Editing Razor

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{{Episode Data
| title= Razor
| image= Razor Promo.jpg
| season=4
| special= Y
| series=RDM
| movie=
| episode= 
| guests= 
| writer= [[Michael Taylor]]
| story= 
| director= [[Félix Enríquez Alcalá]]
| production= 401/402
| rating=[[List of Nielsen ratings (RDM)|1.21]] (total; all demographics)<ref group="external" name="futon_critic_razor_ratings">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7509|title=CABLE RATINGS ROUND-UP (WEEK OF NOVEMBER 19-25): 'TEQUILA' SCORES, 'RAZOR' FALTERS|publisher=The Futon Critic|date=28 November 2007|accessdate=29 November 2007|archive=Y}}</ref><br/>0.8 (adults 18 to 49 demographic)<ref group="external" name="hibberd_tvweek_razor_ratings_adrift">{{cite web|url=http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/james-hibberd/2007/11/battlestar_galactica_ratings_a.php|title='Battlestar Galactica' Ratings Adrift|author=James Hibberd|publisher=TV Week|date=28 November 2007|accessdate=29 November 2007|archive=Y}}</ref>
| US airdate= 24 November 2007
| CAN airdate=24 November 2007
| UK airdate= 18 December 2007 <ref group="external" name="digiguide_uk_airdate">{{cite web|url=http://forums.digiguide.com/topic.asp?id=22807|title=DigiGuide Forums|publisher=DigiGuide|accessdate=03 December 2007|archive=Y}}</ref>
| dvd= {{flag|US}} 4 December 2007<br/>{{flag|UK}} 26 December 2007
| population= 49,579
| podcast=
| extra= {{flag|US}} 12 November 2007 (theater screening in select U.S. cities)
| prev= [[Razor Flashbacks|Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks]]<br/>(''Chronological'': [[The Captain's Hand]])
| next= [[He That Believeth in Me]]<br/>(''Chronological'': [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]])
| imdb=0991178
|deleted=y| amazon=Y
| amazon SD=B000ZU01LI
}}
: ''A tale centered around the new ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' officer [[Kendra Shaw]], following her entire tenure on the battlestar from the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] under Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain]], to {{callsign|Lee Adama}}'s command and a frightful rescue mission to save crew members who have been captured by the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]].''

== Summary ==
Four separate, but related stories are documented:
*William Adama's mission at the end of the first [[Cylon War]].
*Helena Cain's loss of her family at the same time.
*The events on ''Pegasus'' during and shortly after the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
*The events surrounding the [[Battle of the Guardian basestar]], set in the time period between "[[The Captain's Hand]]" and "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]".
In the episode these stories are largely told in parallel, flashing between the different time periods. Below the different story lines are listed chronologically.

=== First Cylon War === 
====William Adama ====
:''See also: [[Razor Flashbacks]]''

*{{RazorDVD|At the end of the first [[Cylon War]], a Colonial battle group conducts [[Operation Raptor Talon]] against a [[Ice planet|Cylon planet]] presumed to house a super weapon. During the battle, the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Columbia (RDM)|Columbia]]'' is pummeled from [[basestar (RDM)|basestar]] salvos and is subsequently destroyed. Adama then spots two Raiders entering the planet's atmosphere. Out for revenge, Adama engages the two. He shoots down one in the high altitudes, but collides with the other and is forced to eject.}}
*{{RazorDVD|However, a [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurion]] survived as well and shoots at Adama during the free-fall. Adama shoots back and the two eventually engage in hand-to-hand combat. When the Centurion tries to use a blade on Adama, Adama pulls his parachute's rip cord to slow his descent, watching as the Centurion falls to the ground. Adama lands safely on the ground, crashing through what appears to be a warehouse sky-window. There he encounters the Centurion and kills it by repeatedly smashing its head with a pipe.}}
*As Adama enters what appears to be a Cylon laboratory, he finds evidence of human experimentation and human mutilations. He eventually finds a vat filled with a gelatin-like substance which is reminiscent of the [[resurrection tank]]s or [[Hybrid]] tanks that the later [[humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] would use. 
*He kneels down and touches the substance, and immediately begins to hear the screams of torture victims. As he looks back at the tank, a hand abruptly grabs his arm. The hand disappears just as quickly as it appeared, and Adama falls back to the ground.  A voice is heard, quoting from the [[Pythia|Pythian]] prophecies: "All this has happened before and will happen again." 
*A banging sound is heard from a locked chamber nearby. As Adama approaches the window of the chamber, an unidentified man presses his face against the window and begs Adama to release him and the other captives. Adama finds a piece of metal nearby, and attempts to break open the door to the chamber.
*As Adama attempts to free the door, the man tells him that they are civilians from the [[Gemenon|Gemenese]] ship ''[[Diana (TRS)|Diana]]'', whose convoy was attacked by the Cylons, and that there were initially 50 of them who were taken away one by one. 
*Suddenly the ground begins to tremble. Adama manages to open the door a little bit, but not enough to allow the captives to escape. The man urges Adama to leave them and save himself.  He asks Adama to tell others of what has happened to them. Adama finally complies after he realizes that he cannot free the prisoners, and runs out of the laboratory. 
*Emerging from the laboratory warehouse, Adama sees the [[Guardian basestar]] lifting off into the clouds. He radios his findings about the Cylon experimentation on humans to ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'', but the young pilot is shocked to learn that an armistice has just been signed, and the war is over.

====Helena Cain====

: ''This entire story segment is contained exclusively on the unrated, extended DVD version of "Razor".'' 

*At the same time [[Tauron|Tauron]] is under attack by Cylon basestars and Centurion ground forces. A young [[Helena Cain]], her sister [[Lucy Cain|Lucy]] and her [[Cain (father)|father]] are pinned down in a building under heavy fire. The three attempt to escape after the last remaining marines in the building are gunned down. When her father is injured by mortar fire, he tells Helena to get Lucy to a shelter before dying.
*The sisters make it out of the building, but Lucy trips over concrete rubble and injures herself, unable to go on. Helena panics, yelling at Lucy to get up and run. She eventually leaves Lucy in the field of rubble and runs away to hide in a container. A group of Centurions appears and surrounds Lucy, who continues to cry out Helena's name.
*A Centurion discovers Helena inside the container. She finds a knife on the floor and nervously approaches the Centurion, preparing to attack it.
*The Centurion stops approaching the girl and retreats from the container, apparently having received instructions and information that the Cylon War is over and an armistice was signed. When Helena comes out, she finds only her sister's doll on the ground, and watches the Raiders leave the planet.
*Helena Cain lost her entire family on that day.<ref group="commentary" name="ryan_chicago_tribune_razor_heart_matter">{{cite web|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/11/battlestar-ga-1.html|title='Battlestar Galactica: Razor' cuts to the heart of the matter|author=Maureen Ryan|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=20 November 2007|accessdate=2015-08-12}}</ref>

=== The Fall of the Twelve Colonies ===
====Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards====
{{mainarticle|Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards}}
*{{RazorDVD|[[Kendra Shaw]] waits at the [[Caprica Transfer Station]] for a ship to bring her to ''Pegasus''. She briefly chats with [[Frank Bruno]] about her mother, [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] delegate [[Marta Shaw]], her assignment and her career goals.}}
*The battlestar ''Pegasus'' is docked at the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] over [[The Twelve Colonies of Kobol#Scorpia|Scorpia]] for a three-month overhaul. As Kendra Shaw approaches the ship from [[Raptor 179]], she gazes in awe at the size of the [[Mercury class battlestar]].
*Admiral [[Helena Cain]] is in her quarters, reviewing a crew status report as her [[XO]], Colonel [[Jurgen Belzen]] enters.  He lightly encourages her to take her shore leave, but she insists that she could never leave ''Pegasus'' in the hands of the civilian contractors assigned to oversee her overhaul.  
*In the port hangar bay, Raptor 179 has recently arrived.  With orders to report directly to [[CIC#Pegasus|CIC]], Shaw steps down and asks a pair of passing crewman to help her locate it. The crewman, however, are too busy to notice her.
*Shaw wanders through the port [[flight pod]], past groups of busy civilians, until she finds [[Gina Inviere]], a civilian network administrator assigned to ''Pegasus'''s overhaul. Inviere shows Shaw a map of ''Pegasus'', with a route to the CIC, and the two discuss the origins of Gina's last name.  
*Shaw eventually reaches the CIC, where she finds Cain and Belzen at the Command and Control station. Shaw drops her gear and salutes the admiral. Cain is harsh on her new aide.  She grills Shaw for being late to the CIC, concluding that she either stopped for a cup of coffee, or got lost. After Shaw leaves, Cain breaks out in laughter with Belzen, revealing that she only had a joke at the lieutenant's expense.
*[[Louis Hoshi]] escorts her to her quarters. As they are walking down the hallway, a large blast shakes ''Pegasus'', and the noise ripples through the hallway.  Shaw and Hoshi are immediately thrown to the floor. As Shaw awakens, she is in a daze. She looks around to find Hoshi unconscious on the floor.  The hallway has suddenly become a disaster area.  
*Admiral Cain, who was on her way to her quarters at the time, finds Shaw and Hoshi in the corridor. She asks Shaw if she is alright, but when she doesn't respond, Cain slaps her in the face.  Shaw immediately awakens. The hallway echoes with screams of horror, and the [[Action Stations|Condition One]] sirens blare.  After an aborted attempt to wake Hoshi, the two head to the CIC.
*''Pegasus'' is on fire in space. [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Cylon Raiders]] flood the shipyard; missiles strike two helpless ''[[Valkyrie]]''-type battlestars nearby.
*In the CIC, Colonel [[Jack Fisk|Fisk]] and many of the CIC personnel are unconscious. Belzen is coordinating the response effort, but there have been multiple nuclear detonations.  Luckily however, the battlestar still has main power and propulsion, but that's about it. [[DRADIS]] and weapons have both been knocked out.
*The Cylon attack is taking its toll on the shipyards. The two ''Valkyrie''-type battlestars lose their moorings and one crashes into the shipyards, instantly destroying it.  
*Cain orders the ship to seal all hatches and release all moorings in preparation for an immediate departure. As the ship evacuates the shipyards, Cain orders the [[Propulsion in the Re-imagined Series#Faster-Than-Light travel|FTL]] drive spun up for an immediate jump. 
*A Cylon Raider fires two nuclear missiles at ''Pegasus'' from across the shipyards. The missiles fly past a [[Galactica type battlestar]] as its moorings are destroyed, and past the wreckage of several other battlestars and support vessels.  
*Cain orders an immediate jump, but Shaw says that with the navigational computer off-line, she would have to enter a random set of coordinates, [[Blind jump|which could take the battlestar anywhere]], possibly within a star or other larger astral body. Cain yells back at her to do it anyway, and the battlestar jumps away.

====So Say We All====
*Two days since the attack on the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards, ''Pegasus'' is four to five jumps away from the Colonies. Belzen reports that many of ''Pegasus'''s {{RDM|Viper}}s and [[Raptor]]s are either destroyed or beyond repair, over a quarter of the crew is dead, and rumors are circulating about the destruction of the Twelve Colonies and the [[Colonial Fleet (TRS)|Colonial Fleet]].
*Shaw has been working without sleep to restore the navigational and defense computer systems, and she has finally done it.  Additionally, she has discovered lines of hidden Cylon computer code inside the [[Command Navigation Program]], which was fortunately down during the attack. Shaw suggests that the entire program be purged from the system.  
*After ordering two Raptors on a reconnaissance mission back to the Colonies, the time has finally come for Cain to reveal the extent of the devastation at home to her crew. She tells them that their colonies have been destroyed, their cities nuked, their fleet obliterated.  While the victory of one ship may seem unattainable when even their very survival is at stake, she tells them that they have revenge to reach for instead.  
*In an expression of determination and conviction, the crew resoundingly shouts, "So say we all!" over and over, after hearing Cain's words.
*Cain, Shaw, Fisk and Belzen are in the admiral's quarters, looking over recently gathered intelligence for a low-risk attack on a Cylon outpost.  They are discussing a somewhat isolated communications relay when Gina Inviere enters.  She greets the admiral with a kiss and a flirtatious shoulder pinch, and the five sit down to enjoy some wine and conversation.
*Cain assures her senior staff that while she does want to engage in guerrilla warfare tactics against the Cylons, she is not willing to put the ship and crew in any amount of excessive danger.
*Shaw and Inviere are working on firewalling all of ''Pegasus'''s computer networks to prevent them from being infiltrated by the Cylons, but constantly having to find a senior officer to input their command codes for system access is making the process take exceedingly long. Inviere discreetly complains about it, and Shaw says that under the circumstances, she would speak to Cain about raising her clearance. In the meantime, she gives Inviere her own command code to use. Inviere then discusses her relationship with Cain in greater detail.

====Battle of the Communications Relay ====
{{mainarticle|Battle of the Communications Relay}}
*''Pegasus'' prepares for a hit-and-run attack on what appears to be a somewhat neglected Cylon communications relay. However, when ''Pegasus'' arrives, there are twelve Cylon Raiders guarding the relay. Despite the increased enemy presence, Cain orders [[Blue Squadron (RDM)|Blue Squadron]] to advance.
*Almost the second after the Vipers are launched, fifteen enemy squadrons of fighters jump into DRADIS range. Cain orders ''Pegasus'''s defensive fire concentrated on the incoming attack squadrons, but Shaw reports that the weapons grid won't respond to commands.
*In spite of the odds, Cain orders Belzen to launch the reserve Vipers, but he insists that taking such an action would cost too many lives and resources.  She persists in her orders, but Belzen refuses to carry them out. Cain orders Belzen to hand her his sidearm, which she uses to shoot him in the forehead, in front of the entire bridge crew. <ref group="footnotes" name="fisk_tigh_belzen_execution_reference">This event is recalled by [[Jack Fisk]] to [[Saul Tigh]] months later, over drinks, in the Season 2 episode "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]."</ref>
*Cain turns to a stunned Fisk, tells him that he is now the [[Executive Officer|XO]] and orders him to launch the reserve Vipers. Fisk, nearly petrified by what he just saw, is more than compelled to follow the order.  As the last of ''Pegasus's'' remaining squadrons launch, Cylon batteries pound the hull.
*With the weapons grid down, Cylon [[Heavy Raider]]s easily breach ''Pegasus's'' defensive perimeter.  [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] begin pouring into the ship through breached [[airlock]]s. Cain orders fast-response teams of [[Colonial Marine Corps|Marines]] to engage the Centurions, and orders Shaw to Secondary Damage Control, as she fears that the Cylons will use this junction to vent all of ''Pegasus's'' air into space.<ref group="footnotes" name="valley_darkness_tactic_reference">This tactic is reminiscent of a similar tactic attempted by the Cylons in the episode "[[Valley of Darkness]]."</ref>
*As Shaw heads to Secondary Damage Control, she finds Gina Inviere trying to escape the Centurions, and orders her to the CIC.  As she peers around the corner, she is almost seen by a Centurion.  She waits for it to leave, and as she turns the corner to go down the hallway, she sees a [[Number Six]] Cylon, following the Centurion. At first, Shaw doesn't understand what she sees, but then it comes together – [[Humanoid Cylon|the Cylons can mimic human form]], and Gina Inviere is one of them. Shaw shoots and kills the Six, leaving it dead right in front of a security camera.
*Shaw immediately heads to the CIC to take Inviere, now also in CIC, into custody before she can do any more harm.  In the CIC, she directs her weapon at Inviere, and orders the Marines to take her into custody.  When Cain belays the order, Shaw states that Gina is a Cylon infiltrator and that "they can look like us".  When Cain scoffs, Shaw asks Hoshi to display the security feed from Airlock 4.  
*Cain balks at the image of the dead humanoid Cylon in the form of her lover.  Feeling betrayed and without any other options, she orders the guards to remove Inviere ("''this thing''") from the bridge. As a Cylon missile strikes ''Pegasus'', Gina uses the moment to flip her captor around by the jaw, and gains control of his [[Weapons in the Re-imagined Series#Handheld weapons|weapon]], which she uses to shoot his comrade.  She then snaps the Marine's neck, and trains her weapon on Cain. In a moment of hesitation, Inviere cannot bring herself to shoot Cain, and Shaw sneaks up behind her, clubbing the Cylon over the head with the butt of her rifle.

====Massacre aboard the ''Scylla''====
* The victory at the communications relay is bittersweet. Over eight hundred of ''Pegasus'''s original crew are now dead <ref group="footnotes" name="pegasus_casualty_numbers_note">Kendra Shaw reports "at least 816 dead, 121 injured" after the attack on the com relay. Earlier, Colonel Belzen reports the loss of over 700 people in the attack on the shipyards. Given ''Pegasus'''s crew complement of approximately 1,750 when she encounters ''Galactica'', adding both numbers would mean that almost half of the crew died. ''Battlestar Wiki'' assumes that Shaw is relating the casualties of both battles.</ref>, over 90 Vipers are either destroyed or out of commission, and the deck crew doesn't have the resources to repair all remaining ones. 
*As Cain and Shaw discuss the battle, Gina Inviere looks on from her cell.  Shaw blames herself for the high cost of the battle, for giving Inviere her access codes, which she used to take down the weapons grid.  
*The hatch opens, and Lieutenant [[Alastair Thorne]] salutes Admiral Cain.  Cain orders him to use whatever means he can conjure to retrieve information from Inviere, including torture and rape. As Thorne enters Inviere's cell, Cain is called to the CIC.
*As Cain enters the CIC, Fisk is elated to inform the admiral that a convoy of 15 civilian ships has been detected.  Fisk and Shaw are thrilled at the discovery, but the mood quickly turns sour when they realize Cain has other things on her mind.  Cain orders Fisk to prepare teams of Marines and engineers to board each ship.  They will take what they need, including spare parts and people, and leave the ships without FTL drives to fend for themselves.  
*Fisk and Shaw come aboard the ''[[Scylla]]'', where they find a relieved welcoming party. [[Peter Laird]] is the first to welcome them aboard.  Excitement quickly turns to confusion however, when they hand Laird a list of Admiral Cain's orders. Laird is shocked to learn that Cain wants to take their FTL drives.  Laird informs the welcoming party, and they suddenly become an angry mob.  Shaw informs them that they will use force if necessary, but Laird persistently refuses.  
*As the mob inches closer to the boarding party, Fisk reports to Cain of the escalating situation.  In an act that surprises even him, she orders him to shoot the families of any selectee that doesn't comply with the orders.  
*Fisk and the Marines are wary of the order, but they line up a couple of the families despite their reservations, hoping that showing the mob their resolve will force them to comply.  The angry mob suddenly becomes violent – they throw whatever they can at the boarding party.  
*At that very moment, Shaw pulls out her sidearm, and shoots a woman in the front in the head.  The Marines follow suit, and before very long, the deck of the ''Scylla'' is painted with the blood of the dead.  Shaw's gaze drifts to her sidearm, still smoking from the shot, and then up to Laird, who is too stunned to move.  
*In the aftermath, Shaw cannot bring her eyes to look upon the dead.  Fisk comforts her by telling her that the entire fleet heard about what happened and there should be no more resistance. As her party leaves the ''Scylla'', she can't help but look back. 
*For her actions aboard the ''Scylla'', Cain promotes Shaw to captain. It is small comfort to Shaw, who is still anguished by what she has done.  Seeing her vulnerability, Cain tells Shaw that the war is forcing them all to do things that they may not like, even hate, because if they don't, then they may not live to simply become human again.  By putting aside her fear, her reservations, even her revulsion to complete the mission, Shaw has become Cain's "razor".

=== Present events ===
* Newly-promoted Commander {{callsign|Lee Adama}} is formally appointed commander of ''Pegasus'' by [[Laura Roslin]] in front of the ship's crew. In his speech he promises to change things on the battlestar and announces [[Kara Thrace]]'s appointment as acting [[CAG]].
* Shaw follows the speech on the [[wireless]] set, but eventually switches it off. She walks to a jar, takes out a syringe and injects herself with a drug. She is still troubled about what happened on the ''Scylla''.
* Next, she is summoned to Adama's office, who reads her service file and points out that she received glowing reports from Cain, but increasingly negatives ones from Fisk and [[Barry Garner|Garner]], who eventually assigned her to kitchen duty because of "persistent insubordinate behavior". After listening to Shaw's candid opinions about him and his predecessors, Adama offers her the job of executive officer; he intends to give the crew back its pride, and as an outsider he needs someone to uphold Cain's legacy.
* During a firearms drill, she shows competence but also how hard she is on the crew. William Adama comments that his son found an XO meaner than [[Saul Tigh]].
* The Admiral gives Commander Adama his first mission: a [[SAR|search and rescue]] for two pilots and a civilian science team in an overdue Raptor.
* At their destination, Starbuck and [[Showboat]] conduct a Viper patrol and suddenly encounter enemy fighters of an unfamiliar configuration. Although able to identify them as Cylons, Starbuck doesn't realize that they are in fact [[Raiders (RDM)#Cylon War-era Raider|Raiders like the ones used in the first Cylon War]].
* ''Pegasus'' establishes a defensive perimeter and orders the Vipers to return prior to an FTL jump. When the [[Computers in the Re-imagined Series#Navigation computer|navigational computer]] malfunctions and the Raiders close, Shaw orders to the vessel's offensive flight pod [[Battery|batteries]] turned on the incoming targets, placing Starbuck and Showboat inside the battlestar's close-in firing solution. Struggling their way through the barrage, a Raider follows them into the [[flight pod]], which Starbuck shoots down once inside the landing bay. On the [[hangar deck]], she angrily confronts Shaw over her decision to open fire, but Adama defends his XO.
* ''Pegasus'' returns to the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], and Admiral Adama, Roslin and Tigh inspect the downed Raider on the hangar deck. [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon Valerii]] recalls the "[[Guardians]]," a group of [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|original Centurion models]] that escaped being scrapped by the [[humanoid Cylons]]. The Guardians guard the [[first Hybrid]], created by the Cylons as a first attempt at an organic model and eventually abandoned as an evolutionary dead end. This causes Adama to remember the events on the ice planet on the last day of the Cylon War, finally realizing the significance of what he saw over 40 years ago.
* After examining the Raider's navigational data, Admiral Adama believes that the Raptor crew was captured by the Guardians and orders his son to jump to a possible base of theirs. For the duration of the operation, he transfers his flag to ''Pegasus'', but assures Lee that it will be his mission.
* Shaw drafts an attack plan for ''Pegasus'' to draw Cylon forces away while a Raptor, piloted by Thrace and carrying a strike team, jumps to the Cylon base. Before signing off on the plan, Lee Adama confronts Shaw over the incident on the ''Scylla''. She just replies that she is Cain's legacy - a razor - and that Cain wouldn't have hesitated to execute the plan.
* Before the battle Shaw is about to take another shot of the drug and when she is caught by Thrace, who is looking for a bottle of [[ambrosia]]. The two stalemate and agree to keep each other's secrets, and realize that they are more alike than they thought.
* {{RazorDVD|Thrace is going over the Raptor prepared for the mission and told by Shaw that Chief Tyrol already checked everything. During their chat, the two notice that Thrace's [[Socrata Thrace|mother]] and Admiral Cain weren't too different, advising to repress one's fear and focus on the anger. Thrace remarks that her mother only had her anger left in the end and died alone.}}
* The mission doesn't go as planned when the strike team's Raptor is pursued by two Raiders. They simulate an engine malfunction, emergency blow the side hatch and sling themselves out of the flat-spinning Raptor before it is destroyed by the Cylons, escaping undetected. Using EVA thrusters, they make their way to the Guardian basestar.
* Thrace, Shaw, [[Erin Mathias|Mathias]], [[Dasilva]] and [[Hudson]] find the missing Raptor crew, whom the Cylons mutilate in a manner similar to what William Adama saw in the first Cylon War. As they free the survivors, two Centurions attack, wound Dasilva and begin to drag him away. Unwilling to let him suffer same treatment as the Raptor crew, Shaw shoots Dasilva, but in turn is shot in the abdomen.
* While under cover from the firefight, Mathias reports to ''Pegasus'' that the detonator for the nuclear warhead, which they plan to use to destroy the basestar, is damaged.
* ''Pegasus'' loses wireless contact with the boarding team and Lee Adama orders a [[Missile tubes|nuclear ship to ship missile]] to be armed and readied. Thrace herself considers the "mission outcome doubtful". Assuming that the team is dead, Commander Adama orders the launch of the missile, but is overridden by his father, who wants to give the team a chance.
* After reestablishing contact and learning that an evacuation Raptor is on the way, Shaw orders Mathias to rig a manual detonator for the nuke, determined to complete the mission. While Lee is reluctant to sacrifice someone to detonate the warhead, his father believes that the Cylons would easily shoot down a missile, but leaves the final decision to Lee. He orders Thrace to get the team to safety, but to stay behind and detonate the nuke manually.
* The team prepares to suit up and leave, when Shaw forces Thrace to hand over the warhead at gunpoint and remains on the baseship. Walking through the hallways, she finds the Cylon Hybrid, who knows her name, saying that he has been waiting for her for a long time. He tells her that the Centurions worship him as god, and observes Shaw's desire to be forgiven for what she has become. The Hybrid also delivers a warning about Thrace: she will lead the human race to its end, she is the herald of the apocalypse and the harbinger of death, and she must not be followed.
* Shaw tries to relay this to ''Pegasus'', but her transmission is blocked by Cylon jamming shortly after the start, and the warning is not heard. She then detonates the nuke, killing herself and destroying the basestar.
* Later, the Adamas discuss the battle and its outcome, the admiral noting Thrace's recommendation of Shaw for a posthumous commendation. Reviewing the logs, Admiral Adama doesn't find fault in either Cain's or Shaw's decisions, but Commander Adama vehemently disagrees, citing the ''Scylla''. The admiral replies that he never had to face similar circumstances, and that he had people like Lee, Roslin and Tigh to counsel and challenge him and  keep him from making extreme and questionable decisions. He comforts Lee, telling him that his decision to launch the nuclear missile and sacrifice the strike team wasn't wrong, just necessary from Lee's perspective at the time.
* Outside [[Officer's quarters#Admiral Adama's quarters|Adama's quarters]], Lee meets Thrace, who now has Cain's knife given to her by Shaw. She is unsure if Shaw sacrificed herself as atonement or if she just "had it coming." Thrace tells him that she requested reassignment back to ''Galactica'' because she thinks Lee would keep trying to get her killed. When asked if she might deserve that, she jokingly replies that she has a [[The Destiny|destiny]] and plans to live to keep it.

== Behind the scenes ==

=== Hybrid evolution ===

According to [[Tiffany Lyndall-Knight]], who portrayed the more advanced Hybrids in later episodes, the difference between the older, coherent Hybrid (portrayed by [[Campbell Lane]] in "Razor") and the more advanced incoherent models reflects a deliberate evolutionary progression. Knight theorized that with each generation, "the machine and the humanity are even more smoothly merged" and that the Hybrid "is losing its humanity with each generation."<ref group="commentary" name="damen_galactica_tv_knight_hybrid_evolution">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/tiffany-lyndall-knight-galactica.tv-interview.html#:~:text=I%20guess%20I%20would%20attribute%20it%20just%20to%20the%20fact%20that%20the%20machine%20and%20the%20humanity%20are%20even%20more%20smoothly%20merged|title=Tiffany Lyndall Knight GALACTICA.TV interview|author=Marcel Damen|publisher=Galactica.TV|date=17 August 2008|accessdate=13 August 2025}}</ref>

Director [[Michael Rymer]] occasionally instructed Knight to make the later Hybrid's dialogue even more incoherent than scripted, asking her to "string it together a little bit more so it makes less sense" when her performance was too comprehensible.<ref group="commentary" name="damen_galactica_tv_knight_rymer_direction">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/tiffany-lyndall-knight-galactica.tv-interview.html#:~:text=Michael%20Rymer%20would%20occasionally%20ask%20me%20to%20make%20things%20even%20more%20incoherent|title=Tiffany Lyndall Knight GALACTICA.TV interview|author=Marcel Damen|publisher=Galactica.TV|date=17 August 2008|accessdate=13 August 2025}}</ref> This creative direction helped distinguish the original, more human-like Hybrid from its evolutionary successors.

Knight never met [[Campbell Lane]], who portrayed the original Hybrid in "Razor," noting that she hadn't seen any of the flashback material until watching the completed episode. She expressed interest in meeting Lane to discuss their respective approaches to the character.<ref group="commentary" name="damen_galactica_tv_knight_campbell_lane">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/tiffany-lyndall-knight-galactica.tv-interview.html#:~:text=No%2C%20I%27ve%20never%20met%20him.%20I%20hadn%27t%20seen%20any%20of%20that%20until%20I%20watched%20Razor|title=Tiffany Lyndall Knight GALACTICA.TV interview|author=Marcel Damen|publisher=Galactica.TV|date=17 August 2008|accessdate=13 August 2025}}</ref>

== Notes ==

===General===
*The episode was nominated for a Hugo and a Saturn award.
*One of the ships in ''Pegasus'''s civilian fleet was clearly inspired by the [[Original Series]]{{'}} ''[[Rising Star (TOS)|Rising Star]]''.
* Despite being credited, [[Aaron Douglas]] ([[Galen Tyrol]]), [[Tahmoh Penikett]] ({{callsign|Karl Agathon}}), [[Alessandro Juliani]] ([[Felix Gaeta]]), [[Michael Trucco]] ([[Samuel Anders]]), [[Kandyse McClure]] ([[Anastasia Dualla]]) and [[Matthew Bennett]] ([[Number Five]]/[[Aaron Doral]]) do not appear in either the aired version of "Razor" or the one on DVD.
**Bennett appears briefly in the [[Razor Flashback]] web-episodes as [[Aaron Doral]], in a flashback two days before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
**Tyrol is mentioned by Admiral Adama as having helped [[Gaius Baltar]] remove navigational information from the Cylon Raider, but is never seen otherwise.
*A four-part podcast of the original story meeting for "Razor" is available on the SciFi website.<ref group="external" name="scifi_razor_podcast_story_meeting">{{cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/downloads/podcast/season04/|title=Razor Story Meeting Podcast|publisher=SciFi Channel|accessdate=2025-08-13|archive=Y}}</ref>

===Production===

* [[Michael Taylor]] noted that the original opening for "Razor" was inspired by ''[[w:Apocalypse Now|Apocalypse Now]]'', but this was later cut.<ref group="development" name="ryan_chicago_tribune_razor_questions_answers">{{cite web|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/11/answers-to-your.html|title=Answers to your 'Razor' questions and clues about 'Battlestar Galactica's' final season|author=Maureen Ryan|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=16 November 2007|accessdate=16 November 2007}}</ref>
* A scene with [[Alastair Thorne]] torturing [[Gina Inviere]] while Cain looks on was filmed but removed as "it played a little too much like an outtake from ''[[w:Spartacus|Spartacus]]''."<ref group="development" name="ryan_chicago_tribune_razor_questions_answers" /> Part of it can still be seen in the recap at the beginning of the movie.
*According to composer [[Bear McCreary]], no specific soundtrack release for "Razor" is currently planned. However, the best tracks will be included on the Season 4 soundtrack.<ref group="production" name="mccreary_blog_razor_soundtrack">{{cite web|url=https://bearmccreary.com/battlestar-galactica-razor/#:~:text=there%20will%20NOT%20be%20an%20immediate%20soundtrack%20release%2C%20though%20I%20haven%27t%20ruled%20out%20the%20possibility%20of%20releasing%20it%20later.%20However%2C%20the%20best%20cues%20will%20be%20included%20on%20the%20upcoming%20Season%204%20CD|title=Battlestar Galactica: Razor|author=Bear McCreary|publisher=Bear McCreary Official Blog|accessdate=2025-08-13}}</ref>
*According to [[Gary Hutzel]], the [[Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] was written so that "we would see it in bits and pieces. For the most part, it centered on the fact that they had to jump out of there before two nuclear missiles hit them." As for the [[blind jump]], the impetus for it was to be filmed only from the point-of-view of the CIC personnel, who saw the two incoming warheads on [[DRADIS]], which prompted the jump. However, [[Felix Alcala]] wanted the scene to be something out of ''[[w:Pearl Harbor (film)|Pearl Harbor]]'', thus the shots showing the destruction of the shipyards were added in.<ref group="production" name="bennett_vfxworld_razor_effects_bar_page2">{{cite web|url=http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3460&page=2#:~:text=we%20would%20see%20it%20in%20bits%20and%20pieces.%20For%20the%20most%20part%2C%20it%20centered%20on%20the%20fact%20that%20they%20had%20to%20jump%20out%20of%20there%20before%20two%20nuclear%20missiles%20hit%20them|title=Raising the VFX Bar In-House on ''Battlestar Galactica: Razor''|author=Tara DiLullo Bennett|publisher=VFXWorld|date=26 November 2007|accessdate=30 November 2007|page=2|archive=Y}}</ref>
* Universal Home Entertainment financed part of "Razor" for DVD-only effects and other material for the show which is proprietary, which is why such effects sequences are on the DVD or used in promotional material.<ref group="production" name="bennett_vfxworld_razor_effects_bar_page2" />
* Furthermore, the special effects shots were done in house without using a third-party source: over 184 shots were done, 120 of them being full CGI. Many new ships had to be developed specifically for "Razor," in addition to the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]]-inspired Centurions.<ref group="production" name="bennett_vfxworld_razor_effects_bar_page1">{{cite web|url=http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3460#:~:text=over%20184%20shots%20were%20done%2C%20120%20of%20them%20being%20full%20CGI.%20Many%20new%20ships%20had%20to%20be%20developed%20specifically%20for%20%22Razor%22|title=Raising the VFX Bar In-House on ''Battlestar Galactica: Razor''|author=Tara DiLullo Bennett|publisher=VFXWorld|date=26 November 2007|accessdate=30 November 2007|page=1|archive=Y}}</ref>

===Story===
* As [[Kendra Shaw]] scrubs through the [[wireless]] bands, she happens upon a [[Talk Wireless]] broadcast where the wireless personality notes [[Laura Roslin]]'s cancer remission, going on to infer that there was speculation on how the remission was brought about. Another snippet mentions Roslin's "recent" ban of abortion.
* The [[Guardian basestar]] appears to be an evolutionary gap in between the older Cylon War-era [[basestar (RDM)|basestar]] and the newer starfish type basestar.
* The flashback of a young William Adama finding a Cylon lab during the war is part of the fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes of the [[Razor Flashbacks|"Razor" web-episodes]].
* According to [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Valerii]], the [[Hybrid]]s were created as a means to grow out of their mechanical roots and into biological ones. The Cylons considered the hybrids a failure and, after creating enough of them to control their baseships, the project was abandoned.
*At the end Thrace asks to be re-assigned to ''Galactica'', currently holding the position of ''Pegasus'''s [[CAG]], which she assumes in "[[The Captain's Hand]]".
*Despite being a major, Kendra Shaw wears a colonel's [[Uniforms (RDM)|uniform]] with white/red trim when she becomes the XO of Pegasus. As shown on Doctor [[Cottle]] earlier, a major's uniform only has a grey trim.
* When ''Pegasus'' jumps away from the Scorpion Fleet Yards, the vacuum created from the jump appears to suck in the surrounding flames and smoke of battle. This effect has been seen before in "[[Exodus, Part II]]" following ''Galactica'''s intra-atmosphere jump.
* The events on the ''Scylla'' do not play out exactly as [[Jack Fisk|Colonel Fisk]] describes them to [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] in "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]". In the earlier episode, he mentions two families being lined up against the wall and shot, which does not happen.

===Unrated DVD===
* In the DVD version, [[Virtual Six]] appears and reveals why the Cylons achieved human form, claiming that since their God created humanity in his image, the Cylons wanted to do the same, regardless of how much they themselves loathed humanity.
* Young William Adama says the word "cocksucker" in reference to the Cylon he pursues as he breaks away from ''Columbia'' (e.g. "This cocksucker's mine."). The dialogue is re-dubbed in the [[Razor Flashbacks]] to "This frakker's mine."
* Shootings are more graphically violent than ''Battlestar Galactica'' normally shows on television. When Cain shoots Belzen in the head, a large amount of blood splatters on the glass wall behind him. Usually only the entry wound is shown and the camera avoids the area behind the head, such as when Number Six is shot in "[[Precipice]]" and Three in "[[Hero]]". A similarly graphic scene where a Marine is wounded by Centurions on the guardian basestar is missing from the television version but included in the unrated DVD.
* The DVD version includes an additional monologue by the [[first Hybrid]] when the strike team arrives at the basestar. It is intercut with footage of the team making its way through the ship. This is a reference to the revelation of four of the [[Final Five]] Cylons during "[[Crossroads, Part II]]". The Hybrid also talks about the [[Significant Seven|seven other Cylon models]] and demonstrates knowledge of [[Number Three]]'s [[boxing]], an event over a year in the future at the time of his speech. See ''[[Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue#hybridspeech|Noteworthy Dialogue]]''
* The main feature does not include all of the [[Razor Flashbacks]], namely Episodes 1, 2 and and ''Galactica'' scenes of Episode 7. However, all seven flashbacks are included as separate special features on the DVD.
* Two [[List of Deleted Scenes - Season 4 (RDM)#Razor|deleted scenes]] are contained on the DVD. One with Lee Adama at the Caprica Transfer Station waiting for a flight to ''Galactica'''s decommissioning, in which he talks about his dissatisfaction with his father's expectations of him. The other is a flashback to the aftermath of the episode "[[33]]". Starbuck and Apollo review their Vipers' gun camera footage. While Adama is convinced that he sees someone in the windows of the ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'', Starbuck tells him that sometimes people might need to be left behind to save others.

== Analysis ==

=== Story ===

*According to Admiral Cain, a razor is someone who can set aside all fear, hesitation, revulsion and natural inhibition in battle (see [[Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue|noteworthy dialogue]]).
**When Cain recruits [[Jack Fisk]] to assassinate Commander Adama, she tells him that he needs to pick Marines who are "completely reliable. Completely loyal. Razors." {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part I}}.
**This bears a passing semblance to a poem by Japanese [[Wikipedia:Isoroku Yamamoto|Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto]]: "I am still the sword/Of my Emperor/I will not be sheathed/Until I die."  Admiral Yamamoto knew about America, Americans and their potential from his time as a student at Harvard and as a naval attaché in Washington, DC.  Despite misgivings about declaring war on America, he served his Emperor and planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.
**A razor is a physically present symbol throughout the episode in the form of a folding knife, which Cain found as a child when her home colony was attacked by the Cylons. She used it to overcome her fear of a Centurion and kept it over the decades. After Cain's death, the blade passes to Kendra Shaw and eventually to Kara Thrace. It appears several times in the episode, and is used by Cain to explain the concept of becoming a razor to Shaw.
*The woman shot by Shaw could have been [[Peter Laird]]'s wife, given the pan shot from his expression as he looks at the bodies, to the dead woman's face. His evasiveness when asked about the rumors circulating about the ''Scylla'' in the episode "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" would support this. His reaction to the woman's execution, however, can be taken one of two ways. He was either a man in complete shock of witnessing his wife's death or a man who was horrified from what he didn't believe was possible of Colonial military.  Laird never mentions a wife explicitly, but Fisk implies he had family aboard the ''Scylla'' {{TRS|Pegasus (episode)}}.

=== Characters ===

*In stark contrast to her demeanor by the time of the rendezvous with ''Galactica'', Helena Cain is visibly more relaxed with her crew: She is stern when necessary, but also enjoys several moments of levity with subordinates and cultivates personable relations with her staff. She regards [[Jurgen Belzen]] as a personal friend (as described later by Fisk to Tigh); she initiates Shaw to ''Pegasus'' by chewing her out in the CIC and shares a humored look with her XO afterwards; the atmosphere at the dinner is very informal. She briefly talks to and comforts crewmen in the corridors, and expresses strong emotions and sheds tears as she surveys the ship's casualties. All these point to the war and especially Gina's betrayal as reasons for her push over the edge to become a "razor" and the narrowing of her perspective to pure vengeance.
*Although she may have sacrificed herself in atonement, Kendra Shaw ended her life as a razor, casting aside fear and self-preservation to stay behind and die to complete her mission, echoing Admiral Cain's observation that "sometimes we have to leave people behind so that we can go on, so that we can continue to fight.  Sometimes you have to do things that we never thought we were capable of ..."  When she arrives on ''Pegasus'', she is regarded as an opportunist, but in the end she is quite the opposite.
*Kendra Shaw's death marks the final transition from Cain's legacy to Admiral Adama's.  Shaw was the last of Cain's inner circle.  She was one of the officers who had Cain's utmost respect and trust. Her death signifies the complete replacement of ''Pegasus'''s original leadership and opens up the merging of the two battlestar crews.
*Admiral Cain suggests that Kendra Shaw used her mother's connections to secure an upwardly-mobile assignment on ''Pegasus'' — an ironic criticism, since then-Commander William Adama mentions to President Roslin how well-connected Cain is, helping her jump over half the commanders list for promotion to admiral {{TRS|Pegasus (episode)}}.
*Both Shaw and Thrace have been noticed and mentored by Admiral Cain. In this respect, the friction between the two takes on aspects of sibling rivalry.
*Based on the restored scenes on the "Razor" DVD, Admiral Cain's past plays a huge role in how she approached the second Cylon War. As a child, Cain abandoned her little sister in order to hide from Centurions. Though this scene of a young Cain is mixed in Cain's speech of the need to leave some behind in order to go on fighting, it implies a sense of guilt on Cain's part for having abandoned her sister to the Cylons.  Her entire rationale in actively fighting the Cylons and not running portrays a need for her to take a stand and fight. She had a need to stop running.
*Also in the DVD version, the knife that Cain carries is revealed to have a deeper meaning to Cain than simply a weapon. The knife was an impromptu weapon Cain discovered while she was attempting to hide from the Centurions. When she is finally discovered, she makes her last stand with this same knife. In the end, it becomes the only object that she still carried, and what she eventually became, a last resort weapon.
*The actions of the younger Cain and Adama during the final events of the first Cylon War both contrast and parallel. Adama continued to pursue and attack the Cylons; Cain was told to run and hide from the Cylons, but when she was cornered by a Centurion, she picked up the knife and made as best a last stand as she could. Adama witnessed the escape of the First Hybrid's ship, feeling the responsibility of the lost lives that he could not save; Cain witnessed the withdrawal of Centurion forces, anguished by her responsibility for leaving her little sister behind.
*This film casts Cain's death in "Resurrection Ship Part II" in a new light. In that episode, Gina shot her to avenge her treatment in custody. "Razor" adds several new dimensions to the scene. First, it parallels Cain's killing of her XO. Second, it reveals the relationship Cain had with Gina, which deepens Gina's personal motivations in shooting Cain. Gina's response to Cain's defiant "Frak you!" in that episode was "You're not my type." Considering their relationship, that line now takes on the possible meaning of a Cylon taunting Cain for having used her when Gina had no interest in her personally. 
**On the other hand, there is evidence that Gina's feelings for Cain may have been genuine: during the Battle of the Communications Relay, she hesitated when given a perfect opportunity to kill Cain.

=== Miscellaneous ===

*Given the overall [[survivor count]] and the tally of 49,579 during the credits, "Razor" takes place between "[[The Captain's Hand]]" and "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]". Captions also place the flashback portions 10 months prior to the present events. However this timespan is closer to 9 months.
**This is also the only time during Lee Adama's command of ''Pegasus'' that the episode can fit, since Starbuck leaves for Caprica in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I". See also ''[[Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)]]''
**Adama's selection of Shaw as his [[XO]] likely takes place very shortly after him taking command of ''Pegasus'', but other parts of the episode might take place slightly later.
**{{callsign|Athena}}'s appearance ''may indicate'' that this episode takes place before "[[Downloaded]]," however this cannot be confirmed by any visual evidence as her appearance is brief and all camera shots are seemingly aimed to avoid shooting her belly. However, it can be reasonably surmised that because she is still cooperating with the Colonials that [[Hera Agathon|Hera]]'s birth and her subsequent faked death haven't occurred yet.
**The survivor count of 49,579 is the same as the episodes "Downloaded" and the beginning of "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I," which means the death of Shaw, the Raptor crew and the SAR marine are never counted.
**"Razor" establishes the destruction of the colonies happening 10 months earlier, although "Downloaded," which presumably takes place shortly after, places the destruction at 9 months prior. "The Plan" establishes the beginning of "Lay Down Your Burdens" as 280 days after the fall.
*Regarding the casualties suffered by ''Pegasus'' during the [[Battle of the Communications Relay]], Shaw's report that ''Pegasus'' suffered over 800 dead likely refers to the total casualty rate since the Cylon attack. Since ''Pegasus'' already suffered over 700 losses fleeing the Scorpion shipyards, adding 800 to this figure would mean that almost half the crew were killed. Considering that ''Pegasus'''s crew is approximately 1,750 when she encounters ''Galactica'', such a high death rate seems unlikely.
**The numbers are consistent, however, with casualty figures reported during "Pegasus," which established that 700 were killed during the attack on the shipyard, and 800 were killed during the attempt to board the ship.
*Given that an evac Raptor successfully retrieves the assault team by docking or at least flying close to the Guardian basestar without incident, it seems that the Guardian basestar itself appears to be unarmed and totally reliant on its Raiders for defense, unlike the standard [[Basestar (RDM)|Cylon basestar]].
*A curious technical gaffe appears to occur as the smoke from the various fires in the shipyard travel upward. Unless the flames (which would appear as a globular "blossom" shape without gravity) jet upward, the smoke, with the lack of convection (heat rising upward as lighter gases against gravity), would expand in all directions opposite the flames or venting, not "up" relative to the battlestar or flames.
*The ''Galactica''-type battlestar at the shipyard appears to be the same size, if not larger than ''Pegasus''. This is a contradiction of Admiral Cain's statement, that ''Pegasus'' is twice the size of ''Galactica''. While she does not refer to the ship's length, this seems to be a scaling error in the visual effects.
*The destroyed Viper piloted by [[William Adama|Adama]] during the last day of the Cylon War was not the same Viper that [[Galen Tyrol]] presented to him near the beginning of the [[Miniseries]]. The restored craft was [[N7242C|Viper N7242C]], whereas Adama crashed [[Viper_1104|Viper 1104NC]].

== Questions ==

=== Answered Questions ===
*
* Is the Hybrid's warning that [[Kara Thrace]] is the harbinger of death true? ([[The Hub|Possible answer]]) Does it say this to ensure that the eternal cycle continues per Pythian prophecy? ([[Faith|Possible answer]])
* What does the First Hybrid mean when he says that Kara Thrace will lead the human race to their end ([[Daybreak, Part II|Answer]])
* Whose decision was it to scrap the [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|old Centurions]]? ([[Number One|Answer]]) Did they resist?
* If Saul Tigh fought in the first Cylon War, how was he created, since the Cylons had yet to create humanoid Cylons by the time of the armistice? ([[No Exit|Answer]])
* Why did the Centurions withdraw from the First War? ([[No Exit|Answer]])

=== Unanswered Questions ===

* How does the Hybrid know [[Kendra Shaw]]?
* Who becomes ''{{RDM|Pegasus}}''{{'|s}} [[CAG]] after Thrace steps down?
* When the [[first Hybrid]] says "My children believe I am a god," to whom is he referring? The old model Cylons? The organic models?
* What does the first Hybrid mean when he says his existence will "begin again in ways uncertain"? Does this statement imply that the first Hybrid is capable of [[Resurrection (RDM)|downloading]], or does it refer to an [[Sacred Scrolls|unending cycle]] or the afterlife?
* Are all of the Guardians on the basestar when it is destroyed, or did they build other bases in the decades before?
* Is the first Hybrid one of the humans captured on ''[[Diana]]''?
* Is the first Hybrid as it originally appeared, or has it physically aged? Was it created in that stage of adult maturity?
* If the Hybrid experiment was abandoned after others were created to control the [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]], do the Cylons only have a limited number of them?
* Did the Cylons abduct humans, such as [[Lucy Cain]] on Tauron, for further experimentation after abandoning their facilities on the [[ice planet]]?
* Were the captives from the ice planet rescued? How much did the Colonials know about the experiments which took place there?
{{#switch:{{{1}}}
|yes={{:Razor/Official Statements|yes}}
|y={{:Razor/Official Statements|yes}}
|#default=

== Official Statements == 
:''See: [[Razor/Official Statements]]''
}}

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

{{#switch:{{{2}}}
|yes={{:Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue|yes}}
|y={{:Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue|yes}}
|#default=:''See: [[Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue]]''
}}

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Michael Hogan]] as [[Saul Tigh]]
* [[Aaron Douglas]] as [[Galen Tyrol]] (credit only)
* [[Tahmoh Penikett]] as [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]] (credit only)
* [[Alessandro Juliani]] as Lieutenant [[Felix Gaeta]] (credit only)
* [[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]] (credit only)
* [[Kandyse McClure]] as [[Anastasia Dualla]] (credit only)
* [[Michelle Forbes]] as Admiral [[Helena Cain]]
* [[Graham Beckel]] as Colonel [[Jack Fisk]]
* [[Stephanie Jacobsen]] as Lieutenant/Captain/Major [[Kendra Shaw]]
* [[Nico Cortez]] as Young [[William Adama]]
* [[Matthew Bennett]] as [[Number Five]]
* [[Steve Bacic]] as Colonel [[Jurgen Belzen]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Eileen Pedde]] as Sergeant [[Erin Mathias]]
* [[Fulvio Cecere]] as Lieutenant [[Alastair Thorne]]
* [[Vincent Gale]] as [[Peter Laird]]
* [[Campbell Lane]] as [[First Hybrid|Hybrid]]
* [[Kyra Scott]] as Young [[Helena Cain]]
* [[Chandra Berg]] as Little [[Lucy Cain]]
* [[Peter Flemming]] as [[Cain (father)|Helena's Father]]
* [[Shaker Paleja]] as Medic [[Hudson]]
* [[Andrew Dunbar]] as Marine [[Dasilva]]
* [[Jacob Blair]] as Squad Leader [[Banzai]]
* [[Peter Bryant]] as [[Frank Bruno]]
* [[Chris Bradford]] as Ops Officer
* [[Tyson Stanley]] as Young [[Marine]]
* [[Trevor Roberts]] as ''[[Scylla]]'' Protestor #1
* [[Cameron Macleod]] as ''Scylla'' Protestor #2
* [[Ingrid Tesch]] as Mother
* [[Joey Pierce]] as Marine [[Riggs]]
* [[Matt Drake]] as Son #1
* [[Dustin Eriksen]] as Son #2
* [[John Hainsworth]] as Man in Cage #1
* [[Victor Ayala]] as Man in Cage #2
* [[Stefan Arngrim]] as Male Captive
* [[Deni Dolory]] as Woman in Cage
* [[Emily Hirst]] as Child in Cage
* [[Ben Cotton]] as [[Terrified Man]]
* [[Stefanie von Pfetten]] as Captain [[Marcia Case|Marcia "Showboat" Case]]
* [[Alyssa Minniss]] as Flower Girl 
* [[Allison Warnyca]] as Lt. [[Jaycie McGavin]] (credited only on the DVD's Flashback credits)
* Uncredited as [[Gus]]

== External Links ==

* Composer [[Bear McCreary]] on the score for "Razor"<ref name="mccreary_blog_razor_score_external" group="external">{{cite web|url=https://bearmccreary.com/battlestar-galactica-razor/#:~:text=Battlestar%20Galactica%3A%20Razor%20was%20a%20very%20unusual%20project%20to%20work%20on|title=Battlestar Galactica: Razor|author=Bear McCreary|publisher=Bear McCreary Official Blog|accessdate=2025-08-13}}</ref>
* "Razor" concept art: Galactica.TV galleries<ref name="galactica_tv_razor_concept_art" group="external">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003---news/razor-concept-art.html|title=Razor Concept Art|publisher=Galactica.TV|accessdate=2025-08-13|archive=Y}}</ref>

== References ==

=== Footnotes ===
<references group="footnotes" />

=== Commentary and Interviews ===
<references group="commentary" />

=== Development and Creative Process ===
<references group="development" />

=== Production History ===
<references group="production" />

=== External Sources ===
<references group="external" />

*

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:episodes written by Michael Taylor]]
[[Category:episodes directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá]]

[[de:Auf Messers Schneide]]