User blog comment:Alexa12/The Finale Sucked./@comment-68.117.248.212-20120817234840

IMHO, it really did look like Peter had his own motives for helping out with the Kanima. The whole fight, he's sitting in the background, watching the werewolves and the Kanima duke it out, shifted, but not helping. Why? He doesn't need to be there if he's not going to help. Then Derek goes in for the kill. What does Peter do? He jumps out of hiding and appears to strike the "killing" blow--Peter's claws hit a much more vital spot than Derek's, which is probably what "killed" the Kanima.

It seems to me that Betas operate on a slightly different set of rules than Alphas do. A Beta has to have an Alpha to survive. An Alpha needs Betas (or, possibly, other Alphas) to survive. Alphas heal faster, and are much stronger than Betas. In season one, it's stated (by Kate, to Chris) that one of the wolves (Peter) is large and powerful, while the other (Derek, then a Beta) was lean and fast, implying that Betas may be a little quicker and more agile than Alphas are. Also, a Beta can "steal" an Alpha's power by killing him, while an Alpha can't gain power by killing a Beta.

This is a bit of a stretch, but there is a precedent for Betas having the ability to absorb power from creatures more powerful than themselves by killing that creature. Peter did that to the Kanima (an Alpha Kanima, no less), and the general consensus among fans (it's never actually stated in the show) is that Peter is now a Beta, so it would be reasonable to assume that Peter actually absorbed part of the Kanima's power, thereby returning control to Jackson, and returning Peter to a similar level of power as he had in season one.

Yeah, I know. It makes no sense. I just like to think that it's true.

And, for the next year, there's no one to tell me that it's not.

Yay.