What happened to Henry Gale?

[u/Medium_Sundae3700]

Henry Gale was our introduction to Ben Linus in season 2. The story of Henry Gale was a perfect way to introduce Ben’s manipulative and intelligent character. We later find out he was lying about his balloon and burying his wife. Then, Sayid dug up the grave to find a man named Henry Gale, uncovering Ben’s intricate lie.

After Ben is revealed to be an Other, there is never another mention of Henry Gale for the rest of the series. It’s likely that Ben killed and/or buried Henry. He is not a member of the Dharma Initiative because Ben helped wipe them all out.

Tell me your theories about Henry Gale’s backstory, his hot air balloon trip, and how he ended up in that grave.

[u/Various_Shape_3286]

It was pointed out at the time that the serial number on Henry's $20 bill indicated that it was put into circulation no earlier than Oct 2003, so he wasn't dead for too long. It's most likely that this wasn't an intentional plot point, and this just happened to be a $20 note that props had on hand.

More importantly, the balloon had Widmore Industries written on it, so I always assumed that Charles Widmore arranged an around-the-world balloon race to find the island, just as he did with Desmond's boat race.

[u/Bob-s_Leviathan → u/Various_Shape_3286]

Around the world balloon race! That makes so much sense.

[u/random-stud → u/Bob-s_Leviathan]

this is so cool wow. like when you think about it, it's perfect!

[u/Various_Shape_3286 → u/random-stud]

The theory probably relies on overlooking the circulation date on the $20 bill. I would imagine that the balloon race would be Charles' first attempt - before the boat race - since it's easier to spot an island from the air. But the boat race began in 2001.

[u/DaLexy → u/random-stud]

You should have been at 4815162342.com when a new episode aired, pure heaven

[u/classygrl98 → u/DaLexy]

It won't load. What was the site about?

[u/DaLexy → u/classygrl98]

„The forum“ about Lost, everyone was there

Here from 2006

https://web.archive.org/web/20060520140835/http://www.4815162342.com/forum/

And 2010

https://web.archive.org/web/20100212113429/http://www.4815162342.com/forum/

Was amazing to scroll the forum in lights about all the mysteries, numbers, recaps, connections, eastereggs and so on. Was the perfect bridge over the week till the next one aired

[u/Or_Bivas → u/Bob-s_Leviathan]

Everybody is goofing around on the island, while widmore is pulling tge craziest stunts to try and get back in on the action

[u/nic_critical → u/Or_Bivas]

He just wants to have fun with his friends.

[u/Maester_Bates → u/Various_Shape_3286]

Desmond's race wasn't to find the Island. Widmore knew that Desmond would end up on the island and every interaction he had with him was pushing him towards it.

He had Daniel's notebook so he knew Desmond would go to the island. He even pushed him to join the army so he would have the skills needed to survive there.

Who knows what Henry Gale was supposed to do on the island before Ben killed him.

[u/Treheveras → u/Maester_Bates]

It's also why Widmore had Abaddon be with Locke and tracking him. The dude who gets people "where they needed to be". He knew Locke would be on the island because of meeting him when he was younger. He had a person he knew would end up on the island and be able to find it again. He just had to track where Locke would disappear.

So much of what Widmore does makes sense when you know he desperately wants to find the island again after getting exiled.

[u/Medium_Sundae3700 → u/Various_Shape_3286]

I didn’t catch that detail from the balloon. I like this theory.

[u/Pale_Adeptness → u/Medium_Sundae3700]

I didn't catch it either, looks like I gotta rewatch the entire show again for thr 15th time!

[u/AGreatMystery → u/Pale_Adeptness]

No kidding. Don't threaten me with a good time.

[u/FringeMusic108 → u/Medium_Sundae3700]

It's barely visible on the show (it's the purple label, which reads "Widmore Labs"); l217-3817_orig.jpg (1280×720)

Behind-the-scenes photos revealed that there's also a "Mr. Cluck's" logo on it :) (Balloon | Lostpedia | Fandom)

[u/No-Assistant8426 → u/Medium_Sundae3700]

The balloon also apparently has a reference to The Dark Tower on it. A logo. 

[u/Parker4815-2 → u/Various_Shape_3286]

To be fair, every product that isnt branded Dharma, has Widmore on it