Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-25187020-20140716141854/@comment-19765459-20140717191650

From what we've seen, Derek may have been a bit of a difficult (read: bratty) teenager. He may have had trouble during the full moon because he was not very self-restrained in general. Given how little he knows about the rest of the werewolf power set (shapeshifting, mind meld, mental link with Betas, etc.) if Talia even tried to teach him at all he probably wasn't patient enough to learn the lessons.

While Scott has always been determined to remain independent, he nonetheless has a personality type where accepts that he doesn't always know things (even if Stiles does) and that he needs to learn them. Or at least that was how he used to be. He became a very good Beta over the course of S1 and S2. This seeming inability to learn that he has been exhibiting since S3b is new.

It was always clear that Derek didn't have a clue how to be an Alpha, which is why he couldn't use most of the powers that came with it. But other than briefly making him more surly than usual, he most definitely was not overwhelmed by it.

This is why Scott's current situation is so perplexing. In the past, he was always a rise-to-the-challenge type of guy (willingly or unwillingly). But now, all of a sudden, when his friends and family need him to be strong more than ever before, he seems to be dropping the ball and avoiding the challenge, even if it could result in death. I mean I'm sorry, but if a bunch of crazy, super-strong people wearing the skeletons of bears were threatening me, I would say "F*** self-control!" and hold nothing back!

Likewise, Scott watched Derek lock himself in a room with a crazed Boyd and Cora because being an Alpha and keeping control of his Betas meant that much. That was not a holding-back approach to Beta handling! There are examples to be learned from here.