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Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II

2006-07-27T06:28:26Z

Commander Me:

{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Baltarlaydownburdensii.jpg|300px]]
| Title= Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II
| Series= [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|The Re-imagined Series]]
| Season= [[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode= 20
| Guests= [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]] [[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]] [[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
| Writer=[[Anne Cofell Saunders]] [[Mark Verheiden]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| Production=
| Rating=1.9
| US Airdate= March 10, 2006
| UK Airdate= May 16, 2006
| DVD=
| Population= 49,550
| Prev= [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]
| Next= [[Episode 3.1]]
}}

== Overview ==

:''Everything turns on its head as the survivors vote for a new president -- and vote for their fate.''

== Summary ==

===On Caprica===

*[[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]], the [[marines]], and the [[Caprica Resistance]] continue to take fire from [[Cylon Centurion]]s and their artillery. They make their way up a hill, and hold their position.
*The Cylons hold fire, and [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] remarks that the Cylons will attempt to capture them with non-lethal weapons, such as gas.
*Eighteen hours later, they emerge to find that the Cylons have disappeared. [[Cavil]] -- who suddenly appears behind them -- announces that the Cylons have left the Twelve Colonies and that humanity is spared.

===In the Fleet===

*[[Cally]] is cleared for duty by [[Cottle|Dr. Cottle]], despite having her jaw wired shut. [[Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] visits her, apologizing for the attack. Cally forgives him, saying that she's always cared for him.

*[[Gaius Baltar|Dr. Baltar]] continues to gain in the polls. On ''[[Colonial One]]'', [[Tory_Foster|Tory]] mentions an alternative victory plan. [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] later calls a private meeting with Dr. Baltar, asking to deliver a joint statement of [[Wikipedia:Table (verb)|tabling]] the issue of colonization until after the election. Baltar rejects the idea.

*Roslin, fearing that she has indeed lost the presidential race, confronts [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] on whether he was with a copy of [[Number Six]] on Caprica before the Cylon attack. Baltar avoids answering the question and states that he may have [[Epiphanies|saved her life]], but he will not save her political life.

*[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] returns to ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' with the resistance fighters, much to the delight of Admiral [[William Adama]]. She mentions the Cylon retreat from Caprica as Brother Cavil, leaving the Raptor, confirms it. He also says he has a message, but is attacked by Chief [[Galen Tyrol]], who declares a "[[Code blue]]," claiming Cavil is a Cylon. Incensed that Caprica-Valerii did not reveal Cavil's true nature earlier, Admiral Adama orders both Caprica-Valerii and the second Cavil to the brig.

*The ''Galactica''-based Cavil (from last episode) is brought to the brig, claiming he's not a Cylon, but changes his tune upon seeing his "brother", as he calls him. Caprica-Cavil then talks about the fact that the “war heroes” ([[Caprica Six]] & [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|"Boomer" Valerii]]) have convinced their kind that the attack of the colonies and the pursuit of the fleet were mistakes. Caprica-Cavil's mission was to relay the message that man and Cylon will go their separate ways. Both Roslin and Admiral Adama are less than trusting regarding the message.

*In the brig, Caprica-Valerii is completely disillusioned and nihilistic, declaring that since her [[Hera|child's]] death, nothing -- not Adama's trust or [[Helo]]'s -- matters to her. A frustrated Helo insists that he's not giving up on her, but she seems disinclined to listen.

*Thrace and [[Anders]] are getting extremely drunk when Apollo comes in to welcome them back. Starbuck makes a snide remark about Apollo and Dualla and goes back to drunkenly making out with Anders. Apollo, clearly upset with Starbuck, leaves without saying much.

*Election Day has arrived and Baltar has an apparent five thousand-vote lead over Roslin with only a few ships left to tally. On ''Colonial One'', Foster activates her alternative victory plan with a call to ''Galactica.''

*Amazingly, Roslin initially appears to have retained the presidency. While most are celebrating, Lt. [[Felix Gaeta]] discovers fraudulent actions in the vote, and informs the Admiral that Col. Tigh (who acts suspiciously when questioned by Gaeta) may be involved in a conspiracy to throw the election.

*Admiral Adama confronts Roslin regarding the conspiracy, saying that Tigh has confessed to rigging the vote. Roslin admits her involvement and Adama is disappointed. The Admiral indicates that, for good or bad, the people's vote must take precedence. Adama secretly buries the conspiracy itself while announcing the startling change in events to Dr. Baltar.

*Initially Baltar vows to have a full investigation on the vote count, but after Adama suggests that Baltar take his victory and leave matters be, Baltar relents and informs Adama that he can be quite generous in victory. President-elect Baltar then orders a course for “[[New Caprica]].”

*Baltar and Gina consummate their relationship after Gina informs Baltar that she would not be part of the colonization.

*[[Gaius Baltar]] is sworn in as the new President of the Twelve Colonies, and orders the immediate colonization of New Caprica.

*Gina activates the nuclear warhead [[Sacrifice|given to her by Baltar]] aboard ''[[Cloud 9]]''. The nuclear blast destroys ''Cloud 9'' and at least three other ships. Admiral Adama warns that this may be a prelude to a Cylon attack, but President Baltar ignores him and presses forward with colonization.

===One Year Later===
[[image:burdens2.jpg|Thrace and Cottle on New Caprica.|thumb]]
*President Baltar's administration appears to be corrupt, lax, and unresponsive. [[Felix Gaeta|Mr. Gaeta]], now the President's aide, reports issues with a worker's union. Baltar is upset, saying there have been no Cylon attacks but the people still complain. He has regressed, turning to alcohol, medication, and womanizing.

*Admiral Adama, now sporting a mustache, walks the corridors of a near-empty ''Galactica'', which is quickly falling into disrepair. Over half of the crew have moved down onto the planet, leaving the ship so short on crew that they barely have enough pilots to fly training missions, much less form up [[Combat Air Patrol]]s. Adama asks Tigh to retire from duty to join his [[Ellen Tigh|wife]] on the planet. Tigh reluctantly agrees.

*[[Samuel Anders|Anders]], now Thrace's husband, has pneumonia. Dr. Cottle is unable to treat Anders because there are no antibiotics available. He can only advise Thrace to make sure Anders gets enough rest in order to recover.

*Thrace runs into the Tighs as [[Tyrol]], now a union boss, is making a speech to begin a strike, with a very pregnant Cally by his side. Col. Tigh mentions to Thrace that ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' keeps a store of backup medical supplies and that Commander [[Lee Adama]] might spring some for her. Thrace disagrees, which prompts Tigh to state that Lee Adama should be over her harsh neglect of Adama's friendship after Ander's arrival a year before.

*Roslin returns to her teaching roots, teaching the settlement's children, and manages to find enjoyment in her new position. [[Maya]] is with her, as is the now one year-old "[[Hera|Isis]]".

*Thrace calls Commander Lee Adama aboard ''Pegasus'' to request the antibiotics. [[Dualla]], ostensibly the ''Pegasus'' [[XO]], notices something on [[DRADIS]], to her horror.

*A massive fleet of [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]]s arrive in orbit around New Caprica. The Adamas discuss what to do in response, with Lee initially advocating that the remains of the orbiting Fleet to [[FTL|escape]]. Admiral Adama initially resists, but orders the Jump, vowing that they will return.

*A [[Leoben Conoy]]-model [[Cylon agent]] shows up at Thrace and Anders' tent, where he asks an ailing Anders about where to find Thrace.

*Mr. Gaeta informs the President of the Cylon approach. Later, before his assembled staff, copies of Numbers [[Number Five|5]], [[Number Eight|8]], and [[Number Six|6]] approach the President. The Cylons declare that as long as there’s no resistance, no harm will come. President Baltar, after learning that the Cylons discovered New Caprica because of the nuclear explosion set off by Gina, declares surrender on behalf of the colonists. As Cylon armies occupy the planet, Thrace vows to resist.

== Questions ==

*Who is Baltar's vice president?

*Is Gaeta Baltar's assistant or his Vice President?
:Based on Ron Moore's comment (see the spoiler text), it is probable that Gaeta is merely an assistant.

*What of [[Tom Zarek]]?

{{spoiltext|According to RDM's blog, Tom Zarek was initially the Vice President but he had a falling out with Baltar over the regime.}}

*Has Gaeta's view of Baltar changed since Baltar's ascension to the presidency? If so, is Gaeta planning to do anything about it?

*Was Roslin's threat to put the two Cavils into space actually carried out?

*Where did the remains of the Fleet escape to?

*Where is Caprica-Valerii?
:It is probable that Valerii remains in the brig, as she is well-known as a Cylon agent. Her anger at the "death" of her child and her true nature would make her a liability in public. Helo's continued presence on ''Galactica'' supports this, provided his feelings for Valerii have not changed in the lapsed year.

*Why is Leoben looking for Starbuck, specifically?
{{spoiltext|According to some Q&A that RDM gave at a recent convention to people from the website 'The Pegasus Galaxy', Starbuck's missing ovary has been "under Leoben's pillow". Could the Cylons have made a hybrid child from her eggs and Leoben's sperm?
Also, there is the possibility that this particular Conoy is the resurrection of the model that Thrace tortured in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," and he is seeking payback.}}

*Why has the population (until Tyrol's recent union speech) accepted Baltar's imperious rule? People were hardly so passive under Roslin. Indeed, Adama executed a [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|military coup]] over a rather less important issue than giving a nuclear weapon to a Cylon agent.

*What were the workers being asked to do which was so "odious", "so sick[ening] at heart" that Tyrol was willing to call a general strike, and so important to Baltar that he was willing to use illegal imprisonment to break it?

*Baltar surrenders to copies of Cylon agents Six and Eight. Are these agents the reincarnated [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|"Boomer" Valerii]]? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Where did the Cylon fleets go, after they left the Twelve Colonies? Cavil was deliberately vague when asked if they simply returned to the [[Cylon homeworld]].

*Why didn't the nuclear device trigger the radiological alarms on either battlestar?

*How many people died in ''Cloud 9'' destruction? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Were the Quorum of Twelve killed on ''Cloud 9''?

*Was anyone from [[Demand Peace]] killed on ''Cloud 9''?

*Were [[Shevon]] and [[Paya]] killed on ''Cloud 9''?

*When Gina was instantly vaporized due to being only two feet from a nuclear detonation, did she still transmit her consciousness? Was she even capable of transmitting considering that any internal hardware responsible for this task would have been instantly destroyed? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Given Roslin's memories of Baltar with Six, why didn't Admiral Adama suspect Baltar of handing over the nuclear warhead to the cylons? If he did suspect him, why not act on it? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Did Baltar's internal Six disappear at any point during the New Caprica year? If so, when and why? If so, did the events of her disappearance contribute to Baltar's regression?

*Why was it so easy for Adama to hide the collusion of the rigged election from the press, and why were there no consequences?

*If the Cylons really left the Twelve Colonies, leaving behind a nuked-out wasteland, what happened to all of the human captives in the [[Farms]]?

*Why have the Cylons returned after suggesting that they were willing to go their "separate ways"?

*Did the Cavils lie about the pursuit of humanity being a mistake? Or were they telling the truth?

*Will the Cylons resume their pursuit of the Fleet?

*How many people are left in the Fleet? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Have the remaining ships in the defense fleet been armed during the past year?

*Will the Adamas resort to Cain's tactic of conscripting civilians to fill the gaps?

*What happened between Apollo and Starbuck? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*What led to Starbuck's reconciliation with Col. Tigh? The two had been in conflict since the [[Miniseries]], what led them to bury the hatchet and become the close friends they now appear to be?

*Has it become public knowledge that Baltar killed [[Crashdown]] on [[Kobol]]? Now that Chief and Cally are Baltar's open adversaries they could attempt to use this information against him.

*When Adama informs Baltar that the nuke used to blow up ''[[Cloud 9]]'' was probably stolen from Baltar's lab, why is he not suspicious about the fact that Baltar never reported that it was missing? Had it really been stolen from his lab, he would surely notice.
**One could argue that a man doesn't have much time to spot missing objects when he's running for President.

*Are the Cylons that appear at the end representative of the whole Cylon race, or are they a faction that broke off after the two "Cylon Heroes" began to speak out against the war on the humans?

*If it is true that the Cylons now believe the attack on humanity was a mistake, is the occupation on New Caprica viewed by the Cylons as an act of mercy and kindness vs. oppression from the human perspective? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

*Could it be the intent of the Cylons to actually help the colonization of New Caprica, helping with the construction of infrastructure, new homes, etc, in order to make up for the holocaust? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])
**If the Cylons intend to help, that would be consistent with Cavil's comment that the Cylon path to enlightenment is to be "the best machines the universe has ever seen." The purpose of a machine is arguably to assist human beings. On the other hand, the Cylons, if they are here to help, are presumably intending to do so in a highly authoritarian fashion.
***Could the Cylons be wanting to maintain control over the Colonials so that in some future the colonials would not be able to return and exact revenge on the Cylons?
**Could the Cylons be fortifying New Caprica to protect the humans from hostile Cylons? There should still be some, that Number Three in "Downloaded" was pretty fanatical, and if the political winds have changed as they so often do...
***Is there a Cylon civil "cold" war?
****Could the occupation of New Caprica be a compromise between pro-human and anti-human factions, with war breaking out between them after it fails?

== Analysis ==
*According to Ron Moore's podcast, the events of "One Year Later" are real and were meant to solidify to the audience that the show is taking a path that cannot be reversed. In order to make the colonization of New Caprica real, Moore felt that the show would need to jump ahead in a span of year to show that indeed Baltar has followed through with his political promise.

*The events of the Cylon invasion of New Caprica parallel the Nazi invasion of France, with the fleet's escape a parallel to the Allied evacuation of Dunkirk and Baltar's surrender a parallel to Petain's surrender. If the parallel continues, Baltar will establish a puppet regime under Cylon rule akin to [[Wikipedia:Vichy France|Vichy France]] while Colonials still loyal to humanity will establish a resistance movement. Ron Moore has actually said in the podcast for this episode that it is inspired by Vichy France.

*Baltar's arrogance seems to have led to corrupt rule during his year on New Caprica; he replaces Roslin's modest desk with a more elaborate one, replaces the population count whiteboard with a portrait of himself, and keeps a harem aboard the grounded ''Colonial One''.

*After a year, everyone still lives in tents. Shortages of medicine abound, the military is of no use, and labor conditions are apparently intolerable. Baltar's administration is apparently as incompetent as Roslin feared, when she said he was ridiculously unqualified and had no idea how to be president.
**It is not clear whether these conditions are the result of administrative incompetence or the inherent difficulties of colonizing a marginally habitable planet.
***Of course, it was Baltar's idea to settle on a marginally habitable planet in the first place.
****Tory Foster points out that Baltar was winning the election because he was "holding out hope for breathing real air, growing real food, sleeping in a bed instead of a bunk. Living in a house instead of a ship"; hopefully the irony of this wasn't lost on Baltar voters who even a full year later are sleeping in hammocks and living in tents.

*It's ironic that the obligations of duty keep Lee Adama aboard ''Pegasus'' while everyone else goes planet-side. He is a reserve officer, and promised to build his pilots a bar as soon as they found a habitable planet.
**It's possible the bar ''was'' built.

*In the podcast for "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]" Moore commented on how everyone assumed that ''Pegasus'' would be destroyed by the end of the episode, and thus he thought it would be a good twist to keep ''Pegasus'' alive as another ship in the Fleet. Speculators mistakenly assumed that the nuke that Baltar gave to Gina in "[[Epiphanies]]" would be used to destroy ''Pegasus'' (keeping in tune with the assumed destruction of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series']] ''[[Pegasus (TOS)|Pegasus'']]).

*Twenty-nine people died between this episode and the preceding one? One or two Raptors were lost, and some Marines died on Caprica, but that doesn't seem high enough.
**It's possible they took out all of the people who left in the raptors because they were not apart of the fleet at the end of the previous episode?
***Starbuck remained in the count during her time on Caprica at the beginning of Season 2. When she and Helo returned to the fleet in "[[Home, Part I]]," the count only rose by one.
**Perhaps more people died during the attack on Caprica than was shown.
***Yet another possibility is the inclusion of the Caprica survivors in the count to offset many of the losses that had incurred in the rescue mission.
***Although they didn't actually talk about the losses, there was a shot of a wounded person being taken away on a stretcher after the Raptors returned from the [[Caprica]] [[SAR]] mission.
***There may have been a series of election-related riots or murders.

*The year gap for the Cylons to find the fleet at first seems odd. However, it was stated in the previous episode that the interference from the gas cloud surrounding it would hide the planet fairly well. The Cylons were slightly over a light year away, according to the Number Five at the surrenderring. Searching something as large as the gas cloud likely is for a planet or fleet is, given the sensor range limitations, quite impressive to accomplish in months, even with general directional information from a light-year out. In addition, the radiation from the nuclear explosion aboard ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' would, of course, only be traveling at the speed of light. Even a less catastrophic attempt to communicate the Colonial's new location would be limited to the speed of light. Of course, once the location was pinpointed, an FTL Jump by the Cylons to pounce would be instantaneous.
**Even though the Cylons were able to find New Caprica from the detected nuclear blast that occurred a year prior, the initial detection would have only pointed them in the right general direction. The planet would have moved from the location the initial blast occurred as it orbits around its sun. So the Cylons would only have been able to pinpoint the planet's last location a year prior. They could have used astronomical surveying to detect the planet or send their fleets to other positions using FTL ahead of the blast radiation to triangulate the nuclear blast. Then send recon elements to scout for the planet, which could have been the initial blips picked up by DRADIS by Lt. Dualla of recon Raiders. As soon as the planet was found the main Cylon Fleet would jump in from their staging areas.
***It is also clear that Gina truly did die in the nuclear explosion on ''Cloud 9'' as she would have been able to inform the Cylons of the whereabouts of the Fleet. This indicates that no new Resurrection Ship had been constructed and that Gina's suicidal thoughts finally prevailed. This may explain why she was willing to consummate her relationship with Baltar as it would be the last time she could be with him.
****If a transmission of Gina's consciousness is also bound by the speed of light, then the signal would radiate at the same speed as the radiation from the explosion. So the Cylons could have captured the signal at the same time they discover the radiation. A new resurrection ship could be in place by this time. So the [[#questions|above question]] of whether she was able to transmit when the hardware responsible for this was destroyed is still valid.
*****To contrast, as evidenced by "Downloaded", Cylon transmissions occur at a higher speed as Boomer's consciousness was able to be transmitted to the Resurrection Ship, and then transmitted to Caprica almost immediately after her death on ''Galactica.'' It also must be pointed out that ''Galactica'''s Fleet is well into deep space, light-years away from the Colonies. The time for Boomer's transmission to reach Caprica in "Downloaded" would have taken years if not hundreds of years if the speed was limited to the speed of light.

*The population of New Caprica City is given as 39,192. There were just under 50,000 people in the Fleet before establishing the settlement, so that gives a figure of roughly 10,000 missing. It was said that roughly 2-3 thousand people were killed in the destruction of ''Cloud 9'' and surrounding Fleet ships, but this loss along with any births and deaths that have taken place during the year since the election, leaves very few military personnel in the Orbital Defense. This almost certainly means that both ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' will be extremely short on crew, as many military personnel will have been left on the planet. There was clearly no time to retrieve even selected members of the crews before the Fleet jumped.
**The figure may not necessarily be 10,000 missing, but those who are not part of New Caprica City's population. The figure of 10,000 is spread amongst those remaining up in orbit with the fleet's remaining ships, out in independent, peripheral, or small settlements not part of New Caprica City proper, and casaulties.
**Watching the Fleet jump in slow-motion, you can count approximately 19 ships, which also gives a rough impression of the reduced size of the Fleet. Other ships, including ''Colonial One'' and some Raptors, are landed on New Caprica and have presumably fallen into the hands of the Cylons.
**It is not explicitly said that all members of the New Caprica colony reside in New Caprica City. There may be outlying settlements, though none are named. One reason for this would simply be as a safeguard to keep a single nuclear strike from wiping out all of the fleet survivors.
***Baltar's surrender may demonstrate prudence uncharacteristic of him, or simply be a matter of self-preservation.

**Any "industrial" vessels — such as the mining ships, tanker ships, repair ships, agricultural ships — would have landed on the planet and been debarked, dismantled, or converted to form the foundation for industrial / production efforts. Some of the vessels in the fleet that left [[Ragnar Anchorage]] weren't designed for prolonged interstellar journeys, and were basically running on a hope and a prayer, and would have been rendered promptly upon finding a more permanent home. The nineteen-or-so ships seen are, more than likely, the last space-worthy vessels in the fleet that are not needed (or capable of landing) planet-side.
***After a year, people are still living in tents and using landed ships as buildings, so it doesn't look like much has been dismantled or converted into raw production. Other than the miners, who are apparently extremely unhappy at how things have been run, we see little evidence of industry or production over the year.

*Apparently, Thrace's comments about Lee Adama and Dualla have taken their toll on their relationship. Whether the comments escalated is unknown, but, from Dualla's expression of annoyance when she hands the receiver to Adama when Thrace calls, it is clear that the three never reconciled with each other.

*The Six and Eight that are part of the Cylon delegation that greets Baltar's cabinet are almost certainly [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|"Boomer" Valerii]]. This is implied from Six's reaction upon seeing Baltar and her intimation that she knew who Baltar was. The two are also wearing the exact same clothes as in "[[Downloaded]]."

*In the Season 3 trailer that followed the end of the episode, Six narrates, saying that humanity has finally surrendered and the war is over. According to Six, the Cylons can finally fulfill their "''true destiny''" and take care of humanity. They desire to show humanity the "''glory of peace''," mercy; like God, their mercy can only be matched by their power and complete control. So apparently, the war heroes have indeed changed the Cylons' prejudices toward humans, but unfortunately this also means that the Cylons believe that the only way to care for humanity is to control it.
**This narrative sounds more like Baltar's internal Six (superior, controlling, zealous) than Caprica-Six (more of a people person).

== Notes ==
* According to Ron Moore's podcast, although the Sci-Fi Channel was willing to air this episode as a 90-minute special, it had to be heavily edited down for international distribution; outside of the United States, viewers will only see a 1 hour version of the episode, which Moore regards as "almost incomprehensible". Many plot threads, such as the entire Cally/Tyrol subplot, were completely removed from the one hour version. This may not be the case in the UK however as Skyone (the channel that broadcasts the show in that country) previously showed the full 90 minute version of Stargate SG1 episode 'Threads' and may well do the same for this episode.
**In the UK, Sky One did indeed show the episode as a 90 minute special.

*Admiral Adama watches [[Pyramid]] games and was a fan of the [[Picon Panthers]].

*In RDM's podcast for the previous episode, he said that in early drafts of this special 90 minute long episode, the writers actually tried to make it a 2 hour special, but this was soon dropped (these times are including commercials).
*The election board appears to have a definitive list of the names of all of the ships in [[The Fleet (RDM)]]. Not all of them are clearly visible, but this would seem to indicate that the writers do have an actual list that they get new ship names from.

*The framed photo of President Roslin and [[Billy Keikeya]] was still on Roslin's desk during the election.

*When Roslin "won" the rigged election results, Roslin received 24,265 votes, while Baltar recieved 22,266. This means that the elligible voters in the Fleet number at least 46,531. In the podcast, RDM explains that he quickly came up with these numbers, to try to reflect roughly how many survivors are below the voting age.

*Toward the end of the episode, President Baltar refers to a government body called the "People's Council". This may be the proportionally elected lower house mentioned by RDM in his [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 blog post] on January 30, 2005.

*[[Hera]] is seen on New Caprica in the same white cradle that Baltar had a vision of her being in "[[Scattered]]", etc. According to RDM's podcast it's actually the exact same cradle.

*Tyrol's union speech is an almost word for word quote of Mario Savio's address during the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley in 1964. According to Ron Moore and David Eick in the podcast, they even got permission from Savio's widow to use it (even though, due to the way copyright laws work from back then, they could have just used it without permission, they felt they should get it). As a result, it's even listed in the credits: "Mario Savio speech excerpted courtesy of: Lynne Hollander Savio". Actor Aaron Douglas (Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]]) actually studied film of Savio, so all of the hand gestures Tyrol makes when he gives the speech are gestures that Savio actually used.

*Baltar's portrait of himself does not have the 'cut corners' as seen in almost all other papers and photos in the show.

*[[:Image:Wtfk1tn.jpg|Visible]] on the blackboard of Roslin's school are the French verbs ''aller'', ''avoir'', and ''etre''. The Colonials appear to just speak English, so this might be a goof by the set designers trying to make it look more like a generic school.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*"Well, this is an awkward moment…. Yes, he's right, I'm a Cylon. And I have a message. So…take me to your leader."
*:—The Caprica copy of '''Brother Cavil''' on being uncovered as a Cylon

*"Would you mind telling me what's going on? I'm not a frakking Cylon, I'm not…(''sees the other Cavil in the cell'')…oh. Well, okay then."
*:—The Galactica copy of '''Brother Cavil'''

*''On Caprica:''
::'''Anders:''' You got any great ideas in that military brain of yours?
::'''Starbuck:''' Do the same thing we always do; fight 'em 'till we can't.
:''The Cylons occupy New Caprica:''
::'''Tyrol:''' "What do you want to do now, Captain?"
::'''Starbuck:''' "The same thing we always do. Fight them until we can't."

== Official Statements ==

From the official site (http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/):
When Baltar wins the vote, Roslin considers stealing the election because she believes he is a Cylon collaborator.

RDM's blog ([http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2006/03/#a000409 March 28, 2006]) gives details. (''Due to article size requirements, the blog entry is not reproduced here.'')

=== Interviews ===

* '''[[Paul Campbell]] discussess his thoughts on the story post-"[[Sacrifice]]":'''

:'''MB/TSFW:''' So what do you think about the story after you left, and the trouble [[Mary McDonnell|Mary]]’s [[Laura Roslin|character]] got herself into? After your [[Tory Foster|replacement]] came in she kind of had a fall there. Do you think that would have happened if you were still there to watch her back?

: '''Paul:''' You know, I don’t know if they could have. [[Billy Keikeya|Billy]] had so much integrity, that under his watch, I don’t think that would have happened. And maybe he would have had to step down, and Mary would have gone about that route with someone else. But I don’t think if he would have been in the picture, that would have gone down. Because that’s some shady crap, and I don’t think it would have cut it. We obviously butted heads on a few things like that in the past. In particular when I ended up leaving her at the ship. As it turned out, I had another pilot to go shoot. As it turned out, it was more my schedule that didn’t work out, but it worked in the writing. But no, I don’t think that would have flown had I been in the picture. So I don’t know what they would have done. I’m sure that was the story line from the beginning, but how they would have worked me into it, I don’t really know. [http://mediablvd.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_magazine&func=show_article&id=84 MediaBlvd]

== Guest Stars ==
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
*[[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[Cottle]]
*[[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Leoben Conoy]]
*[[Matthew Bennett]] as [[Aaron Doral]]
*[[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
*[[imdb:nm0443286|David Kaye]] as [[James McManus]]
*[[Alisen Down]] as [[Jean Barolay]]
*[[imdb:nm0718759|Winston Rekert]] as Priest

== External Links ==
[http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/220/ "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II"] at scifi.com

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category:Episode Guide (RDM)]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Anne Cofell Saunders]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Mark Verheiden]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]

[[de:Legt eure Bürden nieder, Teil II]]

User talk:Mercifull

2006-07-27T03:14:18Z

Commander Me:

:''Archive of old discussions prior to [http://www.battlestarwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Mercifull&oldid=49569 April 26th 2006]''
:''Archive of old discussions prior to [http://www.battlestarwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Mercifull&oldid=54973 May 25th 2006]''

== Icons ==

Excellent Icon Choices! --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 10:03, 23 April 2006 (CDT)
:Thanks, I thought they all needed individual ones instead of the standard photo icon. --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 10:06, 23 April 2006 (CDT)
::I agree. May I suggest a change of icon for: [[:Image:Bsg-wiki-babelfish.png]] --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 10:06, 23 April 2006 (CDT)
:::Adobe or Fireworks? And if Fireworks, can you send your PNG file and tell me your setting because somehow when I save the logo, I am making them 49k instead of your 9k. :) --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 11:24, 24 April 2006 (CDT)
::::Using Adobe Photoshop CS. I dont have fireworks. --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 12:03, 24 April 2006 (CDT)
:::::Doh. Ok. Desktop is down, no Photoshop CS on laptop. nevermind... :-) --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 12:07, 24 April 2006 (CDT)

Consider this an official announcement of my paying you '''insane''' amounts of the '''proper''' respect. What the kids are calling, I believe, "Mad props". --[[User:Day|Day]] ([[User talk:Day|Talk]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Administrators' noticeboard|Admin]]) 22:38, 22 May 2006 (CDT)

Hey, there. Could you make an icon for the silly pages? I'd imagine a tag with a picture of Ed Olmos with a large, red clown nose would do it, and I'll leave it to you. Thanks! --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 17:09, 23 May 2006 (CDT)

:Hows this? [[Image:BSG WIKI Silly.png]] --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 17:35, 24 May 2006 (CDT)

::You. Are. A. God. Very cool, thanks! --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 12:36, 25 May 2006 (CDT)

Got another icon to whip up. Can you make one relevant to the comic for a future tag, or reference one we can use. I'm thinking we should make one to flag any alternate or separate continuity articles, so it probably should be generic. (Maybe an TOS Adama or any other character with a black goatee, going with the Star Trek "mirrorverse" thing.) I'm going to check with Shane (master of tags) to whip up a tag template concept and we can use it and see if it passes overall muster. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 14:39, 5 June 2006 (CDT)

==Images==
Mercifull, you mentioned that you own the PAL DVDs of the first season. If you have the time, it would be great if you could go through [[:Category:Images with no tag]] and upload some higher quality versions. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 14:01, 23 April 2006 (CDT)
:Sure, i'll see what time I have this week and weekend --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 04:08, 24 April 2006 (CDT)

== Mercifull in BSG ==
That head pose in your user pic is pretty unusual (compared to what people take screenshots of), and I'll keep on the lookout for a "perfect" screenshot match, but in the meantime I whipped up [http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j81/steel_viper/BSG/mercifull.jpg this]. (Kind of a dark scene, lighting-wise, but the best match of head/neck I've found so far). --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 14:29, 2 June 2006 (CDT)
:ROFL I look a bit too happy to be at a death ceremony type thing. I'll try and find a better combination of pics of me/bsg pics at the weekend. --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 15:33, 2 June 2006 (CDT)
::Not EVERYBODY liked Cain, apparently... --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 15:39, 2 June 2006 (CDT)
:::Lol! --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 15:55, 2 June 2006 (CDT)

== RFA ==
[[Battlestar Wiki:Requests for adminship/Mercifull (2)|You've been nominated.]] Again.--[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 08:23, 23 June 2006 (CDT)
:Thankyou for the nomination. :) I will fill out the required areas of the form this afternoon. --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 08:25, 23 June 2006 (CDT)
::Seems like your acceptance has been lost from the page. Please check. --[[User:Gougef|FrankieG]] 09:30, 23 June 2006 (CDT)
:::Fixed now, thanks :) --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] 09:36, 23 June 2006 (CDT)

== Thanks ==

Hi, and thanks for your (very delayed) welcome. I joined around the time of the season 2.5 finale, over a month and a half ago. [[User:Kkimball|Kkimball]] 15:42, 28 June 2006 (CDT)
:Ooops well everyone else missed your signup too lol. Slipped through the net :P --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 15:43, 28 June 2006 (CDT)

== [[Wheaties]] ==

As I recall, and I don't recall what episode, might have been [[Sacrifice]], Roslin says after seeing an aggressive Keikeya, "Looks like someone ate their Wheaties today." I could be wrong, I suppose, but damnit, what are the odds that Wheaties exist in a far corner of the universe? This is significant.... Huh? 09:23, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

== Congrats! ==

You are now an admin! Should you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask any other admin! -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 08:53, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
:Thank you all for supporting me :D --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 08:57, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
::Congratulations, well deserved --[[User:Gougef|FrankieG]] 08:59, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
:::Kudos. --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 10:05, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
:Welcome to the club! As junior admin, you're now the new '''Mop Boy'''! We expect the admin break room floor so shiny and clean that food dropped there has the 5-Second Rule extended to 20 seconds. "See Mercifull mop. Mop, Mercifull, mop!" --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 09:04, 30 June 2006 (CDT)

:Oh, I wish I found this earlier, but this [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Administrators' how-to guide|Wikipedia link on how to use your admin powers]] is available. Much of it should apply here as we use the same version of MediaWiki. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 09:12, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
::Thanks for that link, I will have a good read of it. I also found [[Wikipedia:Mop|this article]] which I think might be useful for me ^_^ --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 09:14, 30 June 2006 (CDT)

:Congratulations --[[User:CalculatinAvatar|CalculatinAvatar]]([[Special:Contributions/CalculatinAvatar|C]]-[[User talk:CalculatinAvatar|T]]) 16:22, 30 June 2006 (CDT)

''Sic transit gloria mundi''--[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 09:54, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
:Latin or the song by [[Wikipedia:Brand New|Brand New]]? :P --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 10:09, 30 June 2006 (CDT)
::I'd assume he means [[Wikipedia:Sic transit gloria mundi|the thing with the burning flax]], as the song would be a rather mystifying reference. --[[User:CalculatinAvatar|CalculatinAvatar]]([[Special:Contributions/CalculatinAvatar|C]]-[[User talk:CalculatinAvatar|T]]) 16:22, 30 June 2006 (CDT)

::: Welcome to the Admin...ness... *ahem* Right. Man, I wish someone had had that helpful WP link for me on joining. I shall make note of it, as I still don't know how to do some things. --[[User:Day|Day]] ([[User talk:Day|Talk]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Administrators' noticeboard|Admin]]) 19:25, 2 July 2006 (CDT)
:Better late than never.. Congrats, my friend. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 05:15, 9 July 2006 (CDT)

== You Are Receiving A Wireless Broadcast ==

Hello, you are being contacted by The Homeworld. I just wanted to say thanks for the hints you dropped me on my talk page and just wanted to let you know that you're welcome there anytime. Since you are from England, I will attempt to greet you in the Queen's Enlgish.

Top of the morning to you, and I do say it is an honour working with you on this wiki dedicated to Battlestare Galactica, the most positively smashing sci-fi show and amazing theatre experience. Have a jolly good day now, and it is simply capital to make your acquaintance. Cheerio!

There, I think I overdid it and I apologize for that. By the way, I'm addicted to Red Bull too! It's not illegal in the USA yet and, dammit, it is GOOD! I didn't know it could kill me...That only makes me want to drink it some more! I must go replenish my stock. Homeworld out. --[[User:Homeworld616|Homeworld616]] 10:32, 20 July 2006 (CDT)

== Tank ==

The tank need your input. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 09:35, 26 July 2006
(CDT)

== Additions to Michelle Forbes ==

I'm really sorry about that copyright mix-up. I thought that since this is also a wiki that I could use the material about Michelle Forbes from Wikipedia here. I will take down the article and re-write it. Please contact me at my user talk. --Commander Me. (I don't know how to make a direct link, so you might have to find me the hard way.)

Michelle Forbes

2006-07-26T06:38:16Z

Commander Me:

{{Star Data|
image= Michelle-Forbes.jpg
| character= [[Helena Cain]]
| imdb= 0000405
}}

Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Guajardo in Austin, Texas on January 8, 1967) is an American actress.

Forbes is best known for her television work on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide: Life on the Street, 24, and her current role on Prison Break. She portrayed power-hungry Admiral Helena Cain in episodes "[[Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", and "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]".

== Career ==

Initially wanting to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency.

In 1987, she was cast in a pivotal role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. She received acclaim for her portrayal of the complicated dual role of Sonni/Solita; she was just 20 years old when she was cast, and was involved in a story with two of the show's powerhouse characters. Forbes earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

After this role, she continued in theater, which was an early love of hers, and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile.

== Star Trek ==

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was brought back in the fifth season to play Ro Laren, a recurring character, for several episodes. Ro was a Bajoran whose bad-girl attitude made her several enemies, but the crew of the Enterprise - particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) - took her in.

With Star Trek: The Next Generation such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine. They originally envisioned Ensign Ro as the lead character, but at that stage in her career, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role, so a new character, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created for the show.

Forbes returned - to the enjoyment of the fans - for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Preemptive Strike.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 was said to be starstruck working alongside "Ensign Ro". Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined and it is speculated that the character of B'Elanna Torres was created as a result.

== Television ==

Forbes also guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld, playing a girlfriend of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

Forbes appeared in "Stitch in Time", a second season episode of The Outer Limits and followed that with a role with Stockard Channing in a TV film entitled The Prosecutors in 1996.

Her first major television role was as Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie.

In 2000, Forbes had a recurring role in the first eight episodes of the TV series The District which she followed up with the TV series Wonderland, a series set in a mental institution. Forbes played one of the doctors. The series was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being cancelled. Forbes herself described it as a "mess that put [her] off series television".

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the profoundly deaf wife of Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in Perfume: a love-it-or-hate-it ensemble film about the world of fashion.

Forbes's next foray into television was in 2002, when she joined the cast of the Kiefer Sutherland-led FOX series 24. The series, set in real time over the course of one day, had been a critical success during its first season. Forbes played Lynne Kresge, aide to African-American President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Notoriously, several plot points - including Lynne Kresge's fate - were left open and never resolved; while the show returned for a third season, Forbes did not.

In 2004, Forbes was part of the cast of Mark Milgard's Dandelion which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival; appeared at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, in a short named Al Roach: Private Insectigator alongside James Garner; and also provided the voice of Dr. Judith Mossman, a character in the video game Half-Life 2.

In 2005, Forbes was set to head the cast of Mark Burnett's television series based on the Global Frequency series of comic books, but the pilot was not picked up. She subsequently guest starred on Alias and The Inside.

She appeared on another sci-fi series, as the power-crazy Admiral Helena Cain on three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in 2005 and 2006.

As of 2006, Forbes is a recurring cast member on Prison Break playing Agent Samantha Brinker.

== Feature films ==

In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia, following this up alongside Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in Swimming with Sharks and in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A..

== Personal life ==

For a brief time in the early 1990s, Forbes was reportedly married to actor Ross Kettle. She also dated her Homicide co-star Reed Diamond.

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles

==External Links==
{{ext-ma|article=Michelle_Forbes}}

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: Cast|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: RDM|Forbes, Michelle]][[Category: Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

Michelle Forbes

2006-07-26T06:37:07Z

Commander Me:

{{Star Data|
image= Michelle-Forbes.jpg
| character= [[Helena Cain]]
| imdb= 0000405
}}

Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Guajardo in Austin, Texas on January 8, 1967) is an American actress.

Forbes is best known for her television work on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide: Life on the Street, 24, and her current role on Prison Break. She portrayed power-hungry Admiral Helena Cain in episodes "[[Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", and "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]".

== Career ==

Initially wanting to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency.

In 1987, she was cast in a pivotal role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. She received acclaim for her portrayal of the complicated dual role of Sonni/Solita; she was just 20 years old when she was cast, and was involved in a story with two of the show's powerhouse characters. Forbes earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

After this role, she continued in theater, which was an early love of hers, and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile.

== Star Trek ==

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was brought back in the fifth season to play Ro Laren, a recurring character, for several episodes. Ro was a Bajoran whose bad-girl attitude made her several enemies, but the crew of the Enterprise - particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) - took her in.

With Star Trek: The Next Generation such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine. They originally envisioned Ensign Ro as the lead character, but at that stage in her career, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role, so a new character, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created for the show.

Forbes returned - to the enjoyment of the fans - for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Preemptive Strike.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 was said to be starstruck working alongside "Ensign Ro". Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined and it is speculated that the character of B'Elanna Torres was created as a result.

[[Television]]
Forbes also guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld, playing a girlfriend of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

Forbes appeared in "Stitch in Time", a second season episode of The Outer Limits and followed that with a role with Stockard Channing in a TV film entitled The Prosecutors in 1996.

Her first major television role was as Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie.

In 2000, Forbes had a recurring role in the first eight episodes of the TV series The District which she followed up with the TV series Wonderland, a series set in a mental institution. Forbes played one of the doctors. The series was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being cancelled. Forbes herself described it as a "mess that put [her] off series television".

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the profoundly deaf wife of Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in Perfume: a love-it-or-hate-it ensemble film about the world of fashion.

Forbes's next foray into television was in 2002, when she joined the cast of the Kiefer Sutherland-led FOX series 24. The series, set in real time over the course of one day, had been a critical success during its first season. Forbes played Lynne Kresge, aide to African-American President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Notoriously, several plot points - including Lynne Kresge's fate - were left open and never resolved; while the show returned for a third season, Forbes did not.

In 2004, Forbes was part of the cast of Mark Milgard's Dandelion which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival; appeared at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, in a short named Al Roach: Private Insectigator alongside James Garner; and also provided the voice of Dr. Judith Mossman, a character in the video game Half-Life 2.

In 2005, Forbes was set to head the cast of Mark Burnett's television series based on the Global Frequency series of comic books, but the pilot was not picked up. She subsequently guest starred on Alias and The Inside.

She appeared on another sci-fi series, as the power-crazy Admiral Helena Cain on three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in 2005 and 2006.

As of 2006, Forbes is a recurring cast member on Prison Break playing Agent Samantha Brinker.

[[Feature films]]
In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia, following this up alongside Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in Swimming with Sharks and in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A..

[[Personal life]]
For a brief time in the early 1990s, Forbes was reportedly married to actor Ross Kettle. She also dated her Homicide co-star Reed Diamond.

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles

==External Links==
{{ext-ma|article=Michelle_Forbes}}

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: Cast|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: RDM|Forbes, Michelle]][[Category: Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

Michelle Forbes

2006-07-26T06:36:41Z

Commander Me:

{{Star Data|
image= Michelle-Forbes.jpg
| character= [[Helena Cain]]
| imdb= 0000405
}}

Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Guajardo in Austin, Texas on January 8, 1967) is an American actress.

Forbes is best known for her television work on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide: Life on the Street, 24, and her current role on Prison Break. She portrayed power-hungry Admiral Helena Cain in episodes "[[Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", and "[[Resurrection, Ship Part II]]".

== Career ==

Initially wanting to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency.

In 1987, she was cast in a pivotal role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. She received acclaim for her portrayal of the complicated dual role of Sonni/Solita; she was just 20 years old when she was cast, and was involved in a story with two of the show's powerhouse characters. Forbes earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

After this role, she continued in theater, which was an early love of hers, and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile.

== Star Trek ==

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was brought back in the fifth season to play Ro Laren, a recurring character, for several episodes. Ro was a Bajoran whose bad-girl attitude made her several enemies, but the crew of the Enterprise - particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) - took her in.

With Star Trek: The Next Generation such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine. They originally envisioned Ensign Ro as the lead character, but at that stage in her career, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role, so a new character, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created for the show.

Forbes returned - to the enjoyment of the fans - for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Preemptive Strike.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 was said to be starstruck working alongside "Ensign Ro". Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined and it is speculated that the character of B'Elanna Torres was created as a result.

[[Television]]
Forbes also guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld, playing a girlfriend of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

Forbes appeared in "Stitch in Time", a second season episode of The Outer Limits and followed that with a role with Stockard Channing in a TV film entitled The Prosecutors in 1996.

Her first major television role was as Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie.

In 2000, Forbes had a recurring role in the first eight episodes of the TV series The District which she followed up with the TV series Wonderland, a series set in a mental institution. Forbes played one of the doctors. The series was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being cancelled. Forbes herself described it as a "mess that put [her] off series television".

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the profoundly deaf wife of Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in Perfume: a love-it-or-hate-it ensemble film about the world of fashion.

Forbes's next foray into television was in 2002, when she joined the cast of the Kiefer Sutherland-led FOX series 24. The series, set in real time over the course of one day, had been a critical success during its first season. Forbes played Lynne Kresge, aide to African-American President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Notoriously, several plot points - including Lynne Kresge's fate - were left open and never resolved; while the show returned for a third season, Forbes did not.

In 2004, Forbes was part of the cast of Mark Milgard's Dandelion which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival; appeared at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, in a short named Al Roach: Private Insectigator alongside James Garner; and also provided the voice of Dr. Judith Mossman, a character in the video game Half-Life 2.

In 2005, Forbes was set to head the cast of Mark Burnett's television series based on the Global Frequency series of comic books, but the pilot was not picked up. She subsequently guest starred on Alias and The Inside.

She appeared on another sci-fi series, as the power-crazy Admiral Helena Cain on three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in 2005 and 2006.

As of 2006, Forbes is a recurring cast member on Prison Break playing Agent Samantha Brinker.

[[Feature films]]
In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia, following this up alongside Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in Swimming with Sharks and in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A..

[[Personal life]]
For a brief time in the early 1990s, Forbes was reportedly married to actor Ross Kettle. She also dated her Homicide co-star Reed Diamond.

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles

==External Links==
{{ext-ma|article=Michelle_Forbes}}

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: Cast|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: RDM|Forbes, Michelle]][[Category: Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

Michelle Forbes

2006-07-26T06:36:17Z

Commander Me:

{{Star Data|
image= Michelle-Forbes.jpg
| character= [[Helena Cain]]
| imdb= 0000405
}}

Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Guajardo in Austin, Texas on January 8, 1967) is an American actress.

Forbes is best known for her television work on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide: Life on the Street, 24, and her current role on Prison Break. She portrayed power-hungry Admiral Helena Cain in episodes "[[Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship Part I]]", and "[[Resurrection Ship Part II]]".

== Career ==

Initially wanting to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency.

In 1987, she was cast in a pivotal role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. She received acclaim for her portrayal of the complicated dual role of Sonni/Solita; she was just 20 years old when she was cast, and was involved in a story with two of the show's powerhouse characters. Forbes earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

After this role, she continued in theater, which was an early love of hers, and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile.

== Star Trek ==

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was brought back in the fifth season to play Ro Laren, a recurring character, for several episodes. Ro was a Bajoran whose bad-girl attitude made her several enemies, but the crew of the Enterprise - particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) - took her in.

With Star Trek: The Next Generation such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine. They originally envisioned Ensign Ro as the lead character, but at that stage in her career, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role, so a new character, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created for the show.

Forbes returned - to the enjoyment of the fans - for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Preemptive Strike.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 was said to be starstruck working alongside "Ensign Ro". Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined and it is speculated that the character of B'Elanna Torres was created as a result.

[[Television]]
Forbes also guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld, playing a girlfriend of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

Forbes appeared in "Stitch in Time", a second season episode of The Outer Limits and followed that with a role with Stockard Channing in a TV film entitled The Prosecutors in 1996.

Her first major television role was as Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie.

In 2000, Forbes had a recurring role in the first eight episodes of the TV series The District which she followed up with the TV series Wonderland, a series set in a mental institution. Forbes played one of the doctors. The series was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being cancelled. Forbes herself described it as a "mess that put [her] off series television".

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the profoundly deaf wife of Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in Perfume: a love-it-or-hate-it ensemble film about the world of fashion.

Forbes's next foray into television was in 2002, when she joined the cast of the Kiefer Sutherland-led FOX series 24. The series, set in real time over the course of one day, had been a critical success during its first season. Forbes played Lynne Kresge, aide to African-American President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Notoriously, several plot points - including Lynne Kresge's fate - were left open and never resolved; while the show returned for a third season, Forbes did not.

In 2004, Forbes was part of the cast of Mark Milgard's Dandelion which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival; appeared at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, in a short named Al Roach: Private Insectigator alongside James Garner; and also provided the voice of Dr. Judith Mossman, a character in the video game Half-Life 2.

In 2005, Forbes was set to head the cast of Mark Burnett's television series based on the Global Frequency series of comic books, but the pilot was not picked up. She subsequently guest starred on Alias and The Inside.

She appeared on another sci-fi series, as the power-crazy Admiral Helena Cain on three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in 2005 and 2006.

As of 2006, Forbes is a recurring cast member on Prison Break playing Agent Samantha Brinker.

[[Feature films]]
In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia, following this up alongside Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in Swimming with Sharks and in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A..

[[Personal life]]
For a brief time in the early 1990s, Forbes was reportedly married to actor Ross Kettle. She also dated her Homicide co-star Reed Diamond.

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles

==External Links==
{{ext-ma|article=Michelle_Forbes}}

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: Cast|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: RDM|Forbes, Michelle]][[Category: Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

Michelle Forbes

2006-07-26T06:34:03Z

Commander Me:

{{Star Data|
image= Michelle-Forbes.jpg
| character= [[Helena Cain]]
| imdb= 0000405
}}

Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Guajardo in Austin, Texas on January 8, 1967) is an American actress.

Forbes is best known for her television work on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide: Life on the Street, 24, and her current role on Prison Break. She portrayed power-hungry Admiral Helena Cain in episodes "[[Pegasus]]", "[[Resurection Ship Part I]]", and "[[Resurection Ship Part II]]".

== Career ==

Initially wanting to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency.

In 1987, she was cast in a pivotal role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. She received acclaim for her portrayal of the complicated dual role of Sonni/Solita; she was just 20 years old when she was cast, and was involved in a story with two of the show's powerhouse characters. Forbes earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

After this role, she continued in theater, which was an early love of hers, and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile.

== Star Trek ==

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was brought back in the fifth season to play Ro Laren, a recurring character, for several episodes. Ro was a Bajoran whose bad-girl attitude made her several enemies, but the crew of the Enterprise - particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) - took her in.

With Star Trek: The Next Generation such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine. They originally envisioned Ensign Ro as the lead character, but at that stage in her career, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role, so a new character, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created for the show.

Forbes returned - to the enjoyment of the fans - for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Preemptive Strike.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 was said to be starstruck working alongside "Ensign Ro". Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined and it is speculated that the character of B'Elanna Torres was created as a result.

[[Television]]
Forbes also guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld, playing a girlfriend of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

Forbes appeared in "Stitch in Time", a second season episode of The Outer Limits and followed that with a role with Stockard Channing in a TV film entitled The Prosecutors in 1996.

Her first major television role was as Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie.

In 2000, Forbes had a recurring role in the first eight episodes of the TV series The District which she followed up with the TV series Wonderland, a series set in a mental institution. Forbes played one of the doctors. The series was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being cancelled. Forbes herself described it as a "mess that put [her] off series television".

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the profoundly deaf wife of Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in Perfume: a love-it-or-hate-it ensemble film about the world of fashion.

Forbes's next foray into television was in 2002, when she joined the cast of the Kiefer Sutherland-led FOX series 24. The series, set in real time over the course of one day, had been a critical success during its first season. Forbes played Lynne Kresge, aide to African-American President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Notoriously, several plot points - including Lynne Kresge's fate - were left open and never resolved; while the show returned for a third season, Forbes did not.

In 2004, Forbes was part of the cast of Mark Milgard's Dandelion which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival; appeared at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, in a short named Al Roach: Private Insectigator alongside James Garner; and also provided the voice of Dr. Judith Mossman, a character in the video game Half-Life 2.

In 2005, Forbes was set to head the cast of Mark Burnett's television series based on the Global Frequency series of comic books, but the pilot was not picked up. She subsequently guest starred on Alias and The Inside.

She appeared on another sci-fi series, as the power-crazy Admiral Helena Cain on three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in 2005 and 2006.

As of 2006, Forbes is a recurring cast member on Prison Break playing Agent Samantha Brinker.

[[Feature films]]
In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia, following this up alongside Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in Swimming with Sharks and in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A..

[[Personal life]]
For a brief time in the early 1990s, Forbes was reportedly married to actor Ross Kettle. She also dated her Homicide co-star Reed Diamond.

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles

==External Links==
{{ext-ma|article=Michelle_Forbes}}

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: Cast|Forbes, Michelle]] [[Category: RDM|Forbes, Michelle]][[Category: Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

Sherman Cottle

2006-07-24T02:12:32Z

Commander Me:

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:bsg-cottle-1.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony= Unknown
|birthname= ? Cottle
|callsign=
|seen= Act of Contrition
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= Physician on New Caprica, former Chief Medical Officer, ''[[Battlestar]] [[Galactica]]''
|rank= Major
|actor= [[Donnelly Rhodes]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

'''Doctor Cottle''' is [[Galactica type battlestar|Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'s'' irascible Chief Medical Officer ([[CMO]]). Because the ship is operating with a minimal crew compliment leading up to its expected decommissioning, Cottle is the only real physician/surgeon aboard ''Galactica'' (perhaps in the entire [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]), supported by a handful of medics such as [[Layne Ishay]] and [[Howard Kim]]. Cottle is somewhat eccentric -- a heavy smoker, despite knowing the risks, and one not overly impressed by positions of power. He is, above all things, a healer- to him nothing else really matters, be it rank, riches, or species.

== Biography ==

Cottle is the third person in the Fleet to learn about President [[Laura Roslin]]'s fight with cancer ([[Act of Contrition]]), after [[Lee Adama]] ([[Bastille Day]]) and [[Billy Keikeya]] ([[Miniseries]]). He agrees to treat her condition, without revealing it to anyone else, and further agrees to support more unorthodox treatments such as [[Chamalla]] extract. Knowing the extent of her illness and Roslin's reluctance to undergo [[diloxin]] therapy, the doctor also recommends prayer.

Cottle takes a personal interest in [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck's]] recovery after she breaks her leg during a mission ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). The doctor works with Lee Adama to get her out of sickbay ([[Six Degrees of Separation]]) without initial success.

Grumpy of attitude, yet always professional, Cottle instantly inspires trust, despite his attitude.

After the assassination attempt on [[William Adama]], ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]) Cottle is unavailable to stabilize the Commander as he is aboard another ship in the Fleet. Matters worsen after ''Galactica'''s jump to the [[Emergency Jump Coordinates| emergency coordinates]] separates Cottle and the battlestar. [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] orders Cottle's medics to stop Adama's internal bleeding ([[Scattered]]). However, while the medics stabilize the Commander's condition, they are unable to fully stop his bleeding. Cottle finally arrives and is able to operate on Commander Adama. After much risky work, the doctor saves Adama's life ([[Fragged]]).

Cottle speaks rather contemptuously of Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]'s authority. When Tigh asks of Adama's condition as Cottle begins surgery to save the Commander's life, he tells the XO, "How should I know? I'm not a psychic. Now get the hell out of here" ([[Fragged]]). Later, after Tigh orders an ill-advised attempt to restore supply runs to ''Galactica'' on the ''[[Gideon]]'', resulting in four civilian deaths, Cottle is anything but sympathetic when Tigh asks what happened: "What'd you expect, genius? You put a pilot in charge of crowd control" ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).

At the request of President Roslin, despite her straight-to-the-point warning about its illegality and danger (Cottle: "You're a lousy salesman."), he assists Roslin in escaping ''Galactica'' by filing a request for a [[Raptor]] flight away from the battlestar, to care for patients on other ships. Roslin leaves ''Galactica'' on this "appropriated" Raptor with [[Lee Adama]] at the helm ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).

Major Cottle performs a series of medical scans on [[Gaius Baltar]]'s head at Baltar's request. Unknown to Cottle, Baltar is looking to see if there is a Cylon computer chip implanted into his brain. The scans show absolutely nothing unusual, and Cottle dismisses Baltar as a hypochondriac ("There's one on every bloody ship.") ([[Home, Part II]]).

Even Cottle's stony exterior gives way to the pain he sees on Laura Roslin's face when he gives her a new prognosis on her fight with cancer. Her cancer has spread aggressively, and the good doctor gives Roslin, on the outside, one month to live ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]). His concern for Cylon Sharon Valerii and her unborn hybrid child is remarkable, especially in the face of the rest of the crew's distrust and even hatred of her, hinting at his extremely strict sense of medical ethics. He described her attempted rape by Lt. Thorne as "unforgivable," and voiced his opposition to Baltar using Sharon's baby's blood as a cure for Roslin's cancer ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]], [[Epiphanies]]).

Cottle has gained a reputation among the fleet for performing abortions. When [[Rya Kibby]], a young Gemenese girl, wanted to end her pregnancy, she stowed away to get aboard ''Galactica'' and see Cottle. Cottle explained the situation to Admiral Adama by acknowledging, "I get a note that a girl's on the way. She arrives. I do my work. And then she leaves. I don't ask a lot of questions." When Admiral Adama asked Rya to return to her parents, Cottle suggested that the girl instead request political asylum aboard ''Galactica'', earning a stare from Adama. ([[The Captain's Hand]])

Cottle's outspokenness could be attributed to the fact that, as one of the few remaining doctors left in the Fleet, he is far too important to the Fleet to penalize for acts of insubordination that anyone else would be punished for. It's also possible that Dr. Cottle's personality is a result of the stresses of the Cylon holocaust. Given his advanced age, Cottle was likely on the verge of retirement when he was forced to spend his twilight years in space, trying desperately to meet a far-too-high level of demand for his services.

After the election of President [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] and the settlement of [[New Caprica]] Cottle, like most of ''Galactica'''s crew, retires from military duty. One year after the election he is still serving as a doctor on New Caprica in private practice ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

== Notes ==

*Cottle's counterpart in the [[TOS|Original Series]] is [[Salik]].
*In accordance with [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron D. Moore]]'s [[naturalistic science fiction]] principles used to form the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined series]], unlike [[MemoryAlpha:Leonard McCoy|another popular medical officer]] in television science fiction, Cottle's personality is grumpy, callous, and rude.
*In the DVD commentary for "[[Act of Contrition]]", RDM states that actor Donnelly Rhodes was one of the three finalists up for the role of Col. [[Saul Tigh]], though in the end the part was given to one of the other finalists, [[Michael Hogan]].
*Doctor Cottle is named after Michael Rymer's childhood pediatrician, who was actually a very nice person unlike his fictional counterpart.
*Doctor Cottle is first mentioned in "[[Bastille Day]]", but he does not appear until the next episode, "Act of Contrition".

{{Characters}}

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

Maya

2006-07-24T02:08:16Z

Commander Me:

{{Character Data|
|photo=[[Image:Maya.jpg|200px|Maya with her adopted baby.]]
|age=
|colony=
|birthname= Maya
|callsign=
|seen=Downloaded
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Unknown
|role=School teacher
|rank=
|cylon=
|actor=[[Erica Cerra]]
|name=
}}

'''Maya''' is a civilian within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] who lost a baby not long ago.

She is selected from a list made for Dr. [[Cottle]] by [[Tory Foster]] as a possible adoptive parent for the [[Hera|child]] of [[Helo]] and [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] after President [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] decides that the child should not be raised by her mother. Roslin orders Dr. Cottle to stage the baby's death to disguise the adoption from her parents.

Maya is told that the child was from a female ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' officer who gave up the child for political and religious reasons ([[Downloaded]]).

A little more than a year later, Maya assists Ms. Roslin in running the New Caprica City Elementary School. ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]])

== Real/Original Child ==

Maya's first child could very well have been the child born in [[the fleet]] aboard the [[Rising Star]].([[33]]) This is not known for sure, but is a distint possibility.

{{stub}}

[[Category: A to Z|Maya]] [[Category: Characters|Maya]] [[Category: RDM|Maya]]

Religion in the Twelve Colonies (RDM)

2006-07-23T04:26:16Z

Commander Me:

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
The religion of the Twelve Colonies, which the various characters of Battlestar Galactica practice to greater or lesser extent, is a polytheistic faith shared with real-life [[Wikipedia:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], with a strong emphasis on the philosophy of [[Wikipedia:Eternal return|eternal return]].

==Origin==
There is substantial circumstantial evidence that people of Kobol originated from the planet [[Earth]], and it is also known that one of the thirteen tribes later returned there. The similarity in beliefs of the Colonials and the ancient Greeks is probably not coincidental, although it is not yet clear which gave rise to the other. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Sacred Scrolls]] for a more detailed analysis.

In the burial scene of the [[Miniseries]], Adama states "Life here began out there," reminding the assembly that this was the first line of the sacred scrolls, told to them by the Lords Of Kobol uncounted centuries ago.

==Belief==

===The Lords of Kobol===

Colonial religion is centered on the Lords of Kobol, analogous to the [[Greek Gods]]. So far within the series, a total of six Lords of Kobol have been explicitly identified:

* [[Zeus]] - He was the father of the gods. [[Tom Zarek]] has twice referred to [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] as "Zeus" ([[Bastille Day]], [[The Farm]]).
* [[Apollo, Lord of Kobol|Apollo]] - He was Zeus' son, said to be the god of the hunt and of healing ([[Bastille Day]]).
* [[Artemis]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Aphrodite]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]] - She committed suicide "out of despair over the Exodus of the thirteen tribes" ([[Home, Part II]]). Her [[Tomb of Athena|tomb]] holds a map to [[Earth]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).
* [[Hera, Lord of Kobol|Hera]] - ([[Home, Part II]])

According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], the gods once shared a paradise-like existence with the people of [[Kobol]]. Later circumstances forced the exodus of the human population of Kobol to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Earth]], and lead to Athena's suicide. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] for more.

The existence of the Lords of Kobol is attested to by the survival of numerous artifacts, including the [[Arrow of Apollo]], the [[Tomb of Athena]] and the [[Gates of Hera]]. However, although she accepts their historicity, [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], a [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]], has called their divinity into question.

There is a notion in fan circles that there are twelve lords of Kobol, by analogy to the twelve Cylon models and twelve Colonies, and perhaps the [[Wikipedia:Twelve Olympians|Twelve Olympians]] of Greek mythology. A post in RDM's blog loosely addresses this.

:Q: "Twelve cylon models and twelve Olympian gods seems too much of coincidence to me. Is there any connection? "
:RDM: And Twelve Colonies. Coincidence....?" ([http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/03/index.html#a000023 RDM, March 12, 2005])

===The Jealous God===

In a [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season01/112/mov/bsg_del_112_regret.mov scene] 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."

===The Path of Olympus===

[[Tom Zarek]] conveys to [[Laura Roslin]] and members of her command staff of [[Laura Roslin faction|factioners]] of the news that Commander [[William Adama]] had resumed command of ''[[Galactica]]'' after the attempt on his life by saying: "Zeus has returned to '''Olympus''' " ([[The Farm]]).

In Greek mythology, the home of the gods on Earth resided high on the top of Greece's highest mountain, Mount Olympus, at a time where access to the mountain summit would be almost impossible with the inhabitant's technology of that age. By Zarek's comment we can infer that Colonial religion appears to acknowledge the existence of a place called Olympus. It cannot yet be determined, however, if Olympus was thought of as the residence of the gods at a specific physical or ''metaphysical'' location of Kobol, as there has been no mention of Olympus elsewhere in the series. If Olympus is a metaphysical locale, this may contradict [[Elosha]]'s comment that the gods and man lived on Kobol together in harmony.

===Other Mythological Names in Colonial Culture===

Various items have been identified which are apparently named after other gods and legendary figures, although these have not been explicitly identified as Lords of Kobol.

* [[Triton]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The namesake of a battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
* [[Atlantia]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The name of a [[Wikipedia:Hamadryad|hamadryad]], a form of nymph. Namesake of another battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. Could also be a rfrence to the lengend of Atlantis, written by Plato.
* [[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]] - A legendary horse and namesake of Admiral [[Helena Cain]]'s [[Mercury class battlestar]].
* [[Zephyr]] - ([[Fragged]]) - A ship in [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] is named after this god.
* [[Mercury]] - The lead ship of the [[Mercury class battlestar|Mercury class]], apparently named for the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes.
* Pluto - Namesake of the element [[Wikipedia:Plutonium|Plutonium]] mentioned in the episode "[[Bastille Day]]", and Roman version of the Greek god Hades.

===The Cycle of Time===

''"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."''

According to [[Gaius Baltar]], this line from the Pythian Prophecy is very well known ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). [[Laura Roslin]] later expands on it, reminding [[Kara Thrace]],

:"If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time that we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity" ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

The notion of a circular progression of time (also known as [[Wikipedia:eternal return|eternal return]] or eternal recurrence) is a common theme in other faiths, particularly [[Wikipedia:Maya#Religion|Mayan]] mythology and is a cornerstone of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Moreover, [[Wikipedia:Stoic|Stoic]] philosophy did believe in the concept of ekpyrosis, the fire which consumes the old world and signals the birth of a new world, identical to the old, for a recurring cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Various events throughout the series have led some characters to believe that they are playing out another turn of this cycle. See [[Sacred Scrolls]] for more detailed analysis.

===Sanctity of Life===

According to the Sacred Scrolls, abortion is "an abomination in the eyes of the Gods". The more fundamentalist [[Gemenon]]s strictly adhere to this commandment, however the more secular Colonies such as Caprica apparently do not follow this as strictly: officially, Colonies-wide Federal law guaranteed a woman the right to an abortion, at least at the time of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

==Individual Practice==

The Colonials display a wide spectrum of religious practice, ranging from [[Billy Keikeya]]'s atheism ([[Home, Part II]], [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/207/deleted4.html cut scene]) to Corporal [[Venner]]'s literalistic readings of the Sacred Scrolls. Colonials express their faith in a number of ways.

===Idols===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Idols.jpg|100px]]</div>
At the end of the episode "[[Flesh and Bone]]", Kara Thrace, a devotee of Artemis and Aphrodite (as stated by [[Leoben Conoy]] in the same episode), prays to them on Conoy's behalf using figurines that bear a similarity to classic representations of Artemis and Athena. Artemis is depicted with her bow and arrow, and Athena with her helmet of war.
 

===Rosaries===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Rosary.jpg|100px]]</div>
When Roslin begins to suffer from Chamalla withdrawal in "[[Fragged]]", Corporal [[Venner]], a fundamentalist from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], anxiously clutches a set of white prayer beads.
 
===Group prayer===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:The_Farm-Group_Worship.jpg|100px]]</div>
Some prisoners on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' seeking rehabilitation have turned to group prayer. In the episode "[[The Farm]]", they greet Laura Roslin as a prophet and she provides them with a blessing.

Priestess [[Elosha]] sings a group prayer in the service for the dead at the conclusion of the [[Miniseries]]. Curiously, the language she sings is Sanskrit, a classical language of real-world Earth's Hindu/Indian peoples. More about the verses that she sings and their meaning can be found in the [[Language in the Twelve Colonies#Liturgy|Language in the Twelve Colonies]] article.'' 

===Artifacts===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Bsg-arrow-apollo.jpg|75px]]</div>
Despite Gemenon's fundamentalist climate, the city of [[Delphi]] on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] was apparently of a mind to store an important religious artifact, the [[Arrow of Apollo]], in a [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies|museum]], rather than a devotional institution.
 

==The Priesthood==

The separation of church and state is less rigorous in the Colonies than in the contemporary United States. Laura Roslin [[Case Orange|is sworn into the presidency]] by a priest, [[Elosha]], who continues on in an advisory capacity within Roslin's administration. Priests also preside over military funerals, without regard for the beliefs of the deceased. That this is a matter of course is perhaps indicative of the religious homogeneity of the Colonies.

Priests in the Twelve Colonies are apparently not required to practice celibacy, as in some Christian denominations. In the episode "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] states that his father was a priest and his mother an oracle.

According to Billy Keikeya, some priests use the [[Chamalla]] plant for its hallucinogenic properties. The prescient dreams it imparted to Laura Roslin may imply the use of something similar by [[Pythia]], an ancient prophet.

== Cylon Interpretations ==

Many Cylon agents show a strict, firm belief in a monotheistic God. When agents such as Leoben Conoy, the brothers Cavil, and Caprica Boomer begin talking of Cylon beliefs, they are ridiculed (and when Roslin is present, get thrown out the airlock). They refer to the Lords of Kobol as "false idols". They also claim to have more insight into Colonial religion than the Colonials themselves, as shown by [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)]] in "[[Home, Part II]]".

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:Colonial Religion]]
[[Category:Colonial Society]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Religion in the Twelve Colonies (RDM)

2006-07-23T04:24:49Z

Commander Me:

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
The religion of the Twelve Colonies, which the various characters of Battlestar Galactica practice to greater or lesser extent, is a polytheistic faith shared with real-life [[Wikipedia:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], with a strong emphasis on the philosophy of [[Wikipedia:Eternal return|eternal return]].

==Origin==
There is substantial circumstantial evidence that people of Kobol originated from the planet [[Earth]], and it is also known that one of the thirteen tribes later returned there. The similarity in beliefs of the Colonials and the ancient Greeks is probably not coincidental, although it is not yet clear which gave rise to the other. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Sacred Scrolls]] for a more detailed analysis.

In the burial scene of the [[Miniseries]], Adama states "Life here began out there," reminding the assembly that this was the first line of the sacred scrolls, told to them by the Lords Of Kobol uncounted centuries ago.

==Belief==

===The Lords of Kobol===

Colonial religion is centered on the Lords of Kobol, analogous to the [[Greek Gods]]. So far within the series, a total of six Lords of Kobol have been explicitly identified:

* [[Zeus]] - He was the father of the gods. [[Tom Zarek]] has twice referred to [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] as "Zeus" ([[Bastille Day]], [[The Farm]]).
* [[Apollo, Lord of Kobol|Apollo]] - He was Zeus' son, said to be the god of the hunt and of healing ([[Bastille Day]]).
* [[Artemis]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Aphrodite]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]] - She committed suicide "out of despair over the Exodus of the thirteen tribes" ([[Home, Part II]]). Her [[Tomb of Athena|tomb]] holds a map to [[Earth]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).
* [[Hera, Lord of Kobol|Hera]] - ([[Home, Part II]])

According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], the gods once shared a paradise-like existence with the people of [[Kobol]]. Later circumstances forced the exodus of the human population of Kobol to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Earth]], and lead to Athena's suicide. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] for more.

The existence of the Lords of Kobol is attested to by the survival of numerous artifacts, including the [[Arrow of Apollo]], the [[Tomb of Athena]] and the [[Gates of Hera]]. However, although she accepts their historicity, [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], a [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]], has called their divinity into question.

There is a notion in fan circles that there are twelve lords of Kobol, by analogy to the twelve Cylon models and twelve Colonies, and perhaps the [[Wikipedia:Twelve Olympians|Twelve Olympians]] of Greek mythology. A post in RDM's blog loosely addresses this.

:Q: "Twelve cylon models and twelve Olympian gods seems too much of coincidence to me. Is there any connection? "
:RDM: And Twelve Colonies. Coincidence....?" ([http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/03/index.html#a000023 RDM, March 12, 2005])

===The Jealous God===

In a [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season01/112/mov/bsg_del_112_regret.mov scene] 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."

===The Path of Olympus===

[[Tom Zarek]] conveys to [[Laura Roslin]] and members of her command staff of [[Laura Roslin faction|factioners]] of the news that Commander [[William Adama]] had resumed command of ''[[Galactica]]'' after the attempt on his life by saying: "Zeus has returned to '''Olympus''' " ([[The Farm]]).

In Greek mythology, the home of the gods on Earth resided high on the top of Greece's highest mountain, Mount Olympus, at a time where access to the mountain summit would be almost impossible with the inhabitant's technology of that age. By Zarek's comment we can infer that Colonial religion appears to acknowledge the existence of a place called Olympus. It cannot yet be determined, however, if Olympus was thought of as the residence of the gods at a specific physical or ''metaphysical'' location of Kobol, as there has been no mention of Olympus elsewhere in the series. If Olympus is a metaphysical locale, this may contradict [[Elosha]]'s comment that the gods and man lived on Kobol together in harmony.

===Other Mythological Names in Colonial Culture===

Various items have been identified which are apparently named after other gods and legendary figures, although these have not been explicitly identified as Lords of Kobol.

* [[Triton]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The namesake of a battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
* [[Atlantia]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The name of a [[Wikipedia:Hamadryad|hamadryad]], a form of nymph. Namesake of another battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
* [[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]] - A legendary horse and namesake of Admiral [[Helena Cain]]'s [[Mercury class battlestar]].
* [[Zephyr]] - ([[Fragged]]) - A ship in [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] is named after this god.
* [[Mercury]] - The lead ship of the [[Mercury class battlestar|Mercury class]], apparently named for the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes.
* Pluto - Namesake of the element [[Wikipedia:Plutonium|Plutonium]] mentioned in the episode "[[Bastille Day]]", and Roman version of the Greek god Hades.

===The Cycle of Time===

''"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."''

According to [[Gaius Baltar]], this line from the Pythian Prophecy is very well known ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). [[Laura Roslin]] later expands on it, reminding [[Kara Thrace]],

:"If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time that we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity" ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

The notion of a circular progression of time (also known as [[Wikipedia:eternal return|eternal return]] or eternal recurrence) is a common theme in other faiths, particularly [[Wikipedia:Maya#Religion|Mayan]] mythology and is a cornerstone of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Moreover, [[Wikipedia:Stoic|Stoic]] philosophy did believe in the concept of ekpyrosis, the fire which consumes the old world and signals the birth of a new world, identical to the old, for a recurring cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Various events throughout the series have led some characters to believe that they are playing out another turn of this cycle. See [[Sacred Scrolls]] for more detailed analysis.

===Sanctity of Life===

According to the Sacred Scrolls, abortion is "an abomination in the eyes of the Gods". The more fundamentalist [[Gemenon]]s strictly adhere to this commandment, however the more secular Colonies such as Caprica apparently do not follow this as strictly: officially, Colonies-wide Federal law guaranteed a woman the right to an abortion, at least at the time of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

==Individual Practice==

The Colonials display a wide spectrum of religious practice, ranging from [[Billy Keikeya]]'s atheism ([[Home, Part II]], [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/207/deleted4.html cut scene]) to Corporal [[Venner]]'s literalistic readings of the Sacred Scrolls. Colonials express their faith in a number of ways.

===Idols===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Idols.jpg|100px]]</div>
At the end of the episode "[[Flesh and Bone]]", Kara Thrace, a devotee of Artemis and Aphrodite (as stated by [[Leoben Conoy]] in the same episode), prays to them on Conoy's behalf using figurines that bear a similarity to classic representations of Artemis and Athena. Artemis is depicted with her bow and arrow, and Athena with her helmet of war.
 

===Rosaries===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Rosary.jpg|100px]]</div>
When Roslin begins to suffer from Chamalla withdrawal in "[[Fragged]]", Corporal [[Venner]], a fundamentalist from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], anxiously clutches a set of white prayer beads.
 
===Group prayer===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:The_Farm-Group_Worship.jpg|100px]]</div>
Some prisoners on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' seeking rehabilitation have turned to group prayer. In the episode "[[The Farm]]", they greet Laura Roslin as a prophet and she provides them with a blessing.

Priestess [[Elosha]] sings a group prayer in the service for the dead at the conclusion of the [[Miniseries]]. Curiously, the language she sings is Sanskrit, a classical language of real-world Earth's Hindu/Indian peoples. More about the verses that she sings and their meaning can be found in the [[Language in the Twelve Colonies#Liturgy|Language in the Twelve Colonies]] article.'' 

===Artifacts===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Bsg-arrow-apollo.jpg|75px]]</div>
Despite Gemenon's fundamentalist climate, the city of [[Delphi]] on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] was apparently of a mind to store an important religious artifact, the [[Arrow of Apollo]], in a [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies|museum]], rather than a devotional institution.
 

==The Priesthood==

The separation of church and state is less rigorous in the Colonies than in the contemporary United States. Laura Roslin [[Case Orange|is sworn into the presidency]] by a priest, [[Elosha]], who continues on in an advisory capacity within Roslin's administration. Priests also preside over military funerals, without regard for the beliefs of the deceased. That this is a matter of course is perhaps indicative of the religious homogeneity of the Colonies.

Priests in the Twelve Colonies are apparently not required to practice celibacy, as in some Christian denominations. In the episode "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] states that his father was a priest and his mother an oracle.

According to Billy Keikeya, some priests use the [[Chamalla]] plant for its hallucinogenic properties. The prescient dreams it imparted to Laura Roslin may imply the use of something similar by [[Pythia]], an ancient prophet.

== Cylon Interpretations ==

Many Cylon agents show a strict, firm belief in a monotheistic God. When agents such as Leoben Conoy, the brothers Cavil, and Caprica Boomer begin talking of Cylon beliefs, they are ridiculed (and when Roslin is present, get thrown out the airlock). They refer to the Lords of Kobol as "false idols". They also claim to have more insight into Colonial religion than the Colonials themselves, as shown by [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)]] in "[[Home, Part II]]".

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:Colonial Religion]]
[[Category:Colonial Society]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Religion in the Twelve Colonies (RDM)

2006-07-23T04:22:58Z

Commander Me:

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
The religion of the Twelve Colonies, which the various characters of Battlestar Galactica practice to greater or lesser extent, is a polytheistic faith shared with real-life [[Wikipedia:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], with a strong emphasis on the philosophy of [[Wikipedia:Eternal return|eternal return]].

==Origin==
There is substantial circumstantial evidence that people of Kobol originated from the planet [[Earth]], and it is also known that one of the thirteen tribes later returned there. The similarity in beliefs of the Colonials and the ancient Greeks is probably not coincidental, although it is not yet clear which gave rise to the other. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Sacred Scrolls]] for a more detailed analysis.

In the burial scene of the [[Miniseries]], Adama states "Life here began out there," reminding the assembly that this was the first line of the sacred scrolls, told to them by the Lords Of Kobol uncounted centuries ago.

==Belief==

===The Lords of Kobol===

Colonial religion is centered on the Lords of Kobol, analogous to the [[Greek Gods]]. So far within the series, a total of six Lords of Kobol have been explicitly identified:

* [[Zeus]] - He was the father of the gods. [[Tom Zarek]] has twice referred to [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] as "Zeus" ([[Bastille Day]], [[The Farm]]).
* [[Apollo, Lord of Kobol|Apollo]] - He was Zeus' son, said to be the god of the hunt and of healing ([[Bastille Day]]).
* [[Artemis]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Aphrodite]] - ([[Flesh and Bone]])
* [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]] - She committed suicide "out of despair over the Exodus of the thirteen tribes" ([[Home, Part II]]). Her [[Tomb of Athena|tomb]] holds a map to [[Earth]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).
* [[Hera, Lord of Kobol|Hera]] - ([[Home, Part II]])

According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], the gods once shared a paradise-like existence with the people of [[Kobol]]. Later circumstances forced the exodus of the human population of Kobol to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|the Twelve Colonies]] and [[Earth]], and lead to Athena's suicide. See [[History of the Twelve Colonies]] for more.

The existence of the Lords of Kobol is attested to by the survival of numerous artifacts, including the [[Arrow of Apollo]], the [[Tomb of Athena]] and the [[Gates of Hera]]. However, although she accepts their historicity, [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], a [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]], has called their divinity into question.

There is a notion in fan circles that there are twelve lords of Kobol, by analogy to the twelve Cylon models and twelve Colonies, and perhaps the [[Wikipedia:Twelve Olympians|Twelve Olympians]] of Greek mythology. A post in RDM's blog loosely addresses this.

:Q: "Twelve cylon models and twelve Olympian gods seems too much of coincidence to me. Is there any connection? "
:RDM: And Twelve Colonies. Coincidence....?" ([http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/03/index.html#a000023 RDM, March 12, 2005])

===The Jealous God===

In a [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season01/112/mov/bsg_del_112_regret.mov scene] 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."

===The Path of Olympus===

[[Tom Zarek]] conveys to [[Laura Roslin]] and members of her command staff of [[Laura Roslin faction|factioners]] of the news that Commander [[William Adama]] had resumed command of ''[[Galactica]]'' after the attempt on his life by saying: "Zeus has returned to '''Olympus''' " ([[The Farm]]).

In Greek mythology, the home of the gods on Earth resided high on the top of Greece's highest mountain, Mount Olympus, at a time where access to the mountain summit would be almost impossible with the inhabitant's technology of that age. By Zarek's comment we can infer that Colonial religion appears to acknowledge the existence of a place called Olympus. It cannot yet be determined, however, if Olympus was thought of as the residence of the gods at a specific physical or ''metaphysical'' location of Kobol, as there has been no mention of Olympus elsewhere in the series. If Olympus is a metaphysical locale, this may contradict [[Elosha]]'s comment that the gods and man lived on Kobol together in harmony.

===Other Mythological Names in Colonial Culture===

Various items have been identified which are apparently named after other gods and legendary figures, although these have not been explicitly identified as Lords of Kobol.

* [[Triton]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The namesake of a battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
* [[Atlantia]] - ([[Miniseries]]) - The name of a [[Wikipedia:Hamadryad|hamadryad]], a form of nymph. Namesake of another battlestar lost in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
* [[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]] - A legendary horse and namesake of Admiral [[Helena Cain]]'s [[Mercury class battlestar]].
* [[Zephyr]] - ([[Fragged]]) - A ship in [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] is named after this god.
* [[Mercury]] - The lead ship of the [[Mercury class battlestar|Mercury class]], apparently named for the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes.
* Pluto - Namesake of the element [[Wikipedia:Plutonium|Plutonium]] mentioned in the episode "[[Bastille Day]]", and Roman version of the Greek god Hades.

===The Cycle of Time===

''"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."''

According to [[Gaius Baltar]], this line from the Pythian Prophecy is very well known ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). [[Laura Roslin]] later expands on it, reminding [[Kara Thrace]],

:"If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time that we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity" ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

The notion of a circular progression of time (also known as [[Wikipedia:eternal return|eternal return]] or eternal recurrence) is a common theme in other faiths, particularly [[Wikipedia:Maya#Religion|Mayan]] mythology and is a cornerstone of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Moreover, [[Wikipedia:Stoic|Stoic]] philosophy did believe in the concept of ekpyrosis, the fire which consumes the old world and signals the birth of a new world, identical to the old, for a recurring cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Various events throughout the series have led some characters to believe that they are playing out another turn of this cycle. See [[Sacred Scrolls]] for more detailed analysis.

===Sanctity of Life===

According to the Sacred Scrolls, abortion is "an abomination in the eyes of the Gods". The more fundamentalist [[Gemenon]]s strictly adhere to this commandment, however the more secular Colonies such as Caprica apparently do not follow this as strictly: officially, Colonies-wide Federal law guaranteed a woman the right to an abortion, at least at the time of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

==Individual Practice==

The Colonials display a wide spectrum of religious practice, ranging from [[Billy Keikeya]]'s atheism ([[Home, Part II]], [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/207/deleted4.html cut scene]) to Corporal [[Venner]]'s literalistic readings of the Sacred Scrolls. Colonials express their faith in a number of ways.

===Idols===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Idols.jpg|100px]]</div>
At the end of the episode "[[Flesh and Bone]]", Kara Thrace, a devotee of Artemis and Aphrodite (as stated by [[Leoben Conoy]] in the same episode), prays to them on Conoy's behalf using figurines that bear a similarity to classic representations of Artemis and Athena. Artemis is depicted with her bow and arrow, and Athena with her helmet of war.
 

===Rosaries===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Rosary.jpg|100px]]</div>
When Roslin begins to suffer from Chamalla withdrawal in "[[Fragged]]", Corporal [[Venner]], a fundamentalist from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], anxiously clutches a set of white prayer beads.
 
===Group prayer===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:The_Farm-Group_Worship.jpg|100px]]</div>
Some prisoners on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' seeking rehabilitation have turned to group prayer. In the episode "[[The Farm]]", they greet Laura Roslin as a prophet and she provides them with a blessing.

Priestess [[Elosha]] sings a group prayer in the service for the dead at the conclusion of the [[Miniseries]]. Curiously, the language she sings is Sanskrit, a classical language of real-world Earth's Hindu/Indian peoples. More about the verses that she sings and their meaning can be found in the [[Language in the Twelve Colonies#Liturgy|Language in the Twelve Colonies]] article.'' 

===Artifacts===
<div style="float:left; margin-right:1em;">[[Image:Bsg-arrow-apollo.jpg|75px]]</div>
Despite Gemenon's fundamentalist climate, the city of [[Delphi]] on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] was apparently of a mind to store an important religious artifact, the [[Arrow of Apollo]], in a [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies|museum]], rather than a devotional institution.
 

==The Priesthood==

The separation of church and state is less rigorous in the Colonies than in the contemporary United States. Laura Roslin [[Case Orange|is sworn into the presidency]] by a priest, [[Elosha]], who continues on in an advisory capacity within Roslin's administration. Priests also preside over military funerals, without regard for the beliefs of the deceased. That this is a matter of course is perhaps indicative of the religious homogeneity of the Colonies.

Priests in the Twelve Colonies are apparently not required to practice celibacy, as in some Christian denominations. In the episode "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] states that his father was a priest and his mother an oracle.

According to Billy Keikeya, some priests use the [[Chamalla]] plant for its hallucinogenic properties. The prescient dreams it imparted to Laura Roslin may imply the use of something similar by [[Pythia]], an ancient prophet.

== Cylon Interpretations ==

Many Cylon agents show a strict, firm belief in a monotheistic God. When agents such as Leoben Conoy, the brothers Cavil, and Caprica Boomer begin talking of Cylon beliefs, they are ridiculed (and when Roslin is present, get thrown out the airlock). They refer to the Lords of Kobol as "false idols". They also claim to have more insight into Colonial religion than the Colonials themselves, as shown by [[Caprica-Boomer]] in "[[Home, Part II]]".

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:Colonial Religion]]
[[Category:Colonial Society]]
[[Category:RDM]]

City of the Gods

2006-07-23T04:13:02Z

Commander Me:

[[Image:bsg-cityofgods-1.jpg|thumb|An illustration of the City of the Gods (credit: Sky One / Sci-Fi Channel)]]
[[Image:Bsg-ath-tomb.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Opera House of the City of the Gods (credit: Sky One / Sci-Fi Channel)]]
The main city on the planet [[Kobol]], said to be the birthplace of mankind and the place where the "gods and man lived in paradise" before the exodus of the thirteen tribes.

It is the only city seen by [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Boomer]] and [[Crashdown]] when they came across Kobol during a [[Raptor]] sortie from ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

During a review of the images of the city, [[Laura Roslin]] has a vision of the city when it was still inhabited, seeing the [[Forum]] and the Opera House ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]), and then has quick visions of the [[Tomb of Athena]] and the [[Arrow of Apollo]]. The [[Forum]] and possibly other structures such as the [[Opera House]] and Temple are mirrored on Caprica, in [[Delphi]].

These events lead her to the conclusion that the scriptures and the legends are true, and that - as foretold by [[Leoben Conoy]], - Kobol will be a stepping stone to [[Earth]] ([[Flesh and Bone]]).

Realising that the Arrow of Apollo may be the key to discovering Earth, Roslin pursuades [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] to take the captured [[Cylon Raider]] back to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] to retrieve the Arrow, rather than preparing it for an attack on a [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] orbiting Kobol ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

The city in [[Roslin]]'s vision and depicted in Elosha's book of Scriptures seems to be in the style of a modern [[Earth]] city. This is interesting in helping to ascertain the time the [[new series]] takes place in.

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:Colonial Religion]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Frak

2006-07-21T07:05:10Z

Commander Me:

'''"Frak"''' is a potent profanity in the language of the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. It is a bowdlerized version of the real-life expletive "fuck."

* The term can describe sexual relations.
:''"You know what? I don't care who or what he fraks. [[Karl Agathon|He]] saved my ass down there, all right?"'' ([[Flight of the Phoenix]])
* The term, as a perjorative, can be used to curse someone you vilify or find disgusting.
:''"Frakkin' rats"'' ([[Bastille Day]])
:''"Frak you"'' ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]])
* The term can be used in several variations and compound words.
:''"Talk to me, you motherfrakker!"'' ([[Valley of Darkness]])
:''"Command frak-up"'' ([[Final Cut]])
:''"I guaran-frakkin-tee you, I will put [[Scar (Raider)|you]] down this time for good."'' ([[Scar]])
* The term also is used as an adjective to describe an action or object that is subjectively considered outrageous, extreme, or ill-advised.
:''"Does anybody else think that this plan is frakking nuts?"'' ([[Fragged]])
*The term can be used as a means of conveying shock or surprise.
:''"Oh, frak me! Radiological Alarm!"'' ([[33]])
*The term can also be used to express agreement.
:''"Frakkin' A!"'' ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]])
*"RFN" is an acronym for "Right Frakking Now." [[Lee Adama]] used the phrase while speaking with [[Saul Tigh]] during a Cylon boarding attempt ([[Valley of Darkness]]).

"Frak" is derived from the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] expletive, "frack" which was used in character dialogue far less than its counterpart in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. Another original series expletive was "[[felgercarb]]" which has not as yet been used in the re-imagined series. The re-imagined series' production team said they felt that "frack" should be a four-letter word, hence "frak".

==Note==

This profanity's real-world derivation can be found in [[Wikipedia:Fuck|this article]] on Wikipedia. The terms "frak" and "frack" were obviously used in dialogue in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] to comply with FCC and other broadcast decency standards because the FCC has jurisdiction over the contents of broadcast TV. "Frak" is pretty much a carryover to the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] because the FCC does not currently have jurisdiction to impose decency standards over paid services, like cable TV and satellite radio. However, the use of a profanity substitute rather than the "real" word is convenient should episodes be broadcast on over-the-air TV (i.e., NBC and affiliates) because editing for verbal content would not be required.

[[Category:A to Z]] [[Category: Profanity]] [[Category:RDM]]

Nugget

2006-07-20T05:48:28Z

Commander Me:

'''Nugget''' is a Colonial military term to describe pilot trainees. Like many terms in the new [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] series, "nugget" is carried over from present day American military slang.

Please note that "nugget" should not be confused with "rook" or "rookie." The later term applies to a person who as completed their training and qualifications, yet is still inexperienced.

[[Kara Thrace]] is assigned the task of flight instructor to train a batch of potential [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilots after 13 (including [[Flat Top]]) are killed in a freak accident ([[Act of Contrition]]). There are originially 8 nuggets, but [[Perry|Chuckles]] dies attacking a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). According to the SciFi.com official website, after the events of "The Hand of God", there are 5 surviving nuggets.

Several Known Nuggets:

[[Kat]]

[[Chuckles]]

[[Hot Dog]]

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Figures of Speech]]

Nugget

2006-07-20T04:51:03Z

Commander Me:

'''Nugget''' is a Colonial military term to describe pilot trainees. Like many terms in the new [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] series, "nugget" is carried over from present day American military slang.

Please note that "nugget" should not be confused with "rook" or "rookie." The later term applies to a person who as completed their training and qualifications, yet is still inexperienced.

[[Kara Thrace]] is assigned the task of flight instructor to train a batch of potential [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilots after 13 (including Flat Top) are killed in a freak accident ([[Act of Contrition]]). There are originially 8 nuggets, but [[Perry|Chuckles]] dies attacking a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). According to the SciFi.com official website, after the events of "The Hand of God", there are 5 surviving nuggets.

Several Known Nuggets:

[[Kat]]

[[Chuckles]]

[[Hot Dog]]

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Figures of Speech]]

Nugget

2006-07-20T04:50:13Z

Commander Me:

'''Nugget''' is a Colonial military term to describe pilot trainees. Like many terms in the new [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] series, "nugget" is carried over from present day American military slang.

Please note that "nugget" should not be confused with "rook" or "rookie." The later term applies to a person who as completed their training and qualifications, yet is still inexperienced.

[[Kara Thrace]] is assigned the task of flight instructor to train a batch of potential [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilots after 13 (including Flat Top) are killed in a freak accident ([[Act of Contrition]]). There are originially 8 nuggets, but [[Perry|Chuckles]] dies attacking a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). According to the SciFi.com official website, after the events of "The Hand of God", there are 5 surviving nuggets.

Several Known Nuggets:

[[Kat]]
[[Chuckles]]
[[Hot Dog]]

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Figures of Speech]]

Playa Palacios

2006-07-18T06:14:24Z

Commander Me:

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:bsg-palacios-1.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Picon|Picon]]
|birthname= Playa Palacios
|callsign=
|seen= Litmus
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= Journalist
|rank=
|actor= [http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Christina+Schild Christina Schild]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

"One of the last legitimate journalists in the universe", '''Playa Palacios''' is a veteran columnist with the [[Picon Star Tribune]] prior to the [[Cylon Attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies]].

Originally dispatched to cover the ceremonies surrounding the decommissioning of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', she is a co-host of the new [[wireless]] current affairs program, "[[The Colonial Gang]]", working alongside fellow legitimate journalists [[James McManus]] and [[Sekou Hamilton]].

During the formation of the interim [[Quorum of Twelve]] by President [[Laura Roslin]], she is quite taken by Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]], and gains an "exclusive" (tryst in a public bathroom aboard [[Cloud Nine]]) with him when Roslin asks Baltar to be her nominee for Vice President, to stand against [[Tom Zarek]] ([[Colonial Day]]).

On "The Colonial Gang", Palacios is something of a firm supporter of Laura Roslin, standing in the face of James McManus' sometimes vitriolic condemnation of Roslin's time in office.

Fitting her role as "one of the last legitimate journalists in the universe", Playa sits "first-chair" in the press conference with Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] ([[Home, Part I]]) and also receives "first question" following the Commander's statement (certainly an honor for reporters). This is probably due to Playa Palacios's listenership or readership throughout [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]].

[[Sekou Hamilton]], who also appears on "The Colonial Gang" and in the press conference in "[[Home, Part I]]", is seated behind Playa in the press briefing room. This may signify that he is not as popular in the Fleet-wide media.

Playa was the first reporter to ask President Roslin's decision to criminalize abortion hurt her standing in the polls, with the presidential election coming up, at which point Vice President Baltar jumped in on the question, saying that he did not agree with it and announced his own candidacy for the presidency ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

=== Notes ===

Christina Schild is credited as "Playa Kohn" in the episodes "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]" and "[[Flesh and Bone]]". It is not clear with the characters are designed to be separate individuals, the result of a simple name-change within the script, or the surname "Kohn" being her maiden or married name. However, as she later stated her full name in dialog as "Playa Palacios" in "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", this is now taken to be her official name.

[[Category:A to Z|Palacios, Playa]]
[[Category:Characters|Palacios, Playa]]
[[Category:RDM|Palacios, Playa]]
[[Category:People from Picon|Palacios, Playa]]

Racks

2006-07-18T06:11:41Z

Commander Me:

Racks appear to be a fairly sizeable room where pilots and possibly other personnel sleep and rest. The walls have rows of bunks (racks) for sleeping, with several lockers between each set for personal affects and mirrors. In the middle are either one large table or several small tables. Pilots and others are seen both sleeping, playing cards, and socializing there during their off-time. In several cases (mostly involving [[Kara Thrace]]), personnel lock the entrance way, and engage in activities of a more private nature...

Category:Galactica Areas

2006-07-18T06:06:08Z

Commander Me:

Areas of the ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|current series]].

== See also ==

* [[:Category:Galactica Areas (TOS)]]

[[Category:A to Z|Galactica Areas]][[Category:RDM|Galactica Areas]]

Category:Galactica Areas

2006-07-18T06:05:27Z

Commander Me:

Areas of the ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|current series]].
Rack Rooms
== See also ==

* [[:Category:Galactica Areas (TOS)]]

[[Category:A to Z|Galactica Areas]][[Category:RDM|Galactica Areas]]

Life Forms of the Twelve Colonies

2006-07-18T05:52:31Z

Commander Me:

{{Twelve Colonies Series}}
This article is a list of fictional and real animals and plants mentioned in the [[re-imagined]] series as existing on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|the Twelve Colonies]]. For the most part, the colonies appear to have the same organisms as present-day earth, with the exceptions noted below.

In keeping with the [[naturalistic science fiction]] concepts that [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron D. Moore]] uses to model the series, it is unlikely that we may see any life forms outside of those found on any of the Earth-like planets of the Twelve Colonies.

Ron D. Moore has essentially made it a point to avoid addressing the issue in a direct way (i.e. no live dogs will appear on the series, etc.). In the commentary for the [[Miniseries]], RDM elaborates:
:..."David and I, we had discussed, at an early point; well, do they have dogs and cats and things like that? And we said, "No, no, no", let's not go there, 'cause that locks us into a whole Terrestrial-kind of like thing. We'll just avoid any mention of it. '''Nobody will even, like, register that we had "Chicken pie" the whole time, and in retrospect "Oh, I guess there are chickens"."'''

However, over the course of the series various stray comments have established that ''more than a few'' "terrestrial" (real world Earth) life forms also exist in the series:

==Fictional==
===Plants===
*[[Chamalla]]
:'''Roslin:''' I would like to explore alternative treatment. [...] Have you ever heard of Chamalla extract? ([[Act of Contrition]])
:''Resembles (somewhat) herbal [[Wikipedia:Cannabinoids|cannabinoids]] and [[Wikipedia:Opioids|opioids]] in its pain-killing and hallucinogenic effects, which are found in the plant [[Wikipedia:Cannabis|cannabis]] and the [[Wikipedia:Opium Poppy|opium poppy]], respectively.''
*[[Fumarella leaf]]
:'''Baltar:''' A parting gift: hand-rolled from some of the finest Fumarella leaf on Caprica. It's also one of the last left in the universe. ([[Water]])
:''An homage to the [[TOS|original series]], in which [[Starbuck (TOS)|Starbuck]]'s [[Wikipedia:Cigar|cigars]] are referred to as "[[Fumarello|fumarellos]]". This plant may be similar or identical to [[Wikipedia:Tobacco|tobacco]].''

==Real==
===Animals===
====Mammals====
*[[Wikipedia:Cat|Cat]]
:'''Adama:''' ...then grab your gun and bring in the cat. ([[Miniseries]])
*[[Wikipedia:Dog|Dog]]
:'''Cally:''' "She said the engine power-up sequence began by squeezing something that looks like a red ligament with blue veins on the right side coming out of a sack of gooey fluid, shaped like a... dog." ([[Six Degrees of Separation]])
*[[Wikipedia:Elephant|Elephant]]
:'''Hallucination-Baltar:''' "Start with the elephants..." ([[Downloaded]])
*[[Wikipedia:Goat|Goat]]
:'''Starbuck:''' "A horse. Why not a goat? I mean, that's good, right? Think of it as a goat." ([[Six Degrees of Separation]])
*[[Wikipedia:Gorilla|Gorilla]]
:'''Starbuck:''' "I'm gonna need some of those gorillas you call Marines." ([[Sacrifice]])
*[[Wikipedia:Horse|Horse]]
:'''Tyrol:''' "Take it for a ride. Treat it like a horse." ([[Six Degrees of Separation]])
*[[Wikipedia:Hare|Jackrabbit]]
:'''Starbuck''': "This is the Viper Mark II. It's as maneuverable as a jackrabbit and can flip end for end in .35 seconds". ([[Act of Contrition]])
*[[Wikipedia:Panther|Panther]]
:'''Adama:''' "I'm a [[Picon Panthers]] fan myself". ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]])
*[[Wikipedia:Pig|Pig]]
:'''Phelan''': "Fisk was a pig. He tried to force us to renegotiate".
*[[Wikipedia:Rat|Rat]]
:'''Helo:''' Frakkin' rats! ([[Bastille Day]])
:''Rats have actually been seen on screen, in "[[Bastille Day]]"''
*[[Wikipedia:Tiger|Tiger]]
:''Gaeta revealed an ugly tattoo of a tiger on his upper right chest in the episode "[[Final Cut]]"''

====Birds====
*[[Wikipedia:Bird of prey|Birds of Prey]]
:''While the animals have never been specifically mentioned, it's reasonable to assume the [[Raptor]] is named after them.''
*[[Wikipedia:Blackbird|Blackbird]]
:''Namesake of the [[Blackbird]] experimental stealth fighter ([[Flight of the Phoenix]])''
*[[Wikipedia:Chicken|Chicken]]
:'''Cami:''' "We're going out for dinner, and I'm having chicken pie, and then we're going home, and then Daddy's going to read to me, and then I'm going to bed." ([[Miniseries]])
*[[Wikipedia:Duck|Ducks]]
:'''Palacios''': "Wouldn't we be like ducks in a Cylon shooting gallery?" ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]])
*[[Wikipedia:Geese|Geese]]
:'''Col. Tigh''': "They're coming up with big goose eggs" ([[Water]])
*[[Wikipedia:Parakeet|Parakeet]]
:'''Jammer:''' I don't care if they put a giant parakeet in here. If the colonel says build a cell, we build a cell. ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]])

====Reptiles====
*[[Wikipedia:Python|Python]]
:'''Adama:''' "Betrayal has such a powerful grip on the mind. It's almost like a python. You can squeeze out the thought, suffocate all other emotion until everything is dead except for the rage." ([[Home, Part I]])
*[[Wikipedia:Viper|Viper]]
:''While the animal has never been specifically mentioned, it's reasonable to assume the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] is named after it.''

====Fish====
*[[Wikipedia:Salmon|Salmon]]
:'''Baltar:''' "There was an off-road bridge, over the Euclid river. I used to go there, when I was a boy. Watch the fish try and swim upstream. They were mesmerizing." ([[Home, Part I]])
:''What Baltar describes, without naming, are [[Wikipedia:Anadromous|anadromous]] fish - almost certainly a type of salmon.
*[[Wikipedia:Shark|Shark]]
:''ECO [[Lyla Ellway|Lyla "Shark" Ellway]] ([[The Captain's Hand]]) presumably took her call-sign from these creatures.

====Invertebrates====
*[[Wikipedia:Ant|Ant]]
:'''Crashdown:''' "Someone else feel like they have ants crawling behind their frakking eyeballs?" ("[[33]]")
*[[Wikipedia:Cockroach|Cockroach]]
:'''Starbuck:''' "...even a cockroach needs to breathe..." ([[You Can't Go Home Again]])
*[[Wikipedia:Oyster|Oyster]]
:'''Caprica-Sharon:''' "I remember the first day I met you, Starbuck. You were puking your guts out in the head after you ate some bad oysters." ([[Scattered]])

===Plants===
*[[Wikipedia:Apple|Apple]]
:'''Roslin:''' I need you to send my ID code on the exact same frequency: D, as in dog, dash, 456, dash, 345, dash, A as in apple. ([[Miniseries]])

''In the commentary for the [[miniseries]], [[Ron Moore]] stated that the officer at [[Armistice Station]] was originally supposed to take out an apple and eat it while studting his notes; in keeping with the new series emphasis on naturalism.''

*[[Wikipedia:Blueberry|Blueberry]]
:'''Starbuck:''' You look like a blueberry. ([[Flight of the Phoenix]])
*[[Wikipedia:Carrot|Carrot]]
:'''Baltar''': "Simply put, Admiral, you have already used the stick. It's time to use a carrot". ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]])
*[[Wikipedia:Coffea|Coffee plant]]
:'''Gaeta:''' Seven other container ships are refusing to release their supplies. Food, medicine, even coffee. ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]])
*[[Wikipedia:Lemon|Lemon]]
:'''Col. Tigh''': "A couple of lemons, we could make lemonade". ([[Bastille Day]])
*[[Wikipedia:Licorice|Licorice]]
:'''Roslin:''' Chamalla and Licorice. Would you like some? ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]])
*[[Wikipedia:Walnut|Walnut]]
:''Adama cracks walnuts while going over potential CAGs in the episode "[[Home, Part I]]"''
*[[Wikipedia:Beans|Beans]]
*[[Wikipedia:Maize|Maize]]
*[[Wikipedia:Peanut|Peanut]]
*[[Wikipedia:Chile pepper|Chile pepper]]
:'''Helo:''' You hungry? I don't know, what do we got? Peanut butter... baked beans, corn. How about some chili? ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]])
:''Helo is probably referring to the common [[Wikipedia:Haricot bean|Haricot bean]].''

==Official Statements==

*In an [http://www.battlestargalactica.com/outside_docs/bg_outdoc0050.htm interview with BattlestarGalactica.com on December 28th, 2005] RDM was asked about the possibility of animals actually appearing in future episodes:

:"Q: Boxey's been more or less written out of the series, but there's always a chance that we might one day see the return of Muffit, or some other form of Man's Best Friend. Might we see the introduction of animals (including Cylon animals) into the Galactica universe? Where would Cylon animals fit in with the Cylon plan (especially in light of "The Farm")? Can Cylon animals reproduce?

:RDM: The presence of animals in the rag-tag fleet was something that came up in early discussions, but we kinda dropped it from the conversation as the year went on. I don't know if we'll ever get around to doing something in this area or not. It mostly depends on finding a story that supports it in some interesting fashion other than [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] finds a kitty. I don't think the Cylons are creating animals as we would define them, but they certainly see the Raiders and other craft as animals vis a vis their relationship with the [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylons]]."

[[Category: A to Z]] [[Category: Colonial Society]] [[Category: RDM]]

Battlestar Wiki talk:Spoiler Policy

2006-07-18T05:25:55Z

Commander Me:

'''Previous discussions:'''

{{archive-header
| archivenumber = 01
| number = 1
| start = July 17th, 2005
| end = September 14th, 2005
| items = {{archive-item|01|Complaints and Concerns}} {{archive-item|01|Spoiler Warning}} {{archive-item|01|What is a spoiler?}} {{archive-item|01|Vote}} {{archive-item|01|When does this vote close?|end=Y}}
|}}
{{archive-header
| archivenumber = 02
| number = 2
| start = September 14th, 2005
| end = September 23rd, 2005
| items = {{archive-item|02|Compromise #1}} {{archive-item|02|Discussion|end=Y}}
|}}

__TOC__

==External Links==
Links to Wikipedia using the Wikipedia: interwiki namespace still show up inside spoiltext. Example

{{spoiltext|[[Wikipedia:Battlestar Galactica|Battlestar Galactica]]}}

Fix: add this to the CSS:
td.spoiltext_box a.extiw {color: #000;}
--[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 18:29, 23 September 2005 (EDT)

== "Spoiler Boxes" ==
:''moved from [[Nelana Cain]]''
The spoiler boxes have a serious flaw--you can't see the "this is a spoiler" line at the top when you're using the Monobook skin. It's too dark to read. I highlighted and ended up seeing the spoiler, and I didn't want to. Of course now I know what the box is and I won't highlight it anymore, but I would appreciate it if the box could be edited to be compatible with all the skins. Thanks. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 00:16, 24 September 2005 (EDT)
::I think oncer the "new" design is active, the CSS will be updated for a single skin and then that skin will be changed so CSS would be the primary way to color tables, instead of hardcoding values. The other skins joe should have deleted (as he did before the 1.6.x upgrade) to make sure we all worked from one skin when working on the site. So that's with the problem with the monoskin right now. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 01:15, 20 April 2006 (CDT)

==Ron D Moore personally addresses the recent spoilers issue==
:''Moved from [[Battlestar Wiki talk:Citation Jihad]]''

I was in a discussion with Ron's wife Terry on the messageboard in [http://mboard.scifi.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1791636&page=0&vc=1&PHPSESSID=11266ab308ea04f98580cf16eae24b66#Post1791636 this thread], when she then handed the keyboard over to Ron Moore himself and he posted the following messagee, about two minutes ago:

:I want to ask all of you, and KoenigRules in particular, to please refrain from posting detailed spoilers about our upcoming season. It's only April, and we're a long way from the premiere in October, and it's frankly dispiriting and depressing to all of us on the production team to see spoilers appearing this early. We're all working very hard to provide the audience with a unique experience and it takes a lot of the joy out of our process when we know that people have already judged the work before it's ready. This isn't about secrecy or having a NSA-like production, it's about letting the artisans and craftsmen on this show finish their work before it's displayed. Short descriptions of scenes and storylines aren't the same thing as watching an episode of the show and by putting this material out there for everyone to chew over months in advance, it really only allows people to make up their minds about a piece of work that is incomplete by any measure.

:I understand the desire to peek inside the tent. I've felt it myself about many projects from the Star Wars sequels to new episodes of Project Runway, and there's nothing juicier than getting the inside dope. However, there's a difference between that one on one insider knowledge and shared secret and posting it on the internet where it gets passed around literally the entire world or putting in on a radio show for all to hear.

:There's nothing I can do to stop this kind of thing from happening. When I was at Trek, we tried every known method of encoding scripts and plots and they always got out. The only thing I can do is appeal to your sense of decency and fair play and ask that you not spoil the larger fan community that cannot help but be aware of these things as they get massive distribution through the message boards. Self-restraint on the part of those in possession of inside information is the best way to prevent this from happening all through the Spring and Summer, so I appeal to you as fans of the show to help me keep the cloak over this piece of art until it's been polished and ready to be presented to you, the audience.

:I appreciate your consideration,
::Ronald D. Moore

In light of this, I think we should change our decision. I originally had the lukewarm idea that if other news sites like Gateworld and Galacticastation ran one of these stories, we might as well run it too, but only if they did it first. However, I have now completely rejected this idea: we shouldn't post anything more than "generic episode descriptions" which don't actually give away essential plot elements. At first I thought it pointless to try to stem the tide as Gatewold and GS might just report it anyway, but I now really think it is our duty to set precedent on the matter and not post spoilers that are this sensitive, if they have been leaked from anonymous sources. Granted, if Lucy Lawless herself spills the beans in an interview with a magazine that's between her and the production team; moreoever, if they wanted her to stop they could hold up her Screen Actors Guild confidentiality papers and give her a warning. But ''any'' support, even tacitly, of these spoilers, I don't think we can or should do anymore. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 17:16, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
: I think this pretty much sums this debate up. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 17:22, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
: Here's the point where I feel I must play devil's advocate, as it were: Ron D. Moore doesn't run Battlestar Wiki. I appreciate the fact that he doesn't want story lines and important plot points spilled out. I can understand that. However, as long as we have the appropriate warnings in place, I do not see the point in ''not'' posting the spoilers. We're really not in the business of censoring information, just because someone asks us to do so. Am I wrong? -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 17:37, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
::You are not wrong. But I been pointing to send posting anonoymous soruces as a legit way for referreces is not a good idea. People who are still in Season 2 (UK) have no seen three Episode names for Season 3. We need to just be carefull, if we allow anonoymous soilers and spoilers alike, that we be carefull that they be totallt seperate. And seasons that have not offically started keep out the "Episode Data" block also. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 17:44, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
:::Well I can understand why you're saying that Joe, but I've really got to differ on the matter. There's a difference in my mind between "an actor or crewman leaked this out, and if they wanted it to stop they could give them a warning" and "this person is anonymous, and thus is free from being punished by the production company for breach of contract or simply because they don't want people doing that". Lets see what everyone else thinks. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 17:47, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
::I agree with Moore on this, as I did during our initial discussion of the spoiler policy many months ago. Nevertheless, this is a settled issue on Battlestar Wiki. Do we really want to re-open it? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 18:29, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
:::Merv, your "stand" has changed four times and now this spans two pages so I am trying to "keep" the posted times right in my head. I think we need to really move these discussions to their own page so everything is together. Peter, I understand that this is a project of Citation and spolier poilcy, but this is becomeing to confusing on where everyone stands. --[[User:Shane|Shane]] ([[User_Talk:Shane|T]] - [[Special:Contributions/Shane|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/Shane|E]]) 18:50, 26 April 2006 (CDT)
::::It's very simple. The discussion on Citation Jihad is about whether we should allow anonymous sources. The discussion here is about whether we should revise the spoiler policy. The two topics may have originated with the same controversy, but they are not related, nor should they be confused. If The Merovingian wants us to revisit the horribly contested and partisan spoiler policy debate from last fall, this is the place he needs to propose it. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 18:53, 26 April 2006 (CDT)

I admit it's a little confusing Shane: well, officially (as you can see above with the most recent thing): I do not think we should use anonymous spoilers information, because RDM implored everyone not to, and we're only aiding whoever the leak is; if they're afraid of revealing themselves because they think they're breaching a non-disclosure contract or something and thus doing something actually illegale, I don't think we should support that by reporting their information here. Further, it's not always right as it's based on early scripts. Well, that's where I stand on the subject, though I don't know how everyone else thinks. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 19:39, 26 April 2006 (CDT)

:I agree that RDM request should override any other concerns for ethical reasons. It is analogous to insider-trading info. Remember the conversation between Apollo and Tigh about the black market. If we do it because everyone does, it doesn't make us right, just whole lot of people wrong. --[[User:Gougef|Frankie Gouge]] April 26, 2006 21:40 EDT

:: I, myself, try not to read spoilers. Sometimes, I accidentally do while I'm editing a page or something, but I take that as my "fault" kind of, for editing that page. It happens and usually it's not a big show ruiner for me. I would not oppose re-opening this debate, but I don't know that we ''need'' to, either. My main concern about spoilers is that, even if they're from a citable, reliable source, they're often wrong (because they get changed before air-date or whatever). Also, I am kind of partial to the idea of doing as RDM asks because I respect him as a creator and he asked in a nice, mature, respectful (to us fans) way. I do, however, allow that a rational person could disagree. --[[User:Day|Day]] ([[User talk:Day|Talk]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Administrators' noticeboard|Admin]]) 00:39, 2 May 2006 (CDT)

Hey, this is Commander Me. I would be willing to help translate the Spoiler Policy page into German. Just contact me at my user talk for more info. --Commander Me.

Galen Tyrol

2006-07-16T01:05:14Z

Commander Me:

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Galen Tyrol promo.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]]
|birthname= Galen Tyrol
|callsign= "Chief" (nickname)
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents= An unnamed Oracle (mother) and a Priest (father).
|siblings=
|children=One unborn child with Cally
|marital status= Married to [[Cally]]
|role= Union Organizer, [[New Caprica]]; former Senior NCO, Deck Crew 5, [[Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]''
|rank= Chief Petty Officer
|actor= [[Aaron Douglas]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

== Biography ==

=== Background ===

'''Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol''', serial number 312365, <ref name="serial">[http://www.mediablvd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16040&view=findpost&p=1890295 "Questions for Aaron Douglas"] messageboard Q&A with actor Aaron Douglas. </ref> is the much-admired and highest ranking NCO remaining aboard ''[[Galactica]]''. He served aboard battlestars from the age of eighteen, including the battlestars ''[[Columbia]]'', ''[[Atlantia]]'', and ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]). He has served under [[William Adama]] on ''Galactica'' for five years ([[Litmus]]), and has considerable respect for the Commander - a feeling that is reciprocated. Indeed, he admires Adama to such a degree that he has modelled his own style of leadership on that of Adama: firm, fair, and willing to go to the fullest degree in support of his crew.

However, when people under his responsibility are injured, threatened or killed, Tyrol becomes rather irrational, angry, and reckless in his actions, to the point of further endangering his people or his reputation with senior officers. Prime examples of his lack of emotional control includes the scenes before the ship venting after the nuke hit and cursing [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] in front of [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] for the vent and loss of 85 of his people ([[Miniseries]]), and saving a mortally-wounded crewmate while leaving himself and [[Cally]] highly vulnerable in "[[Scattered]]". Tyrol's tryst with [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] and a subsequent cover-up attempt in "[[Litmus]]" resulted in the jailing of Specialist [[Socinus]], who was trying to protect Tyrol.

Originally leading [[Deck Crew 5]], a team of 15 deckhands and specialists, since the Cylon Attack he has become the most senior and experienced NCO on the ''Galactica''.

=== Cylon Attack ===

At the time of the Cylon Attack, as well as leading his deck crew, Tyrol is overseeing the refurbishment and restoration of [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mark II N7242C - the Viper originally flown by William Adama at the time of the [[Cylon War]] ([[Miniseries]]).

Following the attack, with the ''Galactica'' undermanned, Tyrol also performs the function of senior Damage Control officer ([[Miniseries]] / [[Water]]), a role that brings him into conflict with [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] after the ''Galactica'' is struck by a Cylon nuclear warhead.

=== Relationship with Sharon Valerii ===

For several months prior to the Cylon attack, and in its aftermath, Tyrol has been engaged in an affair with Lieutenant (JG) [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], a [[Raptor]] pilot aboard the ''Galactica''. Despite the fact the relationship breaks military protocol, senior officers on the ship turn a blind eye to it, while Tyrol's own crew treat it with fond amusement.

When the water supplies on the ''Galactica'' are sabotaged, Tyrol is placed in an awkward position: by her own admmission, Valerii knows explosives were missing from a small-arms locker - potentially making her a suspect - and he is the principal DC investigator into the cause of the explosions which wreck the water tanks. Torn between love and duty, the situation prompts him to hide evidence and allow a theory that the walls of the tanks simply collapsed from fatigue resulting from damage the ''Galactica'' received from a nuclear warhead in the Cylon attack ([[Water]] / [[Miniseries]]).

Following the sabotage attempt, Valerii is ordered to end her relationship with Tyrol ([[Bastille Day]]) as a part of a general tightening-up of security and discipline on ship, only to have Tyrol's deck crew help the two of them to continue to meet in greater secret ([[Litmus]]).

Tyrol's world is thrown further into turmoil when both he and Valerii become the prime suspects in an investigation into how a Cylon agent (a copy of [[Aaron Doral]]) managed to get aboard the ''Galactica'', kill a guard, steal explosives and them blow himself up in a ship's corridor, almost killing Adama and Tigh ([[Litmus]]). When [[Socinus|one of his own Specialists]] is thrown in the brig for dereliction of duty which may have enabled the Cylon to access a weapons locker and steal the explosives, Tyrol is shocked into re-thinking his relationship with Valerii, and ends it himself.

While they continue to encounter one another professionallly - their work means they can hardly avoid one another - Tyrol and Valerii now have an uneasy distance between each other, and Valerii's actions around a captured Cylon [[Raider]] have begun to disturb Tyrol.

=== Kobol ===

When [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] discovers the planet believed to be [[Kobol]], Tyrol arranges for Socinus' release and later berates the specialist for lying to cover for him. Thereafter, Tyrol is part of the team assembled on the ill-fated recon Kobol on the [[Raptor 1]], which then crashlands near the ruins of the [[Tomb of Athena]]. ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]], [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]])

While Tyrol was the more experienced leader, his non-commissioned status left Lt. [[Crashdown]] in charge of the survivors. When Crashdown blamed [[Tarn]] for leaving a needed med kit behind -- Socinus was injured during the crash and a drug called [[serisone]] was needed to help him breathe -- Tyrol stepped in, recommending that he and Cally accompany Tarn. After successfully retrieving the kit from the Raptor crash site and heading back to the party, the trio was ambushed and Tarn was the only one killed. ([[Scattered]]) Eventually, he and Cally make it back to the party, only to find out that it is too late. With no other alternative, Tyrol euthanized Socinus with an overdose of [[morpha]] from both medkits. ([[Valley of Darkness]])

Upon discovering that the Cylons are setting up an anti-aircraft missle battery, Crashdown plans a strike to take the unit (and its accompanying [[DRADIS]] dish) out of operation. While the others of his party, notably Baltar and Cally, attempt to voice their indignation of such a plan, Tyrol firmly reminds them that Crashdown is in charge. Despite Tyrol's own misgivings of how the plan is to be executed, they follow through to the point right before the attack.

When it became clear that there were five Cylons at the battery, Cally refused to act as a distraction. Tyrol attempted to diffuse the situation by trying to state that the DRADIS dish was undefended; all that needed to be done was to destroy that, and the turret could not automatically target any incoming [[SAR]] operation. Crashdown has a breakdown and irrationally threatens to kill Cally, prompting Baltar to kill Crashdown.

As the command officer, per se, Tyrol later destroyed the DRADIS dish as the Cylons pursued them towards it. Tyrol then made a stand against the Cylons, screaming and firing his pistol at them. The Cylons were all killed; a surprised Tyrol turned around and saw that a [[Raptor]], preserved by Tyrol's destruction of the dish, had destroyed the Centurions. ([[Fragged]]).

=== After Kobol ===

Tyrol was arrested and interrogated by Colonel Tigh, due to his relationship with Commander Adama's would-be assassin. Tigh accused him of being part of the plot to kill Adama, throwing him in the same cell as Valerii. In order to extract information from Valerii, Baltar injected a drug that induced a systemic shutdown of Tyrol's organs. (This was during an alleged attempt to draw blood from Tyrol for Baltar's Cylon detector.) After extracting the number of Cylons in the Fleet from Valerii's subconscious, Tyrol was spared a painful death -- and was eventually proven to be a bona-fide human.

Tyrol was present when his own deckhand, Cally, killed Valerii, as Tyrol accompanied the security escort to Valerii's testing cell ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]). This act caused Tyrol to withdraw more from interaction with his own staff, many of which were already treating him coldly from his interaction with the now-confirmed Cylon copy of Valerii.

As with many on ''Galactica'', the stress of working without relief in sight or with little hope began to take its toll on Tyrol. For him, the challenge of keeping the old Vipers running with very few spare parts and sometimes extensive damage became too much to manage. Under pressure from [[CAG]] [[Lee Adama]] to keep his Vipers flying, and mostly because he had little else to do, he scribbled out a design for a new fighter and began to assemble it from basic metals and parts ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]). Initially, his flight crews were skeptical that the Chief's project was anything but a pipe dream. But word soon spread as the fuselage formed and Tyrol's dream became reality. While Colonel Tigh was visibly against the project at first, Commander Adama noticed that the project, for whatever outcome it might yield, gave the crew something to strive for, something to hope for, and tacitly allowed off-duty crew to work on the project. Many, including [[Anastasia Dualla]] from the [[CIC]], and [[Kara Thrace]], lent a hand.

Tyrol's group was stuck when trying to place a skin on the new fighter, since spare parts were reserved for the Vipers. But Helo suggested carbon composite materials as an alternative to cover the ship. This solved the covering but added a significant new ability: Stealth. The carbon composites would make the new fighter practically invisible to [[DRADIS]] detection.

After the ship's [[Logic bomb]] crisis, the new fighter, named the [[Blackbird]], was given a trial flight by Kara Thrace, with very good results. In a ceremony, President Roslin christened the fighter, and Tyrol revealed the nickname of the fighter in honor of the President: ''Laura''.

=== Helo's Return ===

After the return of [[Karl Agathon]] and another version of Sharon Valerii, who happens to be pregnant with Agathon's child, the two attempt to reconcile their feelings for the biological creation. Helo and Tyrol eventually have a fistfight with lots of namecalling over what the Sharons were, but in reality, both were upset over the fact that the two Cylon copies were real people that they loved despite the reality of what they were ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]), leading them to what amounted to an uneasy truce.

Later on, after the appearance of Admiral [[Helena Cain]] and the advanced [[Mercury-class]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', he and Agathon stop Lt. [[Alistair Thorne]] from raping Sharon and Tyrol accidentally kills Thorne in the process. Tyrol and Agathon are summarily arrested and transfered to ''Pegasus'' for court martial, against Commander Adama's objections. However, Admiral Cain's "court martial" is over before Adama even knew it began, and she sentenced both to be executed for murder and treason. This prompted Adama to launch Vipers and a Raptor loaded with a marine strike team to recover them both ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

Helo and Tyrol receive a stay of execution through the efforts of [[Laura Roslin]] while the two battlestar commanders prepare to destroy the [[Resurrection Ship]] and its Cylon attack fleet that has followed ''Galactica''. Tyrol admits to his difficulty with dealing with the existence of the second Sharon, and tells Helo that he's got to "let it go", an idea that Helo supports, both understanding each other's take on the situation.

The two prisoners are seen receiving two sets of visitors, one welcome, one not. First, Lieutenant Adama visits them to tell them how close ''Galactica'' came to a shooting war with ''Pegasus'' ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]), asking the two, "Just how many kinds of stupid ''are'' you?" A day or so later, Specialists [[Vireem]] and [[Gage]] bind and beat the two prisoners in retaliation for the death of Lieutenant Thorne. [[Executive officer]] [[Jack Fisk]] comes to break up the beating, but refuses the prisoners' thanks as he was fond of Thorne himself.

After the escaped Cylon agent [[Gina]] escapes and shoots Admiral Cain, killing her, Tyrol and Helo are released and return to ''Galactica.'' Both Tyrol and Helo visit Sharon Valerii at her specialized cell. She happily greets Helo, but completely ignores Tyrol. He gets the hint and soon leaves the room, still unable to recover from the memory of the Sharon he knew as "Boomer."

=== Depression and Suicidal Yearnings ===
Tyrol also begins to experience a recurring nightmare in which he jumps from the upper portion of the flight deck to his death. [[Cally]] finds him asleep but twitching on the ''Galactica'' deck, but when she attempts to wake him, he attacks her in a frenzied rage, beating her savagely.

Deeply distressed by what he had done, Tyrol requested counselling with a priest, and was assigned [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]. After some time with Tyrol, Cavil identifies the source of Tyrol's anxiety as arising from fear that he is a [[Cylon agent|Cylon sleeper agent]], much like [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] was. Tyrol points out that Sharon was totally convinced by her programming that she was human; Tyrol is haunted by the fear that it was impossible to truly know if you were a Cylon or not. Cavil assures him that he was not, quipping that he knew "because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings.".

[[Cavil]] tells him to get back to work, which is where his real family is, and argues that they, [[Deck Crew 5|the deck crew]], love him, "even Cally, ''especially'' Cally" ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]). Tyrol was subsequently responsible for exposing [[Cavil]] as a Cylon agent when he recognized him as one of the returnees from the rescue mission to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]. Upon realizing this, Tyrol tackled Cavil, called for security, and stated 'Code Blue.'
[[Image:Tyrol LDYBII.JPG|thumb|Tyrol as Union President ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]])]]
===Union President===
A year later, Tyrol lived in [[New Caprica City]] and was the president of the Worker's Union, a vocal opponent of President Baltar's administration. By this point, he appeared to have married Cally, who was pregnant 380 days after settling on the planet. Tyrol and Cally witnessed the arrival of the Cylons on the planet, and went to [[Kara Thrace]] for guidance. She tells him to "fight them until we can't." ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]])

== Note ==

*[[Wikipedia:Galen|Galen]] is the name of a famed Greek doctor, who was first to argue that the mind was in the brain not the heart. This may be construed as irony, given Tyrol's part in the ongoing story.
*Tyrol's first name, Galen, was first revealed in Ron D. Moore's blog during Season 1, but it was not mentioned on screen until the Season 2 episode "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]".
*[[Wikipedia:Tyrol|Tyrol]] (or Tirol) is the name of a region divided between western Austria and northern Italy.
*Ron D. Moore stated in an [http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/2212/2/| interview with Now Playing Magazine] on 16 Sept, 2005 that Chief Tyrol is a Gemenese. This is in keeping with previously established facts about him: Gemenese are very religious, and Tyrol's father was a priest and his mother was an oracle.
*Ron Moore explains in the DVD commentary for the [[Miniseries]] that Chief Tyrol was originally supposed to be a fairly small role, and in the first script of the Miniseries he only had about 15 lines. However, Aaron Douglas was so good at ad libbing new lines for scenes as production moved foward that Moore kept writing him into a bigger character. Going into season 1, Tyrol would originally have been defined by his relationship to Boomer, with suspicion that she might be a Cylon only coming out towards the end of the season. However, instead of this Boomer and Tyrol's relationship became strained and ended early in season 1, and Tyrol was expanded as a character not simply defined by Boomer.

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

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Tyrol, Galen]]
[[Category:Characters|Tyrol, Galen]]
[[Category:RDM|Tyrol, Galen]]
[[Category:People from Gemenon|Tyrol, Galen]]

[[es:Galen Tyrol]]

The Farm

2006-07-16T01:01:39Z

Commander Me: /* Official Statements */

:''This page covers the episode "The Farm." For the Farms themselves, see [[Farms]].''
{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Galacticafarm.jpg|300px]]
| Title=The Farm
| Series=[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined Series]]
| Season=[[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode=5
| Guests=
| Writer=[[Carla Robinson]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Rod Hardy]]
| Production=2.05
| Rating= 2.0
| US Airdate=August 12 2005
| UK Airdate=February 7 2006
| DVD=December 20 2005 (US Season 2.0)
| Population=47,857
| Prev=[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]
| Next=[[Home, Part I]]
}}
== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace]] is shot and wakes up in a remote hospital facility on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], and learns that her friendly doctor has his own plans for her future.''

== Summary ==

=== On Caprica ===

*[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]], [[Karl Agathon|Helo]], and two members of the Resistance ([[Samuel Anders|Anders]] and [[Sue-Shaun]], who were introduced in the last episode) devise a plan to escape from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by commandeering a [[Cylon Heavy Raider]] from a nearby airstrip. They will fit as many people as possible onto the craft, and will dispatch a rescue mission for the remainder upon return to ''[[Galactica]]''.
*As the team is about to assault the airstrip, they are ambushed, and Thrace is hit by a bullet that grazes off her head and gets lodged in her abdomen. She loses consciousness.
*Thrace wakes up in a hospital. She is being attended to by a doctor named [[Simon]], who tells her that she was brought into the hospital by Anders, and that Anders died from a shrapnel wound. Thrace is devastated.
*Thrace spends the next few days conversing with Simon, who muses that women capable of bearing children are a rare "commodity" now that the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] have nuked the Colonies, and suggests that Thrace should consider giving birth to a child.
*Simon speculates that Thrace's reluctance to have children stems from her mother having abused her when she was young, as evidenced by a pattern of fractures in her fingers. This topic upsets her.
*Thrace wakes to discover a new scar on her abdomen. Simon tells her it's from an operation he did to stop some bleeding, but Thrace doesn't believe him, particularly after he calls her "Starbuck"--her pilot call sign, which she has never told him.
*Thrace fakes sleep after crimping her intravenous drip filled with sedative. When Simon leaves, she follows him into the hallway, where she overhears him having a conversation with a copy of [[Number Six]] about the "complete removal" of her ovaries scheduled for the next day.
*A short time later, Thrace stabs Simon with a broken mirror shard and escapes the room. Lurching around the deserted hospital, she stumbles upon a room full of semi-conscious women wired horrifically to machines. Among them is [[Sue-Shaun]], who begs Thrace to destroy the "baby machines" and end their misery. She obliges with a prayer, a pair of medical tongs, and a primal scream.
*Thrace staggers outside, braining a Six model with a fire extinguisher in the process, only to find a another Simon standing there to greet her. At that moment, [[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and the rest of the resistance emerge from the woods. They pepper Simon with bullets, but soon get bogged down in a firefight with a squad of [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]]. A second rescue occurs in as many minutes: [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops down in a stolen Heavy Raider and blows the Centurions away.
*Thrace relates her experiences in the hospital to the others. Valerii explains that the [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylons]] have a flaw which renders them unable to reproduce biologically. The Cylons have been holding human women in "farms" to try to implant them with human/Cylon embryos. This effort has failed, however, leading the Cylons to believe that conception requires "love." Based on this theory, Valerii was able to conceive with Helo because of their love for each other.
*Helo, Sharon, and Starbuck leave Caprica on the Heavy Raider. Starbuck promises [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] to return someday to rescue the Resistance. In the meantime, Anders says he will try to destroy as many farms as he can.

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

*Commander Adama returns to duty, and is greated by applause in [[CIC]]. He tells the crew that he loves them all.
*To try to rally support to the president, Zarek wants [[Lee Adama]] to make a recording denouncing his father. Adama stops in the middle of it and says he can't go through with that. It's left to [[Laura Roslin]] to win over the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].
* Roslin plays the "religious card." She transfers to the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' from where she transmits a message imploring the Fleet to follow her and the path the [[Lords of Kobol]] have set out for her. An infuriated and staunchly secular Adama doesn't board the ''Astral Queen'' because he thinks only three or four ships would seriously listen to her "religious nonsense." Instead, 24 ships ("almost a third of the Fleet") leave with her.
*Cally is thrown in the brig for killing [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]], now known as a Cylon agent and traitor. Chief Tyrol implores Commander Adama to release her, due to her trauma by events on Kobol. Adama gives her a light sentence of charging her with discharging a firearm without permission: Cally will spend only one month in the brig.
*Adama asks Tyrol if he could love Boomer despite the fact that she was a machine. Tyrol isn't quite sure, but it becomes apparent that Adama is asking himself the question as much as he is Tyrol; Adama loved all of his pilots like his children.
*Adama visits Boomer's body in the morgue. He asks "Why?" then breaks down crying over her body.

== Questions ==
*Caprica-Valerii says that she knows that [[Leoben Conoy]] told Kara Thrace she was special during his interrogation aboard ''Galactica''. How could she have known this? How do the Cylon agents communicate to each other?
**Since it is confirmed that Cylon agents do transmit their consciousness or updated information from body to body upon death, this implies that '''all''' models share memories between each other, no matter where they are. Caprica-Valerii seems to know much of ''Galactica's'' state of affairs when asked. If such communication is the case, wouldn't the relative strength of such a signal from the body be a tip-off for Colonials to locate the remaining Cylon infiltrators?
**Valerii also says that she "hasn't accessed that data" when asked how many farms there are. Does this mean that Cylons transmit information only upon death? She knew about Leoben #2's "visit" with Thrace ([[Flesh and Bone]]) but she doesn't know the thoughts of the other Cylons on the planet who have not died. Conversely the Cylons seem unaware of her rebellious thoughts.
***Has the rebellious Sharon Valerii severed her connection with the other Cylons? After she switched sides in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," the other Cylons seem unaware of her current thoughts and actions. Perhaps she only knows of events on ''Galactica'' before this point?
**Leoben Conoy #2 appeared to acknowledge in "[[Flesh and Bone]]" that he was too far from Cylon forces for his personality to be recovered. Was he able to covertly transmit his memories to one of the basestars encountered in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]" or "[[Scattered]]" by way of another agent? ([[Resurrection Ship|Likely answer]])
*Will we see Simon again? ([[Downloaded|Answer]]) Is he one of the eight Cylon agents hiding in the Fleet?
*How did Simon know Anders name?
**RDM's blog states that one of the member's of Anders' resistance was probably a Cylon (not necessarily any of the resistance members we saw on screen) who tipped them off to Anders, though this didn't make the final cut of the episode.
***Could this have been a copy of [[Cavil]], specifically, the copy that prays with the resistance before they leave Caprica in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]?"
*Why does the Caprica resistance seem more concerned about Thrace's disappearance than Sue-Shaun's? Did Thrace's love interest generate the greater concern?
*Could Commander Adama's evident grief upon viewing the corpse of Boomer in the ship's morgue mean that they were personally involved at some point? Or, perhaps, did the level of humanity that Boomer showed cause Adama to mourn her loss as he would a daughter or daughter-figure such as Kara Thrace? In any case, given her role in Adama's assassination attempt, this is strange and strong behavior.
*Would any viable embryos harvested by the Cylons be accelerated into mature adults or placed ''in vitro'' into a host? Would the host be Cylon or human?
**Caprica-Valerii seemed to imply that no viable hybrid embryos had ever been produced by the Farms, at least up until this point. Then again, she said that they "weren't very successful," a somewhat vague answer suggesting inpregnation or growth but no viable fetuses.

== Analysis ==
*What exactly did the Cylons do to Thrace's ovaries? Simon tells Six: "...pending lab test results on sample for ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow". Starbuck escapes right after this, which means that the opportunity to "completely remove" her ovaries did not occur. This suggests at the very least that Starbuck can still have children. However, female humans only have '''two''' ovaries: how can you have a "sample" one? The sample could just mean that Simon took several eggs from one of Starbuck's ovaries to see if they were viable for conceiving children.
*It would seem that the Cylons at least obtained several sample egg cells from Starbuck. Will this lead to developments later on?
*In Ron D. Moore's blog entry for October 14, 2005, after finishing the last scripts for season two he jokingly says he has "the reward of time spent thinking about something besides Kara's missing ovaries ("Now, where did I leave those ovaries? They were right here a minute ago...") ". What is meant by this?

== Notes ==
*This episode's opening credits marks the return of the "blipvert" effect used in the first season episodes, which Ron D. Moore uses as an homage to "Space: 1999."
*As of the opening credits, the fleet population is now 47,857, a net loss of 4 since "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]". This reflects the deaths of four civilians on board the [[Gideon]] in that episode, but apparently not that of Boomer. Was she removed from the count immediately after her assassination attempt?
*According to [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]], this episode takes place "a week" after Apollo docked at ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' in the last episode, although apparently Adama hasn't been well enough to resume command until very recently.
*24 ships, almost a third of the Fleet, have left with Roslin for Kobol.
**This would mean the total Fleet consisted of over 72 ships. In the [[Miniseries]], there are only about 40 FTL-capable ships able to rendezvous with ''Galactica'' at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. This continuity error is similar to the 500-1500 prisoner error. [[Bastille Day]] and [[Miniseries]]
*Boomer's body is now in the morgue.
*Number Six mentioned that "procreation is one of God's commandments" in the first episode, "[[33]]." This could mean that the Cylons are trying to procreate out of a feeling that they are sinning by not being able to have children on their own.
*Helo and Caprica-Valerii's child is the first Human/Cylon hybrid conceived in love, and as a result appears to be the first and only successful hybrid; it seems that no other embryo survived nearly as long as it already has (it is now about five weeks old, since its conception in "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]").
*Boomer served aboard ''Galactica'' for two years, which means the Cylons had begun infiltrating Colonial society from at least that long ago. This matches the length of time of Six's affair with Baltar while on Caprica, suggesting that Cylon agent infiltration occurred around two years prior to the events of the miniseries.
*According to Simon's study (either from a Cylon dossier on Thrace or from medical exams) Starbuck was the victim of frequent physical abuse as a child; she's suffered many bone fractures in childhood, and all of her fingers have been broken at some point. This is conscistant with the comments made by Leoben Conoy to Starbuck during their interrogation scenes. [[Flesh and Bone]]
*Caprica-Valerii is aware of [[Leoben Conoy]] #2's interrogation by Starbuck in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," even of specific things he said during it, suggesting that Cylon agents sometimes have a collective knowledgebase (''not'' a collective consciousness; see "[[Downloaded]]" for this confirmation) to occasionally draw from. This is supported by Boomer's information to [[Gaius Baltar]] of the number of Cylon agents remaining in the Fleet in "[[Resistance]]," as only such an knowledgebase would allow Boomer to know of this data.
*This episode introduces the fifth confirmed [[Cylon agent]], [[Simon]].
*According to a deleted scene, this episode takes place a week after "[[Fragged]]."
*After the final commercial break, as Simon enters Starbuck's room (right before she stabs him) you can see that her room is number "254". Not so coincidentally, this scene takes place in Season 2, episode #5, and this is the start of Act #4.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*''Cylons discussing the surgical testing they are performing on Starbuck'':
:Simon:...pending lab test results on [sample for] ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow. They've lab tested positive and subject will be removed to processing facility for final disposition.
:Number Six: Is that regret I hear in your voice, Simon?
:Simon: If it is, it certainly is none of your concern.

*''Explanation of the Human/Cylon hybrid project:''
:Valerii: They were conducting research, into Human/Cylon breeding programs.
:Starbuck:: Human/Cylon?
:Helo:: 'Call them "Farms"...your gunshot wound looks fine...
:Starbuck:: So "Farms", that's great...what were they going to do, 'knock me up with some Cylon kid?
:Valerii: They were going to try to. We haven't been very successful so far.
:Anders: Supposedly they can't reproduce...you know, ''biologically'', so they've been trying every which-way to produce offspring.
:Starbuck: Why?
:Valerii: Procreation. It's one of God's commandments; "be fruitful". We can't fulfill it, we've tried. So we decided--
:Starbuck: To rape human women?!
:Valerii: You know, if you agreed to bear children it would be voluntary, maybe even set you up with someone you like.
:Starbuck: And you two kids? [''Helo and Caprica-Boomer'']
:Valerii: We're different.
:Starbuck: What the frak is that supposed to mean?
:Helo: They have this theory; maybe the one thing they were missing was '''love'''. So Sharon and I...were set up...
:Starbuck: To fall in love?! They didn't ask [[Sue-Shaun]] if she wanted to fall in love, alright! They put a tube in her, and they hooked her up to a machine!
:Valerii: They know who you are, Kara. You're special. Leoben told you that. You have a destiny.
:Helo: [''pointing out the other scar on Starbuck's lower abdomen''] Starbuck what's the second scar?
:Starbuck: I don't know. I don't think I want to know now. You know?
:Valerii: No.
:Anders: Alright, how many women do they have in these "Farms"?
:Valerii: Hundreds, maybe thousands. I don't know, I haven't accessed that data.

*''Adama wonders aloud about the nature of Cylons and humans''
:'''Tyrol:''' I don't believe she [Cally] was in her right mind when she shot Boomer--
:'''Adama:''' Did you love her, Chief?
:'''Tyrol:''' 'Scuse me?
:'''Adama:''' Boomer. Did you love her?
:'''Tyrol:''' Thought I did.
:'''Adama:''' Well, when you think you love somebody, you love them. That's what love is. Thoughts... She was a Cylon. A machine! Is that what Boomer was, a machine? A thing?
:'''Tyrol:''' That's what she turned out to be.
:'''Adama:''' She was more than that to us. She was more than that to me. She was a vital, living person aboard my ship for almost two years! She couldn't have been just a machine. Could you love a machine?
:'''Tyrol:''' No, sir. Guess I couldn't have.
: '''Adama'''Cally discharged a firearm without permission, endangering life of her fellow shipmate. 30 days in the brig. Dismissed.
:'''Tyrol:''' Thank you, sir.
:'''Adama:''' You'll see her again, Chief.
:'''Tyrol:''' Excuse me?
:'''Adama:''' There are many copies. You'll see her again.

*''Simon, talking about Starbuck's reluctance to have children but also perhaps talking about the Cylons view of themselves (and maybe the "human" cylons).
:'''Simon:''' Children of abusive parents often fear passing along that abuse to their own children.

== Guest stars ==
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Tamara Lashley]] as [[Sue-Shaun]]
*[[Rick Worthy]] as [[Simon]]

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category:A to Z|Farm, The]]
[[Category: Episode Guide (RDM)|Farm, The]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Carla Robinson]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Rod Hardy]]

[[es:La Granja]]

The Farm

2006-07-16T01:00:07Z

Commander Me:

:''This page covers the episode "The Farm." For the Farms themselves, see [[Farms]].''
{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Galacticafarm.jpg|300px]]
| Title=The Farm
| Series=[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined Series]]
| Season=[[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode=5
| Guests=
| Writer=[[Carla Robinson]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Rod Hardy]]
| Production=2.05
| Rating= 2.0
| US Airdate=August 12 2005
| UK Airdate=February 7 2006
| DVD=December 20 2005 (US Season 2.0)
| Population=47,857
| Prev=[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]
| Next=[[Home, Part I]]
}}
== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace]] is shot and wakes up in a remote hospital facility on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], and learns that her friendly doctor has his own plans for her future.''

== Summary ==

=== On Caprica ===

*[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]], [[Karl Agathon|Helo]], and two members of the Resistance ([[Samuel Anders|Anders]] and [[Sue-Shaun]], who were introduced in the last episode) devise a plan to escape from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by commandeering a [[Cylon Heavy Raider]] from a nearby airstrip. They will fit as many people as possible onto the craft, and will dispatch a rescue mission for the remainder upon return to ''[[Galactica]]''.
*As the team is about to assault the airstrip, they are ambushed, and Thrace is hit by a bullet that grazes off her head and gets lodged in her abdomen. She loses consciousness.
*Thrace wakes up in a hospital. She is being attended to by a doctor named [[Simon]], who tells her that she was brought into the hospital by Anders, and that Anders died from a shrapnel wound. Thrace is devastated.
*Thrace spends the next few days conversing with Simon, who muses that women capable of bearing children are a rare "commodity" now that the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] have nuked the Colonies, and suggests that Thrace should consider giving birth to a child.
*Simon speculates that Thrace's reluctance to have children stems from her mother having abused her when she was young, as evidenced by a pattern of fractures in her fingers. This topic upsets her.
*Thrace wakes to discover a new scar on her abdomen. Simon tells her it's from an operation he did to stop some bleeding, but Thrace doesn't believe him, particularly after he calls her "Starbuck"--her pilot call sign, which she has never told him.
*Thrace fakes sleep after crimping her intravenous drip filled with sedative. When Simon leaves, she follows him into the hallway, where she overhears him having a conversation with a copy of [[Number Six]] about the "complete removal" of her ovaries scheduled for the next day.
*A short time later, Thrace stabs Simon with a broken mirror shard and escapes the room. Lurching around the deserted hospital, she stumbles upon a room full of semi-conscious women wired horrifically to machines. Among them is [[Sue-Shaun]], who begs Thrace to destroy the "baby machines" and end their misery. She obliges with a prayer, a pair of medical tongs, and a primal scream.
*Thrace staggers outside, braining a Six model with a fire extinguisher in the process, only to find a another Simon standing there to greet her. At that moment, [[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and the rest of the resistance emerge from the woods. They pepper Simon with bullets, but soon get bogged down in a firefight with a squad of [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]]. A second rescue occurs in as many minutes: [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops down in a stolen Heavy Raider and blows the Centurions away.
*Thrace relates her experiences in the hospital to the others. Valerii explains that the [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylons]] have a flaw which renders them unable to reproduce biologically. The Cylons have been holding human women in "farms" to try to implant them with human/Cylon embryos. This effort has failed, however, leading the Cylons to believe that conception requires "love." Based on this theory, Valerii was able to conceive with Helo because of their love for each other.
*Helo, Sharon, and Starbuck leave Caprica on the Heavy Raider. Starbuck promises [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] to return someday to rescue the Resistance. In the meantime, Anders says he will try to destroy as many farms as he can.

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

*Commander Adama returns to duty, and is greated by applause in [[CIC]]. He tells the crew that he loves them all.
*To try to rally support to the president, Zarek wants [[Lee Adama]] to make a recording denouncing his father. Adama stops in the middle of it and says he can't go through with that. It's left to [[Laura Roslin]] to win over the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].
* Roslin plays the "religious card." She transfers to the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' from where she transmits a message imploring the Fleet to follow her and the path the [[Lords of Kobol]] have set out for her. An infuriated and staunchly secular Adama doesn't board the ''Astral Queen'' because he thinks only three or four ships would seriously listen to her "religious nonsense." Instead, 24 ships ("almost a third of the Fleet") leave with her.
*Cally is thrown in the brig for killing [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]], now known as a Cylon agent and traitor. Chief Tyrol implores Commander Adama to release her, due to her trauma by events on Kobol. Adama gives her a light sentence of charging her with discharging a firearm without permission: Cally will spend only one month in the brig.
*Adama asks Tyrol if he could love Boomer despite the fact that she was a machine. Tyrol isn't quite sure, but it becomes apparent that Adama is asking himself the question as much as he is Tyrol; Adama loved all of his pilots like his children.
*Adama visits Boomer's body in the morgue. He asks "Why?" then breaks down crying over her body.

== Questions ==
*Caprica-Valerii says that she knows that [[Leoben Conoy]] told Kara Thrace she was special during his interrogation aboard ''Galactica''. How could she have known this? How do the Cylon agents communicate to each other?
**Since it is confirmed that Cylon agents do transmit their consciousness or updated information from body to body upon death, this implies that '''all''' models share memories between each other, no matter where they are. Caprica-Valerii seems to know much of ''Galactica's'' state of affairs when asked. If such communication is the case, wouldn't the relative strength of such a signal from the body be a tip-off for Colonials to locate the remaining Cylon infiltrators?
**Valerii also says that she "hasn't accessed that data" when asked how many farms there are. Does this mean that Cylons transmit information only upon death? She knew about Leoben #2's "visit" with Thrace ([[Flesh and Bone]]) but she doesn't know the thoughts of the other Cylons on the planet who have not died. Conversely the Cylons seem unaware of her rebellious thoughts.
***Has the rebellious Sharon Valerii severed her connection with the other Cylons? After she switched sides in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," the other Cylons seem unaware of her current thoughts and actions. Perhaps she only knows of events on ''Galactica'' before this point?
**Leoben Conoy #2 appeared to acknowledge in "[[Flesh and Bone]]" that he was too far from Cylon forces for his personality to be recovered. Was he able to covertly transmit his memories to one of the basestars encountered in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]" or "[[Scattered]]" by way of another agent? ([[Resurrection Ship|Likely answer]])
*Will we see Simon again? ([[Downloaded|Answer]]) Is he one of the eight Cylon agents hiding in the Fleet?
*How did Simon know Anders name?
**RDM's blog states that one of the member's of Anders' resistance was probably a Cylon (not necessarily any of the resistance members we saw on screen) who tipped them off to Anders, though this didn't make the final cut of the episode.
***Could this have been a copy of [[Cavil]], specifically, the copy that prays with the resistance before they leave Caprica in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]?"
*Why does the Caprica resistance seem more concerned about Thrace's disappearance than Sue-Shaun's? Did Thrace's love interest generate the greater concern?
*Could Commander Adama's evident grief upon viewing the corpse of Boomer in the ship's morgue mean that they were personally involved at some point? Or, perhaps, did the level of humanity that Boomer showed cause Adama to mourn her loss as he would a daughter or daughter-figure such as Kara Thrace? In any case, given her role in Adama's assassination attempt, this is strange and strong behavior.
*Would any viable embryos harvested by the Cylons be accelerated into mature adults or placed ''in vitro'' into a host? Would the host be Cylon or human?
**Caprica-Valerii seemed to imply that no viable hybrid embryos had ever been produced by the Farms, at least up until this point. Then again, she said that they "weren't very successful," a somewhat vague answer suggesting inpregnation or growth but no viable fetuses.

== Analysis ==
*What exactly did the Cylons do to Thrace's ovaries? Simon tells Six: "...pending lab test results on sample for ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow". Starbuck escapes right after this, which means that the opportunity to "completely remove" her ovaries did not occur. This suggests at the very least that Starbuck can still have children. However, female humans only have '''two''' ovaries: how can you have a "sample" one? The sample could just mean that Simon took several eggs from one of Starbuck's ovaries to see if they were viable for conceiving children.
*It would seem that the Cylons at least obtained several sample egg cells from Starbuck. Will this lead to developments later on?
*In Ron D. Moore's blog entry for October 14, 2005, after finishing the last scripts for season two he jokingly says he has "the reward of time spent thinking about something besides Kara's missing ovaries ("Now, where did I leave those ovaries? They were right here a minute ago...") ". What is meant by this?

== Notes ==
*This episode's opening credits marks the return of the "blipvert" effect used in the first season episodes, which Ron D. Moore uses as an homage to "Space: 1999."
*As of the opening credits, the fleet population is now 47,857, a net loss of 4 since "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]". This reflects the deaths of four civilians on board the [[Gideon]] in that episode, but apparently not that of Boomer. Was she removed from the count immediately after her assassination attempt?
*According to [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]], this episode takes place "a week" after Apollo docked at ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' in the last episode, although apparently Adama hasn't been well enough to resume command until very recently.
*24 ships, almost a third of the Fleet, have left with Roslin for Kobol.
**This would mean the total Fleet consisted of over 72 ships. In the [[Miniseries]], there are only about 40 FTL-capable ships able to rendezvous with ''Galactica'' at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. This continuity error is similar to the 500-1500 prisoner error. [[Bastille Day]] and [[Miniseries]]
*Boomer's body is now in the morgue.
*Number Six mentioned that "procreation is one of God's commandments" in the first episode, "[[33]]." This could mean that the Cylons are trying to procreate out of a feeling that they are sinning by not being able to have children on their own.
*Helo and Caprica-Valerii's child is the first Human/Cylon hybrid conceived in love, and as a result appears to be the first and only successful hybrid; it seems that no other embryo survived nearly as long as it already has (it is now about five weeks old, since its conception in "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]").
*Boomer served aboard ''Galactica'' for two years, which means the Cylons had begun infiltrating Colonial society from at least that long ago. This matches the length of time of Six's affair with Baltar while on Caprica, suggesting that Cylon agent infiltration occurred around two years prior to the events of the miniseries.
*According to Simon's study (either from a Cylon dossier on Thrace or from medical exams) Starbuck was the victim of frequent physical abuse as a child; she's suffered many bone fractures in childhood, and all of her fingers have been broken at some point. This is conscistant with the comments made by Leoben Conoy to Starbuck during their interrogation scenes. [[Flesh and Bone]]
*Caprica-Valerii is aware of [[Leoben Conoy]] #2's interrogation by Starbuck in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," even of specific things he said during it, suggesting that Cylon agents sometimes have a collective knowledgebase (''not'' a collective consciousness; see "[[Downloaded]]" for this confirmation) to occasionally draw from. This is supported by Boomer's information to [[Gaius Baltar]] of the number of Cylon agents remaining in the Fleet in "[[Resistance]]," as only such an knowledgebase would allow Boomer to know of this data.
*This episode introduces the fifth confirmed [[Cylon agent]], [[Simon]].
*According to a deleted scene, this episode takes place a week after "[[Fragged]]."
*After the final commercial break, as Simon enters Starbuck's room (right before she stabs him) you can see that her room is number "254". Not so coincidentally, this scene takes place in Season 2, episode #5, and this is the start of Act #4.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*''Cylons discussing the surgical testing they are performing on Starbuck'':
:Simon:...pending lab test results on [sample for] ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow. They've lab tested positive and subject will be removed to processing facility for final disposition.
:Number Six: Is that regret I hear in your voice, Simon?
:Simon: If it is, it certainly is none of your concern.

*''Explanation of the Human/Cylon hybrid project:''
:Valerii: They were conducting research, into Human/Cylon breeding programs.
:Starbuck:: Human/Cylon?
:Helo:: 'Call them "Farms"...your gunshot wound looks fine...
:Starbuck:: So "Farms", that's great...what were they going to do, 'knock me up with some Cylon kid?
:Valerii: They were going to try to. We haven't been very successful so far.
:Anders: Supposedly they can't reproduce...you know, ''biologically'', so they've been trying every which-way to produce offspring.
:Starbuck: Why?
:Valerii: Procreation. It's one of God's commandments; "be fruitful". We can't fulfill it, we've tried. So we decided--
:Starbuck: To rape human women?!
:Valerii: You know, if you agreed to bear children it would be voluntary, maybe even set you up with someone you like.
:Starbuck: And you two kids? [''Helo and Caprica-Boomer'']
:Valerii: We're different.
:Starbuck: What the frak is that supposed to mean?
:Helo: They have this theory; maybe the one thing they were missing was '''love'''. So Sharon and I...were set up...
:Starbuck: To fall in love?! They didn't ask [[Sue-Shaun]] if she wanted to fall in love, alright! They put a tube in her, and they hooked her up to a machine!
:Valerii: They know who you are, Kara. You're special. Leoben told you that. You have a destiny.
:Helo: [''pointing out the other scar on Starbuck's lower abdomen''] Starbuck what's the second scar?
:Starbuck: I don't know. I don't think I want to know now. You know?
:Valerii: No.
:Anders: Alright, how many women do they have in these "Farms"?
:Valerii: Hundreds, maybe thousands. I don't know, I haven't accessed that data.

*''Adama wonders aloud about the nature of Cylons and humans''
:'''Tyrol:''' I don't believe she [Cally] was in her right mind when she shot Boomer--
:'''Adama:''' Did you love her, Chief?
:'''Tyrol:''' 'Scuse me?
:'''Adama:''' Boomer. Did you love her?
:'''Tyrol:''' Thought I did.
:'''Adama:''' Well, when you think you love somebody, you love them. That's what love is. Thoughts... She was a Cylon. A machine! Is that what Boomer was, a machine? A thing?
:'''Tyrol:''' That's what she turned out to be.
:'''Adama:''' She was more than that to us. She was more than that to me. She was a vital, living person aboard my ship for almost two years! She couldn't have been just a machine. Could you love a machine?
:'''Tyrol:''' No, sir. Guess I couldn't have.
: '''Adama'''Cally discharged a firearm without permission, endangering life of her fellow shipmate. 30 days in the brig. Dismissed.
:'''Tyrol:''' Thank you, sir.
:'''Adama:''' You'll see her again, Chief.
:'''Tyrol:''' Excuse me?
:'''Adama:''' There are many copies. You'll see her again.

*''Simon, talking about Starbuck's reluctance to have children but also perhaps talking about the Cylons view of themselves (and maybe the "human" cylons).
:'''Simon:''' Children of abusive parents often fear passing along that abuse to their own children.

== Official Statements ==
[[Ronald D. Moore]] mentions in his [[Podcast]] that because of [[Kara Thrace]]'s promise to [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] to return with help, we'll probably return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]].

== Guest stars ==
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Tamara Lashley]] as [[Sue-Shaun]]
*[[Rick Worthy]] as [[Simon]]

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category:A to Z|Farm, The]]
[[Category: Episode Guide (RDM)|Farm, The]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Carla Robinson]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Rod Hardy]]

[[es:La Granja]]

The Farm

2006-07-16T00:58:21Z

Commander Me:

:''This page covers the episode "The Farm." For the Farms themselves, see [[Farms]].''
{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Galacticafarm.jpg|300px]]
| Title=The Farm
| Series=[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined Series]]
| Season=[[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode=5
| Guests=
| Writer=[[Carla Robinson]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Rod Hardy]]
| Production=2.05
| Rating= 2.0
| US Airdate=August 12 2005
| UK Airdate=February 7 2006
| DVD=December 20 2005 (US Season 2.0)
| Population=47,857
| Prev=[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]
| Next=[[Home, Part I]]
}}
== Overview ==
:''[[Kara Thrace]] is shot and wakes up in a remote hospital facility on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], and learns that her friendly doctor has his own plans for her future.''

== Summary ==

=== On Caprica ===

*[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]], [[Karl Agathon|Helo]], and two members of the Resistance ([[Samuel Anders|Anders]] and [[Sue-Shaun]], who were introduced in the last episode) devise a plan to escape from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] by commandeering a [[Cylon Heavy Raider]] from a nearby airstrip. They will fit as many people as possible onto the craft, and will dispatch a rescue mission for the remainder upon return to ''[[Galactica]]''.
*As the team is about to assault the airstrip, they are ambushed, and Thrace is hit by a bullet that grazes off her head and gets lodged in her abdomen. She loses consciousness.
*Thrace wakes up in a hospital. She is being attended to by a doctor named [[Simon]], who tells her that she was brought into the hospital by Anders, and that Anders died from a shrapnel wound. Thrace is devastated.
*Thrace spends the next few days conversing with Simon, who muses that women capable of bearing children are a rare "commodity" now that the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] have nuked the Colonies, and suggests that Thrace should consider giving birth to a child.
*Simon speculates that Thrace's reluctance to have children stems from her mother having abused her when she was young, as evidenced by a pattern of fractures in her fingers. This topic upsets her.
*Thrace wakes to discover a new scar on her abdomen. Simon tells her it's from an operation he did to stop some bleeding, but Thrace doesn't believe him, particularly after he calls her "Starbuck"--her pilot call sign, which she has never told him.
*Thrace fakes sleep after crimping her intravenous drip filled with sedative. When Simon leaves, she follows him into the hallway, where she overhears him having a conversation with a copy of [[Number Six]] about the "complete removal" of her ovaries scheduled for the next day.
*A short time later, Thrace stabs Simon with a broken mirror shard and escapes the room. Lurching around the deserted hospital, she stumbles upon a room full of semi-conscious women wired horrifically to machines. Among them is [[Sue-Shaun]], who begs Thrace to destroy the "baby machines" and end their misery. She obliges with a prayer, a pair of medical tongs, and a primal scream.
*Thrace staggers outside, braining a Six model with a fire extinguisher in the process, only to find a another Simon standing there to greet her. At that moment, [[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and the rest of the resistance emerge from the woods. They pepper Simon with bullets, but soon get bogged down in a firefight with a squad of [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]]. A second rescue occurs in as many minutes: [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops down in a stolen Heavy Raider and blows the Centurions away.
*Thrace relates her experiences in the hospital to the others. Valerii explains that the [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylons]] have a flaw which renders them unable to reproduce biologically. The Cylons have been holding human women in "farms" to try to implant them with human/Cylon embryos. This effort has failed, however, leading the Cylons to believe that conception requires "love." Based on this theory, Valerii was able to conceive with Helo because of their love for each other.
*Helo, Sharon, and Starbuck leave Caprica on the Heavy Raider. Starbuck promises [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] to return someday to rescue the Resistance. In the meantime, Anders says he will try to destroy as many farms as he can.

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

*Commander Adama returns to duty, and is greated by applause in [[CIC]]. He tells the crew that he loves them all.
*To try to rally support to the president, Zarek wants [[Lee Adama]] to make a recording denouncing his father. Adama stops in the middle of it and says he can't go through with that. It's left to [[Laura Roslin]] to win over the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].
* Roslin plays the "religious card." She transfers to the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' from where she transmits a message imploring the Fleet to follow her and the path the [[Lords of Kobol]] have set out for her. An infuriated and staunchly secular Adama doesn't board the ''Astral Queen'' because he thinks only three or four ships would seriously listen to her "religious nonsense." Instead, 24 ships ("almost a third of the Fleet") leave with her.
*Cally is thrown in the brig for killing [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]], now known as a Cylon agent and traitor. Chief Tyrol implores Commander Adama to release her, due to her trauma by events on Kobol. Adama gives her a light sentence of charging her with discharging a firearm without permission: Cally will spend only one month in the brig.
*Adama asks Tyrol if he could love Boomer despite the fact that she was a machine. Tyrol isn't quite sure, but it becomes apparent that Adama is asking himself the question as much as he is Tyrol; Adama loved all of his pilots like his children.
*Adama visits Boomer's body in the morgue. He asks "Why?" then breaks down crying over her body.

== Questions ==
*Caprica-Valerii says that she knows that [[Leoben Conoy]] told Kara Thrace she was special during his interrogation aboard ''Galactica''. How could she have known this? How do the Cylon agents communicate to each other?
**Since it is confirmed that Cylon agents do transmit their consciousness or updated information from body to body upon death, this implies that '''all''' models share memories between each other, no matter where they are. Caprica-Valerii seems to know much of ''Galactica's'' state of affairs when asked. If such communication is the case, wouldn't the relative strength of such a signal from the body be a tip-off for Colonials to locate the remaining Cylon infiltrators?
**Valerii also says that she "hasn't accessed that data" when asked how many farms there are. Does this mean that Cylons transmit information only upon death? She knew about Leoben #2's "visit" with Thrace ([[Flesh and Bone]]) but she doesn't know the thoughts of the other Cylons on the planet who have not died. Conversely the Cylons seem unaware of her rebellious thoughts.
***Has the rebellious Sharon Valerii severed her connection with the other Cylons? After she switched sides in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," the other Cylons seem unaware of her current thoughts and actions. Perhaps she only knows of events on ''Galactica'' before this point?
**Leoben Conoy #2 appeared to acknowledge in "[[Flesh and Bone]]" that he was too far from Cylon forces for his personality to be recovered. Was he able to covertly transmit his memories to one of the basestars encountered in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]" or "[[Scattered]]" by way of another agent? ([[Resurrection Ship|Likely answer]])
*Will we see Simon again? ([[Downloaded|Answer]]) Is he one of the eight Cylon agents hiding in the Fleet?
*How did Simon know Anders name?
**RDM's blog states that one of the member's of Anders' resistance was probably a Cylon (not necessarily any of the resistance members we saw on screen) who tipped them off to Anders, though this didn't make the final cut of the episode.
***Could this have been a copy of [[Cavil]], specifically, the copy that prays with the resistance before they leave Caprica in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]?"
*Why does the Caprica resistance seem more concerned about Thrace's disappearance than Sue-Shaun's? Did Thrace's love interest generate the greater concern?
*Could Commander Adama's evident grief upon viewing the corpse of Boomer in the ship's morgue mean that they were personally involved at some point? Or, perhaps, did the level of humanity that Boomer showed cause Adama to mourn her loss as he would a daughter or daughter-figure such as Kara Thrace? In any case, given her role in Adama's assassination attempt, this is strange and strong behavior.
*Would any viable embryos harvested by the Cylons be accelerated into mature adults or placed ''in vitro'' into a host? Would the host be Cylon or human?
**Caprica-Valerii seemed to imply that no viable hybrid embryos had ever been produced by the Farms, at least up until this point. Then again, she said that they "weren't very successful," a somewhat vague answer suggesting inpregnation or growth but no viable fetuses.

== Analysis ==
*What exactly did the Cylons do to Thrace's ovaries? Simon tells Six: "...pending lab test results on sample for ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow". Starbuck escapes right after this, which means that the opportunity to "completely remove" her ovaries did not occur. This suggests at the very least that Starbuck can still have children. However, female humans only have '''two''' ovaries: how can you have a "sample" one? The sample could just mean that Simon took several eggs from one of Starbuck's ovaries to see if they were viable for conceiving children.
*It would seem that the Cylons at least obtained several sample egg cells from Starbuck. Will this lead to developments later on?
*In Ron D. Moore's blog entry for October 14, 2005, after finishing the last scripts for season two he jokingly says he has "the reward of time spent thinking about something besides Kara's missing ovaries ("Now, where did I leave those ovaries? They were right here a minute ago...") ". What is meant by this?

== Notes ==
*This episode's opening credits marks the return of the "blipvert" effect used in the first season episodes, which Ron D. Moore uses as an homage to "Space: 1999."
*As of the opening credits, the fleet population is now 47,857, a net loss of 4 since "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]". This reflects the deaths of four civilians on board the [[Gideon]] in that episode, but apparently not that of Boomer. Was she removed from the count immediately after her assassination attempt?
*According to [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]], this episode takes place "a week" after Apollo docked at ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' in the last episode, although apparently Adama hasn't been well enough to resume command until very recently.
*24 ships, almost a third of the Fleet, have left with Roslin for Kobol.
**This would mean the total Fleet consisted of over 72 ships. In the [[Miniseries]], there are only about 40 FTL-capable ships able to rendezvous with ''Galactica'' at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. This continuity error is similar to the 500-1500 prisoner error. [[Bastille Day]] and [[Miniseries]]
*Boomer's body is now in the morgue.
*Number Six mentioned that "procreation is one of God's commandments" in the first episode, "[[33]]." This could mean that the Cylons are trying to procreate out of a feeling that they are sinning by not being able to have children on their own.
*Helo and Caprica-Valerii's child is the first Human/Cylon hybrid conceived in love, and as a result appears to be the first and only successful hybrid; it seems that no other embryo survived nearly as long as it already has (it is now about five weeks old, since its conception in "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]").
*Boomer served aboard ''Galactica'' for two years, which means the Cylons had begun infiltrating Colonial society from at least that long ago. This matches the length of time of Six's affair with Baltar while on Caprica, suggesting that Cylon agent infiltration occurred around two years prior to the events of the miniseries.
*According to Simon's study (either from a Cylon dossier on Thrace or from medical exams) Starbuck was the victim of frequent physical abuse as a child; she's suffered many bone fractures in childhood, and all of her fingers have been broken at some point. This is conscistant with the comments made by Leoben Conoy to Starbuck during their interrogation scenes. [[Flesh and Bone]]
*Caprica-Valerii is aware of [[Leoben Conoy]] #2's interrogation by Starbuck in "[[Flesh and Bone]]," even of specific things he said during it, suggesting that Cylon agents sometimes have a collective knowledgebase (''not'' a collective consciousness; see "[[Downloaded]]" for this confirmation) to occasionally draw from. This is supported by Boomer's information to [[Gaius Baltar]] of the number of Cylon agents remaining in the Fleet in "[[Resistance]]," as only such an knowledgebase would allow Boomer to know of this data.
*This episode introduces the fifth confirmed [[Cylon agent]], [[Simon]].
*According to a deleted scene, this episode takes place a week after "[[Fragged]]."
*After the final commercial break, as Simon enters Starbuck's room (right before she stabs him) you can see that her room is number "254". Not so coincidentally, this scene takes place in Season 2, episode #5, and this is the start of Act #4.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*''Cylon's discussion the surgical testing they are performing on Starbuck'':
:Simon:...pending lab test results on [sample for] ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow. They've lab tested positive and subject will be removed to processing facility for final disposition.
:Number Six: Is that regret I hear in your voice, Simon?
:Simon: If it is, it certainly is none of your concern.

*''Explanation of the Human/Cylon hybrid project:''
:Valerii: They were conducting research, into Human/Cylon breeding programs.
:Starbuck:: Human/Cylon?
:Helo:: 'Call them "Farms"...your gunshot wound looks fine...
:Starbuck:: So "Farms", that's great...what were they going to do, 'knock me up with some Cylon kid?
:Valerii: They were going to try to. We haven't been very successful so far.
:Anders: Supposedly they can't reproduce...you know, ''biologically'', so they've been trying every which-way to produce offspring.
:Starbuck: Why?
:Valerii: Procreation. It's one of God's commandments; "be fruitful". We can't fulfill it, we've tried. So we decided--
:Starbuck: To rape human women?!
:Valerii: You know, if you agreed to bear children it would be voluntary, maybe even set you up with someone you like.
:Starbuck: And you two kids? [''Helo and Caprica-Boomer'']
:Valerii: We're different.
:Starbuck: What the frak is that supposed to mean?
:Helo: They have this theory; maybe the one thing they were missing was '''love'''. So Sharon and I...were set up...
:Starbuck: To fall in love?! They didn't ask [[Sue-Shaun]] if she wanted to fall in love, alright! They put a tube in her, and they hooked her up to a machine!
:Valerii: They know who you are, Kara. You're special. Leoben told you that. You have a destiny.
:Helo: [''pointing out the other scar on Starbuck's lower abdomen''] Starbuck what's the second scar?
:Starbuck: I don't know. I don't think I want to know now. You know?
:Valerii: No.
:Anders: Alright, how many women do they have in these "Farms"?
:Valerii: Hundreds, maybe thousands. I don't know, I haven't accessed that data.

*''Adama wonders aloud about the nature of Cylons and humans''
:'''Tyrol:''' I don't believe she [Cally] was in her right mind when she shot Boomer--
:'''Adama:''' Did you love her, Chief?
:'''Tyrol:''' 'Scuse me?
:'''Adama:''' Boomer. Did you love her?
:'''Tyrol:''' Thought I did.
:'''Adama:''' Well, when you think you love somebody, you love them. That's what love is. Thoughts... She was a Cylon. A machine! Is that what Boomer was, a machine? A thing?
:'''Tyrol:''' That's what she turned out to be.
:'''Adama:''' She was more than that to us. She was more than that to me. She was a vital, living person aboard my ship for almost two years! She couldn't have been just a machine. Could you love a machine?
:'''Tyrol:''' No, sir. Guess I couldn't have.
: '''Adama'''Cally discharged a firearm without permission, endangering life of her fellow shipmate. 30 days in the brig. Dismissed.
:'''Tyrol:''' Thank you, sir.
:'''Adama:''' You'll see her again, Chief.
:'''Tyrol:''' Excuse me?
:'''Adama:''' There are many copies. You'll see her again.

*''Simon, talking about Starbuck's reluctance to have children but also perhaps talking about the Cylons view of themselves (and maybe the "human" cylons).
:'''Simon:''' Children of abusive parents often fear passing along that abuse to their own children.

== Official Statements ==
[[Ronald D. Moore]] mentions in his [[Podcast]] that because of [[Kara Thrace]]'s promise to [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] to return with help, we'll probably return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]].

== Guest stars ==
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Tamara Lashley]] as [[Sue-Shaun]]
*[[Rick Worthy]] as [[Simon]]

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category:A to Z|Farm, The]]
[[Category: Episode Guide (RDM)|Farm, The]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Carla Robinson]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Rod Hardy]]

[[es:La Granja]]

User:Commander Me

2006-07-13T05:31:37Z

Commander Me:

Hello. I'm a relatively new Battlestar Wikipedian, but I already feel at home. I arrived hear after suffering long hours of disambiguation pages at Wikipedia about the different aspects of battlestar Galactica. My work on Wikipedia includes a major expansion of the "Cylon God" article, the creation of a Qurom of Twelve article, and various other editing related activities. I currently live in my own world (figuratively, of course).***NOTE*** In all of the subtitles for the series, I belive that the name of the Cylon who has a fascination with Starbuck is Leoben Conroy, not Leoben Conoy.

'''Vital Statistics:'''

'''Fave Reimagined Series Character(s):'''

Laura Roslin, (the late) Billy Kekeiya, (the late) Hellena Cain (reminds me of my mother), Cally (come on, who doesn't like "Specialist Lazy"), and finally the hottest of all sci-fi baddies, Number Six (Nummer Zechs to my german-speaking counter parts).

'''Fave TOS Character(s):'''

Give me a break. I wasn't even born yet.

'''Fave Food:'''

Pretty Much anything with BBQ sauce on it.

'''Fave TV Series Other than BSG:'''

Who am I kidding? BSG, of course.

'''Fave Subject(s):'''

German, French, Journalism

That's all for now.

User:Commander Me

2006-07-12T04:43:35Z

Commander Me:

Hello. I'm a relatively new Battlestar Wikipedian, but I already feel at home. I arrived hear after suffering long hours of disambiguation pages at Wikipedia about the different aspects of battlestar Galactica. My work on Wikipedia includes a major expansion of the "Cylon God" article, the creation of a Qurom of Twelve article, and various other editing related activities. I currently live in my own world (figuratively, of course).

'''Vital Statistics:'''

'''Fave Reimagined Series Character(s):'''

Laura Roslin, (the late) Billy Kekeiya, (the late) Hellena Cain (reminds me of my mother), Cally (come on, who doesn't like "Specialist Lazy"), and finally the hottest of all sci-fi baddies, Number Six (Nummer Zechs to my german-speaking counter parts).

'''Fave TOS Character(s):'''

Give me a break. I wasn't even born yet.

'''Fave Food:'''

Pretty Much anything with BBQ sauce on it.

'''Fave TV Series Other than BSG:'''

Who am I kidding? BSG, of course.

'''Fave Subject(s):'''

German, French, Journalism

That's all for now.

Pegasus (TRS)

2006-07-12T04:28:20Z

Commander Me:

:''For the second-season episode, see [[Pegasus (episode)]]. For the Original Series ''Pegasus'', see [[Pegasus (TOS)]].''

{{Ship Data|
image= BSPegasus.jpg
| title= Pegasus (BS 62)
| race= Colonial
| type= Military
| ftl= Yes
| crew= Approximately 1,750
| co= [[Lee Adama]]
| xo= [[Anastasia Dualla]]
| role= Carrier / battleship hybrid
| weapons= Primary and point-defense [[KEW|Kinetic Energy Weapons]], conventional missiles, nuclear warheads, Vipers, Raptors
| status= Active
| img= Y
}}

'''''Pegasus'' (BS 62)''' is a [[Mercury class battlestar]] that was stationed at the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] during the [[Cylon attack]]. After escaping the destruction of the twelve colonies, ''Pegasus'' began tracking a Cylon taskforce which ultimatley reunited them with [[The Fleet (RDM)|refugee fleet]] being guarded by the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] [[Galactica (RDM)|''Galactica'']].

''Pegasus'' was commanded by Admiral [[Helena Cain]], until her death ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]). Colonel [[Jack Fisk]] assumed command in her wake, but he too was assassinated ([[Black Market]]). Pegasus was then briefly commanded by engineer-turned-commander [[Barry Garner]], who was killed during the [[Battle of the Binary Star System]]. Pegasus is currently commanded by Commander [[Lee Adama]].

The Pegasus has become unofficially known as "The Beast" amongst the fleet, although it is not known if it's due to its tenacity in combat or because of its sordid history ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

== Fleet Details ==
'''Designation''': warship, [[battlestar]] type, [[Mercury class battlestar|''Mercury'' class battlestar]] 
'''Deployment''': Formerly an element of [[62nd Battlestar Group]] 
'''Current Status''': One of [[Galactica|two]] remaining Colonial military units. Currently under the command of Commander [[Lee Adama]]. Formerly commanded by (in order of succession) Commander [[Barry Garner]], Commander [[Jack Fisk]], and Admiral [[Helena Cain]].

==History==
Presumed lost with the rest of the Colonial military fleet, ''Pegasus'' actually managed to escape the destruction of the Colonies when Admiral [[Helena Cain]] ordered a [[blind jump]]. While saving the battlestar, about 700 of her crew died in the initial attack.

Although the ''Pegasus'' was advanced enough to have the [[Command Navigation Program]] which the Cylons used as a backdoor, ''Pegasus'' had just checked in for a three-month refit at the time of the Cylon attack, and as such, almost all of its networked [[Computers|computer]] systems were offline. As a result, the Cylons were not able to immobilize the ship using computer infiltration. This, combined with the sheer luck of not being one of the first ships at the shipyards that the Cylons focused their attack on, and Admiral Cain's order to just randomly Jump anywhere safe immediately, allowed ''Pegasus'' to escape.

At some point, a [[Cylon agent|Cylon]] infiltrator was discovered onboard - a woman named [[Gina]]. She killed seven men when apprehended, and was then incarcerated, brutally interrogated and gang-raped by many of the crew.

After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], ''Pegasus'' occupied itself with hit-and-run attacks on various Cylon assets. It participated in a bold assault on a staging area filled with fifteen squadrons of [[Raider]]s. When Cain's long-time [[Executive officer]] expressed hesitancy to launch the ships' fighters against such odds, Cain publicly executed him on the bridge and promoted [[Jack Fisk]] to replace him. This, according to Colonel Fisk, who told this story (and later recanted) while drunk to Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]], which Tigh believed to be true when he recounted it to Commander [[William Adama]].

Some time later, ''Pegasus'' discovered that a Cylon fleet it was tracking appeared to be jumping, not randomly, but to systems with natural resources. The battlestar then accidentally encountered [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] led by battlestar ''[[Galactica]]'' when ''Pegasus'' jumped ahead to scout the Cylon target's projected next position (as it turned out, the Cylons were jumping to systems ''Galactica'' had been in). Cain assumed command of the fleet and began transferring supplies and many personnel between the two battlestars, including Captain [[Lee Adama]] and Lieutenant [[Kara Thrace]]. Cain appeared unconcerned with the needs of the civilians and their ships, a problem noted to Commander Adama by President [[Laura Roslin]].

Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] mentioned during his interrogation by Colonel [[Saul Tigh]] that he served aboard a number of battlestars in his military career, including ''Pegasus'' ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]). If Admiral Cain ever knew him during this time, she made no mention of it, and had no reservations sentencing him and [[Karl Agathon]] to death when they inadvertently killed Lieutenant [[Alistair Thorne]], Cain's chief "Cylon interrogator". [[William Adama]], commander of ''Galactica'', refused to permit the execution, precipitating an armed standoff between the two ships ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

==Pegasus Fleet==

It was later revealed that ''Pegasus'' originally had its own small fleet of 15 civilian ships which it found about a week after the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], which actually had FTL drives and weapons. However, rather than defending them (as ''Galactica'' had at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]), Admiral Cain saw them as potential spare parts for ''Pegasus'', and decided that ''Pegasus' '' military needs were a priority over them. The civilian ships were stripped for parts, including their weapons and FTL drives, marooning them and leaving them completely at the mercy of the Cylons when Cain left. However not all of the civilians were left to die: after looking over the passenger lists, Cain selected those civilians who she thought would be of value (such as [[Peter Laird]], an aeronautical engineer), forcibly drafting them into her crew. However, 15 'selectees' aboard the civilian transport ''[[Scylla]]'' were traveling with their families and refused to leave without them. Admiral Cain ordered her marines to kill two families (men, women, and children) to shock the rest into submission. ''Pegasus'' then abandoned the civilian ships to pursue Admiral Cain's campaign of hit-and-run attacks against Cylon forces. ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]])

==Equipment==
[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown3.jpg|thumb|right|Pegasus taking heavy fire]]
Differences between the ''Mercury''-class battlestar design and that of the ''Galactica''-type battlestars will be further elaborated upon in a deleted scene in the episode "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]," which will be included in the upcoming DVD release of ''Season 2.5''. Although, it is known that, ulnike her counterpart Galactica, Pegasus' landing bays have two areas for combat-landings. One area is on top of another using reverse gravity. How the pilots and other personnel are able to travel from the two different gravitational axises is unkown.

[[Image:PegasusForeBatteries.jpg|thumb|right|Pegasus firing her forward batteries]]

''Pegasus'' operates at least four [[Viper Mark VII]] squadrons, all verbally identified in the episode "[[The Captain's Hand]]":
*[[Red Squadron (RDM)|Red Squadron]]
*[[Yellow Squadron]]
*[[Green Squadron]]
*[[Blue Squadron (RDM)|Blue Squadron]]

It is also known that ''Pegasus'' has Viper production facilities ([[Scar]]). This is a capability that would allow the ''Pegasus'' to be self sufficient on extended deployments.

==Crew==
====Senior Staff before the founding of New Caprica====
*Commander [[Lee Adama]] - Commanding officer

====Former Members of the Senior Staff====
*Admiral [[Helena Cain]] - Commanding officer (Killed by the [[Cylon]] known as [[Gina]])
*Commander [[Jack Fisk]] - Commanding officer (Killed by members of the [[Black market (organization)|Black Market]])
*Commander [[Barry Garner]] - Commanding officer (Killed in Action)
*Lieutenant [[Alistair Thorne]] - Cylon Interrogator (Killed by [[Galen Tyrol]])

==Notes==
*According to [[David Eick]]'s video blog, it would have been impossible to afford creating new sets for the entire interior of ''Pegasus'' on the budget of an episodic television show. This expense was circumvented when a year beforehand Ron D. Moore and David Eick bought (for next to nothing) the abandoned sets of the failed pilot for the FOX network's "Lost In Space" remake, directed by John Woo. The production team then held onto the sets hoping to find some later use for them, eventually using them for [[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]. The sets were then radically redesigned and painted to give them the aesthetic look of ''Galactica'', but sleeker and more advanced.
*This ship is named after the mythological ''Pegasus'' creature (see [[Wikipedia:Pegasus|Wikipedia article]])

== Related Imagery ==

<gallery>
Image:Pegasus01.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Front view    
Image:Pegasus_Hi-Res_1a.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Vipers landing    
Image:Pegasus_Hi-Res_5a.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Gun batteries    
Image:Pegasus_Hi-Res_3a.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Next to ''Galactica''    
Image:Pegasus 217 1080i rescale.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Side angle    
Image:Pegasus2_217_1080i_rescale.jpg|''Pegasus'' - Reverse side    
</gallery>

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft]]
[[Category:Colonial Military]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Battlestars]]

[[es:Pegasus (RDM)]]

Atlantia

2006-07-09T22:53:15Z

Commander Me:

The battlestar '''''Atlantia''''' is the flagship of the Colonial Fleet in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] and the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]==

The ''Atlantia'' was one of about 120 [[Battlestars]] in the Colonial fleet.It was mentioned once in the [[Miniseries]] and once in the second season. At the time of the [[Cylon attack]], it served as the flagship for [[Admiral Nagala]], who assumed control of the fleet after the [[Picon]] [[Fleet Headquarters]] were destroyed. In the miniseries novelization, it mentions that ''Atlantia'' was a newer [[Battlestar]], much like the [[Pegasus]]. Unfortunately, it was destroyed whilst participating in a battle forming up in the orbit of [[Virgon]]. One can assume that it was in posession of the Command Navigation Program developed by [[Gaius Baltar]] and sabotaged with exploitable back-doors by [[Caprica-Six]]. [[Admiral Adama]] is said to have made his 1,000th landing on ''Atlantia'', and [[Galen Tyrol]] served aboard it before comming to ''[[Galactica]]''. The novelization states that Lee Adama served aboard her before the attack. This statement might not be true, due to novelizations not being considered [[canon]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|The Original Series]]==
[[Image:tos_atlantia.jpg|thumb|Battlestar Atlantia]]

''Atlantia'' is where the [[Quorum of Twelve (TOS)|Quorum of Twelve]] meet in anticipation of the coming treaty between humanity and the [[Cylons (TOS)|Cylons]] that will bring to an end the [[Thousand-Yahren War]].

''Atlantia'' is destroyed when the treaty rendezvous at [[Cimtar]] becomes a trap, along with three of the remaining battlestars of the Colonial fleet, with only ''[[Galactica (TOS)|Galactica]]'' surviving to fend off the Cylons ([[Saga of a Star World]]).

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft (TOS)]]
[[Category:Colonial Military]]
[[Category:Colonial Military (TOS)]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:TOS]]
[[Category:Video Game Ships]]
[[Category:Battlestars]]

[[de:Atlantia]]
[[es:Atlantia]]

Atlantia

2006-07-09T22:52:46Z

Commander Me:

The battlestar '''''Atlantia''''' is the flagship of the Colonial Fleet in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] and the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]==

The ''Atlantia'' was one of about 120 [[Battlestars]] in the Colonial fleet.It was mentioned once in the [[Miniseries]] and once in the second season. At the time of the [[Cylon attack]], it served as the flagship for [[Admiral Nagala]], who assumed control of the fleet after the [[Picon]] [[Fleet Headquarters]] were destroyed. In the miniseries novelization, it mentions that [[Atlantia]] was a newer [[Battlestar]], much like the [[Pegasus]]. Unfortunately, it was destroyed whilst participating in a battle forming up in the orbit of [[Virgon]]. One can assume that it was in posession of the Command Navigation Program developed by [[Gaius Baltar]] and sabotaged with exploitable back-doors by [[Caprica-Six]]. [[Admiral Adama]] is said to have made his 1,000th landing on ''Atlantia'', and [[Galen Tyrol]] served aboard it before comming to ''[[Galactica]]''. The novelization states that Lee Adama served aboard her before the attack. This statement might not be true, due to novelizations not being considered [[canon]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|The Original Series]]==
[[Image:tos_atlantia.jpg|thumb|Battlestar Atlantia]]

''Atlantia'' is where the [[Quorum of Twelve (TOS)|Quorum of Twelve]] meet in anticipation of the coming treaty between humanity and the [[Cylons (TOS)|Cylons]] that will bring to an end the [[Thousand-Yahren War]].

''Atlantia'' is destroyed when the treaty rendezvous at [[Cimtar]] becomes a trap, along with three of the remaining battlestars of the Colonial fleet, with only ''[[Galactica (TOS)|Galactica]]'' surviving to fend off the Cylons ([[Saga of a Star World]]).

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft (TOS)]]
[[Category:Colonial Military]]
[[Category:Colonial Military (TOS)]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:TOS]]
[[Category:Video Game Ships]]
[[Category:Battlestars]]

[[de:Atlantia]]
[[es:Atlantia]]

Atlantia

2006-07-09T22:50:53Z

Commander Me:

The battlestar '''''Atlantia''''' is the flagship of the Colonial Fleet in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] and the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]==

The ''Atlantia'' was one of about 120 [[Battlestars]] in the Colonial fleet.It was mentioned once in the [[Miniseries]] and once in the second season. At the time of the [[Cylon attack]], it served as the flagship for [[Admiral Nagala]], who assumed control of the fleet after the [[Picon]] [[Fleet Headquarters]] were destroyed. In the miniseries novelization, it mentions that Atlantia was a newer [[Battlestar]], much like the [[Pegasus]]. Unfortunately, it was destroyed whilst participating in a battle forming up in the orbit of [[Virgon]]. One can assume that it was in posession of the Command Navigation Program developed by Gaius Baltar and sabotaged with exploitable back-doors by [[Caprica-Six]]. [[Admiral Adama]] is said to have made his 1,000th landing on ''Atlantia'', and [[Galen Tyrol]] served aboard it before comming to ''[[Galactica]]''. The novelization states that Lee Adama served aboard her before the attack. This statement might not be true, due to novelizations not being considered [[canon]].

==[[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|The Original Series]]==
[[Image:tos_atlantia.jpg|thumb|Battlestar Atlantia]]

''Atlantia'' is where the [[Quorum of Twelve (TOS)|Quorum of Twelve]] meet in anticipation of the coming treaty between humanity and the [[Cylons (TOS)|Cylons]] that will bring to an end the [[Thousand-Yahren War]].

''Atlantia'' is destroyed when the treaty rendezvous at [[Cimtar]] becomes a trap, along with three of the remaining battlestars of the Colonial fleet, with only ''[[Galactica (TOS)|Galactica]]'' surviving to fend off the Cylons ([[Saga of a Star World]]).

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft]]
[[Category:Colonial Craft (TOS)]]
[[Category:Colonial Military]]
[[Category:Colonial Military (TOS)]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:TOS]]
[[Category:Video Game Ships]]
[[Category:Battlestars]]

[[de:Atlantia]]
[[es:Atlantia]]

Helena Cain

2006-07-05T04:55:36Z

Commander Me:

{{Character Data|
|photo=[[Image:Nelena.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony=[[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Tauron|Tauron]]
|birthname=Helena Cain
|callsign=
|seen= Pegasus (episode)
|death= Shot by [[Gina]] aboard Pegasus, in Cain's quarters. ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]])
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role=Commanding Officer, [[Battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|rank=Admiral
|actor=[[Michelle Forbes]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

Admiral '''Helena Cain''', hailing from the colony [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Tauron|Tauron]], is commander of the [[Mercury class battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' during the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. She is a hard woman not afraid of hard decisions and unflinching in her will to do what she sees as right. Sometimes, these traits conspire so that she see that she has been left no choice but to take controversial, unpopular or morally questionable decisions.

==Biography==
===Cylon attack, and guerilla warfare===
At the time of the [[Cylon attack]], Cain's battlestar was stationed at the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] for upgrades and shore leave. As the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] attacked, destroying other battlestars and support ships there, Cain orders a [[Blind jump|blind Jump]], gambling that the result of such an impromptu (and inadvisable) escape would be better than the alternative of destruction.

Despite the impossible odds, Cain intended to sustain a campaign of guerilla warfare against the occupying Cylon forces. Shortly after her escape, however, ''Pegasus'' encountered a small refugee fleet of fifteen ships. Unwilling to be shackled down by the responsibility of protecting them, she striped the refugee fleet of useful hardware and personel, and left them stranded without [[FTL]] engines. She then led the battlestar away from the [[Twelve Colonies]], following a Cylon fleet that trailed what they discovered as fellow battlestar ''[[Galactica]]''.

===Galactica===
Upon meeting up with Commander [[William Adama]]'s [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], she assumes command and transfers personnel from ''Galactica'' to ''Pegasus'', including [[Lee Adama]] and [[Kara Thrace]], indicating that Adama has let military discipline become too lax. Cain is more interested in fighting the Cylons, seemingly oblivious to the point that she and the ships around her are all that was left of the human race, whose survival is more paramount than offensive assaults. While Adama initially welcomes such attacks against a mysterious Cylon force that followed the Fleet (to stop it from following them), his attitude begins to cool about Cain's very strict and unmerciful leadership.
[[image:caingalact.jpg|left|Admiral Cain, meeting up with the crew of Galactica.|thumb]]
Cain's actions also raise concerns with President [[Laura Roslin]]. Cain recognizes Roslin and her former role as Secretary of Education. After the Fleet command transfer from Adama to Cain, Roslin makes several attempts to call Cain to request supplies for the civilian fleet, but all of Roslin's calls are ignored.

Cain may also show brutal behavior when commanding her own staff, according to a conversation over alcohol that Colonel [[Saul Tigh]] has with his ''Pegasus'' counterpart, Colonel [[Jack Fisk]]. Fisk comments that, after ''Pegasus' ''initially escapes, the battlestar once tries to attack a Cylon communications relay -- an easy target. On arrival in the system, however, it turns out the target is a Cylon staging area, filled with 15 squadrons of [[Raider]]s. Admiral Cain ordered her previous Executive Officer, a man she had served with for years, to carry out the attack anyway, but he refused the order in the face of such odds. Admiral Cain asked the XO for his gun, and shot him in the head in front of the crew in the Pegasus [[CIC]]. Cain then turned to Fisk and ordered him to launch the attack, which he did. After relating this story to Col. Tigh, Col. Fisk says he is joking about the incident.

Although the story could be unreliable because Fisk is drunk at the time, Tigh relays the story and his suspicions of his likelihood to Adama. Adama cautions that ''Galactica's'' crew has also made some questionable actions since the attack, and they don't know if the story was taken out of context or not. Even if the story is true, Adama is willing to give Cain the benefit of the doubt and not question the matter further.

===Court-martial, standoff===
After the suspect fatal assault of one of her crew members, Lieutenant [[Alistair Thorne|Thorne]], Cain arrests Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] and Lieutenant Karl "[[Karl Agathon|Helo]]" Agathon and flies them to ''Pegasus'', under Adama's protest, since traditionally a trial is held on the ship where an incident has occurred. Cain uses ''Galactica's'' log against Adama when he asks for a tribunal; Cain notes that Adama dismissed the last council unilaterally when the verdict did not suit him. Cain summarily court-martials the prisoners herself in a matter of hours, sentencing them to death. Commander Adama is far from pleased, and orders an assault crew to head for ''Pegasus'' to bring his men back. Cain responds by deploying her squadrons of advanced Mark VII Vipers against Adama's museum collection of Mark II Vipers in a tense standoff ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

The tense game of chicken that begins is ended by Starbuck, flying the [[Blackbird]] as she returns from her unofficial recon mission on the unknown Cylon ship. Starbuck transmits the pictures she took of the [[Resurrection Ship]] back to ''Pegasus'' [[CIC]]. Upon Thrace's return to ''Pegasus'', Cain is so impressed with her performance that she promotes Thrace to Captain and ''Pegasus'' [[CAG]], replacing the competent but uncreative and inflexible Capt. [[Cole Taylor|Taylor]]. Cain tasks Starbuck with planning the joint strike on the Resurrection Ship.
===Attack on the Resurrection Ship, and assassination===
[[Image:Gina-Cain.jpg|thumb|Admiral Cain held at gun-point by [[Gina]].]]

After Captain Thrace briefs both Adama, Apollo, and Cain on her plan to attack the Resurrection Ship, Adama pulls Starbuck aside and outlines a plan to assassinate Cain following the attack. At the same time, Cain instructs [[Jack Fisk]] to lead a detachment of marines to "terminate Adama's command" after the battle ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).

When the moment arrives, neither commander decides to send their execution orders, leaving Thrace and Fisk visibly relieved. Cain survives Adama's plan, ironically, because Adama solicits advice from [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|the second copy of Sharon Valerii]], who reminds him of his decommissioning speech that asked whether humanity asked itself if it deserved to survive ([[Miniseries]]). That is, Adama's actions in assassinating Cain would be a good example of why humanity deserved what the Cylons dealt to them so many months ago.

Unfortunately for Cain, shortly after Adama's window to assassinate Cain had passed, [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] helps the Cylon agent [[Gina]] escape from the brig. Gina makes her way to Cain's quarters and shoots Cain at point blank range. A soldier to the last, Cain's final words are "[[Frak]] you."

Cain's funeral is given full military honors, with Fisk and Thrace giving eulogies. Though Thrace only knew Cain briefly, she obviously admired the woman, stating "We were safer with her than we are without." ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

== Notes ==

*Helena Cain is inspired by the character of Commander [[Cain (TOS)|Cain]] from the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica (1978)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', portrayed by the late [[Lloyd Bridges]].

*Actress Michelle Forbes guest starred as Dara Timicin in the ''[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[MemoryAlpha:Half a Life|Half a Life]]" and had a recurring role as Ensign [[MemoryAlpha:Ro Laren|Ro Laren]] during the last three seasons of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. ''Battlestar Galactica'' executive producer [[Ronald D. Moore]], also a ''TNG'' veteran, wrote for her character in the episodes "[[MemoryAlpha:Disaster|Disaster]]" and "[[MemoryAlpha:The Next Phase|The Next Phase]]".

*Cain's habit of expediting meetings by conducting them without chairs is borrowed from UN Ambassador [[Wikipedia:John R. Bolton|John R. Bolton]]. (Source: "Pegasus" podcast)

*Jane Seymour, who portrayed Serina in the original series, was asked to play Cain, but turned down the offer.

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{{succession box|before=''(unknown)'' |title=Commanding Officer of the [[Mercury class battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''|after=[[Jack Fisk]]}}
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[[Category: A to Z|Cain, Helena]] [[Category: Characters|Cain, Helena]] [[Category:People from Tauron|Cain, Helena]] [[Category: RDM|Cain, Helena]]