Opera House (disambiguation)

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The Opera House is an ancient structure in the City of the Gods on Kobol, along with other edifices such as the Forum and Temple. By the time of the arrival of the Colonials, the building has been reduced to a few scattered ruins. As a sketch of this area of the city is included in the Sacred Scrolls, the building may have had religious significance.

First Sight

These are the ruins on Kobol near the crash site of Raptor 1, which is forced to land on the planet after being damaged by a Cylon Raider as it jumps into Kobol's orbit. Among the surviving passengers are Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo, Galen Tyrol, Tarn, Seelix, Cally, Socinus, and Gaius Baltar.

Baltar and Three

Shortly after the Raptor crash on Kobol, the virtual Number Six in a white dress leads Baltar towards the ruins of the Opera House, where viewers and Baltar see the Opera House as it was, millennia ago. It is in that virtual Opera House that Six shows Baltar an image of what she claims is their future child ^{(TRS: "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II")}.

Much later a Number Three would have similar visions of the Opera House and the Final Five on the stage within. The Five appear as robed figures to her between death and resurrection, but she cannot clearly remember their faces until she steps onto the centerpiece in the Temple of Five and has the vision for the final time ^{(TRS: "Rapture")}.

Roslin, Sharon, Hera, and Caprica-Six

The Opera House is also seen in a dream or vision by President Laura Roslin, induced by taking of chamalla. In the vision, Hera Agathon is scampering through the halls, pursued by both Roslin and her mother, Sharon "Athena" Agathon. But before either can reach her, Hera is picked up by a Number Six wearing a white dress, ending the dream ^{(TRS: "Crossroads, Part I")}.

Just before the Fleet reaches the Ionian nebula, Roslin visits the Opera House again while undergoing her Doloxan treatment (but still using chamalla as well) in sickbay. She and Sharon are still chasing Hera through the lobby. This time, however, when the Number Six picks the child up, she takes her through a set of doors. Roslin wakes up with to find that Sharon and Hera shared the vision, all three having awakened screaming simultaneously. Agathon and Roslin visit the captive Caprica-Six, who confirms that she, too, had shared the dream.

At the Ionian nebula, Caprica-Six has yet another vision in the Opera House, where she, Gaius Baltar, and baby Hera stand on the stage and see the robed Final Five standing on the balcony above them ^{(TRS: "Crossroads, Part II")}.

It is prophesied by the rebel's Hybrid that the "dying leader shall know the truth of the Opera House" ^{(TRS: "Faith")}.

Later, Sharon Agathon runs after Hera through Galactica's hallways, where Hera runs into a Six known as Natalie, thus mirroring what she saw in her visions of the Opera House. Fearing that Natalie will take away her daughter, like the Six in the dreams, Agathon shoots the other Cylon ^{(TRS: "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?")}.

During the Battle of The Colony, as Cylon Centurions board Galactica, the vision is paralleled in actual events. Hera runs away from her parents when Karl "Helo" Agathon is shot in the leg, and Sharon "Athena" Agathon abandons him to go after her. At the same time, Roslin leaves her post at the sickbay when she begins to have the Opera House dream again. Eventually, just as the vision showed, Caprica-Six and Baltar find Hera and take her into what they perceive as the Opera House, which is, in actuality, Galactica's CIC. The Final Five cylons stand above them on one of the higher levels, looking down upon Baltar and Caprica-Six, just as the vision foretold. ^{(TRS: "Daybreak, Part II")}

Notes

The Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver (where Battlestar Galactica is produced) provides the setting of the Opera House interior that Gaius Baltar sees in his dream (Source: The Official Companion).
In the vision of the Opera House shown to Baltar by Six, there are eight white drapes. When Number Three sees her vision of it, there are six drapes, with five glowing white-robed figures standing on the rightmost five (from her vantage point).
While the Final Five in white robes are always depicted in the Opera House, in reality they probably never saw it or visited it, at least while it was intact. Their first trip to Kobol was by sub-light ship after the fall of both Kobol and the 13th Colony. If it was constructed before the departure of the 13th tribe, they may have seen photos or drawings.

The Opera House Prophecy is a vision Sharon "Athena" Agathon, Laura Roslin and Caprica-Six had repeatedly since the events of "Crossroads, Part II".

The Vision

In the vision that comes to them as a dream, Roslin and Agathon are chasing Hera Agathon through the Kobol Opera House and their part ends when Hera's taken by Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six and goes through a door which closes behind them, closing Agathon and Roslin out. For Caprica-Six the vision continues and she goes through the door and continues on through another door then turns around and sees the Final Five in white cloaks on a balcony looking down on them.

Attempts to Act On the Visions

The three of them have this vision repeatedly and the Rebel Hybrid prophecies that "the Dying Leader [Roslin] shall know the truth of the Opera House." Roslin tries to get answers from the rebel baseship's Hybrid, but is unsuccessful. Fear caused by this vision causes Agathon to kill Natalie, leader of the Cylon rebels, as she was worried that Natalie was the Six that would take Hera away from her. When Caprica-Six becomes pregnant, Roslin and Caprica-Six cease having this vision, but it returns when Caprica-Six miscarries.

Vision Fulfilled

Hera runs away from her parents after being rescued from The Colony with help from Sharon "Boomer" Valerii; Roslin senses her return and briefly protects her from being found, however she runs off again. In a fulfillment of the vision, which is seen intermittently by the characters during these events, Roslin and Sharon Agathon chase after Hera through Galactica, and she gets taken by Caprica-Six and Baltar after finding her. They do not see Roslin and Agathon when taking her and closing the hatch. When they reach what is Galactica equivalent of the final door entered in the vision, both realize they need to go through it, and find themselves in CIC with the Final Five, who are on the uppermost level of the area in a similar position to that of the vision. Soon after there is an explosion and John Cavil manages to grab Hera and hold her at gun point. Baltar talks him down and Saul Tigh offers him Resurrection technology in exchange for Hera's life ^{(TRS: "Daybreak, Part II")}.

Unanswered Questions

Why doesn't Gaius Baltar experience the visions with the other participants, outside of the events during the Battle of The Colony?
Why do the visions stop with the conception of Liam Tigh and then restart after his death in utero?
When did Laura Roslin discover the "truth of the Opera House"?

Analysis

The "truth of the Opera House" might refer to Laura Roslin realizing the elements of the vision that she experienced when going after Hera in the corridors of Galactica that were actually taking place/fulfilled.
The "dying leader" could possibly be Galactica itself. At the time the of the Opera House prophecy's realization, Galactica was already critically damaged and even described as "dying" by Galen Tyrol. The ship had lead the human race to its new home and in the final act of its life was the stage for the (brief) union between Cylon and man depicted in the vision. Shortly after that the ship suffers catastrophic damage, effectively "dying" on Earth's doorstep in accordance with Pythia's prophecy of the dying leader not surviving to set foot on the promised land, whereas Laura Roslin not only made it to but set foot on Earth as well.

The Helice Opera House was a civic center located in the Twelve Colonies.

Dreilide Thrace performed there and recorded his concert on physical media, releasing it as Dreilide Thrace: Live at the Helice Opera House. Following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, the only existing recording is in the form of a digital audio tape in the possession of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace ^{(TRS: "Someone to Watch Over Me")}.

Notes

In Greek myth, Helice was the nurse of Zeus during his infancy on Crete, who was later turned into the constellation Ursa Major by Zeus following his ascension to king.

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