I'll start off this little article by stating that I'm going to be referencing some things that were alluded to in the episode 10 preview, and a couple of other things that didn't necessarily appear in episode 9. To wit, if any of this is considered a spoiler, please accept my apologies and move it to the spoiler discussion forum.

With that out of the way, I will tackle my first subject; Niki. Niki has been the topic of much discussion and speculation over the weeks, but we're finally starting to get a better explanation of exactly who and what she is. Based on the Jessica Sanders gravestone seen in next week's trailer, I offer the following speculation:

Niki had a twin sister, Jessica, who died when she was 11. All signs point to their father having something to do with this. My speculation goes off on two branches at this point; either Jessica developed the ability of super strength at some point before she died, or at a point AFTER. The next branch is that either Jessica somehow manifested herself in Niki, or Niki developed multiple personality disorder and started channelling Jessica. I don't think the mirror thing is literal, I reckon that only Niki/Jessica can see it and it's just a product of MPD. Of course, this is all conjecture and is probably completely wrong.

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Next up, Hiro. When Hiro travelled to the future, he was only seeing a POSSIBLE future because obviously the future hasn't actually happened yet. However, the fact that a Hiro from the future managed to come back to the present to tell Peter about the cheerleader kind of shoots that one down, but bear with me. Hiro saw the events that would have happened if he hadn't travelled forward in time and seen said events. Since he did see them, and travelled back to his present time with the knowledge of what was going to happen, this now will not happen because he can stop it. If that makes any sense. So Isaac won't die, NYC won't blow up, or whatever. If he can figure out what's going to cause those things and get to the cause before they can, that is.

The next thing is Hiro's trip to the past to save Charlie. Reading the discussions, my personal thoughts on this are that we're seeing this from Ando's viewpoint now. Nothing has changed in the diner because Hiro hasn't actually done anything major yet. Think of it as a parallel storyline. While we're watching Ando waiting for Hiro and Peter saving Claire and Niki shooting DL, Hiro is six months in the past trying to figure out how to save Charlie. I think that when Hiro succeeds, the events in the present will be shown to change to reflect this. You get it?

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And finally, a theory on why Peter isn't on the list of supers. I think it's possible that what Peter actually does is copy DNA, which is why he can use the powers of anyone who has "evolved". I also think this is why he can't copy multiple powers simultaneously; he can only copy one set of DNA at a time. This is also why he's undetectable and thus not on the list: If he isn't in the proximity of a super, he's just a normal guy.

Anyway, those are my three cents. I'm probably way off the mark with half of this, but it makes sense to me.

Please place your theories in the theories and spoilers section...

I agree with most of your theories. One thing I see different is the part I quoted above...

You're forgetting, things have changed for Ando already, just subtle things. The birthday picture for one.. Hiro was only in that picture after he went back in time. That is a change for Ando since it wasn't like that before hiro left. The other thing that changed is the waitress knows Hiro now. I assume they didn't know him before he went back because nobody in the diner acted like they knew him, but now that he's gone, the older waitress told Ando she knew who he was.

But for the most part, my theories closely resemble yours.

that wasnt the complete list we saw. it was just part of it.

I realise that's a possibility. I'm just offering a possible reason for Peter not being on it.

And as previously stated, could a mod please move this thread to theories/spoilers?

That's my point, upinout. Things are changing in Ando's time as Hiro is actually doing them. We're basically seeing the results of what Hiro is doing in real-time, even though we're six months further than him.

Ahh, I see what you're saying. I guess after so many years of star trek, my brain is just wired to expect time travel to work a certain way. I gotta keep reminding myself that this isn't trek.

Uh it's all the same time.. hiro already did it. You don't see things change as somebody does something in the past because it's already been done.

We're not talking about Mike Fox and a big silver delorian..

The part I don't get is Hiro knew how important the Cheerleader was. Why didn't he go back to the bar that day he left. I guess we have to wait until next week for that too...

Maybe Hiro finally got laid and learned some english so he'll walk into the diner as Mr. Cool with his sword and soul patch.. Hehehe!

OK I gave up and posted again even though this thread is in the wrong section.

Things...aren't "changing" in Ando's time. They changed. Immediately. The episode in which Hiro went back in time also showed the same picture of Hiro & Charly. No one at the diner has once questioned Ando on where his friend was. Previously they were being held under suspicion of Charly's death. Now Ando is there being served coffee.

The one thing that doesn't line up with this theory is Peter. The call still happened, he still expected Hiro to be there. Not sure how that fits into things.

Your theory about Niki and Jessica being twins makes sense. I just wonder why Niki hasn't thought about it; she has been searching for answers to why this is happening to her, it seems like "Oh yeah, my dead twin," would be at least something she would consider. And then why does Jessica keep saying "Our son?" I imagine your theory is correct, but there are still things to consider.

As for your theories on time travel, I am not even going to comment because every show does it different. Star Trek even changed their original time travel rules a once or twice as it changed directors.

Correction: Hiro and Ando were being held for standard issue witness statements, not suspicion of murder. They both had alibis for the crime - Ando was still at the table and Hiro was in the washroom. Hiro couldn't have gotten from the storeroom into the washroom without anyone seeing him (as far as everyone knows).

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I think Hiro realizes that he can't save Charlie's life, it would cause a paradox. The question is why didn't he go find Ando in the diner.

I think Future Hiro came from a future that was so dark that he decided it was better to die then continue. Why do I think it was a one-way trip? He changed the future - his future, and caused a ripple effect. He no longer had the same future to return to. Where he went after leaving the subway, I don't know.

I think Jessica is a manifestation of Niki's anger at what happened to Jessica, whatever that is I don't know. I don't think the actual Jessica's conciousness transferred itself to Niki, I think it's a split personality. I agree that the image in the mirror is a hallucination in both parts of her mind.

I don't think Peter copies DNA. For starters, he'd need to touch a DNA sample. And I don't think Peter can only manifest one power at a time. He sketched the future after Nathan said he flew for a brief second, indicating that he still had a bit of Isaac's power.