I was watching the episode, “Through the Looking Glass” last night, and noticed that when Ben and Alex were hiking to intercept the survivors, who were on their way to the radio tower, Ben tells Alex that they need to head north to reach the tower. This makes about as much sense as his upside-down map from the same episode.

Given what we know about locations on The Island, and that the Others’ main area of operation is in the northern area of The Island, Ben and Alex would’ve certainly been hiking south to reach the radio tower.

Ben’s map to Henry Gale’s Balloon

Once again, Ben’s skill at drawing geographical details is questionable. However, the map does indicate that the balloon is around the end of the western mountain range, nearly due north of the survivor’s camp. Fan consensus tends to place the balloon about halfway between the Pearl and the Staff.

Ben’s map of the Radio Tower

At first glance, this map appears to make absolutely no sense. For whatever reason, it appears that Ben drew this map upside-down. Once you make that revelation, everything is generally in the correct place. However, Ben’s interpretation of geological features and distances leaves something to be desired.

It’s worth noting that there is apparently an area known as “Pascal Flats” north of the Barracks.

We’re coming to a point where we have to accept a simple fact if this map is going to continue to make any sense, and that fact is this:

There are several statements made be Ben Linus and Danielle Rousseau, with regard to locations and distances, that just can’t be taken seriously.

I suppose that this can be explained fairly easily. Almost everything that Ben says is a lie or a misdirection, so his exaggerations or inaccuracies make sense in that context. And Danielle is just crazy from being alone on The Island for 16 years. It’s a good thing she made that map, which I consider to be accurate, because much of what she says about various locations makes very little sense.

I’ll explore some specific examples as we proceed.