Ragnar Anchorage

2006-10-10T10:41:15Z

Eyrian: link zoic

[[Image:ragnar_station.jpg|thumb|Ragnar Anchorage (credit: [[Zoic]] Studios, 2003)]]

'''Ragnar Anchorage''' (also called "Ragnar Station" or "Ragnar Station Ammunition Reserve") is a Colonial munitions dump suspended in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant [[Ragnar]] ([[Miniseries]]).

When the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] launch their [[Cylon Attack|surprise attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies]], [[battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' was caught without any munitions for her main and point-defense batteries, having dumped them as part of her decommissioning ceremonies prior to the battle. [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] determines that Ragnar Anchorage offers the best opportunity for re-arming the ship, even though it is some 3 days' travel from ''Galactica's'' position at [[sublight]] speeds and [[Commander Adama]] refers to docking at Ragnar Anchorage as a "super bitch." His decision may well be based on the sound reasoning that the Anchorage, suspended in the stormy upper atmosphere of the planet [[Ragnar]], offers ''Galactica'' the best opportunity to re-arm while reducing the risk of the Cylons finding them and renewing their planned attack before the ship can defend herself. The [[Colonial Fleet]] learned that the atmosphere of the planet Ragnar emitted a kind of radiation that adversely affected Cylon technology and cloaked ships residing within the storm.

While at Ragnar Anchorage, ''Galactica'' obtains enough munitions to completely re-arm her guns, and she also collects a number of [[Class-D]] warheads. Her crew also encounter [[Leoben Conoy]], posing as an arms trader, who eventually gives the Colonials their first discovery of [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylon infiltrators]].

[[Image:ragnar.jpg|thumb|''Galactica'' and her new [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] leaving Ragnar Anchorage]]

While at Ragnar, ''Galactica'' is joined by a civilian convoy of survivors gathered by new President [[Laura Roslin]]. When they arrive, Adama is persuaded to alter his original plan to send ''Galactica'' into a suicidal fight against the Cylons into one of exodus from the Colonies to save the last of humanity.

''Galactica'' protects her new [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] as they make a [[FTL|Jump]] from Ragnar towards the [[Promar Sector]], well beyond the "[[Red Line]]" of chartered space, never to return to the solar system of the Colonies in an effort to escape the Cylons.

==Notes==
*To minimize the time needed to get to Ragnar, [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] orders ''[[Galactica]]'s'' [[FTL]] drive systems prepared for use, which prompts a critical comment from Colonel Tigh that ''Galactica's'' FTL drive systems had not been used in over 20 years.

*Tigh may have been less worried about ''Galactica's'' Jump ability but to the Jump's difficulty in particular. Given the strong gravity well and electromagnetic fields that a gas giant such the one at Ragnar would possess, plotting a Jump to emerge at close proximity to the Anchorage would be an extremely risky measure only to be undertaken in emergency situations, even with a more [[Mercury class battlestar|advanced battlestar]].

*The name "Ragnar" is used allegorically by the show writers to remind the viewer of [[Wikipedia:Ragnarok|Ragnarok]], the apocalyptic battle of the gods of Norse mythology.

*The dark, dank, extremely dirty interior of Ragnar Anchorage was filmed in the [http://www.rogerssugar.com/overview/vancouver.html Roger's Sugar Mill in Vancouver], according to the Miniseries DVD commentary.

''The destruction of ''Galactica's'' munitions was shown in a deleted scene of the [[Miniseries]] DVD set as part of the decommissioning ceremonies.''

==See Also==

The [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]] details the battle and provides links to successive Cylon encounters.

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

[[es:Ancladero Ragnar]]

Galen Tyrol

2006-10-10T09:53:36Z

Eyrian: /* Background */ fix battlestar links to RDM

{{Character Data
|photo= Galen Tyrol promo.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]]
|birthname= Galen Tyrol
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents= An unnamed Oracle (mother) and a Priest (father).
|siblings=
|children=[[Nicholas Tyrol]]
|marital status= Married to [[Cally Henderson Tyrol]]<ref>In [[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance#Episode 2|The Resistance episode 2]] Tyrol explained to [[Jammer]] that he, like [[Duck]], also had risks by participating in the resistance because he had a wife and kid.</ref>
|role= Union Organizer, [[New Caprica]]; former Senior NCO, Deck Crew 5, [[Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]''
|rank= Chief Petty Officer
|actor= [[Aaron Douglas]]
|cylon=
}}

== 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 (RDM)|Columbia]]'', ''[[Atlantia (RDM)|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, 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 whom they loved, despite the reality of what they were ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]). Their realization of this fact led 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]])

== Notes ==

*[[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 Gemenon. This is in keeping with previously established facts about him: Gemenons are very religious ([[Fragged]]), and Tyrol's father was a priest and his mother was an oracle ([[Resistance]]).
*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==
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{{Characters}}

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

[[es:Galen Tyrol]]

Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Ragnar Anchorage

Galen Tyrol