Board Thread:WARNING ALL USERS False Info\Spoilers/@comment-24477929-20140128145606/@comment-24747729-20140723151836

Okay, I've been hearing a lot of complaints about Scott being an Alpha, most of it regarding his lack of strength. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about it, and I've come up with a series of thoughts on the subject.

Are you ready? 'Cause here we go.

As I stated, the biggest complaint I've seen about Scott is his apparent lack of strength. Well, I thought about something.

It seems that some people have been thinking that a True Alpha is the same as a regular Alpha. I don't believe it is, and in fact, I think that it's a fallacy to assume that it is.

A werewolf can become a True Alpha based on the strength of their character. They're charismatic and loyal to their pack, almost to a fault. A regular Alpha, on the other hand, becomes so by killing the previous Alpha and taking their power (how this works if an Alpha dies of natural causes or by other people has not been made clear). This right here is the crucial difference between the two. A True Alpha is given power, whereas a regular Alpha just takes it. It's the difference between a person who leads because everyone wants them to versus someone who takes charge by force. Enlightened Leader versus Dictator, as it were.

Alphas (even the nicer ones) tend to rule by fear and by force, whereas a True Alpha leads by example.

When Isaac was going crazy that time and trying to kill someone, Derek stepped in and used his Alpha Roar to bring him down. Isaac's reaction, even when wolfed out, was to shrink and cower, much like a real beta wolf would do when the alpha gets in their face.

However, the one time Scott used his Alpha Roar on another shifter (coyote Malia), she didn't shrink down and cower before him in fear. She eventually backed down, but it didn't seem to be in fear.

I think this is because the quality of his roar was different than a standard Alpha's. Derek's roar on Isaac was more of "BACK OFF OR I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!!!" whereas Scott's was more of "BACK DOWN! I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Another example of using force to get what you want versus actually inspiring people to do the right thing. It's "do as I say" versus "let me show you a better way."

The issues with Scott himself are essentially two-fold:

1) Frankly, he hasn't been a werewolf for very long. Sure we've seen him for three full years now and partway into a fourth, but in-universe, it's only been a little over a year. He just doesn't have the experience of older werewolves like Derek, Peter, or Deucalion. Even young Derek had years more experience than Scott, and HE was still struggling with being a Beta werewolf.

2) Scott doesn't really have a pack. It's been said in the show that an Alpha draws his strength from their pack and vice-versa. They feed off each other's strength and power and help each other out. Also, it was said that an Alpha needs at least three Betas to constitute an actual pack. When Scott became a True Alpha, he didn't have a pack of werewolves to follow him. He COULD have, but he didn't. Derek was off doing his own thing, but Isaac was shadowing him like a puppy. Ethan and Aiden wanted in, even flat out told Scott so, but Scott did not want to accept the twins at all. In fact, one of the twins' story arcs in 3B was trying to find acceptance from Scott. Stiles is and Allison was an ordinary human, so there's no supernatural connection for Scott to draw from. I'm not really sure that the others would have that same connection either, given that Lydia is a Banshee and Kira is a kitsune, neither of which are true shapeshifters. Malia might count, given the genetic similarities between wolves and coyotes and that they are both shifters, but the different social structures between the two species might disallow that (wolves run in packs, coyotes rarely run in packs, most often working in male/female pairs). Now Isaac is gone, getting rid of the only wolf that might have been considered as part of Scott's pack. So, as of now, Scott is an Alpha without any Betas. Liam's the next to become a wolf, a Beta created by Scott, so he could be the first true pack member. As to the others, it might take some mystical Druid know-how for them to become a member of Scott's pack where they can feed off each other.

Yes, Scott is an Alpha and can do cool Alpha things, but his strength is limited by his inexperience and his pack-less status.