speculation: kaito and the current suspects
Here's a quick warning about everything behind the cut - there are a few pics, to assist me, and there's also spoilers up to 2x05 not to mention a whole freaking lot of my own speculation about, well, things similar to my post the other day, heh.
Also, a lot of geeking out over character motivation and superpowers so, be warned, KO?
So, Kaito's death - what we know:
It happened on the Deveaux building, where the 12 once took their now infamous little picture; whoever did it was watching Kaito across Kirby Plaza before the confrontation with Kaito on the roof that led to his death; Ando was able to "see" whoever did it, yelled at them, showing that he saw it; whoever it was got the hell out of dodge in the few seconds it took for Ando to reach the edge and peer down; whoever it is knows the full meaning of the Symbol and knows exactly what to do to scare these remaining members of the 12 essentially shitless
Nathan (flight)
West (flight)
Claude (invisibility)
Mr. Parkman (advanced telepathy)
Kensei (regeneration)
Nathan and West, each possessing the ability of flight, could have done it - rushed at him, and flew off superfast to the side before Ando could see. However, seeing as West was completely stalking Claire at this time, would he have stopped stalking her long enough to fly across the country and take down some old guy and then fly right back? Could he have flown that fast? We know that Nathan can break the sound barrier, at least to judge by some of the effects and sounds we've been given, but could West have flown that fast?
It doesn't fit for me.
Nathan could have done it more easily and we know he was at both places where the pictures were found, not to mention that he may have planted the one of Bob at Mr. Parkman's apartment when Matt's back was turned. But, one, Matt's a telepath so I'm not sure if Nathan would have been so stupid as to stay with him and, two - does Nathan have any grasp of what the Symbol means?
Would he know enough about his parents' secrets to scare them all this easily with a red squiggle that, although everybody seems connected to it, only the 12 seem to understand?
Once again, it doesn't fit for me.
Claude could have done it and simply turned invisible but, one, he can't survive a fall like that, he just can't, and two, I don't see CE coming back as much I love him to bits.
Can't see it - at least not yet.
It could have been Mr. Parkman - he could have trapped Kaito in a vision that sent him plunging to his death but, then, why would he show Ando the vision, too? Why not just make Ando think Kaito had gone batshit and tripped and fell off by accident? Why would he have waited until Angela had left when he could have, in theory, taken them both out at once when they were alone on the roof? Somebody was watching Kaito before the rooftop murder, across the plaza - was Mr. Parkman there, watching? And, of course, the last thing that leaves me confused about if Mr. Parkman did it - why did Kaito seem to recognize him, if it was just a vision? There was some pretty clear recognition there, and yet the build doesn't at all match Mr. Parkman, so, if it was Mr. Parkman, huh?
And, yes, once again - it doesn't fit.
I honestly believe that it was Kensei - not only does it fit everything for me, in every way, but it would present over a season's worth of drama for the writers to fall back on without getting at all old, it's just that good. My personal theory is that he's still alive and is, in fact, Claire's birth father but that's not the point of this post.
The point of this post, in essence, is to explain why I think he's Kaito's killer.
So, yeah, here I go, geeking out!
Since I saw the fall murder, something's been tugging at my spine, insisting I look more closely at it. And an hour or so ago, as I rewatching Collisions, I finally figured it out - the person who killed Kaito was calm, collected, was able to use his body to take another person into a situation that he knew he could walk away from. It was the opposite of Angela's attack in the jail, that chaotic bloody attack she suffered that was filmed in a way that even echoes Matt's telepathy power - quick flashing cuts, similar sound effects, and she was completely alone, unlike Kaito. The killer knew Ando was there and yet he wasn't bothered, didn't seem to even give a shit about him because he didn't seem to matter - and he didn't attack when Angela was there, which makes me wonder even more about the jail attack - why not take out both at once? Why go after one and then turn around and go after the other in a way completely different?
He follows Kaito all that time and then goes away for a few hours and then comes back?
Kaito's killer used a person's own basic mortality against them - and walked away fine.
We've never seen that before, except....
We have, haven't we?
Let's think, for a few minutes, about what Claire did here, seriously - she thought of something she could do to him that she knew she'd walk away from, something that she knew he wouldn't easily be able to do, even if he was in semi-okay shape. And while her mental state's understandably scattered and emotional (the fucker tried to rape her and, quite literally, killed her) she's also exceedingly calm in a way that is extremely terrifying - I'll always be impressed by Hayden's acting here, because it really was that good - anger, desperation, fear, frustration and a chilling kind of determination that really does go straight down your spine.
Claire's emotional, upset - but she knows what she's doing, better than anyone else.
Some people have said that, if it was Kensei, he moved too fast after the impact except, how do you figure?
At the moment, everything we know about regeneration, we know from Claire so we'll go by her.
Claire's shown that while she's aware of pain, she doesn't feel it the way everybody else does - she seems to react more to pressure and shock, and more by what she knows should hurt than what actually does, such as her grimace when she gets the muffins out and her yell when Lyle staples her. Where others would be paralyzed just by the sheer amount of pain they would be feeling, she's able to move right past it - she doesn't even realize there are a few ribs poking out until Zach tells her to pop them back in. Is there any better look at how she may feel pain? I doubt that, after hundreds of years, a little thing like pain would slow Kensei down a little, if at all. It takes a few seconds, at a reasonably calm speed, to pop her bones back into the right place after her leap in Exploding Man - at which points she simply... runs off!
If this is Kensei, one, I doubt this is the first time he's fallen off a roof the last how many hundrds of years? And, two, this is what Claire can do now so... what would she be capable of in the future? We know that powers develop over the years (Linderman, Mr. Parkman) and we know that Claire's already getting better at it - fast-forward a few years and, yeah, the girl would be good at getting out of dodge nice and fast, don't you think?
And, of course, there's one last little thing that could play in here - what if, through some luck or even his own experience, he actually landed on Kaito?
He'd be jarred but it would be even more easy for him to jump up and simply... run off!
So... let's review the death itself, eh?
The Hooded Killer makes his first appearence and Kaito looks pretty freaked, no?
His exact words?
"Of all of them, I never expected it would be you."
Would "all of them" include the one who drew them together in the first place?
If my other theory is correct - that Kensei wasn't a member of the 12 but instead the one who originally connected the 12 - it would be a shock, especially if the 12 have been bickering amongst themselves, something that both Linderman and Kaito seemed to suggest in their comments. For death to come from the one who first showed you who you were, what you were, what you could be?
Can you think of a more dramatic and intense death for a member of 12?
Let's continue...
Kaito's impressively calm, as one would expect from a guy like him, even as the Hooded Killer goes for it, seemingly ignoring and/or unbothered by Ando's shout just a few feet away and seperated only by glass....
If Ando had moved a bit faster, he might even have caught him and yet....
I chose these two shots just to show how fast the attack was and the simple fact that Ando hasn't actually moved yet, frozen by shock. Falling bodies? Yeah, gravity's a bitch, let me tell you - bodies fall fast, just ask Claire, no? In the moment between the impact of killer and Kaito and then the two of them tumbling off the roof, Ando moves a step, if that, which is honestly understandable.
How often do you see your best friend's highly badass father get dragged off a roof by a badass hooded guy, really?
And the end of the attack - Kaito's done for, literally splattered all over the street, by the time Ando gets to the edge and looks down, which is an interesting angle, no? How long would it take to drag oneself off to the side and find just the right spot to perhaps pop a few body parts into the proper area?
The idea that it couldn't be a self-healer because there's no other blood is, for me, the most ridiculous argument.
I don't know how far Claire fell here although I'd absolutely love to find out... here she is, after the fall, a complete mess and yet...
I don't see any blood.
Do you see any blood?
The fall's a lot different and yet... the girl landed on her front and possibly was able to control her fall enough to jerk her head up at the last second... it would be impossible for most people, plunging to their deaths and yet, she knows full well she's not plunging to her death even if she's terrified as she falls...
If Kensei did land partially on Kaito than, really, how much blood would he have left and how long would he have taken to get up and run with a few dislocated joints and wrenched parts? It's clear, just from the way the blood spattered, that Kaito landed first, so, when did Kensei (if it was Kensei) land?
If pain can't stop Claire now and if Kensei is still alive, how far would pain go in actually slowing him down? How much control would he have in doing what he does here, what Claire does in Collisions by simply putting she and Brody in a position that she wasn't afraid of?
How long did Claire walk before she popped those ribs in place?
If Kensei did break a leg, how fast could he get up, half-lurch and half-run just out of eyeshot?
Especially if a little thing like pain didn't cripple him the way it would everyone else?
Out of all of the current suspects, Kensei would not only make the most sense, he would also provide the writers with the most ammunition for a truly kick-ass and heartbreaking story, no? Hiro's current storyline with Kensei in Japan, especially, would be a reason for a million varying kinds of "WTF?!" reactions for the audience and if they do decide to go the way I really think and fully believe they are - Kensei being revealed as Claire's real father while West is revealed to be long lost baby Petrelli, that the babies were switched - then it would also provide some truly impressive motivation if, at some point in the last sixteen years, one or more of the 12 turned around and betrayed Kensei, the man who may have given his Symbol to the 12 in the first place.
Out of everyone, Kensei would be able to understand the Symbol the most - it was his originally, no?
You'd have a motive for anger and murder that would work well with the father/child connection that's so heavy in the show... and you'd really have a truly brilliant story at hand, one that would bring every hero together as the secrets of the 12 come out piece by piece....
Even if Claire isn't his child, however, he's still the only one that makes sense to me - motive would be a bit more tricky and yet, it would still be the best story from what I can see so far, admittedly just from my own opinion. Smart writers always go with the suspect that has the most motive, the most emotion to be used to give depth to the storyline itself and the things done throughout the storyline by those wrapped up within it...
You do that, and you'll always have a truly kickass story at your disposal - always.
Also, a lot of geeking out over character motivation and superpowers so, be warned, KO?
So, Kaito's death - what we know:
It happened on the Deveaux building, where the 12 once took their now infamous little picture; whoever did it was watching Kaito across Kirby Plaza before the confrontation with Kaito on the roof that led to his death; Ando was able to "see" whoever did it, yelled at them, showing that he saw it; whoever it was got the hell out of dodge in the few seconds it took for Ando to reach the edge and peer down; whoever it is knows the full meaning of the Symbol and knows exactly what to do to scare these remaining members of the 12 essentially shitless
Nathan (flight)
West (flight)
Claude (invisibility)
Mr. Parkman (advanced telepathy)
Kensei (regeneration)
Nathan and West, each possessing the ability of flight, could have done it - rushed at him, and flew off superfast to the side before Ando could see. However, seeing as West was completely stalking Claire at this time, would he have stopped stalking her long enough to fly across the country and take down some old guy and then fly right back? Could he have flown that fast? We know that Nathan can break the sound barrier, at least to judge by some of the effects and sounds we've been given, but could West have flown that fast?
It doesn't fit for me.
Nathan could have done it more easily and we know he was at both places where the pictures were found, not to mention that he may have planted the one of Bob at Mr. Parkman's apartment when Matt's back was turned. But, one, Matt's a telepath so I'm not sure if Nathan would have been so stupid as to stay with him and, two - does Nathan have any grasp of what the Symbol means?
Would he know enough about his parents' secrets to scare them all this easily with a red squiggle that, although everybody seems connected to it, only the 12 seem to understand?
Once again, it doesn't fit for me.
Claude could have done it and simply turned invisible but, one, he can't survive a fall like that, he just can't, and two, I don't see CE coming back as much I love him to bits.
Can't see it - at least not yet.
It could have been Mr. Parkman - he could have trapped Kaito in a vision that sent him plunging to his death but, then, why would he show Ando the vision, too? Why not just make Ando think Kaito had gone batshit and tripped and fell off by accident? Why would he have waited until Angela had left when he could have, in theory, taken them both out at once when they were alone on the roof? Somebody was watching Kaito before the rooftop murder, across the plaza - was Mr. Parkman there, watching? And, of course, the last thing that leaves me confused about if Mr. Parkman did it - why did Kaito seem to recognize him, if it was just a vision? There was some pretty clear recognition there, and yet the build doesn't at all match Mr. Parkman, so, if it was Mr. Parkman, huh?
And, yes, once again - it doesn't fit.
I honestly believe that it was Kensei - not only does it fit everything for me, in every way, but it would present over a season's worth of drama for the writers to fall back on without getting at all old, it's just that good. My personal theory is that he's still alive and is, in fact, Claire's birth father but that's not the point of this post.
The point of this post, in essence, is to explain why I think he's Kaito's killer.
So, yeah, here I go, geeking out!
Since I saw the fall murder, something's been tugging at my spine, insisting I look more closely at it. And an hour or so ago, as I rewatching Collisions, I finally figured it out - the person who killed Kaito was calm, collected, was able to use his body to take another person into a situation that he knew he could walk away from. It was the opposite of Angela's attack in the jail, that chaotic bloody attack she suffered that was filmed in a way that even echoes Matt's telepathy power - quick flashing cuts, similar sound effects, and she was completely alone, unlike Kaito. The killer knew Ando was there and yet he wasn't bothered, didn't seem to even give a shit about him because he didn't seem to matter - and he didn't attack when Angela was there, which makes me wonder even more about the jail attack - why not take out both at once? Why go after one and then turn around and go after the other in a way completely different?
He follows Kaito all that time and then goes away for a few hours and then comes back?
Kaito's killer used a person's own basic mortality against them - and walked away fine.
We've never seen that before, except....
We have, haven't we?
Let's think, for a few minutes, about what Claire did here, seriously - she thought of something she could do to him that she knew she'd walk away from, something that she knew he wouldn't easily be able to do, even if he was in semi-okay shape. And while her mental state's understandably scattered and emotional (the fucker tried to rape her and, quite literally, killed her) she's also exceedingly calm in a way that is extremely terrifying - I'll always be impressed by Hayden's acting here, because it really was that good - anger, desperation, fear, frustration and a chilling kind of determination that really does go straight down your spine.
Claire's emotional, upset - but she knows what she's doing, better than anyone else.
Some people have said that, if it was Kensei, he moved too fast after the impact except, how do you figure?
At the moment, everything we know about regeneration, we know from Claire so we'll go by her.
Claire's shown that while she's aware of pain, she doesn't feel it the way everybody else does - she seems to react more to pressure and shock, and more by what she knows should hurt than what actually does, such as her grimace when she gets the muffins out and her yell when Lyle staples her. Where others would be paralyzed just by the sheer amount of pain they would be feeling, she's able to move right past it - she doesn't even realize there are a few ribs poking out until Zach tells her to pop them back in. Is there any better look at how she may feel pain? I doubt that, after hundreds of years, a little thing like pain would slow Kensei down a little, if at all. It takes a few seconds, at a reasonably calm speed, to pop her bones back into the right place after her leap in Exploding Man - at which points she simply... runs off!
If this is Kensei, one, I doubt this is the first time he's fallen off a roof the last how many hundrds of years? And, two, this is what Claire can do now so... what would she be capable of in the future? We know that powers develop over the years (Linderman, Mr. Parkman) and we know that Claire's already getting better at it - fast-forward a few years and, yeah, the girl would be good at getting out of dodge nice and fast, don't you think?
And, of course, there's one last little thing that could play in here - what if, through some luck or even his own experience, he actually landed on Kaito?
He'd be jarred but it would be even more easy for him to jump up and simply... run off!
So... let's review the death itself, eh?
The Hooded Killer makes his first appearence and Kaito looks pretty freaked, no?
His exact words?
"Of all of them, I never expected it would be you."
Would "all of them" include the one who drew them together in the first place?
If my other theory is correct - that Kensei wasn't a member of the 12 but instead the one who originally connected the 12 - it would be a shock, especially if the 12 have been bickering amongst themselves, something that both Linderman and Kaito seemed to suggest in their comments. For death to come from the one who first showed you who you were, what you were, what you could be?
Can you think of a more dramatic and intense death for a member of 12?
Let's continue...
Kaito's impressively calm, as one would expect from a guy like him, even as the Hooded Killer goes for it, seemingly ignoring and/or unbothered by Ando's shout just a few feet away and seperated only by glass....
If Ando had moved a bit faster, he might even have caught him and yet....
I chose these two shots just to show how fast the attack was and the simple fact that Ando hasn't actually moved yet, frozen by shock. Falling bodies? Yeah, gravity's a bitch, let me tell you - bodies fall fast, just ask Claire, no? In the moment between the impact of killer and Kaito and then the two of them tumbling off the roof, Ando moves a step, if that, which is honestly understandable.
How often do you see your best friend's highly badass father get dragged off a roof by a badass hooded guy, really?
And the end of the attack - Kaito's done for, literally splattered all over the street, by the time Ando gets to the edge and looks down, which is an interesting angle, no? How long would it take to drag oneself off to the side and find just the right spot to perhaps pop a few body parts into the proper area?
The idea that it couldn't be a self-healer because there's no other blood is, for me, the most ridiculous argument.
I don't know how far Claire fell here although I'd absolutely love to find out... here she is, after the fall, a complete mess and yet...
I don't see any blood.
Do you see any blood?
The fall's a lot different and yet... the girl landed on her front and possibly was able to control her fall enough to jerk her head up at the last second... it would be impossible for most people, plunging to their deaths and yet, she knows full well she's not plunging to her death even if she's terrified as she falls...
If Kensei did land partially on Kaito than, really, how much blood would he have left and how long would he have taken to get up and run with a few dislocated joints and wrenched parts? It's clear, just from the way the blood spattered, that Kaito landed first, so, when did Kensei (if it was Kensei) land?
If pain can't stop Claire now and if Kensei is still alive, how far would pain go in actually slowing him down? How much control would he have in doing what he does here, what Claire does in Collisions by simply putting she and Brody in a position that she wasn't afraid of?
How long did Claire walk before she popped those ribs in place?
If Kensei did break a leg, how fast could he get up, half-lurch and half-run just out of eyeshot?
Especially if a little thing like pain didn't cripple him the way it would everyone else?
Out of all of the current suspects, Kensei would not only make the most sense, he would also provide the writers with the most ammunition for a truly kick-ass and heartbreaking story, no? Hiro's current storyline with Kensei in Japan, especially, would be a reason for a million varying kinds of "WTF?!" reactions for the audience and if they do decide to go the way I really think and fully believe they are - Kensei being revealed as Claire's real father while West is revealed to be long lost baby Petrelli, that the babies were switched - then it would also provide some truly impressive motivation if, at some point in the last sixteen years, one or more of the 12 turned around and betrayed Kensei, the man who may have given his Symbol to the 12 in the first place.
Out of everyone, Kensei would be able to understand the Symbol the most - it was his originally, no?
You'd have a motive for anger and murder that would work well with the father/child connection that's so heavy in the show... and you'd really have a truly brilliant story at hand, one that would bring every hero together as the secrets of the 12 come out piece by piece....
Even if Claire isn't his child, however, he's still the only one that makes sense to me - motive would be a bit more tricky and yet, it would still be the best story from what I can see so far, admittedly just from my own opinion. Smart writers always go with the suspect that has the most motive, the most emotion to be used to give depth to the storyline itself and the things done throughout the storyline by those wrapped up within it...
You do that, and you'll always have a truly kickass story at your disposal - always.