Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's announcement that he is running for the Libyan presidency has made headlines around the world, yet "there is a lot that we don't know about his vision for Libya", says Mary Fitzgerald from the Washington-based Middle East Institute.
"The idea that a restoration of the old order is possible is frankly delusional," she told BBC Focus on Africa, adding that "it's important to remember that Libya is a very different place" 10 years on from the uprising.
While his father was still in power Saif al-Islam "was considered a reformer. This was somebody who had a PhD from the London School of Economics, somebody who liked to present himself as a thinker - somebody who could change Libya".
But, she says, that all changed soon after the protests began in 2011 against his father's regime.
"Saif al-Islam gave an infamous speech on TV where he essentially echoed his father's approach to those protests. Overnight, the idea of Saif al-Islam [as] the would-be reformer collapsed," Ms Fitzgerald told the BBC.
Sunday's images of him announcing his presidential bid - "dressed very much like his father" in a brown robe - have added a further layer of complication to the already fraught electoral process, she says.
Before that, there had been much speculation about his political ambitions over the last 18 months, and she says the last time most Libyans had seen him was in 2014 when he appeared on trial via video link.
In the aftermath of his father's brutal end, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was held for six years, receiving a death sentence that was later overturned.
He is still wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court, and on Monday Libya's military prosecutor said Mr Gaddafi's presidential bid should be put on hold until his alleged crimes are fully investigated.
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