Wait....so that was it for this season???

Does that mean no more episodes for a while? When does the new season begin?

If this was the final episode of the season then I had no idea.

Yeah I thought this would be like a 22/23 episode season but it wasn't. The ending is actually a preview for the next season and the creator designed it to be like one continuous story so I'm not surprised if you or anyone would be confused.

Usually the new season starts Sept/Oct.

Sylar flew during the fight against Peter & Nathan, and Nathan's head was never cut open. He definitely didn't get that power from Nathan.

You got this all wrong mate.

Sylar DID fly during that battle, but he has not flown at all until that point.

It was during that battle, Sylar gained the power of flight.

I can't remember what episode, but his original power, intuitive aptitude got to a point where he didn't need to cut their heads open to steal their powers.

http://heroeswiki.com/Sylar#Acquired_Abilities

According to the page you linked, we're both partially right. It says that Sylar acquired Nathan's flight ability before killing him, but he still used his telekinesis to fly before getting Nathan's power.

Didn't Sylar fly away from Matt & Audrey in the 3rd episode?

There have been discussions about whether Sylar was actually levitating and it was because of his telekinetic powers that enabled him to do that. And his true power, Intuitive Aptitude, didn't get to a point where he didn't need to cut open heads he just didn't know how to gain powers without doing that. He always had the ability to do it without killing people but he never learned that until Elle helped him and that was way before Nathan being killed. So there is a good chance he gained Nathan's powers before he killed Nathan. Whether it was before they flew out or after I'm not sure.

I can't remember....

I really can't recall seeing or being aware of him flying away at all before 'An Invisible Thread', but I am up for seeing it.

According to an episode guide for Sylar, with regard to episode 3...

Mohinder and Eden visit an apartment believed to be Sylar's. When no one answers, Mohinder breaks in. Inside, Eden notes that Sylar has no photographs in the apartment but plenty of books on philosophy, as well as a copy of Chandra Suresh's book. Mohinder takes pictures of the apartment, including a picture of his father's book on a bureau, books on the shelves, and a book in a glass case. He stumbles upon a secret room behind the glass case. Inside is a map similar to one used by the Suresh's, but with many more connections and papers linked to several of them. Eden identifies Nathan Petrelli on one of the links. Mohinder finds another room in the secret area covered by vinyl tarps. Inside, the walls are covered in scrawls, possibly indicating that Sylar's mental state is unbalanced. Writings such as, "Forgive me. I have sinned," are written all over, some apparently in blood.
Meanwhile, a man believed to be Sylar attempts to abduct Molly, who is being held in a safe room in the Los Angeles FBI Headquarters. Matt and Audrey stop him, with Matt protecting Molly and Audrey giving chase. When Audrey pulls her gun, the man somehow forces her backwards against a wall and makes her point her own weapon to her head. When Matt arrives, he shoots at the unknown man. However, when Matt turns to check on Audrey, the man stands back up and the bullets Matt had fired at him seem to fall to the ground. As Matt and Audrey look back, the man disappears.

It was originally unclear whether or not Sylar stole Nathan's flight in An Invisible Thread using the empathic part of his ability, as he had previously levitated using telekinesis alone. However, Shadowboxing confirms that he did in fact obtain flight from Nathan.

Since it was the first time I think he flew akin to Nathan and West's power of flight, I would assume that was the time he understood how to harness and use flight.

Since Peter can still mimic people's abilities but can only hold onto one power at a time, I wonder what would happen if he mimics Sylar's original power and tries to use that. You guys think he wouldn't be able to focus and won't be able to handle it? Would his empathic mimicry just override intuitive aptitude forcing him to be right where he left off before gaining I.A.? Or do you think he might actually be able to use more than one power this way?

After rewatching the scene in episode 3 that I mentioned, I'm still not sure. When Sylar escapes, there's a sound effect that's similar to the flight sound effect, but not exactly the same - and after he escapes, Matt is looking at the sky. From that, I'd assumed he flew away, though there's no on-screen evidence of it.

As for Peter mimicking Sylar's mimicry power, that might be how they put him back to full power. I mean, if Hiro is now fully repowered, and Sylar is (apparently) good, it wouldn't be unbalancing to repower Peter.

I don't think so since apparently the good side can handle anything now. Hiro being supercharged by Ando is much more powerful, Sylar still has all his powers and Peter can cancel out or take away the advantage of any bad guy like he did to Edgar and Samuel.

I'm thinking next chapter/season will have infighting between specials who want to live out in the open (Claire) and specials who think it's better to hide (Peter).

I say it in nearly EVERY Heroes post I make, Peter getting his original power back would be so good for his character and the show as a whole. I think he can handle it, he practically maters every single power he takes at one time, and Claude's training was perfect - like picking out one card from a deck at a time.

Still don't think Sylar will remain totally good, think he will become an anti-hero, or a hero who takes non-traditional methods to get things done, as I believe Peter will.

I really hope it doesn't end here, as the set up for the next volume is fucking promising.

Hold on, so Hiro can freeze the entire planet in time (presumably) but he needs to be superpowered to move a few people?

I suspect it takes more effort to share the benefits of his ability rather than just freeze everybody. Anytime someone joins him in freeze time it was a big deal for him, while stopping time with just him in motion was nothing.

Note that he may not actually freeze time so much as slow it to a crawl, as "Speedster" managed to break free, presumably because of her ability.

He just got out of surgery/"healed" so he probably didn't have full use hence the need for supercharging but I think for TP he needs direct contact or a link similar to a conduit for electricity. Like he touches one person and they go with him and a third person touches the second person and so on and so on.