We know they are after the Swan exploded. They haven't crossed paths with Ben etc. on the beach, though, right? Jacob told Hurley he died an hour ago, but who knows what that means.

sumi, no, we don't, and I was wondering whether that would come into play.

Well, wait, we do. Well...maybe. Because Jacob was dead—according to Jacob—and the healing spring was dirty, which was likely associated with Jacob's death. And Sayid may or may not be possessed by Jacob. So...there are a number of Jacob-related cues that point to their being back on the regular timeline, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of their being behind or ahead of Ben and the rest.

sumi

well, we definitely know the original losties are in the same timeline as Jack's second plane crash on the island, because the flight attendant mentioned it at the temple.

Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid, Jin are across the island from Richard and Sun - in the same timeline.

the flight attendant mentioned it at the temple.

Who is this Cindy with the kids that people keep mentioning? I don't remember her at all, except that she was the flight attendant, I guess.

She showed up in the second season when we were introduced to the Tailies, right?

Yes, she offered Jack drinks on the flight and she was a Tailie.

And then she disappeared (I think) when the Tailies were being picked off by the Others.

Desmond's not jumping through time. He's on the plane because he never went to the Island. If Penny Widmore doesn't exist, he never went sailing around the world, either.

Corwood,

I think people are questioning why Desmond was there and then he disappeared. We never did see him again. Was he a passenger or moving through time like he did in 2005 when the hatch went kablooey.

Oh, ok. I just figured that he moved to another part of the plane. But the way the show works, y'all are probably right to assume that whatever the most convoluted answer we have is, it isn't convoluted enough to be right.