Burrell, Sylar's real name is Gabriel Grey. He was a watchmaker with a knack for being able to see how things work. Then Mohinder's dad came to talk to him about the fact that he totally had a superpower, and the seeds of Nietszchian insanity that were already in him led him to see if that "how things work" thing extended to other people's superpowers.

Jon, interesting comic. It's odd that after trying to convince us that it's PETER who blows up (after we all assumed it was Sylar to begin with), they're saying it's Sylar after all. What does Peter's vision mean, then? (Also, shit, dude: if I read that right, he CAN survive after exploding! Claire is amazing!)

Sylar may not NEED to see the brain in order how to figure out how it works, but that's his power. it would be interesting to see if he continued killing if he figured out how Peter absorbed power.

I wonder if he had access to an MRI or a PET scan and could "figure out" (i.e. steal) how the powers worked using one of those.

It's not eating, it's looking at (like the inside of a clock).

Zachary Quinto said in an interview that he believes Sylar has to eat the brain to get the owner's power. Apparently the producers haven't made a definite statement.

Yeah, I'm going to believe he eats the brains until we're shown otherwise.

I think Sylar's got a bit (bit? a LOT) of "There can BE only one!" going on with him. Methinks he'd probably still off the absorbee even if he could do it Peter's way.

It's odd

More comic talk: Except that we know that events haven't unfolded the same way Future!Hiro experienced them. Future!Hiro implies that in his timeline, Syler killed Claire and as a result survived blowing himself up. But we know that because of F!H's warning, Peter *did* save her. So we have at least three possibilities -- 1) Syler kills Claire later; 2) Syler kills Peter and absorbs all his powers (yikes!); or 3) The show is using some wacky temporal mechanics where alternate futures still exist even when they're no longer a possibility in the current timeline. Take your pick.

I wonder if he had access to an MRI or a PET scan and could "figure out" (i.e. steal) how the powers worked using one of those.

Well, we know that can't be the case, given how quickly he got Isaac's power. And even the first power we saw him take, it didn't look like he went anywhere to do any scans. He just...looked inside. (And ate his brain.)

Jon, good point. I'd forgotten that Sylar was supposed to have killed Claire already. I think choice c is the likely option, given next week's episode. I actually really hope that's it, as it makes next week's episode not pointless. It basically becomes a Future!Hiro origin story.

Or maybe Hiro *did* prevent Sylar from blowing himself up, but now someone else (Peter) will blow up in his place. Perhaps because Linderman *really* wants NYC to go explody, and he has a backup plan.

Did Peter's visions of himself blowing up and Isaac's paintings of Peter blowing up start happening before or after he saved Claire?

Yeah, I'm going to believe he eats the brains until we're shown otherwise.

umm, big closet full of brains in jars in his apartment?