Chapter 23 - "How To Stop An Exploding Man" - Discussion Thread 5/21/07

[Katsuro]

One thought I had was that maybe his power is superhuman "good luck." The reason he can't be killed and is an unstopable force is not because he's indestructibke, per say, but simply because nothing ever manages to hurt him in the first place. Similarly, he never gets sick and never has accident. The only problem with that theory is that it doesn't explain why he doesn't look any older.

Yeah, and that's a pretty big problem. Enough of one to completely invalidate the theory. You can be the luckiest guy imaginable, but you'll still age.

 

[Gonking]

just saw the episode and I'm absolutely dissapointed. It was terrible. How could they do it so bad when it was all going so well to give a great closure to the first season?. The final fight between Sylar and Peter was pure garbage, I was expecting so much about it after "five years gone"...

oh well, Lost is still the number 1.

 

[Mysterio]

No, I think he is the same guy. I just don't think he's immortal. I think they're going to be a bit more clever than that.

Or maybe they're using an actor to portray a dual role as an ancestor in a family dynasty.

 

[Neptune]

Just watched the episode again. It still bugs me that they awnsered so very few questions. The only thing we know now is that NY didn't blow up. I know they didn't want to give it all away in the first season but still. I think they left too much to the imagination. And by the way: didn't Isaac tell Sylar that he saw the "Heroes" stop Sylar and that Sylar would DIE? Isaac was never wrong was he?

 

[Mysterio]

Isaac was never wrong was he?

did NY explode?

 

[Avalanche]

Hiro wasn't ready then. he was hesitant and reluctant.

That's a load of rubbish.

In the episode in question, Sylar had been frozen in time. Hiro unfroze him and immediately struck down with his blade, and Sylar caught it. Here. Hiro merrily strode up to Sylar and struck him straight through the stomach when Sylar had plenty of time to react. Certainly more than he did last time.

Not a chance in hell Sylar should have been impaled. It was a poor effort on the part of the writer which made no sense at all. They could have had Hiro appear diectly in front of Sylar, with his sword already stretched out, so it appear inside Sylar. He wouldn't have been able to avoid that, and it would have made a hell of a lot more sense.

 

[Avalanche]

did NY explode?

He was wrong about Claire too wasn't he? Did he not paint Claire dead? Or was that Peter? Either way, same power.

They saved the Cheerleader.

 

[Gonking]

He was wrong about Claire too wasn't he? Did he not paint Claire dead? Or was that Peter? Either way, same power.

They saved the Cheerleader.

he painted the other cheerlader death

 

[Mysterio]

That's a load of rubbish.

no it isn't. the writers and Kring have repeatedly said that the emotional states of the Heroes affects their being able to use their power (or not being able to use their power).

In the episode in question, Sylar had been frozen in time. Hiro unfroze him and immediately struck down with his blade, and Sylar caught it. Here. Hiro merrily strode up to Sylar and struck him straight through the stomach when Sylar had plenty of time to react. Certainly more than he did last time.

Hiro didn't unfreeze time; he lost concentration. his emotional state cause him to lose focus. just as Peter's emotional state prevented him from controlling the radioactive ability and being able to fly away.

 

[Mysterio]

He was wrong about Claire too wasn't he? Did he not paint Claire dead? Or was that Peter? Either way, same power.

They saved the Cheerleader.

Isaac isn't wrong. his paintings are not wrong; they are accurate visions of the future. obviously, the future can be changed or NY would have been leveled, Claire would have had her head ripped off, etc.

 

[Gonking]

Not a chance in hell Sylar should have been impaled. It was a poor effort on the part of the writer which made no sense at all. They could have had Hiro appear diectly in front of Sylar, with his sword already stretched out, so it appear inside Sylar. He wouldn't have been able to avoid that, and it would have made a hell of a lot more sense.

ditto

 

[Gonking]

Isaac was also wrong when he said "you can't fight the future".

 

[Mysterio]

Isaac was also wrong when he said "you can't fight the future".

the difference there is that he was speaking as a character; he isn't infallible. his art made while using his ability was never wrong.

probably more accurate to say you can't fight your destiny.

 

[Manic]

I was under the impression Isaac learned how to follow Hiro's future, paradoxes and all. It seems like he painted the natural progression of the timeline (Peter explodes, Nathan becomes president, all the things in Five Years Gone), but then he started to draw Hiro's time travels. And when he started drawing those, he drew all of Hiro's time paradoxes (ie. Future Hiro said Present Hiro was never supposed to jump ahead 5 years). That's why he drew Hiro going into the future, and how that would splinter into a timeline where Hiro stabbed Sylar.

The show established that Hiro can directly change things from the start. Remember the time Hiro first jumped to the day of the explosion? Ando was in Japan. But in Five Years Gone, Ando died in New York. It seems that whenever Isaac simply told someone about the future, they couldn't change it. But if Hiro knew what to do, he could.

 

[Neptune]

no it isn't. the writers and Kring have repeatedly said that the emotional states of the Heroes affects their being able to use their power (or not being able to use their power).

If this is true then maybe Sylar was so surprised to see Hiro coming at him in full force that he couldn't react in time.

The fact that we're even having this discussion just further proves my point that they left too much to the imagination.

 

[Mysterio]

If this is true then maybe Sylar was so surprised to see Hiro coming at him in full force that he couldn't react in time.

The fact that we're even having this discussion just further proves my point that they left too much to the imagination.

it's also why Hiro's ability disappeared for awhile. he was heartbroken over being unable to save Charlie.

 

[Mysterio]

Here's some info about it:

Something struck us during what was revealed to be Niki's butchering of the poker players: Hiro tried to use his powers, but failed. Was that due to the shock, or do Hiro's powers not work on the other people with abilities? After all, he didn't freeze Peter during the train ride, and we all just wrote it off to Hiro getting much better with his powers in the future, but what if they just don't work on those with abilities?

The best explanations of that, without giving too much away is that abilities are tied to emotion on some degree. That being said - the permutations of one character when they are interacting with another give us some interesting results.

How much does the state of mind these characters are in affect their abilities?

Very. Very. Very. Very. Much. (great question)

 

[IAmHe9]

1.Peter said he couldn't do anything

You have to admit that's a bit ambiguous.

2.Sylar was shocked frozen due to the fact that the comic was right about his legacy being ended by a "little man"
-who knows what those punches did to sylars brain functions

That's speculation, and I speculate the same as you. But here's the thing: Sylar then proceeded to launch Hiro all the **** way across Kirby Plaza, so his brain functions seem to work better when he has a hole in his chest. Had Peter given Sylar the ass-whooping he deserved, this wouldn't be so much of an issue.

his stopped the tasers with his tk, then flew claude away...that's hardly two powers at once

He was invisible at the time, if I remember correctly.

 

[IAmHe9]

The fact that we're even having this discussion just further proves my point that they left too much to the imagination.

Precisely.

 

[Mysterio]

He was invisible at the time, if I remember correctly.

nope.

 

[GhostPoet]

That's a load of rubbish.

In the episode in question, Sylar had been frozen in time. Hiro unfroze him and immediately struck down with his blade, and Sylar caught it. Here. Hiro merrily strode up to Sylar and struck him straight through the stomach when Sylar had plenty of time to react. Certainly more than he did last time.

Not a chance in hell Sylar should have been impaled. It was a poor effort on the part of the writer which made no sense at all. They could have had Hiro appear diectly in front of Sylar, with his sword already stretched out, so it appear inside Sylar. He wouldn't have been able to avoid that, and it would have made a hell of a lot more sense.

Sylar wasn't in control of his powers at that point...he lost control of the situation and therefore his emotional state nulled his powers. Just like what happens to any of the heroes.

Anyway...it looks like he lost his powers....not sure why though.

 

[Frico]

Again, I just hated the Sylar fight, just seemed to ****in easy of a beatdown

 

[Avalanche]

no it isn't. the writers and Kring have repeatedly said that the emotional states of the Heroes affects their being able to use their power (or not being able to use their power).

And yet Sylar was still able to telekinetically throw Hiro away having been stabbed straight through the torso and dying on the floor. I'm don't buy the 'Sylar was too emotional to use his powers' line. He has used his powers in emotional and high octane situations before. It was just an incredibly lazy way out.

Hell, he could have avoided the blade without any powers. He was given a good second or two to react

 

[Avalanche]

Claire: "Tell me there's another way please."
Peter: "There is no other way."
Pause for a second while Claire thinks it through, and then Nathan flies through the sky and lands in front of Claire.
Nathan: "Yes there is Claire."

I mean wtf? Nathan was up in the sky, flying at some superspeed when Peter and Claire were talking. He couldn't have possibly heard the conversation. Just another silly error in the episode in order to make the scene work. I love the series, but there were too many niggling things in this finale.

 

[Mysterio]

And yet Sylar was still able to telekinetically throw Hiro away having been stabbed straight through the torso and dying on the floor. I'm don't buy the 'Sylar was too emotional to use his powers' line.

i don't recall saying Sylar was too emotional to use his powers. i said Hiro's emotional state is why he was unable to maintain his time-freeze at Sylar's mother's house and you called it "a load of rubbish."

whether you like it or not, Kring and the writers have stated that the characters' state of mind affects their abilities, and that is the exact reason why Hiro failed in his previous attempt.