D&D 4E Lost S04E05 28 Feb 2008 - The Constant

[RigaMortus2]

Can't place any very specific situations off-hand but I'm questioning to myself that Desmond would/should have acted differently at several points during Season Two and Three if he indeed had foreknowlege that he would be on a boat with Sayad in December 2004.

He didn't have this foreknowledge because he wasn't affected by this time 'disease' until the end of season 2, when the hatch exploded and he was exposed to the electormagnetic discharge.

And from what it looks like, his concious self from 1996 goes into his 'present' day 2004 self, which is why he doesn't recognize Sayid (he didn't know Sayid back in 1996).

What I am curious about, the way they ended the episode, is Desmond's memory basically wiped at this point? He seems to have cured himself, in that he won't be time travelling anytime soon, but he still doesn't seem to remember Sayid. I assume he will not recognize other people like Jack either... Which is strange, because he recognized Charlie's name when it was brought up about Charlie telling Des that it's "Not Penny's Boat".

Perhaps Charlie WAS a constant for him as well? Remember last season when Des has a flashback, and it is weird because it seems he can interact with his flashback? Well, he meets Charlie in his flashback, so technically Charlie would be another constant from his past to present...

 

[Remus Lupin]

What I got at the end was that, when he said Sayid's name, it meant that all was back to normal and he remembered him again. But I only saw the second half of the episode, so I might have missed a detail.

 

[Fast Learner]

That's my impression, that 2004 Desmond was back on the boat at the end of the ep.

 

[Mark]

Perhaps if 2004 Desmond goes back to normal, remembering things as he should, then so does the other one, thus not remembering Sayid when he first meets him.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Perhaps if 2004 Desmond goes back to normal...

That is what I think too.

So... what do you think was in the log book and how did the pirates get it?

 

[Cthulhudrew]

I, too, got the impression that Desmond was back to himself at the end of the episode when he called Sayid by name.

 

[LrdApoc]

My take was that Des was experiencing linear time when he jumped and his actions changed the past that originally happened as a side effect of the time dilation effect. So at the end, when he found his constant he synched back up and removed the anomaly of the time jumps.

That would mean that 1996 Des changed the timeline in the past but went back to normal in the present because the timelines merged and fixed themselves - and he didn't explode like the com officer Also that would account for his actions when he was drummed out of the Scotts, the discussions with Penny and his first encounter with Sayid later.

I love the Desmond episodes, he and Sayid are my two favorite characters to watch because they almost always have interesting storys surrounding them, unlike some of the other losties.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

I'm wondering if: the research in the Orchid was along the same lines as Daniel's research at Oxford. Whether maybe even Daniel was a member of Dharma, and at the Orchid station, and just completing its work. If he was on the island, and left before he understood the whole proper heading/side-effect thing it would account for his timeslips. All of which would suggest he somehow has the slips under control, as he lived for a long time with them.

Recall too that at the end of S2, Ben knew about the heading as well, he gave Michael the info.

Was the soldier Desmond was talking to in the truckbed about being crazy the guy who greeted them on the boat? Looked like him.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Was the soldier Desmond was talking to in the truckbed about being crazy the guy who greeted them on the boat? Looked like him.

Nah. He and Des would have known each other.

Small boat, though.

 

[EricNoah]

Very good episode.

Has a lot of implications for both the flashback and flash forward stuff. The flashbacks that seemed just to be "background info" now might possibly become integral to the present story. The flashforwards, likewise. If a 2004 "Oceanic 6" character could visit "future time" and report back, that's a big deal.