We’re just a few days away now from the much anticipiated return of the biggest new show of the season, Heroes.  If you’re like me, you might be a bit rusty on your facts about the show, so here’s a few things you need to keep in mind.

1. Where we left off…

Since it’s been a little while, let’s reestablish where all of our main characters were at the end of Parasite.  HRG had been captured by his former boss, Thompson, after he had told Candace, a shapeshifter masquerading as his wife, that The Company had to be stopped.  Claire had just made her way to New York to find her biological father, Nathan, but found her grandmother, the evil Mrs. Petrelli, instead.  Nathan, on the other hand, was with Mr. Linderman in Las Vegas, where he had just been told that, with Linderman’s help, Nathan would be in the White House in two years.  Hiro and Ando had just transported from Linderman’s vault, where Hiro had retrieved his Kensei sword, to a vision of the future, where he saw a demolished New York skyline (which also appeared to be under some sort of reconstruction).  Finally, Sylar, having escaped Mohinder, was about to go all human can-opener on Peter’s head (finally getting rid of Peter’s ridiculous hair, hopefully).

2.  Every prediction has come true…

Going all the way back to the beginning of the season, we’ve seen that every painting that Isaac has painted has come true, without fail.  And the predictions were not the kind that you can explain away as being metaphorical or symbolic…the exact thing portrayed in the painting is what occurs.  So what does that tell us about what’s coming up?  The only paintings that we haven’t seen happen are the exploding man, and the giant mushroom cloud over New York.  If the paintings are an absolute vision of the future, then we have to expect to see a mushroom cloud over New York, and more than likely before the end of the season.

On the reverse side of that argument though, we did technically see the explosion in Hiro’s first time travelling adventure.  But I would still expect to see an explosion again.

3.  Linderman and Petrelli are buddies…

…and we’re not just talking about Nathan and Linderman here, we’re talking Nathan’s daddy and Linderman.  Granted, we did already know this, somewhat.  During Parasite, we learned that Mr. Petrelli Sr. and Linderman were “good friends”, but we have since learned in the online graphic novels that they served together in Vietnam, where Petrelli was Linderman’s superior officer.  After Petrelli’s discharge and Linderman’s departure from the army, they struck up a cryptic deal, with Linderman saying that great sacrifices would have to be made.  Could it be that they were somehow behind whatever it was that has somehow created these abilities in seemingly random individuals?

4.  Everyone has powers…

…or so it would seem.  Linderman has the ability to heal others, as seen in the online novels.  This will be featured in the first few minutes of .07%, if reports are to be believed.  From everything I’ve seen, it seems that virtually every other character that we’ve encountered has a power of some sort, as well.  eOnline also reports that, even though she died in Parasite, Simone is set to return with powers of her own.  And even Hiro’s father displays some uncanny abilities.

5.  Don’t get too attached…

Everyone is expendable.  People will die.  Major characters will die…and die for good.  At least one will die on April 23…some reports say two.  Show creator Tim Kring had this to say:

The thing is, people knew fairly early on that they might not make it through the season…we’ve spoken about this idea, that on this show the story is king and everybody is in service of that story. It’s not a star vehicle.

As for .07%, here’s what spoilers point to:  Peter and Isaac will both die.  If you’ve seen the previews that NBC has been playing the heck out of, you’ve seen both of the quotes:  Mohinder telling Ms. Petrelli that Peter is dead (pictures of her mourning over his body were leaked earlier), and Isaac saying that he can die for something.  Now, the official descriptions for the next several episodes feature Peter prominently, but Isaac is nowhere to be seen.  So, expect Isaac to die on Monday night.

Heroes airs Monday night at 9/8c.

(photos from HeroSite and Heroes-Forum)