Previously on Heroes: The eclipse happened, Sylar killed Elle, and Hiro finally shared a scene with Claire as he teleported them to the moment when Kaito gave baby Claire to HRG.

Hiro (Masi Oka) and Claire (Hayden Panettiere) are back in Manhattan 16 years ago observing their younger selves. Hiro speaks no English, and Claire speaks no Japanese, so communicating isn't very easy. Hiro sees his mother, who is sick and fears she will die that night. She begs Kaito that they must transfer the Catalyst, and she wants to put it in Hiro while Kaito wants it in Claire.

After learning that his mother is a healer (just like Linderman), Hiro thinks she can help him regain his memory, so he poses as the Nakamura's new chef while Claire runs off to make sure HRG doesn't let Kaito make her the Catalyst. It's all surprisingly fascinating.

It's also creepy, because Claire goes to the Bennet house and changes her baby self's wet diaper. She sticks around posing as a babysitter, but big bad HRG (Jack Coleman) doesn't fall for her lies. She begs HRG to love his baby, then asks him not to give his Claire Bear back to the Company.

Then came one of the saddest, most heartbreaking and brilliant scenes Heroes has ever or will ever do. Hiro tells his mommy who he is and begs her to cure his memory. She kisses him on the forehead and brings back his memory, begging him to tell her all about his life. After he does, he asks her to give him the Catalyst, so she transfers the light from herself to her son, dying in the process. Hiro, just like Buffy before him, is shocked that his mother and mommy is dead.

I don't care about the rest of the season, that scene was brilliant, and a testament to what Heroes can be when it tries. It's also brilliant because it means Hiro's mom hid the Catalyst in the one place Arthur couldn't find it, since, during the time between 16 years ago and the present that Hiro returns to, the Catalyst didn't exist. She hid it in the future!

At least it would be brilliant if Arthur Petrelli hadn't stolen Hiro's time traveling ability. While Claire and Hiro meet on the rooftop, Arthur shows up, steals the Catalyst from Hiro and throws him off the ledge before teleporting Claire back to the present to tell Angela that it's over. Thankfully, Hiro gets stuck on a flagpole.


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(Image courtesy of NBC)