We are told so little about the shapeshifters that there have been many theories
and speculation about them.
Exactly how many shapeshifters were there?
I've been speculating about this for years. We've been told by Agent Pierce that in the crash, they found 4 aliens, 2 dead, and 2 alive. But where they the only ones on the ship?
It is possible that there were any number of others on the ship that got away. They may have been shapeshifters or they could have been other types of aliens.
Also, we know that after the 4 aliens in the crash were taken, that two aliens appeared in front of the truck that was carrying the pods. Were these real aliens or was it a mind warp?
If they were real, then there were at least two more of them running around.
Were all of the shapeshifters loyal to the Royal 4?
Did all the shapeshifters have to do exactly as ordered?
Was Ed Harding Nasedo?
I have often wondered if Ed Harding was really Nasedo. Wait - there is acutally some proof.
1. Tess never called him Nasedo until after the podsters called him that.
2. Ed Harding never mentioned the cave in the reservation where Nasedo lived, or the map inside, or River Dog.
No one really comes out and says he was Nasedo, until Max asks Tess about it. She doesn't really say he was, but kind of changes the subject.
MAX: We knew there was someone out there, but we thought it was Nasedo. So you do know him, then.
TESS: He was there when I came out of the pod, and he�s taken care of me ever since.
MAX: So he�s our father?
TESS: Not really, Max.
MAX: Then who is he?
TESS: I don�t even know. I�ve been with him for ten years but everywhere we go, he changes into somebody different.
MAX: Why?
TESS: Because we can�t get caught. That�s how we�ve survived.
MAX: Why can he shape shift and we can�t?
TESS: Because he doesn�t have a human body like us, Max. He needs to hide who he really is.
MAX: What does he really look like?
TESS: He�s never let me see. Never lets me close to him at all.
What if Nasedo was an entirely different being, and Ed Harding simply let the podsters think it was him? Maybe he was an evil alien spy? Maybe he killed the real Nasedo?
Perhaps Ed Harding was working for Khivar the whole time, and never was assigned to protect the Royal Four.
Or Maybe Ed was on the ship with the pods but wasn't a protector, and killed their protector Nasedo to take his place so he could make a deal to go home.
The only proof we have that Ed was Nasedo was Tess saying that he told her to get the healing stones from River Dog. But if Ed did kill Nasedo, maybe he was able to mind rape him or somehow get the info out of him about River Dog.
It might also explain why River Dog saw 'Nasedo' killing James Atherton. Atherton was a friend of Nadeso's. But if Atherton figured out that Nasedo had been replaced as someone else, then Ed might have killed him to stop him from talking or going to the government.
Was Nasedo really dead?
Was there another shapeshifter known as TicTac?
Some of us old-timers were completely convinced that the shape shifter known as "Tic Tac", and the shape shifter known as Nasedo were two different shapeshifters.
My friend River Dog gives some reasons below -
1. Nasedo is never seen eating Tic Tacs when he shapeshifts.
2. Tic Tac shapeshifts mostly to blue light, Nasedo shapeshifts mostly to yellow light.
3. Shapeshifting takes longer for Tic Tac.
4. Shapeshifting appears to take it's toll on Tic Tac, Nasedo has no trouble.
5. Nasedo gets directly involved with the gang, Tic Tac is more behind the scenes watching them and even appears suspicious at times.
TicTac
I believe that TicTac was the Watcher or Guardian of the Orb, as some people call him, who watched over Max and Liz in Sexual Healing when they found the orb, as well as the one who killed Hank. He was probably Dr. Margolin too, who stopped the kids from meeting Topolsky and falling into Pierce's trap, not to mention that he gave the Sheriff the plausable explanation that Topolsky was insane and fixated on the kids and never worked for the FBI.
TicTac is careful to blend in, taking the form of drifters or locals that you wouldn't really notice. He is low-key, staying mostly in the background. He covers his tracks, making sure to get rid of Hank's body and taking care of the legal side of Michael's foster situation before making it look like Hank left town.
Ed Harding
But Ed is definately not low key. He has left a trail of bodies all over the southwest, as Hubble says. Tess also mentions that they have been hunted for years by the Special Unit. How could that happen, unless Ed was doing stuff to lead the Specail Unit to them?
Ed seems to be a loose cannon. He is cocky, acts creepy and seems to enjoy scaring the kids, leaving mysterious alien symbols and taking Liz, and he challenges the Sheriff and Max. Why wouldn't he just tell them who he is when he came to town?
He kills a Special Unit agent and leaves him on the side of the road for Pierce, blows up a gas station, and sends an alien signal all while wearing Max's face, and makes sure to be caught on camera to lure Pierce into a trap.
When he replaces Pierce, he leaves Tess (a minor) alone and doesn't make any plans for her protection.
What happened to the dupes' protector?
Lonnie vaguely mentions their protector and even seems a bit defensive about him/her.
LONNIE: What is up with you and all these questions about the shapeshifter?
Also on the Silver Handprint website, on Ava's art college, it says guard and protector, and next to it are the words farewell and loss.
This led some to believe that Lonnie and/or Rath might have killed their protector. Certainly the shapeshifter would have been in their way if they wanted to kill Zan.
Others believe that the mysterious shapeshifter known as 'Tic Tac' was the dupes protector, and left them some time after they hatched to help keep an eye on the Roswell group.
Others believe that the shapeshifter was yet another protector that would be revealed at a later time.
Some believed that somehow Nicholas became the dupes protector. Perhaps the shapeshifter left them very early and Nicholas took the oportunity. This seems unlikely to me because Zan wouldn't be worried that the summit was a trap if he had known Nicholas for years. And would there even be the need of a summit if the dupes had been raised by Nicholas?
I have even speculated that perhaps Larek was asked to look in on the New York 4. He may not have been their protector, but what other reason would Larek have to come to Earth 7 years before and abduct Brody and cure his cancer.
Brody was abducted in Massachusettes, which is near New York, so it is possible that Larek used him to contact the dupes.
Was River Dog a shapeshifter?
Michael suspected that River Dog was a shapeshifter, so why shouldn't we?
My friend, who uses the screen-name is River Dog, and I have long thought it was possible that the River Dog in the episode 'Into the Woods' could be a shapeshifter.
Let's look at the evidence.
1. He goes to get Michael to tell him that the sighting is real, because he has seen one like it before.
So does that mean 'Nasedo' has been randomly sending signals in the forest over the years and River Dog happened to see one, or is it because he sent the signal?
2. How the crap does River Dog know where Micheal lives? Did RD follow Micahel home from the sweat in the episode 'Balance'? Did Michael blurt out his address when he was in the balance coma? Did he have friggin' Eddie out searching all the trailer parks in the area?
And why did RD go to get Michael? Why not Max or Liz? He definitely knew where to find Liz. It is really suspicious to me that Michael was the only one home (the others were already on the camping trip), and RD went to him. Did he try the others first and couldn't find them? Can't you just imagine him knocking on the Parker's door. "Um, is Liz here?"
3. When RD does find Michael, he not only tells him the sighting is real, but takes him to the woods to see the spot. How does he know where it was? Does Nasedo leave the signals in the same place every time, or is it because he sent the signal?
4. As Michael mentions, RD sure seems to know a lot about them, including how to use the healing stones to restore their balance. Does he really remember all that from when he was a kid? Or is it because he is an alien?
5. When Michael confronts RD about being an alien, you notice that he doesn't deny it. Instead he tells Michael that he is not his father.
Yeah, Nasedo is not Michael's father.
So, I got to thinking about more than that. What if River Dog was an alien the whole time on the show? Crazy? You tell me.
Wouldn't it be a great disguise to replace someone and live as them?
People have often wondered why Nasedo didn't kill River Dog when he witnessed Atherton's murder. But what if Atherton wasn't the only corpse that day? Nasedo could have killed River Dog and become him, and lived protected on the reservation all those years.
Sure it would mean that RD lied to the kids about Nasedo getting sick in the sweat, or maybe in the years since, Nasedo discovered how not to get sick in the sweat.
Still sound crazy? There is a bit of evidence that he was an alien the whole time.
1. How did RD know that Liz was not an alien when he grabbed her in the cave in the episode 'River Dog'? Liz was the one who showed him the alien symbol necklace. Liz told him that she found it. RD sent Eddie to see Liz. (And, BTW, how did Eddie or RD know where to find Liz? I didn't see her handing out business cards that night when she me him at the reservation.)
But when Liz and Max both show up that night at the cave, River Dog grabs Liz, seeming to know she will not hurt him. He also tells her not to trust Max, which to me means that he knows she is human. How?
2. He has the healing stones. Did Nasedo give him the stones, or did he have them the whole time?
3. He tells the kids about the cave where Nasedo lived. Is that because he lived there himself?
4. And a minor thing, River Dog says he witnessed Nasedo killing Atherton, but Valenti had no name for Atherton. So why didn't River Dog or anyone else tell the cops who the dead man was? Was it because he was the one killed Atherton?
5. Then there is the episode 'Balance' when RD somehow knows that Liz is too upset about Max to be useful in the healing? How did he know that? He also mentioned that Liz will find her own way, and somehow, she appears in the healing vision. How did he know that would happen?
So what do you think? River Dog the alien?
Was friggin' Eddie a shapeshifter?
If River Dog is a shape shifter, then I bet Eddie was the same shapeshifter who was just wearing a different face.
After all, why would the shapeshifter trust anyone? He can become anyone he wants.
Was Owen Blackwood a shapeshifter?
Remember the native American deputy who was in the first few episodes? Have you ever wondered if there was more to him than met the eye?
There is a little evidence to support this theory.
1. At the Crash festival, he questioned the Sheriff's focus on Max, asking the Sheriff what he thought Max had done. Perhaps he was trying to put doubts in the Sheriff's mind about Max. Trying to protect Max.
2. When Michael was breaking into the Sheriff's station and Isabel goes inside to keep them busy by asking for help with a flat tire, Owen offers to help her before Valenti takes over.
Sure, she is a young, pretty girl, but maybe it was more than that.
3. When the Evans' house is robbed (in the episode River Dog), Owen is in Isabel's room and notices the necklace with the alien symbol that she is wearing, and tells her that he saw the symbol at the reservation. So basically he is the one who sent them to River Dog. They might have never found out about River Dog or the cave if he hadn't told her that.
4. And after that episode, he is never on the show again. Does anyone else find it suspicious that he just disappears? He told Isabel about the symbol at the reservation and then is gone. Maybe his job was done.
5. If you think about it, it would be a smart move for a shapeshifter to take a job as a deputy. It would keep him informed about everything going on in the area, especailly if he were looking for three alien kids who disappeared from the pod chamber years before. And he would know if the FBI or possible enemy aliens or anyone else was asking questions around town too.
Origins
Although it is never discussed on the show, some people believe that the shapeshifters are native to the planet Antar, others believe they may have other origins. Perhaps the shapeshifters came from another planet, or perhaps they were genetically engineered or altered.
Here is my reasoning. We know the Skins came from Antar, but they couldn't shapeshift, and the shapeshifters could live on Earth but the Skins couldn't. So either there are two (or more) types of intelligent life on Antar, or the shapeshifters were altered or created, or they are from a different planet.
Personally I think the shapeshifters might have come from another planet or perhaps were created or altered by the Antarians, for one simple reason - slavery. Basically the shapeshifters were slaves, forced to do what they were ordered. Slavery in any form is terrible, but to think the Antarians enslaved some of their own people is reprehensible. Wouldn't the Antarian people be horrified that other beings from their planet were being forced into servitude?
We don't really know anything about the people, that is true. We don't know their viewpoint on slavery. But if some people were forced into slavery, then couldn't the same be done to your neighbors, friends, relatives, and even you?
Now if the shapeshifters were from another planet, it might seem more acceptible, or possibly the shapeshifters were genetically engineered, created or altered for the purpose of service. It is likely they had to be 'programmed' to obey the king, so maybe they were just created from scratch to be protectors and aren't a real species at all.
Species
Some people believe that the pod squad were just like the shapeshifters on their planet, and some believe that they were completely different.
Although it is never said one way or the other in the show, I always assumed that the Royal Four were completely different than the shapeshifters.
My reasoning is that Shapeshifters could already live on Earth, they didn't need altering. And why change the pod squad at all if they are shapeshifters? Shapeshifters can live on Earth with no changes. Shapeshifters could appear human, so they don't need to be given a human body. There was never a plan for the podsters to live in a family with humans, so there would be no need for them to be able to pass as humans in medical tests or anything.
Why make the pod squad half human if they didn't absolutely have to? A lot work and time for nothing.
But the Skins couldn't live on Earth without help. I always thought the Royal Four must be more similar to the Skins, and that is why they were given half human bodies, so they could survive on Earth.
I think the shapeshifters must have been a different species, or genetically altered. They had to follow orders, but they are the only ones who did, and Skins couldn't shapeshift.