Fate vs. free will

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Fate vs. free will
Hiro laments to Ando that, try as he might, he couldn't save Charlie.

Fate vs. free will — Is a character's future pre-destined, or can they make their own choice to determine the outcome?

Episodic Occurrences of Fate Prevailing

Genesis

• Isaac realizes his paintings are predicting real world future events.

Six Months Ago

• After teleporting forward and backward, Hiro realizes that, try as he might, he cannot save Charlie from being murdered by Sylar.

Parasite

• After Hiro and Ando teleport into the future they see that the explosion has already destroyed New York City and Hiro says that he failed to stop the bomb.

.07%

• Isaac tells Sylar that he tried fighting the future, but it's too big for him.
• He also tells him that he can't fight the future.

Five Years Gone

• Despite his efforts to change the future, Future Hiro finds that the explosion still occurred.

Episodic Occurrences of Free Will Prevailing

Homecoming

• Peter saves the cheerleader (for the time being) because he chose to heed Future Hiro's warning.

Five Years Gone

• Future Hiro finds that he was successful in stopping Sylar from regenerating, stopping him from being the bomb.

Other Episodic References

Genesis

• Peter tells Nathan that he has been thinking about his destiny.
• In his taxi, Mohinder tells Peter it is destiny that natural selection has picked seemingly ordinary individuals to carry inside them the genetic code that will take their species to the next evolutionary rung.

The Fix

• Peter tells Claude that he believes that their meeting is not an accident; Claude is destined to help Peter gain control of his power and prevent the disaster to come.

Distractions

• Isaac meets Simone on Charles Deveaux's rooftop, where he laments that the city he has grown to love is going to be destroyed, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Simone tells him that he wouldn't have been given his power if there were nothing he could do. She tells him that he not only sees the future, he makes it.

Unexpected

• Sylar says he believes in fate.

.07%

• Mr. Linderman tells Nathan that it is his destiny to be the leader who uses the explosion to rally a city, a nation, and a world.
• Isaac tells Sylar that he finally knows his part in all this.

Five Years Gone

• Mohinder told Matt that Hiro may have kept a living map of the past because he thought he could change it.

The Hard Part

• Peter tells Claire that them meeting each other isn't just random, it's destiny. Claire then tells Peter that [[]Natha]n wants to give her a life, not a destiny.
• Angela tells Nathan that it is his destiny to become the president and sacrifice New York City to save the world.

Graphic Novel References

Graphic Novel:String Theory

In 2011, America is a police state where evolved humans are persecuted. Hiro recalls how he tried to change history by killing Sylar before he exploded, but Sylar lived because he had stolen Claire's power to regenerate. He goes back in time again to get Peter to save Claire, hoping that will change history, but nothing seems different when he returns.