There are many different theories on how paradoxes are prevented when you time travel and do something that you shouldn’t. I’ll go into two, because they are easier to explain and talk about and it appears that fantasy and sci-fi usually falls into one or the other, even if they don’t specifically mention it. These only apply when you go back in time and change something. If you just observe, then these rules don’t apply.
- A new time line is created in which the original time line exists along with the new one, usually side by side. So if you went back to the future after changing the past, you would go to the future of the new timeline and the original would be locked from you. There are several exceptions, but if this was real, then they would be impractical in reality.
- The old time line is destroyed and the new one is only time line that exist from that point on.
There are some television shows, movies, and books, where traveling back is not possible. So you can either go in the past or the future but not both. Usually, when this is in affect, you can only go into the past, since the future is undetermined and therefore there is no set point of reference to send the traveler to. It is kind of strange in which case, if you could travel the future, then that means that whatever was meant to happen would happen regardless of whether or not you went to the future.
I think that is the premise of this article about Heroes, the TV show appears to use #2. However, given the circumstances I could be wrong. It is unlikely that the original time lines exist after the past or present is changed. That said, recently, there is evidence of present events affecting the past, like when Hiro rips up the formula after going to the past.
Best way to do this is to set up a timeline.
Season 1
Original Timeline
- Sylar kills the cheerleader and becomes invincible.
- Explosion goes off in New York, killing almost everyone.
For number two, the candidates can be Sylar, the original guy with the powers, or Peter, which is who ends up doing it at the end of the season. Most likely, the way the events were going, it would had been the original guy, if Sylar hadn’t killed him or Sylar if he had. Sylar was already looking for him and with healing powers, it wouldn’t have killed him to go all out and explode.
What happens is that they save the cheerleader, thus Sylar doesn’t become invincible, but they ultimately save the light, which is the source of power. Therefore by saving the cheerleader, it starts a string of events which ultimately again leads to world destruction in Season 3.
That said, even if Sylar killed the cheerleader, if you go off the events in Season 3, then it still wouldn’t have killed her. It might have looked like she was dead, but Sylar himself said he couldn’t kill her.
Changed Timeline
- Peter saves cheerleader, preventing Sylar from gaining the cheerleaders power.
- Peter causes the explosion, but Nathan flies him off over the ocean preventing the explosion from destroying New York.
However, in knowing that the cheerleader was in trouble and trying to save her, Peter met a lot more heroes with powers that he could absorb and gain. Therefore, it couldn’t have been Peter that went off in the original timeline, because he wouldn’t have been involved. That said, there is no way he couldn’t have been involved, since the seers would had told him. This sort of creates a paradox, because the future that they’ve seen was never destined to be or it was one probably future that occurs on failure.
Therefore, I would have to be wrong, in order for them to foresee the future that would not be, there would have to of been several paths for which the future could go. A success condition and a failure one. The precedent for what future they would go is set in the present. If everything continued without any involvement from the characters, then the future they will go to will be the condition that they had left off. So the future that is possible has not happened, but could happen unless events were set in motion to prevent that future from happening.
Kind of makes you wonder what would then happen to the lady that Peter sent to the future and left her there. If he changed the future, then that future would not have happened, so when that timeline is destroyed, then she would be destroyed or is it so that he trapped her in a timeline for which he can no longer go back to. She is either no longer in existence or in an existence in a future that no longer will be in the current timeline. It is enough to make ones head hurt, which is why I think some fans are no overjoy with this whole time travel thing.
It would also explain why the characters in the future are trying so hard to find the pattern for which they can successfully change. However, they only know of their timeline and not of the other timeline, so if they make a change they have no idea what would come of it. They also couldn’t, because they’ll never have all of the facts or be at all of the places they need to be to solve the problem.
To ultimately solve their problem, they would have to spend their lifetime redoing every major change until they’ve found the right one and then stepping forward to the next event and finding the correct path for that. However, they have missing pieces. Peter doesn’t know what Hiro knows or what Sylar knows, Peter’s mom would be helpful also. The problem of course, is while Hiro and Peter might ultimately work together, it appears that their pride and what seems like conflicts in the future separate them. Something happens to both of them to where they become darker and change their personalities.
It might also be that the writers are introducing inconsistencies and paradoxes without knowing or planning well enough. A time travel show has to be done well and that is ultimately what Heroes is becoming. A time travel show. The element of time travel in a show can easily resolve past wrongs, but the key is that it can be easily done. The writers have made it to where the characters with the power to time travel do not do so often and without facing the consequences.
It is difficult to understand that in Season 3, Hiro witnessed his death from his friend’s hand with the power to throw lightning bolts. However, in a separate timeline to save Hiro, his friend instead had the power to enhance the ability of his friend. For that to happen, that timeline would of had to of had the cheerleader be captured by the thugs. It did not change the fact that the cheerleader still seeks to kill Peter. Her reasons must then be another event in the future that causes her to reject Peter. It also doesn’t make much sense because the main characters in that group die or unaccounted for. At the end of Season 3, the future that Peter was in, must still come to pass. The present cheerleader then becomes part of the company that seeks to kill Peter.
For the rest of Season 3, it appears that the focus will be the timeline that leads the government to hunt down humans with super powers. Sort of like the company, but they won’t make the distinction between the “good” guys and the bad guys, they will just round up everyone.
I think it would get really old if they kept revisiting the same events all of the time. I look forward to the next arc and whatever new information can be given of this new timeline.
I also think that you can’t really say, that if they went back and killed Sylar, that it would prevent everything, because it wouldn’t prevent Peter’s dad from doing his deeds. So you would have to kill both Sylar, and Peter’s dad and make sure they were really dead. The problem is that without the Heroes being properly motivated, it is unknown what will happen or what other event will result in the inaction on the part of the Heroes. There is also the dilemma with killing someone just, because their future has them doing terrible things. If properly controlled, Sylar wouldn’t have become a killer and I think that is what the show is alluding to. You don’t really need to kill Sylar, just help him control his impulses.
It is difficult to figure out for sure whether or not Heroes destroys the alternative time lines or if they exist beside the current one. I hope someone has the answer or they reveal it on the TV show. I suppose if Peter does go back into the future and save his girl that he left there, that would mean that alternative time lines do exist.
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