What happened, happened.

So stated Eloise to Desmond, casually, on this week's episode of Lost. In our review of "Happily Ever After," we offered a general theory about what the Sideways world actually is, and what's missing from it (hint: it's a four-letter word).

Now, in this edition of the Lost Round Table, our panelists have returned to further analyze this season six classic. As usual, reader feedback on the topics below is encouraged...

What sacrifice will Widmore ask Desmond to make?
M.L. House: Simple: his life. By using his powers to somehow stop FakeLocke from escaping the island, Desmond will die on the season finale. But he'll save the lives of Penny, little Charlie and the castaway loved ones in the process.

LJ Gibbs: Either Widmore is going to ask him to not participate in casual Fridays at the office, or to take Jacob's spot as keeper of the island, thus protecting Penny and their child but never being able to see them again.

Mr. Probst: Desmond seems to understand the connection between his world and the sideways world and the need to eliminate the possibility of the sideways world becoming his world.  While he'd be able to see Penny in the sideways world, he would not get to love her.  Widmore will ask him to sacrifice ever seeing Penny again, to preserve his son and all of the experiences he's already had with her.  'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, right?

Cooler scene: When Desmond flashed to "Not Penny's Boat" on Charlie's hand, or when Eloise admonished Desmond for his curiosity over Penny?
M.L. House: The Charlie scene was startling in its connection between worlds, but Eloise's words were what truly shed light on the Sideways universe for me. She essentially told Desmond: don't rock the boat, you have what you always wanted. This can be applied to almost all the Sideways glimpses we've gotten so far, but it begs numerous questions: Are the castaways truly happy? Do they really have what they want? And what caused this arrangement/altering of their worlds?

LJ Gibbs: "Not Penny's Boat" by far. The whole scene was great, from the initial reference to Charlie's death scene to a very creepy Charlie turning to Desmond underwater and pressing his hand to the glass. But this was also the first time that I can remember Lost not only alluding to a prior plot/scene, but blatantly making us see it. They are closing in on the end and all the explanations that await.

Mr. Probst: Eloise, hands down.  Her conversation with Desmond was one of those classic Lost moments where the audience knows something big is going down, but not what and we all make the same semi-confused face while watching it.  Certainly many of us hit rewind on our DVRs to watch that scene more than once.

What is your favorite Daniel Widmore song?
M.L. House: The chart-topping favorite, Don't Be a Jughead.

LJ Gibbs: She Attempted to Blind Me with Science, But I Know Far Too Much About It.

Mr. Probst: You All Everybody featuring Daniel Widmore (Sideways remix version).

Any new theories on the Sideways world?
M.L. House: I shared them in my review, linked to above. But my quick take, once more: it's the creation of FakeLocke. He's evil incarnate, as Richard said awhile back. Through some deal he makes with the castaways, they get to live in a world that frees them from the shackles of their past. But it's devoid of true love.

LJ Gibbs: It's apparently a world wherein suits, shirts and shoes dry instantly. It probably smells musty.

Mr. Probst: See my answer to the first question and ML House's review, but that's the crux of where the show is going now.  Assuming we're right, the question then becomes: how does Widmore and sideways-Eloise know about the two worlds?

Desmond was unconscious for three days before being brought to the island, the same amount of time Jesus spent in the tomb before His resurrection. Coincidence?
M.L. House: Well, Desmond was never dead, so this doesn't seem entirely accurate. Still, if Des were to grow his hair out a bit, I can see a resemblance. There have certainly been many sins by his friends on the island. As we speculated above, might he sacrifice himself for them?

LJ Gibbs: We'll have to check his abs to be sure, but it looks like Desmond is ramping up to be the island's savior.

Mr. Probst: Considering the season six promos with the cast shot as if they're sitting at DaVinci's Last Supper, one can understand the logic to get to Desmond as Jesus.  However, Desmond/Henry Ian Cusak isn't in any of those pictures and Locke/Terry O'Quinn is sitting in the spot where Jesus would be in DaVinci's painting.  Feels like a misdirection coincidence by the writers.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.