Where did Desmond's Wedding Ring Go? by RossCE

In LA X, the first episode of this season, Desmond Hume finds a seat next to Jack, and one of the most salient things that we noticed about this Desmond was that he was wearing a wedding band.

Two theories emerged: 1) Desmond is happily married in the alternative universe to Penny, presumably. 2) Desmond from the main timeline is mind traveling into the alternate universe. I think that after last night, we now know that Desmond has the ability to time/space travel between universes.

Alternate-universe Desmond was not only not married to Penny -- he hadn't met Penny yet. So there is no way that this alternate universe Desmond could have had a wedding band. The only way Desmond could have had a wedding band in the alternate universe was for main-timeline Desmond to travel to the alternate universe.

What does this mean? I think the Desmond we see in LA X is there to mess with Jack's mind. He's trying to make Jack make the same connections that Charlie, Daniel, and Desmond made. And as we were watching Desmond in last night's episode, I think several Desmonds emerge.

There is pre-enlightened Desmond, who was the Desmond we saw drinking scotch with Widmore, chasing Charlie, talking to Eloise and Daniel. And then there is enlightened Desmond -- Desmond after meeting Penny and fainting. The Desmond we see at the stadium -- the Desmond who asks Penny out and asks Minkowski for the manifest is the same Desmond who greets Jack on Flight 815 in the first episode this season. Desmond has seen the truth and his goal from here on out is to make everyone else see it too.