Tonight’s Episode: Chapter 20, Five Years Gone
By Sam | April 30, 2007 (1:01 am) | More: Heroes Season 1 Spoilers/News
Peter and Niki a couple? Nathan in the White House? Hiro and Ando in the future? Future Hiro and HRG in cahoots? What’s going on??? It’s Chapter 20, “Five Years Gone” (formerly “String Theory”), which takes place five years in the future of our storyline. We meet with Future Hiro, who is confused that his plans to go back in time to “save” the world hasn’t worked; we also meet a dastardly President Nathan Petrelli, and his confidant, Mohinder Suresh. It’s all in tonight’s episode of “Heroes”!
Preview and sneak peeks at scenes from tonight’s episode below. Don’t forget about our LIVE CHAT. Head over there when the episode airs to talk about the episode live.
Some sneak peeks at tonight’s episode:
"it must be him who shot nathan."
What the hell, did you not read anything I said in the above post? 
I think it was Peter who shot Nathan. Future Peter, I mean. Remember season 1 where they were talking about ...
Thank you! I was wondering if that was him in the video. My husband said it wasn't :op 
i reckon a few characters will turn bad i think peter will turn bad after what happened to nathan i ...
I have a feeling Peter will become a villain, i don't know why but he will be forced to go ...
Justin on 30 April 2007:
I posted this in an old story, not realizing it. So, I’m posting it here too for everyone to see.
I think I know why Linderman wanted Micah…Maybe he knows about HRG, Matt, and Ted coming to NY to destroy the tracking device. And since Micah can restore technology…
benj on 30 April 2007:
http://www.votepetrelli.com - show your support for the world’s utter chaos and destruction… vote straight! lol
laneykat31 on 30 April 2007:
i agree justin, micah will most likey restore the tracking system or else he will just be put in new york to die like all the other heroes
Jared on 30 April 2007:
no he wants micah to do vote rigging so nathan can win the election ……. the tracking device is in new york and they are in las vegas
Archis on 30 April 2007:
i posted this in the “landslide plot” comment but anywas i wanted to put it here too….
anyways…i dont want to underestimate nathan and all i respect him n i adore him…but facing off sylar????..i mean all nathan can do is fly …..but sylar’s got whole lot of power…i heard 14 in beaman’s blog…he’s gt 14 POWERS!!!!! ….what if when nathan flies, sylar freezes him or telekinetically stops his movement…then arghhhhhh…i cant event hink of it wat happens next….
unless NATHAN HAS MORE POWER THAN WE THINK HE DOES!!!!..
like peter..at first we thoguht he could only fly…but then later he became this ultimate power absorber which i didnt even see comin’…..
AGAIN….I CANT SEEM TOO TIRED TO SAY THIS OVER AND OVER….
can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait…heh
Archis on 30 April 2007:
n yea…i definately think micah is there for messin up with the votes so nathan cld win!!!!
Casey on 30 April 2007:
Umm… Archis…. Like I said before. Nathan isn’t the one facing Sylar in that Episode [Episode 22 "Landslide"]. The description of the episode says that Hiro is preparing to face Sylar when he gets a lesson on his heritage from his father.
So… Hiro is facing Sylar, not Nathan.
Archis on 30 April 2007:
okay…again…cassie..thanx…my bad!!!!…
Archis on 30 April 2007:
i shud remember 2 read carefully next time…seriously…i didnt realize but my comment is looongg!!!!…n makes no sense!!!:-(
BustAGroove on 30 April 2007:
I think that “Nathan” in the White House is actually Sylar who took on the powers of that woman who is able to shape shift. It’s been a week since the last episode, but I think “Nathan” said something along the lines of…”I’m the most SPECIAL person is the world now”. sounds like something Sylar would say.
alpha on 30 April 2007:
what is tyhe tracking device??
Ames on 30 April 2007:
Busta, you are a genius. Have you seen tonight’s episode? I swear, the first thing I thought was, “That guy on HeroestheSeries.com was right!” Fantastic episode. Reminded me why I love the show.
CureUs on 1 May 2007:
Is it possible for the “present Hiro” to meet the “future Hiro” in the future? When the “present Hiro” left 2007 he shouldn’t be around in 2012 (or any future time) because Hiro physically left the present time already. What do you think guys? This is really mind boggling for me,
marine on 1 May 2007:
i’m French and as you know heroes won”t be play here before a long time, i’ve seen every episode on internet, but the last ( 5years ago) which was diffused last night, i can’t see it and can’t waiiiiiiiiiit anymore!! someone can send me it ??? or tell me what happens exactly ??
Alaydown on 1 May 2007:
Why did Peter Petrelli have a scar if he can heal? And what caused the scar?
Rynna on 1 May 2007:
ohmygood. i dnt know what will happen if hiro meet sylar!
i just cant imagine sylar going back and forth to the past & future!
Faith on 1 May 2007:
Sylar explodes! not Peter! omg
Justin on 1 May 2007:
OK, this is bothering me. Why does Sylar have the power to freeze (in “Five Years Gone” when he’s facing off against Peter)? Who has that power?
I was thinking that new girl, Mollie, that they said would be introduced in the next episode, would have it, since she “has the only power that would stop Sylar”. Maybe she could freeze him before he explodes or something.
Eve on 1 May 2007:
Oh, I can’t believe that Nathan will be dead five years in the future. How can Sylar control all the things in the future? Even Matt works for Sylar… I really do hope Hiro can change the future!
Eve on 1 May 2007:
And one more thing, how can Sylar kill Claire when she can regenerate???
Roxin on 1 May 2007:
That blonde girl is a jerk! The one with the different pesonalities.I don’t care for her much at all…
Anyway, I missed the last of the episode…(I was co-watching Spider-Man and got distracted) Did Hiro end up losing his power to that weird shot that they were going to give him?
kenshi on 1 May 2007:
this was definatly one of the best episodes ever
jpup on 1 May 2007:
In response to what Alaydown said, if you remember in the future Peter didnt manage to save Claire because Sylar got there first, because future Hiro said that he stabbed Sylar and Sylar regenerated. Therefore its possible that Clarie and Peter have never met and he hasnt learnt her power so couldnt regenerate when he gets attacked and gets his scar (whenever that happens).
In response to what Faith said, it is still Peter that blew up and not Sylar, Nathan just covered it up and said that it was Sylar.
I also noticed that future Sylar could walk through walls which means that he has met DL and DL is dead.
What is confusing me is that if Sylar did survive being stabbed by future Hiro then he must already have Claires power so she should be dead, but she isnt and he kills her again at the end of the episode saying ‘ive waited a long time for this’, how can that possibly work surely in the future one of them should already be dead otherwise it doesnt make sense???
ProcrastYNate on 1 May 2007:
A couple of theories on Sylar/ Claire:
I’m guessing that the reason Sylar “regenerated” is the same reason he has been able to pose as Nathan all of these years: Candace. With her ability, he is able to construct the reality to appear as if he has been stabbed, without having to withstand any damage.
Alternately, perhaps if he had merely “opened up ” Claire to “see how it works”, perhaps Claire was able to regenerate her skull, as horrifying as that may have been.
Alaydown on 1 May 2007:
jpup, I agree that the future timeline was originally based on Sylar killing Claire at Homecoming. That would explain Peter not healing the wound that caused his scar. However, after Future Hiro went back in time to warn Peter to save the cheerleader, noting Peter didn’t have a scar yet, Peter now knew to go save Claire and beat Sylar at Homecoming. That enabled Peter’s healing power which should have healed whatever wound that would cause a scar in the future.
As your last paragraph implies, there is a paradox. Claire should be dead already. Sylar would have her power so he would not die when Hiro stabs him.
The paradox continues, if we assume that the future timeline, last night’s episode, was based on Peter not saving Claire at Homecoming, then Claire should have been dead already instead of alive in the episode for Sylar to kill. Being alive implies she was saved by Peter after Future Hiro warned Past Peter to save her. But yet Peter has a scar, and Sylar is still alive in the future after he was stabbed by Hiro in the past.
So much for the time-space continuum.
AzraDark on 1 May 2007:
One of the best Heroes EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Ya the Claire still alive I didnt get, cuz if she was still alive, and Hiro stabbed Sylar how did Sylar regen
tuftsra on 1 May 2007:
here’s my theory: Peter must have run into Candace before he explodes. Notice in the future that Peter tells Niki that HE WAS THE ONE WHO EXPLODED.
When Hiro stabbed “Sylar” before he exploded, it had to be Peter, shape-shifted to look like Sylar. Recall, Peter and Nathan blamed Sylar for the explosion.
This would explain why saving the cheerleader didn’t save the world yet, and the bomb still goes off. Hiro’s assumption that
“saving the cheerleader” would save the world was incorrect. Sylar never gets to Claire.
Hussain on 1 May 2007:
They mention how Nathan is running towards Peter before he is about to explode, but this could be a connotation that Nathan is actually flying towards Peter rather than running, and the way they prevent from killing millions of people is that he exploded in the air rather on th ground! Oh, i just cant wait…
Angie on 1 May 2007:
Hey this is to Justin,
Do you remember in, i fink it is the second episode, wen we first meet matt, the policeman, and he goes into the house where he finds the girl in the closet under the stairs. The FBI think that it is sylar that killed the man at the table. He’s just had the ‘Sylar teatment’ (top of head cut off) and he is frozen. So Sylar had the freezing power way before he met all these ova guys.
N. Mallory on 1 May 2007:
No, no, no… Here’s what happens.
Sylar is going to kill Candace and steal her shape-shifting power.
(He already has the freezing power. He used it in early episodes. The police found some of his victims mysteriously frozen, remember?)
Then he’s going to kill Nathan and take over Nathan’s life. Remember when he was painting the future after killing Isaac; he was painting himself as President, not Nathan.
Peter is still going to be the exploding man and Sylar is going to use that opportunity to declare himself dead so people will stop looking for him so he can continue killing other heroes and stealing their powers without anyone knowing.
Peter probably gets the scar while fighting the Haitian, who has the power to stop his powers from working and so the regen power didn’t work at the time.
It all makes perfect sense, if you think about it. You just have to follow the clues.
jesse on 1 May 2007:
did you see the preview for the next episode sylar moved his eye even though hiro froze time when he was about to kill him
Vladimire Wisniewski on 1 May 2007:
First off I love the series, but they have drug the whole Sylar plot thing way to out. How many times has Sylar been captured, two, three times. He is powerful but not invinceable. And if the COMPANY knew that such a dangerous person existed, as well as escaped from them, and killed one of their agents as well as attempted to kill another agents family. Then I believe a hit would be put out on him.
The Haitian has the ability to neutralize Syalr’s power. I think if Hiro, Peter, and the Haitian teamed up, he could be easily stopped. Also since Sylar is so power hunger as well as an meglomaniac, I would love to see him suffer an ignoble death not by other heroes, but by an ordinary person. That would be such a blow to him that he would crumble mentally. Seriously an Accuracy International 50 cal sniper rifle, with over a 1 mile range would easily take Sylar out.
Alaydown on 1 May 2007:
It seems obvious that Linderman has been aware of everything so far, so it seems probable that Sylar is part of his plan.
jose on 1 May 2007:
ok. here’s what i think.
this episode i believe is based off of the previous episode, so it’s not based off of the fact that sylar killed claire and stole her powers.
Up to this point, Hiro does not know that Claire survived the Sylar’s attack. Present Hiro believes that Claire is dead. And if Hiro has been in hiding from the point of the bomb exploding until the future time then he was probably not able to come across anyone who would have told him otherwise. This also makes me believe that Hiro does not run into Claire in future episodes. That is why future Hiro explains to present Hiro that Sylar blew up NYC and didn’t die because he regenerated.
Someone above mentioned that Peter ran into Candice and took her power. I believe that Peter agreed to go with Nathan’s plot of making the world believe it was Sylar to blow up the city. Therefore, Peter turned into Sylar, Peter blew NYC and Hiro stabbed Peter who regenerated. Hiro and the rest of the country were led to believed that Sylar blew up NY and then Hiro went into captivity, knowing that Sylar was still alive.
So, this way we can throw out the whole idea that Sylar kills Claire twice. Claire was never killed up until Sylar meets up with her in the future. Bennett has kept her in hiding all of these years protecting her from Sylar himself. The only thing I can’t piece is where Sylar was when the bomb exploded. We know he took Candice’s, DL’s, and Nathan’s powers along with many others.
Sylar must have killed Nathan way before anyone knew and been posing as him. Parkman is definitely unaware that he’s working for Sylar. He would have killed Nathan by now. It does bother me how Parkman hasn’t read “Sylar’s” mind and found out it’s him.
In terms of the comic book, I’m a bit confused as to whether the part with Sylar being stabbed is before the part with Suresh stabbing the Haitian or after. If the Sylar drawing is after the Suresh drawing, then it either means that Suresh does do that in the ‘past’ before the real bomb explodes, or that there’s a second bomb (Sylar). I doubt that’s the case. I feel like the comic has the bomb and sylar picture first followed by the suresh one.
The comic is accurate. Hiro either stabs peter pretending to be suresh, or Hiro does actually stab Sylar, killing him as the future would be. This was very confusing, and hoping this is all tied up at the end of the season. I love this show, and I know I’ll be watching it all over again to see if I could catch more clues from episode one.
Sarah on 1 May 2007:
In the begining of the show: What is the song title that Jessica danced to on stage??
Celina on 1 May 2007:
So maybe someone can help me understand some past issues I can’t get straight . . . episode 19 kinda confused me. When Linderman was talking to Nathan and they were looking at his collection of Issac’s paintings, I couldn’t figure out if Linderman had a part in setting everything in motion by willing it to happen or actually setting it all up. AND - why does New York have to explode in order for the rest of the world to be saved? I might be confusing myself even more now - but I just can’t work out the Linderman - Issac paintings - Nathan has to be the president connection. I know someone can help me out!
CureUs on 2 May 2007:
Why “save the cheerleader, save the world”? What’s Claire got to do with the explosion?
If Sylar is the exploding man, future Hiro should warn Mohinder’s father about Gabriel’s ability. (I think, even if it wasn’t Sylar exploding, future Hiro should still warn Mohinder’s Dad about a potential danger.)
If Peter thinks he’s the exploding man, he should leave NYC and go elsewhere (where no one will get hurt, if there’s such a place).
What if the exploding man was Ted (in his pursuit of destroying the transmitter in NYC)?
And speaking of that transmitter… is it also possible that the transmitter is located at Simone’s father’s building? The one Isaac painted (several times) and he mentioned that it’s connected to what’s happening and it’s important (ep. 14). This is also the same rooftop where Claire was handed over to Mr. Bennet. Take note also that Hiro’s father is also connected (ep. 17). And it seems in ep.19 that Nathan’s parents new about Claire’s “arrangement”.
Lastly, in ep.19 again… it seems that there’s a group of heroes (x-men? LOL) during Nathan’s parent’s time. Maybe this group consists of those people with supernatural powers in ep.17 roof deck scene (Hiro’s dad, the invinsible man) and the Pitrellis and maybe Simone’s father. And also, just maybe, Mr. Linderman is part of this group somehow.
One last thing… did anyone notice that Peter seems to have a power of “premonition’ even before he met Isaac (ep.10, 6months ago)? Maybe that’s his mom’s power…
Well, I just can’t wait to see what will happen next!
CureUs on 2 May 2007:
That’s “Nathan’s parents knew” not “new”
Sorry ’bout that.
CureUs on 2 May 2007:
Alaydown, jpup,
Since you guys seem to be knowledgeable about this whole time-space continuum. There is a paradox with present Hiro meeting future Hiro. As what I have stated yesterday… I think it’s just impossible. What d’ya think guys?
I mean, just imagine yourself, leaving the present and going to the future. If you’re not physically here at the present, then there’ll be no “future you” in the future? Maybe the writers made it this way (like in Back to the Future trilogy) to make the story interesting. But in real concept, it seems impossible though.
Isabella on 2 May 2007:
I have a theory about Sylar, clair, peter, hiro in episode 20…
But have in mind now that Clair have been hiding for the last five years. And that infact everybody thinks she is dead.
Future Hiro says to present Hiro that Sylar killed clair and took her power. We all understood that. Future Hiro went back in time to tell peter to save Claire, we all got that.
Claire was saved after future Hiro talked to Peter, and by saving her, the future changed, but everyone in the future thinks she is dead, even sylar. Present Hiro said to future Hiro that Peter saved Claire and so Sylar missed out and does not have her power now. And therefor Sylar says that he has been waiting for this for many years…because he knows that he did not kill Claire, but future Hiro thinks he did.
Isabella on 2 May 2007:
CureUs….
One comment…
Impossible? It’s a scifi show…nothing in the show is possible!
Alaydown on 2 May 2007:
CureUs, I don’t claim to be that knowledgeable on the subject of time travel, but I do know something about logic, which is usually a great subject for discussion. Even the most brilliant minds on the planet disagree with each other on the theory of time travel. Some think it possible, some don’t. I prefer to believe Prof. Stephen Hawking’s view that it is possible. Assuming it were possible to time travel, why couldn’t you meet yourself in the future or past?
If you assume you travel forward and meet your future self, you would only spend a finite segment of your life in that time period. At the end of your stay in the future, you travel back to your own time. How has that trip been a paradox, especially if your future self remembers the trip?
Think of it more as “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” where they decided that they will later travel back in time and leave themselves the keys they needed for right now.
Now assume then what some would say would make it absolutely impossible. If you travel to the future and meet yourself, and your future self kills you. You die while in the future. Some would say that your future self would die also or even disappear. Others might say that your future self would never have existed at all to kill you because the current you dies, so that might make it a paradox since your future self might never exist. Is it even possible to change history assuming time travel were possible? For it to happen, you probably have to use the alternative history theory, in that there are infinite numbers of histories in the universe, each with its own probability.
If you assume that time is infinite like space, just about anything is possible for writers as long as long as there is a consistent logical explanation. I guess it also depends on whether or not you believe in fate or free will. Are events controlled by some outside force that determines outcome, or are there infinite possibilities of choices?
If it were possible to view a moment in time like a video tape, would someone on that tape always roll the dice the same, resulting in the same number every time, or is there a chance it might be different each time the person rolls?
It all depends on what theories you want to believe. If you can assume that time is infinite like space, then there are infinite possibilities for every action, .
Since no one really knows the truth of the matter, writers can be as creative as they want with time travel stories as long as there is some sort of logic and consistency to it. You mentioned “Back to the Future.” It worked because it had a consistent logical explanation. I’m just wondering how the writers can explain this episode logically after saying that Hiro could not change the death of the waitress in episode 10.
Alaydown on 2 May 2007:
Isabella, there are always possibilities. Probability would be another issue.
Soufiane on 2 May 2007:
hello everybody,
some comments are very interesting and i’ll add another explanation that might make sense to many here, i believe that the real twisT is that the cheerleader SHOULD DIE to save the world, i’ll explain:
1) “save the cheerleader, save the world” was said by future HERO, so the question is , why he said so??
Because when he stabed “sylar” (which is patrelli shaping in sylar for some reason) patrelli (false sylar) regenerated and didn’t die, so FUTUR HIRO concluded that if sylar didn’t kill the cheerleader he wouldn’t have her power and thus he could have killed sylar.
2) therefor Hiro went back to time to ask patrelli to save the girl and “save the world” so sylar won’t get her power and thus would allow him to kill sylar. Indeed he did the exact the opposite, if the cheerleader died , patrelli won’t have her power, so when hiro will stab patrelli (while shaping as sylar) , patrelli will die and HE WILL SAVE THE WORLD.
3) that is exactly why even when they saved Claire the cheerleader, new york was still destroyed !!
to sum up, claire should have been dead at that night when syler paid her a visit. i hope you got my point.
N. Mallory on 2 May 2007:
I think it’s a rather far-reaching assumption to make to assume that Peter would assume Sylar’s image for the purpose of blaming him.
I’m still betting that Sylar is more likely to kill Candace and take her power (as he mentioned in the future eps) and then kill Nathan and assume his life. Then use Peter’s explosion as a cover-up for his own disappearance. Blaming a serial killer “mutant” would completely go with the “politician” Nathan/Sylar is trying to become and it would give weight to what he plans to do over the next 5 years.
jpup on 2 May 2007:
I agree with N. Mallory and i think its a bit far-feched to assume that Peter meets Candace and takes up the form of Sylar because it still wouldnt explain the scar that Peter has.
Quantum Theory is a very difficult topic as is time travel and although i dont know too much about both areas quantum theory suggests that there is a parrallel universe for everysingle decision everyone makes so there are an infinite amount of parrallel universes and it could just be that Hiro isnt traveling across time but also across universes seeing as he can ‘bend time and space’ although i think this is unlikely. But its something to think about.
One thing that i think everyone is missing is that the way the events are happening are the way they HAVE to happen because its the way that Isaac painted/drew them. Everysingle comic of 9th Wonders has been word for word perfect to the way it is supposed to happen as have all of the paintings. If everything is supposed to happen this way then this means that future Hiro infact teleported and met his own future Hiro when he was at the same point as present Hiro (all very confusing) and this means that the whole universe is in a complete loop and there is no way of stopping either Sylar or the Bomb/Peter.
I suppose all we can do now is wait for the remaining episodes of Heroes and see how the writers explain it all (and we can always complain to them at the end if it isnt explained properly and still doesnt make sense!)
David E. Lucas on 2 May 2007:
A lot of people here are making the same mistake. It’s not “Save the cheerleader, save New York City” it’s Save the cheerleader, save the world.”
Soufiane on 2 May 2007:
i think the “world “is only symbolic of new york city …. i bet that the show will end with many things unexplained , i don’t find a way out without making a real paradox … i see future flaws
Alaydown on 3 May 2007:
jpup, I was going to say you forgot that Hiro changed the future from what Isaac painted, but it occured to me you are right that he didn’t. In the episodes that now come to mind, Hiro and Ando save the little girl from being hit by the truck as shown in Isaac’s comic from the future, Homecoming with the cheerleader being saved, and the waitress getting shot episode. Unless I’m mistaken, none of those events were changed from what Isaac drew. You could be right that Isaac’s pics always come true. It will be interesting to see if the writers change that in these last episodes of the season.
CureUs on 4 May 2007:
Alaydown, jpup,
I noticed that also (about Isaac’s paintings)! He paints the exact future. If that’s the case, can any one of them change the future? Is this destiny they’re trying to change?
I can’t wait to see how the writers will make this series complicatedly interesting. I just hope that it will not be “too supernatural” that it will bore us eventually. (like in my case w/ Alias - centered too much on rambaldi and betrayal, Smallville - fed up with the kryptonite, Charmed, etc.). I was a fan of these series at first but they eventually bored me. I think as long as there’s always the element of “human relationships” and “some reality” to it where in “normal people” can relate to, the series will be a hit (like CSI Las Vegas, Friends, etc.)!
And guys, thank you for sharing your insights about the space-time continuum!