father's "work," unlike Penelope who stumbled upon what her father was doing as a byproduct of searching for Desmond.

Thus when Libby coincidentally crashes on the island, she feels like she has come home like a certain... GRANDDAUGHTER of Charles Widmore, Charlotte!!! Libby knows it's only a matter of time before her father finds this place and begins setting herself up for her life back in the real world. This is why she immediately throws herself at Hugo. Let's be honest, Libby was way out of his league but she basically gave Hugo an instruction sheet on how to win her over. Why? She new he was worth over $150 million. She'd already been in contact with him because of her "assignment," to track Leonard in the mental institution and it probably caught her eye when he won the jackpot.

Libby is above all else, an opportunist. She know how to get what she wants but also realizes her limitations. She placated the pit bull Ana Lucia because she knew that was her best play. Ana Lucia was a cop and as long as Libby stayed on her good side and out of her radar she would be fine. Then when she hooks up with the Losties she sidles up to Hugo, because she sees that he is the ambassador for the entire group. If Hurley likes you, you're in.

Ultimately, if she hadn't gotten shot by Michael Libby could've been the one asking Ben for $3.2 million instead of Miles. Or worse she would've put a bullet in Ben's head herself.

P.S. I'm starting to notice that all of my theories are mutating into some weird Widmore family tree thing. ;D Oh well, until I'm proven wrong I'm totally correct.

[Len]

Of all your crazy Widmore family theories I actually like this one the best . Like I said my view of Libby changed after the boat scene and I do think there's more there than I did before. The Family connection is as good a guess as any until we know more, but a good idea nonetheless.