Sylar is blamed for detonating a nuclear explosion that destroys half of New York and kills millions of people, and is assumed to be deceased. In the original timeline, Hiro had stabbed him before the explosion, but Sylar had already succeeded in killing Claire Bennet at her high school Homecoming, absorbed her regenerative powers, and survived. However, this timeline was altered and did not actually occur, as Hiro had visited Peter Petrelli with the message "save the cheerleader, save the world" and, consequently, Sylar was denied the ability of spontaneous regeneration. Nonetheless, the explosion did occur and, in reality, Peter was the cause of the blast in the alternate timeline. Nathan lied to the public to protect his brother, and blamed Sylar for the explosion.