It's weird that Desmond would voluntarily leave his constant to sail around the world. What happens if he has another incident on the boat? You can't just blank out for 75 minutes when you're sailing all by yourself. What if he falls into the ocean? And what about when he was alone in the Swan for 3 years because either Inman was off investigating the island or Inman was dead? What happens if Desmond blanks out and misses pushing the button? Why wasn't Desmond having episodes then?

This part of his life seems totally removed from the period where he time traveled uncontrollably. I'm guessing that that the episodes stopped and Desmond explained it to himself by thinking that he had been crazy for a short while but then regained his sanity, though that seems like a really cheap way out for the producers!

(1.) Once Desmond lived long enough to be on the freighter with Sayid and make the call to Penny he changed his future, but that didn't change his past, so how did he manage on the boat and in the Swan that whole time without having episodes and accidentally killing himself?

(2.) How MUCH time does the constant have to be in a person's life at different periods to save the person from dying??? Penny is in his past and his future, but she's gone from his life for more than 3 years he's on the island. Desmond shows up in Daniel's life only once before the island and once after. Does the job of a constant really only require 2 meetings?

(3.) If Desmond had been time traveling when he was still in the military, why is he so confused when he does it after the Swan blows up? He should already be very familiar with what was happening to him. He should have been totally freaking out that his insanity was coming back and without Penny he was gonna die a horrible death.

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"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

He wasn't timetravelling then, it happened after the Helicopter came in the electric storm, "Side Effects"

It only happened after he was exposed to the Electro magnetic force when he turned the key when the swan blew up, that's when the visions started, they wer exacerbated by the helicopter trip.

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Baby I am tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery. I just got tortured by a damned spinal surgeon and a genuine Iraqi. 'Course I'm serious.

This wasnt a vision but a time travel, Daniel said this would happen to people who have been exposed to radiation. Thats why Sayyid and Frank the Crank werent affected.

Potpies, you got me thinking. How come Desmond actually landed on the island if you have to stay on some exact coordinates to reach it? Seems like a big coincidence. Same for flight 815. Yeah, and how come Des doesn't have any side effects when he comes to the island? Or do they only appear when you leave the island? God, this show confuses me so much, I soon won't be able to remember my name anymore^^

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- Does anyone know how to use a gun?
- I think you just pull the trigger.

- Hey kid, what's eating you?
- Nothing, he's at the top of the food chain!
(The Lion King^^)

Originally Desmond wasn't time traveling in 1996, but meeting Daniel then put him on a loop between 1996 and 2004. He was going back and forth between the two times. Daniel changed Desmond's future as well as his past. This means he WAS time traveling in 1996. This is a time period that brackets his being on the sailboat and pushing the button in the Swan. So why wasn't he time traveling then?

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"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

des' consciousness was only traveling for a brief period in 1996. when he contacted his constant it went away and it corresponded to being directly after he got the phone number from penny. there was no time traveling consciousness after that - the side effects were grounded and depleted. they were linked during that time and the 'in-between' times were not effected.

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...embrace the senile genius...
watch him reinvent the wheel...

Because he didn't leave the island yet....
I'm not too sure what you mean by this, try rewording it.
The future cannot be changed. The time line is all written at once. He didn't start jumping between time until he left the island, so I'm not sure what you mean.

Technically, yes. You just need something or someone that is part of each time era you are jumping back and forth from.
Because those things didn't happen yet. When he was originally in the army he wasn't time traveling yet. He can't do that until he leaves the island.

daniel said "it's the consciousness that travels". so maybe...when desmond hits the storm and goes off the bearings, his 2004 consciousness and his 1996 consciousness become tangled. so he goes through the whole visiting-oxford-need-the-constant-find-penny-get-the-number-call-her-from-the-future experience and then the consciousnesses (is there such a word) become untangled and then the 1996 des forgets that the 2004 des was ever there.

hmmm?

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