The fourth volume of Heroes, titled "Fugitives," was set up nicely last night:

Nathan has received permission from the President of the United States to round up everyone with abilities. We haven't been given Nathan's full set of motives yet, but he made it clear that the goal is to lock up all powerful characters.

The elder Petrelli brother is being set up as the main bad guy, of course, but this raises a vital question: Does he have the right idea?

Hiro can time travel. In volume three, he used that ability solely to solve a problem he created in the first place!

Throughout two and a half seasons, have the Heroes actually helped anyone outside of their own sub-culture? Let's review the ways in which the Heroes have used their powers so far:

• In season one, the goal was to stop New York City from blowing up, a plan concocted by those with abilities;
• Season two was focused on the outbreak of a virus, one that was created by The Company;
• As we all just witnessed, the third volume of the show centered on a formula that, again, was created by those with abilities and would have a detrimental effect on everyone if ever released.

Therefore, with what we've seen to this point, it's impossible not to wonder: Wouldn't the world be a better place if there were no Heroes? What has Peter ever done, for example, that's focused on anything or anyone not associated within the universe of extraordinary abilities?

His goals may have always been to save mankind... but wouldn't mankind be better off if no one with abilities ever existed? Consequently, wouldn't this mean that Nathan is absolutely correct that all Heroes should be locked up?

While we're excited for volume four, and look forward to a contained/simple story line that hopefully doesn't involve the use of time travel, a problem is raised when the supposed arch villain (Nathan) appears to have the right idea:

Rid the world of Heroes and let everyone else live in peace.

Until the show gives viewers a reason to think that Claire regenerating, or Parkman reading minds, will have positive consequences for anyone outside the ability-laden universe, then why should we root for these characters to remain in the real world?

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Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.