Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Daybreak, Part II

2009-03-24T11:45:39Z

Bel3338: /* Notes */

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{{Episode Data
| image=Battleofthecolony.jpg
| title= Daybreak, Part II & Part III
| season= 4
| episode= 20
| guests=
| writer= [[Ronald D. Moore]]<ref>http://rondmoore.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2008/4/18_Podcast_Success!.html</ref>
| story=
| director= [[Michael Rymer]]
| production=422
| rating=
| US airdate=March 20, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=March 20, 2009
| UK airdate=March 24, 2009
| dvd=
| population=
| prev=[[Daybreak, Part I]]
| next=[[The Plan]]
| extra='''Series Finale - 2 Hour Episode'''<ref>http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/06/battlestars-fin.html</ref>
| forumthread=3050
}}

== Overview ==

===Act 1===

The final episode begins with a series of events before before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall]].
*In a strip bar in [[Caprica City]], [[William Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]] enjoy themselves. Adama questions whether to take a civilian job, rather than to take command of an aged battlestar<ref>This is a side reference to the events of the episode, "[[Hero]]"</ref> Over drinks, Adama decides to take the job.
*Elsewhere on Caprica, [[Lee Adama]] is having dinner with [[Kara Thrace]] and her fiancee, [[Zak Adama]]. Zak questions why his brother joined the [[Colonial Forces]], despite Lee's idealism and his dislike of his father. Lee simply answers that he received college funding in exchange for service.
*Elsewhere, [[Laura Roslin]] greets her date, [[Sean Allison]], at her home. After realizing he seemed familiar, Roslin finally recalls where she had seen him. Sean was a former student from years ago. Despite the age difference, Roslin decides to let him stay the night. "The night's young. Apparently, so are you," she says. "Let's see what happens."
*Back at the strip bar, Bill Adama challenges Saul on whether he'd take the civilian desk job. Saul doesn't answer.
*Lee Adama and Thrace manage to drag Zak to a couch after a night of drinking. But Thrace isn't done, and pulls out more alcohol for shots between her and Lee.
*Bill Adama is drunkenly sick, vomiting outside somewhere on the street. With a weak smile, he looks up to the stars in the night sky.

Aboard ''[[Galactica]]'', [[Gaius Baltar]] sits in the former home of his [[Cult of Baltar|followers]], now empty. He listens to the [[Virtual Beings|Virtual Six]], telling him to trust in [[God (RDM)|God's]] plan for him. When he asks what that plan is, she tells him that he already following it. Paulla interrupts his conversation, but Baltar asks for five minutes before he leaves.

===Act 2===
Aboard ''[[Galactica]]'', final preparations are made for the mission...
* In [[sickbay]], Dr. [[Cottle]] leaves assistant [[Layne Ishay]] two injections of heavy medication to allow Laura Roslin enough lucidity and mobility for 48 hours. She thanks him sincerely, causing Cottle to be something he'd rarely been: speechless.
* In the [[pilot ready room]], [[Karl Agathon]] briefs the [[Raptor]] teams on the special nature of their rescue mission. Despite the odds, all volunteer.
* Lee Adama briefs the [[marines]] on where little Hera would likely be: deep inside the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[The Colony|colony]].
*In CIC, Admiral Adama work out the tactics of the battle against the colony; Close-range combat - no nuclear weapons and missiles. He orders the gun [[battery|batteries]] to fire until exhausted, and after that, "start throwing rocks," he says with a small smile.
* The [[Final Five]] plan to use [[Samuel Anders]], now effectively a [[Hybrid]] on ''[[Galactica]]'', to interface with the Colony and its Hybrids to interrupt their commands and slowing the Colony's weapon systems. The catch is that Anders will need to be connected to the [[DRADIS]], fire control and [[C-3]] systems. They plan to take Anders and connect him inside the [[CIC]].
* In CIC, Saul Tigh jokes at his old friend at the bizarre sight of a Cylon interfaced to his battlestar, gooey wires and conduit that extend over Adama's command console everywhere and into the DRADIS console. "Still not too late to flush them all out of the airlock," Tigh quips. "Take too much time," Adama answers.
* Admiral Adama hands over command of the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] to [[Hoshi]], noting that if they aren't back from the mission in 12 hours, they will never come back. Similarly, Lee Adama appoints [[Romo Lampkin]] as President of the Twelve Colonies. He joins Admiral Hoshi on the last Raptor to leave ''Galactica'' for the baseship, the Fleet's new flagship.
* Baltar's followers get in the ship. Baltar enters, but then tells [[Paulla]] that he must stay on the ship. Lee Adama throws Baltar a weapon. As Baltar is given a weapon, a Number Six leads a large number of [[Cylon Centurion]]s down the [[hangar deck]]; a red sash painted on them for identification.

===Act 3===

* A shot of the Fleet shows that the rebel [[Basestar (RDM)|baseship]] has fully regenerated from its damage from the start of the [[Cylon Civil War]]. It is ready to lead the civilians to safety while ''Galactica'' goes hunting, retracting its [[flight pod]]s to prep for [[FTL]].
* Adama commands a ship-wide readiness report, a sort of countdown.
* Meanwhile, in sickbay, Layne Ishay prep sickbay for wounded. Laura Roslin assists as best she can.
* [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]] are in [[launch tube]]s. The entire Raptor squadron, armed with missiles, have been placed inside the starboard flight pod deck, amidst the ruins of the old [[Galactica Museum]].
* Gaius Baltar is a soldier protecting the hallways against borders. He is surprised to find [[Caprica-Six]] by his side.
* In CIC, Ellen Tigh signals that Anders is ready to work.
* Adama gives a final speech, a final understanding and call to arms.
* The battlestar jumps away from the fleet, and [[Battle of the Colony]] begins.
* The battlestar jumps only meters from the edge of the Colony--and is immediately besieged by the Cylon batteries.
* With little time, Sam Anders attempts to make contact with the Colony Hybrids--and takes them offline, apparently by causing them to go into a state of ecstasy. Ellen warns that [[Cylon Raider]]s will appear any minute.
* ''Galactica'' responds by launching its fighter wings. The Vipers launch, and the Raptors jump directly from within the starboard pod--causing incredible damage to the pod as it vents open--but now placing themselves on the opposite side of the Colony in a flanking position.
* Adama orders the battlestar's engines at flank speed. He rams the alligator head into the Colony. ''Galactica's'' inhabitants take a beating, but so does the Colony. The Colonials have breeched it, forming an entrance. Lee Adama leads his marines and several Cylon Centurions inside from a front airlock.
* [[Sharon Agathon]] and Helo's Raptor make their way to the Colony's interior.
* [[Racetrack]] and [[Skulls]] arm their nuclear missiles, presumably to strike the colony after the rescue. But suddenly a piece of debris strikes their Raptor, killing all aboard and leaving the Raptor adrift.
* The Raptors breech another section of the Colony, and their teams enter.

* Deep inside the Colony, a [[Simon]] works on young Hera as [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]] looks on in disgust. When she questions why he continues to work on Hera, the Simon explains that they maintain and superior force and numbers.
* Suddenly, Boomer assaults the Simon, snapping his neck. She takes Hera out of the room.

===Act 4===

* The Colony's halls are filled with gunfire. Cylon Centurions, including older [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Model 0005s]] fight each other as the Colonial fire teams push through.
* [[Cavil]], a [[Number Five]] and another Simon decide to go on the offensive, to attack the battlestar with their troops.

* In a hallway in ''Galactica'', ready to repel boarders, Caprica-Six and Baltar come to terms with their old relationship. As they kiss, they hear a Six's voice. "All of the pieces are falling into place."
* The Virtual Six--''and'' the Virtual Baltar--stand above them. To the surprise of Caprica-Six and Baltar, they can hear and see each of the avatars.
* With a shudder, the battlestar hull is breeched as waves of enemy Centurions, both old-model and modern, pour into the ship.

* The Agathon's team find Boomer, holding Hera. She gives the child to them, telling them to tell Admiral Adama that she "owed him one." With the child safe, Athena shoots Boomer.
* A flashback scene shows what Boomer meant: a time back in her days on '''Galactica'', as Adama and Tigh redress her but give her another chance to be a better pilot.

* Ishay has her hands full in sickbay, trying to triage and treat as many people as she can. The event is taxing, physically and mentally, for Roslin, as she comforts more dying than not.

* Lee Adama's team connects with Starbuck's team, with Hera in tow. When Lee asks where Thrace was, she answers, "Stopped for coffee."<ref>This might be the one time in the history of the series where an obvious joke to [[w:Starbucks Coffee|Starbucks Coffee]] has been used.</ref> With their objective complete and no other Colonial troops found, they head back to the battlestar's alligator-head.

* ''Galactica'' batteries are being targeted by Raiders. She is losing what little defensive ability she has left. Enemy forces are coming at the reserve forces--where Baltar waits.

===Act 5===

* Caprica-Six and Baltar hold off the enemy Centurions. Baltar's passion at killing Centurions gets a bit out of control as Lee Adama's team reenter the battlestar with Hera. As more enemies appear, Lee and Baltar fire away.
* Laura Roslin sits and experiences yet another vision of the [[Opera House]] and little Hera. Struggling to walk, driven by something she can't fully realize, she gets up to find Hera.
* Starbuck leads the Agathons through the hallways, but a Number Five appears from behind, seriously wounding Helo in the leg and killing a marine before Starbuck eliminates him. A damaged, but still functioning enemy Centurion shows up and in the confusion, Hera runs away. Athena runs after her at the request of her wounded husband.
* Hera walks amidst the gunfighting, when soon she encounters Roslin, who pulls out of the path of an enemy patrol and to safety. But when Roslin turns back to the child, she is gone again.
* Caprica-Six and Baltar are running, and are out of ammo. Suddenly they see Hera, as well as Roslin and Athena--all grouped together as in the Opera House vision. Caprica-Six scoops up the child and enters a hallway, closing the hatchway, preventing Athena and Roslin from following. The opera house vision had Caprica-Six and Baltar closing the door on boht Athena and Roslin after picking up Hera.
* As the scene shifts between visions of the Opera House and the corridors, Baltar and Caprica-Six realize what they must do: follow their vision into the Opera House--which turns out to be CIC, where the Final Five reside, overlooking the lower deck of CIC as they appeared in the vision, standing above.
* Adama and his men have apparently just finished defending the CIC from a break-in by Cavil, a Doral and a Simon. The Doral and the Simon are dead, and Cavil is under guard. An explosion rocks the CIC, and Cavil picks up a gun and grabs Hera as a shield.
* Baltar pleads for the child's freedom, telling Cavil that Hera is key to humanity's survival as well. He reasons with Cavil that there are higher forces at work, that led them all, here, for a reason. Baltar also reveals that he has been visited by angels - the agents of God. When Cavil questions if God has his people's interests at heart, on how Baltar knows that God is on his side, Baltar replies (in an allusion of something [[The Hand of God (RDM)| Virtual Six once told him]]), "God is not on anyone's side." The Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar look on with a pleased expression.
* Baltar asks Cavil to take a leap of faith. Saul Tigh sweetens the pot by offering to reteach Cavil the secret of [[Resurrection (RDM)|resurrection]], this time in exchange not only for Hera's life but for permanent peace, where the Cylons leave humanity alone.
* Cavil agrees. He uses the Battlestar comm to order his forces to stand down and releases Hera. Admiral Adama orders stand-down as well.

===Act 6===

* Vipers and Raptors return to ''Galactica'' as the Raiders return to the Colony. Laura Roslin joins the admiral in CIC.
* The Five each know part of the secret to resurrection. They will combine their knowledge by connecting themselves through the water in Ander's tank. Ellen Tigh tells the others that the process will also share memories as well as data.
* But before they begin, [[Tory Foster]], visibly anxious, warns the others that they will see "certain things" of their bad behavior. She tries to prepare the others of what they will see of her. An impatient Cavil screams. "I don't mean to rush you, but you are keeping two civilizations waiting!"
* The Five dip their hands and make the connection. As the data flows to the Colony, Foster's visions of murdering [[Cally Tyrol]] in an effort to protect her secret of being a Cylon comes to the forefront, surprising the others of the Five, and angering [[Galen Tyrol]] immediately.
* Tyrol pulls his hand from the pool and wraps both hands tightly around Foster's neck in a death-grip, eventually snapping her neck.
* As Anders screams from the sudden disconnection, the Cylons in CIC believe they are deceived and open fire. The Colonials kill all but Cavil, who shouts an exasperated "[[Frak]]!" before putting his pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

* High above, as the Raiders begin attacking ''Galactica'' again, [[Racetrack]]'s damaged Raptor drifts, its crew lifeless. A rock strikes the ship, causing Racetrack's dead hand to strike the firing button to the Raptor's tactical nuclear missiles, launching them all straight at the Colony.
* The force of the explosions severely damage the Colony, pushing it towards the black hole, threatening to take ''Galactica'' with it.
* Adama orders Kara Thrace to make a [[blind jump]], but Thrace thinks about [[The Music|the music her father played]], the music that Hera wrote to her. Recalling the mathematical associations she tried to discern from the music, Thrace realizes the music works as a series of FTL coordinates.
* She punches in the coordinates into the [[Computers|navigation computer]] and jumps the ship.

* A flashback scene appears where Lee Adama and Kara Thrace talk about how she [[The Destiny|thinks about death]] every time she gets into a cockpit.

* ''Galactica'' completes the jump--but the strain of the last battle causes the battlestar's structure to ripple and twist as structural members tear and break. The ship will never jump again. Engines and life support are still online, but ''Galactica's'' backbone is broken.
* "Where have you taken us, Kara?" Roslin asks, as the scene changes to an exterior shot to show the battlestar flying over a gray, rocky moon.
* But is not just a moon...''Galactica'' has arrived at the ''moon of Earth''...another Earth, this one with the continent of Africa in prominent view.

===Act 7===
[[File:Battlestar Over Africa.jpg|thumb|right|200px|right|A crippled ''Galactica'' seen in orbit over the Sahara Desert.]]
* The Fleet jumps into Earth orbit as ''Galactica'' passes by. A Raptor came to Hoshi to guide them to Earth.
* Landing ship after landing ship leave for the new world.
* On a green, rich savannah in Africa, Admiral Adama, Cottle, Saul Tigh, Hoshi, and Baltar look on, lying prone on their stomachs with binoculars at a tribe of early humans. Cottle confirms that the native humans are compatible with the Colonials genetically.
* At a camp, as Lampkin considers a building of a new city, Lee Adama tells him to let humanity start all over again, leave their technology behind, which has almost always gotten them into trouble. Let the Colonials enter Earth with just their basic possessions.

* Admiral Adama maps out a plan to populate various continents and land masses, spreading out humanity and Cylon far and wide, distributing supplies to give all a good chance of survival. To Lampkin's surprise, the peoples of the Fleet take a liking to leaving technology behind.
* A [[Number Two]] tells Adama that the remaining Twos, Sixes, and Eights will stay on Earth as well, handing over the baseship to the Centurions, to give them their own freedom. When Lampkin questions if setting the Centurions free won't cause another holocaust hundreds of years from now, Ellen Tigh agrees it's a risk, but believes the cycle of death has been ended. Adama agrees.
* Adama tells that, after everyone is offloaded from the ships, the Fleet will reunite with '''Galactica'' a final time. Piloted by Samuel Anders, still in his tank in CIC, connected into the battlestar, he will fly all the ships on a final voyage into the Sun.

* Kara Thrace, eyes filled with tears, meets with Anders at his tank, kissing him goodbye for the last time, and leaving her [[dog tags]]. As she leaves, he mutters, "I'll see you on the other side."

===Act 8===

* Admiral William Adama descends into the hangar deck, wearing a [[flight suit]]. The deck is otherwise completely empty of anything, and anyone.
* He takes a seat in a [[Viper Mark II]]. Not just any Mark II...but the one that Galen Tyrol's team rebuilt for him as a retirement gift [[Miniseries, Night 1|so long ago]].
* As Adama's Viper launches, the scene shifts to six years prior, where Adama is taking a lie detector test for the prospective desk job. When the test administrator asks him test questions such as, "Are you a Cylon?" and "Have you ever stolen money from a cash drawer?" Adama is angered and leaves, saying, "I'd rather spend the rest of my career--what's left of it--on a broken old down ship, than to have someone sit here and question my word."
* Husker's Viper makes a final fly-by of the old battlestar, looking at her one last time before pointing his Viper towards Earth.

* Samuel Anders' voice from the past talks of his days in sport, dreaming of perfection, and being linked to it, to creation, as Anders guides the Fleet, now united to the mathematical perfection he once spoke of through his duties as a Hybrid.
* As the [[Colonial_Anthem|Colonial Anthem]]--a version of the [[Original Series]] main theme--plays, the scene shows ''Galactica'' and the Fleet gathered a final time, heading away from Earth and towards the sun to its demise.

* Walking in the savannah, the Tighs speak with Galen Tyrol a final time. He has decided to go to the northern highlands of Earth (likely Scotland <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref>). The scene shifts to the Tighs, partying back in Caprica City, once upon a time.

===Act 9===

* On the plains, Bill Adama sits with Laura Roslin, watching herds of gazelle. Her vision weakening, she tries to use her glasses with the binoculars. "A very beautiful world," she says. When she asks what the name of the planet is, Adama tells her it's Earth. He adds, "Earth is a dream," believing that their new home, a long-sought destination, deserves the name.
* Roslin's breathing becomes labored and shallow. Adama offers to give her a better look at the wildlife. He picks her up and carries her to a nearby Raptor.
* Lee Adama and Kara Thrace notice and meet Bill Adama there. The Adamas hug, and Bill Adama gives Thrace a final greeting of "[[Nothing but the rain]]" before he hugs and kisses her. Thrace and Lee wave goodbye to a smiling Roslin as the Raptor ascends.

* Lee realizes that his father isn't coming back. Kara Thrace tells Lee that she isn't coming back, either. "I just know that I am done here. I've completed my journey...and it feels good."

* A flashback scene, back in Thrace's apartment, where Thrace dares Lee to make love to her on her dining room table. But before they could do anything, the crash of a glass partially awakens Zak, causing the two to realize what they were doing. They shake hands and say goodbye.

* "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Lee," Kara Thrace says. As Lee tells her of desire to explore and climb mountains, he turns to find that Kara Thrace has vanished, as if she were a ghost. "Goodbye, Kara," he says. "You won't be forgotten."
* A flashback scene shows the pigeon that would be trapped in Lee's apartment after his visit to Kara and Zak. It looks at Lee and flies out of the window and away.

* In another flashback from six years prior, Laura Roslin returns to stand by the side of the bed, thanks Sean Allison, but tells him that they will not meet this way again, and asks him to leave. As the man leaves, Roslin returns to her bathroom, lights a cigarette, then makes a phone call. She accepts the opportunity to work on Mayor [[Richard Adar]]'s campaign.

* Bill Adama's Raptor flies over flamingos. "So much..life," Laura Roslin says...her final words as she closes her eyes and quietly passes.
* Moments go by before Bill realizes that she is gone.
* In tears, Bill removes his wedding ring and places it on Laura's hand. "Right there...I'm going to build our cabin right there," he says, pointing to some hills.

===Act 10===

* A line of people walk into the wilderness, calm and ready to take on the world.
* The Agathons walk as well, Helo using a makeshift crutch, talking of hunting and other pleasantries. Hera runs about in play, a smile on her face.

* Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six look on at Hera playing as the Virtual Six and Baltar reappear. When Caprica-Six questions if the protection of Hera was all that God wanted of them, the Virtual Six replies, "God's plan is never complete." "Great..." Baltar replies sullenly.
* Virtual-Baltar counters, "I think it's safe to say that, from now on, your lives will be less...eventful."

* Another flashback to Caprica City. Baltar offers Caprica-Six an opportunity to "peek" into the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]].

* When Baltar points to some land, he recalls his heritage, and [[Julius Baltar|his father]], and that he knows a bit about farming, to a bit of tears.

* Bill Adama sits, looking out into the hills and valley. "I laid out the cabin today. It's going to have an easterly view. You should see the light that we get here. When the sun comes from behind those mountains. It's almost heavenly. It reminds me of you."
* As he speaks, the camera pans up to show Adama, seated near the cairn he built for Laura Roslin's body.

* The scene turns to show Hera playing and looking upward. Scenes of wood and desert and sea pass by in a geologic montage to reveal an Earth city--New York City--150,000 years ahead in time.

* As a fly-over of the city appears, a voice-over of Virtual-Six reads from a magazine article of the Tanzanian discovery of the bones of what scientists believe are the remains of the [[w:mitochondrial Eve|mitochondrial Eve]], the matrilineal common ancestor of mankind.

* As [[Ron D. Moore|a man reads]] about the scientific discovery, the Virtual Six and Baltar look over his shoulder at a magazine article of the news, and reveal what they know...the bones are that of Hera Agathon, born of a Cylon mother and a human father. No other people on the street appear to notice them.

* The two talk of the technology and decadence, of whether this Earth will repeat the mistakes of generations past and again become overwhelmed by their creations. The Six thinks not, believing it to be God's plan.

* "You know it doesn't like that name," Baltar says. Six only looks back in mild defiance. "Silly. Silly me," he replies as the two walk away into the metropolis.

* The episode concludes with scenes of robots, from toys to advanced automatons growing and evolving, as Jimi Hendrix's--Earth's popular version--of "[[The Music|All Along The Watchtower]]" plays, ending with an image of [http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-10744-Robot+or+Human%3F+Here%27s+ACTROID.html an attractive-looking female automaton] gazing out over Times Square from a giant outdoor television screen.

== Notes ==
*A portion of this episode was being filmed in [[w:Kamloops| Kamloops, BC]] during the week of June 16, 2008. Local extras of all ages were utilized for this scene (or scenes) and were required to have an athletic build and a clean-cut look, or to be slim with long hair or dreadlocks. Extras were auditioned at Best Western room 137 (in Kamloops) on June 12th <ref>http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/entertainment/19788509.html</ref>. The rural area surrounding Kamloops was previously utilized to depict the [[algae planet]] in "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]" and "[[Rapture]]".
**According to the episode podcast, the sequences on Earth at the end were the ones filmed at Kamloops. Some CGI was used to remove distinctive Canadian evergreen trees from the background and replace them with more Africa-looking foilage, but otherwise the landscape was actually a decent match for Africa.
*Although Part I had a runtime of one hour, Part II will run for two hours. An even longer cut of Daybreak will later be released on DVD. <ref>{{cite_news|first=|last=|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/07/talking-battles.html|title=Talking 'Battlestar Galactica's' finale, 'Caprica' and the 'Battlestar' TV movie with Ron Moore}}</ref>
*There was no final population count given after the engagement with the Cavil forces. However, there were no reported deaths by accident or violence before the engagement so the population count is most likely the same as it was in "[[Daybreak, Part I]]" before the attack on the Cylon Colony, 39,516.
**A new population count post-engagement is given in the separate iTunes release of Daybreak, Part III. The count is 39,406, putting Colonial casualties from the battle at 110. Then shortly after their arrival on New Earth former President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol Laura Roslin dies, and Kara Thrace vanishes without a trace. From this we can derive that the number of people settled on New Earth is 39,404. This does not include the unknown number of humanoid Cylons from the Baseship (which probably was never stated) and possibly Athena and the remaining three of the Final Five who aren't considered human survivors.
*With the ramming of [[The Colony]] by ''Galactica'' Hera's prophetic [[Projection]] at the very beginning of [[Islanded in a Stream of Stars]] came true. In her projection as she was playing on ''Galactica'''s tactical light table with the models of ''Galactica'', three Baseships and three Cylon Raiders, she rammed a model Baseship with the model of ''Galactica''.
*According to the podcast, the ''Galactica'' was originally going to jump right inside the Colony for the attack, but RDM changed it because he wanted the ship to have open space around it for the final Viper/Raider dogfight.
*There is a poetic ring to the nature of the conflict of the Second Cylon War:
** It began with the Cylon attack on Colonies nearly wiping out mankind. It ended with the Colonial attack on the Cylon Colony very likely wiping out the Cylons who didn't join with the humans.
**Shortly after the Cylon attack on Caprica, Baltar -- having unintentionally brought about the near-annihilation of the human species -- flees Caprica when Karl Agathon gives him his place on a Raptor, feeling that his own life is less important to save than a famed scientist's. But at the end of the series, it is Baltar who puts his own life at risk for the sake of saving Agathon's daughter Hera and expresses concern for her future well being to the very end of the series (both ends of this parallel occur in wide open fields).
**Agathon and Cylon Sharon Valerii are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
**The earliest known detail we see of Gaius Baltar's life is his effort to break away from his family history as farmers, and his shame over his heritage. The last event we see in his embrace of a new beginning as a farmer.
**Baltar and Number Six are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
**The earliest event we see from Laura Roslin's life (retroactively) is the death of her sisters, killed during transit. The last event of her life that we see is her own death, which occurs during transit.
**The series began with Galactica's scheduled decommissioning and ends with its actual decommissioning.
**The series begins with a selfish decision Baltar makes (to give Caprica Six access to military mainframes) that nearly destroys Colonial humanity. It ends with a selfless decision Baltar makes (to fulfill his destiny in saving Hera) that gives Colonial humanity a new start in the form of Hera.
** At the beginning of the series, William Adama divorces his wife soon after returning to Colonial military service. At the end of the series, Adama abandons all trappings of the military to be with his unofficial wife Laura Roslin, upon whose finger he puts his wedding ring just after she dies.
**This poetic ring is also in line with [[Romo Lampkin]]'s observation of him being President of it being "Poetic justice" and Lee Adama's "What goes around, comes around" since Lampkin originally pushed him to be a politician. Indeed, the Cylons were revisited by the destruction they wrought on the human Colonies.
*Gaius Baltar, with deliberate forethought, gave [[Caprica Six]] the back door to the Colonial defenses. He still did not know Caprica Six was a Cylon, but he did commit willful corporate espionage knowing he would be punished for it if caught. Previously Baltar's giving of Caprica Six the secrets was implied-or at least inferred-to be from naive vanity to impress his girlfriend Caprica Six.
*This episode marks the deaths of [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]], [[John Cavil]], [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]], [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Laura Roslin]] and the destruction of Cavil's forces. The [[Doral]] and [[Simon]] lines are also presumably wiped out, or at least decimated beyond recovery. [[Kara Thrace]], having fulfilled her purpose, vanishes without a trace and her current whereabouts are unknown. In detail:
**Boomer was killed by [[Athena]] in revenge for taking [[Hera]], sleeping with [[Helo]] and beating her in the lavatory.
**Cavil took his own life in Galactica's CIC when his side lost.
***It is unknown what happened to the other members of the Cavil/Number One line. The death of only a single Cavil is depicted.
**Racetrack and Skulls's Raptor was struck by an asteroid fragment penetrating their wind screen and striking them. Both Skulls and Racetrack were killed on impact. Racetrack's dead hand later hit the launch button that launched the nuclear missiles after her Raptor was hit again by an asteroid.
**Tory was killed by [[Galen Tyrol]] in revenge for Tory killing his wife [[Cally]] after he learned Tory murdered her during the mutual and involuntary exchange of private information of the [[Final Five]]'s minds while downloading Resurrection technology data to the Cavil forces.
***The irony of this action should be noted, considering that in their previous lives on the original Earth, the pair were madly in love and planning marriage themselves
**Anders guided himself in ''Galactica'' and the Fleet into the Sun.
**Roslin died of cancer as Adama was giving her a bird's eye view of their new home on second Earth in a Raptor.
**Since they did not have either Cylon females or Resurrection technology the Cavil, Simon and Doral models on the various Cylon Baseships presumably died out after their natural life spans were exhausted.
**Kara was presumably taken by the same force, stated to be God by [[Virtual Six]], that resurrected her.
*The fate of numerous supporting characters remains unrevealed, including [[Brendan Costanza|Hot Dog]], last seen flying his Viper back to ''Galactica'' after the initial cease fire, numerous mutineers such as [[Diana Seelix]], and others such as Doc Cottle's nurse. The episode also never touches on what became of [[Cult of Baltar|Baltar's cult]], including founding member [[Jeanne]] who is absent from the finale entirely.
**Since we didn't see them volunteer in the hanger deck nor they were depicted in the attack it is a fair assumption Seelix didn't volunteer. Ishay, Cottle's "nurse" was on Galactica away from the fighting she was last seen triaging with Roslin. Unless she did something like hit her head hard while being thrown to the deck by a severe explosion (or if the Centurions broke into the infirmary), it is very likely that she survived. Likewise, we can assume that Hot Dog survived as well since their was no mention of him being killed. The Cult of Baltar including Jeanne, Paulla, and Tracy Anne stayed behind on the Baseship which stayed with the fleet.
*The recurring subplot involving the faction called the [[Sons Of Ares]], in particular its growing conflict with the [[Cult of Baltar]], is not resolved.
**The rivalry between the Cult of Baltar and the Sons of Ares lives and doings where disrupted by the evacuation of Galactica and the resettlement on New Earth. They would have a hard time resuming their activities in all the confusion.
*This episode also marks the destruction of the ''Galactica'' and her Fleet.
*The Raiders are seen using missiles for the first time since the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
*Racetrack's Raptor, and possibly the other ones in its flight group destroyed in the assault on the Colony, was carrying the last nukes from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'', marking the end of humanity's use of these weapons (which were used to destroy the Twelve Colonies at the start of the series). Presumably the baseship's store of nukes remains intact.
*Apparently contrary to previous information, ''Galactica'' executes a successful jump with her flight pods extended. It is unclear why on previous occasions the pods needed to be retracted prior to jumping, or why the Cylons targeting the pods in the mini-series battle would have crippled the ship. However, when ''Galactica'' comes out of the jump a Viper can be seen being hurled clear from the ship, which is presumably why retracting the pods is advisable. It is also possible that the strain of jumping with the pods extended contributed to ''Galactica'''s structural failure.
*According to the podcast, when Laura asks "Where have you taken us, Kara?" Starbuck was supposed to reply, "Somewhere along the watchtower." Director Michael Rhymer did not like this idea and simply didn't shoot the line. Moore later agreed that it was better not to have Kara speak.
*The shot of ''Galactica'' flying over the Moon and reaching Earth was inspired by real-life shots from the Apollo space program, specifically Apollo 8's shot of coming around the dark side of the Moon and the Apollo 17 shot of the Earth itself.
*Before deciding that ''Galactica'' should reach Earth in prehistoric times, Moore toyed with the idea of having the Fleet arrive during the Hellenistic period and formed the basis of the ancient Greek religion and society. However, this idea was rejected as it suggested that the Colonials blessed only Western civilization with their knowledge rather than all of humanity, and it did not acknowledge Hera's importance. Moore read an article on the idea of a common human ancestor which he decided should be Hera. This also explains why the Fleet personnel landed in Africa (the network had been suggesting it should be North America, presumably to match the final shot of Season 3).
*Humanity, along with the Cylons, finally reaches its new homeworld, names it Earth, and the humans of today are the distant descendants of Hera.
*The tracing of the human blood line through [[wikipedia:Mitochondrial DNA|Mitochondrial DNA]] to a common ancestor and dubbing her [[wikipedia:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] is a real theory. Mitochondrial Eve was the ''matrilineal most recent common ancestor'', the most recent person in the female line that all of humanity can be said to be from. In other words, Hera is everybody's mother's mother's ... mother's mother. This does NOT imply that she is the only ancestor of modern humans. In fact, it implies that each female alive at the time either has no surviving descendants, or is ALSO a common ancestor (though not a purely maternal one).
** In the series, Hera is Mitochondrial Eve, meaning that all of modern humanity is a combination of Colonial humanity and Cylon, although there maybe ancestors of native New Earth in the current population from the male line of descendants.
** The fossilized remains are said to be of a young woman, indicating Hera does not live to see a middle age, though she has children before she dies. Specifically, she must have had daughters to pass on her mitochondrial DNA.
** Since mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only, and Hera has a Cylon mother, her mitochondrial DNA and that of all her descendants is pure Cylon (discounting mutations).
*The Centurions are granted full independence and subsequently depart in the rebel Baseship to pursue their own destiny. Their status 150,000 years later remains a mystery. The Colonials and humanoid Cylons believe it is unlikely they will be a threat, as they have no reason to bear a grudge this time around.
*The ''[http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Kodiak Kodiak]'', the command ship of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) faction from the computer game ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Tiberian_Sun Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]'' is seen among the fleet in one establishing shot.
*When ''Galactica'' and the Fleet fly into the Sun, only 15 ships can be seen when at least 35 ships were still in the Fleet during the Mutiny, and upwards of 90 after the events of the mini-series. However, establishing shots of the Fleet rarely show more than a dozen ships in one shot regardless, and the implication is that the entire Fleet was destroyed.
**According to the podcast for the episode, the destruction of the Fleet and the spreading out of the surviving Colonials over the planet's surface was supposed to be a sign of humanity's commital to their new world, not necessarily promoting a Luddite agenda. The comparison that is drawn is Cortes burning his ships on the shores of central America so his men would not have a way of retreating if things got difficult. However, RDM later mentions that one of the last shots was to have been of the Colonials destroying their last Raptors, which suggests that the Luddite approach was more what they were aimng for.
*Also in the podcast, RDM is happy to confirm that Tyrol did find some natives in Scotland and ended up being the 'King of the Scots', apparently since Aaron Douglas loved the idea of Scottish civilisation (with its tradition of great engineers) being descended from Tyrol.
*The final scene, like most of the rest of the series, was filmed in Vancouver, BC, and not in New York City at all. In the final scene with Angel Baltar and Six, "Bread Garden Bakery and Cafe", W Pender St, and Dunsmuir St are visible, all of which are within a couple blocks of each other along Granville St in downtown Vancouver. [http://tinyurl.com/crgd2x] Furthermore, a bus passes by just before the credit, sporting the colors of the Coast Mountain Bus Company.
**According to the podcast, Ronald D. Moore was wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt in the final shot, but they chose not to show this. The shot of the realistic Japanese female robot was found by Terry Moore online and was referred to as the 'next' Number Six by RDM.
**Also according to the podcast, Baltar saying "It doesn't like that name," is significant, and is indeed meant to confirm that whatever 'God' is in the series, it isn't necessarily what the name implies.
*The Centurion Model 0005 in the museum case is a retcon. In the [[Miniseries]], it was an Original Series costume, with the black skirt and non-exposed joints. In this episode, it is a CGI First War Centurion 0005 with exposed joints and no black skirt.
**It is not explained why the museum flight pod is shown to be in nearly pristine condition when, in addition to four years of battles and the atmosphere-drop over New Caprica, a Cylon Heavy Raider crashed through the overhead window and crushed several of the exhibits in ''[[Scattered]]''. Repairing the museum and exhibits would have seemed to be a low priority during subsequent events.
*Reference (possibly intentional) is made to Olmos' earlier work: Adama's flushing of flamingos while flying a Raptor is reminiscent of the flamingos flushing during the opening credits of Miami Vice, the TV series in which Edward James Olmos co-starred.
*The news network covering the story "Advances in Robotics" as Angel Baltar and Six pass by is [http://www.msnbc.com MSNBC], the 24 hour news network arm of the NBC Universal media conglomerate which also owns the SyFy Channel (at the time the SciFi Channel), which produces ''Battlestar Galactica'' and airs the series in the United States.
**The last advance in robotics shown was a humanoid "cybernetic robot" named "ACTROID", a Japanese design that was unveiled in 2005.[http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-10744-Robot+or+Human%3F+Here%27s+ACTROID.html].
**The ACTROID's appearance in the final scene bookends the first scene of the mini-series in which several "traditional" robotic Cylons appear, following by the first appearance of the attractive humanoid Cylon, Number Six.
*Although many of the magazines on the newsstand appear familiar, close examination reveals that at least some have made-up names. A magazine that appears at first glance to be ''Sports Illustrated'' is actually ''Sports Limited''. Also, although the magazine read by Angel Six and Baltar (and Ronald Moore) closely resembles ''National Geographic'', at no time is the complete title of the magazine or its full logo actually shown on screen.

== Analysis ==

*The coordinates that Thrace enters, 1123 / 6536 / 5321 correspond to the notation of the Final Four theme [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/theme-watchtower.jpg]. The song is in a C# Phrygian scale (enharmonic with A major and F# minor). 1 represents C#, and each higher integer indicates the next note in the scale, such that

:1 = C#
:2 = D
:3 = E
:(4 = F#)
:5 = G#
:6 = A
:(7 = B)

:The linked graphic omits the first and last note of the theme, but both can be heard in the soundtrack during the jump montage. The second "five" (in the third chunk of four digits) corresponds to the tuplet G#/A/G#, effectively omitting the trill up to high A. Every note has the same duration except for the last two, which are twice the length of the others.
*The Virtual Beings are angels of God who came to guide Baltar and Caprica Six in their destiny of protecting Hera.
*Kara Thrace is an angel who was sent back from the dead to guide humanity to a new home the coordinates of which were hidden in The Music.
*It is possible that some Baseships of Ones, Fours, and Fives were not at the [[Colony]] when it was destroyed, given the fact that they were observed jumping in and out of the system by Racetrack and Skulls. However, as noted in the "Notes" section it is unlikely that the Cavil, Simon and Doral lines will continue without Cylon females. The [[Three]]s are extinct with the last copy [[D'Anna Biers]] herself dying on the original Earth; Boomer was killed in the Colony (and in anycase couldn't single handedly save the lines even if she were alive); and the last Sixes and Eights staying with the humans on the second Earth. However, there is the possibility of having a few remaining human females from the survivors of the various Colonial worlds including [[Caprica]], if they still exist, being viable, so the lines could in theory continue. However, given the total lack of success in the forced breeding of Cylons and humans and the Cavil, Dorals and Simon's cynical view of love, an apparent requirement of conception between both Cylon-Cylon and Cylon-human combinations, with their hatred of humans it is unlikely. One final option could remain. The Final Five was able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction before Tyrol in his rage at Tory broke the connection. It is possible that the Cavil faction could extrapolate from the data they did get to recreate the technology, but only if it was transmitted to Baseships beyond the destroyed Colony. How long this could take or even if it is possible depends on how much and/or if the most critical and unique part of the technology was downloaded.
*On the second Earth Hera's mate that produced children was most likely human. Saul Tigh and the Leobens would be too old for her. While it was fairly common in ancient times for the men to be far older than their brides (particularly with royalty), for example with the female being as young as 12 and the male being say 60 to take an extreme. However, Colonial mores, which are much like our own in real life, would forbid the Leobens from sexual congress with Hera when she reach the accepted reproductive age. On the other hand there were many human children about her age and [[Boxey (RDM)|slightly older]] in the Fleet. She could had also had children with a human child unborn at the time of the landing on Second Earth, perhaps within five years to ten years of her age. It is possible that other hybrid children could had been born after the landing given that the Twos, Sixes, and Eights joined the humans. And it is possible that pure Cylon children could had been born to the age compatible Sixes, Eights, and Leobens but as noted in the series it is difficult if not impossible for a pure Cylon child to come to term making any pool of pure Cylon children that were successfully born-if any-very small. Cylon-Human mating with a human male with a Six or a Sharon is very possible with the example of Hera herself is an much more likely than with a Cylon-Cylon birth, but it is still harder than with human-human pairings. This would make any children pool of those pairings, while much more likely and larger than Cylon-Cylon offspring, would still quite small number compared to pure human offspring frequency of birth. Therefore Hera's offspring is most likely with a human. A more remote possibility is with another Cylon-human hybrid. Her producing children with a pure Cylon offspring is the least likely of the three since pure Cylons are the least likely to exist. Throw in the possibility is Hera mating with the New Earth native tribal humans males then the likely hood of Hera having a child with a human is very likely.
*[[Ronald D. Moore]] appears as himself holding a ''National Geographic'' magazine in New York City.
*The shelters erected by the Colonials on Earth resemble [[Wikipedia:Quonset hut|Quonset huts]], World War II-era temporary structures.
*The final scenes of this episode, in fast-forwarding through time and attempting to set the entire work as a backstory, make the ending similar to that of the film [[Wikipedia:How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]].
* There are at least two distinct angels. They have known each other long and born witness to Kobol and the original Earth, as well as the Twelve Colonies and the new Earth. They can walk around and observe events even when no one else present can see them, though they may have the ability to appear to anyone they wish. In the final scene, a man walking by the Angel Six appears to check her out (though this may have been a simple acting goof).
* In another piece of irony, the two beings most directly responsible for the attack and destruction of the 12 Colonies, Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six, get to live on a lush green New Earth in love with each other.
* Even if humanity does repeat the cycle, Lee Adama's plan would seem to have had some success, because it will have taken much, much longer to do so this time around.
* Ellen says that hopefully the Hybrids will ''still'' respond to Anders' commands. In other words, they would recognize him from the time the Final Five ran the Colony.
* The Final Five can be considered ancestors of present-day humanity because they created Athena and the other Eights, Twos, and Sixes.
* The constellation [[w:Ursa Major|Ursa Major]] (commonly known as the "Big Dipper") appears briefly in this episode. It makes only the second appearance of a recognizable star pattern in the series, the first being Orion in "[[The Ties That Bind]]" (Orion is also visible in this episode).
* Adama's statement that New Earth is "one million light years" from Kobol must be taken as exaggeration or an error. The Milky Way is 100 000 light years across, and earlier statements in the show indicate that it considerable time to travel much shorter distances.
** It's possible that Adama's "million light years" comment is meant metaphorically instead of literally, in essence saying the Colonials have come an unthinkable distance to reach their new home.
*Cavil's suicide, in the way it is framed and executed, closely mirrors the televised 1987 suicide of American politician [[w:Budd Dwyer|Budd Dwyer]].
* Adama's drunken moment, where he sits against a wall, vomits, and then looks up at the night sky, echoes [[w:Oscar Wilde|Oscar Wilde]]'s famous aphorism: ''We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.''

== Questions ==
* What becomes of the Centurions?
** Do they go after the remnants of Cavil's forces, or go their separate ways?
** Will the freed Centurions eventually develop their own humanoid forms, or develop in a completely other direction?
** If there are descendants of the Centurions 150,000 years later, do they remember their history?
* Did any copies of Cavil, Doral, or Simon survive? (See Notes)
**It is likely that some did on other baseships, as well as the likelyhood of some on the old Colonial planets.
*** If so, did they try to leave a legacy through the purely mechanical models, or by continuing the previously abandoned research which created the hybrids?
*The [[Final Five]] was able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction Cylons before [[Galen Tyrol]] in his rage over discovering [[Cally]]'s murder by [[Tory Foster]] broke the connection. Would the surviving Cavils, Dorals, and Simons be able to rebuild Resurrection technology from extrapolating from the data they did receive?
**Unlikely, as the only copies of this data would've been on board the Colony and in the minds of the final five. As Tory died and the Colony was destroyed, none of the remaining Cylons would have access to this information.
* Why does Cavil choose to commit suicide?
** [[RDM]] has stated <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref> that the manner of Cavil's death was suggested by [[Dean Stockwell]]: "I just really think that in that moment, Cavil would realize the jig is up and it's all hopeless and just put a gun in his mouth and shoot himself."
* What becomes of the baseships seen orbiting the Colony?
** Since the Fleet's baseship with its liberated Centurion crew is seen departing for parts unknown, perhaps they united.
* Are any other human-Cylon hybrids born on Earth, or do the Leobens, Sixes, and Sharons remain childless?
* If "it" doesn't like to be called [[God (RDM)|God]], what does "it" like to be called?
** This is a possible reference to the numerous other names attributed to God by different religions.
* Will modern humans discover remains of Colonial technology such as Raptors?
** Adama and the others may have eventually destroyed the Raptors, or perhaps programed them to leave Earth's orbit towards the Sun on autopilot to prevent any chance of Colonial Technology being discovered by their descendants.
* Why do the angels still look like Baltar and Six 150,000 years later?
** It is possible that the Number Six line was based upon the appearance of the being that presented itself to Galen Tyrol and the others prior to the nuclear destruction of the first Earth, as the five modeled the new eight after people they knew, Cavil was Ellen's father etc. That said, the Angel Six may actually appear as such.
* Will humanity repeat the Cycle?
* Are Thrace and Anders together after Thrace's disappearance?
* Can Thrace ever return again?
* Do Baltar and Caprica-Six marry? Do they go into isolation like Adama and Tyrol, or will they be near a human colony?
* Since Caprica Six and Gaius Baltar genuinely love each other, do they eventually have a child?
* Were Caprica Six and Baltar "supposed" to bring about the destruction of the Twelve Colonies?
* Do Adama and Tyrol stay isolated for the rest of their lives?
* Why was Romo Lampkin chosen as President? Wouldn't a member of the Quorum of Captains have been selected?
** They likely needed a "neutral" party and had no time to hold an election. Also, a bond of trust had been established between Lee Adama and Romo in previous episodes.
* What became of the remaining prisoners aboard the <i>[[Astral Queen]]</i>? Were they sent out amongst the rest of the human/cylon population, or were all of them deposited in some geographical area completely isolated from the other humans and cylons?
* Were any of the groups provided with medicine, or medical training or at least someone with someone with a strong background in medicine before spreading out among the world?
* Is God related to the Lords of Kobol or something completely different?
* Why did the First Hybrid not want humanity to follow Thrace?
** It appears that there was a faction of Cylons who did not accept the Final Five's offer to have humanoid models built for them, so it stands to reason they were the most "pure" Cylons following their own path and would not want to share human DNA.
** It is also possible that "they must not follow her" refers to Kara's fatal journey to Earth between [[Maelstrom]] and [[Crossroads, Part II]] to a potential disaster which could have happened if Adama chose to follow Kara's directions with the entire fleet in [[Six of One]] rather than sending her on the [[Demetrius]].
* How many angels are there? Are the ones that resemble Six and Baltar the same as those that appeared to the Final Five and Thrace, or distinct?
* Why have angels not been appearing to the Final Five since Old Earth's destruction, only to Baltar, Six, and Thrace?
* Since the notes of All Along the Watchtower lead to Earth, do they still serve a purpose on Earth?
* Will analysis of Hera's remains reveal that she was not a normal human? (See Notes)
** No because what we deem a modern human is in fact a mixture of Colonial human and Humanoid Cylon.
* Is the evolution of humans on two planets due to the same divine hand that's been guiding other events?
* Does human life evolve on planets other than Kobol and the new Earth?
* Who did Hera eventually have children with? A human or a Cylon? (See Analysis)
* Was it coincidence or divine intervention that an asteroid caused Racetrack's hand to hit the launch button for the nuclear weapons at the exact right moment?
* Why was ''Galactica'' able to jump without retracting its [[flight pods]] when escaping from the Colony? Did this cause ''Galactica'' to break its backbone?
* Will modern humanity venture out into space and discover places such as Kobol, the original Earth, the Twelve Colonies, and New Caprica?
* How close are the two Earths? The [[Tomb of Athena]] starmap showed constellations known on the second Earth, but was supposed to have been the sky as seen from the first. Does this mean they are very close indeed?
**New Earth is apparently 1 million light years from Kobol, and old Earth had to be within 2000 light years of Kobol and the 12 Colonies, based on the Final Five not having jump drives and having to travel at sub-light relativistic speeds. That means old Earth has to be nearly 1 million light years from new Earth. If this is the case, how do the constellations line up?
*** Possibly gross exaggeration (similar to "a million miles from home") of the distances involved in their travels, when considering the lengths of time it took for the fleet to initially reach Kobol, even with the hundreds of jumps that occurred during 33; and then the further time to reach the first Earth 2000 light years away. The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is 100.000 lightyears and the fleet never leaves this galaxy.
* Why was Starbuck not aware of her true nature until after her role had been fulfilled?
* In what part of Earth (a northerly island with "highlands") did Galen Tyrol settle? Scotland?
** Scotland, according an interview with RDM <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref>
* What is the nature of Starbuck's journey to the First Earth, crash, and return in the unscathed Viper? How did she "jump" to its coordinates? If her return was engineered by God to use her as an angel and bring humanity to Earth, why do so in a way that raised more questions about how it occurred than it answered?
* In what way, if any, did Starbuck fulfill her [[The Destiny|destiny]] as the "harbinger of death" that would lead humanity to its "end"?
** The pure Human and pure Cylon races both came to an end due to Starbuck's part in bringing them together. Furthermore, she helped bring about the apparent death of the Cycle.
*** It could be argued that she fulfilled her destiny in that ''Colonial humanity'' came to an end when the Colonial humans removed all technology from their lives and chose to live a more primitive existence with both the Cylons and the tribesman they discovered on Earth.
* How did the proto-Greek polytheistic religion of the Colonies survive nearly 150,000 years before being revived in garbled form with the rise of Greek civilization? Did it die out in practice but return through the universal subconscious?
* In what way, if any, did the Cylons' monotheistic religion and the Colonies' polytheistic religion intertwine? Did they coexist peacefully, or were there conflicts? Do modern monotheistic religions trace their traditions ultimately to those of the Cylons and the [[Cult of Baltar]]?
* During the lie detector test in the flashback scene of William Adama's attempt to secure a civilian job, why did the interrogator ask him if he was a Cylon? At that point in history, it was unknown that the Cylons had humanoid appearance.
**The question was likely a control question to establish how a truthful response to an absurd question would register.
* Even after committing the fleet to destruction, there are still serviceable Raptors on the surface of Earth, which are jump-capable. Would any of the surviving humans or Cylons come to regret having settled on a primitive world without technology and decide to return to the stars in search of resources or other habitable planets? Is there any [[tylium]] available on Earth?
* Assuming that (as Tigh indicated to Adama in [[Revelations]]) the Final Five Cylons age but the rest do not, what will become of Caprica-Six, Athena, and any other survivors of the non-Final Five models? How will Helo and Baltar cope with the non-aging of their spouses as they themselves age?
**As the humanoid Cylons are biological by nature, they will age at some rate. Considering that they are nearly identical biologically to humans, they likely age at a similar rate. It is likely that they might have previously prevented the appearance of aging due to frequent resurrection. Since that is no longer an option, they would age and die like the humans do.
** What Saul and Bill discuss is not necessarily fact; they don't know everything about the Cylons and characters are often seen speculating throughout the show in ways that have turned out to be false. For eg. in Season 1, some were scared people had been "replaced" by Cylons, which never happens.
** Ellen said John Cavil was once a boy, but this is not necessarily literal.
***It is not. The [[Significant Eight]] were never physically children. Ellen was referring to their emotional level of maturity when they first emerged.
* Did the old-style [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurions]] on the Colony fight for Cavil because they had [[telencephalic inhibitor]]s, or of their own free will? If the latter, why?
**If the old-style Cylons are still the Cylons that participated in the first Cylon war, they likely still do hold a grudge against humanity for enslaving them. Consider that Cavil has claimed in the past to want "justice" for what was done to his Centurion ancestors([[No Exit]]), and that the rebel Cylons are responsible for what could be taken as a genocide against the Cylons ([[The Hub]]), it's entirely possible that these old-style Centurions would hold a grudge against humanity and as such fight against them in an invasion of their home.
**Considering these old Centurions were sentient before Cavil was created it's highly unlikely Cavil was able to equip them with telecephalic inhibitors. These Centurions were probably treated as equals by the humanoid Cylons and were allowed to live with them on the Colony until they broke down.
***That may not be so, as the humanoid Cylons supposedly scrapped most of the old Centurions. The ones at the Colony may have been reprogrammed or been created after the First Cylon War with no free will.
* Is the Adama family the origin of the name Adam for the mythical first man?
* Has any of modern Humanity inherited Hera's ability to project?
* Was there anyone like Kara Thrace in previous iterations of the cycle?
* Does the cult continue under Paulla's leadership?
* How will Lee explain Kara's sudden disappearance to those at his settlement?
** People will probably just assume she was killed in the battle or that she went into isolation like Adama and Tyrol.
* Why was Doral convinced that the Final Five and the humans were trying to deceive the Cylons? The download was disrupted by Tyrol alone, not the other four Cylons. For that matter, when Tyrol attacked Foster, why didn't anyone try to separate them?
** Things happened so fast and so suddenly that there simply wasn't enough time for anyone to get control of the situation. Doral panicked when he realized that the Colony's hybrids were disabled and the first obvious explanation that came to mind was that they had been tricked.
* When the Final Five interfaced with each other during the download, did any of them regain their memories of events during their journey to The Twelve Colonies?

== Official Statements ==

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Virtual Baltar says the last line of the series as he walks down a street of modern day New York City with Virtual Six:''
:'''Virtual Baltar''': "Silly Me.....silly, silly me".

*''The Galactica is about to jump to The Colony and into harms way:''
:'''Admiral Adama''': Just so there'll be no misunderstandings later... ''Galactica'' has seen a lot of history, gone through a lot of battles. This ''will'' be her last. She will not fail us if we do not fail her. If we succeed in our mission, ''Galactica'' will bring us home. If we don't... it doesn’t matter anyway.

*''The Final Five are discussing things among themselves about to download the specifications of Resurrection technology. Cavil is impatient''
:'''Cavil''':"Not to rush you or anything, but you are keeping two entire civilizations waiting!

*''Cavil's last word before he commits suicide.''
:'''Cavil''': Frak!

*''Nuclear missiles has knocked the Colony falling into the Singularity and is dragging Galactica with it and Starbuck is frantically attempting to figure out the jump coordinates.''
:'''Starbuck''': There must be some kind of way out of here.

*''Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar speculating if the cycle will continue.''
:'''Virtual Baltar''': All of this has happened before...
:'''Virtual Six''': But does it all have to happen again?

*''Sam Anders, essentially Galactica's Hybrid, says his last words to Kara Thrace after she leaves his side.''
:'''Samuel Anders''': See you on the other side

*''Baltar to Caprica Six on New Earth in unspoken reference about his father''
:'''Baltar''': "You know, I know about farming." (sobs)

*''Laura Roslin is speaking to Dr. Cottle about the state of her health which both know it is grave with only a few days to live. Also, she is about to essentially go into battle to retrieve Hera and the Doctor appears to be on the verge of choking up:''
:'''Laura Roslin''': Don't spoil your image, just light a cigarette and go and grumble."

*''Former Admiral of the Fleet William Adama is showing Laura their new home on New Earth in a Raptor. She sees a heard of grezlles stampeding at the sight of the Raptor over the lush and rich landscape and says her last words:''
:'''Roslin''': So much life...

*''William Adama is sitting on a high ridge overlooking what would later be called the African Savannah in spectacular view. Laura Roslin's grave is behind him close by and he talks to her spirit. It is his last statement in the series:''
:'''William Adama''': I laid out the cabin. It's gonna have an easternly view. You should see the light we get here. When the sun comes from behind the mountains, it's almost heavenly. Reminds me of you."

*''Boomer has just given over Hera to Athena, saving her life from Cavil and Simon dissection-and both redeeming herself and condemning herself to death''
:'''Boomer''' (to Athena): Tell the old man, I owed him one.
:'''Athena''' (angrily) Doesn't change anything you did though!
:'''Boomer''' (shakes her head slightly): No. We all make our choices. Today I made a choice. I think its my last one.
:'''Starbuck''': All right this is really touching. Now can we get the frak out of here!?!
:'''Boomer''' (to Starbuck): You should know that your Raptor been destroyed. You can't go back that way.
:(Athena passes Hera to Helo)
:'''Athena''': Yeah well, that is not the plan.
:'''Starbuck''' (sardonically): Can we ''not'' tell her the plan?
:'''Athena''': Right.
:''(Athena and Boomer look each other in the eye for a moment. She raises her weapon. Boomer makes no move to escape, but stands strait head up, accepting if not welcoming her fate. Athena fires. Boomer is dead before she hits the deck.)''

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Number Two]]
* [[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
* [[Rick Worthy]] as [[Number Four]]
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[Sherman Cottle]]
* [[Matthew Bennett]] as [[Number Five]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Kerry Norton]] as [[Layne Ishay]]
* [[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Number One]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brenden "Hotdog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Ensign [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Lara Gilchrist]] as [[Paulla Schaffer]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Marine [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Leela Savasta]] as [[Tracey Anne]]
* [[Darcy Laurie]] as [[Dealino]]
* [[Iliana Gomez-Martinez]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Tobias Mehler]] as [[Zak Adama]]
* [[Simone Bailly]] as [[Shona]]
* [[Kevin McNulty]] as [[Frank Porthos]]
* [[Richard Jollymore]] as Marine #1
* [[Anthony St. John]] as Marine #2
* [[Dan Payne]] as [[Sean Allison]]
* [[Holly Eglinton]] as Stripper
* [[Tiffany Lyndall-Knight]] as [[Hybrid]] (uncredited)
* [[Ronald D. Moore]] as Man at news stand (uncredited)

== References ==

<div style="font-size: 85%;"><references /></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Ronald D. Moore]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]

Daybreak, Part II

2009-03-23T17:26:32Z

Bel3338: /* Act 10 */

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{{Episode Data
| image=Daybreak Teaser.jpg
| title= Daybreak, Part II & Part III
| season= 4
| episode= 20
| guests=
| writer= [[Ronald D. Moore]]<ref>http://rondmoore.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2008/4/18_Podcast_Success!.html</ref>
| story=
| director= [[Michael Rymer]]
| production=422
| rating=
| US airdate=March 20, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=March 20, 2009
| UK airdate=March 24, 2009
| dvd=
| population=
| prev=[[Daybreak, Part I]]
| next=[[The Plan]]
| extra='''Series Finale - 2 Hour Episode'''<ref>http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/06/battlestars-fin.html</ref>
| forumthread=3050
}}

== Overview ==

===Act 1===

* The final episode begins with a series of events before before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall]].
* In a strip bar in [[Caprica City]], [[William Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]] enjoy themselves.
* Adama questions whether to take a civilian job, rather than to take command of an aged battlestar<ref>This is a side reference to the events of the episode, "[[Hero]]"</ref> Over drinks, Adama decides to take the job.

* Elsewhere on Caprica, [[Lee Adama]] is having dinner with [[Kara Thrace]] and her fiancee, [[Zak Adama]].
* Zak questions why his brother joined the [[Colonial Forces]], despite Lee's idealism and his dislike of his father. Lee simply answers that he received college funding in exchange for service.

* Elsewhere, [[Laura Roslin]] greets her date, [[Sean Allison]], at her home. After realizing he seemed familiar, Roslin finally recalls where she had seen him. Sean was a former student from years ago.
* Despite the age difference, Roslin decides to let him stay the night. "The night's young. Apparently, so are you," she says. "Let's see what happens."

* Back at the strip bar, Bill Adama challenges Saul on whether he'd take the civilian desk job. Saul doesn't answer.

* Lee Adama and Thrace manage to drag Zak back to the apartment after a night of drinking. But Thrace isn't done, and pulls out more alcohol for shots between her and Lee.

* Bill Adama is drunkenly sick, vomiting outside somewhere on the street. With a weak smile, he looks up to the stars in the night sky.

* The scene shifts back to present day on ''[[Galactica]]'', where [[Gaius Baltar]] sits in the former home of his [[Cult of Baltar|followers]], now empty.
* He listens to the [[Virtual Beings|virtual Six]], telling him to trust in [[God (RDM)|God's plan]] for him. When he asks what that plan is, she tells him that he already following it.

===Act 2===

* In ''Galactica's'' [[sickbay]], Dr. [[Cottle]] (who will not be staying aboard the ship for the battle) leaves assistant [[Layne Ishay]] two injections of heavy medication to allow Laura Roslin enough lucidity and mobility for 48 hours. She thanks him sincerely, causing Cottle to be something he'd rarely been: speechless.

* In the [[pilot ready room]], [[Karl Agathon]] briefs the [[Raptor]] teams on the special nature of their rescue mission. Despite the odds, all volunteer.

* Lee Adama briefs the [[marines]] on where little Hera would likely be: deep inside the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[The Colony|colony]].

* Admiral Adama work out the tactics of the battle against the colony. Close-range combat; nuclear weapons and missiles will not be possible for the battlestar. He orders the gun [[battery|batteries]] to fire until exhausted, and after that, "start throwing rocks," he says with a small smile.

* The [[Final Five]] plan out what they can offer as well. As befitting a cybernetic race, they consider a tactic used by Cylons in the past. They will use [[Samuel Anders]], now effectively a [[Hybrid]] on ''[[Galactica]]'', to interface with the Colony and its Hybrids to interrupt their commands, slowing the effectiveness of the Colony's weapon systems.
* The catch is that Anders will need to be connected to the [[DRADIS]], fire control and [[C-3]] systems. They plan to take Anders and connect him inside [[CIC]].

* Admiral Adama hands over command of the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] to [[Hoshi]], noting that if they aren't back from the mission in 12 hours, they will never come back.
* In CIC, Saul Tigh jokes at his old friend at the bizarre sight of a Cylon interfaced to his battlestar, gooey wires and conduit that extend over Adama's command console everywhere and into the DRADIS console. "Still not too late to flush them all out of the airlock," Tigh quips. "Take too much time," Adama answers.
* With Lee Adama staying for the attack, he appoints [[Romo Lampkin]] as President of the Twelve Colonies. He joins Admiral Hoshi on the last Raptor to leave ''Galactica'' for the baseship, the Fleet's new flagship.
* Baltar's followers get in the ship. Baltar enters, but then tells [[Paulla]] that he must stay on the ship. Lee Adama throws Baltar a weapon.
* Adding to the Battlestar's attack force, a Number Six leads a large number of [[Cylon Centurion]]s down the [[hangar deck]], some with a red sash painted on them for identification.

===Act 3===

* A shot of the Fleet shows that the rebel [[Basestar (RDM)|baseship]] has fully regenerated from its damage from the start of the [[Cylon Civil War]]. It is ready to lead the civilians to safety while ''Galactica'' goes hunting, retracting its [[flight pod]]s to prep for [[FTL]].
* Adama commands a ship-wide readiness report, a sort of countdown.
* Meanwhile, in sickbay, Layne Ishay prep sickbay for wounded. Laura Roslin assists as best she can.
* [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]] are in [[launch tube]]s. The entire Raptor squadron, armed with missiles, have been placed inside the starboard flight pod deck, amidst the ruins of the old [[Galactica Museum]].
* Gaius Baltar is a soldier protecting the hallways against borders. He is surprised to find [[Caprica-Six]] by his side.
* In CIC, Ellen Tigh signals that Anders is ready to work.
* Adama gives a final speech, a final understanding and call to arms.

* The battlestar jumps only meters from the edge of the Colony--and is immediately besieged by the Cylon batteries.
* With little time, Sam Anders attempts to make contact with the Colony Hybrids--and takes them offline, apparently by causing them to go into a state of ecstasy. Ellen warns that [[Cylon Raider]]s will appear any minute.
* ''Galactica'' responds by launching its fighter wings. The Vipers launch, and the Raptors jump directly from within the starboard pod--causing incredible damage to the pod as it vents open--but now placing themselves on the opposite side of the Colony in a flanking position.
* Adama orders the battlestar's engines at flank speed. He rams the alligator head into the Colony. ''Galactica's'' inhabitants take a beating, but so does the Colony. The Colonials have breeched it, forming an entrance. Lee Adama leads his marines and several Cylon Centurions inside from a front airlock.
* [[Sharon Agathon]] and Helo's Raptor make their way to the Colony's interior.
* [[Racetrack]] and [[Skulls]] arm their nuclear missiles, presumably to strike the colony after the rescue. But suddenly a piece of debris strikes their Raptor, killing all aboard and leaving the Raptor adrift.
* The Raptors breech another section of the Colony, and their teams enter.

* Deep inside the Colony, a [[Simon]] works on young Hera as [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]] looks on in disgust. When she questions why he continues to work on Hera, the Simon explains that they maintain and superior force and numbers.
* Suddenly, Boomer assaults the Simon, snapping his neck. She takes Hera out of the room.

===Act 4===

* The Colony's halls are filled with gunfire. Cylon Centurions, including older [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Model 0005s]] fight each other as the Colonial fire teams push through.
* [[Cavil]], a [[Number Five]] and another Simon decide to go on the offensive, to attack the battlestar with their troops.

* In a hallway in ''Galactica'', ready to repel boarders, Caprica-Six and Baltar come to terms with their old relationship. As they kiss, they hear a Six's voice. "All of the pieces are falling into place."
* The Virtual Six--''and'' the Virtual Baltar--stand above them. To the surprise of Caprica-Six and Baltar, they can hear and see each of the avatars.
* With a shudder, the battlestar hull is breeched as waves of enemy Centurions, both old-model and modern, pour into the ship.

* The Agathon's team find Boomer, holding Hera. She gives the child to them, telling them to tell Admiral Adama that she "owed him one." With the child safe, Athena shoots Boomer.
* A flashback scene shows what Boomer meant: a time back in her days on '''Galactica'', as Adama and Tigh redress her but give her another chance to be a better pilot.

* Ishay has her hands full in sickbay, trying to triage and treat as many people as she can. The event is taxing, physically and mentally, for Roslin, as she comforts more dying than not.

* Lee Adama's team connects with Starbuck's team, with Hera in tow. When Lee asks where Thrace was, she answers, "Stopped for coffee."<ref>This might be the one time in the history of the series where an obvious joke to [[w:Starbucks Coffee|Starbucks Coffee]] has been used.</ref> With their objective complete and no other Colonial troops found, they head back to the battlestar's alligator-head.

* ''Galactica'' batteries are being targeted by Raiders. She is losing what little defensive ability she has left. Enemy forces are coming at the reserve forces--where Baltar waits.

===Act 5===

* Caprica-Six and Baltar hold off the enemy Centurions. Baltar's passion at killing Centurions gets a bit out of control as Lee Adama's team reenter the battlestar with Hera. As more enemies appear, Lee and Baltar fire away.
* Laura Roslin sits and experiences yet another vision of the [[Opera House]] and little Hera. Struggling to walk, driven by something she can't fully realize, she gets up to find Hera.
* Starbuck leads the Agathons through the hallways, but a Number Five appears from behind, seriously wounding Helo in the leg and killing a marine before Starbuck eliminates him. A damaged, but still functioning enemy Centurion shows up and in the confusion, Hera runs away. Athena runs after her at the request of her wounded husband.
* Hera walks amidst the gunfighting, when soon she encounters Roslin, who pulls out of the path of an enemy patrol and to safety. But when Roslin turns back to the child, she is gone again.
* Caprica-Six and Baltar are running, and are out of ammo. Suddenly they see Hera, as well as Roslin and Athena--all grouped together as in the Opera House vision. Caprica-Six scoops up the child and enters a hallway, closing the hatchway, preventing Athena and Roslin from following. The opera house vision had Caprica-Six and Baltar closing the door on boht Athena and Roslin after picking up Hera.
* As the scene shifts between visions of the Opera House and the corridors, Baltar and Caprica-Six realize what they must do: follow their vision into the Opera House--which turns out to be CIC, where the Final Five reside, overlooking the lower deck of CIC as they appeared in the vision, standing above.
* Adama and his men have apparently just finished defending the CIC from a break-in by Cavil, a Doral and a Simon. The Doral and the Simon are dead, and Cavil is under guard. An explosion rocks the CIC, and Cavil picks up a gun and grabs Hera as a shield.
* Baltar pleads for the child's freedom, telling Cavil that Hera is key to humanity's survival as well. He reasons with Cavil that there are higher forces at work, that led them all, here, for a reason. Baltar also reveals that he has been visited by angels - the agents of God. When Cavil questions if God has his people's interests at heart, on how Baltar knows that God is on his side, Baltar replies (in an allusion of something [[The Hand of God (RDM)| Virtual Six once told him]]), "God is not on anyone's side." The Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar look on with a pleased expression.
* Baltar asks Cavil to take a leap of faith. Saul Tigh sweetens the pot by offering to reteach Cavil the secret of [[Resurrection (RDM)|resurrection]], this time in exchange not only for Hera's life but for permanent peace, where the Cylons leave humanity alone.
* Cavil agrees. He uses the Battlestar comm to order his forces to stand down and releases Hera. Admiral Adama orders stand-down as well.

===Act 6===

* Vipers and Raptors return to ''Galactica'' as the Raiders return to the Colony. Laura Roslin joins the admiral in CIC.
* The Five each know part of the secret to resurrection. They will combine their knowledge by connecting themselves through the water in Ander's tank. Ellen Tigh tells the others that the process will also share memories as well as data.
* But before they begin, [[Tory Foster]], visibly anxious, warns the others that they will see "certain things" of their bad behavior. She tries to prepare the others of what they will see of her. An impatient Cavil screams. "I don't mean to rush you, but you are keeping two civilizations waiting!"
* The Five dip their hands and make the connection. As the data flows to the Colony, Foster's visions of murdering [[Cally Tyrol]] in an effort to protect her secret of being a Cylon comes to the forefront, surprising the others of the Five, and angering [[Galen Tyrol]] immediately.
* Tyrol pulls his hand from the pool and wraps both hands tightly around Foster's neck in a death-grip, eventually snapping her neck.
* As Anders screams from the sudden disconnection, the Cylons in CIC believe they are deceived and open fire. The Colonials kill all but Cavil, who shouts an exasperated "[[Frak]]!" before putting his pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

* High above, as the Raiders begin attacking ''Galactica'' again, [[Racetrack]]'s damaged Raptor drifts, its crew lifeless. A rock strikes the ship, causing Racetrack's dead hand to strike the firing button to the Raptor's tactical nuclear missiles, launching them all straight at the Colony.
* The force of the explosions severely damage the Colony, pushing it towards the black hole, threatening to take ''Galactica'' with it.
* Adama orders Kara Thrace to make a [[blind jump]], but Thrace thinks about [[The Music|the music her father played]], the music that Hera wrote to her. Recalling the mathematical associations she tried to discern from the music, Thrace realizes the music works as a series of FTL coordinates.
* She punches in the coordinates into the [[Computers|navigation computer]] and jumps the ship.

* A flashback scene appears where Lee Adama and Kara Thrace talk about how she [[The Destiny|thinks about death]] every time she gets into a cockpit.

* ''Galactica'' completes the jump--but the strain of the last battle causes the battlestar's structure to ripple and twist as structural members tear and break. The ship will never jump again. Engines and life support are still online, but ''Galactica's'' backbone is broken.
* "Where have you taken us, Kara?" Roslin asks, as the scene changes to an exterior shot to show the battlestar flying over a gray, rocky moon.
* But is not just a moon...''Galactica'' has arrived at the ''moon of Earth''...another Earth, this one with the continent of Africa in prominent view.

===Act 7===

* The Fleet jumps into Earth orbit as ''Galactica'' passes by. A Raptor came to Hoshi to guide them to Earth.
* Landing ship after landing ship leave for the new world.
* On a green, rich savannah in Africa, Admiral Adama, Cottle, Saul Tigh, Hoshi, and Baltar look on, lying prone on their stomachs with binoculars at a tribe of early humans. Cottle confirms that the native humans are compatible with the Colonials genetically.
* At a camp, as Lampkin considers a building of a new city, Lee Adama tells him to let humanity start all over again, leave their technology behind, which has almost always gotten them into trouble. Let the Colonials enter Earth with just their basic possessions.

* Admiral Adama maps out a plan to populate various continents and land masses, spreading out humanity and Cylon far and wide, distributing supplies to give all a good chance of survival. To Lampkin's surprise, the peoples of the Fleet take a liking to leaving technology behind.
* A [[Number Two]] tells Adama that the remaining Twos, Sixes, and Eights will stay on Earth as well, handing over the baseship to the Centurions, to give them their own freedom. When Lampkin questions if setting the Centurions free won't cause another holocaust hundreds of years from now, Ellen Tigh agrees it's a risk, but believes the cycle of death has been ended. Adama agrees.
* Adama tells that, after everyone is offloaded from the ships, the Fleet will reunite with '''Galactica'' a final time. Piloted by Samuel Anders, still in his tank in CIC, connected into the battlestar, he will fly all the ships on a final voyage into the Sun.

* Kara Thrace, eyes filled with tears, meets with Anders at his tank, kissing him goodbye for the last time, and leaving her [[dog tags]]. As she leaves, he mutters, "I'll see you on the other side."

===Act 8===

* Admiral William Adama descends into the hangar deck, wearing a [[flight suit]]. The deck is otherwise completely empty of anything, and anyone.
* He takes a seat in a [[Viper Mark II]]. Not just any Mark II...but the one that Galen Tyrol's team rebuilt for him as a retirement gift [[Miniseries, Night 1|so long ago]].
* As Adama's Viper launches, the scene shifts to six years prior, where Adama is taking a lie detector test for the prospective desk job. When the test administrator asks him test questions such as, "Are you a Cylon?" and "Have you ever stolen money from a cash drawer?" Adama is angered and leaves, saying, "I'd rather spend the rest of my career--what's left of it--on a broken old down ship, than to have someone sit here and question my word."
* Husker's Viper makes a final fly-by of the old battlestar, looking at her one last time before pointing his Viper towards Earth.

* Samuel Anders' voice from the past talks of his days in sport, dreaming of perfection, and being linked to it, to creation, as Anders guides the Fleet, now united to the mathematical perfection he once spoke of through his duties as a Hybrid.
* As the [[Colonial_Anthem|Colonial Anthem]]--a version of the [[Original Series]] main theme--plays, the scene shows ''Galactica'' and the Fleet gathered a final time, heading away from Earth and towards the sun to its demise.

* Walking in the savannah, the Tighs speak with Galen Tyrol a final time. He has decided to go to the northern highlands of Earth (likely Scotland <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref>). The scene shifts to the Tighs, partying back in Caprica City, once upon a time.

===Act 9===

* On the plains, Bill Adama sits with Laura Roslin, watching herds of gazelle. Her vision weakening, she tries to use her glasses with the binoculars. "A very beautiful world," she says. When she asks what the name of the planet is, Adama tells her it's Earth. He adds, "Earth is a dream," believing that their new home, a long-sought destination, deserves the name.
* Roslin's breathing becomes labored and shallow. Adama offers to give her a better look at the wildlife. He picks her up and carries her to a nearby Raptor.
* Lee Adama and Kara Thrace notice and meet Bill Adama there. The Adamas hug, and Bill Adama gives Thrace a final greeting of "[[Nothing but the rain]]" before he hugs and kisses her. Thrace and Lee wave goodbye to a smiling Roslin as the Raptor ascends.

* Lee realizes that his father isn't coming back. Kara Thrace tells Lee that she isn't coming back, either. "I just know that I am done here. I've completed my journey...and it feels good."

* A flashback scene, back in Thrace's apartment, where Thrace dares Lee to make love to her on her dining room table. But before they could do anything, the crash of a glass partially awakens Zak, causing the two to realize what they were doing. They shake hands and say goodbye.

* "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Lee," Kara Thrace says. As Lee tells her of desire to explore and climb mountains, he turns to find that Kara Thrace has vanished, as if she were a ghost. "Goodbye, Kara," he says. "You won't be forgotten."
* A flashback scene shows the pigeon that would be trapped in Lee's apartment after his visit to Kara and Zak. It looks at Lee and flies out of the window and away.

* In another flashback from six years prior, Laura Roslin returns to stand by the side of the bed, thanks Sean Allison, but tells him that they will not meet this way again, and asks him to leave. As the man leaves, Roslin returns to her bathroom, lights a cigarette, then makes a phone call. She accepts the opportunity to work on Mayor [[Richard Adar]]'s campaign.

* Bill Adama's Raptor flies over flamingos. "So much..life," Laura Roslin says...her final words as she closes her eyes and quietly passes.
* Moments go by before Bill realizes that she is gone.
* In tears, Bill removes his wedding ring and places it on Laura's hand. "Right there...I'm going to build our cabin right there," he says, pointing to some hills.

===Act 10===

* A line of people walk into the wilderness, calm and ready to take on the world.
* The Agathons walk as well, Helo using a makeshift crutch, talking of hunting and other pleasantries. Hera runs about in play, a smile on her face.

* Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six look on at Hera playing as the Virtual Six and Baltar reappear. When Caprica-Six questions if the protection of Hera was all that God wanted of them, the Virtual Six replies, "God's plan is never complete." "Great..." Baltar replies sullenly.
* Virtual-Baltar counters, "I think it's safe to say that, from now on, your lives will be less...eventful."

* Another flashback to Caprica City. Baltar offers Caprica-Six an opportunity to "peek" into the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]].

* When Baltar points to some land, he recalls his heritage, and [[Julius Baltar|his father]], and that he knows a bit about farming, to a bit of tears.

* Bill Adama sits, looking out into the hills and valley. "I laid out the cabin today. It's going to have an easterly view. You should see the light that we get here. When the sun comes from behind those mountains. It's almost heavenly. It reminds me of you."
* As he speaks, the camera pans up to show Adama, seated near the cairn he built for Laura Roslin's body.

* The scene turns to show Hera playing and looking upward. Scenes of wood and desert and sea pass by in a geologic montage to reveal an Earth city--New York City--150,000 years ahead in time.

* As a fly-over of the city appears, a voice-over of Virtual-Six reads from a magazine article of the Tanzanian discovery of the bones of what scientists believe our the remains of the [[w:mitochondrial Eve|mitochondrial Eve]], the matrilineal common ancestor of mankind.

* As [[Ron D. Moore|a man reads]] about the scientific discovery, the Virtual Six and Baltar look over his shoulder at a magazine article of the news, and reveal what they know...the bones are that of Hera Agathon, born of a Cylon mother and a human father. No other people on the street appear to notice them.

* The two talk of the technology and decadence, of whether this Earth will repeat the mistakes of generations past and again become overwhelmed by their creations. The Six thinks not, believing it to be God's plan.

* "You know it doesn't like that name," Baltar says. Six only looks back in mild defiance. "Silly. Silly me," he replies as the two walk away into the metropolis.

* The episode concludes with scenes of robots, from toys to advanced automatons growing and evolving, as Jimi Hendrix's--Earth's popular version--of "[[The Music|All Along The Watchtower]]" plays.

== Notes ==
*A portion of this episode was being filmed in [[w:Kamloops| Kamloops, BC]] during the week of June 16, 2008. Local extras of all ages were utilized for this scene (or scenes) and were required to have an athletic build and a clean-cut look, or to be slim with long hair or dreadlocks. Extras were auditioned at Best Western room 137 (in Kamloops) on June 12th <ref>http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/entertainment/19788509.html</ref>. The rural area surrounding Kamloops was previously utilized to depict the [[algae planet]] in "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]" and "[[Rapture]]".
*Although Part I had a runtime of one hour, Part II will run for two hours. An even longer cut of Daybreak will later be released on DVD. <ref>{{cite_news|first=|last=|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/07/talking-battles.html|title=Talking 'Battlestar Galactica's' finale, 'Caprica' and the 'Battlestar' TV movie with Ron Moore}}</ref>
*There was no final population count given after the engagement with the Cavil forces. However, there were no reported deaths by accident or violence before the engagement so the population count is most likely the same as it was in "[[Daybreak, Part I]]" before the attack on the Cylon Colony, 39,516.
**A new population count post-engagement is given in the separate iTunes release of Daybreak, Part III. The count is 39,406, putting Colonial casualties from the battle at 110. Then shortly after their arrival on New Earth former President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol Laura Roslin dies, and Kara Thrace vanishes without a trace. From this we can derive that the number of people settled on New Earth is 39,404. This does not include the unknown number of humanoid Cylons from the Baseship (which probably was never stated) and possibly Athena and the remaining three of the Final Five who aren't considered human survivors.
*With the ramming of [[The Colony]] by ''Galactica'' Hera's prophetic [[Projection]] at the very beginning of [[Islanded in a Stream of Stars]] came true. In her projection as she was playing on ''Galactica'''s tactical light table with the models of ''Galactica'', three Baseships and three Cylon Raiders, she rammed a model Baseship with the model of ''Galactica''.
*There is a poetic ring to the nature of the conflict of the Second Cylon War:
** It began with the Cylon attack on Colonies nearly wiping out mankind. It ended with the Colonial attack on the Cylon Colony very likely wiping out the Cylons who didn't join with the humans.
**Shortly after the Cylon attack on Caprica, Baltar -- having unintentionally brought about the near-annihilation of the human species -- flees Caprica when Karl Agathon gives him his place on a Raptor, feeling that his own life is less important to save than a famed scientist's. But at the end of the series, it is Baltar who puts his own life at risk for the sake of saving Agathon's daughter Hera and expresses concern for her future well being to the very end of the series (both ends of this parallel occur in wide open fields).
**Agathon and Cylon Sharon Valerii are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
**The earliest known detail we see of Gaius Baltar's life is his effort to break away from his family history as farmers, and his shame over his heritage. The last event we see in his embrace of a new beginning as a farmer.
**Baltar and Number Six are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
**The earliest event we see from Laura Roslin's life (retroactively) is the death of her sisters, killed during transit. The last event of her life that we see is her own death, which occurs during transit.
**The series began with Galactica's scheduled decommissioning and ends with its actual decommissioning.
**The series begins with a selfish decision Baltar makes (to give Caprica Six access to military mainframes) that nearly destroys Colonial humanity. It ends with a selfless decision Baltar makes (to fulfill his destiny in saving Hera) that gives Colonial humanity a new start in the form of Hera.
** At the beginning of the series, William Adama divorces his wife soon after returning to Colonial military service. At the end of the series, Adama abandons all trappings of the military to be with his unofficial wife Laura Roslin, upon whose finger he puts his wedding ring just after she dies.
**This poetic ring is also in line with [[Romo Lampkin]]'s observation of him being President of it being "Poetic justice" and Lee Adama's "What goes around, comes around" since Lampkin originally pushed him to be a politician. Indeed, the Cylons were revisited by the destruction they wrought on the human Colonies.
*Gaius Baltar, with deliberate aforethought, gave [[Caprica Six]] the back door to the Colonial defenses. He still did not know Caprica Six was a Cylon, but he did commit willful corporate espionage knowing he would be punished for it if caught. Previously Baltar's giving of Caprica Six the secrets was implied-or at least inferred-to be from naive vanity to impress his girlfriend Caprica Six.
*This episode marks the deaths of [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]], [[John Cavil]], [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]], [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Laura Roslin]] and the destruction of Cavil's forces. The [[Doral]] and [[Simon]] lines are also presumably wiped out, or at least decimated beyond recovery. [[Kara Thrace]], having fulfilled her purpose, vanishes without a trace and her current whereabouts are unknown. In detail:
**Boomer was killed by [[Athena]] in revenge for taking [[Hera]], sleeping with [[Helo]] and beating her in the lavatory.
**Cavil took his own life in Galactica's CIC when his side lost.
***It is unknown what happened to the other members of the Cavil/Number One line. The death of only a single Cavil is depicted.
**Racetrack and Skulls's Raptor was struck by an asteroid fragment penetrating their wind screen and striking them. Both Skulls and Racetrack were killed on impact. Racetrack's dead hand later hit the launch button that launched the nuclear missiles after her Raptor was hit again by an asteroid.
**Tory was killed by [[Galen Tyrol]] in revenge for Tory killing his wife [[Cally]] after he learned Tory murdered her during the mutual and involuntary exchange of private information of the [[Final Five]]'s minds while downloading Resurrection technology data to the Cavil forces.
**Anders guided himself in ''Galactica'' and the Fleet into the Sun.
**Roslin died of cancer as Adama was giving her a bird's eye view of their new home on second Earth in a Raptor.
**Since they did not have either Cylon females or Resurrection technology the Cavil, Simon and Doral models on the various Cylon Baseships presumably died out after their natural life spans were exhausted.
**Kara was presumably taken by the same force, stated to be God by [[Virtual Six]], that resurrected her.
*The fate of numerous supporting characters remains unrevealed, including [[Brendan Costanza|Hot Dog]], last seen flying his Viper back to ''Galactica'' after the initial cease fire, numerous mutineers such as [[Diana Seelix]], and others such as Doc Cottle's nurse. The episode also never touches on what became of [[Cult of Baltar|Baltar's cult]], including founding member [[Jeanne]] who is absent from the finale entirely.
**Since we didn't see them volunteer in the hanger deck nor they were depicted in the attack it is a fair assumption Seelix didn't volunteer. Ishay, Cottle's "nurse" was on Galactica away from the fighting she was last seen triaging with Roslin. Unless she did something like hit her head hard while being thrown to the deck by a severe explosion, it is very likely that she survived. On the other hand, no mention of Hot Dog's death was said if it occurred. Given the precedent of Galen Tyrol's incarceration not being mentioned for an episode it is not certain he is dead or alive. The Cult of Baltar including Jeanne, Paulla, and Tracy Anne stayed behind on the Baseship which stayed with the fleet.
*The recurring subplot involving the faction called the [[Sons Of Ares]], in particular its growing conflict with the [[Cult of Baltar]], is not resolved.
**The rivalry between the Cult of Baltar and the Sons of Ares lives and doings where disrupted by the evacuation of Galactica and the resettlement on New Earth. They would have a hard time resuming their activities in all the confusion.
*This episode also marks the destruction of the ''Galactica'' and her Fleet.
*The Raiders are seen using missiles for the first time since the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
*Apparently contrary to previous information, ''Galactica'' executes a successful jump with her flight pods extended. It is unclear why on previous occasions the pods needed to be retracted prior to jumping, or why the Cylons targeting the pods in the mini-series battle would have crippled the ship. However, when ''Galactica'' comes out of the jump a Viper can be seen being hurled clear from the ship, which is presumably why retracting the pods is advisable. It is also possible that the strain of jumping with the pods extended contributed to ''Galactica'''s structural failure.
*Humanity, along with the Cylons, finally reaches its new homeworld, names it Earth, and the humans of today are the distance descendants of Hera.
*The tracing of the human blood line through [[wikipedia:Mitochondrial DNA|Mitochondrial DNA]] to a common ancestor and dubbing her [[wikipedia:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] is a real theory. Mitochondrial Eve was the ''matrilineal most recent common ancestor'', the most recent person in the female line that all of humanity can be said to be from. In other words, Hera is everybody's mother's mother's ... mother's mother. This does NOT imply that she is the only ancestor of modern humans. In fact, it implies that each female alive at the time either has no surviving descendants, or is ALSO a common ancestor (though not a purely maternal one).
** In the series, Hera is Mitochondrial Eve, meaning that all of modern humanity is a combination of Colonial humanity and Cylon, although there maybe ancestors of native New Earth in the current population from the male line of descendants.
** The fossilized remains are said to be of a young woman, indicating Hera does not live to see a middle age, though she has children before she dies. Specifically, she must have had daughters to pass on her (Human-Cylon) mitochondrial DNA.
*The Centurions are granted full independence and subsequently depart in the rebel Baseship to pursue their own destiny. Their status 150,000 years later remains a mystery. The Colonials and humanoid Cylons believe it is unlikely they will be a threat, as they have no reason to bear a grudge this time around.
*The ''[http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Kodiak Kodiak]'', the command ship of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) faction from the computer game ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Tiberian_Sun Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]'' is seen among the fleet in one establishing shot.
*When ''Galactica'' and the Fleet fly into the Sun, only 15 ships can be seen when at least 35 ships were still in the Fleet during the Mutiny, and upwards of 90 after the events of the mini-series. However, establishing shots of the Fleet rarely show more than a dozen ships in one shot regardless, and the implication is that the entire Fleet was destroyed.
*The final scene, like most of the rest of the series, was filmed in Vancouver, BC, and not in New York City at all. In the final scene with Angel Baltar and Six, "Bread Garden Bakery and Cafe", W Pender St, and Dunsmuir St are visible, all of which are within a couple blocks of each other along Granville St in downtown Vancouver. [http://tinyurl.com/crgd2x] Furthermore, a bus passes by just before the credit, sporting the colors of the Coast Mountain Bus Company.
*The Centurion Model 0005 in the museum case is a retcon. In the [[Miniseries]], it was an Original Series costume, with the black skirt and non-exposed joints. In this episode, it is a CGI First War Centurion 0005 with exposed joints and no black skirt.
**It is not explained why the museum flight pod is shown to be in nearly pristine condition when, in addition to four years of battles and the atmosphere-drop over New Caprica, a Cylon Heavy Raider crashed through the overhead window and crushed several of the exhibits in ''[[Scattered]]''. Repairing the museum and exhibits would have seemed to be a low priority during subsequent events.
*Reference (possibly intentional) is made to Olmos' earlier work: Adama's flushing of flamingos while flying a Raptor is reminiscent of the flamingos flushing during the opening credits of Miami Vice, the TV series in which Edward James Olmos co-starred.
*The news network covering the story "Advances in Robotics" as Angel Baltar and Six pass by is [http://www.msnbc.com MSNBC], the 24 hour news network arm of the NBC Universal media conglomerate which also owns the SyFy Channel (at the time the SciFi Channel), which produces ''Battlestar Galactica'' and airs the series in the United States.
*Although many of the magazines on the newsstand appear familiar, close examination reveals that at least some have made-up names. A magazine that appears at first glance to be ''Sports Illustrated'' is actually ''Sports Limited''. Also, although the magazine read by Angel Six and Baltar (and Ronald Moore) closely resembles ''National Geographic'', at no time is the complete title of the magazine or its full logo actually shown on screen.

== Analysis ==

*The coordinates that Thrace enters, 1123 / 6536 / 5321 correspond to the notation of the Final Four theme [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/theme-watchtower.jpg]. The song is in a C# Phrygian scale (enharmonic with A major and F# minor). 1 represents C#, and each higher integer indicates the next note in the scale, such that

:1 = C#
:2 = D
:3 = E
:(4 = F#)
:5 = G#
:6 = A
:(7 = B)

:The linked graphic omits the first and last note of the theme, but both can be heard in the soundtrack during the jump montage. The second "five" (in the third chunk of four digits) corresponds to the tuplet G#/A/G#, effectively omitting the trill up to high A. Every note has the same duration except for the last two, which are twice the length of the others.
*The Virtual Beings are angels of God who came to guide Baltar and Caprica Six in their destiny of protecting Hera.
*Kara Thrace is an angel who was sent back from the dead to guide humanity to a new home the coordinates of which were hidden in The Music.
*It is possible that some Baseships of Ones, Fours, and Fives were not at the [[Colony]] when it was destroyed, given the fact that they were observed jumping in and out of the system by Racetrack and Skulls. However, as noted in the "Notes" section it is unlikely that the Cavil, Simon and Doral lines will continue without Cylon females. The [[Three]]s are extinct with the last copy [[D'Anna Biers]] herself dying on the original Earth; Boomer was killed in the Colony (and in anycase couldn't single handedly save the lines even if she were alive); and the last Sixes and Eights staying with the humans on the second Earth. However, there is the possibility of having a few remaining human females from the survivors of the various Colonial worlds including [[Caprica]], if they still exist, being viable, so the lines could in theory continue. However, given the total lack of success in the forced breeding of Cylons and humans and the Cavil, Dorals and Simon's cynical view of love, an apparent requirement of conception between both Cylon-Cylon and Cylon-human combinations, with their hatred of humans it is unlikely. One final option could remain. The Final Five was able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction before Tyrol in his rage at Tory broke the connection. It is possible that the Cavil faction could extrapolate from the data they did get to recreate the technology. How long this could take or even if it is possible depends on how much and/or if the most critical and unique part of the technology was downloaded.
*On the second Earth Hera's mate that produced children was most likely human. Saul Tigh and the Leobens would be too old for her. While it was fairly common in ancient times for the men to be far older than their brides (particularly with royalty), for example with the female being as young as 12 and the male being say 60 to take an extreme. However, Colonial mores, which are much like our own in real life, would forbid the Leobens from sexual congress with Hera when she reach the accepted reproductive age. On the other hand there were many human children about her age and [[Boxey (RDM)|slightly older]] in the Fleet. She could had also had children with a human child unborn at the time of the landing on Second Earth, perhaps within five years to ten years of her age. It is possible that other hybrid children could had been born after the landing given that the Twos, Sixes, and Eights joined the humans. And it is possible that pure Cylon children could had been born to the age compatible Sixes, Eights, and Leobens but as noted in the series it is difficult if not impossible for a pure Cylon child to come to term making any pool of pure Cylon children that were successfully born-if any-very small. Cylon-Human mating with a human male with a Six or a Sharon is very possible with the example of Hera herself is an much more likely than with a Cylon-Cylon birth, but it is still harder than with human-human pairings. This would make any children pool of those pairings, while much more likely and larger than Cylon-Cylon offspring, would still quite small number compared to pure human offspring frequency of birth. Therefore Hera's offspring is most likely with a human. A more remote possibility is with another Cylon-human hybrid. Her producing children with a pure Cylon offspring is the least likely of the three since pure Cylons are the least likely to exist. Throw in the possibility is Hera mating with the New Earth native tribal humans males then the likely hood of Hera having a child with a human is very likely.
*[[Ronald D. Moore]] appears as himself holding a ''National Geographic'' magazine in New York City.
*The shelters erected by the Colonials on Earth resemble [[Wikipedia:Quonset hut|Quonset huts]], World War II-era temporary structures.
*The final scenes of this episode, in fast-forwarding through time and attempting to set the entire work as a backstory, make the ending similar to that of the film [[Wikipedia:How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]].
* There are at least two distinct angels. They have known each other long and born witness to Kobol and the original Earth, as well as the Twelve Colonies and the new Earth. They can walk around and observe events even when no one else present can see them, though they may have the ability to appear to anyone they wish. In the final scene, a man walking by the Angel Six appears to check her out (though this may have been a simple acting goof).
* In another piece of irony, the two beings most directly responsible for the attack and destruction of the 12 Colonies, Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six, get to live on a lush green New Earth in love with each other.
* Even if humanity does repeat the cycle, Lee Adama's plan would seem to have had some success, because it will have taken much, much longer to do so this time around.
* Ellen says that hopefully the Hybrids will ''still'' respond to Anders' commands. In other words, they would recognize him from the time the Final Five ran the Colony.
* The Final Five can be considered ancestors of present-day humanity because they created Athena and the other Eights, Twos, and Sixes.
* The constellation [[w:Ursa Major|Ursa Major]] (commonly known as the "Big Dipper") appears briefly in this episode. It makes only the second appearance of a recognizable star pattern in the series, the first being Orion in "[[The Ties That Bind]]" (Orion is also visible in this episode).
* Adama's statement that New Earth is "one million light years" from Kobol must be taken as exaggeration or an error. The Milky Way is 100 000 light years across, and earlier statements in the show indicate that it considerable time to travel much shorter distances.
*Cavil's suicide, in the way it is framed and executed, closely mirrors the televised 1987 suicide of American politician [[w:Budd Dwyer|Budd Dwyer]].

== Questions ==
* What becomes of the Centurions?
** Do they go after the remnants of Cavil's forces, or go their separate ways?
** Will the freed Centurions eventually develop their own humanoid forms, or develop in a completely other direction?
** If there are descendants of the Centurions 150,000 years later, do they remember their history?
* Did any copies of Cavil, Doral, or Simon survive? (See Notes)
**It is likely that some did on other baseships, as well as the likelyhood of some on the old Colonial planets.
*The [[Final Five]] was able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction Cylons before [[Galen Tyrol]] in his rage over discovering [[Cally]]'s murder by [[Tory Foster]] broke the connection. Would the surviving Cavils, Dorals, and Simons be able to rebuild Resurrection technology from extrapolating from the data they did receive?
**Unlikely, as the only copies of this data would've been on board the Colony and in the minds of the final five. As Tory died and the Colony was destroyed, none of the remaining Cylons would have access to this information.
* Why does Cavil choose to commit suicide?
** [[RDM]] has stated <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref> that the manner of Cavil's death was suggested by [[Dean Stockwell]]: "I just really think that in that moment, Cavil would realize the jig is up and it's all hopeless and just put a gun in his mouth and shoot himself."
* What becomes of the Baseships seen orbiting the Colony?
** Since the Fleet's baseship with its liberated Centurion crew is seen departing for parts unknown, perhaps they united.
* Are any other human-Cylon hybrids born on Earth, or do the Leobens, Sixes, and Sharons remain childless?
* If "it" doesn't like to be called [[God (RDM)|God]], what does "it" like to be called?
** This is a possible reference to the numerous other names attributed to God by different religions.
* Will modern humans discover remains of Colonial technology such as Raptors?
** Adama and the others may have eventually destroyed the Raptors, or perhaps program them to leave Earth's orbit towards the Sun on autopilot to prevent any chance of Colonial Technology from being discovered.
* Why do the angels still look like Baltar and Six 150,000 years later?
** It is possible that the Number Six line was based upon the appearance of the being that presented itself to Galen Tyrol and the others prior to the nuclear destruction of the first Earth, as the five modeled the new eight after people they knew, Cavil was Ellen's father etc. That said, the Angel Six may actually appear as such.
* Will humanity repeat the Cycle?
* Are Thrace and Anders together after Thrace's disappearance?
* Can Thrace ever return again?
* Do Baltar and Caprica-Six marry? Do they go into isolation like Adama and Tyrol, or will they be near a human colony?
* Since Caprica Six and Gaius Baltar genuinely love each other, do they eventually have a child?
* Were Caprica Six and Baltar "supposed" to bring about the destruction of the Twelve Colonies?
* Do Adama and Tyrol stay isolated for the rest of their lives?
* Why was Romo Lampkin chosen as President? Wouldn't a member of the Quorum of Captains have been selected?
** They likely needed a "neutral" party and had no time to hold an election. Also, a bond of trust had been established between Lee Adama and Romo in previous episodes.
* What became of the remaining prisoners aboard the <i>[[Astral Queen]]</i>? Were they sent out amongst the rest of the human population, or were all of them deposited in some geographical area completely isolated from the other humans?
* Were any of the groups provided with medicine, or medical training or at least someone with medical knowledge before spreading out among the world?
* Is God related to the Lords of Kobol or something completely different?
* Why did the First Hybrid not want humanity to follow Thrace?
** It appears that there was a faction of Cylons who did not accept the Final Five's offer to have humanoid models built for them, so it stands to reason they were the most "pure" Cylons following their own path and would not want to share human DNA.
* How many angels are there? Are the ones that resemble Six and Baltar the same as those that appeared to the Final Five and Thrace, or distinct?
* Why have angels not been appearing to the Final Five since Old Earth's destruction, only to Baltar, Six, and Thrace?
* Since the notes of All Along the Watchtower lead to Earth, do they still serve a purpose on Earth?
* Will analysis of Hera's remains reveal that she was not a normal human? (See Notes)
** No because what we deem a modern human is in fact a mixture of Colonial human and Humanoid Cylon.
* Is the evolution of humans on two planets due to the same divine hand that's been guiding other events?
* Does human life evolve on planets other than Kobol and the new Earth?
* Who did Hera eventually have children with? A human or a Cylon? (See Analysis)
* Was it coincidence or divine intervention that an asteroid caused Racetrack's hand to hit the launch button for the nuclear weapons at the exact right moment?
* Why was Galactica able to jump without retracting its [[flight pods]] when escaping from the Colony? Did this cause Galactica to break its backbone?
* Will modern humanity venture out into space and discover places such as Kobol, the original Earth, the Twelve Colonies, and New Caprica?
* How close are the two Earths? The [[Tomb of Athena]] starmap showed constellations known on the second Earth, but was supposed to have been the sky as seen from the first. Does this mean they are very close indeed?
**New Earth is apparently 1 million light years from Kobol, and old Earth had to be within 2000 light years of Kobol and the 12 Colonies, based on the Final Five not having jump drives and having to travel at sub-light relativistic speeds. That means old Earth has to be nearly 1 million light years from new Earth. If this is the case, how do the constellations line up?
*** Possibly gross exaggeration (similar to "a million miles from home") of the distances involved in their travels, when considering the lengths of time it took for the fleet to initially reach Kobol, even with the hundreds of jumps that occurred during 33; and then the further time to reach the first Earth 2000 light years away. The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is 100.000 lightyears and the fleet never leaves this galaxy.
* Why was Starbuck not aware of her true nature until after her role had been fulfilled?
* In what part of Earth (a northerly island with "highlands") did Galen Tyrol settle? Scotland?
** Scotland, according an interview with RDM <ref>http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html</ref>
* What is the nature of Starbuck's journey to the First Earth, crash, and return in the unscathed Viper? How did she "jump" to its coordinates? If her return was engineered by God to use her as an angel and bring humanity to Earth, why do so in a way that raised more questions about how it occurred than it answered?
* In what way, if any, did Starbuck fulfill her [[The Destiny|destiny]] as the "harbinger of death" that would lead humanity to its "end"?
** The pure Human and pure Cylon races both came to an end due to Starbuck's part in bringing them together. Furthermore, she helped bring about the apparent death of the Cycle.
* How did the proto-Greek polytheistic religion of the Colonies survive nearly 150,000 years before being revived in garbled form with the rise of Greek civilization? Did it die out in practice but return through the universal subconscious?
* In what way, if any, did the Cylons' monotheistic religion and the Colonies' polytheistic religion intertwine? Did they coexist peacefully, or were there conflicts? Do modern monotheistic religions trace their traditions ultimately to those of the Cylons and the [[Cult of Baltar]]?
* During the lie detector test in the flashback scene of William Adama's attempt to secure a civilian job, why did the interrogator ask him if he was a Cylon? At that point in history, it was unknown that the Cylons had humanoid appearance.
**The question was likely a control question to establish how a truthful response to an absurd question would register.
* Even after committing the fleet to destruction, there are still serviceable Raptors on the surface of Earth, which are jump-capable. Would any of the surviving humans or Cylons come to regret having settled on a primitive world without technology and decide to return to the stars in search of resources or other habitable planets? Is there any [[tylium]] available on Earth?
* Assuming that (as Tigh indicated to Adama in [[Revelations]]) the Final Five Cylons age but the rest do not, what will become of Caprica-Six, Athena, and any other survivors of the non-Final Five models? How will Helo and Baltar cope with the non-aging of their spouses as they themselves age?
**As the humanoid Cylons are biological by nature, they will age at some rate. Considering that they are nearly identical biologically to humans, they likely age at a similar rate. It is likely that they might have previously prevented the appearance of aging due to frequent resurrection. Since that is no longer an option, they would age and die like the humans do.
** What Saul and Bill discuss is not necessarily fact; they don't know everything about the Cylons and characters are often seen speculating throughout the show in ways that have turned out to be false. For eg. in Season 1, some were scared people had been "replaced" by Cylons, which never happens.
** Ellen said John Cavil was once a boy, but this is not necessarily literal.
***It is not. The [[Significant Eight]] were never physically children. Ellen was referring to their emotional level of maturity when they first emerged.
* Did the old-style [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurions]] on the Colony fight for Cavil because they had [[telencephalic inhibitor]]s, or of their own free will? If the latter, why?
**If the old-style Cylons are still the Cylons that participated in the first Cylon war, they likely still do hold a grudge against humanity for enslaving them. Consider that Cavil has claimed in the past to want "justice" for what was done to his Centurion ancestors([[No Exit]]), and that the rebel Cylons are responsible for what could be taken as a genocide against the Cylons ([[The Hub]]), it's entirely possible that these old-style Centurions would hold a grudge against humanity and as such fight against them in an invasion of their home.
Considering these old centurions were sentient before Cavil was created it's highly unlikely Cavil was able to equip them with telecephalic inhibtors. These centurions probably were treated as equals by the humanoid cylons and were allowed to live with them on the colony until they broke down.
* Is the Adama family the origin of the name Adam for the mythical first man?
* Has any of modern Humanity inherited Hera's ability to project?
* Was there anyone like Kara Thrace in previous iterations of the cycle?
* Does the cult continue under Paulla's leadership?
* How will Lee explain Kara's sudden disappearance to those at his settlement?

== Official Statements ==

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Virtual Baltar says the last line of the series as he walks down a street of modern day New York City with Virtual Six:''
:'''Virtual Baltar''': "Silly Me.....silly, silly me".

*''The Galactica is about to jump to The Colony and into harms way:''

:'''Admiral Adama''': Just so there'll be no misunderstandings later... ''Galactica'' has seen a lot of history, gone through a lot of battles. This ''will'' be her last. She will not fail us if we do not fail her. If we succeed in our mission, ''Galactica'' will bring us home. If we don't... it doesn’t matter anyway.

*''The Final Five are discussing things among themselves about to download the specifications of Resurrection technology. Cavil is impatient''

:'''Cavil''':"Not to rush you or anything, but you are keeping two entire civilizations waiting!

*''Cavil's last word before he commits suicide.''

:'''Cavil''': Frak!

*''Nuclear missiles has knocked the Colony falling into the Singularity and is dragging Galactica with it and Starbuck is frantically attempting to figure out the jump coordinates.''

:'''Starbuck''': There must be some kind of way out of here.

*''Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar speculating if the cycle will continue.''

:'''Virtual Baltar''': All of this has happened before...

:'''Virtual Six''': But does it all have to happen again?

*''Sam Anders, essentially Galactica's Hybrid, says his last words to Kara Thrace after she leaves his side.''

:'''Samuel Anders''': See you on the other side

*''Baltar to Caprica Six on New Earth in unspoken reference about his father''

:'''Baltar''': "You know, I know about farming." (sobs)

*''Laura Roslin is speaking to Dr. Cottle about the state of her health which both know it is grave with only a few days to live. Also, she is about to essentially go into battle to retrieve Hera and the Doctor appears to be on the verge of choking up:''

:'''Laura Roslin''': Don't spoil your image, just light a cigarette and go and grumble."

*''Former Admiral of the Fleet William Adama is showing Laura their new home on New Earth in a Raptor. She sees a heard of grezlles stampeding at the sight of the Raptor over the lush and rich landscape and says her last words:''

:'''Roslin''': So much life...

*''William Adama is sitting on a high ridge overlooking what would later be called the African Savannah in spectacular view. Laura Roslin's grave is behind him close by and he talks to her spirit. It is his last statement in the series:''

:'''William Adama''': I laid out the cabin. It's gonna have an easternly view. You should see the light we get here. When the sun comes from behind the mountains, it's almost heavenly. Reminds me of you."

*''Boomer has just given over Hera to Athena, saving her life from Cavil and Simon dissection-and both redeeming herself and condemning herself to death''

:'''Boomer''' (to Athena): Tell the old man, I owed him one.

:'''Athena''' (angrily) Doesn't change anything you did though!

:'''Boomer''' (shakes her head slightly): No. We all make our choices. Today I made a choice. I think its my last one.

:'''Starbuck''': All right this is really touching. Now can we get the frak out of here!?!

:'''Boomer''' (to Starbuck): You should know that your Raptor been destroyed. You can't go back that way.

:(Athena passes Hera to Helo)

:'''Athena''': Yeah well, that is not the plan.

:'''Starbuck''' (sardonically): Can we ''not'' tell her the plan?

:'''Athena''': Right.

:''(Athena and Boomer look each other in the eye for a moment. She raises her weapon. Boomer makes no move to escape, but stands strait head up, accepting if not welcoming her fate. Athena fires. Boomer is dead before she hits the deck.)''

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Number Two]]
* [[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
* [[Rick Worthy]] as [[Number Four]]
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[Sherman Cottle]]
* [[Matthew Bennett]] as [[Number Five]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Kerry Norton]] as [[Layne Ishay]]
* [[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Number One]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brenden "Hotdog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Ensign [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Lara Gilchrist]] as [[Paulla Schaffer]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Marine [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Leela Savasta]] as [[Tracey Anne]]
* [[Darcy Laurie]] as [[Dealino]]
* [[Iliana Gomez-Martinez]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Tobias Mehler]] as [[Zak Adama]]
* [[Simone Bailly]] as [[Shona]]
* [[Kevin McNulty]] as [[Frank Porthos]]
* [[Richard Jollymore]] as Marine #1
* [[Anthony St. John]] as Marine #2
* [[Dan Payne]] as [[Sean Allison]]
* [[Holly Eglinton]] as Stripper
* [[Tiffany Lyndall-Knight]] as [[Hybrid]] (uncredited)
* [[Ronald D. Moore]] as Man at news stand (uncredited)

== References ==

<div style="font-size: 85%;"><references /></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Ronald D. Moore]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]

Someone to Watch Over Me

2009-03-03T18:52:28Z

Bel3338: /* Miscellaneous */ Question regarding Hera's cylon differentiating abilities

{{Episode Data
| image=SomeoneWatchingOverMe.jpg
| title= Someone To Watch Over Me
| season= 4
| episode=17
| guests=
| writer= [[Bradley Thompson]] <br/> [[David Weddle]]
| story=
| director= [[Michael Nankin]]
| production=419
| rating=
| US airdate=February 27, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=February 27, 2009
| UK airdate=March 3, 2009
| dvd=
| population=39556
| oldpopulation=39556
| prev=[[Deadlock]]
| next=[[Islanded in a Stream of Stars]]
}}

== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] discovers a hidden musical ability that bears a mysterious significance to the final five Cylons, and her tune is found to have a connection with three-year-old human-Cylon hybrid [[Hera Agathon|Hera]]. The president authorizes [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]]'s extradition from the brig so she can stand trial for treason on the Cylon baseship.''<ref>http://www.locatetv.com/tv/battlestar-galactica/season-4/6118356</ref>

== Summary ==

=== Teaser ===
* [[Kara Thrace]] gets out of her bunk and opens her locker. Looking in the mirror, she momentarily sees the image of her own corpse found on Earth in the reflection. Disturbed, Kara takes out the bloodstained dog tags recovered from the corpse and stares at them, silently brooding to herself.
* Kara goes through her daily routine - showering, dressing, giving the Cylon and Colonial pilots their assignments, doing paperwork, and drinking at the bar.
* The Fleet is still searching for a habitable planet. ''Galactica'' is now experiencing frequent power losses and plumbing disruptions due to the ongoing repair work.
* Tyrol informs Admiral Adama, Lee Adama, and President Roslin that the repairs and the Cylon organic substance will buy the ship a few more jumps, but not many. The admiral states that he isn't ready to give up just yet.
* Lee congratulates Sonja, a [[Number Six]] model, on her appointment as the Cylons' representative to the newly-formed Quorum of Ships' Captains.
* Sonja makes a formal request that Boomer be returned to the Cylons. When Adama starts to protest that Boomer tried to kill him, Sonja explains that they don't want Boomer set free. They want to try Boomer for treason, as she sided with Cavil in the Cylon Civil War.
* When Lee asks what will happen to Boomer if she's convicted, Sonja says that with the loss of their ability to resurrect, the Cylons can now implement capital punishment.
* Tyrol realizes what this means: They're going to kill Boomer.

=== Act 1 ===

=== Act 2 ===

=== Act 3 ===

=== Act 4 ===

== Notes ==
* [[Gaius Baltar]] and [[Caprica-Six]] do not appear in this episode. As with the previous episode, [[Lee Adama]] appears in only a couple of scenes.
* "[[Wikipedia:Someone to Watch Over Me (song)|Someone To Watch Over Me]]" is the name of a song composed by [[Wikipedia:George Gershwin|George]] and [[Wikipedia:Ira Gershwin|Ira Gershwin]], and featured in the musical [[Wikipedia:Oh, Kay!|''Oh, Kay!'']] A major theme of the song is the need to find love and acceptance, something [[Sharon Valerii]], [[Galen Tyrol]] and [[Kara Thrace]] are all seeking in their own ways.
** There was also an episode of [[w:Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek: Voyager]] named for the song, in which it is performed at the end by The Doctor.
* Weeks have passed since the end of [[Gaeta's Mutiny|the mutiny]], as evidenced by [[Cottle]]'s comment about how long Anders' EKG readings have remained steady, and Starbuck's comment about how long she has repeated the same mission briefing.
* Starbuck acknowledges her pilots that the mutiny has "thinned our numbers". This, combined with the apparent absence of pilots such as [[Margaret Edmonson]] and [[Diana Seelix]], confirms their involvement in the mutiny did not go unpunished, although exactly what that punishment is remains unknown.
** In the Podcast for "[[Deadlock]]" RDM states that all the mutineers were imprisoned on the [[Astral Queen]].
* After her apparent death in "[[Maelstrom]]", Kara's personal belongings were auctioned off. Helo has managed to get them all back for her. However, the only thing Kara is interested in is her father's music tape.
* Some of the music played by the mysterious piano player is from the original series. [[Numian's 3rd Sonata]], Second Movement, is in fact from the opening dialogue of the classic series ("There are those who believe that life here, began out there..."), and the original [[Cylon]] musical cue is derived from that tune as well. This is not the first time music from the original series has shown up (i.e. the [[Colonial Anthem]]), and lends to the idea that 'everything has happened before, and will happen again'.
* The brand of "[[The_Twelve_Colonies_%28RDM%29#Tauron|Tauron]] toothpaste" offered as a prize to the pilots is called "[[Felgercarb]]," a word used in the original series to mean "shit." Tauron comes from Taurus the bull. In essence, Kara is offering the pilot who finds a new planet "bullshittoothpaste".
* The collection of named [[Number Six]] models expands with the addition of [[Sonja]], who becomes the first Cylon to be elected to the Fleet's reconstituted Quorum.
*When Tyrol visits and talks to Boomer for the first time in the Brig, during the conversation Boomer calls Tyrol "Galen" for the first time, at least publicly and on screen. Previously she has only been known to call Tyrol "Chief", perhaps out of reflex action to keep their romance a secret, even though it was the worst kept secret in the fleet.

== Analysis ==
===Galactica's condition ===
*FTL jumps appear to create spatial distortions that can seriously strain a ships hull. Although bad hull damage does not necessarily prevent a ship from jumping (as has been seen many times before in the seasons, for example ''Pegasus'' - which jumped after being hit by three nuclear missiles in [[The Captain's Hand]]) the threat to ''Galactica'' has been compounded by the added riddling of the entire aged superstructure with microfractures. Tigh expresses concern that a jump within the flight pod will seriously strain the internal integrity of the ship. Boomer's FTL jump does eventually appear to cause a chain reaction of hull collapses along ''Galactica's'' port side, a side visibly weakened by Cylon attack, and suffering general aging in the 50+ year old ship's structure.
*The port side of ''Galactica'' which suffers damage in this episode has been seen specifically to suffer major stress before now- particularly during the [[Battle of New Caprica]] when it was mentioned that explosive decompressions were imminent in that section. That side of the ship also saw the port water tank blow out in [[Water]]-as well as damage from a nuclear explosion incurred during the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] though these seemed to be repaired it no doubt contributed to the area's hull fatigue.
* Many individuals express fears of the damage an FTL jump can do to ''Galactica'', impying FTL jumps place serious strains on a ships hull–or even the hull of a ship nearby and a degree of hull integrity is important to allow a ship to continue jumping for continued periods. This appears quite a new phenomenon in the canon of the show and was not mentioned in previous seasons, though it of course makes for a convenient plot conceit now. Before this ships have frequently been seen jumping and exiting a jump close to each other in the series with seemingly no ill effects- though it is possible Boomer's Raptor was much closer to Galactica's hull than has ever been seen before. In the episode [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]] the tylium ship jumped whilst surrounded by Raptors and Vipers and no ship seemed to suffer damage, although they were knocked back and sent tumbling. It should be made clear that smaller objects are proportionally stronger and that smaller objects should feel much less shear. It is also possible the stress of by being caught in the FTL field of another vessel rather than that caused by a vessels own, properly configured FTL drive is more powerful and dangerous.
*Given that ''Galactica'' has jumped hundreds of times whilst damaged before now, it is not explained why no damage has occurred before given it is assumed damage will be guaranteed by an unplanned jump in this episode. In the miniseries ''Galactica'' suffered a nuke hit and yet jumped several times later. Also despite falling through the atmosphere of New Caprica ''Galatica'' was able to execute an FTL jump despite the severe strains on the hull. Fears of FTL stress were not mentioned.
** ''Galactica'' has probably been taking damage over the years from multiple jumps and suffering combat damage. It's just that the extent of the damage has not become apparent until now.
** It is in part because of those actions, the atomic strikes and it jumping and falling though into a planet's gravity well and its atmosphere is why ''Galactic''a is suffering from massive metal fatigue, in addition to normal wear and tea of a 50+ year old ship and the fact that she hasn't had a major or even minor overhaul in years even before the the attack on the Colonies has taken their toll. In addition as discovered by Chief Tyrol the builders of ''Galactica'' "cut corners" with the building specifications of the ship. Ironically, if the ''Galactica'' was able to retire on schedule these issues of "substandard" construction wouldn't had come up.
** Further to the point above about small craft being subject to less 'shear', it stands to reason that the size of the disturbance created by a ship executing a jump might be proportional to the size of the ship itself. A large vessel such as the tylium ship may create a widespread but relatively smooth disturbance, so the nearby Raptors would have been like corks bobbing as a wave passed. Conversely, a small vessel such as a Raptor might create a localised but very sharp distortion that poses more risk of damage to a large ship close to it.
*The age of ''Galactica'''s FTL drive might explain why the ship's hull integrity is taxed so badly by her FTL drive - more modern drives might not cause so much stress, and might explain why other Fleet ships and the rebel basestar can continue to jump despite the damage their hulls have taken.
* ''Galactica'' is in very bad shape from the metal fatigue in the hull. It's so bad that Tyrol says that all the [[Cylon organic resin]] could do is buy a little more time, but not too much from the looks of it, and that the ship might only be capable of a few more FTL jumps, if that. The ship is dying of old age and abuse and there's nothing anyone can do save it completely. The damage Boomer created during her escape has no doubt worsened the ship's condition.

===The actions of Boomer===
* Adama has still not forgiven Boomer for shooting him.
* Ellen's escape from Cavil seems to have been orchestrated between him and Boomer in order to get Boomer on ''Galactica'' so she could kidnap Hera.
* The clear liquid substance that Boomer, masquerading as Athena gave Hera in her sippy cup and urged her to drink up was likely a sedative to keep her quiet in the equipment box she hid her in.
* It would appear that while Cavil was willing to let Ellen go in order to obtain Hera, members of the [[Final Five]] are still of some value to him, as evidenced by Boomer's offer for Tyrol to go with her.
**It is more likely that Boomer genuinely wanted him to come with her because she truly loves him. Bringing him back to John Cavil-if that is where she is headed-would be of no use to him because as Ellen stated he would need all Five of the Finals to recreate Resurrection. She has saw that it is possible for a Final Five Cylon to mate and have offspring with a "Standard Model" like herself even if Caprica-Six's pregnancy by Saul Tigh failed so the possibility of a family was open to her.
* Boomer has gone from being a conflicted sleeper agent to being a willing infiltrator and saboteur on ''Galactica''. With her rekindled love for Tyrol, she maybe again conflicted.
* The Cylons want Boomer tried for treason, with execution being a possible outcome, because her actions are linked to the permanent deaths of thousands of Cylons. This parallels the Colonial Fleet's own desire to try [[Gaius Baltar]].
* Boomer has sex with [[Helo]] by pretending to be [[Sharon Agathon|Athena]] after he mistook her for his wife and he insisted after she tried to leave, but then enthusiastically let him believe she was Athena. This is ironic, as Athena originally seduced Helo on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]], by pretending to be Boomer.
** Boomer's seduction of Helo - in the presence of Athena - may have been motivated by a desire to exact revenge on Athena for having effectively taken over her old life on ''Galactica.''
***She didn't actually seduce Helo. She did twice try to leave. After his insistence she did decide to gladly go along with it. It was a unplanned thing on her part so it is doubtful that she planned to have sex in front of Athena. Indeed, she most likely thought that Athena was still out cold. If she wasn't Athena could had warned Helo. Fortunately for Boomer, Athena was in still too much of a daze to do anything but watch.
*It is very possible-but not certain-that the Cylon ability to recognize individual Cylons despite them looking exactly like each other (most of the time, the Sixes seem to have the most variants in hair color and use of makeup, both voluntary actions) relies on actually looking at the individual. In the lavatory where Sharon "Boomer" Valerii severely beats Sharon "Athena" Agathon, Athena initially mistook Boomer as a generic Eight when she saw her in the reflection of a mirror. It was after she stood up, turned around and looked directly at Boomer did Athena recognize her as Boomer. Admittedly however, it is possible that she would had recognized Boomer if she still only watched her in the reflection. Still, she said a full sentence while she looked at her in the mirror-"Great, I hope you are here to fix the frakkin' shower!"-but instantly recognized Boomer the exact moment she saw her directly and not reflected. Perhaps they also need to look the other Cylon square in the eyes, which is what Tyrol does in "[[Deadlock]]" before identifying Boomer.
**Helo did notice that Boomer did smell different. Boomer covered for this saying she found some soap.

===Starbuck's role===
* The mysterious piano player is Kara's father, which can be concluded by his sudden disappearance and by the flashbacks with both Kara and her father playing the piano when she was little. These flashbacks mirror the exact same movements done by Captain Thrace and the piano player.<ref>http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=1598</ref>
* The title of the tape Kara receives back from Helo is "Dreilide Thrace Live at the Helice [[Opera House]]."
** [[w:Helice|Helice]], also spelled Helike, was an ancient Greek city which sank into the Corinthian Gulf in 373 B.C. It may have formed the basis of the myth of the lost city [[w:Atlantis|Atlantis]].<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helice</ref><ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2001/helike.shtml</ref>
** Helice was the ancient Greek name <ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620003/Ursa-Major</ref> for the constellation [[w:Ursa Major|Ursa Major]] (the Great Bear). <i>Helice</i> in Greek means "to spin" or "to turn"; it is the root of the modern word <i>helix</i>. Ursa Major revolves around [[w:Polaris|Polaris]], the Pole Star, hence the name. This may be a reference to the spinning of the [[maelstrom]] Kara flew into before her ship was destroyed, and it could also refer to the [[mandala]] found on the wall of her apartment and the [[Temple of Five]].
** [[w:Helike_(mythology)|Helice/Helike]] was also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who nursed the infant [[Zeus]], along with another nymph, Melissa (which name itself means "honey" or "honey bee"). <ref>http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/UrsaMajor.html</ref>
** [[w:Helike_(moon)|Helike]] is also a newly-discovered moon of [[w:Jupiter|Jupiter]].
** However, the appearance of the word <i>Helice</i> in the show may simply be a tongue-in-cheek reference to [[Bear McCreary]]'s heavy involvement with this episode -- Ursa Major, and McCreary, both being "The Great Bear."<ref>http://tvbacon.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/battlestar-galactica-someone-to-watch-over-me-live-at-the-helice-opera-house/</ref>
*It is possible that Starbuck also has the ability of Projection and she projected the Piano Player beside her when she played a section of "All Along the Watchtower" from the drawing Hera made, which turned out to be musical notation. She, from her POV, was playing a long side of him but when Saul Tigh, Ellen Tigh, and Tory Foster confronted her about where she learned to play that music he was gone. Perhaps it was just standard human daydreaming, or a [[Virtual beings|Virtual being]], but it could had been projection.
===Tyrol and the other Finals===
*The Final Five have the same [[Projection|projection]] ability as the Cylons they created. Cylons can share projections.
* Projections can include not just imaginary environments but also imaginary people, such as Boomer and Tyrol's "daughter" Dionne.
* It also appears that projections might be a form of persistent environment -- similar to real-life virtual worlds such as [[w:Second Life|Second Life]], as Tyrol re-enters Boomer's projection after she escapes with Hera, as if expecting to find her and Dionne still in there.
* The Final Five, [[Hera Agathon]], and [[Kara Thrace]] are all somehow connected to each other by [[The Music]]. Also possibly connected via the song is Kara's [[Dreilide Thrace|mysterious father]].
===The status of Cylons in the Fleet===
* The Cylons seem to have officially joined the Fleet as they now have the representation they wanted on the new Quorum in the form of a Six named Sonja. It is also confirmed that Cylon and Colonial pilots are performing joint [[CAP]]s.
** This is most clearly seen when Athena staggers into the briefing room and Helo orders one of the Sixes to go get the medics, the Six unhesitatingly responds "Yes, Sir". Several Sixes are also seen attending Starbuck's "toothpaste briefing."
** The rebel Cylon pilots do not appear to have been commissioned into the Colonial military, as they wear Cylon flight suits and none is addressed by rank.
** The Sixes and Eights appear to use their model numbers as surnames, and are referred to and addressed as "Six" or "Eight". They do not yet appear to have been given individual call-signs.
===Miscellaneous===
* It has been unclear whether Karl Agathon is still the [[Commander Air Group]] (CAG) of Galactica or Kara Thrace officially takes over the CAG as Agathon used to join important staff meetings with Adama & Tigh in previous episodes. However, this episode clearly shows that Thrace is now serving as the CAG of Galactica.

== Questions ==
===Galactica's condition ===
*If jumping in very close proximity to a ship is a very dangerous thing to do then why then in [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]] when the tylium ship [[Hitei Kan]] jumped away form the intercepting and boarding Vipers nothing happened to them other than being upended?
** It was dangerous for ''Galactica'' because of its failing structure.
** Also, as noted above, the spatial distortion caused by the Raptor's jump, only reaching part of Galactica, would cause much more shearing force and therefore much more stress on the structure. Since the Raptors in "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" are much smaller than the tylium ship, they were pretty much 'bounced' off the spatial rift
* With the ''Galactica'' in the shape she is in now, how are the civilian ships holding up? Are they in a similar condition? Could this explain why there is only 35 ships mentioned remaining in the fleet?
**Very likely much better since they don't take battle damage and generally don't maneuver wildly to attack or evade. However, yes they have been in space constantly for four years likely past several mandatory maintenance checks and overhauls, both minor and major. Still, most of the civilian ships would be in much better shape than ''Galactica'' because they run and don't stand and fight and take hits and many of them are newer than ''Galactica''.
** If 35 is indeed the correct number of ships in the Fleet, then nearly half the Fleet's ships have been lost. Given that few have been seen to be lost on screen, the majority of these losses probably occurred during the rapid evacuation of the settlement of New Caprica. Many ships would have either have been destroyed trying to flee, or left on the planet's surface. Outside of that, several ships might have been abandoned off screen due to deteriorating conditions- presumably after being stripped for parts with the civilians moved to other ships or ''Galactica'' herself.
***The 35 ships mentioned in [[Blood on the Scales]] may have only been the number of ships that had initially sided with Gaeta and Zarek, rather than the total number of ships in the fleet (See the Analysis section of Blood on the Scales).

===The actions of Boomer===
* Is Boomer taking Hera to Cavil, and if so, is she of value to him in and of herself or will he ransom her for the Final Five to rebuild [[Resurrection (RDM)|resurrection]]? Or is Boomer working alone or for a third party? ([[Someone to Watch Over Me#Official Statements|Answer]])
* What was the note Boomer was writing down in her cell when she first sensed Tyrol watching her?
* Did Boomer sleep with Helo merely to maintain her pretense, because she was attracted to him, or to intentionally hurt Athena? ([[Someone to Watch Over Me#Official Statements|Answer]])
* Did Boomer intentionally jump so close to ''Galactica'' in order to further damage the already weakened ship? Is this a prelude to an attack on the Fleet by Cavil's forces?
* Since Boomer was able to find the fleet, why doesn't Cavil just jump in and attack the Fleet? Surely he has superior numbers. Is it merely because of fear of death, since they can no longer resurrect?
** Cavil seems to want Hera- this would only be possible by using Boomer as an infiltrator rather than attacking ''Galactica'' outright. Attacking the Fleet would only result in them jumping away anyway.
*** Also, Cavil probably doesn't want to risk accidentally killing the Final Five, who he needs to regain the ability to resurrect.
===Starbuck's role===
* What is the source of the "Slick" image Starbuck has been seeing? Is he a variation of Kara's Inner Leoben from "[[Maelstrom]]"?
* How did Starbuck and Hera arrive at a piano version of the same [[The Music|melody]] originally played by Anders on a guitar on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]]?
* Could Kara's father have been Daniel, the "artistic" [[Number Seven]] model?
* Could Kara be a reincarnation of the woman that Anders originally played the song for?
* Where did the piano in [[Joe's Bar]] come from?
* Will the Helice Opera House have any connection to the visions of the [[Opera House]] shared by Roslin, [[Caprica-Six]], and Athena?
===Tyrol and the other Finals===
* Is the Eight switched with Boomer by Tyrol dead, or merely injured?
** Probably merely injured. It is doubtful Tyrol would have gone so far as to actually kill another Eight to save Boomer. Furthermore, if the Eight had been dead, Tyrol's trickery would have been discovered more quickly.
* Will Tyrol's involvement in Boomer's escape be figured out? Will he confess?
** It will be difficult for him to deny involvement considering the presence of the unconscious Eight he substituted for Boomer in the brig.
***That assumes the Eight can identify him as the one that attacked her in the work area. It was coal pitch black dark when he knocked her out. Still, the circumstance of him being the one to restore power to the Cell Area and knowing how hard he pleaded for Boomer's life makes him a natural suspect. What could convict him beyond doubt is if people on the hanger deck remember him helping "Athena" - as everyone thought at the time - with that large very heavy equipment box. It is known that Cylons can tell each other apart on sight despite them being indistinguishable to humans. If someone recalls Tyrol helping so-called "Athena" that will be used as proof positive that Tyrol was complicit in her escape, Tyrol cannot plead truthful ignorance like Helo can when he thought Boomer was his wife and had sex with her.
* If Tyrol's treachery does come to light, how will others react? What would Athena do to him? Helo?
* If Tyrol had gone with Boomer, would Cavil have opened his brain as he threatened to do with Ellen?
* Is Anders' head being kept shaved and if so why? If, as Cottle suggests, it has been weeks since his operation, his hair should presumably be growing back. Perhaps it is to make it easier to monitor his unusual EEG traces.
===The status of Cylons in the Fleet===
* Why was Sonja elected to represent the Cylons?
** The Sixes appear to be the most influential leaders within the rebel Cylon society, and posess the most individuality. Caprica Six sowed the seeds of the Cylon Civil War, Natalie led the revolt, and Sixes generally were in senior positions in the occupation government of New Caprica.
* Do all the ships in the Fleet - regardless of their relative crew and passenger size - get to send representatives to the new Quorum? (This is similar to the situation the Framers of the United States Constitution faced when trying to decide if state representation in Congress should be based on individual state population or restricted to the same number of representatives per state).
* To what extent are the semi-sentient Raiders and Centurions integrated into the Colonial or allied military force?
**Likely none in terms of an integrated force; that is they are still under the Humanoid Cylon's control in the Baseship. Only Cylon Heavy Raiders are holding joint operations with Colonial forces and they require a Cylon Humanoid pilot.
===Miscellaneous===
* What is Roslin's physical status?
* What connection is there between Roslin's collapse and Hera's kidnapping?
**Yes, there is one, that was made clear by the intrcutting betwen Boomer's escape, CIC and her trance like state, culminating in her saying "Hera" right after Boomer jumped from ''Galactica''. The ''exact'' nature of is still unclear.
* Despite being rudely put down by Dr. Cottle, was the Eight at Anders's bedside giving a correct assessment on what Anders's brain was doing when she speculated "Well, maybe his brain is rebooting, reorganizing as it heals?"?
*Will the Eight's idea of plugging Anders into the [[datastream]] lead anywhere?
**In the previews for the next episode "[[Islanded In a Stream of Stars]]", Anders's is depicted in either a Resurrection tank or a Hybrid's pool with his wife Kara Thrace by his side. He reaches up and grabs her wrist. Assuming this isn't a dream or some other false image, it looks like they will try out the Eight's suggestion.
*When Starbuck follows up her offer of Tauron toothpaste with the comment "Gods know most of you need it," is it merely a joke, or an indicator that ''all'' toothpaste stocks are running out? If so, this would mean that dental hygiene, a measure of basic physical health, is deteriorating.
*Why was Hera unable to differentiate between Boomer and Athena, despite having previously shown the ability to do so in the episode "[[Rapture]]"?

== Official Statements ==
*Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune interviews David Weddle and Bradley Thompson<ref>http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/02/battlestar-galactica-starbuck-boomer-someone-to-watch-over-me-.html</ref>:
**Boomer had a sick desire to strike out at Athena.
**Boomer's escape with Ellen was staged so that she could kidnap Hera. She intended to just use the Chief, but their interactions did awaken feelings she thought were dead.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Ellen Tigh, Saul Tigh, and Tory Foster are in Joe's bar. Saul is remarking at the state of someone they cared about:''

:Saul: Cottle was right, I should've never insisted on seeing him. His eyes were open! I wasn't ready for that. The little guy was looking right at me!

::''Saul was not talking about Anders (in a coma with his eyes open) but the body of his dead son Liam that was delivered stillborn after he died in utero but whose corpse he insisted on seeing.''

== Guest Stars ==

* [[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
* [[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[S. Cottle]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Roark Critchlow]] as [[Slick]]
* [[Iliana Gomez-Martinez]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[ Torrance Coombs]] as Lance Corporal [[C. Sellers]]
* [[Ivan Cermak]] as Corporal [[D. Wallace]]
* [[Curtis Caravaggio]] as [[Nathanson]]
* [[Cherilynn Fulbright]] as [[Dionne]]
* [[Patrick Gilmore]] as [[Rafferty]]
* [[Samantha Caine]] as Off-duty Crew Person
* [[Erika-Shaye Gair]] as Young [[Kara Thrace]]
* [[Darcy Laurie]] as [[Dealino]]
* [[Sonja Bennett]] as Specialist [[Marcie Brasko]]
* [[David Weddle]] as Smoking man in [[Joe's bar]] (uncredited)

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Bradley Thompson]]
[[Category:Episodes written by David Weddle]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Nankin]]

Number One

2009-02-15T05:50:35Z

Bel3338:

{{Character Data
|photo=Pensieve One.jpg
|age=
|colony=
|birthname=
|callsign=
|seen= Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= Cylon infiltrator, lay clergy
|rank=
|actor= [[Dean Stockwell]]
|cylon= y
|name= John Cavil
}}
"'''Number One'''" is the first of eight [[humanoid Cylon]] models created by the [[Final Five]] for the [[Cylon Centurion| Centurions]] following the [[Cylon War|first Cylon war]]. The Final Five referred to him as John, and he was created in the image of [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen Tigh's]] biological father.

One of the Number Ones, prior to being discovered among the Fleet, posed as '''[[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Clergy|Brother Cavil]]''', a member of the Colonial clergy. However, contrary to his assumed role, he did not share the other Cylons' [[Cylon Religion|religious beliefs]] and frequently mocked them.

== "John" and the Final Five ==

After the [[Final Five]] contacted the Centurions, they agreed to create humanoid Cylons and share resurrection technology with them in exchange for an end to the [[Cylon War]]. The first humanoid Cylon created by the Final Five was "John", named after and created in the likeness of [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen Tigh's]] biological father. He was "treasured" by the Five, and even assisted them in the creation of the other seven models.

John grew intensely jealous of [[Daniel]], the seventh model, because Daniel was emotionally favored by Ellen. John sabotaged the Sevens' genetic code and amniotic fluid, wiping out the entire line permanently. He later trapped the Final Five in a room, suffocated them, and [[boxing|boxed]] them before they could be resurrected fully. Sometime after, he obscured their original memories, gave them false ones, and planted each of them "like a Boomer" among the humans in an effort to teach them a lesson about their foolish appreciation for humans.

==''Galactica'' Copy==

On ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'', the first viewed copy of Brother Cavil provides counsel for [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] after Tyrol's maddened attack against [[Cally Tyrol|Cally Henderson]]. Cavil identifies the source of Tyrol's anxiety as arising from the fear that he could be a [[Humanoid Cylon|Cylon sleeper agent]]. This Cavil seems to be personally very familiar with Tyrol and is apparently aware that Henderson harbors romantic feelings for him ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]). (Later analysis of Cavil's nature, from behavior in season 3 episodes, suggests that Cavil's comments were aimed to incite torment in Tyrol.)

A somewhat eccentric figure, Cavil is a surprisingly harsh critic of prayer for a Brother, but claims to have been preaching "longer than you [Tyrol] have been sucking down oxygen" ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]). This interesting claim, if true, implies that the [[humanoid Cylon]]s came into existence no later than approximately ten years after the end of the [[First Cylon War]] (assuming that Tyrol is approximately 30 years old). Cavil's remark, based on aired information and his true nature, is unlikely.

Despite his cynicism, Cavil prays with [[Laura Roslin]] for her re-election to the presidency to be successful. When Tyrol deduces the Caprica copy of him as a Cylon, Cavil is thrown in the brig along with his copy. He is later ejected through an airlock along with his copy (deleted scene). Due to the loss of the [[Resurrection Ship]], his death is presumed to be final ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

==Caprica Copy==
[[Image:Cyca2.jpg|left|thumb|Caprican Cavil]]
A second copy of this model emerges from the crew of resistance members rescued by the Caprica [[SAR]] team, telling them that the Cylons had left the Colonies. What he does not tell them — until Tyrol blew his cover upon his arrival at ''Galactica'' — is that he is a Cylon.

Due to this copy's discovery, the Fleet copy is arrested as well and thrown in ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'''s brig. Laura Roslin orders them ejected into space after Caprica-Cavil informs her and Admiral Adama that the Cylons had made two mistakes: the attack on the Colonies and the pursuit of the [[the Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]). Due to the loss of the Resurrection Ship, his death is presumed to be final. Though their execution is not shown, a later conversation indicates that they were executed ([[List of Deleted Scenes (RDM)#Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II|deleted scene]]).

Like his Fleet counterpart, the Caprica copy also expresses doubt in the active involvement of divine forces in the real world, although he focuses his contempt on the Cylon religion. He says that "There is no [[God (RDM)|God]]", something that the Ones have been telling the other Cylons for years, though he acknowledges that God's existence or nonexistence can't actually be proven. Based on his conversation with the Fleet copy, this viewpoint appears to be shared between at least these two copies, and possibly across the entire model.

==New Caprica Copies==
[[Image:Brother Cavil Shades.jpg|thumb|right|A Cavil on New Caprica]]

At least two Ones are present in the invasion fleet on New Caprica, as seen in "[[Occupation]]" and "[[Precipice]]." They have some authority over humans in detainment, as [[Ellen Tigh]] is able to use sexual favors to bribe another into releasing [[Saul Tigh]]. This may have been a self-serving ruse, because after a second sexual encounter, One says to her of Saul, "When's his next meeting with the insurgents?" and "We know he's their leader - why do you think we let him out of detention?" Ellen replies, "I thought it was because of the 'twist'", referring to a sex act, and One says, "Oh, yes, that too."

Two copies are also involved in the Cylon leaders' discussions such as whether to kill [[Gaius Baltar]].

Another copy also acts as a type of liaison between the [[New Caprica Police|NCP]] and their Cylon masters. He gives [[Jammer]] the list of Colonials to detain, and later accompanies the NCP to the site of a mass execution of Colonial Detainees ([[Occupation]]).

The NCP liaison version is critically wounded during an attack by the Resistance movement. One is left with a bullet wound to the stomach and is left to die after the detainees are liberated. He resorts to suicide by severing his [[w:carotid artery|carotid artery]] with a spent casing. He [[Resurrection (RDM)|downloads]] into a new body for the third time; an experience that, as he explains, is similar to having a white hot poker slammed through his skull ([[Exodus, Part I]]).

Shortly before her death, [[Ellen Tigh]] descibes the One she seduced as the one "in charge" of the Detention Facility ([[Exodus, Part II]]).

==Basestar Command Copies==
[[Image:CavHap2.jpg|thumb||left|Cylon Diplomat]]
After the Cylon fleet arrives at the [[algae planet]], a Cylon negotiation team negotiates a meeting on ''Galactica'', which consists of [[Gaius Baltar]], [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]], a [[Number Three]], and a Number One. The One ad-libs during the discussion, personally suggesting that the Cylons will hand over Baltar to the Colonials as part of the negotiation ("to sweeten the pot").

Later, a One (likely the same one) argues that they should destroy ''Galactica'' now and be rid of them for good. He thinks it does not matter if the Cylons find [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] in five days or five thousand years, saying that they can last forever, whereas the Colonials can't. He then determines Admiral Adama's claim that he will nuke the temple is a bluff even as ''Galactica'' preps its missile launchers ([[The Eye of Jupiter]]).

Another copy greets Number Three when she resurrects on a Resurrection Ship and informs her of the decision to box her model. She replies that someday he will know the truth of the [[Final Five]] like she does just before he removes the device storing her consciousness. Other Cavils are shown boxing other Number Threes all over the room in the Resurrection Ship ([[Rapture]]).

===Faction Leader Copy===
:''Owing to the identical nature of the Ones the singular copy referred to below may actually be several different copies. Furthermore this copy could be the same as one discussed above, although there is no particular indication this is the case''

In "[[Six of One]]" a Number One model, consistently referred to as "Cavil", despite the egalitarian and democratic principles of Cylon command, exudes an definite sense of assumed authority. As of such, he appears to be the ''de facto'' leader of one side of the [[Cylon Civil War|schism]] between the Cylons, composed of Ones, [[Four]]s, [[Five]]s, and [[Sharon Valerii]], opposed to the [[Number Two|Twos]], [[Number Six|Sixes]] and [[Number Eight|Eights]] loyal to [[Natalie]]. His is among the first blood shed in the Cylon Civil War, as Natalie has the [[Telencephalic inhibitor|self-aware]] [[Centurions]] (a concept Cavil is horrified by) attack. He initially appears to be forgiving, negotiating generous terms of truce with the rebels, although this is turns out to be a ploy for a devastating ambush, one which he justifies: "they started it".

Cavil is in a romantic relationship with Valerii, although the nature of it is odd, he condescendingly refers to her as his "pet Eight" ([[The Hub]]).

This copy is killed permanently by [[Number Three]] after he [[boxing|un-boxes]] her to try to convince her to get the rebels to stop. She breaks his neck when she learns of the attack on the Hub, knowing he won't be able to resurrect with it destroyed ([[The Hub]]).

<div style="clear: both;"></div>

==Analysis==
Number Ones appear to be very radical thinkers, and demonstrate a unity among the model not seen in any other. Copies appear to have a well-developed sense of sardonic humor and are given to making jokes in even the most awkward, dangerous, and heightened circumstances ("[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[Occupation]]", "[[Precipice]]"). They seem to have discovered many revelations that [[Caprica-Six]] realized through her "virtual" Baltar ([[Downloaded]]). Judging by this, the Ones were probably among the first to flock to Caprica-Six's banner.

In "[[Occupation]]" and "[[Precipice]]", the Ones are the most ''outwardly'' [[w:sadism|sadistic]] and cruel to humans, appearing to take pleasure (or at least a noticeable level of amusement) in their own acts of psychological and physical cruelty. The Ones like toying with the idea of liquidating the human population on New Caprica as a solution to the Resistance, to "perhaps a more manageable number. Say, less than a thousand."

Viewers can infer (correctly or not) from the New Caprica detention scene between a One and [[Saul Tigh]] that a One is significantly involved in the brutal, months-long interrogation (in response to Tigh's attacks against the Cylons). In conversation with the other Cylons, Ones are vocal and callous proponents of harsh measures against the [[New Caprica Resistance]] and are strong advocates of mass executions.

It is ironic that the first two known copies of this apparently [[w:Atheism|atheistic]] or [[w:Agnosticism|agnostic]] model pose as lay clergy. This may be an intentional mockery of religion on their part, or a mockery of the Ones by whomever assigned them their roles as infiltrators. The Cavils on [[New Caprica]] often speak of "God" sarcastically when among other Cylons but seem to recognize the pragmatic aspects of religion, referring to the Cylon "plan" as "God's Plan." The Cavil who lead the main Cylon faction against the rebel faction is also implied to possess more personal knowledge than other Cylons as the nature of the Cylon god and possibly the Final Five. He plays a "gatekeeper" role, and refers to "God" as "the voice of reason."

With the Cylons apparently occupying [[New Caprica]] at the end of the [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II|episode]], it appears that the Ones on ''Galactica'' are either lying about the Cylon change of heart or the Cylon plans changed after the second Number One was captured on ''Galactica''.

In "[[Exodus, Part I]]", it is learned that at a Number One unit, the leader of the execution squad intercepted by the Resistance and who died there (his third death), experienced increasing head pain with each resurrection.

Several comments Number One makes in the episode "[[The Ties That Bind]]" indicate that he has some deeper knowledge of the Centurions than the rest of the Cylons do. This may be due to the fact that, as his number suggests, he was the first humanoid Cylon created and thus was around when the Centurions were still sentient. However, it could just as easily be simply a result of the Ones' seeming assumption that they are wiser than the other models.

==Notes==

*Despite waging constant attacks against the Cylons for nine months, the [[Caprica Resistance]] seemingly had never before encountered the Number One model prior to their rescue.
*The word ''cavil'' is a noun and verb involving an irrelevant or trivial point made during an argument or discussion; synonyms include ''quibble'' and ''carp.'' (<span class="plainlinks">[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cavil Dictionary Reference]</span>)
*Cavil's numerical designation isn't revealed until the episode "[[Six of One]]" in Season 4.

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:Recurring Guest Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

{{quality candidate}}

[[de:Cavil]]
[[fr:Cavil]]

Blood on the Scales

2009-02-09T11:05:08Z

Bel3338:

{{Episode Data
| image=
| title= Blood on the Scales
| season= 4
| episode=14
| guests=
| writer= [[Michael Angeli]] <ref name="battlestarsitrep">{{cite_web|url=http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/2008/05/angeli-also-rises.html|title=Angeli Also Rises|}}</ref>
| story=
| director=
| production=416
| rating=
| US airdate=February 6, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=February 6, 2009
| UK airdate=February 10 2009
| dvd=
| population=39603
| oldpopulation= 39643
| prev=[[The Oath]]
| next=[[No Exit]]
| forumthread= 2552
}}

== Overview ==
:''[[Felix Gaeta]]'s mutiny continues while Roslin finds refuge on the Cylon Basestar.''

== Summary ==

=== Teaser ===
* Rebel marines led by [[Aaron Kelly]] storm the airlock and capture [[Admiral Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] both of whom were knocked out by a stun grenade.
* Tigh recognizes Kelly and calls him "the brig rat." Kelly is visibly uneasy about all this.
* Meanwhile, the [[Raptor]] with President [[Roslin]] and [[Gaius Baltar]] on board heads for the [[Basestar]].
* A pair of Vipers, piloted by Narcho and Hotdog, pursue the Raptor. Hotdog, who is unaware of the mutiny on ''Galactica'', gets the Raptor in his sights, but doesn't fire. Instead he orders the Raptor to identify itself.
* Narcho tells Hotdog to destroy the Raptor, but Hotdog continues to ask for the target's identification.
* Roslin transmits a message from the Raptor saying that she is aboard the Raptor. [[Gage]] blocks the transmission, but not before Hotdog receives it.
* [[Gaeta]], now in command of the CIC, contacts Hotdog and orders him to destroy the Raptor. When Hotdog continues to hold his fire, Narcho goes in and launches a pair of missiles at the Raptor.
* The [[Eight]] piloting the Raptor successfully avoids the missiles, which hit the Basestar instead. The Raptor successfully docks at the Basestar.
* Gaeta orders Colonel Tigh to be placed in the brig with the other Cylons, but orders Admiral Adama to be brought to the CIC.
* On board the Basestar, the Cylons demand to know why they're being fired upon. Roslin explains the situation. Fearing that the government has been overthrown, the Cylons want to jump away from the Fleet.
* Roslin insists that they give Adama a chance to retake ''Galactica''. Baltar points out that it's unlikely that Adama will win and that Gaeta and Zarek have the majority of support on ''Galactica''. Roslin counters that they've already seen evidence that not all of ''Galactica'''s crew support the mutiny.
* Roslin tells the Cylons to move their ship into the middle of the Fleet, so that ''Galactica'' won't be able to fire upon them.
* Back on ''Galactica'', Adama is brought to the CIC. Gaeta asks him to call Roslin and convince her to surrender.
* Adama refuses and instead pulls off his admiral pins. He throws them to Gaeta and sarcastically tells Gaeta that he's the admiral now and to make the call himself.
* Gaeta orders gun batteries to target the Basestar, but before they can do so, the Basestar moves into the middle of the Fleet. Gaeta calls off the attack and orders the Basestar to be quarantined. He also gives orders to prepare for [[Tom Zarek]]'s arrival.
* Adama asks Gaeta if he's planning on shooting him. Gaeta gives no response.

=== Act 1 ===

=== Act 2 ===

=== Act 3 ===

=== Act 4 ===

== Notes ==
*The [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] were murdered on Zarek's order for supporting President Roslin. [[Lee Adama]] survived as he wasn't present during the Quorum session. Two other regular Quorum members (Gemenon Delegate and one other delegate) were replaced by temporary stand-ins (who were killed), and their fate is unknown.
*This episode marks the death of Felix Gaeta and Tom Zarek who are executed by firing squad for their mutiny against Adama and the government.
*The character Captain Kelly was last seen during season 3 when he was arrested for his bombing and assassinations of Baltar's lawyers. His character has appear intermittently since the show began and is fitting that he would be the double-turn coat as he was part of the original senior staff and his love for Admiral Adama is proven to be stronger than his hatred of the Cylons.
*The events depicted in "The Oath" and "Blood on the Scales" cover approximately nine hours: Tigh enters Adama's quarters at 0620 at the beginning of "The Oath", culminates with Gaeta seizing the CIC at 0922, and concludes with Adama and his loyalists retaking the CIC at 1532 in "Blood on the Scales". The execution of Gaeta and Zarek, however, take place an unspecified time later.

== Analysis ==
*Despite all of the support that Gaeta and Zarek seemed to have at the beginning of the mutiny, Roslin and Adama had more support from people opposed to it and possibly people who rethought it like Kelly. On Roslin and Adama's side were ''Galactica's'' senior staff (the members of CIC were either people on Gaeta's side or forced to work at gunpoint by marines), at least most of the crew given how many people joined Adama's march to CIC, the Quorum of Twelve and the Cylons and Baltar's followers. Gaeta and Zarek had the supporters they'd managed to gather amongst ''Galactica's'' crew and about 25 ships who refused Roslin's order to stand down FTL drives. In the end Adama and Roslin were successful because the people supported them more and Adama had enough respect from his crew that he was able to turn a lot back to his side just by stating his intention to retake the ship and walking by others. Gaeta and Zarek had to use force to get what they wanted while Adama and his men used very little force and ultimately retook the ship without firing a shot once they stormed the CIC. Gaeta's takeover had many people killed (given the survivor count, over 40) while the people on Adama's side killed very few.
*Gaeta's sudden lack of pain in his amputated leg signals that his chronic pain (which he tried to numb with painkillers during the webisodes) was partially psychological. Once he was at peace with who he was and what he had done, his mental pain and much of his physical pain and itching disappeared. His last words acknowledged that the itching had stopped.
*The marines who eventually joined Adama's side near the end of the episode indicates that other mutineers simply were part of the coup out of self-preservation or at least wanting to be on the "winning" side. Once it was clear that Adama and the senior staff were rising up and reclaiming the ship, the marines, and others finally arose as well.
*By sparing Narcho's life, Admiral Adama characteristically shows his love and compassion for those who serve under him. Despite his speech of "no forgiveness" in "[[The Oath]]", it is clear that Adama will attempt to give the mutineers a second chance if it is reasonable.
*The mutineers at no point subdued all resistance aboard ''Galactica''. As Adama marched on CIC, many crew members rushed to join him, indicating that they were either still resisting or were waiting for a sign that the tide had turned. CIC also was controlled by Gaeta through the use of marines who held most of the staff at gunpoint.
* Tyrol, while attempting to disable Galactica's jump drive notices odd tears in the hull near the FTL assembly. It is not known whether this was hull stress caused by Tyrol disabling the FTL as the ship was about to jump, or an as-yet unexplained problem that has an impact on Galactica's hull.
**The ''Galactica'' may be suffering from serious long term metal fatigue and/or cumulative battle damage, as evidenced by the bulkhead deformation Tyrol discovers in the FTL drive room. Over the course of the series, Tigh has made a number of comments on ''Galactica's'' worsening structural condition, especially in absence of any possibility for repair at a shipyard. The ship itself is 50+ years old and has seen combat in two wars against the Cylons, and after all the damage its taken - the [[Battle of New Caprica]] being the most obvious example - it is not all that surprising to see the ship's structural integrity begin to fail like this.
** It is extremely unlikely that the damage witnessed by Tyrol was a result of his improper shut-down of the FTL, a tear of that size in metal would likely have been extremely loud and Tyrol does not notice the damage until he just happens to glance up at it. While it is possible that the FTL drive spun up would be louder than the sound of such a crack there is also no strong vibrations shown either in engineering or on the bridge, which would no doubt accompany such a large tear. Given that the area where Tyrol is an auxiliary control center, which is unlikely the be manned unless there is a problem with the FTL drives, it is eminently possible that the tear has been there for some time since it has been quite some time since Galactica has been depicted as having FTL problem. However, as were are dealing with a device that can bend time and space, nothing can be completely discredited at this point.
*Roslin threatens to attack ''Galactica'' if Gaeta and Zarek do not surrender. Numerous missile emplacements are then shown opening along the arms of the rebel basestar. Due to the known incompetence of ''Galactica's'' mutineer crew (Gage being unable to jam Roslin's transmission in [[The Oath]] without Gaeta's help), the chaos aboard ''Galactica'' with a mutiny still ongoing, and ''Galatica's'' status as an undermanned vessel, it is possible that the basestar could have successfully engaged and destroyed ''Galactica'' or at least severely damaged her enough to prevent her escaping.
*Captain Kelly, after having been locked up in the brig for his attempts to assassinate Baltar's lawyers, still holds a deep love for the Galactica and her commander. As he was a part of the original senior leadership (3rd in command as shown after Adama's near-assassination), his nostalgic comments with Tyrol indicated his withering resolve to be part of the coup. In addition, being a witness to the cruelty of Zarek with the Quorum was probably the first catalyst for his repentance.
*Gaeta, prior to his execution, is shown smoking and having drinks with Baltar. This is significant as Gaeta is rarely shown smoking during the show, and when it is shown, it was done when Gaeta finally felt free to be who he wanted to be. The first time was during his taped interview with D'Anna where he "let his hair down" so to speak. Incorporating a final smoke for Gaeta seemed appropriate to allow the audience to see a humanized Gaeta again.
*Gaeta and Baltar have a civil conversation before Gaeta's execution indicating that the two have forgiven each other for thier past transgressions: Gaeta trying to kill Baltar and Baltar's involvement with the Cylons on New Caprica.
*Baltar, despite admitting to not really liking his followers, has developed a sense of responsibility towards them as shown when he's speaking with [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]] about them and deciding to go back. This is the first time that Baltar has been shown to truly care about something besides himself indicating he may have changed somewhat.
*Dialogue in this episode indicates there are 35 civilian ships left in the fleet. This is the first time since abandoning New Caprice that significant information on the number of ships left in the fleet has emerged. This number doesn't seem to tally with the observed losses in the fleet since the first season, although the number of ships has been portrayed inconsistently throughout the miniseries and the main seasons (a figure in the mid 70s being mentioned in [[Home, Part I]]). The figure of 35 stated here- indicating a loss of half the fleet's ships- seems somewhat inconsistent with a the human population that has only declined by about one fifth since the arrival of Pegasus's crew which bolstered the number of survivors to close to 50,000. Ships being abandoned on New Caprica or afterwards may explain this strikingly low number unless it is a continuity error. If 35 is a correct figure, the other ships in the fleet must have somehow found a way to take a huge number of extra people aboard.
*Ronald D Moore has commented that ''Galactica'' is severely undermanned at this point and therefore large parts of the ship are empty, making it easier for mutineers and counter-mutineers to move around unobserved. This however is contracted by the fact that ''Galactica'' now has the crew of ''Pegasus'' aboard and the ship has in fact been seen to be overcrowded. Even allowing for losses on New Caprica and the fact that ''Pegasus'' was undermanned, the ship should still have a larger crew compliment than when she began her journey. In orbit around New Caprica the two ships still had over 2000 personnel still serving and doubtless most if not all former crew re-enlisted after the evacuation of New Caprica. Galactica's combined crew have not been seen to have taken any substantial losses since leaving New Caprica that would leave much of the ship empty. This may be a retcon or continuity error. It should be noted, however, that a large proportion of the people on the ship following the escape from New Caprica were civilians who may have since been relocated. Furthermore, it may be that only certain areas of the ship - such as the living quarters - are overcrowded. The exact number of personnel that a fully manned ''Galactica'' should have is unknown.
*Despite [[Sharon Agathon]]'s vision-induced paranoia of a Six taking her daughter, [[Hera Agathon|Hera]]<ref>Sharon kills [[Natalie]] in "[[Sine Qua Non]]" when she sees the latter with Hera in a corridor after Sharon, President Roslin, and Caprica-Six all have a vision of a Six absconding with Hera at the opera house.</ref>, she does not protest [[Caprica-Six]] carrying Hera while Sharon supports her injured husband, [[Karl Agathon|Karl]]. Ironically, Caprica-Six is the only character who has been seen specifically committing infanticide (not counting Baltar's dream about Adama drowning Hera).<ref>Caprica-Six snaps a human infant's neck in her first scene in the [[Miniseries]].</ref>
*Assuming the writers maintained their preference to mirror real-world military traditions, the firing squad assembled to execute Gaeta and Zarek would likely be composed of low-level mutineers who were treated with leniency and then required to seal their loyalty (and feelings of guilt) by executing their former conspirators.
*It isn't clear whether Gaeta and Zarek were given any sort of trial before being executed. Given Adama and Roslin's preference (albeit sometimes waveringly so) for maintaining the rule of law, it would be surprising if the lead mutineers were just shot out of hand.

== Questions ==
* What will become of the other mutineers (Racetrack, Narcho, Seelix, etc)? Will Adama follow through with his promise of "no forgiveness"?
* Will Kelly be allowed to resume his duties on Galactica?
* Who will take over Gaeta's duties?
* What repercussions will the Quorum's assassination have on the Fleet?
* What is the significance of the damage Tyrol discovers in the engine room? Has it been there long, or is it a result of the improper shut down of the FTL drive? Do other areas of the ship show similar signs of damage?
* Is the same structural deficiency present near the other FTL drive?
* In the [[Miniseries]], Colonel Tigh tells Lt. Gaeta to "spin up FTL drives 1 and 2". Why did Tyrol's deactivation of one FTL drive stop Gaeta from ordering the other's use? Is the other FTL drive still functional?
** The ship may need both FTL drives to make a proper jump.
** Only one of the FTL drives damaged during [[Exodus, Part II]] may have been repaired.
* Will Anders survive his injuries? Were Starbuck and Lampkin even successful in getting him to sickbay?
* Will the rebel Cylons become less trusting of the humans as a result of this mutiny? Or will they be more inclined to trust certain humans, such as Roslin, since she managed to convince them to stay and follow her leadership?
* What was that device Roslin and Leoben were using to communicate with the rest of the Fleet?
* Why was Lee Adama - as opposed to Roslin - present at Zarek and Gaeta's execution?
* What will be done to the 25 ships who did not obey Roslin's order to power down their FTL drives?
* Will the FTL upgrades proceed once order has been brought back completely?
* Will there be a faction that will attempt to portray Zarek or Gaeta as martyrs?
* Will Helo survive his injuries?
* How will Baltar's new-found sense of responsibility toward his flock change his behaviour?
* Will the Cylons' assistance of, and subordination to, President Roslin (and/or Colonial political leaders' fears of being associated with the failed coup d'état) secure them the citizenship and Quorum representation they seek?
* With Zarek dead and Lee Adama being the only surviving member of the Quorum (or one of the few surviving members, considering that two regular delegates were replaced by stand-ins), will he become the new Vice President?
* Are Galactica's computers now networked?

== Official Statements ==
*[http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/02/battlestar-galactica-gaeta-blood-scales-angeli.html Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune interviews Michael Angeli about the episode:], The Six who sleeps with Baltar on the baseship is named [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]].

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Tom Zarek''' delivers his ultimatum to '''Laura Roslin''''':
:'''Zarek''': This is Tom Zarek, President of the Twelve Colonies. It's over, Laura. Saul Tigh was killed attempting to escape. Bill Adama was tried and found guilty of his crimes. A firing squad executed him this morning. It's done, Laura. You want to think about the people of this fleet now, and surrender.
:'''Roslin''': No. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own eyeteeth to end you. I swear it!''' ''I'm coming for all of you!'''''
*'''''Felix Gaeta''' is disturbed by the sight of the slaughtered Quorum delegates:
:'''Gaeta''': We--we had the truth on our side. Now . . . now . . .
:'''Zarek''': The truth is told by whoever is left standing.
*'''''Lee Adama''' has just thrown a grenade towards the marines guarding the Cylon Prisoners, allowing him and '''Kara Thrace''' to kill them, after which Kara takes cover and Lee looks at her both amused and pleased with himself:
:'''Lee Adama''': ''walking forward and picking up the Grenade'' I never pulled the pin.
:'''Kara Thrace''': Ok, that is not funny.
:'''Lee Adama''': It would have been if you had thought of it.
:'''Kara Thrace''': No, still not funny.
*'''''Felix Gaeta''' is about to be executed for his crimes:
:'''Gaeta''': (referring to the pain from his lost leg) It stopped.

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Hardball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Captain [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Number Two]] / [[Leoben Conoy]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as Speaking Delegate [[Dahlia]]
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]
* [[Adrian Holmes]] as Marine [[Parr]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Michael Angeli]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Blood on the Scales

2009-02-08T02:58:21Z

Bel3338:

{{Episode Data
| image=
| title= Blood on the Scales
| season= 4
| episode=14
| guests=
| writer= [[Michael Angeli]] <ref name="battlestarsitrep">{{cite_web|url=http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/2008/05/angeli-also-rises.html|title=Angeli Also Rises|}}</ref>
| story=
| director=
| production=416
| rating=
| US airdate=February 6, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=February 6, 2009
| UK airdate=February 10 2009
| dvd=
| population=39603
| oldpopulation= 39643
| prev=[[The Oath]]
| next=[[No Exit]]
| forumthread= 2552
}}

== Overview ==
:''[[Felix Gaeta]]'s mutiny continues while Roslin finds refuge on the Cylon Basestar.''

== Summary ==

=== Teaser ===
* Rebel marines led by [[Aaron Kelly]] storm the airlock and capture [[Admiral Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] both of whom were knocked out by a concussion grenade.
* Tigh recognizes Kelly and calls him "the brig rat." Kelly is visibly uneasy about all this.
* Meanwhile, the [[Raptor]] with President [[Roslin]] and [[Gaius Baltar]] on board heads for the [[Basestar]].
* A pair of Vipers, piloted by Narcho and Hotdog, pursue the Raptor. Hotdog, who is unaware of the mutiny on ''Galactica'', gets the Raptor in his sights, but doesn't fire. Instead he orders the Raptor to identify itself.
* Narcho tells Hotdog to destroy the Raptor, but Hotdog continues to ask for the target's identification.
* Roslin transmits a message from the Raptor saying that she is aboard the Raptor. [[Gage]] blocks the transmission, but not before Hotdog receives it.
* [[Gaeta]], now in command of the CIC, contacts Hotdog and orders him to destroy the Raptor. When Hotdog continues to hold his fire, Narcho goes in and launches a pair of missiles at the Raptor.
* The [[Eight]] piloting the Raptor successfully avoids the missiles, which hit the Basestar instead. The Raptor successfully docks at the Basestar.
* Gaeta orders Colonel Tigh to be placed in the brig with the other Cylons, but orders Admiral Adama to be brought to the CIC.
* On board the Basestar, the Cylons demand to know why they're being fired upon. Roslin explains the situation. Fearing that the government has been overthrown, the Cylons want to jump away from the Fleet.
* Roslin insists that they give Adama a chance to retake ''Galactica''. Baltar points out that it's unlikely that Adama will win and that Gaeta and Zarek have the majority of support on ''Galactica''. Roslin counters that they've already seen evidence that not all of ''Galactica'''s crew support the mutiny.
* Roslin tells the Cylons to move their ship into the middle of the Fleet, so that ''Galactica'' won't be able to fire upon them.
* Back on ''Galactica'', Adama is brought to the CIC. Gaeta asks him to call Roslin and convince her to surrender.
* Adama refuses and instead pulls off his admiral pins. He throws them to Gaeta and sarcastically tells Gaeta that he's the admiral now and to make the call himself.
* Gaeta orders gun batteries to target the Basestar, but before they can do so, the Basestar moves into the middle of the Fleet. Gaeta calls off the attack and orders the Basestar to be quarantined. He also gives orders to prepare for [[Tom Zarek]]'s arrival.
* Adama asks Gaeta if he's planning on shooting him. Gaeta gives no response.

=== Act 1 ===

=== Act 2 ===

=== Act 3 ===

=== Act 4 ===

== Notes ==
*The [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] were murdered on Zarek's order for supporting President Roslin. [[Lee Adama]] survived as he wasn't present during the Quorum session. Two other regular Quorum members (Gemenon Delegate and one other delegate) were replaced by temporary stand-ins (who were killed), and their fate is unknown.
*This episode marks the death of Felix Gaeta and Tom Zarek who are executed by firing squad for their mutiny against Adama and the government.
*The character Captain Kelly was last seen during season 3 when he was arrested for his bombing and assassinations of Baltar's lawyers. His character has appear intermittently since the show began and is fitting that he would be the double-turn coat as he was part of the original senior staff and his love for Admiral Adama is proven to be stronger than his hatred of the Cylons.

== Analysis ==
*Despite all of the support that Gaeta and Zarek seemed to have at the beginning of the mutiny, Roslin and Adama had more support from people opposed to it and possibly people who rethought it like Lieutenant Kelly. On Roslin and Adama's side were ''Galactica's'' senior staff (the members of CIC were either people on Gaeta's side or forced to work at gunpoint by marines), at least most of the crew given how many people joined Adama's march to CIC, the Quorum of Twelve and the Cylons and Baltar's followers. Gaeta and Zarek had the supporters they'd managed to gather amongst ''Galactica's'' crew and about 25 ships who refused Roslin's order to stand down FTL drives. In the end Adama and Roslin were successful because the people supported them more and Adama had enough respect from his crew that he was able to turn a lot back to his side just by stating his intention to retake the ship and walking by others. Gaeta and Zarek had to use force to get what they wanted while Adama and his men used very little force and ultimately retook the ship without firing a shot once they stormed the CIC. Gaeta's takeover had many people killed (given the survivor count, over 40) while the people on Adama's side killed very few.
*Gaeta's sudden lack of pain in his amputated leg signals that his chronic pain (which he tried to numb with painkillers during the webisodes) was partially psychological. Once he was at peace with who he was and what he had done, his mental pain and much of his physical pain and itching disappeared. His last words acknowledged that the itching had stopped.
*The marines who eventually joined Adama's side near the end of the episode indicates that other mutineers simply were part of the coup out of self-preservation or at least wanting to be on the "winning" side. Once it was clear that Adama and the senior staff were rising up and reclaiming the ship, the marines, and others finally arose as well.
*By sparing Narcho's life, Admiral Adama characteristically shows his love and compassion for those who serve under him. Despite his speech of "no forgiveness" in "[[The Oath]]", it is clear that Adama will attempt to give the mutineers a second chance if it is reasonable.
*The mutineers at no point subdued all resistance aboard ''Galactica''. As Adama marched on CIC, many crewmembers rushed to join him, indicating that they were either still resisting or were waiting for a sign that the tide had turned. CIC also was controlled by Gaeta through the use of marines who held most of the staff at gunpoint.
* It is not clear why it is so important for Tyrol to disable the FTL drive, knocking it out would neither aid or hinder the admiral's attempts to retake the ship. Disabling it seemed to play no role in the admiral's final triumph. If anything it would have made more sense to disable Galactica's gun batteries so the basestar could truly threaten the ship.
*Roslin threatens to attack ''Galactica'' if Gaeta and Zarek do not surrender, but it is unlikely that the damaged basestar would have been able to defeat ''Galactica'' in combat given that basestars are not usually a match one-on-one for Colonial battlestars.
*Captain Kelly, after having been locked up in the brig for his attempts to assassinate Baltar's lawyers, still holds a deep love for the Galactica and her commander. As he was a part of the original senior leadership (3rd in command as shown after Adama's near-assassination), his nostalgic comments with Tyrol indicated his withering resolve to be part of the coup. In addition, being a witness to the cruelty of Zarek with the Quorum was probably the first catalyst for his repentance.
*Gaeta, prior to his execution, is shown smoking and having drinks with Baltar. This is significant as Gaeta is rarely shown smoking during the show, and when it is shown, it was done when Gaeta finally felt free to be who he wanted to be. The first time was during his taped interview with D'Anna where he "let his hair down" so to speak. Incorporating a final smoke for Gaeta seemed appropriate to allow the audience to see a humanized Gaeta again.
*The ''Galactica'' may be suffering from serious long term metal fatigue and/or cumulative battle damage, as evidenced by the bulkhead deformation Tyrol discovers in the FTL drive room. Over the course of the series, Tigh has made a number of comments on ''Galactica's'' worsening structural condition, especially in absence of any possibility for repair at a shipyard.
*Gaeta and Baltar have a civil conversation before Gaeta's execution indicating that the two have forgiven each other for thier past transgressions, ie Gaeta trying to kill Baltar and Baltar's involvement with the Cylons on New Caprica.
*Baltar, despite admitting to not really liking his followers, has developed a sense of responsibility towards them as shown when he's speaking with [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]] about them and deciding to go back. This is the first time that Baltar has been shown to truly care about something besides himself indicating he may have changed somewhat.
*Dialogue in this episode indicates there are 35 civilian ships left in the fleet. This is the first time since abandoning New Caprice that significant information on the number of ships left in the fleet has emerged. This number doesn't seem to tally with the observed losses in the fleet since the first season, although the number of ships has been portrayed inconsistently throughout the miniseries and the main seasons (a figure in the mid 70s being mentioned in [[Home, Part I]]). The figure of 35 stated here- indicating a loss of half the fleet's ships- seems somewhat inconsistent with a the human population that has only declined by about one fifth since the arrival of Pegasus's crew which bolstered the number of survivors to close to 50,000. Ships being abandoned on New Caprica or afterwards may explain this strikingly low number unless it is a continuity error. If 35 is a correct figure, the other ships in the fleet must have somehow found a way to take a huge number of extra people aboard..
*Ronald D Moore has commented that Galactica is severely undermanned at this point and therefore large parts of the ship are empty, making it easier for mutineers and counter-mutineers to move around unobserved. This however is contracted by the fact that Galactica now has the crew of Pegasus aboard and the ship has in fact been seen to be overcrowded. Even allowing for losses on New Caprica and the fact that Pegasus was undermanned, the ship should still have a larger crew compliment than when she began her journey. In orbit around New Caprica the two ships still had over 2000 personnel still serving and doubtless most if not all former crew re-enlisted after the evacuation of New Caprica. Galactica's combined crew have not been seen to have taken any substantial losses since leaving New Caprica that would leave much of the ship empty. This may be a retcon or continuity error. It should be noted, however, that a large proportion of the people on the ship following the escape from New Caprica were civilians who may have since been relocated. Furthermore, it may be that only certain areas of the ship - such as the living quarters - are overcrowded.
*Despite [[Sharon Agathon]]'s vision-enduced paranoia of a Six taking her daughter, [[Hera Agathon|Hera]]<ref>Sharon kills [[Natalie]] in "[[Sine Qua Non]]" when she sees the latter with Hera in a coridor after Sharon, President Roslin, and Caprica-Six all have a vision of a Six absconding with Hera at the opera house.</ref>, she does not protest [[Caprica-Six]] carrying Hera while Sharon supports her injured husband, [[Karl Agathon|Karl]]. Ironically, Caprica-Six is the only character who has been seen specifically committing infanticide.<ref>Caprica-Six snaps a human infant's neck in her first scene in the [[Miniseries]].</ref>
*Assuming the writers maintained their preference to mirror real-world military traditions, the firing squad assembled to execute Gaeta and Zarek would likely be composed of low-level mutineers who were treated with leniency and then required to seal their loyalty (and feelings of guilt) by executing their former conspirators.

== Questions ==
* What will become of the other mutineers (Racetrack, Narcho, Seelix, etc)? Will Adama follow through with his promise of "no forgiveness"?
* Will Kelly be allowed to resume his duties on Galactica?
* Who will replace Zarek as Vice President?
* Who will take over Gaeta's duties?
* What repercussions will the Quorum's assassination have on the Fleet?
* What is the significance of the damage Tyrol discovers in the engine room? Has it been there long, or is it a result of the improper shut down of the FTL drive? Do other areas of the ship show similar signs of damage?
* Is the same structural deficiency present near the other FTL drive?
* In the [[Miniseries]], Colonel Tigh tells Lt. Gaeta to "spin up FTL drives 1 and 2". Why did Tyrol's deactivation of one FTL drive stop Gaeta from ordering the other's use? Is the other FTL drive still functional?
* Will Anders survive his injuries?
* Will the rebel Cylons become less trusting of the humans as a result of this mutiny? Or will the they be more inclined to trust certain humans, such as Roslin, since she managed to convince them to stay and follow her leadership?
* What was that device Roslin and Leoben were using to communicate with the rest of the Fleet?
* Why was Lee Adama - as opposed to Roslin - present at Zarek and Gaeta's execution?
* What will be done to the 25 ships who did not obey Roslin's order to power down their FTL drives?
* Will the FTL upgrades proceed once order has been brought back completely?
* Will there be a faction that will attempt to portray Zarek or Gaeta as martyrs?
* Will Helo survive his injuries?
* How will Baltar's new-found sense of responsibility toward his flock change his behaviour?
* Will the Cylons' assistance of, and subordination to, President Roslin (and/or Colonial political leaders' fears of being associated with the failed coup d'état) secure them the citizenship and Quorum representation they seek?
* If the Cylons are granted citizenship and representation, how will their military structure be integrated into Adama's command; and will enfranchisement & ''de jure'' humanity be bestowed unto only the humanoid Cylons even though [[Raider (RDM)#Modern_Raider|Raiders]] and [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] whose [[telencephalic inhibitor]]s are removed are sentient?

== Official Statements ==
*[http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/02/battlestar-galactica-gaeta-blood-scales-angeli.html A Chicago Tribune interview with Michael Angeli about the episode:], The Six who sleeps with Baltar on the baseship is named [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]].

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Tom Zarek''' delivers his ultimatum to '''Laura Roslin''''':
:'''Zarek''': This is Tom Zarek. President of the Twelve Colonies. It's over Laura. Saul Tigh was killed attempting to escape. Bill Adama was tried and found guilty of his crimes. A firing squad executed him this moring. It's done, Laura. You want to think about the people of this fleet now, and surrender.
:'''Roslin''': No. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own eye teeth to end you. I swear it! I'm coming for all of you!

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Hardball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Captain [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Number Two]] / [[Leoben Conoy]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as Speaking Delegate [[Dahlia]]
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]
* [[Adrian Holmes]] as Marine [[Parr]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Michael Angeli]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Blood on the Scales

2009-02-08T02:56:55Z

Bel3338: "I'm coming for all of you" quote added

{{Episode Data
| image=
| title= Blood on the Scales
| season= 4
| episode=14
| guests=
| writer= [[Michael Angeli]] <ref name="battlestarsitrep">{{cite_web|url=http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/2008/05/angeli-also-rises.html|title=Angeli Also Rises|}}</ref>
| story=
| director=
| production=416
| rating=
| US airdate=February 6, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=February 6, 2009
| UK airdate=February 10 2009
| dvd=
| population=39603
| oldpopulation= 39643
| prev=[[The Oath]]
| next=[[No Exit]]
| forumthread= 2552
}}

== Overview ==
:''[[Felix Gaeta]]'s mutiny continues while Roslin finds refuge on the Cylon Basestar.''

== Summary ==

=== Teaser ===
* Rebel marines led by [[Aaron Kelly]] storm the airlock and capture [[Admiral Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] both of whom were knocked out by a concussion grenade.
* Tigh recognizes Kelly and calls him "the brig rat." Kelly is visibly uneasy about all this.
* Meanwhile, the [[Raptor]] with President [[Roslin]] and [[Gaius Baltar]] on board heads for the [[Basestar]].
* A pair of Vipers, piloted by Narcho and Hotdog, pursue the Raptor. Hotdog, who is unaware of the mutiny on ''Galactica'', gets the Raptor in his sights, but doesn't fire. Instead he orders the Raptor to identify itself.
* Narcho tells Hotdog to destroy the Raptor, but Hotdog continues to ask for the target's identification.
* Roslin transmits a message from the Raptor saying that she is aboard the Raptor. [[Gage]] blocks the transmission, but not before Hotdog receives it.
* [[Gaeta]], now in command of the CIC, contacts Hotdog and orders him to destroy the Raptor. When Hotdog continues to hold his fire, Narcho goes in and launches a pair of missiles at the Raptor.
* The [[Eight]] piloting the Raptor successfully avoids the missiles, which hit the Basestar instead. The Raptor successfully docks at the Basestar.
* Gaeta orders Colonel Tigh to be placed in the brig with the other Cylons, but orders Admiral Adama to be brought to the CIC.
* On board the Basestar, the Cylons demand to know why they're being fired upon. Roslin explains the situation. Fearing that the government has been overthrown, the Cylons want to jump away from the Fleet.
* Roslin insists that they give Adama a chance to retake ''Galactica''. Baltar points out that it's unlikely that Adama will win and that Gaeta and Zarek have the majority of support on ''Galactica''. Roslin counters that they've already seen evidence that not all of ''Galactica'''s crew support the mutiny.
* Roslin tells the Cylons to move their ship into the middle of the Fleet, so that ''Galactica'' won't be able to fire upon them.
* Back on ''Galactica'', Adama is brought to the CIC. Gaeta asks him to call Roslin and convince her to surrender.
* Adama refuses and instead pulls off his admiral pins. He throws them to Gaeta and sarcastically tells Gaeta that he's the admiral now and to make the call himself.
* Gaeta orders gun batteries to target the Basestar, but before they can do so, the Basestar moves into the middle of the Fleet. Gaeta calls off the attack and orders the Basestar to be quarantined. He also gives orders to prepare for [[Tom Zarek]]'s arrival.
* Adama asks Gaeta if he's planning on shooting him. Gaeta gives no response.

=== Act 1 ===

=== Act 2 ===

=== Act 3 ===

=== Act 4 ===

== Notes ==
*The [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] were murdered on Zarek's order for supporting President Roslin. [[Lee Adama]] survived as he wasn't present during the Quorum session. Two other regular Quorum members (Gemenon Delegate and one other delegate) were replaced by temporary stand-ins (who were killed), and their fate is unknown.
*This episode marks the death of Felix Gaeta and Tom Zarek who are executed by firing squad for their mutiny against Adama and the government.
*The character Captain Kelly was last seen during season 3 when he was arrested for his bombing and assassinations of Baltar's lawyers. His character has appear intermittently since the show began and is fitting that he would be the double-turn coat as he was part of the original senior staff and his love for Admiral Adama is proven to be stronger than his hatred of the Cylons.

== Analysis ==
*Despite all of the support that Gaeta and Zarek seemed to have at the beginning of the mutiny, Roslin and Adama had more support from people opposed to it and possibly people who rethought it like Lieutenant Kelly. On Roslin and Adama's side were ''Galactica's'' senior staff (the members of CIC were either people on Gaeta's side or forced to work at gunpoint by marines), at least most of the crew given how many people joined Adama's march to CIC, the Quorum of Twelve and the Cylons and Baltar's followers. Gaeta and Zarek had the supporters they'd managed to gather amongst ''Galactica's'' crew and about 25 ships who refused Roslin's order to stand down FTL drives. In the end Adama and Roslin were successful because the people supported them more and Adama had enough respect from his crew that he was able to turn a lot back to his side just by stating his intention to retake the ship and walking by others. Gaeta and Zarek had to use force to get what they wanted while Adama and his men used very little force and ultimately retook the ship without firing a shot once they stormed the CIC. Gaeta's takeover had many people killed (given the survivor count, over 40) while the people on Adama's side killed very few.
*Gaeta's sudden lack of pain in his amputated leg signals that his chronic pain (which he tried to numb with painkillers during the webisodes) was partially psychological. Once he was at peace with who he was and what he had done, his mental pain and much of his physical pain and itching disappeared. His last words acknowledged that the itching had stopped.
*The marines who eventually joined Adama's side near the end of the episode indicates that other mutineers simply were part of the coup out of self-preservation or at least wanting to be on the "winning" side. Once it was clear that Adama and the senior staff were rising up and reclaiming the ship, the marines, and others finally arose as well.
*By sparing Narcho's life, Admiral Adama characteristically shows his love and compassion for those who serve under him. Despite his speech of "no forgiveness" in "[[The Oath]]", it is clear that Adama will attempt to give the mutineers a second chance if it is reasonable.
*The mutineers at no point subdued all resistance aboard ''Galactica''. As Adama marched on CIC, many crewmembers rushed to join him, indicating that they were either still resisting or were waiting for a sign that the tide had turned. CIC also was controlled by Gaeta through the use of marines who held most of the staff at gunpoint.
* It is not clear why it is so important for Tyrol to disable the FTL drive, knocking it out would neither aid or hinder the admiral's attempts to retake the ship. Disabling it seemed to play no role in the admiral's final triumph. If anything it would have made more sense to disable Galactica's gun batteries so the basestar could truly threaten the ship.
*Roslin threatens to attack ''Galactica'' if Gaeta and Zarek do not surrender, but it is unlikely that the damaged basestar would have been able to defeat ''Galactica'' in combat given that basestars are not usually a match one-on-one for Colonial battlestars.
*Captain Kelly, after having been locked up in the brig for his attempts to assassinate Baltar's lawyers, still holds a deep love for the Galactica and her commander. As he was a part of the original senior leadership (3rd in command as shown after Adama's near-assassination), his nostalgic comments with Tyrol indicated his withering resolve to be part of the coup. In addition, being a witness to the cruelty of Zarek with the Quorum was probably the first catalyst for his repentance.
*Gaeta, prior to his execution, is shown smoking and having drinks with Baltar. This is significant as Gaeta is rarely shown smoking during the show, and when it is shown, it was done when Gaeta finally felt free to be who he wanted to be. The first time was during his taped interview with D'Anna where he "let his hair down" so to speak. Incorporating a final smoke for Gaeta seemed appropriate to allow the audience to see a humanized Gaeta again.
*The ''Galactica'' may be suffering from serious long term metal fatigue and/or cumulative battle damage, as evidenced by the bulkhead deformation Tyrol discovers in the FTL drive room. Over the course of the series, Tigh has made a number of comments on ''Galactica's'' worsening structural condition, especially in absence of any possibility for repair at a shipyard.
*Gaeta and Baltar have a civil conversation before Gaeta's execution indicating that the two have forgiven each other for thier past transgressions, ie Gaeta trying to kill Baltar and Baltar's involvement with the Cylons on New Caprica.
*Baltar, despite admitting to not really liking his followers, has developed a sense of responsibility towards them as shown when he's speaking with [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]] about them and deciding to go back. This is the first time that Baltar has been shown to truly care about something besides himself indicating he may have changed somewhat.
*Dialogue in this episode indicates there are 35 civilian ships left in the fleet. This is the first time since abandoning New Caprice that significant information on the number of ships left in the fleet has emerged. This number doesn't seem to tally with the observed losses in the fleet since the first season, although the number of ships has been portrayed inconsistently throughout the miniseries and the main seasons (a figure in the mid 70s being mentioned in [[Home, Part I]]). The figure of 35 stated here- indicating a loss of half the fleet's ships- seems somewhat inconsistent with a the human population that has only declined by about one fifth since the arrival of Pegasus's crew which bolstered the number of survivors to close to 50,000. Ships being abandoned on New Caprica or afterwards may explain this strikingly low number unless it is a continuity error. If 35 is a correct figure, the other ships in the fleet must have somehow found a way to take a huge number of extra people aboard..
*Ronald D Moore has commented that Galactica is severely undermanned at this point and therefore large parts of the ship are empty, making it easier for mutineers and counter-mutineers to move around unobserved. This however is contracted by the fact that Galactica now has the crew of Pegasus aboard and the ship has in fact been seen to be overcrowded. Even allowing for losses on New Caprica and the fact that Pegasus was undermanned, the ship should still have a larger crew compliment than when she began her journey. In orbit around New Caprica the two ships still had over 2000 personnel still serving and doubtless most if not all former crew re-enlisted after the evacuation of New Caprica. Galactica's combined crew have not been seen to have taken any substantial losses since leaving New Caprica that would leave much of the ship empty. This may be a retcon or continuity error. It should be noted, however, that a large proportion of the people on the ship following the escape from New Caprica were civilians who may have since been relocated. Furthermore, it may be that only certain areas of the ship - such as the living quarters - are overcrowded.
*Despite [[Sharon Agathon]]'s vision-enduced paranoia of a Six taking her daughter, [[Hera Agathon|Hera]]<ref>Sharon kills [[Natalie]] in "[[Sine Qua Non]]" when she sees the latter with Hera in a coridor after Sharon, President Roslin, and Caprica-Six all have a vision of a Six absconding with Hera at the opera house.</ref>, she does not protest [[Caprica-Six]] carrying Hera while Sharon supports her injured husband, [[Karl Agathon|Karl]]. Ironically, Caprica-Six is the only character who has been seen specifically committing infanticide.<ref>Caprica-Six snaps a human infant's neck in her first scene in the [[Miniseries]].</ref>
*Assuming the writers maintained their preference to mirror real-world military traditions, the firing squad assembled to execute Gaeta and Zarek would likely be composed of low-level mutineers who were treated with leniency and then required to seal their loyalty (and feelings of guilt) by executing their former conspirators.

== Questions ==
* What will become of the other mutineers (Racetrack, Narcho, Seelix, etc)? Will Adama follow through with his promise of "no forgiveness"?
* Will Kelly be allowed to resume his duties on Galactica?
* Who will replace Zarek as Vice President?
* Who will take over Gaeta's duties?
* What repercussions will the Quorum's assassination have on the Fleet?
* What is the significance of the damage Tyrol discovers in the engine room? Has it been there long, or is it a result of the improper shut down of the FTL drive? Do other areas of the ship show similar signs of damage?
* Is the same structural deficiency present near the other FTL drive?
* In the [[Miniseries]], Colonel Tigh tells Lt. Gaeta to "spin up FTL drives 1 and 2". Why did Tyrol's deactivation of one FTL drive stop Gaeta from ordering the other's use? Is the other FTL drive still functional?
* Will Anders survive his injuries?
* Will the rebel Cylons become less trusting of the humans as a result of this mutiny? Or will the they be more inclined to trust certain humans, such as Roslin, since she managed to convince them to stay and follow her leadership?
* What was that device Roslin and Leoben were using to communicate with the rest of the Fleet?
* Why was Lee Adama - as opposed to Roslin - present at Zarek and Gaeta's execution?
* What will be done to the 25 ships who did not obey Roslin's order to power down their FTL drives?
* Will the FTL upgrades proceed once order has been brought back completely?
* Will there be a faction that will attempt to portray Zarek or Gaeta as martyrs?
* Will Helo survive his injuries?
* How will Baltar's new-found sense of responsibility toward his flock change his behaviour?
* Will the Cylons' assistance of, and subordination to, President Roslin (and/or Colonial political leaders' fears of being associated with the failed coup d'état) secure them the citizenship and Quorum representation they seek?
* If the Cylons are granted citizenship and representation, how will their military structure be integrated into Adama's command; and will enfranchisement & ''de jure'' humanity be bestowed unto only the humanoid Cylons even though [[Raider (RDM)#Modern_Raider|Raiders]] and [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] whose [[telencephalic inhibitor]]s are removed are sentient?

== Official Statements ==
*[http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/02/battlestar-galactica-gaeta-blood-scales-angeli.html A Chicago Tribune interview with Michael Angeli about the episode:], The Six who sleeps with Baltar on the baseship is named [[Number Six#Lida|Lida]].

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Tom Zarek''' delivers his ultimatum to '''Laura Roslin''''':
:'''Zarek''': This is Tom Zarek. President of the Twelve Colonies. It's over Laura. Saul Tigh was killed while attempting to escape. Bill Adama was tried and found guilty of his crimes. A firing squad executed him this moring. It's done, Laura. You want to think about the people of this fleet now, and surrender.
:'''Roslin''': No. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own eye teeth to end you. I swear it! I'm coming for all of you!

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Hardball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Captain [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Number Two]] / [[Leoben Conoy]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as Speaking Delegate [[Dahlia]]
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]
* [[Adrian Holmes]] as Marine [[Parr]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Michael Angeli]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Blood on the Scales

2009-02-08T00:46:59Z

Bel3338:

Blood on the Scales

2009-02-08T00:45:41Z

Bel3338:

The Oath

2009-02-02T08:55:35Z

Bel3338:

{{Episode Data
| image=4x12 - Promo Pic - Tyrol Lee - The Oath- .jpg
| title= The Oath
| season= 4
| episode=13
| guests=
| writer= [[Mark Verheiden]] <ref name="verhblog">{{cite_web|url=http://verheiden.blogspot.com/2008/04/battlestar-galactica-episode-415.html|title=Mark Verheiden's blog: Battlestar Galactica - Episode 415!|}}</ref>
| story=
| director= [[John Dahl]] <ref name="verhblog"/>
| production=415
| rating=
| US airdate=January 30, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=January 30, 2009
| UK airdate=February 3, 2009
| dvd=
| population=
| prev=[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]
| next=[[Blood on the Scales]]
| forumthread=2490
}}

==Overview==
''The opposition to the alliance with the rebel Cylons reaches its zenith, [[Felix Gaeta]] leads a mutiny aboard Galactica and frees [[Tom Zarek]] from prison.''

==Summary==
===Teaser===
* In Admiral [[William Adama|Adama's]] quarters, the admiral offers the entering [[Saul Tigh]] a cup of algae-ground coffee, which Tigh refuses. Tigh reports that civilian captains are refusing to allow the rebel [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] to refit their [[FTL|jump]] drives for longer range.

* As Tigh continues his report, [[Laura Roslin]] enters from the bathroom, dressed only in a bathrobe and carrying a book. Her smile seems to indicate her enjoyment of Tigh's mild shock at her candid appearance and its implications.

* Gathering his composure, Tigh continues. The [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet's]] attitude toward all Cylons ([[Final Five|Tigh included]]) would make it challenging for Tigh to solve the problem. Adama agrees.

* [[Felix Gaeta]] arrives at [[Tom Zarek]]'s cell in the [[brig]], accompanied by several [[marines]] and other crew. A crewman informs Gaeta that [[Narcho]] and Private Paley have secured a [[small arms locker]].
* Gaeta and Zarek talk about how to keep the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] from reacting badly to their plans, particularly [[Lee Adama]]. Gaeta advises Zarek to push Representative Adama's buttons, since he's "good at that."

* In the admiral's quarters, Roslin discusses the Fleet's issues [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul|for the first time in days]]. She and Adama both agree that the alliance with the rebel Cylons, and general amnesty they were given is not working, and that Lee Adama may not be able to convince the quorum otherwise. Roslin has to force herself to stop talking about the Fleet's problems, and the two say goodbye with affectionate small talk about having dinner ready for Adama when he returns from his shift.

* Gaeta's team escorts Zarek to the [[hangar deck]]. When [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] sees them, she yells out, pretending that her [[Raptor]] has a serious fuel leak. This effectively clears most of the deck's occupants out, but [[Jeanne]] lingers unseen in the upper gangway above the deck, and observes everything.

* As Racetrack tells Gaeta that she's disabled the Raptor's transponder, Deck Chief [[Peter Laird]] steps in, questioning the authorization for the Raptor's departure. When Laird is not dissuaded from calling [[CIC]] to verify the ship's use, Zarek quietly picks up a wrench and strikes Laird on the skull, killing him. Jeanne swiftly runs from the gangway, having witnessed the murder.

* When Gaeta reacts in shock to Zarek's action, the Vice President tells Gaeta not to hold on to some "operatic ideal" of how his "revolution" must be handled; any hesitation could jeopardize their plans.

===Act 1===

* In [[CIC]], [[Hoshi]] notes a ship launch that he can't authenticate in the flight log--and [[DRADIS]] does not show any [[IFF|transponder ID]]. Gaeta, taking his place at his station, stalls Hoshi, advising him to look at other logs from the flight deck.
* When Tigh tells Adama quietly that he has had had [[Nowart]] gather marines for further action to compel other civliian ships to comply, Adama warns that doing the same thing as was done with the ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' a few days prior would likely destroy the likelihood of anyone in the Fleet supporting the fragile Cylon alliance.
* Hoshi continues to try to verify the flying contact as Gaeta tries to stall.

* On ''[[Colonial One]]'' as Lee Adama tries to placate an agitated Quorum, Zarek returns, to everyone's shock.

* [[Diana Seelix]] meets with [[Samuel Anders]] in one of the officer's quarters. She slyly talks about her attraction to him as other crew sneak up, blindfold and savagely beat him.

* As Adama hands Private [[Jaffee]] a log to file, Hoshi reports of a fire near the ship's [[wireless]] antenna array. As Adama gives orders for damage control teams to handle the issue, Gaeta warns that the "fire" might not be an accident. Adama agrees and orders [[marines]] to accompany the DC teams.

* In another officer's quarters, [[Kara Thrace]] jokes with [[Brendan Costanza]] and his new [[Nicholas Tyrol|fatherhood]], commenting how her decision of his pilot nickname of "Hotdog" was an apt one. Constanza angrily replies that Thrace has "[[frak]]ked half the Fleet" and has nothing to show for her similar indiscretions. Thrace throws her bowl of food as Constanza leaves.
* A split second later evacuation alarms ring out. When Thrace steps out to ask Narcho why he, a pilot, is handling damage control, Narcho nastily spurns her senior rank: "Nobody even knows [[The Destiny|what you are]] anymore."
* When Thrace sees a mix of marines and other civilians heading in the opposite direction, she follows them on gut reaction.
* Thrace sees the people break into a small arms locker, arming themselves, with [[Charlie Connor]] issuing orders to both military and civilian personnel. She runs back to her quarters grabs her sidearm and ammo and calls CIC. Gaeta ignores her warning of the break-in. Thrace quickly deduces what's going on.

* On ''Colonial One'', Lee Adama also tries to call his father regarding Zarek's release, but Gaeta blocks Adama's attempt to reach the admiral by claiming that the admiral is busy. Gaeta also feigns ignorance about Zarek's release.
* Zarek steps in, telling Lee that the admiral released him because Zarek would not be a threat if Adama didn't recognize civilian authority. Lee believes otherwise, and leaves for ''Galactica''.

* Gaeta fakes a shipwide communications failure, including backup systems.
* Lee Adama arrives on the hangar deck from his Raptor and is immediately accosted by [[Skulls]] and several others, intent on killing him as Racetrack watches on. "Where are your precious Cylons now?" Connor says as a marine points a gun to Adama's head.
* A shot rings out, but not from the gun Adama stares into. Kara Thrace has shot the marine with the gun and orders Adama's release. When Skulls objects, Thrace doesn't hesitate a second to shoot Skulls in the shoulder. "I can do this all day," she warns, pulling out a second sidearm.
* As Adama runs out, Thrace follows, warning the rest, "Follow me. Please," so she could have a better excuse to shoot them as well.

* As [[Sharon Agathon]] feeds her [[Hera Agathon|daughter]], [[Karl Agathon]] gets his uniform on and warns Sharon to get Hera to daycare.
* Just then, the hatchway on their quarters is being jostled. Someone is trying to get in, and soon succeeds: an angry mob, led by [[Gage]], a former ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' crewman who remembers Agathon's role in the accidental death of [[Alistair Thorne]].
* Gage gloats that he plans on raping Sharon Agathon later as marines beat Helo into unconsciousness.

===Act 2===

* Thrace and Lee Adama seal themselves in a dry storage locker, reviewing what's happened. "Semper frakkin' fi," Thrace hisses after checking a phone, discovering it dead. Adama is astonished how people he's trusted have turned mutinous. He realizes the hangar deck was only the beachhead to a ship-wide takeover of the ship.
* Thrace passionately kisses Lee and tells him she hasn't felt this alive in weeks. They leave to work out what to do, gather people who will help. They try to make their way to [[CIC]]. As they move through the corridors of the ship, they hear gunfire and screams in the distance.
* They pass by several unidentified bodies as well as groups of huddled civilians trying to stay out of the crossfire. A marine pursues a group of armed civilians and exchanges gunfire with them. The duo encounter an unidentified crewman with a pistol who yields to them, suggesting that he is an ally, then continues on.
* CIC is in confusion as Gaeta continues to throw false report after report, keeping Tigh and the admiral off-base.
* The Agathons are thrown in the Cylon brig along with [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]]. Caprica-Six warns that this is a start to eradicating the Cylons, especially their children. Athena reassures her that they'll be kept alive for now as bargaining chips.
* As Jaffee returns to report that the array's damage was faked, Gaeta initiates the final phase of the takeover, calling in several marines who are part of the mutiny, who encircle Adama and the startled CIC staff. A handful of marines who are not involved remain in the room as well. When one of Gaeta's marines signals as though he is about to shoot the Admiral, Jaffee takes the bullet for him, receiving a fatal wound in the process.
* A firefight ensues, and several marines are killed, including those who are not involved in the mutiny. Gaeta orders his men to cease fire, then orders Adama and his staff to stand down, which the admiral reluctantly agrees to do, despite Tigh's anger.
* Gaeta tells Adama that he is removing him from command of ''Galactica'' on the charge of treason.
* Adama accuses Gaeta of betraying his oath and uniform, while Gaeta retorts that the admiral has done that himself by allying with the Cylons.
* Adama angrily warns that, unlike in times past, there will be no forgiveness or amnesty for this takeover.
* Gaeta orders the marines to arrest Adama, Tigh, and the senior staff and to place them in a holding cell.

===Act 3===

* Kara Thrace and Lee Adama make it to the admiral's quarters, finding Laura Roslin there, telling her of the uprising, the communications blackout and that Zarek is in control on ''Colonial One.''
* Roslin has had enough; she puts on her coat and leads them all out, knowing of one way to get a message out over wireless.

* Gaeta, now commanding CIC, orders [[Redwing]] and his marine team to secure the engine room. Specialist Gage now sits in Gaeta's old station.

* Surrounded by [[Cult of Baltar|his followers]], [[Gaius Baltar]] wishes his group well as he prepares to leave, believing that the uprising will come to get him as well. [[Galen Tyrol]] confirms Jeanne's fears to Baltar.
* As Roslin, Thrace and Lee Adama arrive, Tyrol briefs them. Using secured wireless handhelds, Tyrol has learned that the admiral is in custody. He tells him that he's in control of an airlock that could be used to get Adama off the ship. When Lee asks why Tyrol is doing this, Tyrol tells him that the "[[The Old Man|old man]]" deserves a better fate.

* Tigh and Adama begin speaking to their two marine escorts. Nowart and Maldonaldo. Adama challenges Nowart to shoot him and questions whether Nowart has "got a pair." The distraction works. Tigh and Adama manage to turn the tables, Adama shooting Maldonado and taking Nowart hostage.

* Roslin and Baltar talk. She knows that Baltar's pirate wireless transmitter that he's used to communicate to his followers throughout the Fleet could be used to warn others in the Fleet as well.

* Adama and Tigh watch Connor give orders to other mutineers. Nowart tells them that he was ordered to take them all to the brig. They head there.

* CIC communications are being besieged by confused voices from other Fleet captains as Laura Roslin's voice begins to talk to the Fleet, telling them all, including the Quorum, of the uprising, pleading all to follow the rightful authorities. Gage is unable to stop the pirate signal until Gaeta gets to the station to jam it. But now the Fleet's comm chatter worsens, asking for more information from Roslin and what is happening on the battlestar.

* Lee and Thrace meet up with Adama and Tigh in the brig. Thrace angrily reacts to Nowart's presence as Adama tells him to leave. Thrace shoots at Nowart's way, warning the admiral that they are not his men anymore.

===Act 4===

* In the secondary storage airlock, Roslin and Baltar talk about Gaeta and his duplicitous nature.
* As Adama and team make their way there, Baltar takes a moment to try to get Gaeta to stop his takeover. He reminds him of their failings on [[New Caprica]], suggesting that Gaeta was complicit with the Cylon occupation. Gaeta closes the channel.
* A Raptor is heading towards ''Galactica'' from the Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|baseship]], but Gaeta realizes the craft isn't heading for the hangar deck.

* The Raptor docks in the bay, piloted by an [[Number Eight|Eight]]. Roslin and Adama greet each other and kiss, causing Lee and Thrace to look at each other in surprise. Tyrol's men get word of marines heading their way.
* Baltar and Roslin board the Raptor, but the admiral orders Tyrol to get Lee and Thrace out and back to his secured area. He and Tigh choose to stay behind to ensure that the Raptor gets away.

* Gaeta orders the [[CAP]] to intercept and destroy the escaping Raptor as the episode ends.

* The marines, led by [[Aaron Kelly]], use welding torches to cut through the airlock locks and open the door slightly. Adama returns fire. "It's been an honor to serve with you, my friend," Adama tells Tigh, as marines throw a flash grenade through the doors.

== Analysis ==
*Quite a few people have sided with Zarek and Gaeta. These include pilots Narcho, Racetrack, Skulls, Redwing and Diana Seelix, marines Maldonaldo and Nowart, specialists Vireem and Gage, Lieutenant Aaron Kelly, and civilian Charlie Connor. In this episode, Maldonaldo is killed by Adama, Skulls is shot and wounded by Kara Thrace, and Nowart is captured and later released by Adama.
*The Adama/Roslin loyalists include Saul Tigh, Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, Galen Tyrol, Helo, Athena, and Hoshi. Gaius Baltar has also sided with Roslin out of self-preservation. By the end of the episode, the only known characters on ''Galactica'' capable of retaking the ship are Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, and Galen Tyrol. Roslin and Baltar have fled ''Galactica'', Admiral Adama and Saul Tigh are cornered, and Helo, Athena and Hoshi were captured before they even knew what was happening.
*The mutiny seems to have revitalized Kara Thrace and Laura Roslin. Thrace is the first one to organize any form of resistance against the mutineers. Roslin has openly addressed the Fleet for the first time since the discovery of Earth.
*The mutiny has given Kara Thrace a purpose in life as well as an outlet to channel her inner demons. She throws herself into battle without hesitation or regard for her own safety. She has also become much colder as evidenced by her attempts to gun down an unarmed Nowart.
*Despite forming a partnership to overthrow Adama, Zarek and Gaeta clearly have differing ideas of how to go about dealing with their opponents. The brutal killing of Laird is but one example of how Zarek is willing to go to much more extreme lengths than Gaeta, who seems to want the coup to succeed without excessive bloodshed. Zarek also lets slip that he disapproves of Gaeta arresting the senior staff of ''Galactica'' rather than just executing them. It remains to be seen how far this rift will widen.
*Gaeta appears to want the removal of Adama without recourse to too much violence, as shown by his attempt to stop the gunfire in CIC and his refusal to execute Adama and the senior staff on the spot. Nevertheless Gaeta has clearly mentally and morally committed himself to the mutiny to the point where he eventually orders the shooting down of the Raptor carrying Roslin to the basestar (although he does not know who is aboard).
*It does not seem essential in the end for Tigh and Adama to stay in the storage bay while the marines break down the door, as the Raptor is clear before the marines make it through. It is possible that Adama would have remained anyway, refusing to abandon his ship.
* Adama's final words to his XO show how he still holds Saul Tigh in high regard as his friend, regardless of his revealed Cylon nature.
*Lee Adama's sharp comments to Tigh shows the hard line towards the Cylons still held by the younger Adama, which has been displayed in earlier episodes such as "[[A Measure of Salvation]]" when he proposed a genocidal biological attack on the Cylons. Despite this Lee tempers his feelings with his pragmatic attitude to the Cylon alliance alongside his loyalty to Roslin and his father, noting that it is all they have left to survive.

== Questions ==
*What will happen to Adama and Tigh?
*Where are Kara Thrace, Lee Adama, and Galen Tyrol heading off to?
*How much impact has Roslin's speech had on the Fleet?
*Will Zarek get the rest of the Fleet to fall in line?
*Just how far is Gaeta willing to go to rid the Fleet of the Cylons?
*How will the rebel Cylons react to the uprising?
*Will Roslin enlist the aid of the rebel Cylons to bring down Zarek?
*Where do other crew members such as Hot Dog and Doc Cottle stand?
*Were Gaeta's men actually planning to execute Lee Adama?
*What are Racetrack and Skulls' personal motivations for joining Gaeta?
*How much of ''Galactica'' has Gaeta taken control of?
*Where did Nowart flee to?
*Will any of the mutineers switch sides? What about the loyalists?
*What other loyalists besides Lee Adama and Kara Thrace remain at large on ''Galactica''?
*Will Skulls survive his injuries?

== Official Statements ==

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Admiral Adama''' after the death of Jaffee and having been relieved of command:''
: "I want you all to understand this! If you do this, there will be no forgiveness. No amnesty. This boy died honouring his uniform. You, you'll die with nothing."

*'''''President Roslin''' addressing the fleet:''
: "Women and men of the fleet. This is your president. We have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Of all the decisions that I have had to make since assuming the presidency, none was more frightening or more difficult than agreeing to this alliance with the cylons. But we have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Cylons and humans have been at war for generations; we know nothing else. And we have been locked in a struggle that has seen both sides suffer unspeakable loss. But with our supplies running low and our options limited, our former enemies may represent our last, perhaps our only hope. To those in the fleet and in Galactica who would reject this alliance, I am asking you. No, I am begging you to reconsider and place your trust back in those who have brought you this far, and to reject those traitors who would use your fear of the cylons to destroy colonial civilisation a..."
== Guest Stars ==
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Lieutenant [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Harball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Lieutenant [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Vincent Gale]] as Chief [[Peter Laird]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Craig Veroni]] as Sergeant [[Maldonaldo]]
* [[Michael Leisen]] as Private [[Stewart Jaffee]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Ryan Robbins]] as [[Charlie Connor]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Keegan Connor Tracy]] as [[Jeanne]]
* [[Lara Gilchrist]] as [[Paulla Schaffer]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Tauron Delegate|Tauron Delegate]] (credited as "Speaking Delegate #2)
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Mark Verheiden]]
[[Category:RDM]]

The Oath

2009-02-02T07:09:51Z

Bel3338:

{{Episode Data
| image=4x12 - Promo Pic - Tyrol Lee - The Oath- .jpg
| title= The Oath
| season= 4
| episode=13
| guests=
| writer= [[Mark Verheiden]] <ref name="verhblog">{{cite_web|url=http://verheiden.blogspot.com/2008/04/battlestar-galactica-episode-415.html|title=Mark Verheiden's blog: Battlestar Galactica - Episode 415!|}}</ref>
| story=
| director= [[John Dahl]] <ref name="verhblog"/>
| production=415
| rating=
| US airdate=January 30, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=January 30, 2009
| UK airdate=February 3, 2009
| dvd=
| population=
| prev=[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]
| next=[[Blood on the Scales]]
| forumthread=2490
}}

==Overview==
''The opposition to the alliance with the rebel Cylons reaches its zenith, [[Felix Gaeta]] leads a mutiny aboard Galactica and frees [[Tom Zarek]] from prison.''

==Summary==
===Teaser===
* In Admiral [[William Adama|Adama's]] quarters, the admiral offers the entering [[Saul Tigh]] a cup of algae-ground coffee, which Tigh refuses. Tigh reports that civilian captains are refusing to allow the rebel [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] to refit their [[FTL|jump]] drives for longer range.

* As Tigh continues his report, [[Laura Roslin]] enters from the bathroom, dressed only in a bathrobe and carrying a book. Her smile seems to indicate her enjoyment of Tigh's mild shock at her candid appearance and its implications.

* Gathering his composure, Tigh continues. The [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet's]] attitude toward all Cylons ([[Final Five|Tigh included]]) would make it challenging for Tigh to solve the problem. Adama agrees.

* [[Felix Gaeta]] arrives at [[Tom Zarek]]'s cell in the [[brig]], accompanied by several [[marines]] and other crew. A crewman informs Gaeta that [[Narcho]] and Private Paley have secured a [[small arms locker]].
* Gaeta and Zarek talk about how to keep the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] from reacting badly to their plans, particularly [[Lee Adama]]. Gaeta advises Zarek to push Representative Adama's buttons, since he's "good at that."

* In the admiral's quarters, Roslin discusses the Fleet's issues [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul|for the first time in days]]. She and Adama both agree that the alliance with the rebel Cylons, and general amnesty they were given is not working, and that Lee Adama may not be able to convince the quorum otherwise. Roslin has to force herself to stop talking about the Fleet's problems, and the two say goodbye with affectionate small talk about having dinner ready for Adama when he returns from his shift.

* Gaeta's team escorts Zarek to the [[hangar deck]]. When [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] sees them, she yells out, pretending that her [[Raptor]] has a serious fuel leak. This effectively clears most of the deck's occupants out, but [[Jeanne]] lingers unseen in the upper gangway above the deck, and observes everything.

* As Racetrack tells Gaeta that she's disabled the Raptor's transponder, Deck Chief [[Peter Laird]] steps in, questioning the authorization for the Raptor's departure. When Laird is not dissuaded from calling [[CIC]] to verify the ship's use, Zarek quietly picks up a wrench and strikes Laird on the skull, killing him. Jeanne swiftly runs from the gangway, having witnessed the murder.

* When Gaeta reacts in shock to Zarek's action, the Vice President tells Gaeta not to hold on to some "operatic ideal" of how his "revolution" must be handled; any hesitation could jeopardize their plans.

===Act 1===

* In [[CIC]], [[Hoshi]] notes a ship launch that he can't authenticate in the flight log--and [[DRADIS]] does not show any [[IFF|transponder ID]]. Gaeta, taking his place at his station, stalls Hoshi, advising him to look at other logs from the flight deck.
* When Tigh tells Adama quietly that he has had had [[Nowart]] gather marines for further action to compel other civliian ships to comply, Adama warns that doing the same thing as was done with the ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' a few days prior would likely destroy the likelihood of anyone in the Fleet supporting the fragile Cylon alliance.
* Hoshi continues to try to verify the flying contact as Gaeta tries to stall.

* On ''[[Colonial One]]'' as Lee Adama tries to placate an agitated Quorum, Zarek returns, to everyone's shock.

* [[Diana Seelix]] meets with [[Samuel Anders]] in one of the officer's quarters. She slyly talks about her attraction to him as other crew sneak up, blindfold and savagely beat him.

* As Adama hands Private [[Jaffee]] a log to file, Hoshi reports of a fire near the ship's [[wireless]] antenna array. As Adama gives orders for damage control teams to handle the issue, Gaeta warns that the "fire" might not be an accident. Adama agrees and orders [[marines]] to accompany the DC teams.

* In another officer's quarters, [[Kara Thrace]] jokes with [[Brendan Costanza]] and his new [[Nicholas Tyrol|fatherhood]], commenting how her decision of his pilot nickname of "Hotdog" was an apt one. Constanza angrily replies that Thrace has "[[frak]]ked half the Fleet" and has nothing to show for her similar indiscretions. Thrace throws her bowl of food as Constanza leaves.
* A split second later evacuation alarms ring out. When Thrace steps out to ask Narcho why he, a pilot, is handling damage control, Narcho nastily spurns her senior rank: "Nobody even knows [[The Destiny|what you are]] anymore."
* When Thrace sees a mix of marines and other civilians heading in the opposite direction, she follows them on gut reaction.
* Thrace sees the people break into a small arms locker, arming themselves, with [[Charlie Connor]] issuing orders to both military and civilian personnel. She runs back to her quarters grabs her sidearm and ammo and calls CIC. Gaeta ignores her warning of the break-in. Thrace quickly deduces what's going on.

* On ''Colonial One'', Lee Adama also tries to call his father regarding Zarek's release, but Gaeta blocks Adama's attempt to reach the admiral by claiming that the admiral is busy. Gaeta also feigns ignorance about Zarek's release.
* Zarek steps in, telling Lee that the admiral released him because Zarek would not be a threat if Adama didn't recognize civilian authority. Lee believes otherwise, and leaves for ''Galactica''.

* Gaeta fakes a shipwide communications failure, including backup systems.
* Lee Adama arrives on the hangar deck from his Raptor and is immediately accosted by [[Skulls]] and several others, intent on killing him as Racetrack watches on. "Where are your precious Cylons now?" Connor says as a marine points a gun to Adama's head.
* A shot rings out, but not from the gun Adama stares into. Kara Thrace has shot the marine with the gun and orders Adama's release. When Skulls objects, Thrace doesn't hesitate a second to shoot Skulls in the shoulder. "I can do this all day," she warns, pulling out a second sidearm.
* As Adama runs out, Thrace follows, warning the rest, "Follow me. Please," so she could have a better excuse to shoot them as well.

* As [[Sharon Agathon]] feeds her [[Hera Agathon|daughter]], [[Karl Agathon]] gets his uniform on and warns Sharon to get Hera to daycare.
* Just then, the hatchway on their quarters is being jostled. Someone is trying to get in, and soon succeeds: an angry mob, led by [[Gage]], a former ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' crewman who remembers Agathon's role in the accidental death of [[Alistair Thorne]].
* Gage gloats that he plans on raping Sharon Agathon later as marines beat Helo into unconsciousness.

===Act 2===

* Thrace and Lee Adama seal themselves in a dry storage locker, reviewing what's happened. "Semper frakkin' fi," Thrace hisses after checking a phone, discovering it dead. Adama is astonished how people he's trusted have turned mutinous. He realizes the hangar deck was only the beachhead to a ship-wide takeover of the ship.
* Thrace passionately kisses Lee and tells him she hasn't felt this alive in weeks. They leave to work out what to do, gather people who will help. They try to make their way to [[CIC]]. As they move through the corridors of the ship, they hear gunfire and screams in the distance.
* They pass by several unidentified bodies as well as groups of huddled civilians trying to stay out of the crossfire. A marine pursues a group of armed civilians and exchanges gunfire with them. The duo encounter an unidentified crewman with a pistol who yields to them, suggesting that he is an ally, then continues on.
* CIC is in confusion as Gaeta continues to throw false report after report, keeping Tigh and the admiral off-base.
* The Agathons are thrown in the Cylon brig along with [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]]. Caprica-Six warns that this is a start to eradicating the Cylons, especially their children. Athena reassures her that they'll be kept alive for now as bargaining chips.
* As Jaffee returns to report that the array's damage was faked, Gaeta initiates the final phase of the takeover, calling in several marines who are part of the mutiny, who encircle Adama and the startled CIC staff. A handful of marines who are not involved remain in the room as well. When one of Gaeta's marines signals as though he is about to shoot the Admiral, Jaffee takes the bullet for him, receiving a fatal wound in the process.
* A firefight ensues, and several marines are killed, including those who are not involved in the mutiny. Gaeta orders his men to cease fire, then orders Adama and his staff to stand down, which the admiral reluctantly agrees to do, despite Tigh's anger.
* Gaeta tells Adama that he is removing him from command of ''Galactica'' on the charge of treason.
* Adama accuses Gaeta of betraying his oath and uniform, while Gaeta retorts that the admiral has done that himself by allying with the Cylons.
* Adama angrily warns that, unlike in times past, there will be no forgiveness or amnesty for this takeover.
* Gaeta orders the marines to arrest Adama, Tigh, and the senior staff and to place them in a holding cell.

===Act 3===

* Kara Thrace and Lee Adama make it to the admiral's quarters, finding Laura Roslin there, telling her of the uprising, the communications blackout and that Zarek is in control on ''Colonial One.''
* Roslin has had enough; she puts on her coat and leads them all out, knowing of one way to get a message out over wireless.

* Gaeta, now commanding CIC, orders [[Redwing]] and his marine team to secure the engine room. Specialist Gage now sits in Gaeta's old station.

* Surrounded by [[Cult of Baltar|his followers]], [[Gaius Baltar]] wishes his group well as he prepares to leave, believing that the uprising will come to get him as well. [[Galen Tyrol]] confirms Jeanne's fears to Baltar.
* As Roslin, Thrace and Lee Adama arrive, Tyrol briefs them. Using secured wireless handhelds, Tyrol has learned that the admiral is in custody. He tells him that he's in control of an airlock that could be used to get Adama off the ship. When Lee asks why Tyrol is doing this, Tyrol tells him that the "[[The Old Man|old man]]" deserves a better fate.

* Tigh and Adama begin speaking to their two marine escorts. Nowart and Maldonaldo. Adama challenges Nowart to shoot him and questions whether Nowart has "got a pair." The distraction works. Tigh and Adama manage to turn the tables, Adama shooting Maldonado and taking Nowart hostage.

* Roslin and Baltar talk. She knows that Baltar's pirate wireless transmitter that he's used to communicate to his followers throughout the Fleet could be used to warn others in the Fleet as well.

* Adama and Tigh watch Connor give orders to other mutineers. Nowart tells them that he was ordered to take them all to the brig. They head there.

* CIC communications are being besieged by confused voices from other Fleet captains as Laura Roslin's voice begins to talk to the Fleet, telling them all, including the Quorum, of the uprising, pleading all to follow the rightful authorities. Gage is unable to stop the pirate signal until Gaeta gets to the station to jam it. But now the Fleet's comm chatter worsens, asking for more information from Roslin and what is happening on the battlestar.

* Lee and Thrace meet up with Adama and Tigh in the brig. Thrace angrily reacts to Nowart's presence as Adama tells him to leave. Thrace shoots at Nowart's way, warning the admiral that they are not his men anymore.

===Act 4===

* In the secondary storage airlock, Roslin and Baltar talk about Gaeta and his duplicitous nature.
* As Adama and team make their way there, Baltar takes a moment to try to get Gaeta to stop his takeover. He reminds him of their failings on [[New Caprica]], suggesting that Gaeta was complicit with the Cylon occupation. Gaeta closes the channel.
* A Raptor is heading towards ''Galactica'' from the Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|baseship]], but Gaeta realizes the craft isn't heading for the hangar deck.

* The Raptor docks in the bay, piloted by an [[Number Eight|Eight]]. Roslin and Adama greet each other and kiss, causing Lee and Thrace to look at each other in surprise. Tyrol's men get word of marines heading their way.
* Baltar and Roslin board the Raptor, but the admiral orders Tyrol to get Lee and Thrace out and back to his secured area. He and Tigh choose to stay behind to ensure that the Raptor gets away.

* Gaeta orders the [[CAP]] to intercept and destroy the escaping Raptor as the episode ends.

* The marines, led by [[Aaron Kelly]], use welding torches to cut through the airlock locks and open the door slightly. Adama returns fire. "It's been an honor to serve with you, my friend," Adama tells Tigh, as marines throw a flash grenade through the doors.

== Analysis ==
*Quite a few people have sided with Zarek and Gaeta. These include pilots Narcho, Racetrack, Skulls, Redwing and Diana Seelix, marines Maldonaldo and Nowart, specialists Vireem and Gage, Lieutenant Aaron Kelly, and civilian Charlie Connor. In this episode, Maldonaldo is killed by Adama, Skulls is shot and wounded by Kara Thrace, and Nowart is captured and later released by Adama.
*The Adama/Roslin loyalists include Saul Tigh, Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, Galen Tyrol, Helo, Athena, and Hoshi. Gaius Baltar has also sided with Roslin out of self-preservation. By the end of the episode, the only known characters on ''Galactica'' capable of retaking the ship are Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, and Galen Tyrol. Roslin and Baltar have fled ''Galactica'', Admiral Adama and Saul Tigh are cornered, and Helo, Athena and Hoshi were captured before they even knew what was happening.
*The mutiny seems to have revitalized Kara Thrace and Laura Roslin. Thrace is the first one to organize any form of resistance against the mutineers. Roslin has openly addressed the Fleet for the first time since the discovery of Earth.
*The mutiny has given Kara Thrace a purpose in life as well as an outlet to channel her inner demons. She throws herself into battle without hesitation or regard for her own safety. She has also become much colder as evidenced by her attempts to gun down an unarmed Nowart.
*Despite forming a partnership to overthrow Adama, Zarek and Gaeta clearly have differing ideas of how to go about dealing with their opponents. The brutal killing of Laird is but one example of how Zarek is willing to go to much more extreme lengths than Gaeta, who seems to want the coup to succeed without excessive bloodshed. Zarek also lets slip that he disapproves of Gaeta arresting the senior staff of ''Galactica'' rather than just executing them. It remains to be seen how far this rift will widen.
*Gaeta appears to want the removal of Adama without recourse to too much violence, as shown by his attempt to stop the gunfire in CIC and his refusal to execute Adama and the senior staff on the spot. Nevertheless Gaeta has clearly mentally and morally committed himself to the mutiny to the point where he eventually orders the shooting down of the Raptor carrying Roslin to the basestar (although he does not know who is aboard).
*It does not seem essential in the end for Tigh and Adama to stay in the storage bay while the marines break down the door, as the Raptor is clear before the marines make it through. It is possible that Adama would have remained anyway, refusing to abandon his ship.
* Adama's final words to his XO show how he still holds Saul Tigh in high regard as his friend, regardless of his revealed Cylon nature.
*Lee Adama's sharp comments to Tigh shows the hard line towards the Cylons still held by the younger Adama, which has been displayed in earlier episodes such as "[[A Measure of Salvation]]" when he proposed a genocidal biological attack on the Cylons. Despite this Lee tempers his feelings with his pragmatic attitude to the Cylon alliance alongside his loyalty to Roslin and his father, noting that it is all they have left to survive.

== Questions ==
*What will happen to Adama and Tigh?
*Where are Kara Thrace, Lee Adama, and Galen Tyrol heading off to?
*How much impact has Roslin's speech had on the Fleet?
*Will Zarek get the rest of the Fleet to fall in line?
*Just how far is Gaeta willing to go to rid the Fleet of the Cylons?
*How will the rebel Cylons react to the uprising?
*Will Roslin enlist the aid of the rebel Cylons to bring down Zarek?
*Where do other crew members such as Hot Dog and Doc Cottle stand?
*Were Gaeta's men actually planning to execute Lee Adama?
*What are Racetrack and Skulls' personal motivations for joining Gaeta?
*How much of ''Galactica'' has Gaeta taken control of?
*Where did Nowart flee to?
*Will any of the mutineers switch sides? What about the loyalists?
*What other loyalists besides Lee Adama and Kara Thrace remain at large on ''Galactica''?
*Will Skulls survive his injuries?

== Official Statements ==

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Admiral Adama''' after the death of Jaffe and having been relieved of command:''
: "I want you all to understand this! If you do this, there will be no forgiveness. No amnesty. This boy died honouring his uniform. You, you'll die with nothing."

*'''''President Roslin''' addressing the fleet:''
: "Women and men of the fleet. This is your president. We have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Of all the decisions that I have had to make since assuming the presidency, none was more frightening or more difficult than agreeing to this alliance with the cylons. But we have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Cylons and humans have been at war for generations; we know nothing else. And we have been locked in a struggle that has seen both sides suffer unspeakable loss. But with our supplies running low and our options limited, our former enemies may represent our last, perhaps our only hope. To those in the fleet and in Galactica who would reject this alliance, I am asking you. No, I am begging you to reconsider and place your trust back in those who have brought you this far, and to reject those traitors who would use your fear of the cylons to destroy colonial civilisation a..."
== Guest Stars ==
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Lieutenant [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Harball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Lieutenant [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Vincent Gale]] as Chief [[Peter Laird]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Craig Veroni]] as Sergeant [[Maldonaldo]]
* [[Michael Leisen]] as Private [[Stewart Jaffee]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Ryan Robbins]] as [[Charlie Connor]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Keegan Connor Tracy]] as [[Jeanne]]
* [[Lara Gilchrist]] as [[Paulla Schaffer]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Tauron Delegate|Tauron Delegate]] (credited as "Speaking Delegate #2)
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Mark Verheiden]]
[[Category:RDM]]

The Oath

2009-02-02T07:05:28Z

Bel3338:

{{Episode Data
| image=4x12 - Promo Pic - Tyrol Lee - The Oath- .jpg
| title= The Oath
| season= 4
| episode=13
| guests=
| writer= [[Mark Verheiden]] <ref name="verhblog">{{cite_web|url=http://verheiden.blogspot.com/2008/04/battlestar-galactica-episode-415.html|title=Mark Verheiden's blog: Battlestar Galactica - Episode 415!|}}</ref>
| story=
| director= [[John Dahl]] <ref name="verhblog"/>
| production=415
| rating=
| US airdate=January 30, 2009 <ref>http://tv.ign.com/articles/920/920164p1.html</ref>
| CAN airdate=January 30, 2009
| UK airdate=February 3, 2009
| dvd=
| population=
| prev=[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]
| next=[[Blood on the Scales]]
| forumthread=2490
}}

==Overview==
''The opposition to the alliance with the rebel Cylons reaches its zenith, [[Felix Gaeta]] leads a mutiny aboard Galactica and frees [[Tom Zarek]] from prison.''

==Summary==
===Teaser===
* In Admiral [[William Adama|Adama's]] quarters, the admiral offers the entering [[Saul Tigh]] a cup of algae-ground coffee, which Tigh refuses. Tigh reports that civilian captains are refusing to allow the rebel [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] to refit their [[FTL|jump]] drives for longer range.

* As Tigh continues his report, [[Laura Roslin]] enters from the bathroom, dressed only in a bathrobe and carrying a book. Her smile seems to indicate her enjoyment of Tigh's mild shock at her candid appearance and its implications.

* Gathering his composure, Tigh continues. The [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet's]] attitude toward all Cylons ([[Final Five|Tigh included]]) would make it challenging for Tigh to solve the problem. Adama agrees.

* [[Felix Gaeta]] arrives at [[Tom Zarek]]'s cell in the [[brig]], accompanied by several [[marines]] and other crew. A crewman informs Gaeta that [[Narcho]] and Private Paley have secured a [[small arms locker]].
* Gaeta and Zarek talk about how to keep the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] from reacting badly to their plans, particularly [[Lee Adama]]. Gaeta advises Zarek to push Representative Adama's buttons, since he's "good at that."

* In the admiral's quarters, Roslin discusses the Fleet's issues [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul|for the first time in days]]. She and Adama both agree that the alliance with the rebel Cylons, and general amnesty they were given is not working, and that Lee Adama may not be able to convince the quorum otherwise. Roslin has to force herself to stop talking about the Fleet's problems, and the two say goodbye with affectionate small talk about having dinner ready for Adama when he returns from his shift.

* Gaeta's team escorts Zarek to the [[hangar deck]]. When [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] sees them, she yells out, pretending that her [[Raptor]] has a serious fuel leak. This effectively clears most of the deck's occupants out, but [[Jeanne]] lingers unseen in the upper gangway above the deck, and observes everything.

* As Racetrack tells Gaeta that she's disabled the Raptor's transponder, Deck Chief [[Peter Laird]] steps in, questioning the authorization for the Raptor's departure. When Laird is not dissuaded from calling [[CIC]] to verify the ship's use, Zarek quietly picks up a wrench and strikes Laird on the skull, killing him. Jeanne swiftly runs from the gangway, having witnessed the murder.

* When Gaeta reacts in shock to Zarek's action, the Vice President tells Gaeta not to hold on to some "operatic ideal" of how his "revolution" must be handled; any hesitation could jeopardize their plans.

===Act 1===

* In [[CIC]], [[Hoshi]] notes a ship launch that he can't authenticate in the flight log--and [[DRADIS]] does not show any [[IFF|transponder ID]]. Gaeta, taking his place at his station, stalls Hoshi, advising him to look at other logs from the flight deck.
* When Tigh tells Adama quietly that he has had had [[Nowart]] gather marines for further action to compel other civliian ships to comply, Adama warns that doing the same thing as was done with the ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' a few days prior would likely destroy the likelihood of anyone in the Fleet supporting the fragile Cylon alliance.
* Hoshi continues to try to verify the flying contact as Gaeta tries to stall.

* On ''[[Colonial One]]'' as Lee Adama tries to placate an agitated Quorum, Zarek returns, to everyone's shock.

* [[Diana Seelix]] meets with [[Samuel Anders]] in one of the officer's quarters. She slyly talks about her attraction to him as other crew sneak up, blindfold and savagely beat him.

* As Adama hands Private [[Jaffee]] a log to file, Hoshi reports of a fire near the ship's [[wireless]] antenna array. As Adama gives orders for damage control teams to handle the issue, Gaeta warns that the "fire" might not be an accident. Adama agrees and orders [[marines]] to accompany the DC teams.

* In another officer's quarters, [[Kara Thrace]] jokes with [[Brendan Costanza]] and his new [[Nicholas Tyrol|fatherhood]], commenting how her decision of his pilot nickname of "Hotdog" was an apt one. Constanza angrily replies that Thrace has "[[frak]]ked half the Fleet" and has nothing to show for her similar indiscretions. Thrace throws her bowl of food as Constanza leaves.
* A split second later evacuation alarms ring out. When Thrace steps out to ask Narcho why he, a pilot, is handling damage control, Narcho nastily spurns her senior rank: "Nobody even knows [[The Destiny|what you are]] anymore."
* When Thrace sees a mix of marines and other civilians heading in the opposite direction, she follows them on gut reaction.
* Thrace sees the people break into a small arms locker, arming themselves, with [[Charlie Connor]] issuing orders to both military and civilian personnel. She runs back to her quarters grabs her sidearm and ammo and calls CIC. Gaeta ignores her warning of the break-in. Thrace quickly deduces what's going on.

* On ''Colonial One'', Lee Adama also tries to call his father regarding Zarek's release, but Gaeta blocks Adama's attempt to reach the admiral by claiming that the admiral is busy. Gaeta also feigns ignorance about Zarek's release.
* Zarek steps in, telling Lee that the admiral released him because Zarek would not be a threat if Adama didn't recognize civilian authority. Lee believes otherwise, and leaves for ''Galactica''.

* Gaeta fakes a shipwide communications failure, including backup systems.
* Lee Adama arrives on the hangar deck from his Raptor and is immediately accosted by [[Skulls]] and several others, intent on killing him as Racetrack watches on. "Where are your precious Cylons now?" Connor says as a marine points a gun to Adama's head.
* A shot rings out, but not from the gun Adama stares into. Kara Thrace has shot the marine with the gun and orders Adama's release. When Skulls objects, Thrace doesn't hesitate a second to shoot Skulls in the shoulder. "I can do this all day," she warns, pulling out a second sidearm.
* As Adama runs out, Thrace follows, warning the rest, "Follow me. Please," so she could have a better excuse to shoot them as well.

* As [[Sharon Agathon]] feeds her [[Hera Agathon|daughter]], [[Karl Agathon]] gets his uniform on and warns Sharon to get Hera to daycare.
* Just then, the hatchway on their quarters is being jostled. Someone is trying to get in, and soon succeeds: an angry mob, led by [[Gage]], a former ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' crewman who remembers Agathon's role in the accidental death of [[Alistair Thorne]].
* Gage gloats that he plans on raping Sharon Agathon later as marines beat Helo into unconsciousness.

===Act 2===

* Thrace and Lee Adama seal themselves in a dry storage locker, reviewing what's happened. "Semper frakkin' fi," Thrace hisses after checking a phone, discovering it dead. Adama is astonished how people he's trusted have turned mutinous. He realizes the hangar deck was only the beachhead to a ship-wide takeover of the ship.
* Thrace passionately kisses Lee and tells him she hasn't felt this alive in weeks. They leave to work out what to do, gather people who will help. They try to make their way to [[CIC]]. As they move through the corridors of the ship, they hear gunfire and screams in the distance.
* They pass by several unidentified bodies as well as groups of huddled civilians trying to stay out of the crossfire. A marine pursues a group of armed civilians and exchanges gunfire with them. The duo encounter an unidentified crewman with a pistol who yields to them, suggesting that he is an ally, then continues on.
* CIC is in confusion as Gaeta continues to throw false report after report, keeping Tigh and the admiral off-base.
* The Agathons are thrown in the Cylon brig along with [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]]. Caprica-Six warns that this is a start to eradicating the Cylons, especially their children. Athena reassures her that they'll be kept alive for now as bargaining chips.
* As Jaffee returns to report that the array's damage was faked, Gaeta initiates the final phase of the takeover, calling in several marines who are part of the mutiny, who encircle Adama and the startled CIC staff. A handful of marines who are not involved remain in the room as well. When one of Gaeta's marines signals as though he is about to shoot the Admiral, Jaffee takes the bullet for him, receiving a fatal wound in the process.
* A firefight ensues, and several marines are killed, including those who are not involved in the mutiny. Gaeta orders his men to cease fire, then orders Adama and his staff to stand down, which the admiral reluctantly agrees to do, despite Tigh's anger.
* Gaeta tells Adama that he is removing him from command of ''Galactica'' on the charge of treason.
* Adama accuses Gaeta of betraying his oath and uniform, while Gaeta retorts that the admiral has done that himself by allying with the Cylons.
* Adama angrily warns that, unlike in times past, there will be no forgiveness or amnesty for this takeover.
* Gaeta orders the marines to arrest Adama, Tigh, and the senior staff and to place them in a holding cell.

===Act 3===

* Kara Thrace and Lee Adama make it to the admiral's quarters, finding Laura Roslin there, telling her of the uprising, the communications blackout and that Zarek is in control on ''Colonial One.''
* Roslin has had enough; she puts on her coat and leads them all out, knowing of one way to get a message out over wireless.

* Gaeta, now commanding CIC, orders [[Redwing]] and his marine team to secure the engine room. Specialist Gage now sits in Gaeta's old station.

* Surrounded by [[Cult of Baltar|his followers]], [[Gaius Baltar]] wishes his group well as he prepares to leave, believing that the uprising will come to get him as well. [[Galen Tyrol]] confirms Jeanne's fears to Baltar.
* As Roslin, Thrace and Lee Adama arrive, Tyrol briefs them. Using secured wireless handhelds, Tyrol has learned that the admiral is in custody. He tells him that he's in control of an airlock that could be used to get Adama off the ship. When Lee asks why Tyrol is doing this, Tyrol tells him that the "[[The Old Man|old man]]" deserves a better fate.

* Tigh and Adama begin speaking to their two marine escorts. Nowart and Maldonaldo. Adama challenges Nowart to shoot him and questions whether Nowart has "got a pair." The distraction works. Tigh and Adama manage to turn the tables, Adama shooting Maldonado and taking Nowart hostage.

* Roslin and Baltar talk. She knows that Baltar's pirate wireless transmitter that he's used to communicate to his followers throughout the Fleet could be used to warn others in the Fleet as well.

* Adama and Tigh watch Connor give orders to other mutineers. Nowart tells them that he was ordered to take them all to the brig. They head there.

* CIC communications are being besieged by confused voices from other Fleet captains as Laura Roslin's voice begins to talk to the Fleet, telling them all, including the Quorum, of the uprising, pleading all to follow the rightful authorities. Gage is unable to stop the pirate signal until Gaeta gets to the station to jam it. But now the Fleet's comm chatter worsens, asking for more information from Roslin and what is happening on the battlestar.

* Lee and Thrace meet up with Adama and Tigh in the brig. Thrace angrily reacts to Nowart's presence as Adama tells him to leave. Thrace shoots at Nowart's way, warning the admiral that they are not his men anymore.

===Act 4===

* In the secondary storage airlock, Roslin and Baltar talk about Gaeta and his duplicitous nature.
* As Adama and team make their way there, Baltar takes a moment to try to get Gaeta to stop his takeover. He reminds him of their failings on [[New Caprica]], suggesting that Gaeta was complicit with the Cylon occupation. Gaeta closes the channel.
* A Raptor is heading towards ''Galactica'' from the Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|baseship]], but Gaeta realizes the craft isn't heading for the hangar deck.

* The Raptor docks in the bay, piloted by an [[Number Eight|Eight]]. Roslin and Adama greet each other and kiss, causing Lee and Thrace to look at each other in surprise. Tyrol's men get word of marines heading their way.
* Baltar and Roslin board the Raptor, but the admiral orders Tyrol to get Lee and Thrace out and back to his secured area. He and Tigh choose to stay behind to ensure that the Raptor gets away.

* Gaeta orders the [[CAP]] to intercept and destroy the escaping Raptor as the episode ends.

* The marines, led by [[Aaron Kelly]], use welding torches to cut through the airlock locks and open the door slightly. Adama returns fire. "It's been an honor to serve with you, my friend," Adama tells Tigh, as marines throw a flash grenade through the doors.

== Analysis ==
*Quite a few people have sided with Zarek and Gaeta. These include pilots Narcho, Racetrack, Skulls, Redwing and Diana Seelix, marines Maldonaldo and Nowart, specialists Vireem and Gage, Lieutenant Aaron Kelly, and civilian Charlie Connor. In this episode, Maldonaldo is killed by Adama, Skulls is shot and wounded by Kara Thrace, and Nowart is captured and later released by Adama.
*The Adama/Roslin loyalists include Saul Tigh, Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, Galen Tyrol, Helo, Athena, and Hoshi. Gaius Baltar has also sided with Roslin out of self-preservation. By the end of the episode, the only known characters on ''Galactica'' capable of retaking the ship are Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, and Galen Tyrol. Roslin and Baltar have fled ''Galactica'', Admiral Adama and Saul Tigh are cornered, and Helo, Athena and Hoshi were captured before they even knew what was happening.
*The mutiny seems to have revitalized Kara Thrace and Laura Roslin. Thrace is the first one to organize any form of resistance against the mutineers. Roslin has openly addressed the Fleet for the first time since the discovery of Earth.
*The mutiny has given Kara Thrace a purpose in life as well as an outlet to channel her inner demons. She throws herself into battle without hesitation or regard for her own safety. She has also become much colder as evidenced by her attempts to gun down an unarmed Nowart.
*Despite forming a partnership to overthrow Adama, Zarek and Gaeta clearly have differing ideas of how to go about dealing with their opponents. The brutal killing of Laird is but one example of how Zarek is willing to go to much more extreme lengths than Gaeta, who seems to want the coup to succeed without excessive bloodshed. Zarek also lets slip that he disapproves of Gaeta arresting the senior staff of ''Galactica'' rather than just executing them. It remains to be seen how far this rift will widen.
*Gaeta appears to want the removal of Adama without recourse to too much violence, as shown by his attempt to stop the gunfire in CIC and his refusal to execute Adama and the senior staff on the spot. Nevertheless Gaeta has clearly mentally and morally committed himself to the mutiny to the point where he eventually orders the shooting down of the Raptor carrying Roslin to the basestar (although he does not know who is aboard).
*It does not seem essential in the end for Tigh and Adama to stay in the storage bay while the marines break down the door, as the Raptor is clear before the marines make it through. It is possible that Adama would have remained anyway, refusing to abandon his ship.
* Adama's final words to his XO show how he still holds Saul Tigh in high regard as his friend, regardless of his revealed Cylon nature.
*Lee Adama's sharp comments to Tigh shows the hard line towards the Cylons still held by the younger Adama, which has been displayed in earlier episodes such as "[[A Measure of Salvation]]" when he proposed a genocidal biological attack on the Cylons. Despite this Lee tempers his feelings with his pragmatic attitude to the Cylon alliance alongside his loyalty to Roslin and his father, noting that it is all they have left to survive.

== Questions ==
*What will happen to Adama and Tigh?
*Where are Kara Thrace, Lee Adama, and Galen Tyrol heading off to?
*How much impact has Roslin's speech had on the Fleet?
*Will Zarek get the rest of the Fleet to fall in line?
*Just how far is Gaeta willing to go to rid the Fleet of the Cylons?
*How will the rebel Cylons react to the uprising?
*Will Roslin enlist the aid of the rebel Cylons to bring down Zarek?
*Where do other crew members such as Hot Dog and Doc Cottle stand?
*Were Gaeta's men actually planning to execute Lee Adama?
*What are Racetrack and Skulls' personal motivations for joining Gaeta?
*How much of ''Galactica'' has Gaeta taken control of?
*Where did Nowart flee to?
*Will any of the mutineers switch sides? What about the loyalists?
*What other loyalists besides Lee Adama and Kara Thrace remain at large on ''Galactica''?
*Will Skulls survive his injuries?

== Official Statements ==

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*'''''Admiral Adama''' after the death of Jaffe and having been relieved of command:''
: "I want you all to understand this! If you do this, there will be no forgiveness. No amnesty. This boy died honouring his uniform. You, you'll die with nothing."

*'''''President Roslin''' addressing the fleet:''
: "Women and men of the fleet. This is your president. We have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Of all the decisions that I have had to make since assuming the presidency, none was more frightening or difficult than agreeing to this alliance with the cylons. But we have come to a crossroads in our long and painful journey. Cylons and humans have been at war for generation; we know nothing else. And we have been locked in a struggle that has seen both sides suffer unspeakable loss. But with our supplies running low and our options limited, our former enemies may represent our last, perhaps our only hope. To those in the fleet and in Galactica who would reject this alliance, I am asking you. No, I am begging you to reconsider and place your trust back in those who have brought you this far, and to reject those traitors who would use your fear of the cylons to destroy colonial civilisation a..."
== Guest Stars ==
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Brad Dryborough]] as Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]
* [[Sebastian Spence]] as Lieutenant [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]]
* [[Bodie Olmos]] as Lieutenant [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Lieutenant [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Jennifer Halley]] as Ensign [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Harball" Seelix]]
* [[Ty Olsson]] as Lieutenant [[Aaron Kelly]]
* [[Vincent Gale]] as Chief [[Peter Laird]]
* [[Colin Corrigan]] as Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]]
* [[Craig Veroni]] as Sergeant [[Maldonaldo]]
* [[Michael Leisen]] as Private [[Stewart Jaffee]]
* [[Derek Delost]] as Specialist [[Vireem]]
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Specialist [[Gage]]
* [[Ryan Robbins]] as [[Charlie Connor]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Keegan Connor Tracy]] as [[Jeanne]]
* [[Lara Gilchrist]] as [[Paulla Schaffer]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Marilyn Norry]] as [[Reza Chronides]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Tauron Delegate|Tauron Delegate]] (credited as "Speaking Delegate #2)
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Quorum Delegate|Quorum Delegate]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Mark Verheiden]]
[[Category:RDM]]