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Volume 3 of Heroes came to a close earlier this week, and while the conclusion may have been less than satisfying and a little confusing, the show turned the page and introduced Volume 4, in which Nathan teams up with the U.S. government to track down and lock up everyone with powers.

However, there are more pressing issues than asking how Heroes managed to get Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran Michael Dorn to play the president. Volume 3 left some fairly big cliffhangers and open questions. Will we find answers, or will they lead down dead ends? Here are the five biggest questions left swirling around after the Volume 3 finale.

What is Sylar's fate?

Heroes is in danger of repeating itself. Volume 1 ended with a helpless Sylar being vanquished. Volume 2 ended with him getting his powers back. Volume 3 ended with him being helpless and vanquished again. It's very likely that Volume 4 will end with someone pulling the shard of glass from Sylar's head.

But for now, we're left wondering what became of him. Was his body burned to a crisp in the fire? Did someone rescue his body? Whatever happens, one thing is for sure -- we have not seen the last of Sylar.

Is time travel gone for good?

One of the most confusing things about Heroes is that characters are always jumping through time, changing things to the point where viewers lose the ability to know what's real. Either by design or by accident, the writers now have the opportunity to seal off that plot hole. Hiro was left powerless at the end of Volume 3, so an additional question is if he'll regain his ability and when.

The second question is about Peter. He injected himself with the Formula and flew away -- but did the Formula give him back all his abilities, or does he now only have the ability of flight? If it's the latter, Heroes can save itself a lot of confusion by stopping time travel and focusing on the problems of the present.

Who were the heroes and who were the villains?

After a whole season's worth of "Villains," I still don't know who's good and who's evil. In the final showdown, Peter joined forces with former Level 5 captives Flint and Knox to destroy the Formula. On the other side, noble Nathan and Mohinder teamed up with Tracy to use the Formula to save humanity.

There are compelling points to be made on both sides, but in the end, it's unclear which side was truly heroic. Peter constantly warned that giving everyone powers would result in an explosion in the future, but Sylar's future explosion had nothing to do with the Formula. Hopefully Volume 4 can give us insight into the possible benefits or dangers of the Formula.

Who are Sylar's parents?

The finale confirmed that Angela Petrelli is not actually Sylar's mother, but she also let it slip that his parents weren't who we thought they were. Since this was the last question Sylar asked before being put down by Claire, it's safe to assume that it will be a major plot line in the future -- but the bigger question is when we'll find out. Creator Tim Kring may have used that moment to set things in motion for the distant future, and the search for Sylar's true lineage is sure to provide some interesting moments.

When does Ando kill Hiro?

In the Season 3 premiere, Hiro visited a future where he's killed by Ando. Many fans, myself included, assumed this was foreshadowing the end of Volume 3. However, Volume 3 ended and there's still no sign of that fateful showdown. Either that future was stopped and it will never happen, in which case the scene was irrelevant, or Kring was offering us a preview of Volume 4 even back then.

The epic Hiro vs. Ando showdown is something I've been looking forward to, so I have faith that the Heroes writers bothered to plan ahead and that the future Hiro saw is still to come. But if we never get to see that future, it will be just another huge plot hole Heroes leaves open, just like Peter's Irish girlfriend Caitlin being abandoned in the future last season.

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