Desmond David Hume

(Played By: Henry Ian Cusick)

Introduction

Desmond David Hume was the lone resident of the Swan at the time of the Flight 815 crash. He was discovered by Locke, Kate and Jack a month later after they had blown open the hatch. After his failed attempts to leave the island, Desmond joined the camp of survivors. Following the destruction of the Swan, Desmond gained a mysterious ability to see flashes of the future with which he predicted Charlie's imminent death.

Flashback Episodes: "Live Together, Die Alone," "Flashes Before Your Eyes", "Catch-22", "The Constant"

Who he is: Wound up on the island while on a race around the world three years ago; got stuck pushing the button in the hatch with the now-presumed-to-be deceased Kelvin (body disappeared).

Hails from: Scotland

Who he was before: Runaway Groom, Monk-in-training, Marathon runner, random advice giver, dishonorably discharged for some act of "cowardice" from the Royal Scots Regiment. Charles Widmore, his fiance's father, may have had a hand in setting up the situation that resulted in his court-martial. Left his wealthy significant other, Penny Widmore, after turning down a bribe offered by her father to leave her alone, to train for the boat race around the world, sponsored by her father; "to win his honor back".

Who he is now: Future Seer, has premonitions of upcoming events that haven't occurred yet, possibly psychic/or unstuck in time, escaped hatch jockey

Big secrets:

• He sees flashes that show the future.

Interactions with the Widmores: Desmond, or "Des" as he is called by some, was a soldier in battle that was discharged for not following orders. Shortly after leaving the army, he was confronted by his ex-girlfriend's father, Charles Widmore. After showing every letter Desmond had ever written to Penelope (the ex-girlfriend) that he had withheld, Widmore offers Desmond money to stay away from his daughter, who had become engaged while Desmond was in prison. Desmond does not oblige and leaves.

Weeks later, while training for his race around the world in the United States (In a boat given to him by Libby), Desmond was found by Penelope once again and is confronted for not writing, not talking. Desmond says that he is training to win "his" race and nothing is going to stop him. Penny asks what he is running from, but Desmond counters saying that he was trying to get his honor back- and that was what he was running to.

Three years later, after wrecking on the Island and pushing the button for years, Desmond comes in contact with the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. As we find out later, we believe it was Desmond who caused the plane to crash when he failed to hit the button. After running from the group, he eventually finds himself back on shore after unsuccessfully trying to sail to Fiji. At this point in time, John Locke presents himself once again to tell Desmond that his work in the hatch was, in fact, useless, and that he was pushing a button to nothing. Tempers flare in the hatch and Locke destroys the input computer. Then the timer runs out and there is a system failure causing a strong magnet to begin to tear apart the hatch. Desperate, Desmond grabs the key hidden in his book and heads into a crawl space under the dome. He inserts the key into the fail safe and turns it. At that moment, a blinding light fills the island along with a deafening sound. Some speculate it was some sort of magnet discharge because moments after this incident, the hatch door falls from the sky. This electromagnetic anomaly is detected hundreds of miles away, by two Portuguese men and call, of all people- Penelope Widmore.

Desmond appears naked and bloody but unharmed. He knows about Locke's speech before it is said, and he isn't there when Locke talks about going to save Kate, Jack, and Sawyer.

The hatch implosion may have given Desmond a see-the-future ability, shown by his knowledge of Locke's speech before he made it. Desmond then began to have visions of Charlie being killed in various manners, the first being struck by lightening, which Desmond prevented by making a crude lightening rod out of lumber and a golf club. The second time, Desmond has a vision of Charlie drowning in an attempt to save Claire from the same fate. Once again he prevented it by dashing "a mile" and leaping into the ocean to save her. Desmond had prevented Charlie's death 3 times, before the incident involving the helicopter pilot Naomi, where Desmond only just decided to save Charlie from the bolt trap just in time for Charlie's guitar to take a bolt to the back of the neck.

In "Greatest Hits" Desmond told Charlie he saw Claire getting into a rescue helicopter, but the only way it could happen was if Charlie drowned after swimming into "The Looking Glass" and pushing a flashing yellow button. At the last minute Desmond decided he would go first, but Charlie knocked him out with an oar, and what he found in "The Looking Glass" wasn't exactly what he was expecting, and not what Desmond predicted.

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher who made important contributions regarding senses and reality.

**Information below regards Desmond's day that he relives after turning the fail-safe key.**


Desmond's Original Timeline

Unemployed at the time, Desmond made an appointment to speak to Charles Widmore, Penelope's father, at the main offices of the Widmore Corp., under the pretense of a job application. Widmore interviews Desmond and looks over his resume, after which he offers him a job in the administrative department. Desmond reveals that the real reason he came was to apply, not for employment, but for Widmore's permission to marry Penelope. Widmore is impressed by Desmond's request, but not by Desmond. Widmore takes two glasses from the cupboard, but pours a small amount of prohibitively expensive MacCutcheon whiskey into only one glass. Widmore tells Desmond the background of MacCutcheon, his service in the military, and how MacCutcheon had retired to the Highlands to make whiskey. Widmore emphasizes how MacCutcheon was a great man. Widmore tells Desmond that he will never be a great man. Widmore says Desmond is not even worthy to drink his whiskey, let alone marry his daughter.
As Desmond exits the Widmore building, he yanks off his tie, throws it on the sidewalk and leaves it there. He sees a young musician busking on the street, right before the rain Desmond predicted begins to pour. The musician is Charlie, who has just sung the prophetic line from Oasis' "Wonderwall": "Maybe/You're going to be the one that saves me..." The performance of Oasis's single "Wonderwall" places the known start of Desmond's timeline no earlier than 30 October 1995, when "Wonderwall" was commercially released. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") Desmond's petition for Widmore's blessing to wed Penelope rejected, Desmond returns home, and simply tells Penelope that he didn't get the job. Eventually, Desmond decides to go through with asking Penelope to marry him, even without her father's permission. Desmond goes to buy a ring for Penny, but changes his mind after meeting a strange woman at the antiques shop. Desmond meets Penny near the River Thames and they get their picture taken in front of a marina backdrop. Upon receiving the picture, which Penny pays 5 quid for, Desmond realizes that Widmore was right: He wasn't good enough for Penelope, he could barely even take care of himself, let alone the woman he loves. He tells Penelope this, and she storms off with mixed emotions of anger and sadness. Later, Desmond goes to the local pub to drown his sorrows. He notices a bottle of MacCutcheon whiskey behind the bar, but requests a pint of the pub's cheapest lager instead. He hears Mama Cass's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" on the jukebox, and then witnesses the predicted end of the football game he had incorrectly predicted the day before. He realizes that he does have some control of the outcome of his life. His other prediction, that Jimmy Lennon will come storming into the bar and smack the bartender in the face with a cricket bat because the barkeep owes him money, comes to pass as well. To keep the bartender from being hit, Desmond yells to him to duck, which he does. Jimmy Lennon ends up smacking Desmond in the back of the head with the bat. Desmond wakes from the blow to find himself back on the island.

A Quick Thanks to Desmond

As I'm sure you know now, Desmond saved Charlie several times. He saved him from drowning, being electrocuted. And being stabbed in the throat with an arrow. Desmond deserves to be thanked for this. He extended Charlie's life. what he did must have been very stressful and worrying, and also tiring. Also, when Charlie had to die, Desmond tried to save him twice from it. First, when Charlie was going to dive into the water, Desmond tried persuading him that Des's flashes meant he had to replace Charlie's life. Therefore Desmond died, and not Charlie. But Charlie his Desmond's head with a paddle to keep him from doing this. The second time, Charlie had been in a room where he turned off the transmission blocker. Then a grenade exploded outside of the underwater window and sea water rushed in. Desmond ran towards the room Charlie was in to help him, but Charlie slammed the door shut so he died like in Desmond's vision.
So thank you Desmond for saving Charlie or at least trying to. Also, good-bye to our poor, poor Charlie. <3

Desmond's Altered Timeline

After turning the failsafe key in the future, Desmond seems to reenter his life on the day of his interview with Widmore. He has a fragmented memory of his original timeline and is able to affect some small changes in it. He recognizes the young musician on the street as Charlie (this cardboard sign in his guitar case reads "Musical Stylings of Charlie Hieronymus Pace DONATIONS ACCEPTED"), confronts him about his identity, and then correctly predicts the sudden onset of rain. He arranges a meeting with his friend, Donovan, that hadn't occurred previously, to discuss the possibility of time travel. His friend asks him what happens next and a song triggers Desmond's memory of a future event involving the football match on tv and a disgruntled patron but the events fail to play out the way he remembered them. Desmond also decides to buy the ring for Penny this time, causing Ms. Hawking to reveal that she is aware of the original timeline as well, and to impart some of her understanding about how the universe "course-corrects" to prevent people from straying too far from their fate. During their discussion it seems that she is able to predict the imminent death of a man nearby but claims to be unable to ultimately prevent it. He keeps the ring anyway, but, after his argument with Penny decides to throw it into the river. Later, he hears the song again, but this time the events play out according to his prediction. The end of a football match turns out as expected and Jimmy Lennon storms into the bar looking for the bartender. Desmond tries to prevent the altercation from happening this time, but is hit with a cricket bat instead of the bartender, sending him back into the future.

Source for above info regarding Desmond's Timeline can be found at this webpage