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The follow contains MAJOR SPOILERS for "It's Coming," the ninth episode of the third season of "Heroes."

"It's Coming!" When the moon passes between the sun and the earth, strange fascination takes root in the heart, and suddenly, anything is possible. It?s power, undeniable. It?s beauty, mesmerizing. It?s lure, biblical. It?s meaning, unknowable. And as quickly as it comes, it disappears, leaving us to dwell on our own insignificance in the face of God. So sayeth Mohinder.

The ninth episode of the third season of "Heroes" picks up in the present, where last week?s flashback episode left off. Arthur Petrelli has Hiro?s head in his grip. Apparently, Arthur is angry at Hiro because he did not do the job he was sent to do. It seems like it?s going to be curtains for Hiro, but Ando tries to intervene, only to be tossed aside by the Big Bad Petrelli Dad. Fortunately, Arthur is suddenly distracted by dead Usutu?s painting of an eclipse. Ando takes advantage of the moment by getting Hiro to teleport out of their situation.

Hiro and Ando teleport to a bowling alley in Tokyo that serves waffles, where Ando discovers that Hiro not only has forgotten that he has super powers, but he thinks he?s ten years old. Ando tells Hiro about his abilities and encourages him to try using them. Hiro quickly rediscovers his powers, by freezing time and playing a series of practical jokes on people in the bowling alley. He ties one bowler's shoe laces together, puts ketchup on a man's seat as he is about to sit down, and points two girls shooting spitballs at them toward each other.

Ando tries to persuade Hiro to teleport them to the Petrelli roof in New York, but instead Hiro teleports them to a comic book store. After enduring Hiro?s catching up on nearly two decades of comic lore, Ando finds a copy of a ?9th Wonders? comic book, hoping it will bring Hiro?s memory back. The comic includes a scene of the two of them talking about the comic in that very same comic book shop. On the last page there is a painting of a solar eclipse, and the phrase, "It's coming."

Arthur, who knows Gabriel saved Peter from getting killed when he threw him out the window of Pinehearst, informs Sylar that he can take others powers without killing them, and that the secret to doing so is empathy. To prove his point, he puts Gabriel in a room where poor Elle, who had gone to Pinehearst to find help for her out-of-control powers, is shackled.

Elle, of course, is still upset that Gabriel/Sylar killed her father, and tries to electrocute him. Sylar allows Elle take out her anger on him, which she does till she?s completely exhausted. Elle begs Sylar to kill her, but he refuses, and instead empathizes with her, telling her that they are only monsters because their parents made them that way. Sylar tells Elle that because she saved him when he tried to kill himself, that he owes her his life and that he wants to return the favor. He then takes away the pain from her ability that brought her to Pinehearst in the first place. In the same moment, he absorbs Elle's power -- without taking it away from her as happens with Papa P. Elle teaches Sylar how to use his new power as Big Bad Papa P watches on his all-invasive monitor.

At Pinehearst, Tracy tries to persuade Nathan to reconsider confronting his father. According to Nathan, Arthur has orchestrated everything in Nathan life, making him go to law school, choosing his wife for him, and pushing him to run for office. When they meet, Arthur tells Nathan ?you're my favorite son" and tells Nathan about his plan to make him the president, and as such, he would lead a nation of the super-powered people all created to save the world. Yeah. That?ll work!

Nathan leaves to consult his mother, but Tracy lags behind to speak to Arthur. Arthur asks, "You want me to take your power?" Tracy turns the offer down, saying she?s getting used to them. Then she offers to help Arthur influence Nathan to side with him and be the public face of Pinehearst. Clearly, she has an agenda of her own (or maybe that of Bruce Boxleitner).

Arthur visits Mohinder, who tells him that the formula should be work, but there seems to be a missing catalyst to make the process successful. Arthur suggests that the catalyst may ?not be something, but someone," and the only person who might know who and where that someone is, is the dead Kaito Nakamura. Still, it appears Arthur may have an idea who the catalyst is, as he fixates a particular photo in his files.

Peter and Claire are on the run, trying to avoid capture by Knox and Flint. Heading for escape via the sewers, Peter sees a painting of the eclipsed world breaking apart on a building. Knowing that in the future, Claire kills him, he pleads with Claire to go home and forget her mission. He tells her that he's trying to change the future, a future in which Claire becomes a killer. She refuses, telling Peter that he had saved her life and now she is returning the favor. Suddenly, Knox and Flint show up and Peter runs away. Claire intervenes to defend him, only to find that they came for her and not Peter. Peter once more comes to her rescue and helps Claire escape. Both head for Primatech to help Mama Petrelli.

Matt and Daphne beat everyone to Primatech and finds comatose Mama P. He realizes that she is trapped inside her own mind and goes inside it to free her. Meanwhile, Daphne visits Arthur and begrudgingly tells him what?s happening.

Inside Angela's mind, Parkman finds that all the doors out of her mind are locked. Arthur, disguised as Daphne, appears, and stabs Matt. The real Daphne, who is back with Matt, finds a way into Matt's vision. When Arthur sees this, he reveals his true form and tries to get Matt and Daphne to turn against each other. Instead, Daphne tells Matt she loves him, and as the two embrace, Angela seizes upon the moment to persuade Arthur to let her go. He finally does, and Angela awakens to find Matt, Daphne, Peter, Claire, and Nathan with her.

They tell her about Arthur's plans, but Angela, who is already well aware of them, knows that Arthur's formula is incomplete without the catalyst. Claire thinks that she might be the catalyst, because when Sylar took off the top of her head to play in her brain, he told her she was different than the others.

Arthur also seems to believe that Claire is the catalyst.

In the final scene, we see the players aligning on different sides. With Mama P, we see Matt, Daphne, Claire, Peter, and Nathan. On Papa P?s side we see Knox, Flint, Tracy, Elle and Sylar watching Arthur draw a picture of the ominous eclipse using poor, dead Usutu?s precog power.

"It's coming," he says.

What Worked

Kristen Bell and Zachary Quinto play off of each other very well, and I love the pairing of the two gorgeous misfits, but I hope they don?t produce little Noah too quickly. I think there still needs to a couple of extra steps in their relationship before it becomes a relationship.

We?re starting to get a clearer picture of who is siding with whom in whatever epic battle is about to take place. Of course, alliances can, and probably will change in the next few episodes, but it seems all the set-up for this volume is now all in place, with a significantly pared-down cast of characters.

What Didn?t Work

Does Claire have to be the key to everything again? That she might be the catalyst sounds logical given the ever-evolving ?Heroes? mythology, but wouldn?t it be great if it turns out not to be her? I?d love to see it turn out to be someone Arthur killed, like Adam, which would destroy all of Arthur?s plans. Still, I?m willing to go along for the ride, and if Claire truly is the catalyst, it will give HRG and Meredith a lot more to do!

Hiro seems to be in neutral all season. It seems for every step forward, he?s taking two steps back. While the rapport between Hiro and Ando is wonderful, and the humor is a nice contrast to the darkness everywhere else in the story, let?s hope he and Ando come to play a more important role in the overall story soon.

The final scene needed more definition to clearly show how the sides were aligned. I think we needed to see Parkman, Daphne, Peter, Nathan, and Claire behind Angela (rather than together without her) to contrast the final scene with the others behind Arthur.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"It's Coming" was written by Tim Kring and directed by Greg Yaitanes. ?Heroes? airs on NBC, Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.

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