I have always been a loved Sylar, and thought that it was never about power, it was just about attention.
Please R&R.
The silence surrounded him, suffocated him, and forced him to remember things he had pushed to the back of his mind. All he ever wanted was to be special, to have attention. Only now, he has the wrong kind of attention. The attention nobody wants.
He tried to fool himself into relationships. Into friendships that weren't real.
There was Chandra Suresh. Gabriel always blamed him for what he had become, but he knew all Chandra did was misunderstand Gabriel's potential. Misunderstand his intention. They both had used eachother for their own personal gain, and they both knew it.
The smiles were real, at first, and the friendship as well. But, then it all became fake when Gabriel did the unthinkable and took the life of another. The power overwhelmed him. He wanted more. And he knew the only way he could get it, was to follow Chandra.
And so, while Dr. Suresh used Gabriel to fund his research, Gabriel used Suresh to fund his power.
One of them had to go, and Gabriel knew who that had to be. So, just like he had taken the life of others, he took the life of Chandra Suresh.
And in the events that occurred next, and his desire for power, he fell into the friendship of Chandra's son, Mohinder. The familiar plan to be lead to his victims by Chandra, soon took play with Mohinder. Mohinder was his father's son, and soon fell for the same innocence.
But, with this relationship, Gabriel enjoyed. They had things in common, but not enough to tempt Gabriel into a real friendship. No, his smiles proved fake all the way up into when Gabriel almost killed Mohinder in Gabriel's quest for power. Because that was what this was all about, power.
And power was what Gabriel kept receiving. As long as he had it, and was fueled by the thought of it, Gabriel didn't need anybody else. He was his own friend. Power was his friend.
So, when Mohinder found out who Gabriel really was, finally, that friendship soon died in an instant.
But, Gabriel wasn't bothered by it.
Although, Mohinder was the one he turned to in an attempt to find redemption. In a small attempt to be loved, instead of feared. But, much to Gabriel's disappointment and regret, Mohinder wasn't one to forgive.
And Gabriel went to the next person he hope might forgive him. His mother.
She had greeted him with open arms, but Gabriel knew that was only because she didn't know what he was capable of. But, he soon showed her and just as he had feared, she feared him.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back, as they say. In that one last rejection, it sent Gabriel flying at a rate that could not be stopped. There was no one left to forgive him, and no one he could turn to.
Trying to just make her understand, he accidentally killed her, which crashed him into the wall, and he gave up on redemption. He couldn't be weak, nobody like someone who was weak.
For Gabriel, there was no such thing as redemption, only power. And power was all he had left. Power, and his fading memories of what it was like to be the unknown. So, of course, he chose the power over memories.
It was all the same. Friends and relationships dead, and all for the same reason.
Gabriel would never admit it, but he knows that he secretly hopes to find someone to understand him. Someone who could show him redemption. Someone who could shower his or her attention on him.
That's all he ever wanted. Attention. He only misunderstood, and thought that if you had power people would love him. All he ever wanted was attention, and all he ever was, was misunderstood.