Thread:Paul.rea/@comment-50.160.192.212-20141229231149/@comment-4091815-20150114042252

Here are the two passages in question -

Chaos Rising Peter: It’s an ancient ritual used mostly by Alphas since it’s a skill that requires a quite bit of practice. One slip and you could paralyze someone or kill them. Isaac: You’ve had a lot of practice though right? Peter: Well I’ve never paralyzed anyone. Isaac: Wait. Does that mean that you…? Peter sticks claws in Isaac’s neck.

Letharia Vulpina Allison: These are the claws of Derek’s mother? Peter: My sister, Talia, before she died she stole a memory from me. Something only a very powerful Alpha can do. That memory is locked inside those claws.

Because in the first he says that memory retrieval is done "mostly" by Alphas - we can assume the current article remains accurate.

The second passage gives me pause.

Is erasing or "stealing" a memory something possible for "powerful Alphas" alone or is it simply a next level of the regular ritual that requires so much practice that only a "powerful Alpha" would have reached that level of skill?

If it is the latter it is not an inherent "Alpha Power" so much as it is something that all werewolves could attain if they practiced.

Peter was able to do a bit of mind meld on Isaac without the benefit of Alpha power. Scott was able to enter Stiles mind with no skill at all - simply Peter walking him through it.

It is an issue that requires more thought I think before we expand our, admittedly, short description of the ability.