Table structure changing the query plan on a non-clustered index.

I've been trying to understand why SQL server decides build a very complex query plan in some cases. 

I've got two test Tables. 

- Tab1 and Tabx 

When the table only has a single data page the select statement behaves as I would expect and uses the Index efficiently. 

However as soon as there's two data pages pages, the query run against xTab explodes into this:

I'm trying to understand why this is. Below are two test scripts that create the two tables:

CREATE TABLE dbo.Tab1
(
id BIGINT NOT NULL,
Alias VARCHAR(36) NOT NULL,
Version INT,
Locale VARCHAR(5),
Value1 VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL
);

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IDX1] ON [dbo].[Tab1] 
(
	[id] ASC,
	[Alias] ASC,
	[Version] DESC,
	[Locale] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX  = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE  = OFF, SORT_IN_TEMPDB = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, DROP_EXISTING = OFF, ONLINE = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS  = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS  = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
GO


Truncate table Tab1
Go
DECLARE @i AS int = 1;
WHILE @i < 200
BEGIN
SET @i = @i + 1;
INSERT INTO dbo.Tab1
(id, Alias, Version,Locale,Value1)
VALUES
(@i, 'x', 1,'en-us','Test1');
END;
Go
-- Take a look at how many pages we have
SELECT index_type_desc, page_count,record_count, avg_page_space_used_in_percent
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(N'Test1'), OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Tab1'), NULL, NULL , 'DETAILED');


Select 
  Id
From
  Tab1 a 
Where
  a.id = 1
  and a.Alias	= 'x'
  and  (a.Locale = 'en-us' or a.Locale is NULL)
  and a.Version = 1 
Order By Version desc

vs

USE [test1]
GO

/****** Object:  Table [dbo].[xTab1]    Script Date: 09/05/2013 08:56:38 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO

SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

SET ANSI_PADDING ON
GO

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[xTab1](
	[ObjectPropertyCode] [bigint] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
	[ObjectCode] [bigint] NOT NULL,
	[String200Name] [varchar](30) NOT NULL,
	[String200] [varchar](2000) NOT NULL,
	[GroupCode] [bigint] NOT NULL,
	[Status] [char](1) NOT NULL,
	[EntityObjectCode] [bigint] NOT NULL,
	[Type] [varchar](5) NOT NULL,
	[ObjectPropertyAlias] [varchar](60) NOT NULL,
	[TypeObjectCode] [bigint] NOT NULL,
	[Version] [int] NULL,
	[Locale] [varchar](5) NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]

GO

SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_StringName]  DEFAULT ('') FOR [String200Name]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_String]  DEFAULT ('') FOR [String200]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF__47jectPro__Group__08EA5793]  DEFAULT ((0)) FOR [GroupCode]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_Status]  DEFAULT ('A') FOR [Status]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_EntityObjectCode]  DEFAULT ((-1)) FOR [EntityObjectCode]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_47]  DEFAULT ('') FOR [Type]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_ObjectPropertyAlias]  DEFAULT ('') FOR [ObjectPropertyAlias]
GO

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[xTab1] ADD  CONSTRAINT [DF_xTab1_TypeObjectCode]  DEFAULT ((-1)) FOR [TypeObjectCode]
GO

/****** Object:  Index [IDX1]    Script Date: 09/05/2013 08:51:45 ******/
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IDX1] ON [dbo].[xTab1] 
(
	[ObjectCode] ASC,
	[ObjectPropertyAlias] ASC,
	[Version] DESC,
	[Locale] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX  = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE  = OFF, SORT_IN_TEMPDB = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, DROP_EXISTING = OFF, ONLINE = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS  = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS  = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
GO

Truncate table xTab1
Go
DECLARE @i AS int = 1;
WHILE @i < 101
BEGIN
SET @i = @i + 1;
INSERT INTO dbo.xTab1
(ObjectCode, ObjectPropertyAlias, Version,Locale,String200,GroupCode)
VALUES
(@i, 'x', 1,'en-us','Test1',0);
END;
Go
-- Take a look at how many pages we have
SELECT index_type_desc, page_count,record_count, avg_page_space_used_in_percent
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(N'Test1'), OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.xTab1'), NULL, NULL , 'DETAILED');


Select 
  ObjectCode
From
  xTab1 a 
Where
  a.ObjectCode = 514345440
  and a.ObjectPropertyAlias	= 'x'
  and  (a.Locale = 'en-us' or a.Locale is NULL)
  and a.Version = 1 
Order By Version desc