did we ever find out why matt sent the kanima to kill derek / stiles at the pool? he obviously didn't care about erica. I was thinking this might having something to do with your 'stiles is a clone' theory. Idk I might be wrong
I’ve recently gone thorough most of season 2 and I’m actually working on a monstrous post about the Kanima timeline where this question is a part of it. It was never really obvious to me why the Kanima went after Stiles and Derek, so i’ve been pondering that one for a while - and I agree, Erica was not the target.
I must admit I haven’t thought about it in terms of clone theory, so not really sure how it fits into that. I would have to think about that some more. What I can give you however, is another possible explanation for it.
What we do know is that Matt is a nosy shit. He’s also stalking Allison - he takes pictures of her around school, at her home, at funerals, the works. We also know that at the time of episode 2x04 Matt is in control of the Kanima. It has killed Mr Lahey (I’m not convinced Matt was behind that, but I won’t get into that here), the hunter and the mechanic.
Matt has in the span of a few days learned that Beacon Hills is full of strange stuff going bump in the night, and I’m sure he’s curious to learn more about it.
So what does this have to do with Derek and Stiles?
Actually I think Matt sent the Kanima after Stiles. And I think he did it because he wanted the bestiary. Because that was why Stiles was at the school and not the lacrosse field. He was looking through Gerard’s office for the book about mythological creatures. And Matt would be interested in knowing more about the powerful weapon he had on his hands. We also know that was why Matt was at the sheriff station in 2x10.
Scott: The evidence is gone. Why don’t you just go? Matt: You - you think the evidence mattered that much, huh? No, no, I - I want the book. Scott: What - what book? Matt: The bestiary. Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing.
He’d already gotten his hands on the pages Lydia translated in the detention episode, but it wasn’t enough.
But how did he know about the bestiary all the way back in 2x04?
Probably because he’s stalking Allison and much of that episode Stiles is running between Scott and Allison delivering messages about where to look for that book. If Matt was hovering nearby he was probably eavesdropping and couldn’ve picked up on that. Our fearless heroes are not exactly talking about stuff in hushed whispers after all... :)
Also at the game, we know Matt was paying attention to Allison, because we see that he’s taken pictures of her sitting on the bleachers.
We see Matt coming from behind the bleachers and towards the field with his camera when he strikes up a conversation with Melissa, and we see this image. Just before, Allison stole Gerard’s keys and handed them off to Stiles.
A little while later Coach is missing players and when he can’t find Stiles he recruits Boyd from the crowd. The last time we get a glimpse of Jackson during this game is when he and Scott look on with worry as Boyd is letting his werewolfy eyes show on the field.
After that Jackson is nowhere to be seen and next we know the Kanima is going after Stiles and Derek. The prime target I believe was Stiles, but mainly because Matt thought he had info. The kanima had already encountered Stiles and paralyzed him at the mechanics, so clearly he wasn’t a target in himself, but rather because of what Matt thought he was in possession of.
So there you have it, my current theory for why the kanima trapped them in the pool :)