Plot summary[]
Hiro and Ando appear in the present and examine the comic book, but the dialogue hasn’t been filled in yet. They go to talk to Isaac.
Peter is sketching at his brother’s house when Nathan welcomes his wife and two sons home. Claire looks on wistfully from above as her grandmother helps her to pack. Peter comes in to ask her not to leave, telling her she has a part to play in saving the city when he explodes. She tells him about Ted Sprague.
Matt, Ted, and Bennet are preparing to buy a car when Matt tries to call and Bennet warns them that the company’s new “tracking system” will find them unless they’re extremely careful.
Sylar is in Manhattan using Isacc’s precognitive powers to draw his battle with Peter in the future, and realizes that he’s going to obtain the power to explode. He calls Mohinder and is concerned he will wipe out millions of innocents for no purpose and no gain. When Mohinder calls 911 Sylar hears him and hangs up.
D.L. talks to Jessica once he’s realizes that Linderman has Micah. After he storms out to get Micah, Niki appears in a mirror and appeals to Jessica who reluctantly goes along with D.L. Candice is watching Micah in Linderman’s apartment, and takes on Niki/Jessica’s form to keep him under control.
Thompson meets with Mohinder, who insists that Thompson give him everything he wants so he can stop Sylar. Thompson notes Mohinder has turned vigilante to make up for the deaths he helped Sylar caused, but agrees and takes him to one of his offices where he introduces Mohinder to Molly Parker. She’s sick and Thompson wants Mohinder to cure her of the disease striking her nervous system which is keeping her from accessing her abilities. Mohinder realizes that his sister had the same disease and Thompson points out she’s the only one who can stop Sylar.
Sylar calls someone on the phone to arrange a meeting, while Hiro and Ando come in and figure they have two days before the bomb explodes. They enter Isaac’s apartment while Sylar shaves in the bathroom. They spot the dead Isaac and hide as Sylar comes out, sporting his original clean-shaven look with glasses. He senses them with his enhanced hearing and finds them behind the painting he drew of his fight with Peter. Hiro teleports them out just as Sylar telekinetically moves the picture, and they arrive in a nearby grocery store. They spot Sylar and follow him.
At the Corinthian Hotel in Las Vegas, D.L. and Jessica pass through the wall into Linderman’s art vault and spot a picture of Micah being consumed in flames. There are also records of everything that’s occurred in their lives and realize they’ve been a science experiment for Linderman. They find a note mentioning “Petrelli” on the 8th and head out.
Mohinder takes some blood samples from Molly, who reveals she can find anyone. Peter and Claire meet with Nathan and Claire tells her father about Ted. Peter asks Nathan to use his contacts to find the “exploding man.” Claire learns Nathan can fly and softly smiles to herself, "That's cool." Before they leave, Nathan tells his daughter that he admires her. He then calls Linderman after they leave.
Sylar arrives at an old apartment building and meets with his mother Virginia, as Ando and Hiro secretly look on. He gives her a new snowglobe and starts working on the family clock, his dad’s. She tries to get him to check on a job for an investment broker and it soon becomes clear they have issues. She wants him to be special and he doesn’t want to be, but she believes he can be so much more, even becoming President.
Peter and Claire go to Nathan’s campaign headquarters and Claire spots Thompson. They duck out of sight while Nathan talks to Thompson about Linderman and the fact that Ted is arriving in New York City. While Thompson tries to convince Nathan the sacrifice is necessary, Claire wants Peter to leave but he feels he can control Ted’s power if he mimics it.
Once Candice-as-Niki takes a shower, Micah bypasses the security controls and slips out, but gets turned around. He goes out and comes back again… to the same room. Candice is there as herself and reveals she is projecting illusions to keep him from getting away. she threatens to “mess him up” with her powers if he doesn’t stay.
Hiro and Ando watch as Sylar talks to his mother about how he can be special but he’ll have to hurt people to do so. He then demonstrates his abilities by freezing the water from a sink sprayer into snow for her. He soon starts moving things using his telekinesis, hitting her with one of her snowglobes.
As Mohinder works on the cure, he shows Molly a picture of his sister. She gives him a piece of paper with a yellow star to protect him from the “bogeyman.”
Virginia is hiding in the bedroom as Sylar tries to convince her to come out. Ando suggest Hiro kill him but the latter refuses, believing Sylar deserves a second chance as he’s asking for forgiveness and he refuses to become as ruthless as his future self. Virginia finally storms out and insists Sylar isn’t her son and she wants her son back. She grabs a pair of scissors and tries to kill him and in the struggle he inadvertently stabs her. As she begins to collapse, Hiro freezes time then comes at Sylar with the sword. But when he touches it to Sylar’s neck, Hiro loses his concentration and Sylar grabs the sword, then insists Hiro kill him. Hiro can’t and Sylar prepares to kill him, freezing his katana then breaking it. Ando arrives and distracts Sylar long enough for Hiro to teleport them out. Sylar is left with his dead mother.
Mohinder has found the cure using his own antibodies. Hiro and Ando arrive back at Isaac’s building and Hiro realizes he’s powerless again with his sword broken.
Peter prepares to leave from Nathan’s and gives Claire a gun and wants her to shoot him in the head if he can’t control Ted’s powers. He’s drawn a picture of Ted exploding and Claire takes the gun.
Nathan’s mother, Angela, meets with him and reveals she knows about Linderman and supports his plans. She tells him that he’ll be thanked when the bomb goes off and he takes command. She asks if he can be the one the world needs and he agrees.
Sylar is drawing out a mural of the nuclear explosion in his dead mother’s blood and accepts that his destiny is to destroy New York City and become President.
Claire is waiting in the Kirby Square while Peter looks around for Ted. She admits to him that she felt like she was part of something when she met him, and Peter says he felt the same. Bennet, Ted, and Matt arrive and Claire embraces her adopted father. Peter begins to glow with Ted’s power and struggles to contain it…