When the Hostiles brought Sawyer and Kate to Richard, the Hostiles asked Richard "What about Ellie and Charles" (or maybe they said Widmore). Richard replied that he doesn't answer to them. Hmmm......Is Widmore in charge of the Hostiles already?
And I posted this over on the spoiler thread:
I really appreciated that the writers had Miles explain the "what happened, happened" theory to Hurley so that the rest of us might better understand it. I'm still a little fuzzy on things, but it's getting a little clearer now. (Yes, folks, it looks like I'm coming over to the "Dark Side" with you finally!

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haha, we finally converted you. Now wouldn't it be funny if we were wrong in the end afterall!!
What's important to note is that Miles told Hurley that they can be killed (Sawyer, Hurley, Jack, etc) because they're from the future, but if somebody in 1977 (i.e., Ben) is supposed to be alive in the future, then he won't die in 1977.
yes, and the converse would be true also. If someone was suppose to die (i.e. Roger, Horace, everyone in the purge) then they will still die. that cannot be changed
It'll be interesting to see what happens to young Ben now. Will Richard patch him up and send him back to the Dharma folks? Remember when the Others/Hostiles gassed the DI, Ben was wearing a Dharma jumpsuit when he got in the van with his dad and killed him. Unless THIS is something in the past that CAN be changed without affecting the future?? In the "original" purge, Ben was still part of Dharma when he helped kill them off. But in the "altered" purge, Ben came in as one of the Others/Hostiles to kill them off. The circumstances differed, but the outcome was the same: Dharma was wiped out.
Am I getting better at understanding the "what happened, happened" thing?