How Could Desmond See Both Spiritual Planes in “The End”?

There has been a lot of discussion about Desmond in the aftermath of Lost's finale.  Desmond is the only character who seemed to  be able to cross planes, having an awareness of and in the sideways world before he died.  Desmond has always been referred to as “special.” His consciousness has been known to move through time, and Desmond has a unique resistance to the Island's powerful energies. 

Widmore brought a drugged Desmond back to the island, calling him a failsafe.  He subjected Desmond to an electromagnetic experiment, which seemingly resulted in Desmond's consciousness traveling to the flash-sideways plane.  Soon after, Desmond's flash-sideways consciousness “became aware.”

Later, in the light cave, Desmond acknowledged to Jack that he wasn't afraid because he knew there was this whole other world.  He told Jack he expected to travel there when he pulled the Egyptian Plug.    If the sideways world is the plane of existence to which we pass after death, how was Desmond aware of it while still on the Island?

When we last saw Desmond, he was defending Penny by beating the crap out of Ben.  We know he survived Ben's bullet attack, and he promised Penny he'd never leave her again.  Next we see Des, he's barely conscious; Widmore's goons are dragging him out of a sub with IV lines still hanging out of his arms.  Later, Zoe told Des he'd been unconscious for three days, and she's just given him another drug  to revive him.  Widmore's goons drag Desmond to some sort of electromagnetic chamber.  They tie Des to a chair and blast him with a bright light, similar to that we see emanating out of the cave.  He screams and busts his way out of the chair, obviously in agony, before finally collapsing in a heap on the floor.  While unconscious, he apparently crosses over into the sideways world.

A different Desmond emerges from the experiment.  He is calm, almost too calm.  He is no longer a struggling captive.  Instead, he has converted into willing accomplice.  He asks how long he was out, and finds out it was only a few seconds. 

Later, he is kidnapped by Sayid and brought to Flocke.  Desmond is highly cooperative, saying there is no need for ropes, as he'll go along willingly.  Flocke takes Desmond to an old well, and they pass the ghost of young Jacob along the way.  Flocke is surprised that Des can see the spirit too.  At the well, Flocke tells Desmond that the well is very old and was built by hand by people who were looking for answers. They had noticed that compass needles spun wildly at certain points like this very one. He warns that digging the well did not give them the answers they sought. Flocke then asks Desmond why he isn't afraid, and Desmond reflects “What the point is of being afraid?”  In response, Flocke pushes him into the well where apparently, Des crosses over into the sideways once again.

How could Desmond cross over once, let alone several times?  How could he become aware in both timelines?

Let's examine a few things.  First, let's look at what causes one to “wake up” in the sideways world.  Awareness seems to come about in one of two ways.  The first involves reconnecting with a lost love, by re-experiencing that connection of the soul one has with very few people, by finding that proverbial other half.  The other involves undergoing some form of physical trauma and/or near death experience.  One wakes up through spiritual connection or debilitating trauma.  Now let's look at Desmond's physical state at the time he first crossed over.  Desmond had been shot, yet his adrenaline rush allowed him to best his attacker, and he survived.  Regardless, he was brought to the hospital in near-critical condition.  Soon after his release, he was kidnapped and drugged, leaving him unconscious for over three days.  He was revived with yet another drug.  Barely conscious, he was dragged to a chamber and tied to a chair.  Then he was blasted with an obscene amount of electromagnetic radiation.  I'd describe that whole sequence of events as severe physical trauma, more than the average body can withstand and survive, let alone emerge calm and unscathed. 

Now, let's look at Desmond's prior experience with consciousness-jumping.  The first time Desmond was subjected to an obscene blast of electromagnetism was when the Hatch imploded.  Then, Desmond crossed over into some other time that apparently was in the past.  He met Mrs. Hawking when he went to buy Penny an engagement ring.  When he tried to actually complete the purchase, Mrs. Hawking did not want to sell him the ring.  She informed Desmond he was not supposed to propose, that he ended up on the Island, pushing a button in order to save the world.  During the same flash, we see Des and Penny pose for the picture he carries around with him, and we see the man with the red shoes and get introduced to the concept of course correction. 

Later, Desmond gets unstuck in time while traveling to the freighter Kahana.  His consciousness travels back and forth to 1996, a period that is not necessarily the best time in his life.  Although he is estranged from Penny at the time, he convinces her he needs a phone number where he can reach her in eight years.  He meets young Dan Faraday and learns about the concept of “The Constant,” Desmond needs something he really cares about that exists in both planes and that his mind will recognize no matter what.  Having a Constant in both timelines was essential to keeping the mind grounded and to prevent “the sickness.” 

When Desmond's mind travels back to 2004, he knows he needs to call his constant.  Sayid fixes the phone for long enough that Desmond can make the call, and what results is one of the top moments in Lost history.  Desmond connects with his constant, Penny, and it heals his mind.  Desmond becomes unstuck and re-grounded in the present. 

So what does “The Constant” have to do with the flash sideways world?  Penny was Desmond's constant in every existence.  Connecting with Penny in the sideways world had a similar effect to connecting with Penny in the Constant; connecting with Penny healed Desmond's mind and allowed him to return to the present plane.  In the same way, meeting Penny in the sideways finally made Desmond feel whole, allowing his consciousness to gain awareness there.

So how did Desmond cross over in the first place?  I think the electromagnetic blast had a duel effect on Desmond.  Charles knew about the light, and was trying to recreate it using the electro-magnetic chamber.  However, as we saw before Des was put into the chamber, the chamber had the possibility of literally frying a man.  Desmond's resistance prevented him from turning into a giant pile of sawdust, but it did not stop him from being momentarily killed.

Think of modern cardiac care.  When one suffers a mild heart attack, briefly shocking the chest with a defibrillator can restart the individual's heart.  I think the electromagnetism had a similar effect on Desmond.  The first blast actually stopped his heart, momentarily killing him.  That momentary death caused him to cross to the flash-sideways where there is no “now”.  The next electromagnetic blast revived Desmond, restarting his heart and bringing him back. 

Desmond's prior experience with consciousness-jumping made him assume it was the same thing, happening again.  Desmond had no knowledge of his brief death; he thought his mind was just traveling around again.  Because of what he learned in “the Constant”, he instinctively knew he had to find Penny in order to reground his mind.  Through trial and tribulation, he managed to do so.  Again, Desmond's constant healed his mind and allowed him to become re-grounded in the present.

Soon after, Flocke threw Desmond down the well, head first.  We know the well was deep and that it had “special qualities”.  We also know there was a shallow pool of water at the bottom of the well.  I posit that well water had the same qualities as the water in the temple hot tub. 

Flocke picked that specific well for a reason.  Flocke knew Desmond was already nearly dead after his fight with Ben, subsequent kidnapping, drugging, and electromagnetic attack.  He knew the fall would most likely injure Desmond even further, leaving him in critical condition.  However, if  water in that well is connected to the island's other "special" water, it is water that is fed by the source, just like the water in the temple.  It is water with the same properties of that which revived Young Ben and Sayid.

Flocke threw Des into the well fully intending to kill him.  He expected Desmond to emerge from the water “infected”, the same way Sayid emerged from the temple waters.   And as we saw, Desmond does emerge from the well a changed man, only Des has not changed in the way that Flocke expected.  Des instead emerges with another vision of the future: the sideways plane.  It is his future, and for a few brief moments, it was his present. 

Unfortunately, Desmond has misinterpreted his visions before, and often, he seems to get the details wrong.  He saw Charlie die in many different ways, but none accurately reflected Charlie's final death.  He saw Penny parachuting out of that helicopter when it was, in fact, Naomi.  And he saw Claire leaving on a helicopter with Aaron in her arms. 

Once again, Desmond either misinterpreted his vision or just plain got the details wrong.  Desmond thought that when he popped the Egyptian cork, the blast from the energy would somehow transport him to this other world and back to his constant, Penny.  Instead, he just unleashed a blast of dark matter that sailed over his head without taking him with it.  Desmond was left in an extremely weakened state, but alive nevertheless.  His sacrifice did not involve giving his life to save the island, thereby allowing him to permanently pass into this seemingly idyllic world.  Instead, the Island demanded Jack's life, condemning Desmond to live a while longer before being allowed to cross over.  The irony is that once he got there, his cross-over only served to make him leave the world he craved while lying in the bottom of that well.  His purpose in crossing over seemed to be to make others aware that the sideways was not real, and they all needed to realize that in order to move on to something that was.

In sum, Desmond actually died and was resurrected several times.  His first death and subsequent revival by electromagnetism is what initially allowed him to become aware of the alternate plane.  His subsequent near death and momentarily dead experiences allowed him to continue to cross back and forth.  It is because of Desmond's deaths and subsequent revivals that he can 'see" the sideways, even though it has not yet been created.  A big part of what made Desmond special was his ability to move his consciousness through time and space.  Electromagnetism seems to initiate this mental behavior; death only magnifies it and extends it to crossing spiritual planes.