To Kill, Or Not To Kill

[Jarlaxle]

I was surprised to learn that Ben, in his clever guise, was more dangerous and controlling then he looked. I thought that the Others lived in something akin to a paradise. Juliet had once said that no one controls he or anyone else, that it was a more democratic system. The fact that Ben came in right after she said and commanded her to come to him made me suspect otherwise. It appears that Ben is more of a dictator. I wonder what Jack will do? Killing him would supposedly free the others from his control, but who is the real liar? It is possible that Ben is really not such a dictator, and that perhaps Juliet is using Jack to remove Ben for a devious plan of hers. She gained Jack's trust already (in some degree) and perhaps that was her plan. She appears to be trust worthy but this could easily be a trap. No one among the others can be trusted. Jack is the pawn in this game. We will see who makes the winning move soon enough.

[Raistlin Majere]

Ben could be the dictator you make him out to be, but it is also possible that he doesn't even have the tumor, that even the X-rays are a well-acted plot. This new development could merely be a test of whether or not Jack trusts Juliet. If that is so, then Ben might be trying, as he said, to slowly gain Jack's trust, maybe even fake his death, then getting him to trust Juliet, and he might eventually do almost anything she says.
At the same time, Ben's uneasiness after Jack listed his symptoms could be genuine, and his private words with Juliet certainly suggest that Ben really does have cancer--he wouldn't really have a reason to keep up an act when he and Juliet were talking by themselves, so Ben likely does have the tumor. Next episode, Jack apparently refuses to treat Ben, so yes, Ben's position as leader (He does appear to be something of a leader, Juliet suggested that by "Some of us think its time for a change") might be in jeopardy.

[Reno]

Yes, Ben is an excellent person, able to twist any story, and make it seem like he's beat because Jack seen the X-Rays, but is this really true? It is possible BEn WANTED jack to see them, beacuse it was his plane all along, and Juliet wants jack to turn against Ben, and make Ben seem evil, all for some twisted mind game or something else that is apparent yet.

[Raistlin Majere]

A different way of saying it, but yes. It all seems very neatly put together, it seems obvious that there is a plot at work, but its rarely the most obvious one. The first thought is that Ben has this all put together, and everything was a plot, a hoax--a test for Jack. Ben could be orchestrating everything, from the X-rays to Juliet's video. As it appears, though, no one except Ben seems to be the scheming, testing type of person, so it is possible that the Others want a new "leader", if leader Ben is.

[Jarlaxle]

It appears that Ben as you say is planning all of this. Jack could be undergoing a test: to see if he would try to kill or spare Ben and in effect, to test Jack's willingness to trust the others. Ben might not be in any danger at all then, but I find that unlikely.

[Raistlin Majere]

Different words, same concept. Ben might know that Jack will never trust him, so its at least possible that he's setting up this whole situation so Jack will learn to trust Juliet instead, and Ben might still be pulling the strings, so he would, by extension have control over Jack.