Tag: Battlestar Galactica

Let’s review for a moment the big picture so far.

In Galactica, Kobol is the ancestral homeworld of humanity. 2000 years prior to the series, 12 tribes left Kobol and founded the 12 Colonies. 2000 years prior to that (ie, 4000 years previous), a 13th tribe left Kobol to find a mythical planet named Earth. Each of the original 12 tribes corresponds to a sign of the Zodiac. 400 years after the 13th tribe left (1600 years prior to the Exodus, 3600 years prior to the events in the series), the oracle of Pythia recorded her famous prophecy about the exile and rebirth of humanity, some of which is written in past tense.

Kobol was ruled by the Lords of Kobol, which correspond to the Greek and Roman gods of mythology. These Lords were apart from humanity, but not immortal or super-natural, and could also die (for example, Athena committed suicide after the Exodus of the 12 tribes).

It is also known that there was one Lord of Kobol, known as the “Jealous God” and also as the one whose “Name must not be spoken“, who desired to be elevated above the other gods. This god’s ambition is what precipitated civil war on Kobol and led to the Exodus of the 12 tribes.

As Galactica retraces the steps of humanity, they discover Kobol, abandoned 2000 years previous. Moving onwards, guided by the Book of Pythia, they discover progressively older artifacts – a beacon in the Lion’s Head nebula dated 3000 years ago, and then the Temple of Five dated 4000 years ago.

What follows is my theory about the above, and the origins of Cylons and humanity. Since it is ridiculously spoiler-esque, and discussion of it will also be spoiler-laden by necessity, I am putting it below the fold. The key, however, is simply this: The Cycle of Time.

“If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time that we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity” (Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part I).

Or, as it is said in the Pythian prophecy, “All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.” In addition, the very first line of the Sacred Scrolls states, “Life here began out there“. These broad concepts are the key to answering downstream questions such as Who are the Final Five and the identity of the Final Cylon.

Continue reading “the Cycle of Time: cylons and humanity”

There’s a new 10-part series of weekly webisodes at scifi.com featuring Lt. Felix Gaeta at scifi.com beginning today. The title of the series is “The Face of the Enemy” and given my earlier speculation on the identity of the final cylon, I am going to have fun mining these webeps for more data to support my theory 🙂

There’s a brief summary of the overall plot of the webeps at io9. Some minor commentary of my own below the fold… Continue reading “Felix Gaeta – the Face of the Enemy?”

I was struck by some of the lyrics to Gaeta’s song in the last episode of Galactica, thinking that they were likely to be significant in the same way that All Along the WatchTower became. I’ve yet to try and put the lyrics of the latter into context of my plot speculation, but I think that Gaeta’s song is far more likely to contain clues (though they will probably be more obvious in hindsight rather than have predictive utility).

Now, it seems that Galactica composer Bear McCreary has spilled some beans on his galactica blog and confirmed that Gaeta’s song does indeed have direct relevance to the storyline. There are plenty of spoilers for the episode, but also a fascinating discussion of how the song took shape and how they used it to narrate the plot forward – and emphasize the ending.

All in all, Gaeta is getting a lot of attention all of a sudden. That seems to support my theory.

What we know about the four revealed Cylons of the Final Five:

Tyrol – a mechanic crew chief aboard a battlestar. Clearly the best mechanic on the show, and by implication aboard the fleet. Not unreasonable to assume one of the best mechanics in the Colonies overall.

Tori – a political aide. Managed to become aide to the most powerful politician and important civilian leader aboard the fleet.

Anders – former sports superstar turned resistance fighter turned viper pilot. Managed to become the Michael Jordan of his sport, then became a leader in the Caprica resistance, and then a leader in the New Caprica resistance. Now a viper pilot, which is the elite fighter jock corps of the Colonial military.

Tigh – war hero during the Cylon War, best XO in the fleet, most self-destructive alcoholic in the fleet (these latter two things not simultaneously. Call it an Exclusive-OR). Also rose to top leader of resistance on New Caprica.

and, most importantly: all of them managed to 1. survive the Colonial holocaust, 2. get aboard Galactica (even Anders who was left behind), and 3. continued their upwards career trajectories despite fierce competition.

do we see a pattern? clearly, they are overachievers even by the already rarefied standards of the Galactica crew (and the demands of narrative focus). Presumably, the Fifth won’t be a slacker in whatever it is that they do.

There are other major clues, the best being the infamous “Last Supper” photo (click to enlarge):

… which has an empty place setting for the Fifth (and thus implying, with Moore confirming, that none of the other characters pictured are the Fifth, ruling out Baltar, Adama, Roslin, Helo, Apollo, and Starbuck). The Holy Grail is a nice touch, implying that the Fifth has an intimate connection to Earth.

The other major inference we can make is that the Fifth probably already knows that they are a Cylon and has known all along. This is because they did not respond to the Activation song which drew the other Four together. Therefore, the Fifth must be somewhat aloof and a loner, as they are acting to their own agenda and cannot afford personal scrutiny.

I am assuming that the Fifth is aboard Galactica and not aboard some other ship in the fleet, because that’s where all the major characters usually are (and the show is named after her). I suppose it is possible that the Fifth is some random dude aboard the Garbage Schooner or something but this seems unlikely. The Galactica is the nexus of the fleet, and given the likely overachiever status of the Fifth it seems improbable that they’d gravitate anywhere else.

So, who is aboard Galactica, is a major character, an overachiever, has been a bit of a loner and aloof, and is absent from the Last Supper photo?

I think only one character fits: Continue reading “Cylon speculation”