How is Peter using his old powers?

[Xanderman]

Everything from before the memory wipe should be gone. They've established in season one how Peter's abilities are supposed to work -- his abilities are supposed to be empathically based, he must connect with his feelings/memories of the person to use their powers, or simply be near to them.

And yet he's stumbling upon them one after the other, accidentally apparently, and can use them at will. This wasn't the case in the first season where they made a big song and dance about how Peter's talents work and don't work.

Inconsistent writing? Are they abandoning the original concept? Or is that necklace allowing him to access his powers without his memories somehow? They haven't yet explained where he got that necklace yet right...maybe it's the key to all this?

[Merfish]

The Irish chick activates his empath abilities

[XanthusAZ]

I'm pretty sure that they're abandoning the original idea of him only being able to access his powers when he feels what the original power-holders made him feel. Now, he just absorbs powers and uses them, though hopefully they will go back to the original concept of him being an empath, because I liked that a lot more.

[pycer]

Actually, remember one little line...Claude says 'Your body still remembers how' so, makes it sound like to me that once he's picked up a a power, his body knows how to use it, it only takes a particular emotion to or mixture of them to draw them out. Note the anger he displayed when pulling his vader move, but that when he attempted to use his powers on purpose he could not. I think it's more subconscious use rather than conscious desire.

[last man of krypton]

I wonder if it's more reflective of his personality right now; empathy was a big part of his previous life as a nurse, so through empathy he had access to his powers, so without a memory his powers appear randomly (further, Claude thought Peter's powers were activated through forgetting about everyone else, kinda like what he was trying to do with his lonely life).

[KryptonzGirl]

I sort of see it as..when a person loses their memory and have amnesia. They don't forget how to speak,breathe or walk. Peter's abilites are apart of him and are connected to his emotions. Right now, his abilities only come with adrenaline and emotion. Kind of like how a child is able to lift a car off of his trapped father but not able to do so any other time. (story in the news)

[Drolfin]

Let's say that peter used to have to remember Claire or Sylar or whoever to use their power. Well, maybe now when he feels LIKE them, the power comes out. He seems to get telekinesis when he's pissed, phasing when he was trapped, etc. Maybe his emotions now trigger the powers, but he can't do it the other way around.

[Patient101]

Remember when claude was training peter and tried to break his skull with a broom stick? Peter used sylars power without thinking about sylar until after the fact when claude asked him where the power came from. He can trigger them on need and emotion without having to specificly remember the person he got it from...

[Ginx]

Originally posted by XanthusAZ
I'm pretty sure that they're abandoning the original idea of him only being able to access his powers when he feels what the original power-holders made him feel. Now, he just absorbs powers and uses them, though hopefully they will go back to the original concept of him being an empath, because I liked that a lot more.

I don't think they are abandoning it - just showing us that Claude was correct in that Peter had to think of the power not how he felt or the person etc. Peter was just fixated on doing it that way because that is the way he was training his body to do it subconsciously - now Peter's body remembers but Peter does not - so he's learning to use his powers reactivly and not so much thinking about it......

at least that's my take. Best thing that could have happened to Peter was to get a fresh start.

[Merfish]

My thoughts:

I think his powers activate by how he felt or feels about the person that he absorbed the power from.
for instance

Telekinesis=Anger

[Xanderman]

Lots of great ideas guys.

However if it's just a matter of "feeling the right emotion" to draw out the power, how do you account for his auto-healing after he got shot? What feelings does or did he link with Claire? Pain and suffering? Dying?

Originally posted by Merfish
The Irish chick activates his empath abilities

That's a cool idea. You could be right. "Heroes/mutants" are supposed to be naturally drawn to each other afterall and such, right...
I still think it's possible the necklace might be involved.

Originally posted by XanthusAZ
I'm pretty sure that they're abandoning the original idea of him only being able to access his powers when he feels what the original power-holders made him feel. Now, he just absorbs powers and uses them, though hopefully they will go back to the original concept of him being an empath, because I liked that a lot more.

I doubt they would abandon something they spent an entire season developing...there's probably an explanation, like the Irish girl doing something, or that necklace?

Originally posted by pycer
Actually, remember one little line...Claude says 'Your body still remembers how' so, makes it sound like to me that once he's picked up a a power, his body knows how to use it, it only takes a particular emotion to or mixture of them to draw them out. Note the anger he displayed when pulling his vader move, but that when he attempted to use his powers on purpose he could not. I think it's more subconscious use rather than conscious desire.

Still, Peter made it a point to mention he had a flash of Claire specifically right before he crash-landed to his death after Claude shoved him off the roof. So I'd say it's more than just emotions, it's his emotions as connected to his memories of the person. If it were just emotions, Peter's powers would activate out of his control all the time any time he lost control of his emotions. Based on this line of thinking, he must specifically think about the person as well, which requires memory of them.

Originally posted by last man of krypton
empathy was a big part of his previous life as a nurse, so through empathy he had access to his powers, so without a memory his powers appear randomly

But it wasn't always random. Recall he conveniently auto-healed after he was shot. All other instances of regen before that he either first thought of Claire specifically or she was near to him.

Originally posted by KryptonzGirl
I sort of see it as..when a person loses their memory and have amnesia. They don't forget how to speak,breathe or walk. Peter's abilites are apart of him and are connected to his emotions. Right now, his abilities only come with adrenaline and emotion. Kind of like how a child is able to lift a car off of his trapped father but not able to do so any other time. (story in the news)

If Peter's powers activate based on his feelings (like fear) or needs of the moment then he would be just like the original power-holder basically to me. Using powers for him is supposed to be slightly different, requiring extra effort on his part.

Originally posted by Drolfin
Let's say that peter used to have to remember Claire or Sylar or whoever to use their power. Well, maybe now when he feels LIKE them, the power comes out. He seems to get telekinesis when he's pissed, phasing when he was trapped, etc. Maybe his emotions now trigger the powers, but he can't do it the other way around.

But DL didn't always feel trapped, and Sylar wasn't always pissed....lol. Those powers tended to be used usually when DL felt trapped or Sylar was pissed, yes, but not always. It's supposed to be connected to how Peter feels about the person specifically, which is more complex than a single emotion.

Originally posted by Patient101
Remember when claude was training peter and tried to break his skull with a broom stick? Peter used sylars power without thinking about sylar until after the fact when claude asked him where the power came from. He can trigger them on need and emotion without having to specificly remember the person he got it from...

If he can access them from need alone, then it's like he owns the power as the original holder does -- which doesn't seem right to me. And if it's just emotion, I have trouble with the auto-healing he did after he got beat up and also after he got shot. His feelings about Claire can't be those of pain and suffering, can they? Lol I thought he had warmer/nicer/deeper feelings connected with her...

Originally posted by Ginx
I don't think they are abandoning it - just showing us that Claude was correct in that Peter had to think of the power not how he felt or the person etc. Peter was just fixated on doing it that way because that is the way he was training his body to do it subconsciously - now Peter's body remembers but Peter does not - so he's learning to use his powers reactivly and not so much thinking about it......

at least that's my take. Best thing that could have happened to Peter was to get a fresh start.

Reactively is great and all, but reactively is how some other people's powers work, like Claire's for example, who reacts to body damage. Peter's powers are supposed to be empathically centered, and not so automatic...if his body reacts to what it or he needs at the moment, then it's like the powers are his completely, just as with the original power-holders.


So anyway, I think I'm confusing myself. Right now I'm liking Merfish's idea of a connection to the Irish girl. (I'm also liking my idea of a connection to the necklace. ) Otherwise it would seem like they're changing the basis for how Peter's abilities work....which I don't like.

[Patient101]

Xander you keep making the point of the auto-heal connection with peters emotions and that he doesnt connect claire with pain and suffering and such, whihc im sure is correct but i have one response. You yourself refered to it as 'AUTO-heal' and the correct term is spontanious regeneration (sp?) which means that it isnt somthing that they trigger but rather an automatic response to damage. Really our bodies do the same thing when we are injured but peter and claire's bodies just repair at an excellerated rate, so he doesnt need to think about healing or claire or anything for that matter because he has no control over it.

[jazzylg]

Which basicaly answers many questions: There is no way to know, or catalog how many abilities Peter has, his abilites could be inifinite. Just wait till he rediscovers the time control power!

[last man of krypton]

Originally posted by Xanderman
But it wasn't always random. Recall he conveniently auto-healed after he was shot. All other instances of regen before that he either first thought of Claire specifically or she was near to him.

But he didn't "auto-heal" when the Irishmen were beating him up, it took a little while before he healed, whereas Claire would've healed straightaway.

[pycer]

Another thing in reference to his 'needing to recall a certain person/feeling for his powers to work'...when Claude was training him and went to whack him with the stick was the first time Peter used TK. Claude asked him which one of his friends could do that, Peter didn't remember right away, it took him a few moments to connect the power to Sylar. So, there is already precedence set from the first season for him to use abilities he doesnt know he has without thinking at all about the person he got it from.