Lost: "He's Our You" Is Young Ben Dead?

Really we could recap "He’s Our You" but really all we should discuss is the last scene. Is Young Ben alive or dead? Here is a recap of our theories on both sides:

Dead: 1977 Ben is dead. Without Ben, there is no purge. That is why when Sun and Lapidus were in the barracks, dharma pictures were hanging up on the wall. This can potentially change everything. Without Ben, Widmore doesn’t get into a power struggle with him and leave the island, so now would 2007 Widmore be transported to the island? Doubtful. How do they explain everything that could change? There has to be some sort of rules here if he is dead. That is why I think ‘07 Ben is alive for now. Sun just hit him with an oar. He looked way worse than that when Illana showed him to Locke. Maybe he still has the bullets lodged in him.

Alive: Ben has to be alive, because Sawyer and Juliet saved Amy's life in their version of 1977. Amy then gives birth to Ethan. Ethan was alive in 2004 when the plane crashed before the losties ever go back to 1977. This means that when they crashed in 2004, Sawyer had already saved Amy's life so that Ethan could be born. For a while I was thinking about Lost as two separate linear timelines, in which the 1977 one directly and instantly effects the 2007 one, but I was wrong. They are on the same time line and in 2007 no matter what is done in 1977, it has already been done before they got on that plane. Sayid shooting young Ben is going to be just like when Michael tried killing himself. Sayid could shoot Young Ben 100 times and he will live. Sayid just is not aware of the rules. Both Pierre Change and Daniel Faraday spoke of rules with time travel and when Ben and Widmore met they discussed how they cannot kill each other, probably due to these rules also. Jack is going to save 1977 Ben in next week’s episode. That's why Ben had to get Jack to go back, because he knew it already happened and Jack had to be there to save him. And that is also why Sayid ended up on the plane because he had already shot Ben and no matter what he did, he was going to end up back on the island in 1977. Jack is a doctor and would ultimately help anyone in any situation. He thinks he is a strong and self-thinking man, like Sawyer and Sayid, but when it comes down to it, his biggest struggle in life is that he is always questioning himself and will do anything to fix every situation and prove to everyone he is a great man. If he gets the chance, he will try to save Ben's life again. You can't change the past, and what we are seeing now is just stuff that has already happened.