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obsidianflame

The latest GN picks up at the moment the last one left off, with Guillame about to kill his son, the Haitian. The Haitian is willing to sacrifice himself if it pleases his father, but just as his dad is about to deal the final blow, the Haitian touches him one last time.

Apparently, the Haitian can not only erase memories, he can also recover them. When he touches his father, he reminds him of all the feelings he had for his son, and the memories they shared. This causes Guillame to stop his attack. He gives his son his Godsend symbol necklace, then jumps off the cliff, but not before asking the Haitian to bury their shame and right their wrongs.

When the Haitian returns to the village, he tries to recover the villagers' memories, like he had done with his father, but it fails, so he is determined to kill them ("Gone was gone. I saw no alternative but to literally bury our shame--", p. 5).

At that moment, a man shows up looking for Guillame. He sees the village, and realizes that it wasn't Guillame's work, but the Haitian's. He offers to help him. The Haitian, desperate to find a solution, accepts his help, despite his father's last warnings. As they walk away, the man identifies himself as Thompson.

What do you all think of the writers' decision to extend the Haitian's power? Is it really the way I described it, or do you interpret that scene differently? Anyone else have an idea?

Wow, this board must really be dead for me to be posting the topic on the latest GN almost a day late. Usually, the topic's already up by the time I wake up on Tuesday mornings (+ several replies!).

Sketcher15 · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:25 am Post subject:

Yea it seems you have got it precise but its still a mystery on how he prevents powers from working when in others presence.

Jormengrund · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject:

Yeah. Actually, this entire GN series has got me questioning The Haitian's ability completely.. After all, in the series he was this enigmatic and unknowable character. Aloof, silent, and mysterious. In the GN, he's portrayed as unsure, scared, and unsure of himself. What made the change? Was it Guillaume's influence? If so, what was it that Guillaume did to his son to make him this way?

For me, this GN seems to raise more questions than it answers. Kind of like FYG did for the series....

deftonesdea · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject:

i agree with everything here, that a- yep, sure is dead ,the review/replies are usuaslly on fast.....

and b- wtf is up with the haitain! i just dont get his powers, he can restore memories that u have, but just dont remember right? but if he erases the memory, they're gone forever, no replacing them.

i liked how he didnt want to talk to thompson, and drew the grub worms in the head, just like in the show.

we always said theres only CERTAIN powers the haitain could stop...mental ones. but im more like...ok how many powers have we seen the haitain neutralize?

matt's kinda, future hiro, guillame (his father), eden,.....thats it right? just trying to figure out this DAMN haitain, its obvious the writer's want to go alot more in depth with this haitain.

evil pixie · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject:

I got called into work early, that's my excuse for not posting Very Happy

Clearly there's more to the Haitian than meets the eye. Besides finding out that he can recover memories, he really turned into kind of a bad ass awful quick. Not to mention, got control over his powers rather quick. I guess this must have something to do with him going off with Thompson and w/e it is they do/did at Primatech.

I really like how "the symbol" to the Haitian refers to the snake and the crane, whereas to Ando and Hiro it means "godsend". I wonder if we will find out what it means to other chars, such as Niki/Jessica?

Jormengrund · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:47 pm Post subject:

I don't know. Right now, he's seeming quite a bit more sinister than I took him for originally. After all, his power is definitely on a par with Peter's mimic ability. The ability to neutralize powers, take memories, and restore memories and feeling that have been buried? Give me something more powerful than our own memories and fears..

After all, think on this:

You decide to face off with me, but I find a hidden recessed fear. I can then bring that to the fore of your memories, and you'll have this incoherent fear while facing me..

Something also tells me that there's more to his abilities than just what we've seen in the GN as well. After all, Guillame's not confirmed as being dead, and I took the last panels of his 'flight' as him bestowing his powers on his son.. Thus, who knows?

Maybe the Haitian's job is going to be to help Peter learn how to control his empathic ability. After all, he seems to have an affinity for memories. Maybe he's going to be the one to teach Peter how to control that power, and dig up those repressed memories to access his powers more quickly and completely than before..

evil pixie · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject:

Nice theory, Jor, I'm on board for that one! yeah

stonegroove007 · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:46 pm Post subject:

I have said all along that what we've seen of the Hatian's power is only brushing the surface. It seems he can do quite a bit to someone's brain; taking memories, bringing repressed ones back, even nullifying powers of others. Indeed, this GN has made him seem much darker than I had originally thought him to be.
As for the "Godsend" symbol, how did a Hatian medicine man (or whatever old man Hatian was) come by a necklace with a symbol made from two merged japanese "letters"? Is there something universal about this symbol, that it appears in such different cultures? And why would the Hatian kiss his necklace before he'd take someone's memories, like he did with Parkman at the Primatech facility? Once again, there were more questions raised by this graphic novel than there were answers received . . .

popkorn615 · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 6:23 am Post subject:

I don't think that Haitian can necessariliy recover memories that he's already erased - he did say to Claire, "That's not how my ability works." Sure, he could have been lying, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. After all, he reiterates that aspect of his ability when he returns to the village.

I do believe, however, what Deftones mentioned - that Haitian can REMIND us of memories (that have not been erased) by bringing them to the forefront of our minds, as Jorm also points out.

Stone, there's definitely something universal about the symbol, (which I hope we find out SOMETIME SOON... grrr), as Kensei is seen holding a flag of the symbol at the end of Chapter 23. It's been around a longggggg time. I also think that Haitian kisses his necklace each time he takes someone's memory because perhaps it reminds him of his father's last 'dying' request, which is ultimately to "Never forget."

As for the powers Haitian can neutralize, Def, he has also used it on Sylar's TK, which is why Sylar couldn't TK HRG when he was first locked up in the cell. We still also don't really know if Haitian has a permanent 'neutralization field' around himself or not, or if he can control that aspect of his ability at will. My guess is that he might have a field around himself. The reason I suggest this is because in the police department, when Parkman was trying to read Claire's thoughts, Haitian was behind a wall or two and did not have a direct view of Matt himself, so how else could he focus his ability on Matt unless he has a neutralization field around him... and don't tell me that he has x-ray vision, lol.

I like a good theory when I smell one, and I'm definitely liking your Peter theory, Jorm. I'll ride in the backseat since Pixie is already in the passenger Wink

However, Jorm, while I also would like something more powerful than just 'our own fears and memories' reasoning, I related it to the idea of ourselves being our own enemies - when you think of it like that, I think it's pretty nifty Cool

As Stone and Jorm suggest, I think Haitian's ability may extend farther than we've seen thus far, and he does seem to be a lot darker than I originally anticipated - especially after his decision to kill his villagers. Although writers have confirmed that Haitian is NOT the Boogyman #2, he may very well be working for him based on what we know about Boogeyman #2n the severity of Haitian's actions in the GN.

I do like the irony behind Guillame's words - "I have forgotten the ground" - yet, him 'forgetting' the ground had nothing to do with his son's ability. Furthermore, it seems as if Haitian has fulfilled his father's request (I took it in the literal sense): "Give peace to those I have forsaken (the village). Bury my shame with your own hands (make them forget the abandonment of Guillame and his recent failure to save the village)." It isn't until the next page that we realize that Haitian has to literally bury his father's shame since he cannot restore their memories.

As for the Guillame's next line, it's clear that we can't take his words as literally: "...so when the crane comes to you with the promise of sun and clouds, you never forget the ground."

For Stone, Pixie, and everybody else - not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but with all of this 'snake' and 'crane' talk, I did a Google image search, and here are two pics that turned up:

Interesting how the yin yang resembles the shape of the symbol (the second pic moreso obviously because of the positioning/shape of the dark and light halves and the line that they make in the middle). Furthermore, in the GN, Haitian says, "He left me with the necklace, the snake and crane to guide me..." implying that this is what the symbol is a representation of - a blending of a crane and a snake. These two yin yang images clearly represent a combination of the two... hmmm, two sides to the universe? Good vs. Evil? Balance? Etc...

Thoughts?

Hercules67 · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:47 pm Post subject:

Storm and Popkorn -- if some of the characters we will be introduced to are "immortal", then it follows, that some of them have traveled extensively, and have left "mementos" in places where the have discovered "enhanced" humans.

Maybe, that's what the necklace is all about.

I just hope they don't go down the "Highlander" route and the immortals end-up being Alien refugees. That would suck really badly and I would need a new TV, because mine will be on the sidewalk. nay

obsidianflame · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject:

Pops- I never said the Haitian recovered erased memories. I just said he could recover memories, as in, bring up to the surface what the person had forgotten on his/her own. Just a clarification. Smile

As for this:

Jormengrund · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:53 pm Post subject:

I'm impressed that someone else Googled the Crane and Snake idea, and got the Yin/Yang symbol as well. I'm also thinking back to Japanese mythology. However, my memory is very terrible, and with everything going on at work, I can't really take the time to go search it out. I'd have to say that there are at least two or three legends about the snake and crane in Japanese Mythos, but for now, I'll settle with the one we were spoon-fed from the GN.

I'm glad you're with Pixie and me on the Haitian teaching Peter bandwagon, PK! After all, I love to come up with some crazy ideas, and you know better than anyone that I can bring out a silly idea from left field at any time!!

Hercules67 · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject:

Jorm,

I also want to point you to my post here:

Recorded Symbol Sightings

This thing goes beyond Yin and Yang, Japanese Mythology, Taoist beliefs, the Crane and Snake. It's also the Tiger and Dragon and a number of other concepts.

I think, we have just skimmed the surface of what is going....

Jormengrund · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:33 pm Post subject:

Yin and Yang basically represent the balance of Good and Evil. For one, there has to be another. The opposite isn't necessarily in the same vicinity, but it _is_ there somewhere..

There could be one manifestation of evil, and a coalition of good to offset each other, or epic beings, or single events, but the result is the same...

Think of it in Newton's terms. For every action there is and must be an equal and opposite reaction. For every evil, there must be a good, for every evil action, somthing good must also occur. This provides the balance. When the balance is tipped, things tend to get ugly.. Very ugly, and very fast..

Anyway, I'd have to agree that there are many of the recorded symbols. Think on Robert Langdon. There are symbols everywhere.. You just need to open your eyes to see them. This is nearly sounding like a "DaVinci Code" storyline now, but this is the truth. The Dragon.. Think of anywhere that we've talked about the Dragon Herc?

Do you think that The Dragon and Uluru are yin and yang? I do. The Swallow is also another powerful creature in Japanese mythos. According to Japanese legends, the swallow is the only creature that is the dragon's mortal enemy.. Quite interesting..

Anyway, I'll also pop in from time to time in your other thread, and give my twocents

there as well!

popkorn615 · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: