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Brendan Costanza

2009-01-25T11:44:07Z

Canek: /* Biography */

{{Character Data|
|photo= 4x05 - The Road Less Travelled - Promo 2.jpg
|age=
|colony=
|birthname= Brendan Costanza
|callsign= Hot Dog
|seen= Act of Contrition
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children= [[Nicholas Tyrol]]
|marital status= Single
|role= [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilot, [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]''
|rank= Lieutenant, junior grade
|actor= [[Bodie Olmos]]
|serial=304871<ref>This number comes from [[:Image:Constanza's dogtag serial.jpg|his dogtags]].</ref>
|cylon=
|name=
}}

Lieutenant '''Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza''' is a Viper pilot on ''Galactica'', and is the only known survivor among the initial batch of [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilots recruited from the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]'s civilians. He initially acts more experienced than he really is, but grows to become one of ''Galactica's'' seasoned veteran pilots.

== Biography ==

A washout from the Fleet Academy before the [[Second Cylon War]], Costanza is picked as one of the first Viper pilot trainees recruited from the Fleet after an accident kills 13 pilots. Despite flight instructor [[Kara Thrace]] initially failing the entire class, Costanza and the others are reinstated on Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]'s orders and resume flight training.

[[Image:HotDog YCGHA.JPG|thumb|left|Costanza after his reckless attempt to save Lieutenant Thrace.]] Costanza demonstrates loyalty, bravery and a degree of recklessness when a group of eight [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Cylon Raiders]] encounter Thrace and her nuggets on a training flight. Defying Thrace's order to return to ''[[Galactica]]'' at full throttle, Costanza turns around and joins the fight as Thrace's wingman, destroying one Raider before sustaining battle damage to his Viper. This almost gets the young, inexperienced pilot killed and complicates things for Thrace by having to cover a disabled bird, but it improves her odds against the remaining Raiders ([[Act of Contrition]]).

Costanza ejects from his severely damaged Viper and is subsequently rescued by a [[Raptor]] piloted by [[Sharon Valerii]] and [[Crashdown]], after which he vomits on the Raptor's deck. A short time later, after briefing Commander Adama, Costanza is led to [[sickbay]], but not before Captain [[Lee Adama]] removes the flight wings from his own uniform and pins them on Costanza in recognition of bravery in his first combat engagement ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]).

Costanza develops a bond with [[Louanne Katraine]] ("Kat") and [[Donald Perry]] ("Chuckles"), members of his training group ([[Act of Contrition]]).

Costanza takes part in the attack on a Cylon tylium refinery as part of Strike Force One. It appears he assumes command of the group with the death of their flight leader, [[Fireball]] ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]])

He helps defending ''Galactica'' while the battlestar performs lengthy calculations to locate the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] ([[Scattered]]). After returning to ''Galactica'', Costanza survives a brief run in with a [[Cylon Centurion]] that boards the ship. With shipboard systems unreliable, Apollo orders Costanza to personally report the situation to [[CIC]] ([[Valley of Darkness]]).

While flying [[Combat Air Patrol|CAP]], Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] orders Costanza to intercept a Raptor carrying the escaping President [[Laura Roslin]]. After Captain Lee Adama continues their escape after Costanza fires a warning shot across his bow, Tigh orders Costanza to stand down rather than shoot Captain Adama's Raptor down ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).

Costanza is one of the pilots, along with Captain Adama and Thrace, who are scrambled to intercept two Cylon raiders on a presumed reconnaissance mission to find ''Galactica''. The Raiders are dispatched with ease, though their real mission was to relay a transmission from a [[Number Three|Cylon agent]] on board ''Galactica'' to [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] ([[Final Cut]]).

Costanza is with Captain Adama and Thrace practicing handgun marksmanship on the [[firing range]] when a [[Cylon computer virus]] nearly suffocates the trio. Later, Costanza is scrambled with the rest of ''Galactica'''s air group to face a massive formation of Cylon forces. With the timely intervention of [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Sharon]], the enemy fighters are disabled and Costanza joyfully takes part in the [[Great Cylon Turkey Shoot]] ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

Castanza is later part of the honor guard present on the [[hangar deck]] when [[Admiral]] [[Helena Cain]] arrives on ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

Later, Costanza presumably takes part in a [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship| joint operation]] which required all available pilots from both the ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' and ''[[Pegasus (RDM)| Pegasus]]'' air wings ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

Costanza is among the pilots assigned to patrol the asteroid field during weeks-long mining operations. He survives the mission, helps account for [[Reilly]]'s belongings after the pilot is killed by Scar and is later present in the pilot's rec room when [[Kara Thrace]] toasts to the deceased pilots ([[Scar]]).

After the discovery of [[New Caprica]], Costanza remains in the Fleet above the planet, who are later forced to leave when the Cylons arrive. Four months later, Costanza leads [[Blue Squadron (RDM)|Blue Squadron]] in the [[Battle of New Caprica|attack]] on the New Caprica ship yard. He and his wingman, [[Redwing]], provide cover fire for resistance members attempting to enter the facility by destroying many guard tower emplacements ([[Exodus, Part II]]).

After the exodus from New Caprica, Costanza is the one that suggests "Athena" as a callsign for [[Sharon Agathon]]. He appears to be one of Major Adama's senior pilots ([[Torn]]) and is a member of the boarding party sent to investigate the dying Cylon [[basestar (RDM)|basestar]] found in the [[Lion's Head Nebula]] ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

With other pilots, he is responsible for shepherding civilian ships through a [[passage (star cluster)|massive star cluster]]. In one of the outbound flights, Costanza loses the ''[[Adriatic]]'' ([[The Passage]]).

At a mission briefing he complains about a rash in his pubic region. Captain [[Karl Agathon|Agathon]] teases him about and says that he hopes the girl was worth it, moving to the next seat ([[A Day in the Life]]).

During an underway replenishment operation near a gas giant, Costanza is assigned to fly as Thrace's wingman during a routine CAP. It is on one of these CAPs Thraces believes to have made visual contact with a Cylon ship, though Costanza and Thrace's gun camera see nothing ([[Maelstrom]]).

Two weeks after Kara Thrace's death, Costanza is present during the daily mission brief conducted by Major Adama immediately prior to the major being taken off flight status and replaced with Karl Agathon as CAG ([[The Son Also Rises]]).

During the opening days of Baltar's trial, Costanza is playing a game of [[Pyramid]] in [[Joe's bar]] with the [[nuggets]] [[Diana Seelix]] and [[Samuel Anders]] ([[Crossroads, Part I]]).

After the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula]], he plays a "strip poker" variant of [[Triad (RDM)|Triad]] with [[Margaret Edmonson]] and the [[tattooed pilot]], before Lee Adama's send off party ([[Six of One]]). Costanza then joins the crew of the ''[[Demetrius]]'' as a pilot for one of her [[Viper Mark II]] fighters ([[The Road Less Traveled]]).

When half of ''Galactica's'' air wing is assigned to the [[Cylon Civil War|rebel]] Cylon basestar, Costanza is among their number. He presumably takes part in the attack on the Cylon [[Resurrection Hub]] and is later among those held hostage by [[Number Three]] ("[[Sine Qua Non]]", "[[The Hub]]", "[[Revelations]]").

He is the biological father of [[Cally Tyrol]]'s child, [[Nicholas Tyrol]] ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]).

== Notes ==

*Actor [[Bodie Olmos]] is the youngest son of [[Edward James Olmos]] ([[William Adama]]) and the grandson of actor/singer Howard Keel.

*In the DVD commentary for "[[Act of Contrition]]", [[David Eick]] and [[Ron D. Moore]] elaborate on the increased role of the nugget pilots as the series progressed:

:Eick: This young actress playing Kat has proven to be--and there's Bodie Olmos, Eddie's son, in the center there who's Hot Dog, he's also become a recurring character.
:RDM: Well those three in the front, [[Donald Perry|Chuckles]], Hot Dog, and [[Kat]], they all became "pilots" to us. And I don't think we really had any expectation of that. The idea was we were going to do "the nuggets", "the new pilots", was just going to be its own kind of story, and ''maybe'' you might see one of these guys again later. And what started happening is the writers just started putting them in, like almost every scene that we dealt with the pilots (of ''Galactica'') so these ''became'' our "recognizable faces".

*During the initial briefing with [[Kara Thrace|Thrace]], Costanza can be seen to be flipping his pen around his fingers in a similar fashion to "Iceman" from the movie "Top Gun" ([[Act of Contrition]]). This is also the way many drummers like to flip their drumsticks around, and Bodie Olmos has revealed in interviews that he is an avid drummer.

*Costanza is featured in the XBOX 360 ''Battlestar Galactica'' game as one of the pilots the player competes with to shoot down the most ships and become ''Galactica'''s new top gun.

== References ==

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

{{Characters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costanza, Brendan}}

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

[[de:Brendan Costanza]]
[[fr:Brendan Constanza]]

Fragged

2007-10-29T22:20:34Z

Canek: /* Noteworthy Dialogue */ Selix -> Seelix

{{Episode Data
| image =Tigh_in_Command.JPG
| title=Fragged
| series=
| season=2
| episode=3
| guests=[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
| writer=[[Dawn Prestwich]] <br/> [[Nicole Yorkin]]
| story=
| director=[[Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]
| production=203
| rating= [[List of Nielsen ratings (RDM)|2.0]]
| US airdate=2005-07-29
| UK airdate=2006-01-24
| dvd= {{Season 2.0 NTSC DVD release date}} '''US'''<br/>{{Season 2 PAL DVD release date}} '''UK'''
| population= 47862
| oldpopulation= 47874
| prev=[[Valley of Darkness]]
| next=[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]
| itunes=http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=VWbyALbmqZY&offerid=78941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewTVSeason%253Fi%253D102232260%2526id%253D102808898%2526s%253D143441%2526partnerId%253D30
| unbox=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB000V1ZKIU&tag=battlestarwik-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
}}

== Overview ==

:''Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] deals with the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] and the press over [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]]'s removal from the presidency, while [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[Centurion]]s prepare to hinder any rescue attempt on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] by setting up an anti-aircraft battery.''

== Summary ==

===On ''Galactica''===

*Dr. [[Cottle]] arrives on ''[[Galactica]]'' from the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'', and informs Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] that Commander [[William Adama]] is still bleeding internally, and that he will have to operate to stabilize his condition.
*The pressures of the day (coming up on two, without sleep) have gotten to Tigh, as he begins drinking while on duty. In his confusion, he questions why [[Lee Adama]] is leading a crew to rescue the survivors from [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], and acts very rudely to members of the crew.
*After being informed about their arrival on ''Galactica'', Tigh meets the [[Quorum of Twelve]], who demand access to the imprisoned [[Laura Roslin]]. Tigh contends that Commander Adama removed Roslin from power, believing she was a threat to the stability of [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]], and denies accusations by the Quorum members that he will try to initiate martial law upon the Fleet.
*Meanwhile, Roslin experiences delusions caused by [[Chamalla]] withdrawal while being held in ''Galactica's'' brig, which prompts [[Billy Keikeya]] to ask [[Venner|Corporal Venner]], a devout follower of the [[Pythia|Pythian]] prophecies, to obtain Chamalla extract for Roslin.
*[[Ellen Tigh]] visits Roslin in the brig, and believes Roslin is going crazy. She states that Saul Tigh should allow the Quorum members access to the imprisoned President, as it will prove (in her delirium) that she was a threat to the stability of the government.
*The Quorum members visit Roslin, and, having taken the Chamalla and regained some lucidity, Roslin makes a statement to the members, stating that the military coup has failed, and that she retains the position of President. She tells the members that she is dying from terminal breast cancer, and the Quorum members realize that she is the "dying leader" who will lead the fleet to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] as stated in prophecy. Realizing he has severely underestimated Roslin, Tigh herds the Quorum members out of the brig.
*Tigh later appears before the [[Fleet News Service|press]]. Due to the attempted coup against the military, Tigh declares martial law over the Fleet, which throws the press into chaos.

===On Kobol===

*After holding a funeral for [[Socinus]] and [[Tarn]], the ground crew stranded on Kobol discover that the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] are cannibalizing parts from their own [[Heavy Raider]] to build an anti-aircraft battery.
*[[Crashdown]] deduces that the [[Cylon Centurion]]s won't look for them, but will instead use the battery to shoot down any aircraft that come looking for the survivors.
*Despite [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] and [[Gaius Baltar]]'s objections, Crashdown decides to destroy the anti-aircraft battery to ensure their rescue, despite that over half of the group lacks firearms proficiency.
*In a hallucination, [[Number Six|Six]] tells Baltar that one of the crew will turn against the others, and that it is Baltar's duty to accept his role as the father of the new race of human-Cylon hybrids.
*When the crew ready their assault on the battery, they discover that more Cylons have reinforced the security around the battery, which leads Tyrol to believe the makeshift [[DRADIS]] dish that the Cylons are using to guide the missiles will be left unprotected. In spite of this, Crashdown pulls rank and continues with the original plan.
*During this time, Lee Adama and a compliment of medical personnel and [[Marines]] pilot two Raptors to the planet's surface.
*When [[Cally]] objects to being a diversion for the attack, Crashdown pulls a gun on her and threatens to shoot her unless she follows orders. Tyrol pulls his gun on Crashdown, but when it looks like Crashdown will fire, Baltar shoots Crashdown in the back, killing him instantly.
*The gunshot reveals their position to the Cylons, who chase the group through the forest. [[Seelix]] is shot in the leg, and Tyrol is shot in the arm, but he manages to use a grenade launcher to take out the DRADIS dish. In a "last stand" gesture, angry and reckless, Tyrol stands up and opens fire on the advancing Cylons just as the Raptors in the air use their missiles to destroy the Cylons.
*As the rescued crew leaves Kobol, Six tells Baltar that he is fulfilling his role in the prophecy, and that she will act as his conscience.
*Tyrol and Baltar cover for Crashdown's demise, indicating to [[Lee Adama]] that Crashdown died while fighting the Cylons.

== Notes ==
*As of the opening credits, the Fleet population is now 47,862, reflecting a casualty count of 12 during the Cylon boarding action in the previous episode. This seems barely sufficient to include the bodies seen on screen, let alone the number of casualties implied in "[[Valley of Darkness]]", but perhaps a number of the casualties haven't had time to expire yet. At the end of the episode, factoring in Crashdown's death, the total stands at 47,861.
*[[Crashdown]] dies in this episode, shot by Baltar as he threatens to shoot Cally.
*"Frag" is American military slang for intentionally killing a superior officer of one's own force in the field; allegedly to save oneself from their incompetence or recklessness. Popularized during Vietnam, when discipline lagged and a few officers got grenades in their bunkers or caught "friendly fire" during a skirmish. The word is derived from "fragmentation grenade" which is shortened to "frag grenade" or just "frag".
*[[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]] is the most fundamentalist of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]], interpreting the [[Sacred Scrolls]] very literally. It appears that many Gemenese believe so strongly in the [[Pythia]]n prophecy that they will almost automatically side with President Roslin.
*[[Laura Roslin|President Roslin]] has revealed to the entire [[Quorum of Twelve]], as well as [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]], that she is dying of breast cancer. Presumably her illness is now public knowledge.
*[[Cally]] only joined the Colonial Fleet as a way to pay her way through dental school.
*This is the first episode without an appearance by [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]].
*This is the second episode without an appearance by [[Sharon Valerii]], the first being "[[Valley of Darkness]]".
*This is the first episode without scenes on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]].
*This is the first episode since the Miniseries without an appearance by [[Helo]], even though [[Tahmoh Penikett]] is still in the opening credits.
*This is the first episode in which Tigh calls ''[[Galactica]]'' "my ship".
*The discussion between Tigh and [[Billy Keikeya]] firmly establishes that Keikeya was ''not'' arrested.
*Raptors are capable of carrying missiles. We also saw this in "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]".
*Seven Vipers are down for repairs in this episode, probably damaged offscreen during the sortie in "[[Scattered]]".
*[[Cottle]]'s hurried arrival means that this episode must begin very shortly after the end of "[[Valley of Darkness]]", during which Roslin still seems to be in good health. For her to exhibit the degree of symptoms shown, either [[chamalla]]'s withdrawal effects are highly acute, or her delirium is the result of the extreme progression of her cancer, no longer masked by the anesthetizing properties of the drug.
*The writers for this episode, Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin, used to be writers on [[Katee Sackhoff]]'s old show, ''[[w:The Education of Max Bickford|The Education of Max Bickford]]''. Ironically, "Fragged" happens to be the first episode of ''Battlestar Galactica'' that Katee Sackhoff does ''not'' appear in.
*The fight between Tyrol and the Centurions bears is similar to the climactic battle in the film ''[[Wikipedia: Saving Private Ryan|Saving Private Ryan]]'': in the film, Tom Hank's character Captain Miller desperately tries to defend himself from on oncoming German tank by shooting his pistol sidearm at it, at which point the tank explodes in spectacular fashion; for a moment the stunned Miller thinks he caused this with his pistol, only to look up and realize an Allied plane dropped a bomb on the tank. In "Fragged", Chief Tyrol desperately fires at oncoming Cylon Centurions with just his pistol, they are destroyed in a spectacular explosion, and for a moment Tyrol thinks he caused this before looking up and realizing a Raptor behind him fired missiles at the Centurions. [[Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]], who directed "Fragged", was actually first assistant director on ''Saving Private Ryan'' under Steven Spielberg.

== Analysis ==
*Baltar appears in his virtual home with Six, but dressed in his fatigues and not at all spiffy as in past visions. Is this an indication that Baltar's mind is becoming more tortured, or is more or less brainwashed by Six than before?
*The somewhat delusional Roslin complains of a ringing sensation when Ellen Tigh appears. Immediately after she leaves and the hatch closes behind her, Roslin no longer hears the ringing and appears visibly relieved. She exclaims, "Oh my gods...Ellen Tigh." Could the chamalla extract and the visions she sees be giving Roslin herself a way of detecting Cylons with her own senses, or is it just a coincidental side-effect from the medication? Given that Roslin has had past visions that have later been logically and correctly identified as factual (to scripture or to current events), this may not be a stretch.
*Another interpretation to Roslin's complaint of ringing may be that Roslin may barely realize that Ellen Tigh is in her presence and, in her delusion, thinks she was talking to someone else. In this case, Roslin would have good reason to want to speak with the wife of the acting commanding officer that could set her free.

== Questions ==
*What does [[Number Six]] mean when she says that people that die on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] simply die, and that "God" has abandoned Kobol?
*Will [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]], [[Cally]], or [[Seelix]] ever reveal the truth about Crashdown's fate? Or perhaps use the threat of doing so as leverage against Baltar, to force him to perform a favor later? ([[Resistance (episode)|Answer]])
*Why is it necessary to cannibalize [[Raptor 305]] for parts? ''Galactica'' had four Raptors in good condition earlier that day during "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", and none seem to be deployed during the battle in "[[Scattered]]".
**Is fielding all six for any extended time period beyond the ship's ability? Have ''Galactica's'' Raptors been in chronically poor condition?
*Could [[Ellen Tigh]]'s attempts to manipulate the downfall of President Roslin be an indication that she is really a Cylon sent to spread chaos in the Fleet?
*Why is the shuttle bearing the Quorum delegates en route from the ''[[Zephyr]]'', rather than ''[[Cloud Nine]]''?
*Who is the one who betrays the others? Cally, for her refusal to carry out orders? Crashdown, for turning his gun on one of his own? Baltar, for killing the group's leader? Or even Tyrol, for his failure to defend Cally by killing Crashdown before the count of "three"?
*Baltar appears bloodied and disheveled in his daydream, as he is in reality, instead of nattily well-dressed as he's always been before. Is he losing his mind?
*The Cylons know the location of Kobol ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]), and still have forces in the area ([[Scattered]]). If they had wished to intercept the [[SAR]] party or rescue their forces stranded on the planet, they could have done so easily. Instead they leave a handful of [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] to improvise an ineffective missile battery. Why did they not send another basestar to Kobol?

== Official Statements ==

=== Interviews ===

* ''[[Richard Hatch]] discusses his role in the episode:''

: Tom Zarek is challenging [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]]’s authority and leadership, and his declaration of Martial Law. The storyline speaks to the huge issue of balancing individual freedom with survival, something those of us in the United States are all familiar with right now. And even though Zarek’s highly competitive with [[Laura Roslin]], he has tremendous respect for her, and in this case it’s civilian vs. military, so I’ll let you guess where he falls in that struggle.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.hollywoodnorthreport.com/article.php?Article=1519|title=Hollywood North Report: Richard Hatch Talks Season 2!|date=14 July 2005|accessdate=22 June 2007|last=Falconer|first=Robert|format=|language=}}</ref>

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

* ''In Galactica's brig:''
:'''Laura Roslin:''' (to the Quorum of Twelve) Thank you all for coming. I have a statement I would like to make. The attempted military coup against the lawful government of the Colonies is illegal, ill-advised, and clearly doomed to failure. I have not resigned the Presidency, and I will fight this action with everything at my command.
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' She's crazy. She's nuts! She thinks she's a prophet or some such nonsense. Go ahead and ask her, she'll tell you. Just listen to her! What was it, the...Arrow Of Apollo will open the Tomb of...Artemis, or some such nonsense.
:'''Laura Roslin:''' Everything I have done is consistent and logical. We have found Kobol, we have found the City of the Gods, and when we retrieve the Arrow, we will open the tomb of '''Athena''', and we will find the road to Earth.

* ''In an announcement to a group of journalists on Galactica:''
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' The events which took place aboard Colonial One are unfortunate. Laura Roslin's actions in supporting mutiny and sedition among the military could not be tolerated. Therefore, Commander Adama was left with no choice other than to remove her from office. Ms. Roslin is now resting comfortably aboard this ship, where she will remain until such time as the Commander deems otherwise. As it appears obvious that the government cannot function under the current circumstances, I have decided to dissolve the Quorum of Twelve, and as of this moment, I have declared martial law.

* ''In Galactica's sickbay:''
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' (talking about Commander Adama) Is he going to make it?
:'''Doctor Cottle:''' How should I know? I'm not a psychic. Now get the hell out of here.

:*This appears to be a subtle in-joke to [[Ronald D. Moore|RDM's]] ties to ''Star Trek'' and Dr. McCoy's "I'm a doctor, not a..." quips.

*''Crashdown has ordered his untrained, outnumbered group to make a suicidal attack the Cylon missile battery:''
:'''Baltar:''' He's crazy. I'm not trained for this kind of thing. I've never fired a gun in my life!
:'''Seelix:''' I haven't fired one since Basic.
:'''Baltar:''' (to Cally) You?
:'''Cally:''' I just joined to pay for dental school.

* ''After Baltar shoots Crashdown on Kobol:''
:'''Number Six:''' (to Baltar) Now you're a man.

* ''In a desperate last stand against Cylons''
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' (hiding from Cylon gunfire) Stay there! Stay there!
:'''Gaius Baltar:''' (shooting at Cylons) Chief! Chief!
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' (pulls a gun out of his holster and starts firing wildly at the advancing Cylon forces) Aah! Aah! Aaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! (Cylons are all blown into pieces, and Tyrol looks at his gun in amazement, then behind him at a hovering Raptor)
:'''Lee Adama:''' (aboard the Raptor) You're welcome.

* ''While waiting to assault the Cylon forces on Kobol''
:'''Crashdown:''' [[Frak]] orders, frak court-marshal! Our people are up there and we have to save them! We don't have any time! Move!
:'''Cally:''' I can't do it!
:'''Crashdown:''' Cally, move!
:'''Cally:''' No!
:'''Crashdown:''' (pulls a gun on Cally)
:'''Gaius Baltar:''' Chief!
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Whoa, whoa, whoa! Put it down!
:'''Crashdown:''' You're going, Cally. You're going out there or I'm going to blow your brains out, right here, right now.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Hey LT, easy, easy-
:'''Crashdown:''' I'm going to count to three.
:'''Seelix:''' This is crazy! This is crazy!
:'''Crashdown:''' One...
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' (pulls gun on Crashdown) Put it down, right now. Listen to me! Drop your weapon!
:'''Crashdown:''' Two...three. (a gunshot is fired, and Crashdown falls dead against a tree, revealing that he has been shot by Baltar)

*''In a hallway on Galactica:''
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' Why aren't you in the brig?
:'''Billy:''' (flustered) Um? Because... no one put me there.

*''After Tarn's memorial service on Kobol:''
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Doc, let's go. We're moving out.
:'''Gaius Baltar:''' (no reaction)
:'''Tyrol:''' Doc, d'you hear me? We're moving out.
:'''Baltar:''' I did hear you, Chief, I just don't respond to the title 'Doc'. A 'dock' is a platform for loading and unloading material. My title is 'doctor' or 'Mr Vice President', if you don't mind.
:'''Tyrol''': You are loading, are you not?

== Guest stars ==
*[[Michael Hogan]] as Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Tahmoh Penikett]] as Lt. [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]
*[[Paul Campbell]] as [[Billy Keikeya]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally Tyrol|Cally Henderson]]
*[[Alessandro Juliani]] as Lt. [[Felix Gaeta]]
*[[Kandyse McClure]] as Petty Officer [[Anastasia Dualla]]
*[[Samuel Witwer]] as [[Crashdown]]
*[[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
*[[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[Cottle]]
*[[Kerry Norton]] as Paramedic [[Layne Ishay]]
*[[Kurt Evans]] as Paramedic [[Howard Kim]]
*[[Chris Shields]] as Corporal [[Venner]]
*[[Jennifer Halley]] as [[Diana Seelix]]
*[[Leah Cairns]] as Lt. [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
*[[Patricia Idlette]] as [[Sarah Porter]]
*[[Malcolm Stewart]] as [[Marshall Bagott]]
*[[T-Roy Kozuki]] as Marine

== References ==

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

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Dawn Prestwich]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Nicole Yorkin]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[de:Die Gesetze des Krieges]]

Valley of Darkness

2007-10-29T22:19:11Z

Canek: /* Noteworthy Dialogue */ Selix -> Seelix

{{Episode Data
| image =Valley_of_Darkness-Starbuck_Helo.jpg
| title=Valley of Darkness
| series=
| season=2
| episode=2
| guests=
| writer=[[Bradley Thompson]] <br/> [[David Weddle]]
| story=
| goof=Y
| director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| production=202
| rating= [[List of Nielsen ratings (RDM)|2.0]]
| US airdate=2005-07-22
| UK airdate=2006-01-17
| dvd= {{Season 2.0 NTSC DVD release date}} '''US'''<br/>{{Season 2 PAL DVD release date}} '''UK'''
| podcast = Y
| population= 47874
| oldpopulation= 47875
| prev=[[Scattered]]
| next=[[Fragged]]
| itunes=http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=VWbyALbmqZY&offerid=78941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewTVSeason%253Fi%253D102232258%2526id%253D102808898%2526s%253D143441%2526partnerId%253D30
| unbox=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB000V22QCM&tag=battlestarwik-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
}}

== Overview ==

: ''After rediscovering the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], [[Cylon Centurion]]s board ''[[Galactica]]'' and wreak havoc, while [[Lee Adama]] and a rag-tag group of pilots and Marines attempt to thwart the Cylon's methodical plans.''

== Summary ==

===On ''Galactica''===

* After [[FTL|jumping]] successfully to the Fleet's location once [[Scattered|rediscovering their actual location]], ''Galactica'''s power systems shut down unexpectedly. [[Jammer]] reports to Captain Adama that the [[sound-powered phone]]s are working, but jammed with other communications, so they cannot contact damage control.
* After landing on ''Galactica'', pilots [[Lee Adama]], [[Louanne Katraine|Kat]], [[Brendan Costanza|Hot Dog]], and [[Flyboy]] walk through the corridors with flashlights. Flyboy stumbles into a Cylon Centurion, which kills him as the rest attempt to flee.
* As Hot Dog and Kat flee up a stairway, Adama attempts to kill the Cylon with his sidearm, but the bullets ricochet off the Centurion. A small group of [[Marines]] destroy the Cylon from behind with an explosive round. Unfortunately, it was their last round, and only explosive rounds work against this heavily-armored version of Centurion.
* [[Laura Roslin]] convinces Corporal [[Venner]] that she must leave her cell and escape the brig before the Cylons find them. On Captain Adama's advice, Venner leads the group to the safest location on the ship, [[sickbay]].
* Adama's group finds the storage locker on deck 12. Inside, they find [[Jammer]] (a member of [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]]'s repair crew) and only six explosive rounds.
* Lt. [[Felix Gaeta]] manages to warn the remainder of the Fleet to stay away from ''Galactica'' by [[wireless]] before the Cylons jam external communications.
*Gaeta notes that a [[Cylon computer virus]] has infected some of the ship's isolated computers while they were networked; he has teams cleaning out the infection.
* Roslin's group find the bodies of some of ''Galactica'''s enlisted crew, massacred by the Cylons except for one survivor: a shell-shocked [[Anastasia Dualla]]. As Billy tries to snap Dualla out of her shock, Venner discovers that the Cylons have depressurised the route they had planned to take to sickbay. The group, now with Dualla, heads out along an alternative route that goes past [[Aft Damage Control]].
* Tigh gets reports that some of the Cylons have been taken out by teams throughout the ship. He suspects that the Cylons are heading towards two sections of the ship -- one of which is Aft Damage Control -- in order to vent the ship's atmosphere. (After the ship is vented and the crew terminated, Tigh states that the Cylons would turn ''Galactica's'' guns on the Fleet.)
* Captain Adama contacts [[CIC]], where Tigh orders him to stop the Cylons at Aft Damage Control and prevent the Cylons from overriding the venting safeguards.
* Captain Adama, Jammer, Kat, and two Marines station themselves near the Aft Damage Control compartment. As they ready the defense against the advancing Cylons, Roslin's group hides in a nearby passageway to avoid being discovered, unaware of how close their group is to Adama's squad and the Cylons. The Cylons run down a hallway towards [[Aft Damage Control]], but are distracted when Keikeya accidentally fires a round. The distraction places Roslin's group in danger but gives Adama and his team enough time to destroy the Cylon attackers.
*Having successfully destroyed the Cylons and with sufficient ship control restored, Doctor [[Cottle]] is summoned to ''Galactica''. In sickbay, Roslin assures Lee Adama that [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] will be fine, and she is taken back to the brig. Tigh tells Captain Adama that he is still shocked that he would side with the President instead of his own father, and that he is unfit to wear a [[Colonial]] uniform. Captain Adama agrees but tells Tigh that he isn't fit to wear the uniform either, deferring what will happen with both of them to his unconscious father once he returns to work.

===On Caprica===
*[[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]] and [[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]] discuss how the Cylons have a habit of fooling everyone.
*Thrace leads them to her old apartment in Delphi.
*Thrace reminisces about how she hated the apartment. While everyone has been trying to gain back what was lost after the Cylon attack, Thrace wasn't attached to her apartment. The only thing she did was to fight, because it's the only thing she knows.
*To Helo's surprise, Thrace's apartment is full of abstract paintings, including one with a [[Eye of Jupiter|curious circular symbol]], a [[Starbuck's Poem|poem]] written next to the symbol, and tapes of piano music composed by her father. Unfortunately, there is no food.
*The two exhausted Colonials take a rest. Thrace dons an old military jacket.
*A short time later, Thrace searches the old jacket and finds a set of vehicle keys. "Tired of walking?" she says.
*Helo and Thrace leave driving her old surplus military truck, with the [[Arrow of Apollo]] in possession.

===On Kobol===
*[[Gaius Baltar]] has a dream where [[William Adama]] drowns Baltar's daughter.
*When he wakes up, he is in [[Number Six]]'s arms, surrounded by human skulls and bones. Six tells Baltar that they were victims of human sacrifice, and that the [[Sacred_Scrolls|Scriptures]] were lies, fabricated to cover up how barbaric life on Kobol really was.
*When he returns to the others, Baltar is harangued by [[Crashdown]].
*[[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] feels responsible for [[Tarn]]'s death, but [[Cally]] snaps him out of his self-pity.
*The two return with the medkits, but it is too late to save [[Socinus]]' life. Telling him that he is going home, Tyrol reluctantly euthanizes him with an overdose of [[morpha]].

== Notes ==
*The title refers to the well-known Psalm 23 from the bible.
*The Fleet population cited in the opening credits is 47,874. This is one less than the previous episode. Prior to the opening credits, a Cylon kills [[Flyboy]].
*First episode without an appearance by [[Sharon Valerii]] (except in opening montage).
*Helo reveals to Starbuck that the Cylons recovered the bodies and brought them to cremation centers, hence the lack of bodies.
*Socinus, initially slated to die in early drafts of "[[Scattered]]", dies in this episode -- euthanised by Tyrol.
* [[Kate Vernon]] is listed as a guest star in the opening credits. However, her character, [[Ellen Tigh]], never makes an appearance in this episode. She is only shown in the deleted scenes.
* The music that playing in Kara Thrace's apartment and again during the closing act of the episode is ''Metamorphosis Five'', composed by [[w:Philip Glass|Philip Glass]]. It is from Glass's 1989 album ''Solo Piano''.
*In the German broadcast redubbing of Cally's now-infamous "Talk to me, you motherfrakker!" line, "motherfrakker" is replaced with "blöder Arsch", which translates as "stupid ass". The real world equivalent of the curse word "motherfrakker" doesn't exist in German, and a direct translation into German would have sounded particularly obscene, so the line was changed, and the joke is therefore lost in translation.
*The sign and countersign used by Tyrol and Crashdown on the surface of Kobol ("Flash!"/"Thunder!") was used by the Allied forces on [[w:D-Day|D-Day]], the first day of the invasion of [[w:Normandy|Normandy]], during [[w:World War II|World War II]].
*The apartment complex used in this episode is later reused as the prison-apartment on [[New Caprica]] in which [[Leoben Conoy]] holds Starbuck captive at the start of the third season ("[[Occupation]]" through "[[Exodus, Part II]]").
*The sun painting on the wall in Starbuck's apartment is later revealed to be a representation of the [[Eye of Jupiter]] subconsciously painted by Thrace. The symbol has [[The Destiny|later complications]] to the destiny of Thrace.
*The Colonials use internal combustion engines (Starbuck's Humvee. Also previously seen in the flashbacks in "[[Act of Contrition]]").

== Analysis ==
*The Centurions in this episode can only be destroyed by explosive rounds, which is a large plot element. However, in episodes before and after "Valley of Darkness", Centurions have been seen being destroyed by regular bullets. These Centurions might have heavier armor because they are being used for a boarding action and will see heavy fighting. When episode writer Bradley Thompson was [[Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques#Centurion armor|asked]] about this by Battlestar Wiki, he answered:
:"Centurions are constantly being upgraded - new ones come out with better armor, quieter servos, better battle software. Some are designed for different uses (the ones designed for submarine use have REALLY heavy armor but are exceptionally slow, and have reduced ammunition carrying capacity.) Not to mention that the Colonials have remarkably bright backyard engineers -- they've been hot-loading our small-arms rounds, coming up with better armor-piercing projectiles -- it's the constant ebb-and-flow of wartime technology."
*The fate of the Heavy Raider in the starboard bay is unknown. It's possible that, like Starbuck's captured Raider, the Colonials keep it for study. However, the crash may have damaged it beyond repair. (The Fleet later gains a second, [[Home, Part I|intact Heavy Raider]]. Its FTL guidance system is used in tandem with [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Valerii]] for the Caprica rescue mission ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]).)

== Questions ==
*The remains Baltar and Six find cannot be thousands of years old; they would not have survived in the open. Did the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] leave Kobol recently? Do humans, at least until recently, still inhabit Kobol? Or were all the remains merely fabricated hallucinations by Six?
*Are the human skeletons real, or a hallucination created for Baltar by Six? If the skeletons ''are'' real, is Six lying when she says they are the result of human sacrifice (i.e. they could have been from the cataclysm that drove humanity off of Kobol)?
:When [[Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques#Human sacrifice|asked about this]] episode writer [[Bradley Thompson]] answered: "The question at the bottom of this is: "Who is Six?" In such cases, I'm not going to embellish what Ron & David have put on the screen."
*Why would later humans have felt it necessary to cover up the nature of civilization on Kobol? Is it related to the reason why Kobol was abandoned in the first place? How would the Cylons have found out? Did Six just make it up, or could it be the Cylon interpretation of the scriptures?

== Official Statements ==
=== From RDM's blog ===

* "We've almost completed shooting the opening of Season Two, with [[Michael Rymer]] back at the helm filming a two-parter written by [[David Weddle]] & [[Bradley Thompson]] called '[[Scattered]]' and '[[Valley of Darkness]].' Things have been going well so far, with a good mood on the set and a feeling of satisfaction and pride running through the whole team at their accomplishments in year one and anticipation for year two."<ref name="blog-4-11-05">{{cite web|url=http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/04/|title=Battlestar Galactica: April 2005 Blog Archives|author=Ron D. Moore|date=April 11, 2005}}</ref>

* ''"[[Lee Adama|Apollo]]'s betrayal of [[William Adama|Adama]]'s decision to arrest the [[Laura Roslin|president]] is detracting from the believability of the show for me. I'm listining to your [[podcast]] of [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|ep. 113]] as I write this and you just said Lee is "a more capable, more competent, leader . . ." He's also struck me as a fairly honorable character. If he had doubts about this mission I think he would have at least voiced them and then not gone along with the strike team so he would not have been put in the position he was. I hope you won't use Adama's near death experience at the end of season one/start of season two to "write off" these betrayals, esp. Apollo's. His was much more unforgivable considering his relationship with Adama, his leadership role in the fleet, and the battle between the president and Adama. I find it hard to see Lee continuing as [[CAG]] after this. "''

: You bring up valid points and we are planning to play out the consequences of Lee's decision as it impacts both him and his father over the course of the season.<ref name="blog-4-11-05"/>

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

* ''On the surface of Kobol, Chief Tyrol and Cally are on their way to rendezvous with the rest of the Raptor crash survivors:''
:'''Cally:''' (exhausted from walking) What do you say we take five?
:(Chief Tyrol is still in a state of shock from having lost Tarn to a surprise attack by the Cylons and leans against a tree)
:'''Cally:''' How much further, do you think?
:(Chief Tyrol ignores her)
:'''Cally:''' [[Tarn]] getting shot...it wasn't your fault, you know that right?... Chief?
:(Chief Tyrol is silent)
:'''Cally:''' Talk to me, you mother[[frak]]ker!
:(Chief Tyrol turns around and looks at her strangely)
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' (laughing) Motherfrakker?
:'''Cally:''' Socinus better appreciate this.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' He's probably lying in the sun, staring up at the birds like some Gods' damned emperor. He's an idiot.
:'''Cally:''' I hope he's okay... — {{audio|VOD - motherfrakker.mp3|listen}}

* ''Regarding [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|"Sharon, the Cylon"]]:''
:'''Starbuck:''' (to Helo, sarcastically) Your girlfriend’s from a ''lovely'' family, good people, great values. — {{audio|VOD - great family values.mp3|listen}}

* ''In her apartment on Caprica, Starbuck and Helo stop to rest:''
:'''Kara Thrace:''' (sitting on her couch) You know, I never really liked this place anyway. Air conditioning doesn't work in the summer. Heater doesn't work in the winter. The rent's a crime...(lights a cigarette)...After they attacked, I never pined over any of my old crap. Never missed it. Stupid view of the parking lot. Broken toilet in the bathroom...You know, everyone I know is fighting to get back what they had. I'm fighting because I don't know how to do anything else. — {{audio|VOD - why people fight.mp3|listen}}

*''Speaking to Marines:''
:'''Lee Adama''': "Let’s go [[toaster]] shopping." — {{audio|VOD - toaster shopping.mp3|listen}}

* ''Chief Tyrol and Cally have rejoined the others on Kobol, and they find out that Socinus isn't going to survive much longer:''
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' How's he doing?
:'''Seelix:''' He's not going to make it.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' What? What do you mean? What are you talking about? We got the medkit! Give him a shot! Give him another shot!
:'''Seelix:''' It's too late.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' What do you mean, it's too late? I got you the medkit! What else do you want? (looking stunned) So we...got the medicine you asked for...Tarn...and for what? For this? Come on! You have to do something. You have to do something!
:'''Seelix:''' We can't change that he's going to die, Chief. It's going to be slow and painful, and we can spare him that if we give him the morpha from my kit and the one that you brought back.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' What? No. (looks at Crashdown) LT..LT, come on!
:'''Crashdown:''' He's your man, Chief.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Give it to me. (takes morpha from Seelix and leans down beside Socinus) Hey buddy. It's the Chief. How you doing?
:'''Socinus:''' (wheezing) What's going on?
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Oh, you know...listening to the birds. I got you a little something for the pain. (injects morpha into Socinus) Good news, buddy. The recovery party's here. Raptors just landed. We're going to put you on one and take you back to ''Galactica'', okay?
:'''Socinus:''' We're going home?
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Yeah...(tears welling in his eyes)...we're going home.
:(Socinus passes away) — {{audio|VOD_-_Socinus'_death.mp3|listen}}

* ''In ''Galactica's'' sickbay:''
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' I can't believe you sided with that woman against [[The Old Man|the old man]]. I wouldn't do that if you put a gun to my head...[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|and you did]]! As far as I'm concerned, you're not fit to wear a uniform.
:'''Lee Adama:''' Huh. You're right about that part. I am not fit to wear the uniform...and maybe I never was. Then again, neither are you. But this isn't my ship, and it sure as hell isn't yours. (motions at Commander Adama) It's his, and when he wakes up, he'll decide what to do with the both of us. (Captain Adama leaves for the brig)
:'''Colonel Tigh:''' Thank the Gods I didn't have kids. — {{audio|VOD - not fit to wear the uniform.mp3|listen}}

* ''In Aft Damage Control, preparing to fight the Cylons:''
:'''Lee Adama''': Sometimes you got to roll a hard six.
:'''[[Jammer]]''': What does that mean, sir?
:'''Lee Adama''': Uh, I don't know. It's something my [[William Adama|dad]] says. — {{audio|VOD - roll the hard six.mp3|listen}}

== Guest stars ==
*[[Michael Hogan]] as Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Tahmoh Penikett]] as Lt. [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]
*[[Paul Campbell]] as [[Billy Keikeya]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally Tyrol|Cally Henderson]]
*[[Alessandro Juliani]] as Lt. [[Felix Gaeta]]
*[[Kandyse McClure]] as Petty Officer [[Anastasia Dualla]]
*[[Samuel Witwer]] as [[Crashdown]]
*[[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
*[[Alonso Oyarzun]] as Specialist [[Socinus]]
*[[Kerry Norton]] as Paramedic [[Layne Ishay]]
*[[Chris Shields]] as Corporal [[Venner]]
*[[Luciana Carro]] as Lt. [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]]
*[[Bodie Olmos]] as Lt. [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
*[[Jennifer Halley]] as [[Diana Seelix]]
*[[Ty Olsson]] as Captain [[Aaron Kelly]]
*[[Michael Tayles]] as [[Flyboy]]
*[[Dominic Zamprogna]] as [[James Lyman|James "Jammer" Lyman]]
*[[Garvin Cross]] as [[Collishaw]]
*[[Brad Loree]] as [[Bonnington]]
*[[Lori Stewart]] as [[Twinam]]

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

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

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

[[de:Im Tal der Finsternis]]

Dodona Selloi

2006-12-30T05:00:21Z

Canek:

{{Character Data
| photo= Season 3 - Promo - Epi 1 - 2 - Oracle Selloi.jpg
| age=
| colony=
| birthname=
| callsign=
| nickname=
| seen= Exodus, Part I
| pseen=
| death=
| parents=
| siblings=
| children=
| marital status=
| role= [[Oracle]]
| rank=
| actor= [[Amanda Plummer]]
| cylon=
| mcylon=
| name=
}}

'''Dodona Selloi''', a human living on [[New Caprica]], is an [[oracle]].

[[Number Three]] visits Selloi in her tent, guided by a dream she has about [[Hera]], a child believed dead.

Selloi is surrounded in her tent by curious tapestries and stones. She sits within some of the stones, consuming [[chamalla]], although she prefers some candy or chocolate caramels as well, as chamalla is a bitter substance.

Selloi tells her that [[Zeus, Lord of Kobol|Zeus]] and the other [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|Lords of Kobol]] are sad for Three. When Three disputes the existence of the Lords of Kobol, Selloi tells her that she knows that Three's own beliefs about [[God]] are in flux, and that the [[Cylon agent]] doesn't know what to believe.

Selloi knows of Three's dream, and tells her of a message from Three's God: The child of two peoples ([[Colonials|human]] and [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]]) is alive, a child named after the [[Hera, Lord of Kobol|wife and sister of Zeus]]<ref>The specific description of the goddess Hera further deepens the parallelism between the Lords of Kobol and their counterparts in the Olympian pantheon of real-world Earth's Greek mythology.</ref>. She warns Three, however, that when Three is able to hold the child in her arms, she will unravel all that the Cylon occupation has done ([[Exodus, Part I]]).

==Notes==

*Selloi is the first oracle seen in the [[Re-imagined Series]].
*The character is named for [[Wikipedia:Dodona|Dodona]] (Δωδώνη), an ancient city which was home to a Greek oracle<ref>Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Dodona", ''Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant''. http://messagenet.com/myths/ppt/Dodona_1.html</ref>, and the Selloi (Σελλοί), a group of priests based there<ref>Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Selloi", ''Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant'' http://messagenet.com/myths/ppt/Selloi_1.html</ref>. (Source: [[Podcast:Exodus, Part I]])

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Dodona Selloi

2006-12-30T04:59:36Z

Canek:

{{Character Data
| photo= Season 3 - Promo - Epi 1 - 2 - Oracle Selloi.jpg
| age=
| colony=
| birthname=
| callsign=
| nickname=
| seen= Exodus, Part I
| pseen=
| death=
| parents=
| siblings=
| children=
| marital status=
| role= [[Oracle]]
| rank=
| actor= [[Amanda Plummer]]
| cylon=
| mcylon=
| name=
}}

'''Dodona Selloi''', a human living on [[New Caprica]], is an [[oracle]].

[[Number Three]] visits Selloi in her tent, guided by a dream she has about [[Hera]], a child believed dead.

Selloi is surrounded in her tent by curious tapestries and stones. She sits within some of the stones, consuming [[chamalla]], although she prefers some candy or chocolate caramels as well, as chamalla is a bitter substance.

Selloi tells her that [[Zeus, Lord of Kobol|Zeus]] and the other [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|Lords of Kobol]] are sad for Three. When Three disputes the existence of the Lords of Kobol, Selloi tells her that she knows that Three's own beliefs about [[God]] are in flux, and that the [[Cylon agent]] doesn't know what to believe.

Selloi knows of Three's dream, and tells her of a message from Three's God: The child of two peoples ([[Colonials|human]] and [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]]) is alive, a child named after the [[Hera, Lord of Kobol|wife and sister of Zeus]]<ref>The specific description of the goddess Hera further deepens the parallelism between the Lords of Kobol and their counterparts in the Olympian pantheon of real-world Earth's Greek mythology.</ref> She warns Three, however, that when Three is able to hold the child in her arms, she will unravel all that the Cylon occupation has done ([[Exodus, Part I]]).

==Notes==

*Selloi is the first oracle seen in the [[Re-imagined Series]].
*The character is named for [[Wikipedia:Dodona|Dodona]] (Δωδώνη), an ancient city which was home to a Greek oracle<ref>Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Dodona", ''Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant''. http://messagenet.com/myths/ppt/Dodona_1.html</ref>, and the Selloi (Σελλοί), a group of priests based there<ref>Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Selloi", ''Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant'' http://messagenet.com/myths/ppt/Selloi_1.html</ref>. (Source: [[Podcast:Exodus, Part I]])

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

History of the Twelve Colonies

2006-12-30T04:55:04Z

Canek: /* Settlement */

:''This article discusses an aspect of the [[Re-imagined Series]] version of the Twelve Colonies. For information on the [[Original Series]] version, see [[The Twelve Colonies (TOS)]].''

:''See also the [[Timeline (RDM)|Re-Imagined Series Timeline]] for an approximate chronology of the history of the Colonies and events in the [[Re-imagined Series]].''

{{RDM twelve colonies series}}

==Pre-History==
[[image:Lagoonnebula.jpg|thumb|right|"Life here began out there"]]

During the Service for the Dead at the conclusion of the [[Miniseries]], [[William Adama]] states "Life here began out there,"<ref>This line is an homage to the [[Original Series]], where each episode began with a voiceover of this phrase.</ref> reminding the assembly that this was the first line of the [[Sacred Scrolls]], told to them by the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|Lords of Kobol]] uncounted centuries ago.

There is some evidence that appears to indicate that the humans of [[Kobol]] actually originated from the planet [[Earth]].<ref>For the most part, the similariities between the culture of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]] and Earth (three piece suits, [[Wikipedia: Humvee|Humvees]], military jargon, [[Kinetic Energy Weapon | firearms]], etc.) are presumably dramatic conceits intended to help the audience identify with the characters of the show. The series, however, is written to exhibit evidence of a prior connection with Earth's past, present or future colonization by humanity.</ref>

When a ground team from [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] enters the [[Tomb of Athena]], they find a map room in the form of a planetarium, depicting constellations in Earth's night sky. [[Laura Roslin]] identifies the actual star patterns, not their symbols, as the original flags of the Twelve Colonies. These patterns are only visible from Earth, which implies that the creators of the map had some prior knowledge of their destination before setting out ([[Home, Part II]]).

This prior knowledge is also consistent with the [[Sacred Scrolls#The "Three Exodi" Interpretation|Triple-Exodus interpretation]] of those portions of the Sacred Scrolls revealed to us thus far, and the veneration of the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|Lords of Kobol]], whose resemblance to the [[Greek Gods]] cannot otherwise be easily accounted for. The Colonial [[Life Forms of the Twelve Colonies|ecosystems]] are also identical to Earth's, with very few exceptions.<ref>In the DVD commentary for the [[Miniseries]], [[Ron Moore]] and [[David Eick]] indicate that they deliberately confuse the storyline so that it is impossible to know if the Re-imagined Series takes place in the past, present, or future of the real-world Earth of today.</ref>

==Kobol==
[[image:Pythia.jpg|thumb|left|The Book of Pythia]]
Approximately 3,600 years before the events in the [[Miniseries]], the oracle [[Pythia]] recorded her [[Sacred Scrolls#The Book of Pythia|prophecy]] of the exile and rebirth of the human race ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).
While on Kobol, the thirteen tribes apparently lived in an idyllic utopia with their Gods, but roughly 1,600 years later (2,000 years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]), this coexistence was ended as Pythia's prophecy came to fruition ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]). The prophecy alludes to a "blaze" which descended on the thirteen tribes and against which the Lords of Kobol were powerless to intervene ([[Home, Part I]]).<ref>In a [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season01/112/mov/bsg_del_112_regret.mov scene] [[Deleted scenes|cut]] from the episode "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]", [[Elosha]] states that the exodus from Kobol was precipitated when "one jealous god began to desire that he be elevated above all the other gods, and the war on Kobol began." In another [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/203/deleted1.html deleted scene] cut from the episode "[[Fragged]]," Roslin states that humanity wasn't "exiled" from Kobol, but that the Sacred Scrolls say that "there was some sort of battle among the Gods, and when it was over we ''chose'' to leave."</ref>
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==Exodus==
[[Image:Gates of hera.jpg|thumb|right|The Gates of Hera]]
In despair, [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]] threw herself from the [[Gates of Hera]], to her death. The leaders of the tribes were [[Tomb of Athena|interred with her]], and the populace of the tribes were taken in a "[[Galleon]]" (a spacecraft) to their places of refuge. Twelve tribes find and occupy a solar system with at least 12 habitable worlds, while a thirteenth tribe locates a world they named [[Earth]]. [[Zeus, Lord of Kobol|Zeus]] warned the survivors that any return to Kobol "would exact a price in blood."
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==Settlement==

After settling on their new homes, another cataclysm befell the twelve tribes (perhaps simply order breaking down amongst the handful of refugee survivors that fled Kobol with only what supplies they could carry). This resulted in the destruction of much of their knowledge base and sent the colonies into a dark age <ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 RDM, January 30, 2005]).</ref><ref>On the real-world Earth, similar dark ages occurred after the falls of [[Wikipedia:Dark Ages|Rome]] and [[Wikipedia:Greek Dark Ages|Mycenaean Greece]], and lasted for centuries. It is possible that much of their technological knowledge of interstellar spaceflight was lost after the escape from Kobol. Over time, they rebuilt their technological base, and travel between the Colonies was commonplace for some time before the Cylon Attack.</ref>.

[[Image:Centurion_armor_old.jpg|thumb|left|An early-model Cylon]] After their return to space, the Colonies established many observatories, listening posts, research stations and armories in their system. Inequity and war were common between the Colonies for most of this time period. By the end of the strife, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]] had been exploited for centuries ([[Bastille Day]]). Various shifting alliances and attempts at unified government came out of these conflicts, which would later form the bedrock of the [[Articles of Colonization]], but it would still be some time before a practical colonies-wide government was established <ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/04/index.html#a000025 RDM, April 11, 2005]).</ref>.

The Colonials also created robots, called [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], to do work which they found unpleasant, including industrial work and soldiers in their civil wars<ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 RDM, January 30, 2005]).</ref>.
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==The Cylon War==
:''Main article: [[Cylon War]]''

[[Image:Monclair.jpg|thumb|right|A painting by [[Monclair]] commemorates a bloody Colonial victory]]
Such was the extent to which the Colonies had invested their military power in the Cylons that when they chose to rebel against their masters, the Colonials found themselves well-matched. With their mastery of Colonial technology, the Cylons were able to infiltrate nearly all networked devices. The Colonials were forced to abandon networked computers and wireless devices in favor of more secure and durable technologies, able to withstand both Cylon infiltration and the powerful nuclear weapons used by the warring parties<ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000013 RDM, January 19, 2005]).</ref>. Twelve [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] built in the opening years of the war best exemplified these principles, including ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Miniseries]]). In response to the great threat posed by the Cylons, the Twelve Colonies formed a unified federal [[Government]] for the first time, at the beginning of the war ([[Colonial Day]]).

At its darkest hour, the Cylon War came very close to wiping out the Colonies<ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 RDM, January 30, 2005].</ref>. This outcome of the war likely developed, among other practices, the [[Case Orange]] contingency government succession protocol as well as the re-buildup of the Colonial Fleet in the Federal Era.

==Armistice==
[[Image:Armistice Station.jpg|thumb|left|Armistice Station]]
After the Cylon War ended, a long and bloody struggle of approximately 12 years, an armistice was declared, and the Cylons departed for a [[Cylon homeworld|world of their own]]. The Colonials established a neutral meeting place, [[Armistice Station]], and made diplomatic overtures for Cylons and Colonials to meet annually. However, these overtures were continually ignored.

After the war, the military went through a Reduction in Force, resulting in the discharge of many of the war's veterans.
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==Federal Era==

While the Cylon War had a lasting effect on the government of the Twelve Colonies, the population as a whole, much of it born after the war, had relegated it to a historical note in textbooks (much as real-world Earth citizens regard their Second World War). The now-united government continued to maintain a large standing military, which, forty years after the war, had grown to include 120 battlestars ([[Miniseries]]), most apparently more advanced than those of the original battlestar class ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]). This buildup apparently began about twenty years after the war, around the time [[Saul Tigh]] and [[William Adama]] rejoined the military ("[[Scattered]]" and its [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/downloads/podcast/mp3/201/bsg_ep201_FULL.mp3 podcast]).

With their military assets now concentrated in a central government under the [[Articles of Colonization]] ([[Epiphanies|with Caprica City as the capitol]]), the new government of the Twelve Colonies was able to maintain peace among its members ([[Water]]). Now presumably free of the Cylon threat, technologies which could not be used during the war were redeployed throughout the fleet, increasing its effectiveness against more mundane opponents ([[Miniseries]]).

This new era of federalism was not without considerable opposition. Dissidents on Sagittaron lead by [[Tom Zarek]] took arms against the government ([[Bastille Day]]), supplied by arms dealers like [[Leoben Conoy#Ragnar Anchorage Copy|Leoben Conoy]]<ref>[http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 RDM, January 30, 2005].</ref>. Regardless of these localized attempts at insurrection, on the whole the Twelve Colonies faced no major military threats, with the loss of contact with the Cylons. The [[Colonial Fleet]]'s standing numbers were actually kept disproportionately high relative to their common uses, in fear that one day the Cylons might return. Day-to-day work for the Fleet consisted of handling the small-scale brush fire attempts at rebellion such as on Sagittaron, but these were all light peacekeeping actions rather than actual fighting. Prior to the Cylon attack, none of ''Galactica's'' younger-generation crew had ever seen any real combat.

==Fall of the Twelve Colonies==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]''

The arrogance of the Colonials in re-equipping their military with technologies vulnerable to Cylon interference proved to be their undoing. Forty years after the first Cylon War, [[Cylon agent|Cylon infiltrators]] subverted Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]]'s [[Command Navigation Program]], allowing an advanced Cylon armada to destroy the Colonial fleet with impunity.

The attack resulted in the nuclear bombardment and occupation of the Colonies and the enslavement of most of the few isolated survivors in a series of [[Farms]]. Altogether, less than one hundred ships (mostly civilian) survived the attack, including only two battlestars - the nearly obsolete ''[[Galactica]]'' and the [[Mercury class battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''. The survivors abandoned the Colonies and formed a convoy in search of the thirteenth colony, [[Earth]], where they hope to find refuge.

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:Colonial History (RDM)]]
[[Category:Colonial Society]]
[[Category:Colonial Society (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

{{featured article}}

Battle of Ragnar Anchorage

2006-11-12T20:04:22Z

Canek:

{{Battle Data
|image=Ragnar Escape.jpg
|description=''Galactica'' provides cover fire while the civilian Fleet escapes
|conflict=[[Cylon Attack|Second Cylon war]]
|date=[[Re-Imagined Series Timeline|Days 1-6]]
|place=[[Ragnar Anchorage]]
|result=Successful escape from Cylon-occupied Colonial space
|combatant1=Remnants of the [[Colonial Fleet]]
|combatant2=[[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]
|co1=Commander [[William Adama]]
|co2=Unknown
|strength1=1 [[Battlestar (RDM)|Battlestar]], 40 [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]], [[Raptor|Raptors]]
|strength2=3 [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestars]], associated [[Raider|Raiders]]
|shiploss1=Approximately 4 Vipers
|shiploss2=Unknown, minimal
|casualties1=1,345 civilians
|casualties2=Unknown, minimal
|prev=[[Fall_of_the_Scorpian_Fleet_Shipyards|Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]]
|next=[[Skirmish over the Red Moon]]
|rdm=y
}}

The '''Battle of Ragnar Anchorage''' is the successful breakthrough by ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' from a Cylon blockade around [[Ragnar Anchorage]], and subsequent escape from its armada after being tracked and attacked for 5 continuous days ([[Miniseries]], "[[33]]").

Battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' is the only [[Pegasus (RDM)|known]] surviving capital ship able to mount a counterattack against the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] after the devastating attack that leads to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].

After getting word that many battlestars, including flagship battlestar ''[[Atlantia]]'' and its fleet admiral, are destroyed, Commander [[William Adama]] assumes command of the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] and orders them to rendezvous with his ship at a munitions depot, [[Ragnar Anchorage]], for counterattack preparation.

Orbiting within the tenuous upper atmosphere of the gas giant [[Ragnar]], the ammunition station holds critical ordinance needed by ''Galactica'', which had destroyed its own munitions earlier as part of its scheduled decommissioning<ref>The destruction of the battlestar's munitions occurs in a [[List of Deleted Scenes (RDM)#Miniseries|deleted scene]] of the Miniseries.</ref>.

The depot's location also offered effective cover against Cylon attack, as a particular form of electromagnetic radiation generated by the planet's upper atmosphere causes damage to Cylon technology with sufficient exposure, and also jams any [[DRADIS]] detection, making attacking within the cloud threshold problematic at best.

''Galactica'' is later joined by a convoy of faster-than-light capable civilian ships rescued from throughout the spacelanes near [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by new President [[Laura Roslin]].

Despite the overwhelming odds, Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] intends to proceed with a counter-offensive. However, after persuasion by Roslin, Adama realizes that the ship was in a no-win battle situation: the Colonies are destroyed, ''Galactica'' is massively outnumbered, the human race is near extinction, and he is surrounded by nearly 50,000 of the only known survivors.

Lt. [[Kara Thrace]] discovers at least two Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] and their fighters outside of the cloud during a reconnaissance mission, further decreasing the battlestar's odds in a fight.

Adama decides to take the new [[The Fleet (RDM)|rag-tag fleet]] away from the home solar system of the Colonies<ref>In the [[Re-imagined Series]], the home solar system of the Twelve Colonies is not named. In the [[Original Series]], the name "[[Cyrannus]]" is used inconsistently to describe either the name of its solar system or galaxy where [[The Twelve Colonies (TOS)|its Twelve Colonies resided]].</ref>, towards the [[Prolmar Sector]], never to return.

With an avoidance of attack made impossible since a Jump within the cloud would likely distort the FTL calculations with fatal results, ''Galactica'' leaves the storm and orients itself as a shield for the remainder of the Fleet to safely Jump from behind the battlestar and to their new coordinates. With her weapons now fully armed, ''Galactica'' creates a defense perimeter against two basestars while her Vipers engage any [[Cylon Raiders]] that attempt to move around ''Galactica'' and to her fleet. A third basestar later appears and threatens to pummel ''Galactica'' with successive missiles.

Once the last civilian ship is away and the last of the Vipers returned to the flight pod, ''Galactica'' Jumps away to escape the onslaught. The Cylons enter the station shortly after the battle, and retrieves a suspected [[Cylon agent]] left there by the Colonials, a [[Number Five]] copy posing as a man named [[Aaron Doral]].

After the battle ends at Ragnar, approximately 1 day later, the Cylons continue tracking and pursuing the remnant of the Colonial Fleet, appearing every 33 minutes for five consecutive days and over 240 Jumps ([[33]]).

A passenger liner, the ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'', failed to Jump with the Fleet in a recent escape. The Cylons also fail to attack in the same 33-minute interval.

When the ''Carrier'' reappears a short time later, a suspicious Adama commands the 33-minute countdown to resume immediately. Adama's fears about the ''Carrier'' are confirmed when the Cylons appear 33 minutes after the ''Carrier's'' return, indicating the ''Carrier'' was used to track the Fleet throughout that time.

When ''Galactica'' detects a [[Radiological Alarm|radiological signature]] from the ''Olympic Carrier'', suggesting it was boarded by Cylons and now carries a nuclear warhead, Vipers are dispatched to destroy the ''Carrier''.

After the Fleet Jumps once more, the Cylons could no longer immediately track their movements.

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

{{Battles (RDM)}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[es:Batalla del Ancladero Ragnar]]
[[de:Schlacht bei der Ragnar-Anlegestelle]]

Basestar (TRS)

2006-11-08T21:56:28Z

Canek: /* Encounters with the Colonial Fleet */ Galactica was not on Kobol

:''This article is about the basestar as seen in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. For the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] version, see [[Basestar (TOS)]].''

{{Ship Data
| image= Basestar.jpg
| title= Basestar
| race= [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]]
| type= Military
| ftl= Yes
| crew= [[Cylon agent]]s, [[Cylon Centurion]]s, the [[Hybrid]]
| role= Carrier / battleship hybrid
| weapons= Nuclear and conventional missiles, Raiders, Heavy Raiders (likely)
| img= Y
}}

==Overview==
A '''basestar''' (also referred to as a "baseship" or "Cylon battlestar") are the most prominent example of the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] military presence.

Basestars dwarf a Colonial [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] and appear to be more technologically advanced, equipped with a superior [[FTL|jump system]] and no visible means of propulsion. Basestars operate a fleet of small fighters called [[Cylon Raider|Raiders]] and are capable of deploying hundreds of these simultaneously (see Related Imagery).

Basestars possess several rooms and hallways, that are sleek but generally bland; Cylons project different environments to get around the ship more easily. Data and other functions such as analyzing photographs are handled in literal streams of water that go over a lit up computer glass surface. Cylons can [[Cylon data port|interface with the data by simply placing their hands in the basins]].

By the end of "[[Exodus, Part II]]" a total of five basestars have been confirmed destroyed by ''[[Galactica]]'' and ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', or their crew.
*"[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]" - 1
*"[[Resurrection Ship, Part 2]]" - 1
*"[[Exodus, Part II]]" - 3

One basestar was heavily damaged and possibly destroyed in "Resurrection Ship, Part 2", and another in "The Captain's Hand".

==Command and Control==

A basestar is operated by many [[Cylon agent]]s. Up to [[Torn|all seven models]] of Cylon agents issue commands for the basestar from a central command and control center. Consensus is typically the normal procedure, although the process of deliberating and voting on decisions may cause the basestar to react more slowly than a battlestar's command and control in a [[CIC]].

A basestar's functions are managed by a humanoid Cylon incorporated into the ship, known as a [[Hybrid]]. The Hybrid, for all respects of identity and control, ''is '' the basestar. The ship is an extension of her body and she is the ship's mind. The Hybrid, despite its humanoid appearance, is not a considered a fellow Cylon agent and lacks voting power as other agents have in Cylon affairs.

==Armaments==

A basestar is capable of launching conventional or nuclear missiles from "turrets" mounted throughout the hubs and central axis that rotate to allow the basestar to fire in any direction<ref>Intelligence Debrief: Cylon Basestar, "Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine," June/July 2006, page 56.</ref>. Basestar-launched nuclear strikes against Colonial ships are usually carried out only before Raider deployment. One example of a Cylon nuclear attack involved three Cylon basestars that [[The Captain's Hand|ambush]] the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''. They open their attack firing several nuclear missiles before deploying Raiders and switching to a non-nuclear firing solution ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

A basestar's complement of Raiders is estimated as high as 792 fighters<ref>Intelligence Debrief: Cylon Basestar, "Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine," June/July 2006, page 56.</ref>, not counting fighters in repair or otherwise offline.

This tactic, along with the massive amounts of Raiders that a basestar can unleash, suggest a similarity with the ''[[Wikipedia:Arsenal ship|Arsenal ship]]'' concept to overwhelm and destroy a foe. It is probable that basestars used nuclear weapons to destroy the bulk of the [[Colonial Fleet]] (using their [[backdoor]] in the [[CNP]] to compromise their defenses first) in the opening wave of their [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction of the Colonies]].

After the Colonial commanders draw away their Raider wings, [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|two basestars are torn apart]] by the kinetic guns of battlestars ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' in a joint mission to destroy a Cylon [[Resurrection Ship]]. It would seem that that basestars rely heavily on their Raiders for close-range gun defense through sheer numbers of fighters. Since a basestar does not appear to have batteries (the primary offensive/defensive weapons on battlestars), nor any armoring<ref>Intelligence Debrief: Cylon Basestar, "Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine," June/July 2006, page 57.</ref>, basestars appear quite vulnerable to battlestars in close-range combat without Raider fighter support ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

== Encounters with the Colonial Fleet ==
[[Image:Basestar_above_armistice-station_-_00.04.06.jpg|thumb|left|A basestar above the [[Armistice Station]]]]
* As part of an annual offering of diplomacy, the [[Colonial Fleet]] staffs the [[Armistice Station]] in the hopes that the Cylons will attend, but it goes unfulfilled for forty years. Suddenly, without any warning or detection, a Cylon basestar arrives over the station, and dispatches a [[Cylon agent]] to the station. This agent accosts the [[Armistice Officer]] as the basestar launches a salvo of missiles and obliterates the station.
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[[Image:Basestarcaprica-00.56.10.jpg|thumb|right|Basestars over Caprica]]
*Days later, the Cylons begin their genocidal campaign against the Twelve Colonies. In all likelihood, several basestars and their support craft arrived at each Colonial world and deploy nuclear missiles, airbursting them to annihilate the populace. Several basestars orbit the ruined planet of [[Caprica]] as [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] guides her [[Raptor]] to an emergency landing on the planet during the attack. Boomer's Raptor guides by debris of destroyed Colonial units, including the shattered hulk of a battlestar ([[Miniseries]]).
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[[Image:Basestar-ragnar-02.38.56.jpg|thumb|left|Two basestars over [[Ragnar]]]]
* A substantial Cylon force consisting of no less than two basestars and several hundred fighters and other small craft converge on [[Ragnar Anchorage]] in an attempt to flush out and destroy the fugitive ships led by the battlestar [[Galactica (RDM)|''Galactica'']]. After transferring as many armaments and supplies as possible from the munitions depot, ''Galactica'' departs the station's surrounding EM storm and presents itself as a shield, allowing [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] to slip out and make [[FTL|jumps]] away. The entire contingent of civilian ships escape, as does ''Galactica'' after she and her [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]] endure a [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|thorough pounding]] ([[Miniseries]]).
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[[Image:Basestar-33-00.21.05.jpg|thumb|right|A basestar attacks ''Galactica''.]]
* Basestars pursue ''Galactica'' and the Colonial Fleet for five full days after the escape from Ragnar. ''Galactica'' spurs the Fleet to stay on the move, executing [[FTL|FTL jump after jump]], only to see the Cylons reappear at each location 33 minutes later ([[33]]). The Cylons had apparently infiltrated the ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'', a civilian starliner, and are able to track it through each successive [[FTL|jump]]. Following the 239th jump, the ''Olympic Carrier'' doesn't immediately rendevous at the jump coordinates, and it is feared the ship is lost. She reappears later, but several indications hint that she has been overtaken by Cylon forces, and the Colonials have no recourse but to destroy the liner. As soon as ''Galactica's'' [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]] destroy the liner, the basestars arrive on the scene, and the Colonial Fleet executes their 240th jump. The Cylons do not immediately follow, ending the pursuit.
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[[Image:Basestar_over_kobol_nuked_-_00.32.45.jpg|thumb|left|A basestar over [[Kobol]] is destroyed]]
* The Fleet eludes further contact with the Cylon forces for several weeks. The planet Kobol is discovered by a single Raptor on a probing reconnaissance mission, and a follow-up mission is planned. The reconnaissance team of three Raptors is surprised by a basestar now in orbit over Kobol, and screening Cylon Raiders obliterate one Raptor while shooting down another and forcing it to crash land on the planet below. The remaining Raptor escapes back to battlestar ''Galactica'', relaying the shocking news. [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] devises a plan to eliminate the basestar, using a Raptor fitted with a [[Cylon transponder]] to deploy a nuclear warhead inside. [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] is [[Arrow of Apollo|later tasked]] to the mission, accompanied by new ECO [[Margaret Edmondson|Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]. En route, the transponder works exactly as planned. Despite their anxiety, the Raptor infiltrates the basestar. The interior view of the basestar that Boomer and Racetrack are afforded is overwhelming – a vast, cavernous void of bio-mechanical components lacking a distinctive floor or ceiling. Surfaces appear organic – fleshy if they were to be touched – resembling the interiors of a Raider. During the deployment of the nuclear warhead, Boomer exits the Raptor and removes her helmet, indicating that the interior space is indeed pressurized and oxygenated, more than likely controlled by ventricle-like airlocks evident during the Raptor's entrance. The pair extricate themselves from inside the basestar, and once outside, detonate the warhead. The annihilation of this basestar represents the first aired instance in the series that Colonial forces successfully destroy a basestar ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).
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[[Image:Basestar_-_scattered_-_00.31.44.jpg|thumb|right|''Galactica's'' Vipers on approach to a basestar.]]
* Scant moments after this victory, another basestar ambushes ''Galactica'', causing the crew to perform yet another immediate FTL jump. This haphazard jump (due to mishandled coordinate updates) separates the battlestar from the rest of the Fleet, and a few hours are spent developing a course of action. The decision is made to jump back to her previous location to recalculate the jump coordinates, and upon doing so, the battlestar and the basestar square off in a vicious engagement. During the recalculation, a Cylon [[Heavy Raider]] manages to crash-land on ''Galactica's'' starboard flight pod ([[Scattered]]). After the battlestar jumps away, the basestar too departs the area after sending a detachment of [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] to Kobol.
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[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|A basestar under attack by ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'']]
* Upon the reunion of the Colonial Fleet with the assumed-lost [[Mercury-class Battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Admiral [[Helena Cain]] reveals that a Cylon fleet, consisting of two basestars and a mysterious unknown ship, has been following ''Galactica'' ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]). By way of a bold reconnaissance mission in the Colonial [[Blackbird]], the commanding officers discover the identity of the mysterious vessel to be the Cylon [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]). The Colonials concoct an aggressive, intricate plan using stealth, deception, and sheer brute force to [[Attack on the Resurrection Ship|eradicate]] the Resurrection Ship, as well as its escorting basestars. In a brilliant display of firepower, the two battlestars make short work of the two basestars, suffering minimal damage in return ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).
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* Over a month later, and now devoid of their Resurrection Ship, the Cylons deploy basestars in a new tactical fashion. Two Raptors from ''Pegasus'' are lured away from their reconnaissance training mission near a [[Wikipedia:Binary star system|binary star cluster]], the crews killed by carefully venting their crew compartments, and the Raptors set adrift. In his zeal to retrieve the Raptors, newly-promoted [[Barry Garner|Commander Barry Garner]] disregards both [[William Adama|Admiral Adama's]] orders and [[Lee Adama|Major Lee Adama's]] advice and takes ''Pegasus'' to the last known location of the missing craft. ''Pegasus'' deploys two more Raptors to scan the located Raptors. As the rescue Raptors discover the lost Raptors' fate, three basestars pounce upon the Colonials and immediately engage by launching salvos of nuclear missiles — the first time they've done so since the destruction of the Colonies. ''Pegasus'' reels under heavy damage, and only through the heroic self-sacrifice of Commander Garner, the sound direction of Major Adama, and the unwavering support of ''Pegasus's'' Vipers (led by [[Kara Thrace|Captain "Starbuck" Thrace]]) the battlestar survives. As a means of buying time until the disabled FTL drive was repaired, Major Adama directs the battlestar's forward gun batteries to barrage the closest basestar, focusing on the core of it until it is forced to withdraw. ''Pegasus'' indeed survives [[Battle of the Binary Star System|this encounter]], albeit with a substantial amount of damage, but it heralds a less brashly aggressive, more subversively calculative approach by the Cylons ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

* The most recent appearance of basestars comes at the [[Fall of New Caprica|fall of New Caprica]] to Cylon occupation. Several, approximately six or seven, basestars emerge from the planet's shrouding nebula, and in the face of overwhelming strength and numbers, an understaffed Colonial Fleet makes a reluctant jump away, and the Cylons take the planet without firing a shot.

*A basestar is disabled and presumed dead after it encounters a beacon left near a nebula that marked the way to [[Earth]]. The probe apparently contained a pathogen that infects and kills Cylons of all kinds, be it Raider, Centurion, or agent ([[Torn]]).

==Continuity Note==
[[Image:Basestarinmuseum.jpg|thumb|right|A model of a [[Cylon War]]-era Cylon [[Basestar (TOS)|Basestar]] on display in the defunct museum.]]
In the [[Miniseries]], ''Galactica'''s new museum displays a model of the Cylon basestar used in the [[Cylon War]]. As it happens, this design is identical to the basestars seen in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]]. However, despite the identical use of the ship design, the universe of the Re-imagined Series does not use the same weapons as that of the Original Series, so viewers are left to ponder what armed the Re-imagined incarnations of the Original Series Cylon warships. The museum also displays a deactivated [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005]]--again, the same design of Cylon warrior as used in the Original Series, and indicated in the episodes as the Cylons seen in the Cylon War of the Re-imagined Series continuity.
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== Related Imagery ==

<gallery>
Image:Bsraidersrelease1.jpg|[[Cylon Raider|Raiders]] being released    
Image:Bsraidersrelease2.jpg|[[Cylon Raider|Raiders]] being released    
Image:Bsraidersrelease3.jpg|[[Cylon Raider|Raiders]] being released    
Image:Bsmissiles.jpg|''Basestar'' launching missiles    
</gallery>

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

{{Ships}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:Cylons Craft]]
[[Category:Cylons Craft (RDM)]]
[[Category:Cylons Military]]
[[Category:Cylons Military (RDM)]]
[[Category:Ships]]
[[Category:Ships (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[de:Basisschiff]]

Torn

2006-11-08T21:29:26Z

Canek: /* Questions */ Old probe.

{{Episode Data
| title= Torn
| image=Season 3 - Promo - Epi 5 - StarbuckTighAdama.jpg
| season= 3
| episode= 6
| guests=
| writer= [[Anne Cofell Saunders]]
| story=
| director= [[Jean de Segonzac]]
| production=
| rating=
| US airdate= 2006-11-03
| UK airdate=
| dvd=
| population= 41,422
| prev= [[Collaborators]]
| next= [[A Measure of Salvation]]
}}
== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] create divisions between those who suffered under the Cylon occupation of [[New Caprica]] and those who stayed with the fleet. Meanwhile, [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] tries to prove his worth to the Cylons.''

== Summary ==

=== On [[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]] ===
* ''Galactica'''s air group runs war game exercises among the viper pilots. Captain Thrace breaks formation during the exercise and collides with another pilot, forcing an end to the war games, and causing Apollo to remove her from flight duty.
* [[Gaeta|Felix Gaeta]] meets with [[Laura Roslin]] and [[William Adama]] to discuss matters Baltar related. During the year before the Cylon Occupation of New Caprica, Baltar was obsessed with analyzing the data from Kobol to find the path to Earth. Based on passages in the [[Pythia|Scrolls of Pythia]], Baltar identified a nebula he believed to be a landmark on the road to Earth.
* Upon Thrace's return to her bunk, she is met by Kacey and her mother, whom she dismisses, telling the Kacey's mother not to come again.
* In the pilots' mess, Lt. [[Sharon Agathon]] is given the callsign "[[Athena]]." Thrace and Tigh begin to sow dissent between the survivors of New Caprica and the crew that stayed behind on ''Galactica''
* Adama confronts Thrace and Tigh on their behavior. He challenges them to shoot him, as their constant complaining is tantamount to pulling the trigger. When neither do, Adama demands they shape up and move on with their lives.
* Spurred by Adama's words, Thrace cuts her hair and appears to return to duty. Later, in uniform, she visits [[Kacey]] and her mother.
* Meanwhile, Tigh returns to his room and begins drinking to excess, finishing off one bottle and starting another.
* In a Raptor, Athena and Racetrack jump into range of the Lion Head's Nebula, and are excited to find what the Scrolls described. They quickly realize, however, that they have jumped right next to the dying Basestar.

=== On a [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]] ===
*[[Gaius Baltar]], onboard the Cylon basestar, is having another hallucination. On a sunny beach, Gaius praises Six for returning to him in his time of need, and states that he enjoys having conversations with her. Six implores him to learn anything and everything about the Cylons, as he will need the information in the days ahead. Six also tells him that the Cylons use forms of projection to see the world around them, and when asked what she is, Six tells Baltar that she is an angel of God.
*Having been allowed to stay on the [[Basestar]], [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Three]] talk with Baltar later on, inquiring about the location of [[Earth]]. Gaius initially denies having any knowledge of where Earth is, but then reveals that he does have clues as to where its probable location is. He then finds out that the [[Cylons]] intend to find Earth so they can use it as their new home.
*Baltar is apprehensive about helping the Cylons, and Caprica-Six tells him that the Cylons are also leery as to whether his intentions are true or not. Caprica-Six leads Baltar through the ship, telling him that she uses a projection of a forest to navigate the ship. In his mind, Baltar realizes that his form of projection is similar to what the Cylons are using, causing him to question whether he is human or a Cylon.
*Caprica-Six informs Gaius that his rescue of [[Hera]] and his assistance in finding Earth has made him a valuable asset, and has gone a long way in impressing the Cylons. Baltar asks why there are only 7 models on the ship, and inquires about the remaining 5 models. Caprica-Six informs him that they don't talk about it. He asks whether they would recognize one of the others, but their conversation is interrupted by Three before she can answer.
* Three informs Caprica-Six that there is a situation, and a [[Five]] states that the basestar that went to check the pulsar has not responded back. The group head to a control center, where Baltar finds out that the missing basestar has been infected by a disease, and that any Cylon that dies and uploads to a [[Resurrection Ship]] will spread the virus even further. On the urge of his internal Six, Baltar offers to board the infected basestar and collect scientific information.
* Before he leaves on his mission, Baltar encounters the [[Hybrid|Cylon hybrid]] that controls the functions of the basestar. The hybrid is hooked into the systems on the ship, and continually vocalizes her seemingly non-sensical thoughts. Caprica-Six informs Gaius that it is thought by most of the Cylon models that the hybrid has gone insane from being connected to the [[Basestar]] and that her words hold no meaning, however the [[Leoben]] model takes the hybrid's words as coming from God.
* The Cylons provide Baltar with a Raptor to board the baseship, and when he arrives, he finds numerous Cylons, either dead or dying. He collects blood samples and takes pictures of the area to bring back for analysis, and also finds a large manmade object in the hold of the ship. He then finds a dying [[Six]] model (curiously with black hair), who informs him that the device the Cylons captured, a probe left by the [[13th Colony]], infected all of them, and wants to die so she can be released from her pain. Even though Gaius offers to bring her help, she tries to attack him, and Gaius strangles her to death.
* Upon his return to the Basestar, Gaius denies finding anything that could have caused the outbreak of the virus, but Caprica-Six notices the probe object in Baltar's picture, but doesn't let on to anyone else what she has discovered.

== Questions ==
* Would it be possible for the Colonials to salvage the derelict basestar for their own purposes?
* What has happened to the remaining five Cylon models? Are they so secretive that none of the other 7 variants have any knowledge of them? Did the Cylons permanently box the other models because they were dissenters to the cause of the Cylon race?
* What is Caprica-Six going to do now that she realizes Baltar may be withholding critically sensitive information?
* Cally and Chief Tyrol as seen both working on the deck. Who is taking care of their baby? Has a system been put in place to take care of crewmembers' babies?
* Is Athena infected with the Cylon virus? {{spoilli|([[A Measure of Salvation|Answer]])}}
* As the probe is supposed to come from the 13th Tribe, and is affecting Cylons, does that mean that Cylons have been exisiting in times of the 13th Tribe? (or is just by accident that is viral for Cylons?)
** What is the "genetic pool" that the human form Cylons all come from, and has it existed for longer than the Cylons themselves?
** Could the people on Earth be aware ''currently'' that the Cylons are after them, and have sent the probe to hinder the Cylons' efforts?
*** Probably not: Baltar says it "looks old, it looks very old". The probe must have been floating for years.
** The probe may have worked this time, but now the Cylons are aware of the danger it presents, and they won't fall for it again. Does that mean that for each of the 12 constellations, there will be a new "trick" that Earthlings use to hinder the Cylons' efforts to find Earth?
* Is the virus biological or technological in nature? The "inevitable once we took human form" and "genetic pool" lines indicate that the Cylons think it is biological. On the other hand, their belief that it could survive through a download process implies that it is technological in nature (i.e. computer virus). This would seem to be a contradiction. Is the virus both biological and technological, like the Cylons themselves?
* Why did then-President Baltar investigate clues to Earth's location, given that he advocated abandoning that very search in his election campaign?
* Why is Lee Adama a Major again? Is it a case of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevet_%28rank%29 brevet rank]?

== Analysis ==
*The crew-position shuffle continues from last episode, but some definite decisions have been made:
**Lee has been demoted back to Major, and has resumed the CAG slot, with Kat and Hot Dog as senior pilots under him. Kara is as well, until Lee revokes her flight status for reckless behaviour.
**As mentioned, it seems Kat has been demoted from CAG to leader of Blue Group (Although "Blue Group" may only exist for training purposes and not be a permanent viper squadron).
**As implied in "Collaborators", Helo has resumed the XO slot aboard ''Galactica''.
**Gaeta appears to have inherited Baltar's mantle as the scientific advisor (it is unclear whether he holds any additional positions), and is focusing his efforts on refining a course for Earth.
**Cally is shown working the flight deck alongside her husband, showing that she is once again active in the Fleet.
*Following her actions during the Battle of New Caprica, Sharon seems to have garnered some degree of acceptance among the ''Galactica'' air group.
*"Athena" is the name of [[Athena (TOS)|Adama's daughter]] in the original series. This may be an allusion to the changing relationships on ''Galactica'': Sharon Agathon has replaced Kara Thrace as William Adama's surrogate daughter. (He tells Thrace, "You were like a daughter to me once. No more.") As [[Hot Dog]] states, Athena is also the name of a [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Lord of Kobol]].
*The Baseship hybrid appears to be viewed by the Cylons in the same way as the Centurions and Raiders. The hybrid has no vote in the Cylon decision-making process, despite its ability to express its thoughts and feelings, after a fashion.
*The Cylons have a [[Raptor]] and [[flight suit]] at their disposal, possibly acquired during the occupation of [[New Caprica]]. This raises the possibility that the Cylons may have other Colonial ships in their possession.

== Notes ==

*According to an [http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/4175/58/ interview] with executive producer [[David Eick]], episodes 5 and 6 are a two-part story in which ''Galactica'' discovers a dying Cylon Baseship, and deals with a plague that has befallen the Cylons. (Eick is counting "Occupation" and "Precipice" as one episode.)
*The phrase "end of line," uttered by the [[Hybrid|Cylon hybrid]] in this episode, is a possible reference to the film ''Tron'', in which the Master Control Program finishes its sentences with "end of line."
**This may also be a play on the episode title. ''Torn'' is an anagram of ''Tron''.
**[[Wikipedia:End_of_Line|End of line]] is also a computing term, referring to the character used to signal a new line in text-based protocols.
* In the PC game [[Wikipedia:Homeworld|Homeworld]], [[Wikipedia:Karan S'jet|Karan S'jet]], a young female neuroscientist, integrates her physical body into the Mothership to serve as its living CPU. This is similar to the function of the Cylon hybrid. (Although S'jet chose to do so voluntarily, and it is unlikely, from comments by [[Three]], that the Cylon hybrids were given a choice.)

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

''Adama's feelings towards, and regarding, Starbuck'':

'''Adama''': You were like a daughter to me once - no more. You're malcontent and a cancer, and I won't have you on my ship. So you have a choice - you can figure out how to become a human being again, and an officer; or you can find another place to live, off of this ship. You're dismissed.

''The Hybrid's objection to leaving the infected Basestar behind'':

'''Hybrid''': Mists of dreams drip along the nascent echo, and love no more. End of line.

== Guest Stars ==

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

{{episode list (RDM season 3)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Anne Cofell Saunders]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Jean de Segonzac]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Torn

2006-11-08T21:25:29Z

Canek: /* On Galactica */ Gaeta only meets with Roslin and Adama.

{{Episode Data
| title= Torn
| image=Season 3 - Promo - Epi 5 - StarbuckTighAdama.jpg
| season= 3
| episode= 6
| guests=
| writer= [[Anne Cofell Saunders]]
| story=
| director= [[Jean de Segonzac]]
| production=
| rating=
| US airdate= 2006-11-03
| UK airdate=
| dvd=
| population= 41,422
| prev= [[Collaborators]]
| next= [[A Measure of Salvation]]
}}
== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] create divisions between those who suffered under the Cylon occupation of [[New Caprica]] and those who stayed with the fleet. Meanwhile, [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] tries to prove his worth to the Cylons.''

== Summary ==

=== On [[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]] ===
* ''Galactica'''s air group runs war game exercises among the viper pilots. Captain Thrace breaks formation during the exercise and collides with another pilot, forcing an end to the war games, and causing Apollo to remove her from flight duty.
* [[Gaeta|Felix Gaeta]] meets with [[Laura Roslin]] and [[William Adama]] to discuss matters Baltar related. During the year before the Cylon Occupation of New Caprica, Baltar was obsessed with analyzing the data from Kobol to find the path to Earth. Based on passages in the [[Pythia|Scrolls of Pythia]], Baltar identified a nebula he believed to be a landmark on the road to Earth.
* Upon Thrace's return to her bunk, she is met by Kacey and her mother, whom she dismisses, telling the Kacey's mother not to come again.
* In the pilots' mess, Lt. [[Sharon Agathon]] is given the callsign "[[Athena]]." Thrace and Tigh begin to sow dissent between the survivors of New Caprica and the crew that stayed behind on ''Galactica''
* Adama confronts Thrace and Tigh on their behavior. He challenges them to shoot him, as their constant complaining is tantamount to pulling the trigger. When neither do, Adama demands they shape up and move on with their lives.
* Spurred by Adama's words, Thrace cuts her hair and appears to return to duty. Later, in uniform, she visits [[Kacey]] and her mother.
* Meanwhile, Tigh returns to his room and begins drinking to excess, finishing off one bottle and starting another.
* In a Raptor, Athena and Racetrack jump into range of the Lion Head's Nebula, and are excited to find what the Scrolls described. They quickly realize, however, that they have jumped right next to the dying Basestar.

=== On a [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]] ===
*[[Gaius Baltar]], onboard the Cylon basestar, is having another hallucination. On a sunny beach, Gaius praises Six for returning to him in his time of need, and states that he enjoys having conversations with her. Six implores him to learn anything and everything about the Cylons, as he will need the information in the days ahead. Six also tells him that the Cylons use forms of projection to see the world around them, and when asked what she is, Six tells Baltar that she is an angel of God.
*Having been allowed to stay on the [[Basestar]], [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Three]] talk with Baltar later on, inquiring about the location of [[Earth]]. Gaius initially denies having any knowledge of where Earth is, but then reveals that he does have clues as to where its probable location is. He then finds out that the [[Cylons]] intend to find Earth so they can use it as their new home.
*Baltar is apprehensive about helping the Cylons, and Caprica-Six tells him that the Cylons are also leery as to whether his intentions are true or not. Caprica-Six leads Baltar through the ship, telling him that she uses a projection of a forest to navigate the ship. In his mind, Baltar realizes that his form of projection is similar to what the Cylons are using, causing him to question whether he is human or a Cylon.
*Caprica-Six informs Gaius that his rescue of [[Hera]] and his assistance in finding Earth has made him a valuable asset, and has gone a long way in impressing the Cylons. Baltar asks why there are only 7 models on the ship, and inquires about the remaining 5 models. Caprica-Six informs him that they don't talk about it. He asks whether they would recognize one of the others, but their conversation is interrupted by Three before she can answer.
* Three informs Caprica-Six that there is a situation, and a [[Five]] states that the basestar that went to check the pulsar has not responded back. The group head to a control center, where Baltar finds out that the missing basestar has been infected by a disease, and that any Cylon that dies and uploads to a [[Resurrection Ship]] will spread the virus even further. On the urge of his internal Six, Baltar offers to board the infected basestar and collect scientific information.
* Before he leaves on his mission, Baltar encounters the [[Hybrid|Cylon hybrid]] that controls the functions of the basestar. The hybrid is hooked into the systems on the ship, and continually vocalizes her seemingly non-sensical thoughts. Caprica-Six informs Gaius that it is thought by most of the Cylon models that the hybrid has gone insane from being connected to the [[Basestar]] and that her words hold no meaning, however the [[Leoben]] model takes the hybrid's words as coming from God.
* The Cylons provide Baltar with a Raptor to board the baseship, and when he arrives, he finds numerous Cylons, either dead or dying. He collects blood samples and takes pictures of the area to bring back for analysis, and also finds a large manmade object in the hold of the ship. He then finds a dying [[Six]] model (curiously with black hair), who informs him that the device the Cylons captured, a probe left by the [[13th Colony]], infected all of them, and wants to die so she can be released from her pain. Even though Gaius offers to bring her help, she tries to attack him, and Gaius strangles her to death.
* Upon his return to the Basestar, Gaius denies finding anything that could have caused the outbreak of the virus, but Caprica-Six notices the probe object in Baltar's picture, but doesn't let on to anyone else what she has discovered.

== Questions ==
* Would it be possible for the Colonials to salvage the derelict basestar for their own purposes?
* What has happened to the remaining five Cylon models? Are they so secretive that none of the other 7 variants have any knowledge of them? Did the Cylons permanently box the other models because they were dissenters to the cause of the Cylon race?
* What is Caprica-Six going to do now that she realizes Baltar may be withholding critically sensitive information?
* Cally and Chief Tyrol as seen both working on the deck. Who is taking care of their baby? Has a system been put in place to take care of crewmembers' babies?
* Is Athena infected with the Cylon virus? {{spoilli|([[A Measure of Salvation|Answer]])}}
* As the probe is supposed to come from the 13th Tribe, and is affecting Cylons, does that mean that Cylons have been exisiting in times of the 13th Tribe? (or is just by accident that is viral for Cylons?)
** What is the "genetic pool" that the human form Cylons all come from, and has it existed for longer than the Cylons themselves?
** Could the people on Earth be aware ''currently'' that the Cylons are after them, and have sent the probe to hinder the Cylons' efforts?
** The probe may have worked this time, but now the Cylons are aware of the danger it presents, and they won't fall for it again. Does that mean that for each of the 12 constellations, there will be a new "trick" that Earthlings use to hinder the Cylons' efforts to find Earth?
* Is the virus biological or technological in nature? The "inevitable once we took human form" and "genetic pool" lines indicate that the Cylons think it is biological. On the other hand, their belief that it could survive through a download process implies that it is technological in nature (i.e. computer virus). This would seem to be a contradiction. Is the virus both biological and technological, like the Cylons themselves?
* Why did then-President Baltar investigate clues to Earth's location, given that he advocated abandoning that very search in his election campaign?
* Why is Lee Adama a Major again? Is it a case of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevet_%28rank%29 brevet rank]?

== Analysis ==
*The crew-position shuffle continues from last episode, but some definite decisions have been made:
**Lee has been demoted back to Major, and has resumed the CAG slot, with Kat and Hot Dog as senior pilots under him. Kara is as well, until Lee revokes her flight status for reckless behaviour.
**As mentioned, it seems Kat has been demoted from CAG to leader of Blue Group (Although "Blue Group" may only exist for training purposes and not be a permanent viper squadron).
**As implied in "Collaborators", Helo has resumed the XO slot aboard ''Galactica''.
**Gaeta appears to have inherited Baltar's mantle as the scientific advisor (it is unclear whether he holds any additional positions), and is focusing his efforts on refining a course for Earth.
**Cally is shown working the flight deck alongside her husband, showing that she is once again active in the Fleet.
*Following her actions during the Battle of New Caprica, Sharon seems to have garnered some degree of acceptance among the ''Galactica'' air group.
*"Athena" is the name of [[Athena (TOS)|Adama's daughter]] in the original series. This may be an allusion to the changing relationships on ''Galactica'': Sharon Agathon has replaced Kara Thrace as William Adama's surrogate daughter. (He tells Thrace, "You were like a daughter to me once. No more.") As [[Hot Dog]] states, Athena is also the name of a [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Lord of Kobol]].
*The Baseship hybrid appears to be viewed by the Cylons in the same way as the Centurions and Raiders. The hybrid has no vote in the Cylon decision-making process, despite its ability to express its thoughts and feelings, after a fashion.
*The Cylons have a [[Raptor]] and [[flight suit]] at their disposal, possibly acquired during the occupation of [[New Caprica]]. This raises the possibility that the Cylons may have other Colonial ships in their possession.

== Notes ==

*According to an [http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/4175/58/ interview] with executive producer [[David Eick]], episodes 5 and 6 are a two-part story in which ''Galactica'' discovers a dying Cylon Baseship, and deals with a plague that has befallen the Cylons. (Eick is counting "Occupation" and "Precipice" as one episode.)
*The phrase "end of line," uttered by the [[Hybrid|Cylon hybrid]] in this episode, is a possible reference to the film ''Tron'', in which the Master Control Program finishes its sentences with "end of line."
**This may also be a play on the episode title. ''Torn'' is an anagram of ''Tron''.
**[[Wikipedia:End_of_Line|End of line]] is also a computing term, referring to the character used to signal a new line in text-based protocols.
* In the PC game [[Wikipedia:Homeworld|Homeworld]], [[Wikipedia:Karan S'jet|Karan S'jet]], a young female neuroscientist, integrates her physical body into the Mothership to serve as its living CPU. This is similar to the function of the Cylon hybrid. (Although S'jet chose to do so voluntarily, and it is unlikely, from comments by [[Three]], that the Cylon hybrids were given a choice.)

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

''Adama's feelings towards, and regarding, Starbuck'':

'''Adama''': You were like a daughter to me once - no more. You're malcontent and a cancer, and I won't have you on my ship. So you have a choice - you can figure out how to become a human being again, and an officer; or you can find another place to live, off of this ship. You're dismissed.

''The Hybrid's objection to leaving the infected Basestar behind'':

'''Hybrid''': Mists of dreams drip along the nascent echo, and love no more. End of line.

== Guest Stars ==

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

{{episode list (RDM season 3)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Anne Cofell Saunders]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Jean de Segonzac]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I

2006-03-12T04:15:34Z

Canek: /* Analysis */

{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I.jpg|300px]]
| Title= Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
| Series= [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|The Re-imagined Series]]
| Season= [[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode= 19
| Guests= [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]<br> [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874001/ Michael Trucco] as [[Samuel Anders]]<br>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001777/ Dean Stockwell] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
| Writer=[[Ronald D. Moore]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| Production=
| Rating=
| US Airdate=March 3, 2006
| UK Airdate=
| DVD=
| Population= 49,579
| Prev= [[Downloaded]]
| Next= [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]
}}

== Overview ==
''As the presidential election looms just weeks away, the accidental discovery of a habitable planet sparks debate in the Fleet: Colonize? Or keep seeking Earth? Meanwhile, Starbuck leads a rescue mission of Raptors back to Caprica to save Anders and his resistance''.

== Summary ==
*[[William Adama|Adama]] has finally given [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] the go-ahead to plan a rescue mission to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Caprica]]. On [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']], she lays out their plan: they will use ''all'' of their remaining [[Raptor|Raptors]] — 20 in all — and use the navigation computer/organ from one of the captured [[Heavy Raider]]s to calculate the Jumps back to Caprica. Using this, they can make it back to Caprica in a series of 10 Jumps. They will go undetected when they reach Caprica by making a risky jump to just a few klicks above the surface, within the atmosphere itself, below [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[DRADIS]]. Their biggest obstacle to doing this was actually interfacing with the Heavy Raider's navigation "computer", but now they will take [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|''Caprica''-Sharon]] along in Starbuck's Raptor with it; Sharon will directly interface with the computer (by inserting a fiber-optic cable into her arm, like she did in "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]").
*The presidential election is two weeks away, and [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] is ahead in the polls. The only real arguments that [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] has against her that give him any ground are when he accuses her of pandering to the religious fundamentalists (i.e. her recent policy switch on abortion) and guiding the Fleet based on the scriptures alone. Conferring with his campaign manager [[Tom Zarek]] in his lab, Baltar realizes he'll need more than this to turn the fleet againt Roslin. Meanwhile, Roslin is doing a little rehearsal ritual for the presidential debate with Adama in his quarters.
*On the hangar deck, [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] is sleeping on the floor and twitching convulsively, having a nightmare. [[Cally]] searches around the deck to find him, and is confused by the sight when she finds him. Cally tried to wake Tyrol up, but snapping right out of his nightmare he attacks Cally, punching her in the face until she is a bloody pulp and unconscious. Realizing where he is and what's going on, Tyrol is horrified, and carries Cally in his arms to sickbay.
*[[Lee Adama|Apollo]], now commander of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', has conflicting feelings about Starbuck's mission to rescue Anders, but wishes her good luck in finding him.
*[[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and ''Caprica''-Sharon travel in Starbuck's Raptor. Sharon is still deeply depressed about her daughter [[Hera]]'s seeming death, and has been shutting herself out. Helo tells her that he won't let her do that and won't give up on her. Sharon tells him that she has the feeling that something bad will happen in the future; not on the mission to Caprica, but something else.
*On the very first jump out of the series of ten, [[Margaret Edmonson|Racetrack]]'s Raptor jumps to the wrong set of coordinates. Starbuck's orders were to keep going ahead until they lose 3 Raptors, so they go on ahead, while Racetrack prepares to follow her orders to return to [[Galactica (RDM)|''Galactica'']] if separated. Her Raptor jumped into the middle of a gas cloud with a lot of interference, and upon clearing it, a new planet is found. Scanners indicate that it is a human-habitable planet. She returns to ''Galactica'' with news of the discovery.
*The crew goes over the scans from the planet; it can sustain human life and subsequent scouting shows that in contains animal and vegetative life; they could indeed settle here. However, it is a cold world and somewhat harsh; only a temperate band around the equator covering about 20% of the surface would be habitable. After some prodding from [[Six]], Baltar and Zarek realize that they can use this as their wedge issue to turn the people against Roslin: offer them permament colonization on this planet.
*[[Tory Foster|Tory]] goes over new poll numbers with Roslin on [[Colonial One]]: Baltar has been gaining ground with his new offer to stop running from the Cylons and stay here. The planet is hidden by interference from the gas clouds, and many people want to just stop their constant chase in the refugee fleet. Roslin points out that if the Colonials could find the planet, the Cylons could just as easily. Also, life on the planet would be harsh. Tory points out that Baltar is pandering to the people's hopes, giving them false ones that they greatly desire, while Roslin is pointing out justifiable fears that they simply don't want to hear; people will vote their hopes.
*Shocked by his attack on Cally, Chief Tyrol has asked for religious counselling, and meets with a priest named [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]. Tyrol explains that it is because he doesn't believe that psychoanalysis works, but is himself a very [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies|religious]] man. Cavil is somewhat loose and sarcastic in his counseling, leaving Tyrol a little pertubed and confused. Cavil tells Tryol that he must look for the problem in himself and questions Tyrol, and when Tyrol denies that he has been having disturbing dreams, Cavil can see through it, so Tyrol relents.
*For weeks, Tyrol has been having the recurring dream that he walks onto the upper level of the hangar deck, climbs over the railing and kills himself by jumping to his death. Cavil says it is because Tyrol has a subconscious desire to kill himself. Tyrol explains that he has had the gnawing worry since [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|''Galactica''-Sharon]] died that he might himself be a [[Cylon agent|Cylon]]. ''Galactica''-Sharon never really knew she was a Cylon, even up to the point that she died, but reported strange fears that something bad was going to happen and she had to stop herself: how would Tyrol, or anyone else, really ''know'' if they were a Cylon sleeper agent or not? Tyrol is frightened by the prospect.
*Cavil assured Tyrol that he is not a Cylon, sarcastically quipping that he knows because he is a Cylon himself, and hasn't seen Tyrol at any of the meetings. Tyrol feels ashamed to go back to the hangar deck crew after the accident, but Cavil assures him that they're the only family he has left, and they love him. Cally most of all.
*At the final presidential debate, Baltar's charisma and hopes of finally giving up their run from the Cylons starts to pull him ahead in the polls, and Roslin's warnings that this planet is not safe and determination to keep searching for Earth do not gain wide support. Baltar apparently wins the final debate. Roslin tells him to go frak himself.
*The Raptors rescuse mission makes the final jump to Caprica. [[Raptor 612]] is lost because it jumps right into the middle of a mountain. The remaining Raptors continue on, then Starbuck, Helo, Sharon and the marines continue on foot.
*One klick away from the resistance's base camp, they see movement, and find [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] and his whole group. Starbuck is overjoyed to see him, but Anders warns that the Cylons are right behind them; the resistance's base was ambushed that morning, and half of Anders' men are dead.
*The [[Colonial Marine Corps|marines]] and [[Resistance (movement)|resistance]] members start coming under Cylon artillery fire. After running briefly, they reach a point where the arc of the artillery shells is right above them, and cannot hit them. However, the artillery's killzone is now between them and retreat back to the Raptors. To be continued...

== Questions ==
*Did [[Raptor 612]] Jump "into" the mountain by crashing into it, or did they jump ''inside'' of it?
**RDM confirms in the podcast that by "jumped into the mountain" it doesn't mean "they jumped close to it and thus crashed", it means, exactly like a Star Trek transporter accident, that they materialized from the Jump into solid rock, "half-phased".
*If Raptor 612 was destroyed by jumping into a mountain, how was their transponder still operational?
**Perhaps that part of the Raptor was in an air pocket in the rock, and thus not phased into it. RDM says in the podcast that the Raptor Jumping into the mountain wasn't like "swapping" spatial matter between two points: like a teleporter accident, the Raptor and its crew were horrifically merged into the rock itself.
*Is the previous distance limit for Colonial [[FTL]] jumps on account of something like mathematical calculations? Have any of the other Raptors, besides the lead Raptor, been modified, or do they just receive coordinates from the one Raptor with Caprica-Boomer and the Cylon device?
**No, or at least, not entirely. Based on Starbuck's jump back to Caprica in a Cylon Raider and other comments made in season 1, the Cylon FTL drive is far more capable to begin with. Colonial navigation systems would not be designed to take advantage of a markedly superior FTL drive because there would have been no need. Even by using the Cylon navigation computer, with its much better calculations, they needed ten jumps to return to Caprica.
***The dialog after Racetrack's Raptor gets waylaid hints at a firmware error. This hints at the possibility that all the Raptors were upgraded to take advantage of the “better” FTL jump calculations from the salvaged Cylon organ/computer. Previously, Starbuck jumped back to Caprica in her converted Raider in one jump, where the Raptors need to take 10 jumps. However, we do not know of the fleet's current position compared to where it was during the events of "[[Kobol%27s_Last_Gleaming%2C_Part_II]]". Therefore it is not possible to determine, assuming the best possible FTL jump calculations, whether Cylon or human ships can jump further.
*Does the fleet have the resources to sustain long term settlements on the newly found planet?
**Shelter could be taken care of by canabalizing the ships of the fleet for building materials. But the question of how many homes can be made for how many of the 49,000+ survivors simply by recycling the materials availible still remains. Even if ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' themselves were recycled, would there be enough materials, or would the Battlestars still be necessary for orbital defence?
**The planet itself may have natural resources—in "[[Scar]]", a mining ship collected metals to build new Vipers, so mining the planet itself may be possible. In this case it would be unnecessary to cannibalize the fleet.
*Zarek says the people have been cooped up in metal boxes since the attack. How literally does he mean this—for instance, are people living inside converted cargo holds as they were in the original series?
**Judging from RDM's podcast, he just meant being stuck inside of cramped ships in general, i.e. even the ''Galactica'' crew (who have dedicated crew quarters).
*How was the Raptor able to jump back to the fleet if their FTL navigation computer was not working properly?
**Racetrack's navigator says she gave him the coordinates, so it is possible that she relayed them incorrectly rather than a malfunction in the computer. Alternatively, they could have tracked down any fault and repaired it. In any case, the coordinates for the Raptor's original jump point would probably still be in the system.
*What about the Cylons hiding within the fleet? With the possible settlement of the planet being openly debated can the Cylon infiltrators not contact the Cylon fleet and inform them of the Colonials intentions?
**Perhaps the interference around the planet is blocking long range communications?
**Caprica-Sharon implies that there are Cylons amongst the fleet by telling Adama she would not identify them if asked.
*Laura states that Baltar does not have a key issue besides the "religious angle." What about the abortion issue from "[[The Captain's Hand]]"?
**Presumably Baltar charged that Laura's decision to ban abortion was to appease the Gemenese religious fundamentlists.
*When exactly did the Raptors leave for Caprica? If the episode lasts about two weeks, did it take that long to get to Caprica?
**From the dialog it appears that the Raptors can make a jump within 10 minuites, so the entire trip back likely took less than two hours.
***It sounded like they were going to leave at least a week, maybe more, before the elections (since Six said the elections were two weeks away). And according to the timelines, it took them 10 days to make the trip.
*Why did it take so long, about 10 days according to the timeline, to make the trip?
**FTL Jumps cannot be used instantaneously mant times and over large distances like Warp technology on ''Star Trek'': it takes time for Navigation computers to calculate Jump coordinates. Although in "[[33]]" this could take under half an hour for ''short'' Jumps, it takes a much longer time to calculate long-distance Jumps like this, and they stated in the briefing that this was the longest set of Jumps ever attempted in history.

== Analysis ==
*Timeline:
**According to [[Six]], on the night of the first debate the election is still "two weeks away".
**At the beginning of the first debate, [[James McManus]] states Baltar declared his bid for presidency a month ago. This took place at the end of "[[The Captain's Hand]]".
**Zarek states that the people of the fleet have been "cooped up in metal boxes for nine months", putting this episode not long after "[[Downloaded]]" around Day 270.
**At the conclusion of the second debate, the polls will open in three days.
*[[Margaret Edmonson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonson]] is apparently assigned to ''Pegasus'' at present, since Dualla refers to her mission as the "Pegasus survey team".
**She could have been flying a ''Pegasus'' Raptor.
*[[Lee Adama]] is now wearing a wristwatch, perhaps [[Barry Garner]]'s from "[[The Captain's Hand]]".
*It is safe to emerge from a hyperspace jump inside a planetary atmosphere at 2km, but not within solid rock. For comparative purposes, the density of air at 2km in an earth-like atmosphere is about 1 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, while the density of silica rock is about 2,600 kg/m<sup>3</sup>.
*When Tyrol's counseling with Cavil is coming to an end, Cavil notes to Tyrol that Cally "especially" loves him. Tyrol is apparently oblivious to this obvious fact up to that point.
*''BattlestarWiki'' has been trying for some time to reconcile on the [[Timeline (RDM)|Timeline]] the apparent jump from 3 months to 6 months that occured at the beginning of Season 2.5, a part of which was that back in "[[Bastille Day]]" it was stated on screen that the presidential elections were due in '''seven''' months. However, over 7 months passed by the end of "[[Scar]]", and there wasn't even talk of the elections until "[[The Captain's Hand]]". In the podcast for this episode, Ron Moore appears to reveal that he has simply forgotten this point. When he refers to the fact that "elections were promised back in "Bastille Day"", Moore says that he remembers that the line in "Bastille Day" was '''nine''' months, not seven. This is more than a one-episode goof, because one month after "Bastille Day" in "[[Colonial Day]]", it was stated that the elections were six months away. In the podcast it seems that Moore is truly and simply mistaken, and there is no explanation for the descrepancy betwen the "seven months after the attack" figures given in "Bastille Day" and "Colonial Day", and the new "nine months after the attack" figure at the end of season 2.5. It is simply a mistake.
*In this episode they refer to "the captured Heavy Raider", singular. This would imply that only the one Starbuck brought back from Caprica in "[[Home, Part I]]" was still functional at all, and the one that crashed into ''Galactica'' in "[[Scattered]]" was damaged beyond salvage or repair.

== Notes ==
*The re-cap for this episode includes scenes not actually shown in previous episodes—for instance, Starbuck demanding to the dying Roslin circa "[[Epiphanies]]" that they go back and rescue the Caprica resistance.
*When Baltar sarcastically quips that Zarek (and Six) expect him to just sit around and wait for "The Hand of God" to deliver them something they can use to their advantage against Roslin, he is of course referencing the previous episode titled "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]". Ironically, Baltar considers himself the hand of God in that episode. Further, a "chance serendipitous event" (namely the discovery of an inhabitable planet) does deliver them something they can use against Roslin.
*Likewise, when Apollo wishes Starbuck "good hunting", there's a tone of concern, and he seems to pause before saying it, as if Apollo meant to say something else but changed his mind. This may be a reference to "[[33]]", when Starbuck tells Apollo to say "good hunting" instead of "be careful out there".
*This episode has many parallels to "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]" and "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]": the discovery of an inhabitable planet, Gaeta plotting a Raptor jump dangerously close to a planet surface, Starbuck's use of captured Cylon technology to return to Caprica, the intercutting of several plot threads in the teaser, a character contemplating suicide out of fear of being a Cylon, and difficulties between Helo and Sharon. In addition, Tyrol's assault of Cally is something of a parallel to Helo shooting Sharon in "Kobol's Last Gleaming"—in both cases, a man driven to rage physically and emotionally wounds a woman who loves him.
*When Lt. Gaeta takes his shirt off in the head, he can be seen to still be sporting the tiger tatoo that we first saw in "[[Final Cut]]".
*The combined Colonial fleet had 20 Raptors in this episode, of which 1 was destroyed before the end. Previously, ''Galactica'' was confirmed to have at least 5 left ([[The Farm]]), with the suggestion that there may be as many as 8 ([[Resistance]]). Doubtlessly, ''Pegasus'' brought at least an equal number of Raptors with it when it joined the Fleet, but 20 is still a high number for this. Perhaps a disproportionately large number of Raptors escaped to [[Ragnar Anchorage]] during the [[Miniseries]]. Or perhaps like in real life with American Nimitz class Aircraft Carriers that carry a larger number of fighter aircraft compared to older Forrestal class carriers, the Pegasus, being a larger and more modern Battlestar than Galactica, it has the capability to carry a larger complement of Raptors. Unlike Vipers, Raptors do have FTL drives. We actually saw Boomer and Helo escaping the destruction of their Viper squadron, because Raptors do not engage in frontline combat, and because they have an extenstive ECM suite which Helo was trying to jam the Cylon virus signal with. Indeed, [[Crashdown]] was a Raptor ECO, but Boomer stated that he was not from ''Galactica'', but a refugee "from Triton" (either a battlestar or a planet).
**Also, more Raptors could have been built with extra materials after the Viper squadrons were manufactured ([[Scar]]).
*The jump error that landed the Raptor in the nebula was attributed to a "firmware error" by the crew. This may be an indication that there was firmware upgrade to deal with the increased FTL jump distances provided by the Cylon computer.
*When Cavil is consoling Tyrol's fears that he might unknowingly be a Cylon sleeper agent, just like Boomer was, Tyrol asks him how he can know for sure. Cavil sarcastically answers that it's because maybe he's a Cylon, and he hasn't seen Tyrol at any of the meetings: Number Six also sarcastically remarked to Baltar in the Miniseries that [[Aaron Doral]] could not be a Cylon, because she hadn't "seen him at any of the good Cylon parties"...but of course, Doral actually ''was'' a Cylon, implying that Cavil is truly more than he seems.
*Tory actually paraphrases the title of this episode aloud, saying that the new planet offers people in the Fleet the hope that they can "lay down their burdens" and stop running.
*During the premiere airing of this episode on the Sci-Fi Channel, before the Teaser segment a "Parental Discretion Is Advised" black and white message was inserted. At the end of the Teaser, Tyrol beats Cally to a bloody pulp.
*Lee Adama is now wearing a new uniform as Commander of ''Pegasus'': it is a Commander's uniform, denoted by the new red trim (with gold inner trim), and it has a white "''Pegasus'' BSG-62" patch, replacing his old gold "''Galactica'' BSG-75" patch.
*Dualla's photo of Adama is the left half of a group shot with Kara Thrace and his brother Zak Adama. The original belongs to Thrace, and she has kept it in her locker on ''Galactica'' since the miniseries.
*Dualla refers to "rivers of milk and honey" on the newly discovered planet. The phrase "land of milk and honey" is a common epithet for the promised land in the Torah, appearing in Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 13:5, 33:3, Leviticus 20:24, Number 13:27, 14:8, 16:13-14, and Deuteronomy 6:3.
*Commander Lee Adama is seen eating noodles with chopsticks in his quarters, just like his father in "[[33]]", etc.
*In the podcast, RDM states that originally instead of Starbuck, Helo, and Sharon leading the other Raptors in another Raptor, they would have been flying in the captured Heavy Raider itself. However, the 2 part season finale went overbudget and cuts had to be made, and the cost of building the Heavy Raider interior was deemed prohibitively expensive. Thus, they bring the Heavy Raider computer/organ with them in a normal Raptor. Moore said he believed that fans "wouldn't miss" an actual appearance by the Heavy Raider.
*Col. [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] appears in this epsiode twice but doesn't speak a single line.
*This is the first time since the [[Mini Series]] that Helo is seen fulfilling his duties as an [[ECO]].
*Apollo quips that if they find a habitable planet, he'll build the pilots a bar on it. Actor Jamie Bamber has said in interviews that part of Apollo's backstory is that he didn't know what he was going to do with his life; he's in the Colonial Fleet reserves, not a full-career commitment, etc. He said that right before the attack, Apollo was supposed to be considering leaving the service and just openning up a bar somewhere.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Chief Tyrol is worried that like'' Galactica''-Sharon, he could just as well be another Cylon sleeper agent:''
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' How do you know I'm human?
:'''Brother Cavil:''' Oh, well, maybe because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings.

*'''Brother Cavil:''' Do you know how useless prayer is? Chanting, and singing, and mucking about with old half-remembered lines of bad poetry? And you know what it gets you? Exactly nothing.

*'''Gaius Baltar:''' I'm not sure if you're aware, [[Tom Zarek|Tom]], but the mob isn't usually in the habit of electing ungodly apostates who denegrate people of faith.

== Official Statements ==

*''In an interview in issue #197 of TV Zone, James Callis (Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]]) said:'' "the arrival of the Pegasus has helped galvanize our characters into who they are and who they’re trying to be. These later episodes [in Season 2] also further drive home the fact that the Galactica’s crew could be exterminated by its own kind, meaning that Humans are potentially far more terrifying an enemy than perhaps the Cylons."

== Guest Stars ==

*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874001/ Michael Trucco] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001777/ Dean Stockwell] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Aaron+Douglas Aaron Douglas] as CPO [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Nicki+Clyne Nicki Clyne] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Leah+Cairns Leah Cairns] [[Margaret Edmonson|Racetrack]]
*Rekha Sharma as [[Tory Foster]]
*Alisen Down as Jean Barclay
*Colin Lawrence as "Skulls" McCall
*[http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0443286/ David Kaye] as [[James McManus]]

{{Episode List}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Ronald D. Moore]]

Resurrection Ship, Part I

2006-01-07T18:07:50Z

Canek: /* Questions */

{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:resurrection1teaser.jpg|200px]]
| Title=Resurrection Ship, Part I
| Series=[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined Series]]
| Season=2
| Episode=11
| Guests=[[Michelle Forbes]]
| Writer=[[Michael Rymer]]
| Story=[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Anne+Cofell Anne Cofell Sanders]
| Director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| Production=
| Rating=
| US Airdate=January 6, 2006
| UK Airdate=
| DVD=
| Prev=[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]
| Next=[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]
}}

== Overview ==
:''A military power struggle threatens to escalate into all-out war as the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus attempt to join forces to destroy a critical Cylon target: a “Resurrection” ship.''

== Summary ==
*[[Kara Thrace]] flies in behind the Cylon fleet following ''Galactica.'' The stealth features of the [[Blackbird]] allow her to fly to and within the superstructure of the [[Unknown Cylon Ship]], taking pictures along the way. Just before leaving the superstructure, she [[FTL|Jumps]] away to safety and the [[Fleet]].
*Thrace returns from her unsanctioned reconnaissance of the Cylon fleet in the middle of Adama and Cain's standoff, with recon images of the [[Unknown Cylon Ship]]. Her return appears on [[DRADIS]] as a [[Raider]] and causes Viper squadrons from both ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' and ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' to stop a deadly game of "chicken", with neither side firing unless fired upon.
*Thrace uploads her incredibly detailed pictures of the Unknown Cylon Ship. A closeup shows Cylon bodies, including several inactive copies of the agent known as [[Number Six#Gina|Gina]].
*After being grilled for their near-disasterous action on ''[[Colonial One]]'' by President [[Laura Roslin]], Adama and Cain agree to a truce while they prepare a joint attack on the Cylon fleet.
*Roslin warns Adama that Cain is a loose cannon, who must be killed in order to save the [[Fleet]] from annihilation. Adama is surprised at Roslin's candor, and is reluctant to consider the idea.
*Adama learns that the ''Pegasus'' was also shepherding a civilian fleet, which it abandoned months ago, but not before stripping it of anything useful, including FTL drives, spare parts, and people. Cain threatened to shoot the families of individuals she selected that would not leave with ''Pegasus.''
*[[Gaius Baltar]] speaks more with [[Number Six#Gina|Gina]], who wants Baltar to kill her so she can free herself from her tortureous existance. He tells her that she cannot die as her consciousness would only download into another [[Humano-Cylon|Cylon body]]. Seeing the copies of reconnaissance photos Baltar is carrying, Gina says she would die if his Fleet destroys the Unknown ship.
*Baltar briefs Adama and Cain: The ship is known as the Resurrection Ship. Its function is to allow Cylon agents a place where their consciousness can download, as an agent in the Fleet would be too far from the Cylon homeworld for their consciousness to return. Cain quickly surmises that, without the Resurrection Ship, the few agents remaining would be permanently gone, perhaps more reluctant to complete their respective missions.
*Laura Roslin's illness is now more visibly apparent. William Adama visits her, and the two have a most unusual, even sentimental talk, with humor about getting a fresh, young Cylon body replacement for Roslin. Adama smiles and says that he couldn't think of her as a blonde, but Roslin smiles and says he'd be surprised.
*Cain finds Thrace's initiative laudable, and promotes her to Captain and [[CAG]] ''Pegasus'' over [[Cole Taylor]]. She initially pulls [[Lee Adama]]'s flight status, but restores it a Thrace's behest and assigns him to her team. Thrace begins plans on an attack on the Resurrection Ship.
*[[Helo]] and [[Galen Tyrol]] are pleasantly surprised not to be dead. Lee Adama visits the two and catches them up on events, noting that his father pulled out the stops to ensure Helo's and Tyrol's survival.
*Thrace briefs the battlestar commanders on the attack plan. Adama consults with Thrace privately, asking her to shoot Cain in the head after the attack. Likewise, Cain instructs [[Jack Fisk]] to shoot Adama and his command after the attack after she transfers Fisk and a squad of Marines loyal to her to ''Galactica.''

== Questions ==
* Why doesn't Cain and her crew grasp the concept that survival of the human race supersedes the military way of life?
** Adama had similar ideas in the [[Miniseries]] until Roslin talked him out of it.
* If Dr. [[Cottle]] were to perform a psychological examination on Cain, could Adama strip her of command for medical reasons?
**Adama could have just had Roslin strip her of her rank because she's Commander-in-Chief; it doesn't matter: Cain's hold over Pegasus is so tight it would be fluffed off. Also, Cain is not clinically insane. It's not just "insane" humans who do evil things in wartime. Cain does bad things, and she doesn't have the excuse of not being in command of her mental faculties.
* Has Roslin's illness has brought her to terminally important attitudes on life and death? Unlike the option to kill the prisoners on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' ([[Miniseries]]), Roslin does not hesitate to suggest to Adama to kill Cain.
**These two issues are not morally equivalent. The prisoners on ''Astral Queen'' were not posing an immediate threat to the safety of the fleet, as Cain and ''Pegasus'' were.
*Why does Commander Adama rely on gossip from Cally and Tigh, rather than debriefing Laird personally?
**Maybe Laird was so scared/broken in by Cain that he would be unwilling to say anything against Cain out of fear; thus Tigh had to ask Fisk.
**Were Laird's wife and possibly children executed on the ''Scylla'' because he was one of the two who resisted the ''Pegasus'' marine team?
*When did the Resurrection Ship begin following the Fleet? Was it able to rescue [[Aaron Doral#Suicide Bomber Copy|Aaron Doral (Suicide Bomber Copy)]] (killed day 17), [[Number Six#Shelly Godfrey|Shelly Godfrey]] (disappeared day 24), [[Leoben Conoy#Gemenon Traveler Copy|Leoben Conoy (Gemenon Traveler Copy)]] (killed day 25), or [[Sharon Valerii#Galactica Copy|Sharon Valerii (Galactica Copy)]] (killed c. day 54)?
* [[Starbuck]] got some pretty close shots of the [[Resurrection Ship]], so much so that [[Helena_Cain|Admiral Cain]] was able to ID the [[Humano-Cylon]] "Gina" (a.k.a. [[Number Six]]). Could any of the other [[Humano-Cylon]] models be identified, including the ones that the Fleet aren't aware of yet?
**Although logically possible, from a storywriting standpoint they were probably not lucky enough for that.
*Since Lee Adama was ultimately to be included in the mission to assassinate Cain anyway, why didn't his father deign to brief him at the same time as Kara Thrace? Having Thrace fill him in later doubles the chance of their plans being overheard.
**Since Starbuck is the ''Pegasus'' CAG, Adama has an excuse to ask her to stay. If he'd asked for her ''and'' Lee, it likely would have raised suspisions.
*Baltar said that he's tired of the fantasy-world in his head that he retreats into; not of Number Six herself, but of his bachelor pad on Caprica. Is this a further sign that Baltar is shifting closer into the Cylon camp? It could mean that he no longer misses his old life on Caprica and has stopped clinging to it.
*To what extent is the chain of command still in effect? Adama fully intends to have Cain killed, but still stops short of demanding Agathon and Tyrol's return, and Cain believes he will still accept Fisk's transfer to Galactica as a spy.
*Will Fisk carry out his order to have ''Pegasus'' marines execute ''Galactica'''s entire command staff? He seems to have found a friend in Col. Tigh, someone who he is more than willing to share otherwise privilaged information with and he does seem to be Cain's voice of reason.
*Is Admiral Cain telling the truth when she says to Starbuck that their "ultimate goal" is to return to the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]] and liberate them from the Cylons?
**On the one hand, she may be playing on Starbuck's desire to rescue the [[Resistance (movement)|Caprican Resistance]] led by [[Anders]] in order to lure Starbuck over to her allegiance (Cain was impressed by Starbuck's brazen recon mision, and now views her as a valuable asset).
**On the other hand, this is consistent with Admiral Cain's behavior so far: while ''Galactica's'' crew realized they had no hope of taking back the Colonies and left to try to find Earth, Pegasus has actually been engaging Cylon forces on the outskirts of the occupied 12 Colonies for months. Cain does truly seem to want to "take the fight to the Cylons", as it were, and fight to reclaim the 12 Colonies.
***Even if she is being honest about that, her comment to Starbuck that Anders' resistance "deserves to be saved" seems almost definitely just to be Cain manipulating Starbuck: As evidenced by Cain's treatment of her own [[Scylla|small civilian fleet]], she has completely prioritized the military assets of ''Pegasus'' over the well-being of any other small group of people.
***Even if Admiral Cain was able to lead the Fleet in successfully forcing the Cylons out of the 12 Colonies, doesn't she realize that they've ''already'' been nuked and are currently inhospitably irradiated? The few people left on the colonies need anti-radiation medication to survive there, there's only a finite supply of these and it's doubtful that they have any production facilities they could use.

== Analysis ==
This episode fails to skip a beat from the mid-season closer. With ''Galactica's'' and ''Pegasus''' Vipers in a scary game of chicken, the level of tension borders on the "fish in a blender" scenario.

Admiral Cain is clearly showing signs of stress indicative of some kind of sociopathic disorder; her orders and desire to follow the military way overshadow any compassion or understanding of the reality of her situation. She fails to understand that killing Helo and Tyrol worsens the Fleet, as she cannot simply find a suitable replacement.

The star of this show, albeit briefly appearing, is Mary McDonnell's Roslin. Like her namesake Blackbird itself, Roslin shows her toughness in staring down Cain ''and'' Adama, who actually looks ''ashamed'' in his actions while Roslin reads both "the riot act." Were not for the situation, Roslin's second talk with Adama, maybe the first time that Roslin does not appear with Adama in regular clothing, very casual, and obviously ill, seemed more like two old friends. Adama does something viewers have rarely seen with Roslin--his face relaxes and shows humor, sympathy, perhaps even sadness at Roslin's illness and her strength in looking her illness in the face and denying it anyway. He offers his hand and she accepts with a squeeze before she leaves. It seems in this moment that Roslin and Adama exchanged more romantic chemistry than the writer's attempts to do the same with Adama's son and Kara Thrace.

Baltar was generally neutral in this episode, playing both sides, Adama and Cain, Colonial and Cylon, to the advantage of all. His motives in saving Gina are still in doubt, and viewers are likely to see more development here.

Viewers are likely more interested not in the upcoming battle, now a more evenly matched fight between Colonial and Cylon (all things considered--[[basestar]]s generate Raiders like rabbits generate offspring), but in the battle for control of the Fleet, with both Adama and Cain performing similar strategies to kill the other.

*Cain wonders if debating morality is what Roslin and Adama have been doing "for the past six months"; however, as explained in the article [[Timeline (RDM)]], this episode only takes place a little over ''three'' months after the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. Specifically, the beginning of "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]" took place 30 days after "[[Resistance]]", when the crashed Raptor team returned from Kobol, which took place less than a week after "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", which explicitly stated to take place 51 days after [[Helo]] was stranded on Caprica in the [[Miniseries]]. In "Flight of the Phoenix", Roslin was told that her cancer had advanced aggressively, and she had a month to live "at the outside". The idea that the episode "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" (which took place immediatly before this one) took place ''three months'' after "Flight of the Phoenix" thus seems entirely impossible. This line should probably be regarded as exaggeration, or just a goof.

*Pilot [[Louanne Katraine]] has apparently got her groove back from "[[Final Cut]]", and has become the lead pilot on ''Galactica'' following the transfer of Lee Adama and Kara Thrace to ''Pegasus''. Given that the ungifted [[George Birch]] was apparently the best to be found within ''Galactica's'' regular chain of command ([[Home, Part I]]), it's unsurprising that a talented nugget has risen to the top.
**In hindsight, her abuse of stims is actually in line with the single-minded zeal she approaches her job with. She has apparently learned to channel her perfectionism into a more constructive outlet.

*Both Adama and Cain's assassination plans (taking advantage of a victory celebration in CIC) are exactly the same as the same as the one used by Galactica-Boomer in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II.

== Notes ==

* Admiral Cain promotes Kara Thrace to the rank of captain. She replaces Stinger as ''Pegasus's'' CAG.
* The Cylon fleet containing the [[Resurrection Ship]] has been following the [[Fleet|Colonial Fleet]]. It was speculated that the Resurrection Ship was a safety net for any Cylons who died in the Fleet.
* During the closing R&D production company animation, in which David Eick is sliced in two by a bolt of lightning, House Resolution 2995 of the 109th Congress is mentioned in a news ticker. The resolution, introduced June 27, 2005, involves the creation of a "Weather Modification Operations and Research Board." Source: [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-2995 GovTrack]
*In case there was any doubt, by this point the ''Galactica'' crew definately knows that the blonde woman they first met as "Shelley Godfrey" is a humanoid Cylon, to the point that Roslin cracks a joke that she wouldn't mind waking up inside a gorgeous Number Six body.
*Number Six likes [[pyramid]]. She went to live games often while she was on Caprica. She said it was because she loved the rush of raw emotions that would sweep over the crowd.
*Thrace still intends to recover Anders' [[Resistance (movement)|Resistance]] fighters from Caprica. Timeline wise, they have a little over a month of anti-radiation meds left.
*Tigh and Fisk have continued their status as drinking buddies.
*Roslin has developed a bad cough, perhaps evidence that her cancer has spread to her lungs, or that she has begun to suffer from opportunistic infections.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*'''Starbuck''': Starbuck to all vipers-- do not fire... repeat, do not fire! I am a friendly, okay? We're all friendlies. So, let's just...be friendly.

*'''Col. Tigh''': Ahh, another one of [Starbuck]'s crazy ass stunts...thank the Gods!

*'''President Roslin''': The spirit of the law requires something more here than summary executions.
:'''Admiral Cain''': Is this what the two of you have been doing for the past six months? Debating the finer points of Colonial law? Well, guess what, we're at war! And we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues.

*'''Apollo''': So, just how many kinds of stupid are you?

*'''Apollo''': Good news! You're not dead... yet.

== Official Statements ==

== Statistics ==

{{Episode List}}

[[Category: Episode Guide (RDM)]]
[[Category: A to Z]]