[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Cringer

OK, as far as the eclipse, maybe it doesn't always trigger a power loss. Maybe things have changed, who knows.

Also, it bugs me how people still get fixated on the first eclipse and saying it kick started everyone's powers. It never really did that IMO. They always had them. The Haitian is not part of the older generation and had his powers before the first eclipse. If you look at the timelines Nathan actually flew for the first time before the first eclipse. Sylar had his powers in full gear before the first eclipse. If anything, I think the first eclipse and maybe giving some the impression it kick started so much was the big mistake by the writers.

That's funny, because, originally, I was always under the impression that the first eclipse did not kick start everyone's powers...

Here is a discussion on this very topic back from the Season 2 Thread:

Originally Posted by saldana

all the main characters had their powers manifest during an eclipse, including claire (in the first episode of the show, and adam, although we didnt realize it at the time, in the last episode of season 1

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I am actually not sure if that part about Claire is accurate. I don't remember the first episode all that well (was there an eclipse starting it off?) If I recall correctly the first time we saw Claire was when she was having herself recorded while she jumped off the refinery. Her character arc started in media res. It was pretty clear that her powers had manifested before she was first shown on screen and she had been testing the range of her powers incremently over some period of time.

Originally Posted by saldana

youre correct that the first time we saw her was when she was jumping off the gantry at the quarry, but she had just discovered her powers...i dont recall exactly but i think she said it was the 38th attempt...the first scene of the pilot was an eclipse occuring, just like the one in the last scene, so it is reasonable to assume that if claire had just discovered her powers with a few days or weeks of the first eclipse, that it was the trigger for their manifestation....it was the trigger for peter, parkman, and nikki becoming aware of her abilities.

While I can't recall the specifics, it really seems that the writers, through multiple characters' dialogue (Hiro, Mohinder, etc.), themselves bought into this notion that it was the eclipse that kick started everything.

I don't think the viewers screwed this one up, I think the writers did. They are insanely sloppy. Just think about all the storylines/characters who have simply disappeared without a trace: Nathan's wife and the Irish chick being the worse examples.