You have probably seen this video before.
I'm redoing it for a couple of reasons.
The first time I could not talk and had an AI voice which was not perfect or even tolerable.
But also I've been getting some mountain ash questions since
the movie and I figured we could all do with a little refresher,
specifically on how did Scott get through that one time but was never able to do it again.
A few things you need to actually believe before we go forward - a
couple are canon things and one is a speculation thing based on canon things.
The speculation first, all werewolves have the same potential strength. Accessing more
strength is about experience and mental state.
Stiles: Just let me see it. Okay?
The fact that mental state will affect access to supernatural strength and
healing is strictly canonical. They showed us that repeatedly.
The third thing is the hardest for people to understand for some reason.
Canonically, Scott did not cross the mountain ash because he became an alpha.
He became an alpha because he crossed the mountain ash.
With that in mind, let's head back to season three and that big scene with Scott.
Jennifer: You've tried this before Scott.
I don't remember you having much success.
Okay, ask yourself - what is in Scott's head right now?
It's just one thought - save his mom.
He's also probably thinking about saving his friends and their parents too,
but the overwhelming focus of his entire being is obviously to save his mother.
He does not care about anything else. All he
wants is to break this barrier and make Jennifer stop hurting his mom.
Scott is a beta for most of his trip through this barrier.
Take a look at that again.
Scott is still a beta but his hand pushes past the edge and into the circle.
Jennifer sees it too. Scott should not be able to do what he just did.
Deaton says Scott reached Alpha status through strength of character,
virtue and sheer force of will.
This further supports that connection between a
werewolf's mental state and their abilities. It's all connected.
Some folks seem to think this was just some sudden burst of physical strength.
But Scott's muscles and his fangs and his speed and his healing - none
of that helped him break what should have been an unbreakable supernatural barrier.
If it was simply the application of force, those barriers would always be useless.
It wasn't physical strength it was focused willpower.
Scott's overwhelming desire to save his mother focused
every aspect of his being into a single task.
This is also why he could never do it again.
Deaton: It's a barrier no Supernatural creature should be able to cross.
Stiles: Scott did it. Scott: Once, but it almost killed me.
People have either forgotten that Scott said that or just want to
ignore that he has tried and failed to cross these barriers again and again.
You cannot brute strength your way across a supernatural barrier.
Scott: What are they doing? Aiden: Testing for weakness.
Unless you're an Oni, but that's another story.
Scott could have never pushed through the barrier if all he had was brute strength and
he could not do it again because he never again reached this level of laser focus.