**HERE BE SPOILERS – CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED**

This way for groundless speculation!

Episode titles have been released for the start of ‘Fugitives’, the second volume of Heroes’ Season 3. The most recent episode saw Senator Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) goading the President (Michael Dorn) into seeking out and capturing those with abilities, and the episode names hint that we might be looking at some heavy themes of war, freedom and discrimination.

3.14 is entitled ‘A Clear and Present Danger’. Shame on you for thinking about Harrison Ford, this phrase was actually coined by Judge Oliver Wendell Jones Jr. in a landmark case on free speech. Judge Jones ruled that distributing leaflets which were opposed to the draft during  World War 1 was not protected by the First Amendment, which gives Americans the right to free speech, as the words and their influence would present a clear and present danger to the United States. The phrase has been used in more recent times to apply to terrorism.

Possible translation – Those with abilities will be identified as posing a clear and present danger to US Homeland Security, giving the President carte blanche to ship them off to prison camps. Eek!

3.15 is entitled ‘Truth and Blood’

Possible translation – This could suggest that blood testing is the way that the government will identify Heroes, as seen in the flashforwards from Season 1. The title may also relate to the strains on familial relationships as we know that two of the first to be detained will be Nathan’s brother Peter and his daughter Claire.

3.16 is entitled ‘Building 26′ after the US Naval Laboratory which was used by engineer Joe Desch and his team to research and build code-breaking equipment during World War 2. The aim was to locate and destroy German U-Boats and later Japanese subs,  using their own version of the British bombe which broke the Enigma code.

Possible translation – Building 26 will be a research, code-breaking and tracking facility, AKA Nathan’s HQ. Or they could just be using the name and it will actually be where the Heroes are detained.

3.17 is entitled ‘Cold Wars’ after the period of conflict and tension between the US and USSR and their allies which lasted over fifty years.

Possible translation - The government will use public fear and perceived threat to encourage the populace to turn in those with abilities in a McCarthy-esque witch hunt.

3.18 is entitled ‘Exposed’

Possible translation -  a number of possibilities – perhaps a mole within the resistance? A threat to expose Nathan as the flying man?

3.19 is entitled ‘Shades of Gray’

Possible translation  – surely this will be the episode where we meet John Glover as Sylar’s dad? Shades of Gray suggests that we will see a new side to Sylar, writers have already said that Sylar will see in his father “a road he doesn’t want to go down”. Since Sylar admitted in Season three that he would like to have a family, and Zachary Quinto just announced that his scenes with Glover had been filmed in a shack covered with tarpaulin, are we to surmise that Sylar will try to avoid his father’s lonely existance?

3.20 is entitled ‘Cold Snap’

Possible translation – there’s a chill in the air after Tracey launches her own range of winter accessories. As you might have guessed we have no clue about this one. Shot in the dark – something related to Sylar and an attempt at a jailbreak. There has also been speculation that this is the episode in which the plane goes down.

3.21 is entitled ‘Into Asylum’

Possible translation – the surviving heroes go into hiding from the nefarious Nathan.

Heroes returns to NBC on Monday February 2nd, and to BBC 2 on Wednesday February 4th. The List podcast will be back on Wednesday February 4th, straight after the BBC 2 episode.