Desmond is now eager to help in original timeline, Sayid kills two men & takes him

When Desmond wakes back up in the original timeline, alive and well, Seamus and Zoe are both shocked, but Charles Widmore doesn't seem surprised at all. A nurse/medic starts to check his condition, but he waves her off, saying he's fine and asking Widmore to help him up.

Widmore tells Desmond he was only unconscious for a few seconds. He then starts to apologize, for putting Desmond through the test, but Desmond stops him, saying it's okay because he understands now. Widmore seems confused, but Desmond seems very zen and asks, "When do we start?"

Zoe and two other men start to walk Desmond through the Hydra Station grounds. She asks him what happened to make him go from beating Widmore about 20 minutes ago to being Mr. Cooperative. He says a lot can happen in 20 minutes. She says that the machine fried his brain. Suddenly, Sayid appears and kills the two other men. He points a gun a Zoe, but tells her to run. Sayid tells Desmond that Widmore's team are dangerous and they need to go. Desmond, Mr. Cooperative, says "lead the way" and follows Sayid.

So what exactly does Desmond now know in this timeline that makes him so zen? Does he know exactly what he needs to do, or is he just going with the flow?

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.