Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-207.254.224.12-20140717193212/@comment-19765459-20140718183725

98.21.154.70 wrote:

how about the fact that Derek wanted to kill the homicidal lizard, scott wanted to save it which is obviously gonna take time, time for it to kill more. just because scott is peaceful doesn't make him a good alpha. an alpha is supposed to be a leader but ever since scott turned into a true alpha he's looked even weaker than he was as a beta Agreed. Scott cared more about saving Jackson than about the lives Jackson was taking. Most of the original victims of the Kanima were killed in acts of vengeance for them having been drunk (the alcohol illegally provided by their swim coach) high schoolers who did not respond to rescue Matt when he fell into the Lahey's pool. The closest to a "villain" in that scenario was Lahey himself. The rest were just thoughtless drunk kids. Did they deserve to be murdered? Later, the Kanima would go on to kill several Beacon Hills police officers.

Scott's approach cannot even really be argued as having been "peaceful", because he was allowing slaughter in order to protect the life of somebody he was barely even friends with, but at least personally knew. In exchange for that person's life, Scott was willing to risk other people's lives.

It is hard to measure Scott's moral performance relative to other Alphas because the only other living "good" Alpha was Derek, and possibly Ethan for a brief time, neither of whom are Alphas anymore. Nonetheless, Derek has generally been willing to focus on saving the greater number of lives even if the personal cost is higher. Scott is the opposite, valuing those closest to him (and himself) more than strangers.

Scott's physical performance is easier to measure. Since becoming a True Alpha, it has been abysmal. He seemed more formidable as a Beta than he has since the beginning of S3b. Indeed, in 3a he seemed to be a high-end Beta, almost able to go toe-to-toe with Alphas. Since the start of S3b he has generally proven inferior to any Beta that puts up more than a token fight (to say nothing of Bersekers). Whatever potential for unlocking latent powers he has he has not chosen to explore. Whether this is fear or lack of competence is open to discussion. It does appear to be the former. Again, given Scott's focus on himself and those close to him, he is probably more worried about attempting anything that could make him lose control around them.

But other Alphas learn how to use their powers somehow, so the question is why can't Scott?