Widmore thinks the world of Desmond, has paintings of scale with black & white rocks

Desmond enters Charles Widmore's office in Los Angeles and is met by Widmore with a bit hug.

Once we come back, we see Desmond staring at a model sail boat on Widmore's wall, possibly having a slight memory of his boat in the original timeline. Widmore is on the phone telling someone to get Charlie arraigned and get him out of there.

Widmore tells Desmond that his son is a musician (Daniel Faraday/Widmore) who is playing his wife's (Eloise Hawking/Widmore) charity event with the band Driveshaft. He asks Desmond to keep an eye on Charlie and make sure that he makes it to the event.

Widmore tells Desmond that he has a great life because he has no family, commitments or attachments, but Desmond doesn't seem convinced that it's so great. Widmore then opens a bottle of MacCutcheon's whiskey and shares a shot with Desmond, telling him that "Nothing's too good for you."

So clearly, this entire scenario is backwards. Instead of loathing Desmond and deeming a shot of MacCutcheon's being worth more than his life, Widmore loves Desmond and says nothing is too good for him. And there's so much more to come.

Also, if you look on the wall in Widmore's office, there are two paintings of a scale with black and white rocks on either side. One has a white frame and the other is black. In both of them, the rocks on each side seem fairly balanced.

Desmond crosses paths with Hurley & Claire, Minkowski is his driver

At LAX, we see Desmond in a daze, staring at his reflection in the Oceanic flight status board. Hurley walks by him and says that the bags for 815 are at carousel 4 (one of the numbers).

At baggage claim, Desmond helps Claire with her bad since she is struggling to retrieve it. He asks her if she's having a boy or girl, and she reveals to him that she doesn't know. He offers Claire a ride but she tells him that someone is picking her up (as we know, that didn't happen). As she's walking away, Desmond tells her confidently that she's having a boy. He seems to remember this from the original timeline.

As Desmond walks further, he approaches none other than George Minkowski, who introduces himself as his driver. Desmond reveals that he wants to go straight to the office and that he was in Sydney closing a deal for the boss (Charles Widmore). Minkowski tells Desmond that if he needs anything while he's there, just let him know (it's a bit like Matthew Abbadon's offer to Locke in the season 5 episode "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"). Then Minkowski awkwardly offers to get Desmond a prostitute, which he quickly turns down.

Electromagnetism moves Desmond's consciousness to sideways timeline

As Simmons' charred body is taken out of the box, Widmore stops to look at him and then proceeds to have his men force Desmond inside. They hit Desmond in the face and then tie him to a chair in the center of the room between the solenoids.

Widmore tells Desmond that he should be fine if everything he's been told about him is true. One guy asks Desmond if he has any keys or changed on him, which he doesn't. Widmore tells Desmond that after this is over, he's going to ask him to make a sacrifice, which prompts Desmond to ask what Widmore knows about sacrifice. Widmore tells Desmond that his son (Daniel) died for the island and that his daughter (Penny) hates him and he's never seen his grandson (Charlie).

Widmore and the other men leave, locking Desmond inside. Desmond freaks out and breaks free from the chair. Inside, Jin demands answers from Widmore. Widmore says Desmond is the only person he knows of that survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event and he needs to know if Desmond can do it again.

Seamus powers up the system, but hesitates in flipping the switch. Widmore comes over and pulls the three levers causing the solenoids in the box to light up. The gauss meter pushes past the maximum reading of 200, the picohertz reaches about 174 and the EMF reading is 242.7958.

Suddenly, as Desmond stands between the solenoids, there is a bright flash and we see the sky shot from the Oceanic 815 window from "LA X." We cut to Desmond standing at the flight status board at LAX.

So Desmond is transported from the main island timeline to the sideways timeline. But what exactly does Widmore have planned on the island if hitting Desmond with a big dose of electromagnetism is just a test for a bigger event later? Presumably, Widmore has heard from someone that Desmond survived the implosion of the Swan Station. Also, what is the sacrifice that Widmore wants Desmond to make? It certainly seems ominous.

Simmons is charred in the electromagnetic device, Widmore doesn't care

After Desmond attacks Widmore, he insists that Zoe start a test, even though she says it's not ready. Jin follows her to the Hydra Station's generator room, passing a makeshift wooden box connected to some heavy duty cables.

Once they're in the generator room, Seamus and many others panic as they prepare to set up the test a day ahead of schedule. Seamus says they need to get a functioning E.M. field. When the generator is turned on, it fails. Seamus sends a man named Simmons outside to the box to check the contacts on the solenoids.

Seamus turns to a white rabbit in a cage that is named Angstrom and tells it that it will be going into the box next. Anders Jonas Ångström was a Swedish physicist who studied terrestial magnetism, light and optical phenomena.

One of the technicians discovers it's a bad breaker and throws the switch as Simmons is inside the box examining the coils. The solenoids emit a bright light and Simmons is tossed across the box. The cameras go out and then the system is powered down. when Jin, Seamus and Zoe arrive at the box, they see the charred remains of Simmons' body.

Charles Widmore comes to the box and is unfazed by Simmons' body. Desmond is brought to the entrance and looks terrified of what could be coming next.

Desmond learns he's back on the island, attacks Widmore

Desmond wakes up in the infirmary on Hydra Island to see Zoe standing over him. Desmond is disoriented, but demands to see Penny. Charles Widmore enters and tells him that Penny and his son Charlie are safe, but he can't see them because he has brought him back to the island.

Upon learning this, you can see rage building inside Desmond who then attacks Charles Widmore with his IV. Charles' head is cut and he leaves the room.