my personal take on 'Redemption'
10:16 PM 4/27/09 · If you follow any of the X·Men titles then you're probably familiar with the Exiles, a band of dimension hopping X·Men from multiple realities that try to fix things on different Earths. One of them was a guy named Morph, that guy on my icon, who was possessed along the way by a major baddie (to such an extent that his actual personality died) but the rest of the team used an advanced behavioral modification device to make the baddie think he was actually Morph...
...but on some levels it never fully took. There were lots of little subtle things that Morph couldn't do, turns of phrase he never used, that were all from the bad guy just under the surface.
This isn't the only time this sort of thing has happened in any number of fandoms but it is the one up front in my head at the moment. Given the mutant theme and the various similarities to the emo·sapiens of Heroes, I've been looking for any number of similar themes from that series to this one pretty much since it began.
So, how things went down at the end of the past chapter hit me as a possibility earlier in the day before I saw the episode but I hadn't worked out how, or even if, it could be applied.
See, Morph was a shapeshifter.
...Sylar no more?
Pffft.
Yeah, right!
Kinda goes with that little peek of Redemption we got. Doesn't matter who he's been 'programmed' to believe he is, Sylar is still there. His ability to intuit the working of things wouldn't just go away, nor would any of the dozen or so other abilities he's got. Now most of those abilities are things he would have to activate on purpose, or possibly accidentally, but they're not the ones I'm thinking on.
Most important is one thing, Matt didn't erase Sylar's memories! They're all still there. He simply forced his mind to accept that it was Nathan Petrelli. Any significant event that could trigger something particularly Sylar like and it could all become undone...though what Sylar would be like then, after being Nathan for so long, is anybody's guess.
The next chapter is called "Redemption" after all.
...but on some levels it never fully took. There were lots of little subtle things that Morph couldn't do, turns of phrase he never used, that were all from the bad guy just under the surface.
This isn't the only time this sort of thing has happened in any number of fandoms but it is the one up front in my head at the moment. Given the mutant theme and the various similarities to the emo·sapiens of Heroes, I've been looking for any number of similar themes from that series to this one pretty much since it began.
So, how things went down at the end of the past chapter hit me as a possibility earlier in the day before I saw the episode but I hadn't worked out how, or even if, it could be applied.
See, Morph was a shapeshifter.
...Sylar no more?
Pffft.
Yeah, right!
Kinda goes with that little peek of Redemption we got. Doesn't matter who he's been 'programmed' to believe he is, Sylar is still there. His ability to intuit the working of things wouldn't just go away, nor would any of the dozen or so other abilities he's got. Now most of those abilities are things he would have to activate on purpose, or possibly accidentally, but they're not the ones I'm thinking on.
- Sylar has a number of powers that're entirely automatic:
- His ability to intuit, understand the working of things, doesn't need to be activated. It's always on. He was using it long before he realized he had the power.
- The lie detection power never turns off. It's also wholly automatic. Always thought that would be annoying, that maybe with some concentration it could be turned off...but otherwise I kinda doubt it.
- Healing. Anytime he gets a cut or wound or anything really is going to raise some questions for him when it stitches itself up.
- While the electricity is a concious power it does have an unconcious reaction. The reason Sylar didn't go down when he was shot with multiple tasers in the beginning of this past chapter is because of that power. So, it stands to reason that any other tasers used on him in the future would be much the same reults.
- I'm kinda borderline on the enhanced hearing...plus I'm not 100% sure he still has it. With concentration I think that it can be toned down but it may be a moot point.
- While not a power, per se, there is still the matter of The Hunger. I'm not convinced that it's an off sort of things but it isn't always prevailent. Technically Peter must've had it long before he was aware of it but if that's the case then there's the possibility it isn't always active.
Most important is one thing, Matt didn't erase Sylar's memories! They're all still there. He simply forced his mind to accept that it was Nathan Petrelli. Any significant event that could trigger something particularly Sylar like and it could all become undone...though what Sylar would be like then, after being Nathan for so long, is anybody's guess.
The next chapter is called "Redemption" after all.