Jedetheus

"You were right, I shouldn't have left Ben alone. But I was having all these feelings that were... confusing. And it didn't make sense until when we thought he was in danger... then I understood. I think I like him."

- Jed confessing to having feelings for Ben in Follow the Sound of My Voice.

Jedben is the slash ship between Jed Tien and Ben from the Legacies fandom.

Canon
As of 4x11, Jed has not labeled himself- nor was aware prior to meeting Ben that he liked men- but has been confirmed to have a crush on Ben. It is currently not explicitly known if Ben returns these feelings, but he does at times flirt with Jed.

Jed and Ben met in 4x07 when Jed, and his friend Kaleb, stumbled across a heavily mutilated corpse in the forest while on the hunt for an Argus. By the time they had managed to kill the Argus, night had fallen and they returned to where the found the corpse in order to bury it; only to be shocked to find it standing up and trying to put itself back together again. The next the audience sees in 4x9, Jed crawls across the road to the body of the unknown man whom has healed considerably since Jed found him, with a burning car behind them. Jed says it's good the man has eyes now, but still no tongue and cannot tell him who he is, but they don't have time when Kaleb approaches and breathes fire over the unknown man while Jed ducks out the way.

At some point Jed is able to save the unknown man from Kaleb, brings him back to the Salvatore Boarding School for help, and insists on staying with the unknown man while the others go out to find Kaleb. When another of his friends, Ethan, also suddenly tries to kill the man, Jed once again protects him but ends up badly hurt in the process. By the end of the episode, Jed is lying in recovery when he's woken by commotion in the next room, he calls out for help as a man walks out unwinding bandages from his neck and face, but falls silent when he sees the man's face for the first time: he stumbles over his words, unable to take his eyes off Ben, and after apologizing for the unpleasant noises of his tongue growing back, Ben warns Jed that monsters are the least of their worries now.

In the following episode, The Story of My Life, Jed is reluctant to cast judgement on Ben until he knows more about him during a meeting on whether or not Ben should be allowed to stay given his presence drives monsters- and monster hybrids such as Kaleb and Ethan- into a murderous rage. He's distressed to find Ben stabbed with quills while the meeting was taking place, and attempts to fight off the creature that caused it. Between this fight and the next scene of the pair, Jed has given Ben his jacket now that the man's shirt is full of holes. Pleased to be sealed in a protective dome by Cleo, Jed says it's the perfect time for Ben to tell him about himself.

After telling Jed everything, Ben expects the other to be angry with him and want him gone, but is surprised to find Jed is set on him staying; Jed tells him he has his vote, and that he wants to give Ben a home with him at least until they can help with his curse. He's turned down, and Jed is stood helpless as Ben simply walks through the barrier Cleo put up, having to sit in wait for the witch to return and lower it.

By the end of the episode, Jed and Ben are alone around a fire as Jed reattaches Ben's previously severed arm for him. His arm isn't completely healed and still hurts, which Jed says is the point; because Ben is Prometheus. Ben's visibly surprised Jed worked it out, and when Jed expresses excitement for the idea that gods and demigods exist, he explains that the names are wrong and that there were no cranes just monsters who were, as it turned out, also cursed to attack him against their own will. Ben says he's come to like the name 'Ben' since his name isn't pronounceable to people anymore, because it's simple like Jed's name... and he likes simple. Jed smiles and tells him he's his guy then, to which Ben responds that Jed can't be, because Ben still can't stay.

Frustrated with this, Jed once again asks Ben to stay, offering up that he's also cursed given he is a werewolf, and is relieved when Ben finally agrees. They toast as they share flirtatious looks, and the scene closes with Jed's lingering gaze on Ben when the other isn't looking.

In the opening of Follow the Sound of My Voice, Jed swings his arm around Ben who looks lost in the school, and gives him advice on blending in; calling himself an expert wingman on first days. Ben's nervous if anyone there knows that he is a god and a magnet for monsters, but visibly relaxes when Jed assures him they don't because Ben isn't anymore thanks to Cleo's bangle still negating the frequency he gives off. He tells Ben to stick with him, and they sit together while waiting for the Headmaster to make his morning announcements: to everyone's alarm, he tells all the students there is a monster magnet in the school and they're all surely going to die if they stay, which devastates Ben and Jed tries to reassure him. After it is revealed the whole school has been dosed with blue calamus, a truth serum, Jed's behavior to Ben has changed and he begins avoiding him.

Ben's disappointed not to get to meet Jed's pack, and asks what they'll do instead, to which Jed responds that Ben should do whatever he wants and that Jed wants to be alone because he's afraid he'll say something stupid to Ben. When Ben asks for more detail, Jed snaps at him that he doesn't want to be around him right now, and visibly hurt, Ben apologizes for intruding and watches Jed leave.

Jed is later found by Finch hiding, and when confronted by her Jed explains that he's having all these confusing feelings bubbling inside him and he's frightened he's going to say the wrong thing to Ben without knowing precisely what that would be. They're interrupted when Cleo collapses through the door, and find out from there that Ben has been taken by a powerful witch Aurora, and is being tortured for information from her. Worried and upset, Jed- with help from Finch- finds Ben dead in the forest with a sign from Aurora stabbed into his heart. As Ben recovers under Cleo's care and the truth serum has fully worn off, Jed distracts himself by playing pool when Finch approaches him again to apologize for how invasive she'd been earlier. Jed tells her it's okay, because he shouldn't have left Ben after promising the man somewhere to belong after potentially thousands of years feeling alone, and admits to Finch that he realized when Ben was in danger what the feelings he was having were. He says he thinks he likes Ben, which Finch at first mistakes as meaning friends, and when she realizes he means it romantically, she offers to be a confidante as he has no one else to speak to about it.

Fanon
Jedben is a newly emerged ship as of season 4. So far fans have had positive reactions to the introduction of Ben as a love interest of Jed, and while many caught on as early as episode 9's finale, very few actually believed the show writers would make it a canon romance. As of episode 11 when Jed's true feelings were first revealed, there has been excitement about the show introducing for the first time a main male LGBT+ character when beforehand there have only been women. Actors Ben Levin and Zane Phillips have been praised for their chemistry.

There was early speculation about Ben's involvement and that he would be a love interest of one of the male cast, when a casting call for the boyfriend of a male character on the show was released, with many believing this referred to Ben. However, it was eventually discerned that this call was instead for Ashur, Ben's past lover, given it was for a one to two day shoot released by an agency supplying extras for the CW and not a recurring role.

On the negative side, some denied the chance of romance out right. They believed Jed "showed no signs" of being into men beforehand, that the pair would just be good friends, and there are some online who believe it is just "check box filling" after Josie's departure and the break up with Finch as a result. Counter arguments are that little has ever been known about Jed, let alone his orientation, and upon episode 11's release it has been made clear in the show that Jed wasn't aware he liked men before now. Finally, there's the reasoning that there is no way of knowing for certain whether or not Kaylee Bryant's departure from the show had any impact on Ben's roles in the show.

Quotes
The Story of My Life | 4x10

Follow the Sound of My Voice | 4x11 "It's all jumbled and confusing, and I... I just feel this pressure like... I'm gonna say the wrong thing to him."

- Jed to Finch when confronted about why he's avoiding Ben.

Fandom
FAN FICTION