Some Wild Speculation
The colonials conclude that the beacon was a result of "accidental exposure" but, given that the beacon "appears to have gelatinous material within slats in its interior," this may raise a rather interesting question. Microbiological cultures and specimens are often kept and preserved in what could be described as "gelatinous material." So, was the contamination really accidental or was the dying Six on the basestar correct when she described it as "left behind by some humans to destroy us?"
Consider: Two thousand years before the Twelve Tribes left Kobol, the Thirteenth Tribe set out... alone. In the four thousand years since then, there are no known accounts of the other tribe making any attempt at contact with their fellow humans. The only contact in forty centuries is with an abandoned beacon which bears a plague.
Why did the Thirteenth Tribe leave Kobol? And, perhaps more importantly, what if the Thirteenth Tribe doesn't want to be found?? Grugnir 13:03, 13 February 2007 (CST)
- From a scientific standpoint, the odds that an ordinary human virus would spread instantly among the highly advanced Cylons, even infecting the raiders and centurions and being able to be transferred via upload borders on nuts. If that's not a writing error, then indeed the virus was a deliberate weapon, and more to the point an deliberate anti-Cylon weapon, tailored thousands of years ago to kill Cylons. That happens to fit with my suspicion that all this has happened before, and there have been several generations of Cylons, and several wars between them and others. As for the rest, you're assuming there was a 13th tribe that went from Kobol to Earth. I think that's a myth that was told the 12 tribes to cover up the truth about Earth (that it's the homeworld of mankind, as we know to be true in reality.) They aren't following a path to Earth, they are following one from Earth, which is fairly obvious. And it's very odd the 12 tribes would take their flags from the Earth sky if Earth was an unknown lost colony. In any event, why does nobody ask why they are called the 13th tribe and not the first tribe?--Bradtem 14:03, 13 February 2007 (CST)
Who deployed the beacon?
The Thirteenth Tribe left Kobol 4.000 years ago. But I suggest that they had no plan where to go. After they found Earth they send back a ship to Kobol that placed the beacon and brought the star maps to Kobol (seen in Home, Part II). --Akagi 11:41, 2 January 2008 (CST)