THE PRESENT

Penny rushes Desmond to the hospital. In the waiting room, a familiar face shows up: Mrs. Hawking. She apologizes, as it was her son that led Desmond to this fate. Her son is not Ben, as Penny guesses - it's Daniel Faraday.

1977

Faraday gets off the sub on the Island. He's back - from Ann Arbor - because he saw a photo of Jack, Kate and Hurley in the DHARMA initiative and needs to figure out how they got back.

Dan rushes over to Jack's house and wakes him up. Jack tells Dan about his own mother, and how she told him his destiny was to return. Dan's response is that she was wrong. Jack wasn't supposed to come back.

FLASHBACK

As a young boy, Faraday practices piano while his overbearing mom pressures him to work harder and study more. She doesn't want him to waste time with leisure activities like piano, as science is his destiny.

1977

Faraday drives off to the Orchid - this is the scene we saw a glimpse of in the opening of the fifth season. This time, we see him confront Dr. Chang, a.k.a. Marvin Candle, in the cave, insisting that everyone be evacuated.

He warns that a similar accident will occur at the construction of the Swan Station in six hours, and it will be much, much bigger.

Dr. Chang doesn't believe a word he says, so Faraday lays it all on the line - he's from the future, and Miles is Chang's son. Miles denies all of Dan's ranting and Chang tells him to stay away from him.

FLASHBACK

The youngest doctor in Oxford history, Dan graduates from college and he is excited to introduce his girlfriend (and lab assistant) Theresa to his mom.

Mrs. Hawking isn't interested, though, only wanting to go to lunch with her son. As always, she drives him to focus entirely on work. She presents him with a graduation present - a blank journal.

Daniel mentions a 1.5 million-pound research grant from Mr. Widmore, which gives Mrs. Hawking pause. She leaves, somewhat awkwardly.

1977

At the Barracks, Sawyer has a meeting with the original Oceanic refugees to bring the issue of leaving - and where to go next - to a vote, since Sawyer and Juliet have Phil tied up in the closet.

Jin refuses to leave because Sun might still be there. Hurley doesn't want to go either.

The decision making is cut short when Faraday bursts in and asks where he can find the Hostiles.One of them is his mother and is the person who can help them get back to their proper time.

FLASHBACK

Faraday is crying at home, staring at a TV upon the discovery of the fake Oceanic 815 wreckage. There's a knock at the door. It's Charles Widmore.

Dan is excited to meet his benefactor, but also apologetic for what happened to Theresa. Faraday says he tried the tests on himself first.

Widmore assures him that returning to the island will heal his mind, which is clearly messed up as he can't remember short-term events and details.

1977

Sawyer is against helping Faraday because he's happy with his life in the DHARMA initiative and doesn't want anything to change it.

He's outvoted, though, and Juliet gives Faraday the code to get through the fence.

While Jack and Kate get a car for the journey to the others' camp, Faraday takes a detour to talk to a little red-headed girl: Charlotte.

As predicted by adult Charlotte ages ago, Faraday tells the adorable little girl that when Dr. Chang orders people to evacuate on the sub, she and her mom have to leave the Island and never come back.

As Jack, Kate and Dan are commandeering guns and a car for their ride to the hostiles' camp, Radzinsky shows up and thinks something is up.

He pulls a gun and soon a firefight ensues. Faraday gets hit in the neck, but it's just a scrape, and they ultimately escape on a DHARMA jeep.

Radzinsky sounds the alarm back at the Barracks and barges in on LaFleur to get some answers. Things get worse as he hears screams and finds Phil tied up in the closet. He points his gun at Sawyer and Juliet.

FLASHBACK

Faraday is back to playing the piano when he gets a visit from his mother.  Charles' old pal, Eloise, urges her son to go on Widmore's mission to the island because it could make him better and he could get back to doing his important research.

He agrees in order to make his mom proud.

1977

Jack, Kate and Faraday drive into the woods to find the Hostiles. Jack wants to know why they're doing all of this, and Kate has second thoughts on whether this is a good idea.

Faraday says that in four hours, the construction crew at the Swan will hit a pocket of energy that will be released. To stop the effects, DHARMA will fill it in with cement and create the Hatch.

In the Hatch will be a button that must be pushed every 108 minutes to stop the energy from building up. Desmond will come to the Island and forget to push the button, causing Oceanic 815 to crash.

Widmore will then send a team, including Faraday and Charlotte, to the Island after finding it thanks to the crash. Charlotte will die on the Island.

The end result of Faraday's research is that the most important parts aren't the constants, they're the variables, which are the people.

All these time travelers have independent thought and can actually change events, he believes, so Faraday plans on destroying the energy right now.

That way, it doesn't explode, the Hatch isn't built, the button isn't pushed and Desmond doesn't not push it and Oceanic 815 doesn't crash, etc.

How will he do this? By using the hydrogen bomb on the Island.

THE PRESENT, OFF THE ISLAND

Mrs. Hawking says for the first time in a long time, she doesn't know what's going to happen next. The doctors tell Penny that Desmond is recovering. He assures her that he'll never leave her again.

Outside, Charles Widmore stops by for a conversation with Mrs. Hawking.

He's had to sacrifice his relationship with his daughter for their cause, but she complains that she made her son go back to the Island.

Charles tells her he's his son too. He gets slapped in the face.

1977

Faraday storms into the Hostiles' camp, with a gun dawn, demanding to speak with Eloise. Richard tries to calm him down by saying she's not there.

Faraday orders him to take him to her. He is then shot ... by Eloise.

She says she was trying to protect Richard, and as he's dying (or so it would appear), Faraday says she knew all along, and still told him to go back to the Island.

He tells her that he's her son and falls quiet.

Bong.