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Talk:Kara Thrace/Archive 1

2010-09-02T15:56:11Z

Themario: /* Recent Additions moved from Article: Please Revise, Dissect, and Discuss */

As far as you actually see in the episode 'The Farm' there is only one new abdominal scar on Starbuck. This would suggest that only one of her ovaries has been removed, not two. The podcast may have more precise information, however.

:The phrase "[[CAG]] Second in Command" is a kind of awkward consturction. Can anybody think of a better way to describe her role? [[User:Rocky8311|Rocky8311]] 21:41, October 16, 2005 (EDT)

:: I don't believe that she actually has a title. She's an instructor and Viper pilot... and a crack shot with a sniper rifle. (How she got ''that'' talent is likely a subject of interest...) -- [[User:Joe.Beaudoin|Joe Beaudoin]] 23:18, 16 October 2005 (EDT)

::: I agree on all counts. The thing is that we know she's understood to be in charge whenever Apollo is indisposed, but CAG Second in Command just doesn't sound quite right. I just don't know what would sound better [[User:Rocky8311|Rocky8311]] 23:27, October 16, 2005 (EDT)

::::Senior pilot after Capt. Lee Adama? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 23:35, 16 October 2005 (EDT)

:::::Vice-CAG? [[User:Philwelch|Philwelch]] 15:45, 8 December 2005 (EST)

:::::: Military wise, she would be the Air Group Executive Officer were she second in command of the pilots. [[User:Joemc72|Joemc72]] 17:34, 18 January 2006 (EST)

==Verb Tense for Zak Stuff==
I reviewed the standards and conventions page, and it seems like the Zak Adama stuff really deserved the past tense since it occured "prior to the Mini-Series". The example in the second paragraph references Zak's funeral, which seems to be a pretty fitting example to apply here. So does all the pre-mini-series go to past tense, or are we going to 100% present tense (in which case we'd probably need to change the standards and conventions page). --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 17:28, 18 January 2006 (EST)

: We can change the standards if we want (I mean--''we''wrote tham, after all), but I think it makes sense... As I was editing that, I was already getting confused about tenses and such, and I only really touched the one paragraph. Joemc72 and I already sorted it out on [[User talk:Day#Past vs Present tense|my Talk page]]. --[[User:Day|Day]] 17:31, 18 January 2006 (EST)

:: I went ahead and reverted it back. [[User:Joemc72|Joemc72]] 17:32, 18 January 2006 (EST)

:::SV is correct. Events from the miniseries on are present tense unless confusing. Flashbacks of events prior to miniseries and regular series should be worked as past tense. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 09:10, 3 February 2006 (EST)

==Paging Dr. Freud==

In the miniseries, Thrace doesn't tell Adama she doesn't ''have'' a big enough dipstick for his job, but that ''she's'' not a big enough dipstick. It's one line, but this is an unintentionally funny rendering of the quote... if you consider all the folks who were against Starbuck being a girl... [[User:Below|Below]] 16:20, 2 February 2006 (EST)
:Thrace has authority issues when crossed, yes. Not as cavalier about it as the original Starbuck, but then, this is a darker world. When compelled to, however, Thrace can obviously manage the work, even excel. She's still second CAG, now that Adama has returned to that status, and can effectively lead an attack as CAGs do, title or no. Thrace does have the "dipstick"; but she HATES having to deal with mentalities like Tigh. But she hates being out of the pilot's seat more, which gives her a greater sense of control than anything. I'd have Thrace plan any attack, anytime. And, in keeping with the dipstick metaphor, you can always expect her to be on top in almost anything she does. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 09:08, 3 February 2006 (EST)
Grin. I was thinking that an additional dimension to her authority issues was seen in the last few episodes. I think it would be interesting to integrate into this article if possible, but tonight's episode might have some more to say first. We know she had an abusive mother who served in the military, and identifies with her father. The Admiral is a positive father figure to her, but she's disgusted by Tigh, especially his drinking. (Was alcohol her mother's personal tinderbox?)
Enter Cain. On the one hand, Cain identifies with Thrace and gives her positive reinforcement: eg Do you always get what you want, I usually do. In my viewing, Sackhoff plays it as being both nervous and touched by Cain's approval. (Her mother had said she'd never account to anything: here's a much higher ranking woman claiming that she's capable of greatness.) Pretty clear that Cain wants to mentor Thrace, and sees a "younger self" in the pilot. At the same time, it's not a stretch to parallel the violent, volatile Cain with Thrace's absent, abusive mother. (Michelle Forbes would be a really interesting Medea.)
So Kara is being asked to choose between father figure Adama and mother figure Cain, and shooting Cain may feel like a kind of matricide.
Usually when TV shows or movies set up a young character against "two parents," one good, one bad, it's a young man torn between two fathers or father figures (witness "A Bronx Tale," "Platoon," "Star Wars", many others), so it's interesting to see that dynamic with a young woman. One more reason I love watching this show. [[User:Below|Below]] 11:18, 3 February 2006 (EST)

:Oh yes; for the past few weeks I've been repeatedly asking on the official site's RDM blog thread if they ''intentionally'' wrote it that Starbuck was won over by Cain because it was like her mother giving her the recognition that she never got. Of course, I ask a lot of things there....(I was annoyed when in his recent blog update yesterday A) people sometimes ask questions he's already answered many months ago (like, "Where is Boxey" and "Why don't we see the engine room?"), so B) he didn't realize this (I don't blame him, he's got a lot of work to do) so he wasted a blog entry answering questions that were already answered....except one, btw; apparently, the Presidential election is coming up soon. Probably not by the season 2 finale, obviously, but I got the impression he's playing around with script stuff for it now, and who knows? It might be the season 3 cliffhanger...or at most the season 3 finale. This, of course, would prove that they have indeed jumped several months ahead (once again, how could 2 months pass during Flight of the Phoenix?...but I digress....). --[[User:Ricimer|Ricimer]] 11:46, 3 February 2006 (EST)

:: How, you ask? Easily. See, all that we saw on the show was actually in ''fast forward''... See, for that month, Bill had decided that everyone was to do everything at ''one sixth'' of normal speed... Thus, all that took two months. I thought that was obvious. *wink* --[[User:Day|Day]] 03:01, 4 February 2006 (EST)

==Scar==

What's with the "Kara is CAG in Scar" business? It looked like Apollo was still in charge to me. --[[User:Redwall|Redwall]] 00:27, 4 February 2006 (EST)

:Kara was responsible for briefings and I'm pretty sure I heard her referred to as CAG a few times in the episode. --Ltcrashdown 00:29, 4 February 2006 (EST)

::Negative, Lieutenant. Kat said to Kara, "The CAG wants us spread out so we can cover more ground. It's right here in the briefings." I'm pretty sure that's accurate, anyway. Someone check me. Anyway, I thought it was clear she was talking about Lee. Now... Why was she doing all the briefings? I have no idea... I thought for a bit that maybe Lee was on ''Pegasus'' doing some kind of fleet-wide-CAG duties, but ''Peggie'' was off protecting the Fleet, so he'd probably not be jumping back and forth to almost have sex with Kara and all that. --[[User:Day|Day]] 02:56, 4 February 2006 (EST)

::Because Lee has seniority over Kara (both are Captains, but he's been one longer, etc) he is in charge of their whole widescale operation. I mean, the guy can't be awake 24 horus a day and be everywhere at once. He needs to delegate duties now and again like this. --[[User:Ricimer|Ricimer]] 02:59, 4 February 2006 (EST)

==Serial Number==
It's partially visible on the dogtag she gave Anders in "Downloaded": ?? 462753 - the two question marks would be letters, and I think the second one is a T, but Lucy Lawless's hand is covering the first. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 14:30, 26 February 2006 (EST)

I found that Galacticastation has a great screencape [http://www.galacticastation.com/Screencaps/S2/218/bscap414.htm here] of her ID tag. Can you guys tell what it is? It's not a T, it's....I can't tell if it says "ser" for "service number" (thus, not actually part of of the number), or "3er"...which seems odd as this is lowercase.--[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 19:03, 21 June 2006 (CDT)
::My first impression is that it is "ser" for serial or service number for the reason it is not together with the number. --[[User:Gougef|FrankieG]] 19:36, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

:Yeah, but Helo has a "PK" prefix to his serial number and Boomer had a "T" prefix. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] ([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]]) 20:07, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

: Just a note, in "[[Collaborators]]" we see the full shot on her id tags during her conversation with Anders. It is prefixed by "ser" (sans quotes). If anyone can get a screencap to confirm, that'd be nice. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 12:32, 3 November 2006 (EST)
:It says "ser 462753". Screencap here: [http://galacticastation.com/Screencaps/s3/304/lowres/bscap381.htm] --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 12:40, 3 November 2006 (EST)
:: Thought so. Thanks Serenity. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 12:45, 3 November 2006 (EST)

== Major Pre-Season 3 Revision ==

As with the central characters [[William Adama]], [[Laura Roslin]], and [[Gaius Baltar]], I've heavily concised this article, removing extraneous episode information, to prepare it for season 3 information. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 11:37, 4 October 2006 (CDT)
:I suggest marking this article for cleanup and revision. Kara's biography is still a bit too long and quite messy - it's actually one big unclear stream of facts. I think it should be divided into a few parts, significant and dividing episodes being "Kobol's Last Gleaming", "Home", "Lay Down Your Burdens" and "Collaborators". -- [[User:Spike|Spike]] 03:42, 3 November 2006 (EST)
:I agree to the cleanup and revision of this article, particularly the content added since season 3, as it is inconsistently written. (I've tried to clean it up, but a rewrite is in order for tone issues.) -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 12:29, 3 November 2006 (EST)

== Socrata Thrace? ==

I've removed this reference because the reference was far too vague; the reference pertains to Thrace's mother, "Socrata".

: ''[[Socrata]] (revealed in TV Guide Magazine)''

If anyone can be specific as to the reference, including but not limited to page number, issue number, publication date, et al, please feel free to add it back in. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 19:49, 19 October 2006 (CDT)

Done and done. I refrained from the context, though, because what little there is I fear maybe spoilery. --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 07:34, 11 December 2006 (CST)

=='''Kara Thrace DEAD?'''==
Now I'm disappointed in Battlestar Galactica. Starbuck was killed off Sunday night or at least we are led to believe she is dead. I like to think there is more to this than what was shown.--[[User:Avazina|Avazina]] 20:21, 6 March 2007 (CST)
:She is definitely dead, but that means nothing in fiction. You're probably right. Don't feel too disappointed; the classical heroes of Greek mythology suffered and died often to fulfill their missions. We're very used to our western heroes always riding off into the sunset to fight another day. Some day the sun will no longer rise. There was a bit in the episode that suggests that Kara is visiting the space between life and death; we'll see. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 20:47, 6 March 2007 (CST)
::Don't worry, she's merely ascended to another plane of existence. She'll be back next season as an Ancient. I mean, Final Five. Wow, deja vu Atlantis. --[[User:David Templar|David Templar]] 12:49, 7 March 2007 (CST)
:::There's two reasons I'm not accepting her as dead. First, there was heavy foreshadowing in Rapture and Maelstrom hinting that she may be a Cylon. Second, she did not die the way the hero with an important destiny is supposed to. If she died in Resurrection Ship, Scar or The Passage I'd accept it. If she got captured by the Cylons and died trying to escape I'd accept it. If she got captured by the Cylons, decided she had no hope of escape or rescue and killed herself in a final act of defiance against Leoben I'd accept it. I won't accept this until the final five are revealed. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 17:19, 7 March 2007 (CST)
::::I stand by my idea that she'll be the first of the RDM series' [[Beings of Light]]. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 11:27, 8 March 2007 (CST)
:::::Didn't she say something like episodes 13 and 19 will be very important for her character? --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 12:53, 8 March 2007 (CST)
::::::Eick said that 16 (Maelstrom) and 19 (Crossroads Pt. II) will have a lot of revelations on Lee and Kara's romance. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 14:50, 8 March 2007 (CST)
:::::::I think that Starbuck will be back, but not Katee Sackhoff. --[[User:Gougef|FrankieG]] 15:19, 8 March 2007 (CST)
::::::::Interesting idea... how do you think they'd implement it? (If it were to happen, that is.) --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 15:25, 8 March 2007 (CST)
:::::::::I think the two most likely possibilities are that Lee or Anders finds a note or letter among Kara's belongings, or that Kara is revealed to be a Cylon. I don't think they'll recast her because it's a tacky and overused soap opera and pulp sci-fi cliche. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 02:00, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
::::::::::Kara cant be a cylon because she was a child and Cylons do not make copies of already or once living people. --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] ([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]]) 06:54, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
:::::::::::Kara remembers being a child. Baltar remembers being a child too, that doesn't disqualify him, and [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Boomer]] also probably has false childhood memories. And Socrata could be another Cylon, or a hallucination, there's no proof that anyone other than Kara saw her. I'm not saying she's a Cylon, I'm just saying that the possibility hasn't been eliminated. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 20:46, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
:::::::::::::AFAIK, Socrata served in the 1st war. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 21:52, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
::::::::::::::Yes, Socrata served in the first war. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 22:22, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
:::::::::::::::According to Kara's own memories her mother was a veteran of the first war, I'm not aware of any third-party corroboration, and it's an established fact that Cylon sleeper agents have false memories. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 00:38, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
::::::::::::::::Socrata received some kind of medal for service in the war. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 05:59, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
:::::::::::::::::And Boomer received elephant sculptures from her parents when she went to Fleet Academy. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]]) 06:50, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
::::::::::::::::::There's a difference. There must be records in military archives of Socrata's medal (If any archives still exist, that is). Records that date back to the first war. The Cylons weren't infiltrating then. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 08:51, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
:::::::::::::::::::Who saw or heard of Socrata and had both the motivation and the opportunity to check the military records? We know that Boomer managed to get past any background checks and identity verification the colonial military may have used. We also know that colonial computer security was extremely lax during the fall of the twelve colonies. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 19:06, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
One possibility is that Thrace (in a past life as the Lord of Kobol, Aurora) helped ''build'' the Temple of Five, knew what the Earth hologram was in "Home, Part II" because she experienced it before, and that, while we may not see her again, bodily, Thrace will be the guiding force (through artifacts and other finds) that will be reflected in not-too-subtle messages on the path, leaving clues as to the clue's author (Thrace). Perhaps Kara Thrace, not Laura Roslin, is the "dying leader" in the Pythian Prophecy. Just a wild speculation, but it fits with some clues, particularly the Eye. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 07:40, 13 March 2007 (CDT)
:I still think Starbuck is the first of the RDM [[Beings of Light]]. --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 06:01, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
---Bruzer you know part of my theory but for everyone here I'll post it as well. I personaly belive it will come down to Starbuck being a "Jesus" figure from a Lord of Kobol I'm not 100% sure how the writers will make this happen but I think what we saw in that ep was her basically going to meet "daddy". The speculation about her being one of the final 5 isn't true, she is meant for much more then that. I also think in addition to the final 5 we will see the Lords of Kobol on Sunday, this will be the biggest shock of the year as well. You know how the writers like to take us, make us expect to be surprised one way but shock us with something new in the finales. We may even see Baltar be found not guilty, on a side note I think he's the same as Starbuck here but his "daddy" is who I will call Hades, the Fallen Lord who became the Cylon god. --[[User:Hentai Jeff|Hentai Jeff]] 05:49, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

==='''Kara Thrace is back!!'''===
I wondered how they were going to play out Kara's "Death" and I'm satisfied if not even more intrigued by the out come. Glad she is back.--[[User:Avazina|Avazina]] 22:39, 27 March 2007 (CDT)

== The Destiny ==

Not wanting to separate this into its own article, and knowing that this article may not grow for a while (if ever), I added some [[BW:CJ#Derived Content|sourced speculation]] on Thrace's destiny based on series information in an attempt to tie it together. Hopefully it may enlighten some readers as to the sum data on what is known and lead some insight for the character's actions in the future (if any). Ron Moore does [[Podcast:Maelstrom|note]] that the character's "destiny" was not merely to die in a Viper, so this likelihood of something about the character being revealed in season 4 is a probability. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 15:37, 16 March 2007 (CDT)
:As I have said. '''[[Beings of Light|BEING. OF. FRAKKING. LIGHT.]]''' --[[User:BklynBruzer|BklynBruzer]] 20:57, 16 March 2007 (CDT)

== Death Confirmed? ==
In the podcast for Crossroads, Part II:
"Did her death have any meaning? Her death didn't have meaning, but the resurrection of Kara does."
Looks like she really bought it. How the resurrection was facilitated is the big question... --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 09:38, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
:It could also refer to a symbolic death and resurrection. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 19:24, 13 April 2007 (CDT)

== Kinda funny ==

Some of you might find [http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/061226.html this "Sheldon" comic] amusing. I did. [[User:OTW|OTW]] 20:20, 18 April 2007 (CDT)
:Perfect. :) --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 21:45, 18 April 2007 (CDT)

== Young Kara photo ==

We should probably add a screenshot of Kara when she was younger somewhere here. It should be available from "[[Maelstrom]]". -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New''] 18:38, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
:Done --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 06:15, 30 June 2007 (CDT)

== By Your Command ==
While visiting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom_%28Battlestar_Galactica%29 Wikipedia's article about Maelstrom], I noticed a neat trivia piece that I have confirmed independently. Right before Kara's Viper explodes at the climax of "[[Maelstrom]]", if one listens closely (on a DD 5.1 system or with headphones, if one has the iTunes download), one can hear the distinctive voice of an original series (or Guardian, as per the events of "[[Razor]]") Cylon Centurion say "By your command" (the word "command" is muffled by the explosion). At first I thought it was some sound effect used to illustrate the stress of the gas giant's atmosphere on Kara's Viper, but the words "By your" are clearly discernable. I'm not sure if this is something for placement in either the Maelstrom or Kara Thrace articles, so I will leave this up to y'all's better judgment. Thank you. {{unsigned|Jonfucius}}
: I've seen this discussion on the Skiffy boards after the episode aired... Frankly, I never heard it myself, even when this discussion first started way back when... It would be nice if we had a soundbyte to test, because I'm sure [[User:Peter Farago|Peter]] can take a crack at it and give us something definitive one way or another. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New''] 22:35, 3 December 2007 (CST)
::I have a casual (at best) sound setup and my VCR seems so to be setting foot with its last legs and threading a warbling in the audio, but I played this and I can ceratinly hear an old school Cylon metallic noise as the Viper explodes, so I'm willing to believe this, but I'd prefer to hear a sample with a better audible pitch. --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 16:26, 5 December 2007 (CST)

==Season 3 - last episode==
Regarding the last part of the article there is a point that says that when Kara re-appears near Lee's viper she's riding a brand new Viper Mark II. Cause i read the wiki just after i saw the episode i think this is totally wrong imho. I have saved a screenshot , just at the moment camera seems to go away from both ships http://picasaweb.google.com/billbrando and you can clearly see the differences at the engine part and at the wings structure. If Lee is indeed flying a Viper Mark II what is Kara riding? {{unsigned|Bbm4n}}
:The point is that the Viper has a pristine paintjob and isn't scratched up like all the others (though that's only said in [[The Destiny]] and [[Ionian Nebula]] I think). Of course Lee is in a Mark VII. The article doesn't say anything else. -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 11:36, 28 January 2008 (CST)
:See also [[Viper Mark II]] and [[Viper Mark VII]] for pictures of both Viper models. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]]) 11:40, 28 January 2008 (CST)
so if i get it right from the images, the red lined Viper (Mark II) is the one that is piloted by Kara and the unpainted one is a Viper Mark VII piloted by Apollo. I thought he was piloting a Mark II but you're right that must be one from Pegasus.[[User:Bbm4n|Bbm4n]] 12:25, 28 January 2008 (CST)
::Not necessarily from ''Pegasus''; ''Galactica'' did retain a few Mark VIIs after the Cylon attack, although they had to be downgraded to avoid the [[CNP]] backdoor. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]]) 15:50, 28 January 2008 (CST)

==License Plate on Kara's Hummvee==
Looking through some BSG-pages I recognised that seemingly noone has an explanation. Maybe it's a symbol for Kara's suppressed femininity: The Code on the Car "FB 42 E3" read as a HTML hexadecimal representation of color can be interpreted as "frakking PINK". --[[User:Anakin|Anakin]] 00:38, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
: Interesting. Does anyone know of a site that can interpret HTML hex code so this can be independently confirmed? -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]] 13:29, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
::Just frakking google it! :) http://www.kenjikojima.com/java/RGBHexConverter2.html -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 14:11, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
:: Consequently, I found [http://galacticabbs.com/index.php?showtopic=46 this]. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]] 17:53, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
==Starbuck-A==
Just want to throw this out for discussion. Should the current Starbuck be treated like a separate entity now (maybe not a separate article, but like different version of a Cylon model)? -- [[User:Gougef|FrankieG]] 20:23, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
:I think we should wait until after Daybreak clears things up. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 06:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

== Thrace is a part of Greece ==

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Thrace Someone could. include it as a potential reference. --[[User:Thinker|Thinker]] 23:05, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

== Split ==

Maybe this should be split into Kara Thrace and Virtual Kara Thrace, given what Daybreak implied about her? --[[User:Space Lizard|Space Lizard]] 16:28, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

:If everyone was able to see her, how "virtual" can she be, compared to the virtual Six and Baltar? And she was able to do concrete things, such as fly aircraft and shoot down enemy Raiders.-- [[User:Fredmdbud|Fredmdbud]] 00:34, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

== Thrace is ''Galactica'''s final CAG? ==

Wasn't it Helo? During the mutiny, one of the "Sunshine Boys" mentions that he was made CAG, and he gives the final pilot briefing before the Battle of the Colony. Was Thrace's return to the position of CAG ever mentioned in dialogue since "The Oath"?-- [[User:Fredmdbud|Fredmdbud]] 00:32, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

== Origin of the name 'Kara Thrace' ==

Kara is also the name of the first female F-14 pilot Kara Spears Hultgreen who died in an accident while trying to land on board an aircraft carrier.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Hultgreen

Thrace, besides being a geographic region of Greece, is also the origin of the famous statue the Winged Victory of Samothrace. A statue of the ancient Greek goddess of Victory "Nike".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace

Unless there is evidence to the contrary this seems like a possible origin of the name of one of the most memorable and powerful female characters in a television series.

== Who, and what, Starbuck actually is ==

Starbuck is/was Aurora, the goddess of the dawn; more modern, a manifestation of Shiva in Hinduism. Now before you go thinking that an Avatar is some character in the movie Avatar, let me use the Hindu definition of an Avatar as being the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god. What’s a Shiva? Shiva is the Hindu goddess that is known as the ''Harbinger of Death'' and the ''Restorer of Worlds''. Likewise, Aurora is considered as the ''goddess of the dawn''.

Now, with these definitions acting as the method of analysis for Starbuck’s being, let’s look at the justification. In the movie Razor the first Cylon hybrid refers to Kara Thrace as the ''Harbinger of Death''. This definition of Kara was also used by varying Hybrids throughout the rest of the series. How was she the Harbinger of Death? When Starbuck was resurrected it was her task to restore mankind by acting as a guide to Earth. However, when she led the human caravan to Earth they found a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Human hope vanished the way life did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Varying crew members committed suicide, sewed mutiny within the fleet, and created mass depression among all mankind- literally being the Harbinger of Death, to hope.

Needless to say, this Avatar of Shiva/Aurora had to also be the restorer of worlds, and Starbuck did this in spades! In the finale of BSG Starbuck was able to use the mathematical elements of the music her father played to plot the course to a life-filled planet. This planet acted as the incubator of all life as we know it. The humans, and Cylon-human hybrids, were able to successfully mate amongst themselves, and the planet’s indigenous life what seemed like Neanderthal man. Thus, restoring life to lifelessness.

Not good enough?

Towards the latter half of season 3 Starbuck went through immense suffering (suffering being the central tenet in Hinduism). We saw what she went through with her mother (her mother stating that she had to put young Kara through hell because of her higher purpose); furthermore, the self-hatred Starbuck had for herself during her love triangle with Lee and Sam almost ripped apart her psyche. Additionally, constant drunkenness, random sex, and her suicide are all indicators of her suffering. Only after Starbuck was able to let go and detach herself from her material desires and accept the way of the universe, and succumb to her death in the maelstrom, was she able to be resurrected as the Avatar Shiva.

Finally, let’s remember the flashbacks seen in the show’s finale. The only thing Starbuck was afraid of was “not being remembered. I don’t want to be forgotten.” This aspiration was no mere statement of vanity; rather, if you look throughout the course of human history you will always find a god, goddess, social movement leader, etc who can be considered as a virus to the current system while at the same time being an agent of new beginnings. And in that vein, Starbuck was never forgotten. First it was Aurora, then Athena, then Starbuck, presently Shiva, more modernly Martin Luther King, the list goes on. It was Starbuck’s ROLE that enabled her to never worry about her highest fear: that the agent of a new dawn will continually exist in human society. The only reason she gets the status of an Avatar, though, is because she is somehow connected to another being that hates to be called “God.”
--[[User:Themario|Themario]] 15:50, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Kara Thrace

2010-08-31T15:51:52Z

Themario: /* The Destiny */

:''This article discusses the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] character with the pilot callsign of "Starbuck." For information on Kara Thrace's counterpart in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]], see [[Starbuck (TOS)]].''

:''For Kara Thrace's parents, see [[Dreilide Thrace]] and [[Socrata Thrace]].''

{{Character Data
|photo= Kara Thrace.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|birthname= Kara Thrace
|callsign= Starbuck
|seen= Miniseries
|death= Viper destroyed near gas giant, crashing on [[Earth (RDM)#Arrival_and_Ruins|Cylon Earth]] ([[Maelstrom]]/[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]); Mysteriously reappears ([[Crossroads, Part II]]); Vanishes in Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|pre-historical 2nd Earth]] ([[Daybreak, Part II]])
|parents= [[Socrata Thrace]]† (mother) [[Dreilide Thrace]]† (father)
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Married to [[Samuel Anders]]† (formerly engaged to [[Zak Adama]]†)
|rank=Captain
|role= Viper pilot; flight instructor; ''Galactica'' [[Commander Air Group|CAG]]; angel-prophet; captain of ''[[Demetrius]]''
|actor= [[Katee Sackhoff]] [[Erika-Shaye Gair]] (child)
|cylon=
|serial = 462753 <ref name="serial"> Confirmed number from QMX dogtags given to them by the studio.</ref>
}}
'''Kara "Starbuck" Thrace''' is a gifted [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilot, with an attitude that has hindered her career in the Colonial Fleet. However, [[William Adama]] has confidence in Thrace's military skills, and she greatly aids the Fleet inside and out of the cockpit. She is the last [[Commander Air Group|Commander, Air Group]] (CAG) of ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'', and [[virtual beings|mysteriously vanishes]] in a region that will later be known as Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|the second Earth]] shortly after the Fleet's arrival on the planet ([[Daybreak, Part II]]).

== Background ==

[[Image:YoungKaraThrace.jpg|thumb|left|A young Kara Thrace in a vision ([[Maelstrom]]).]]
*Thrace's mother [[Socrata Thrace|Socrata]] was a former [[Colonial Marine Corps]] sergeant major. She beat her daughter so frequently that Thrace came to accept pain as a way of life ("[[Flesh and Bone]]", "[[Maelstrom]]").
*Her father [[Dreilide Thrace|Dreilide]] was a pianist and composer. Kara seems to have been closer to him than with her mother ([[Valley of Darkness]], [[Someone to Watch Over Me]]) until he left them.
*Thrace left home to join the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|military]]. During her training, she was disciplined for insubordinate conduct towards [[Mike Gibbons|superior officers]].
*She was a talented [[pyramid]] player ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]), and was up for the pros, but an injured knee took her out of contention. However, she discovered a passion and skill for being a fighter pilot ([[Podcast:The Hand of God]]).
*One of her early posts was aboard the battlestar ''[[Triton (RDM)|Triton]]''. While there, she offended Commander [[Myron Ruth]], who initiated court-martial proceedings against her, but the charges were later dropped ([[The Son Also Rises]]).
*Thrace eventually returned to flight school as an instructor, where she fell in love with one of her students, [[Zak Adama]]. Despite his poor performance, she allowed him to pass his final check flight although he failed three of the required maneuvers ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*Thrace lost Zak Adama when he was killed during a routine mission shortly after graduating. [[Lee Adama]] ("Apollo"), Zak's elder brother, blamed their father for Zak's death, and Thrace, feeling guilty, kept quiet. She met [[William Adama]] shortly after the accident, and the two formed a strong rapport and stood together at the funeral ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*Thrace resigned as an instructor and returned to the Fleet as an operational pilot on the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' under the command of William Adama, where she served for some two years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. Before the Cylon attack, she was second-in-command to the [[CAG]], [[Jackson Spencer]].
*She has a rarely-used run-down apartment in [[Delphi]] that overlooked a parking lot, and a Colonial version of a [[Wikipedia:Humvee|Humvee]] which she and Helo use to escape the city and get to the country where she meets her Samuel Anders. She was also an avid painter, and her apartment is cluttered with her paintings and a [[Starbuck's Poem|poem]] written on a wall ([[Valley of Darkness]]). The apartment was neater when Thrace was with Zak Adama, although her [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] wall painting pre-dates that relationship. ([[Daybreak, Part I]])
*Thrace hides the fact that she is deeply spiritual. She frequently prays to the [[Lords of Kobol]], particularly [[Aphrodite]] and [[Artemis]] in dire situations ([[Miniseries]], "[[Flesh and Bone]]", "[[You Can't Go Home Again]]").

==Character History==

=== Galactica and Pre-New Caprica ===

*Thrace's attitude quickly runs her afoul of Colonel [[Saul Tigh]], ''Galactica's'' [[executive officer]]. Their open mutual dislike of one another leads to the point where blows are exchanged, with Thrace ending up in the brig. After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] she is released from the brig and returns to duty as Viper pilot.
*Thrace manages to keep two of three nuclear missiles from striking ''Galactica'' in their first Cylon sortie, and saves Lee from doom in an innovative maneuver in the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]].
*Her skills in saving Lee brings her grudging respect from Colonel Tigh, but she is unable to accept his offer of the olive branch—an act that will have repercussions for her later ([[Miniseries]]).
[[image:Bastille_Day-Starbuck_Boxey.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace as acting [[CAG]] with [[Boxey (RDM)|Boxey]] as assistant ([[Bastille Day]]).]]
*Thrace participates in a hostage rescue mission aboard the ''[[Astral Queen]]''. Following the successful mission, Thrace tries to mend fences between herself and Colonel Tigh with a toast (consisting of water), apologizing in much the same way as Tigh himself had tried after their initial escape from [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. But Tigh rejects Thrace's apology, stating that her flaws are professional, while his flaws were personal ([[Bastille Day]]).
*Thrace eventually admits her secret about Zak Adama to William Adama himself, an act that brings their close friendship almost to the breaking point ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*During a surprise encounter with Cylons during [[nugget]] training, Thrace destroys several Cylon Raiders, but her ship is damaged and tumbles towards a small red moon with an unbreathable atmosphere. With her Viper in a fatal flat-spin, Thrace is forced to eject from her Viper ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]).
*Thrace (nursing a damaged knee) repairs the downed Cylon Raider found on the inhabitable moon and returns to ''Galactica'', giving the Fleet a vital piece of Cylon fighter technology for study and use.
*The recovering Thrace, off flight status, is asked by Commander Adama to plan a special attack on a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery. The tactical planning role is not something she relishes, and she frequently shows resentment towards others for her condition ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).
*During Thrace's undesired interrogation of a Cylon prisoner, a copy of a known [[Humanoid Cylon|Cylon]] named [[Leoben Conoy]], she uses some drastic acts to try to extract the information from the humanoid Cylon ([[Flesh and Bone]]).
[[image:Starbuck-Kobols_Last_Gleaming_pt2.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).]]
*Thrace is assigned to plant a nuclear device on board a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] in orbit around [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. She disobeys orders to retrieve the [[Arrow of Apollo]] at the request of President Roslin, since she discovered Commander Adama's speech concerning knowledge of the location of Earth was a lie. She [[FTL|jump]]s to Caprica ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]), landing in [[Delphi]] in the captured Cylon [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Raider]], depriving the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] of the valuable military asset.
*In the [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]] with the Arrow, she is violently attacked by a copy of [[Number Six]]. Despite being heavily outmatched in the fight, Thrace luckily defeats the Cylon.
*At the museum, she reunites with [[Karl Agathon]], whom she thought dead, and discovers [[Sharon Agathon|a second copy]] of [[Sharon Valerii]], realizing instantly that the woman is a Cylon.
*"Caprica Valerii", fearing for her child, steals Thrace's Raider. In exasperation, Thrace only mutters: "Bitch took my ride" ([[Scattered]]). Like Agathon, Thrace is left with no way to return to the Fleet unless she could find her Raider or another Cylon spacecraft, as only Cylon navigational computers are powerful enough to plot jumps over such large distances..
*Thrace berates Agathon's love for the Caprica copy of Valerii. Thrace finds the keys of her surplus military utility vehicle in her old jacket in her old apartment. Thrace has a ride again, if only to move more efficiently about Caprica ([[Valley of Darkness]]).
[[Image:ThraceAndersResistance.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace and Anders playing Pyramid on Caprica ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).]]
*Thrace and Agathon meet a [[Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] on Caprica. Thrace and [[Samuel Anders]] strike up a rapport as fellow [[Pyramid (RDM)|Pyramid]] players and end up as lovers.
*During planning to steal a [[Heavy Raider]], Thrace is shot in a military action, waking up in a hospital on Caprica. Thrace is told by her doctor, [[Simon]], that Anders died from wounds he suffered in getting Thrace to safety.
*Thrace discovers that Simon is working with a [[Number Six|known humanoid Cylon]]. She overhears that the next day he plans to extract her ovaries for use in the Cylon's attempts to study and create a hybrid Cylon/human embryo. Simon also makes the mistake of calling Thrace by her callsign, Starbuck, which she had never revealed.
*Staggering and in pain, Thrace kills Simon and escapes the hospital, but not before clocking a Six copy with a fire extinguisher and destroying the local farm power supply, mercy-killing [[Sue-Shaun]] and several other women in the facility.
*Another Simon copy appears just as the Resistance attacks the facility. The second Simon, now revealed as a humanoid Cylon himself, is immediately killed by the Resistance, but a squad of [[Cylon Centurion]]s appear and pins the Resistance down. Luckily, [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops in with a stolen [[Heavy Raider]], destroys the Centurions and flies the Resistance and Thrace out of harm's way.
*Thrace promises to Anders that she'll [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I|return with a rescue mission]] for the remaining survivors. Anders returns the Arrow of Apollo to Thrace, which he hid on the resistance grounds for safekeeping ([[The Farm]]).
*Thrace, Agathon and the pregnant "Caprica Valerii" land on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' in the Heavy Raider. Finding the [[Laura Roslin faction]] in orbit of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], Thrace is reunited with Lee. He kisses her impulsively, catching Thrace by pleasant surprise, but a tense standoff follows when Lee discovers that another Sharon copy has returned with them. Roslin helps defuse the situation, and Thrace delivers the Arrow of Apollo to the President.
*Temporarily removed from military protocol, Lee playfully teases Thrace by stealing a pyramid ball she took from Caprica. Adama senses her depression about Caprica and tells her that he'd be happy to hear about any problems she had. He also let slip that he loved her, which brightened Thrace's mood to the point where she teased him back about his slip.
*With a team led by Laura Roslin, Lee, and, later, joined by the recovered Commander Adama, Thrace enters the [[Tomb of Athena]] and successfully uses the Arrow of Apollo to activate a hologram that shows constellations of the Twelve Colonies' ancient symbols.
*Thrace realizes that they are on a recreation of Earth. Together with Lee, they locate the Lagoon Nebula, a celestial body known to Commander Adama and Lee, and gather sufficient information to begin an actual course to Earth ([[Home, Part II]]).
*Thrace shows off the impressive stealth abilities of the new [[Blackbird]] fighter in her maiden flight ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).
*With the arrival of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Admiral [[Helena Cain]] summarily assigns Thrace (and Lee) to ''Pegasus'' after digesting the reports of ''Galactica'''s officers.
*[[Cole Taylor|The ''Pegasus'' CAG]] removes Thrace from the Cylon recon mission. Lee secretly tells her to use the [[Blackbird]] to take recon photos of the Cylon Unknown ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).
*Returning from her very successful mission, the [[Blackbird]]'s lack of a Colonial transponder is mistaken for a Cylon [[Raider]] on [[DRADIS]], and Thrace is nearly confronted and shot at by Vipers from ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica''. After narrowly avoiding certain death by declaring herself a friendly, Thrace transmits her recon photos to ''Pegasus''.
*Admiral Cain is very impressed with Thrace's performance and promotes her to Captain and ''Pegasus'' CAG.
*Thrace is assigned the task of planning the joint attack on the Resurrection Ship, but successfully asks to have Lee on her team, restoring him to flight status.
*After she briefs Cain and Commander Adama on her battle plan, Adama asks Thrace privately to assassinate Cain after the battle is complete. Adama fears that if Cain continues to command, the Fleet would be in mortal jeopardy from Cain's draconian command ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).
*Thrace's battle planning, as before on the [[tylium]] [[The Hand of God (RDM)|mine]], works to near-perfection, with the Resurrection Ship destroyed and its supporting basestars.
*As a result of the battle events, Thrace is left without backup as she walks to the ''Pegasus'' CIC to shoot Cain, obviously afraid and apprehensive. When Commander Adama calls, Thrace slowly moves her hand to her sidearm but, to her relief, Adama does not give the kill order and cryptically instructs her to stand down ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).
*Thrace and [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]] are involved in the protection of a mining operation from periodic Raider attacks. One Raider, nicknamed [[Scar (Raider)|Scar]], fuels an intensive rivalry for the pilot's "top gun" honor. Thrace, still depressed over her inability to convince Fleet command to initiate a rescue for Samuel Anders and his resistance, drinks heavily and obsesses over removing Scar from the sky, even at the cost of her life. Fortunately, Thrace realizes the futility of her actions, and works together with Katraine to destroy the remarkably dangerous Raider ([[Scar]]).
*A few weeks later, Thrace takes leave on ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' when she was dragooned into rescuing Lee and several other ''Galactica'' crew and residents after terrorists take them hostage in exchange for the incarcerated [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon Agathon neé Valerii]]. Thrace gathers intelligence on the situation, but her cover is blown. In the retreating firefight, Lee is caught in the crossfire. After the situation is resolved, Thrace intended to sit at Lee's bedside, only to discover that Dualla beat her to it ([[Sacrifice]]).
*Later, Thrace is assigned to ''Pegasus'' as a flight trainer. Though the pilots like her, Commander [[Barry Garner]] does not, eventually confining her to quarters for "insubordination." Following the [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ill-fated rescue and retreat]] from a Cylon ambush (where Thrace leads the fighters) and [[Battle of the Guardian Basestar|after a search, rescue and destroy mission to a Cylon-war era basestar]], Thrace informs Lee—now commander of ''Pegasus''—that she was taking over his old CAG post aboard ''Galactica'', joking that she has a problem with her commander wanting to send her off to get killed ("[[The Captain's Hand]]", "[[Razor]]").
*Thrace gets her wish: the Caprica rescue is approved, and she leads a large Raptor squadron to the planet. The group soon met up with Anders, who reports that their HQ had been destroyed and Thrace's timing was just perfect. A squad of Centurions ambush and pin down the group moments later ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]).
*Still pinned down from attack fire, Thrace and Anders agree to kill each other to avoid capture and internment at a [[Farms|farm]]. But the attack stops, and a [[Cavil|man]] appears, praising the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] as he announces that the Cylons not only have ceased fire, but are abandoning the Twelve Colonies. Thrace isn't really surprised to discover that the man, known as Brother [[Cavil]], was a Cylon upon their return to the Fleet.
*Thrace and Anders proceed to get drunk, and host a disastrous encounter with Lee. This apparently led to a rift between the two comrades.
[[Image:Leobenkara.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Leoben with Kara Thrace ([[Exodus, Part I]]).]]
*The evening of the founding of [[New Caprica]], Thrace slept with Lee and proclaimed her love for him as she was uncertain regarding her feelings toward Anders. The following morning she quickly married Anders in a ceremony near the river. This caused a rift between Thrace and Lee that lasted for well over a year ([[Unfinished Business]]).
*Life on New Caprica tempered Thrace, and she often behaved in ways Thrace never would have, including hugging Colonel Tigh and pampering Anders during his bout with an illness.
*She watches in horror at the sudden arrival of hundreds of Cylon ships in the sky over New Caprica. A few of ''Galactica's'' former crew gather near Thrace, looking to her for guidance. She responds the only way she knows how: "Fight 'em until we can't" ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

=== The New Caprica Ordeal and Her Death ===

*After Baltar's surrender of New Caprica, Conoy keeps Thrace prisoner in an apartment located within the Cylon-built [[New Caprica Detention Center]] in an attempt to convince Thrace that she loves him and also convert her to the [[Cylon Religion|Cylon monotheistic religion]]. She repeatedly kills Conoy a total of five times in an attempt to convince him to let her go ("[[Occupation]]", "[[Precipice]]").
*Conoy introduces Thrace to a small child named [[Kacey Brynn|Kacey]], who appears to be approximately two to three years in age, whom he claims is their biological daughter. He explains that the child was created using one of Thrace's extracted ovaries ([[The Farm]]) and his genetic material. Conflicted, Thrace leaves the child unattended, which later results in Kacey falling down the apartment's stairs ([[Precipice]]). After the fall, Thrace begins to change her attitude towards the child and begins to offer affection towards Conoy ("[[Precipice]]", "[[Exodus, Part I]]").
*Upon her return to ''Galactica'' after Admiral Adama's [[Battle of New Caprica|daring rescue attempt]], Thrace heartbreakingly discovers that Kacey was simply another manipulation on Conoy's part — Kacey is merely a human child whom the Cylons had abducted months ago from [[Julia Brynn|their mother]] ([[Exodus, Part II]]).
*Bearing the psychological scars of her four month ordeal with Leoben and Kacey, Thrace is recruited by [[Diana Seelix]] as a last minute replacement juror in the [[Circle]] after Anders' resignation. Thrace's involvement in the Circle precipitates the breakup of her marriage with Anders. Initially wondering about the legality of the tribunal, she is the fifth vote to find [[Felix Gaeta]] guilty of treason and collaboration. Later, when Gaeta is about to be killed in one of ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> [[launch tubes (RDM)|launch tubes]], she demands him to beg for his life. Thrace physically assaults him and goes down the litany of "lies" that Gaeta told her earlier about him helping the [[New Caprica Resistance|insurgency]]. As she does so, [[Galen Tyrol]], one of the Circle's jurors, overhears this and confirms the story. In a sense of confusion after learning that Gaeta was telling the truth, Thrace leaves the launch tube ([[Collaborators]]).
*During a combat exercise between Vipers, Thrace breaks formation and collides with another pilot, forcing an end to the war games and causing Lee to revoke her flight status. Later, at her bunk she is met by Kacey and her mother, whom she dismisses, telling Kacey's mother not to visit her again. In the pilots' rec room, Thrace and Colonel Tigh begin to sow dissent between the survivors of New Caprica and the crew that stayed behind on ''Galactica'', insinuating that those who stayed behind did not suffer like those on New Caprica did, and that the crew of ''Galactica'' took too long to organize a rescue. Admiral Adama, upon learning of this from Karl Agathon, confronts Thrace and Tigh on their behavior. He challenges them to shoot him, as their constant complaining is tantamount to pulling the trigger. When neither do, Adama throws Thrace off her chair and demands that both she and Tigh shape up and move on with their lives. Spurred by Adama's words, Thrace cuts her hair and returns to duty. Later, in uniform, she visits Kacey and her mother on the [[Dogsville|converted hangar deck]] ([[Torn]]).
*Thrace enters an affair with Lee, rekindling their romance on New Caprica ([[Unfinished Business]]). Both Anders and Lee's wife, Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]], are more than vaguely aware of the pair's sexual tension. Lee soon ends the affair and reconciles, but Thrace refuses to give Anders any further attention than a periodic sexual fling.
*Thrace is involved with the defense of the incorrectly called "[[Temple of Five]]" but is severely injured, leaving her rescuer, Dualla, to return them to ''Galactica'' ([[Rapture]]). Agathon recognizes the strange circular [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] in the Temple, created 4,000 years before, and its resemblance to a symbol that Thrace painted in her apartment. When shown the symbol, the recovering Thrace is darkly reminded of Leoben's prophesy.
*During refueling operations above a gas giant, Thrace is continually attracted to what she believes is a Cylon contact, which she chases to find a planetary storm that resembles the mandala. She dives into it, almost losing control before coming to her senses and returning.
*Command staff and Thrace question her competency to continue flying, but Lee volunteers encouragement and offers to fly as her wingman on her next [[Combat Air Patrol|CAP]].
*Thrace finds herself attracted by another apparent Cylon contact. As she descended, her Viper is struck by debris and she, while unconscious, experiences a revelation about her mother, [[Socrata Thrace]], and guided through the vision by what looks to be a Leoben copy.
*Starbuck regains consciousness but chooses to continue her descent despite Lee's desperate pleas to ascend. "I'll see you on the other side (...) Just let me go" were her last words as her Viper explodes. A grief-stricken Lee tells [[CIC]] that he did not see any ejection ([[Maelstrom]]).
*While preparing for a Cylon engagement near the [[Ionian nebula]], Lee (who has [[Crossroads, Part I|since left]] the Colonial Military) detects a bogey on [[DRADIS]]. While he searches for the target, Lee finds himself momentarily in a cat-and-mouse chase game with the mysterious target. As Lee attempts to regain sight of the bogey, it positions itself next to his Viper.

=== Return from the Dead and Suspicion ===

*The [[Starbuck's Viper|pristine Viper Mark II]] that comes alongside is flown by Thrace herself. A shocked and confused [[Lee Adama]] (now a civilian) listens to the apparently-resurrected Kara Thrace, who tells him that she has been to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] and she has returned to take the Fleet to it ([[Crossroads, Part II]]).
*After the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|battle at the nebula]], she returns to ''Galactica'' where everyone is astounded to see her alive. While everyone believed her dead for over two months, only several hours have passed for her. She has returned with recon photography of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], but no navigational data or knowledge of how she got there. Further complicating her claim is the fact that her Viper is nearly pristine, as if it had just been built. Despite passing a medical examination by Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]], almost everyone—especially Roslin—thinks she may be a Cylon or part of a Cylon trap, and thus don't believe her. Thrace herself wonders if she could be a Cylon.
*When the Fleet jumps further away from the Ionian Nebula, she experiences headaches and says that she is losing the intuitive feeling of the way to Earth. Desperate to lead the Colonials there, she breaks into Adama's quarters and confronts Roslin at gun point ([[He That Believeth In Me]]).
*Thrace is eventually subdued by [[Colonial Marines]] and imprisoned in the [[brig]]. Lee visits Thrace in the brig and tells her that he believes her. Thrace is happy that he does and they share a kiss before Lee leaves for ''[[Colonial One]]''. Although not sure what to make of her claims, Admiral Adama releases her later, and gives her command of ''[[Demetrius]]'', and a crew including [[Karl Agathon]] and Samuel Anders, telling her to try to find Earth ([[Six of One]]).
*Thrace irritates her crew by frequent, unexplained course changes and rarely leaving her quarters, where she holes herself up to study star charts. When her husband confronts her about her command style and their marriage, she tells him that she is not the same person he married and tries to throw him out of her cabin. However, when Anders holds her, she tells him that she wants to have sex in order to feel something. Afterwards, she says that she feels distanced from her body and the events around her ([[The Ties That Bind]]).
* When a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy comes aboard ''Demetrius'' with the offer of an alliance with the Cylons, a power struggle among the crew breaks out when Thrace orders to jump to his baseship ([[The Road Less Traveled]]). The fight ends with Gaeta getting shot in the leg by Anders. After standing down, Thrace decides to accompany Conoy with a small team. On his baseship she meets the Cylon [[Hybrid]], who repeats the [[first Hybrid]]'s [[The Destiny|prophecy]] ([[Razor]]) and gives her the next task: join the Cylons to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she knows of the Final Five ([[Faith]]).
* After the unboxing, Thrace reacts with shock and disbelief when she learns that her husband is a Cylon. She investigates the [[Starbuck's Viper|Viper she returned in]] and notices that it receives a strange signal, giving her a direct bearing to Earth. Her discovery stops the imminent execution of Colonel Tigh and leads to a truce with the [[Cylon Civil War|Cylon rebels]]. After arriving at Earth, Thrace is part of the first group on the surface, but finds only a destroyed city ([[Revelations]]).

=== The Thirteenth Colony and the Search for a New Home ===
*Thrace and [[Leoben Conoy]] explore the devastated Earth trying to find the source of the signal. They find pieces of wreckage belonging to a [[Viper (RDM)|Colonial Viper]]—the [[Viper 8757|same Viper]] that Thrace [[Maelstrom|flew into the gas giant]]. Finally, they come upon the cockpit of the crashed Viper, with its pilot still inside. Thrace is horrified to discover that the carcass inside the cockpit is hers. Thrace reveals to Conoy that the [[Hybrid]] aboard the rebel baseship called her the "Harbinger of Death." Conoy has no explanation for any of this and flees the scene, leaving Thrace alone to wonder who or what she really is. Thrace later retrieves the dog tags and wedding ring from the body. She then cremates the body and returns to ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''. She does not tell anyone what she has discovered ([[Sometimes a Great Notion]]).
*After ''Galactica'' leaves Earth, Thrace is still trying to come to terms with her discoveries there. [[Felix Gaeta]], who is unhappy about the Fleet's alliance with the [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylons]] and for the events leading up to that point (including a [[The Face of the Enemy|certain revelation]] about his role on [[New Caprica]]), decides to pick a fight with her. Gaeta accuses Thrace of collaborating with the Cylons, while Thrace retorts that Gaeta is just bitter because [[Faith|he lost his leg]]. Gaeta makes a thinly-veiled threat against Thrace, who responds by telling him she isn't afraid to beat up a cripple. Thrace then storms off ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]).
*A withdrawn Thrace later has an altercation with [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]. She teases him about his unexpected fathering of [[Nicholas Tyrol]]. Costanza is unamused, angrily retorting that Thrace slept with half the Fleet herself and has nothing to show for her efforts. This hits a nerve and Thrace throws a bowl of food at a retreating Costanza.
*An alarm goes off and Thrace is ordered by [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]] to evacuate the area. Thrace is suspicious and when she presses Allison for more information, he snaps that no one even knows what she is any more.
*Thrace turns to see a group of marines and civilians led by [[Charlie Connor]] run past her, and she follows them. She sees the group break into a weapons locker and arm themselves. She hears Connor giving his men orders to take the [[hangar deck]].
*Thrace rushes back to her barracks and grabs her weapons. She then tries to warn the CIC, but Gaeta blocks her calls. Realizing that Gaeta is also involved, Thrace takes off for the hangar deck.
*She arrives at the hangar deck just in time to rescue [[Lee Adama]] from Connor and his men, who are being assisted by [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] and [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]. Thrace kills one of the marines and wounds Skulls, forcing the others to back off. She and Lee then hurry away.
*Thrace and Lee take refuge inside a storage compartment. Lee doesn't think they can defeat the mutiny alone. Thrace responds by kissing him. She then says that this is the first time in weeks that she feels right.
*Thrace and Lee head for the CIC. They find that the mutiny has spread all across the ship. They arrive at Admiral Adama's quarters, where they meet [[Laura Roslin]]. After learning of the mutiny, Roslin decides that she must come out and address the Fleet. However, the ship's communications are down, and the only working [[wireless]] transmitter on the ship is in [[Gaius Baltar]]'s possession.
*Thrace, Adama, and Roslin make it to Baltar's compartment, where they find [[Galen Tyrol]] organizing a defense. Tyrol tells them that Admiral Adama has been arrested and is being escorted to the brig. Tyrol also tells them about a secondary storage airlock they can use to escape the ship. Thrace and Adama head off to rescue the admiral.
*At the brig, they find that [[William Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] have already escaped custody. They have also taken the rebel marine, [[Allan Nowart]], prisoner. Thrace tries to kill Nowart, but Adama thwarts her. As Nowart flees, Thrace argues that the mutineers are no longer his men, and as such are the enemy and that they can't afford to take prisoners.
*Thrace, Tigh and the Adamas arrive at the secondary storage airlock, where they find Tyrol, Roslin and Baltar waiting. A [[Raptor]] piloted by an [[Eight]] docks. After Roslin and Baltar board the Raptor, Thrace, Lee and Tyrol head off to continue the fight against Gaeta and [[Thomas Zarek]]'s forces ([[The Oath]]).
*Lee and Thrace head off to free the captives held in the brig, while Tyrol goes to sabotage the ship's FTL drive. They take out the mutineers guarding the brig and free Tigh, [[Sharon Agathon]], [[Karl Agathon]], [[Hera Agathon]], [[Caprica Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]].
*During the escape, a firefight ensues and Anders is shot in the back of the head by a mutineer, who was believed dead. He is not killed but is in dire need of medical attention. Thrace yells at the others to go without her and she starts dragging Anders towards the infirmary.
*Thrace eventually exhausts herself trying to carry Anders and she collapses. Marine [[Parr]] escorting [[Romo Lampkin]] appears; Thrace attempts to shoot Parr, but her gun is empty— however, Lampkin suddenly stabs the marine twice in the neck with a pen, killing him.
*Thrace asks Lampkin to help her carry Anders to the infirmary. Lampkin is reluctant but eventually agrees to help ([[Blood on the Scales]]).
*In the immediate aftermath of the mutiny, Thrace learns from Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]] that the bullet is still stuck in Anders' skull. Anders' suppressed memories of his Cylon life back on Earth are also triggered. To Thrace's disappointment, Anders does not have an explanation as to who she really is or how she apparently came back from the dead.
*Cottle manages to remove the bullet, which he gives to Thrace. However, when Thrace goes to speak with Anders, she discovers that he has zero brain activity—which the medical personnel are unable to explain ([[No Exit]]).
*Thrace is later part of a joint Cylon-Colonial CAP which escorts [[Raptor 702|a Raptor]] carrying [[Ellen Tigh]] and [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] onto ''Galactica''.
*Thrace is later seen in [[Joe's Bar]] drinking and toying with the bullet removed from Anders' skull. She and Tyrol have a brief discussion about Valerii, who is being held in the brig ([[Deadlock]]).
*Thrace gets a drawing of what seems to be stars from Hera and later visits Joe's Bar where she helps piano player [[Slick]] with the music he's composing. There she reveals that she used to play piano as a girl with her father until he left and then stopped and she had a song she used to play that made her happy. She realizes that Hera's drawing is of the notes for that song and she and Slick start playing it together. The music turns out to be [[The Music|the same music that activated the memories]] of the so-called [[Final Five]]. Slick, who was a manifestation of her father, disappears and Thrace later goes to Anders in the hope of finding out the reason she knew of the Music and its meaning, but is unsuccessful.
*When Admiral Adama comes to see Anders—now acting as ''Galactica's'' Hybrid—to find out the location of [[The Colony]], Thrace reveals to him that she has tried to make sense out of the notes by assigning numbers to them, but has had no luck in understanding it. Adama tells her he knows who she is: she's his daughter. Later she and Adama spread red tape down the hanger deck to create a line for people to cross one way or the other to show whether or not they volunteer for the rescue mission for Hera. Thrace stays on the volunteers side of the line and doesn't move the whole time having made her choice.
*During [[Battle of The Colony|the battle]], she leads a strike force that includes both Agathons into The Colony through Raptors. They encounter Sharon Valerii who gives them back Hera before being killed by Sharon Agathon. Thrace's team meets up with Lee's and they retreat to ''Galactica'', which has its nose inside the Colony as their Raptors have been destroyed.
*Thrace helps defend the ship and after an agreement is reached with Cavil, takes damage reports on their forces alongside Lee. After things go badly and the Colony starts to fall into the black hole with ''Galactica'', Thrace—the nearest person to the [[FTL]] console—is ordered to jump them away. Thrace doesn't know the rendezvous coordinates and, after Adama makes it clear that it doesn't matter, is inspired to input the numbers she assigned to [[The Music]]'s notes as the coordinates and jumps ''Galactica'' there. According to Thrace, Thrace jumps them to "the watchtower," which turns out to be the singular moon in orbit around another planet that the Colonials later dub [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].
*Thrace says goodbye to Anders before he flies the Fleet into the sun, destroying ''Galactica'' and the other ships, and later says her final goodbye to William Adama. Then she says her final goodbye to Lee Adama, having fulfilled [[The Destiny|her destiny]] to bring the Fleet to the second Earth. She disappears while Lee is talking about his dreams, leaving Lee surprised.

==Lords of Kobol, Hear My Prayer==

Despite her tough, rebellious exterior, Thrace is deeply spiritual and possesses a great deal of faith in the [[Lords of Kobol (RDM)|Lords of Kobol]]. She usually prays in moments of mourning or desperation, such as when she thinks Lee is dead ([[Miniseries]]), when she is trapped on a desolate moon with a broken knee and low oxygen ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]), and when she discovers she's in Cylon captivity ([[The Farm]]). This spirituality is put to the test as a series of events lead her towards a mysterious destiny.

==The Destiny==
{{mainarticle|The Destiny}}

From early in her life, Kara Thrace has been guided through her mother's actions for a special role in life, a plot point that begins with a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy in the Season 1 episode, "[[Flesh and Bone]]". In "[[Maelstrom]]", the character dies, but reappears as a guide for the Fleet at the end of Season 3.

A Cylon [[First Hybrid|Hybrid]], speaking to Major [[Kendra Shaw]] moments before their deaths, warns her that Thrace is the herald of the apocalypse and the harbinger of death, that she would lead the human race to its end, and that she is not to be followed ([[Razor]]). Similarly, another [[Hybrid]] describes her as the harbinger of death, and she would lead them to salvation and destruction ([[Faith]]).

This becomes the case, as she leads ''Galactica'' (and the Fleet) to a second, new planet the Colonials dub "Earth." There, both Colonials and both races of Cylon (the Kobollian-based "[[The Final Five|Final Five]]" and the remaining models from the "[[Significant Seven]]") are saved. However, as their blend in with the native humans on the new Earth, the distinctive natures of Colonial human and Cylon creations blur and merge. In a sense, the blurring results in the "death" of both races as a new human race begins. [[Hera Agathon]]'s body, a perfect human/Cylon merging, is later represented as the Mitochondrial Eve for the humans on the New Earth ([[Daybreak, Part II]]).

----
Starbuck is/was Aurora, the goddess of the dawn; more modern, a manifestation of Shiva in Hinduism. Now before you go thinking that an Avatar is some character in the movie Avatar, let me use the Hindu definition of an Avatar as being the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god. What’s a Shiva? Shiva is the Hindu goddess that is known as the ''Harbinger of Death'' and the ''Restorer of Worlds''. Likewise, Aurora is considered as the ''goddess of the dawn''.

Now, with these definitions acting as the method of analysis for Starbuck’s being, let’s look at the justification. In the movie Razor the first Cylon hybrid refers to Kara Thrace as the ''Harbinger of Death''. This definition of Kara was also used by varying Hybrids throughout the rest of the series. How was she the Harbinger of Death? When Starbuck was resurrected it was her task to restore mankind by acting as a guide to Earth. However, when she led the human caravan to Earth they found a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Human hope vanished the way life did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Varying crew members committed suicide, sewed mutiny within the fleet, and created mass depression among all mankind- literally being the Harbinger of Death, to hope.

Needless to say, this Avatar of Shiva/Aurora had to also be the restorer of worlds, and Starbuck did this in spades! In the finale of BSG Starbuck was able to use the mathematical elements of the music her father played to plot the course to a life-filled planet. This planet acted as the incubator of all life as we know it. The humans, and Cylon-human hybrids, were able to successfully mate amongst themselves, and the planet’s indigenous life what seemed like Neanderthal man. Thus, restoring life to lifelessness.

Not good enough?

Towards the latter half of season 3 Starbuck went through immense suffering (suffering being the central tenet in Hinduism). We saw what she went through with her mother (her mother stating that she had to put young Kara through hell because of her higher purpose); furthermore, the self-hatred Starbuck had for herself during her love triangle with Lee and Sam almost ripped apart her psyche. Additionally, constant drunkenness, random sex, and her suicide are all indicators of her suffering. Only after Starbuck was able to let go and detach herself from her material desires and accept the way of the universe, and succumb to her death in the maelstrom, was she able to be resurrected as the Avatar Shiva.

Finally, let’s remember the flashbacks seen in the show’s finale. The only thing Starbuck was afraid of was “not being remembered. I don’t want to be forgotten.” This aspiration was no mere statement of vanity; rather, if you look throughout the course of human history you will always find a god, goddess, social movement leader, etc who can be considered as a virus to the current system while at the same time being an agent of new beginnings. And in that vein, Starbuck was never forgotten. First it was Aurora, then Athena, then Starbuck, presently Shiva, more modernly Martin Luther King, the list goes on. It was Starbuck’s ROLE that enabled her to never worry about her highest fear: that the agent of a new dawn will continually exist in human society. The only reason she gets the status of an Avatar, though, is because she is somehow connected to another being that hates to be called “God.”
--[[User:Themario|Themario]] 15:50, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

==Notes==
*On the Sci-Fi Channel's preview for season 2.5 (US), Katee Sackhoff is quoted as saying that Starbuck is "the best Viper pilot...EVER."
*[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]] was a region in south-eastern Europe that was heavily influenced by the ancient Greeks and was eventually conquered by [[Wikipedia:Philip II of Macedonia|Phillip II of Macedonia]]. Thracians were considered by most to be the most ferocious fighters and were often highly paid mercenaries for Greek kings.
*Thrace may have been named after [[w:Thrax (mythology)|Thrax]], the son of [[w:Ares|Ares]], the god of war, who was said to reside on the Thracian plain in Greek mythology.
*After auditioning for the role of [[Anastasia Dualla|Dualla]], [[Grace Park]] was asked by director [[Michael Rymer]] to audition for the role of Starbuck, and she was actually one of two finalists up for the role (the other obviously being [[Katee Sackhoff]], who got the part). Ultimately Park was cast as [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]].
*In a TV Guide [http://online.tvguide.com/newsearch/detail.aspx?id=4371595&sourcetype=S&progseriesparentid=4371595&tvobjectid=191395&keyword=Battlestar+Galactica&referrer=search1 photo shoot] at the BSG studios, Katee Sackhoff explained that the [[tattoo]] that Starbuck bears on her left arm is a wing and a circle and has half of the constellation of Capricorn (a reference to [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] obviously) and a small symbol of the planet as well. It matches a mirror image of the tattoo on Anders' right arm. When the two of them hold each other with their respective arms crossing, the 2 tattoos come together to form an image of a single ring with 2 wings that is supposed to represent their union. According to Sackhoff, Kara and Anders had the tattoos done around the time of their wedding, a fact later confirmed in dialogue during Season 4.5.
*The license plate on Thrace's truck on Caprica is "FB 42 E3" ([[Valley of Darkness]]).

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{{Dead Characters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrace, Kara}}

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[[de:Kara Thrace]]
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[[zh:卡拉·色雷斯]]

Kara Thrace

2010-08-31T15:50:16Z

Themario: /* The Destiny */

:''This article discusses the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] character with the pilot callsign of "Starbuck." For information on Kara Thrace's counterpart in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]], see [[Starbuck (TOS)]].''

:''For Kara Thrace's parents, see [[Dreilide Thrace]] and [[Socrata Thrace]].''

{{Character Data
|photo= Kara Thrace.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|birthname= Kara Thrace
|callsign= Starbuck
|seen= Miniseries
|death= Viper destroyed near gas giant, crashing on [[Earth (RDM)#Arrival_and_Ruins|Cylon Earth]] ([[Maelstrom]]/[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]); Mysteriously reappears ([[Crossroads, Part II]]); Vanishes in Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|pre-historical 2nd Earth]] ([[Daybreak, Part II]])
|parents= [[Socrata Thrace]]† (mother) [[Dreilide Thrace]]† (father)
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Married to [[Samuel Anders]]† (formerly engaged to [[Zak Adama]]†)
|rank=Captain
|role= Viper pilot; flight instructor; ''Galactica'' [[Commander Air Group|CAG]]; angel-prophet; captain of ''[[Demetrius]]''
|actor= [[Katee Sackhoff]] [[Erika-Shaye Gair]] (child)
|cylon=
|serial = 462753 <ref name="serial"> Confirmed number from QMX dogtags given to them by the studio.</ref>
}}
'''Kara "Starbuck" Thrace''' is a gifted [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilot, with an attitude that has hindered her career in the Colonial Fleet. However, [[William Adama]] has confidence in Thrace's military skills, and she greatly aids the Fleet inside and out of the cockpit. She is the last [[Commander Air Group|Commander, Air Group]] (CAG) of ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'', and [[virtual beings|mysteriously vanishes]] in a region that will later be known as Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|the second Earth]] shortly after the Fleet's arrival on the planet ([[Daybreak, Part II]]).

== Background ==

[[Image:YoungKaraThrace.jpg|thumb|left|A young Kara Thrace in a vision ([[Maelstrom]]).]]
*Thrace's mother [[Socrata Thrace|Socrata]] was a former [[Colonial Marine Corps]] sergeant major. She beat her daughter so frequently that Thrace came to accept pain as a way of life ("[[Flesh and Bone]]", "[[Maelstrom]]").
*Her father [[Dreilide Thrace|Dreilide]] was a pianist and composer. Kara seems to have been closer to him than with her mother ([[Valley of Darkness]], [[Someone to Watch Over Me]]) until he left them.
*Thrace left home to join the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|military]]. During her training, she was disciplined for insubordinate conduct towards [[Mike Gibbons|superior officers]].
*She was a talented [[pyramid]] player ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]), and was up for the pros, but an injured knee took her out of contention. However, she discovered a passion and skill for being a fighter pilot ([[Podcast:The Hand of God]]).
*One of her early posts was aboard the battlestar ''[[Triton (RDM)|Triton]]''. While there, she offended Commander [[Myron Ruth]], who initiated court-martial proceedings against her, but the charges were later dropped ([[The Son Also Rises]]).
*Thrace eventually returned to flight school as an instructor, where she fell in love with one of her students, [[Zak Adama]]. Despite his poor performance, she allowed him to pass his final check flight although he failed three of the required maneuvers ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*Thrace lost Zak Adama when he was killed during a routine mission shortly after graduating. [[Lee Adama]] ("Apollo"), Zak's elder brother, blamed their father for Zak's death, and Thrace, feeling guilty, kept quiet. She met [[William Adama]] shortly after the accident, and the two formed a strong rapport and stood together at the funeral ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*Thrace resigned as an instructor and returned to the Fleet as an operational pilot on the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' under the command of William Adama, where she served for some two years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. Before the Cylon attack, she was second-in-command to the [[CAG]], [[Jackson Spencer]].
*She has a rarely-used run-down apartment in [[Delphi]] that overlooked a parking lot, and a Colonial version of a [[Wikipedia:Humvee|Humvee]] which she and Helo use to escape the city and get to the country where she meets her Samuel Anders. She was also an avid painter, and her apartment is cluttered with her paintings and a [[Starbuck's Poem|poem]] written on a wall ([[Valley of Darkness]]). The apartment was neater when Thrace was with Zak Adama, although her [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] wall painting pre-dates that relationship. ([[Daybreak, Part I]])
*Thrace hides the fact that she is deeply spiritual. She frequently prays to the [[Lords of Kobol]], particularly [[Aphrodite]] and [[Artemis]] in dire situations ([[Miniseries]], "[[Flesh and Bone]]", "[[You Can't Go Home Again]]").

==Character History==

=== Galactica and Pre-New Caprica ===

*Thrace's attitude quickly runs her afoul of Colonel [[Saul Tigh]], ''Galactica's'' [[executive officer]]. Their open mutual dislike of one another leads to the point where blows are exchanged, with Thrace ending up in the brig. After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] she is released from the brig and returns to duty as Viper pilot.
*Thrace manages to keep two of three nuclear missiles from striking ''Galactica'' in their first Cylon sortie, and saves Lee from doom in an innovative maneuver in the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]].
*Her skills in saving Lee brings her grudging respect from Colonel Tigh, but she is unable to accept his offer of the olive branch—an act that will have repercussions for her later ([[Miniseries]]).
[[image:Bastille_Day-Starbuck_Boxey.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace as acting [[CAG]] with [[Boxey (RDM)|Boxey]] as assistant ([[Bastille Day]]).]]
*Thrace participates in a hostage rescue mission aboard the ''[[Astral Queen]]''. Following the successful mission, Thrace tries to mend fences between herself and Colonel Tigh with a toast (consisting of water), apologizing in much the same way as Tigh himself had tried after their initial escape from [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. But Tigh rejects Thrace's apology, stating that her flaws are professional, while his flaws were personal ([[Bastille Day]]).
*Thrace eventually admits her secret about Zak Adama to William Adama himself, an act that brings their close friendship almost to the breaking point ([[Act of Contrition]]).
*During a surprise encounter with Cylons during [[nugget]] training, Thrace destroys several Cylon Raiders, but her ship is damaged and tumbles towards a small red moon with an unbreathable atmosphere. With her Viper in a fatal flat-spin, Thrace is forced to eject from her Viper ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]).
*Thrace (nursing a damaged knee) repairs the downed Cylon Raider found on the inhabitable moon and returns to ''Galactica'', giving the Fleet a vital piece of Cylon fighter technology for study and use.
*The recovering Thrace, off flight status, is asked by Commander Adama to plan a special attack on a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery. The tactical planning role is not something she relishes, and she frequently shows resentment towards others for her condition ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).
*During Thrace's undesired interrogation of a Cylon prisoner, a copy of a known [[Humanoid Cylon|Cylon]] named [[Leoben Conoy]], she uses some drastic acts to try to extract the information from the humanoid Cylon ([[Flesh and Bone]]).
[[image:Starbuck-Kobols_Last_Gleaming_pt2.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).]]
*Thrace is assigned to plant a nuclear device on board a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] in orbit around [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. She disobeys orders to retrieve the [[Arrow of Apollo]] at the request of President Roslin, since she discovered Commander Adama's speech concerning knowledge of the location of Earth was a lie. She [[FTL|jump]]s to Caprica ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]), landing in [[Delphi]] in the captured Cylon [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Raider]], depriving the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] of the valuable military asset.
*In the [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]] with the Arrow, she is violently attacked by a copy of [[Number Six]]. Despite being heavily outmatched in the fight, Thrace luckily defeats the Cylon.
*At the museum, she reunites with [[Karl Agathon]], whom she thought dead, and discovers [[Sharon Agathon|a second copy]] of [[Sharon Valerii]], realizing instantly that the woman is a Cylon.
*"Caprica Valerii", fearing for her child, steals Thrace's Raider. In exasperation, Thrace only mutters: "Bitch took my ride" ([[Scattered]]). Like Agathon, Thrace is left with no way to return to the Fleet unless she could find her Raider or another Cylon spacecraft, as only Cylon navigational computers are powerful enough to plot jumps over such large distances..
*Thrace berates Agathon's love for the Caprica copy of Valerii. Thrace finds the keys of her surplus military utility vehicle in her old jacket in her old apartment. Thrace has a ride again, if only to move more efficiently about Caprica ([[Valley of Darkness]]).
[[Image:ThraceAndersResistance.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace and Anders playing Pyramid on Caprica ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).]]
*Thrace and Agathon meet a [[Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] on Caprica. Thrace and [[Samuel Anders]] strike up a rapport as fellow [[Pyramid (RDM)|Pyramid]] players and end up as lovers.
*During planning to steal a [[Heavy Raider]], Thrace is shot in a military action, waking up in a hospital on Caprica. Thrace is told by her doctor, [[Simon]], that Anders died from wounds he suffered in getting Thrace to safety.
*Thrace discovers that Simon is working with a [[Number Six|known humanoid Cylon]]. She overhears that the next day he plans to extract her ovaries for use in the Cylon's attempts to study and create a hybrid Cylon/human embryo. Simon also makes the mistake of calling Thrace by her callsign, Starbuck, which she had never revealed.
*Staggering and in pain, Thrace kills Simon and escapes the hospital, but not before clocking a Six copy with a fire extinguisher and destroying the local farm power supply, mercy-killing [[Sue-Shaun]] and several other women in the facility.
*Another Simon copy appears just as the Resistance attacks the facility. The second Simon, now revealed as a humanoid Cylon himself, is immediately killed by the Resistance, but a squad of [[Cylon Centurion]]s appear and pins the Resistance down. Luckily, [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops in with a stolen [[Heavy Raider]], destroys the Centurions and flies the Resistance and Thrace out of harm's way.
*Thrace promises to Anders that she'll [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I|return with a rescue mission]] for the remaining survivors. Anders returns the Arrow of Apollo to Thrace, which he hid on the resistance grounds for safekeeping ([[The Farm]]).
*Thrace, Agathon and the pregnant "Caprica Valerii" land on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' in the Heavy Raider. Finding the [[Laura Roslin faction]] in orbit of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], Thrace is reunited with Lee. He kisses her impulsively, catching Thrace by pleasant surprise, but a tense standoff follows when Lee discovers that another Sharon copy has returned with them. Roslin helps defuse the situation, and Thrace delivers the Arrow of Apollo to the President.
*Temporarily removed from military protocol, Lee playfully teases Thrace by stealing a pyramid ball she took from Caprica. Adama senses her depression about Caprica and tells her that he'd be happy to hear about any problems she had. He also let slip that he loved her, which brightened Thrace's mood to the point where she teased him back about his slip.
*With a team led by Laura Roslin, Lee, and, later, joined by the recovered Commander Adama, Thrace enters the [[Tomb of Athena]] and successfully uses the Arrow of Apollo to activate a hologram that shows constellations of the Twelve Colonies' ancient symbols.
*Thrace realizes that they are on a recreation of Earth. Together with Lee, they locate the Lagoon Nebula, a celestial body known to Commander Adama and Lee, and gather sufficient information to begin an actual course to Earth ([[Home, Part II]]).
*Thrace shows off the impressive stealth abilities of the new [[Blackbird]] fighter in her maiden flight ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).
*With the arrival of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Admiral [[Helena Cain]] summarily assigns Thrace (and Lee) to ''Pegasus'' after digesting the reports of ''Galactica'''s officers.
*[[Cole Taylor|The ''Pegasus'' CAG]] removes Thrace from the Cylon recon mission. Lee secretly tells her to use the [[Blackbird]] to take recon photos of the Cylon Unknown ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).
*Returning from her very successful mission, the [[Blackbird]]'s lack of a Colonial transponder is mistaken for a Cylon [[Raider]] on [[DRADIS]], and Thrace is nearly confronted and shot at by Vipers from ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica''. After narrowly avoiding certain death by declaring herself a friendly, Thrace transmits her recon photos to ''Pegasus''.
*Admiral Cain is very impressed with Thrace's performance and promotes her to Captain and ''Pegasus'' CAG.
*Thrace is assigned the task of planning the joint attack on the Resurrection Ship, but successfully asks to have Lee on her team, restoring him to flight status.
*After she briefs Cain and Commander Adama on her battle plan, Adama asks Thrace privately to assassinate Cain after the battle is complete. Adama fears that if Cain continues to command, the Fleet would be in mortal jeopardy from Cain's draconian command ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).
*Thrace's battle planning, as before on the [[tylium]] [[The Hand of God (RDM)|mine]], works to near-perfection, with the Resurrection Ship destroyed and its supporting basestars.
*As a result of the battle events, Thrace is left without backup as she walks to the ''Pegasus'' CIC to shoot Cain, obviously afraid and apprehensive. When Commander Adama calls, Thrace slowly moves her hand to her sidearm but, to her relief, Adama does not give the kill order and cryptically instructs her to stand down ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).
*Thrace and [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]] are involved in the protection of a mining operation from periodic Raider attacks. One Raider, nicknamed [[Scar (Raider)|Scar]], fuels an intensive rivalry for the pilot's "top gun" honor. Thrace, still depressed over her inability to convince Fleet command to initiate a rescue for Samuel Anders and his resistance, drinks heavily and obsesses over removing Scar from the sky, even at the cost of her life. Fortunately, Thrace realizes the futility of her actions, and works together with Katraine to destroy the remarkably dangerous Raider ([[Scar]]).
*A few weeks later, Thrace takes leave on ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' when she was dragooned into rescuing Lee and several other ''Galactica'' crew and residents after terrorists take them hostage in exchange for the incarcerated [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon Agathon neé Valerii]]. Thrace gathers intelligence on the situation, but her cover is blown. In the retreating firefight, Lee is caught in the crossfire. After the situation is resolved, Thrace intended to sit at Lee's bedside, only to discover that Dualla beat her to it ([[Sacrifice]]).
*Later, Thrace is assigned to ''Pegasus'' as a flight trainer. Though the pilots like her, Commander [[Barry Garner]] does not, eventually confining her to quarters for "insubordination." Following the [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ill-fated rescue and retreat]] from a Cylon ambush (where Thrace leads the fighters) and [[Battle of the Guardian Basestar|after a search, rescue and destroy mission to a Cylon-war era basestar]], Thrace informs Lee—now commander of ''Pegasus''—that she was taking over his old CAG post aboard ''Galactica'', joking that she has a problem with her commander wanting to send her off to get killed ("[[The Captain's Hand]]", "[[Razor]]").
*Thrace gets her wish: the Caprica rescue is approved, and she leads a large Raptor squadron to the planet. The group soon met up with Anders, who reports that their HQ had been destroyed and Thrace's timing was just perfect. A squad of Centurions ambush and pin down the group moments later ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]).
*Still pinned down from attack fire, Thrace and Anders agree to kill each other to avoid capture and internment at a [[Farms|farm]]. But the attack stops, and a [[Cavil|man]] appears, praising the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] as he announces that the Cylons not only have ceased fire, but are abandoning the Twelve Colonies. Thrace isn't really surprised to discover that the man, known as Brother [[Cavil]], was a Cylon upon their return to the Fleet.
*Thrace and Anders proceed to get drunk, and host a disastrous encounter with Lee. This apparently led to a rift between the two comrades.
[[Image:Leobenkara.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Leoben with Kara Thrace ([[Exodus, Part I]]).]]
*The evening of the founding of [[New Caprica]], Thrace slept with Lee and proclaimed her love for him as she was uncertain regarding her feelings toward Anders. The following morning she quickly married Anders in a ceremony near the river. This caused a rift between Thrace and Lee that lasted for well over a year ([[Unfinished Business]]).
*Life on New Caprica tempered Thrace, and she often behaved in ways Thrace never would have, including hugging Colonel Tigh and pampering Anders during his bout with an illness.
*She watches in horror at the sudden arrival of hundreds of Cylon ships in the sky over New Caprica. A few of ''Galactica's'' former crew gather near Thrace, looking to her for guidance. She responds the only way she knows how: "Fight 'em until we can't" ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

=== The New Caprica Ordeal and Her Death ===

*After Baltar's surrender of New Caprica, Conoy keeps Thrace prisoner in an apartment located within the Cylon-built [[New Caprica Detention Center]] in an attempt to convince Thrace that she loves him and also convert her to the [[Cylon Religion|Cylon monotheistic religion]]. She repeatedly kills Conoy a total of five times in an attempt to convince him to let her go ("[[Occupation]]", "[[Precipice]]").
*Conoy introduces Thrace to a small child named [[Kacey Brynn|Kacey]], who appears to be approximately two to three years in age, whom he claims is their biological daughter. He explains that the child was created using one of Thrace's extracted ovaries ([[The Farm]]) and his genetic material. Conflicted, Thrace leaves the child unattended, which later results in Kacey falling down the apartment's stairs ([[Precipice]]). After the fall, Thrace begins to change her attitude towards the child and begins to offer affection towards Conoy ("[[Precipice]]", "[[Exodus, Part I]]").
*Upon her return to ''Galactica'' after Admiral Adama's [[Battle of New Caprica|daring rescue attempt]], Thrace heartbreakingly discovers that Kacey was simply another manipulation on Conoy's part — Kacey is merely a human child whom the Cylons had abducted months ago from [[Julia Brynn|their mother]] ([[Exodus, Part II]]).
*Bearing the psychological scars of her four month ordeal with Leoben and Kacey, Thrace is recruited by [[Diana Seelix]] as a last minute replacement juror in the [[Circle]] after Anders' resignation. Thrace's involvement in the Circle precipitates the breakup of her marriage with Anders. Initially wondering about the legality of the tribunal, she is the fifth vote to find [[Felix Gaeta]] guilty of treason and collaboration. Later, when Gaeta is about to be killed in one of ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> [[launch tubes (RDM)|launch tubes]], she demands him to beg for his life. Thrace physically assaults him and goes down the litany of "lies" that Gaeta told her earlier about him helping the [[New Caprica Resistance|insurgency]]. As she does so, [[Galen Tyrol]], one of the Circle's jurors, overhears this and confirms the story. In a sense of confusion after learning that Gaeta was telling the truth, Thrace leaves the launch tube ([[Collaborators]]).
*During a combat exercise between Vipers, Thrace breaks formation and collides with another pilot, forcing an end to the war games and causing Lee to revoke her flight status. Later, at her bunk she is met by Kacey and her mother, whom she dismisses, telling Kacey's mother not to visit her again. In the pilots' rec room, Thrace and Colonel Tigh begin to sow dissent between the survivors of New Caprica and the crew that stayed behind on ''Galactica'', insinuating that those who stayed behind did not suffer like those on New Caprica did, and that the crew of ''Galactica'' took too long to organize a rescue. Admiral Adama, upon learning of this from Karl Agathon, confronts Thrace and Tigh on their behavior. He challenges them to shoot him, as their constant complaining is tantamount to pulling the trigger. When neither do, Adama throws Thrace off her chair and demands that both she and Tigh shape up and move on with their lives. Spurred by Adama's words, Thrace cuts her hair and returns to duty. Later, in uniform, she visits Kacey and her mother on the [[Dogsville|converted hangar deck]] ([[Torn]]).
*Thrace enters an affair with Lee, rekindling their romance on New Caprica ([[Unfinished Business]]). Both Anders and Lee's wife, Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]], are more than vaguely aware of the pair's sexual tension. Lee soon ends the affair and reconciles, but Thrace refuses to give Anders any further attention than a periodic sexual fling.
*Thrace is involved with the defense of the incorrectly called "[[Temple of Five]]" but is severely injured, leaving her rescuer, Dualla, to return them to ''Galactica'' ([[Rapture]]). Agathon recognizes the strange circular [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] in the Temple, created 4,000 years before, and its resemblance to a symbol that Thrace painted in her apartment. When shown the symbol, the recovering Thrace is darkly reminded of Leoben's prophesy.
*During refueling operations above a gas giant, Thrace is continually attracted to what she believes is a Cylon contact, which she chases to find a planetary storm that resembles the mandala. She dives into it, almost losing control before coming to her senses and returning.
*Command staff and Thrace question her competency to continue flying, but Lee volunteers encouragement and offers to fly as her wingman on her next [[Combat Air Patrol|CAP]].
*Thrace finds herself attracted by another apparent Cylon contact. As she descended, her Viper is struck by debris and she, while unconscious, experiences a revelation about her mother, [[Socrata Thrace]], and guided through the vision by what looks to be a Leoben copy.
*Starbuck regains consciousness but chooses to continue her descent despite Lee's desperate pleas to ascend. "I'll see you on the other side (...) Just let me go" were her last words as her Viper explodes. A grief-stricken Lee tells [[CIC]] that he did not see any ejection ([[Maelstrom]]).
*While preparing for a Cylon engagement near the [[Ionian nebula]], Lee (who has [[Crossroads, Part I|since left]] the Colonial Military) detects a bogey on [[DRADIS]]. While he searches for the target, Lee finds himself momentarily in a cat-and-mouse chase game with the mysterious target. As Lee attempts to regain sight of the bogey, it positions itself next to his Viper.

=== Return from the Dead and Suspicion ===

*The [[Starbuck's Viper|pristine Viper Mark II]] that comes alongside is flown by Thrace herself. A shocked and confused [[Lee Adama]] (now a civilian) listens to the apparently-resurrected Kara Thrace, who tells him that she has been to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] and she has returned to take the Fleet to it ([[Crossroads, Part II]]).
*After the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|battle at the nebula]], she returns to ''Galactica'' where everyone is astounded to see her alive. While everyone believed her dead for over two months, only several hours have passed for her. She has returned with recon photography of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], but no navigational data or knowledge of how she got there. Further complicating her claim is the fact that her Viper is nearly pristine, as if it had just been built. Despite passing a medical examination by Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]], almost everyone—especially Roslin—thinks she may be a Cylon or part of a Cylon trap, and thus don't believe her. Thrace herself wonders if she could be a Cylon.
*When the Fleet jumps further away from the Ionian Nebula, she experiences headaches and says that she is losing the intuitive feeling of the way to Earth. Desperate to lead the Colonials there, she breaks into Adama's quarters and confronts Roslin at gun point ([[He That Believeth In Me]]).
*Thrace is eventually subdued by [[Colonial Marines]] and imprisoned in the [[brig]]. Lee visits Thrace in the brig and tells her that he believes her. Thrace is happy that he does and they share a kiss before Lee leaves for ''[[Colonial One]]''. Although not sure what to make of her claims, Admiral Adama releases her later, and gives her command of ''[[Demetrius]]'', and a crew including [[Karl Agathon]] and Samuel Anders, telling her to try to find Earth ([[Six of One]]).
*Thrace irritates her crew by frequent, unexplained course changes and rarely leaving her quarters, where she holes herself up to study star charts. When her husband confronts her about her command style and their marriage, she tells him that she is not the same person he married and tries to throw him out of her cabin. However, when Anders holds her, she tells him that she wants to have sex in order to feel something. Afterwards, she says that she feels distanced from her body and the events around her ([[The Ties That Bind]]).
* When a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy comes aboard ''Demetrius'' with the offer of an alliance with the Cylons, a power struggle among the crew breaks out when Thrace orders to jump to his baseship ([[The Road Less Traveled]]). The fight ends with Gaeta getting shot in the leg by Anders. After standing down, Thrace decides to accompany Conoy with a small team. On his baseship she meets the Cylon [[Hybrid]], who repeats the [[first Hybrid]]'s [[The Destiny|prophecy]] ([[Razor]]) and gives her the next task: join the Cylons to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she knows of the Final Five ([[Faith]]).
* After the unboxing, Thrace reacts with shock and disbelief when she learns that her husband is a Cylon. She investigates the [[Starbuck's Viper|Viper she returned in]] and notices that it receives a strange signal, giving her a direct bearing to Earth. Her discovery stops the imminent execution of Colonel Tigh and leads to a truce with the [[Cylon Civil War|Cylon rebels]]. After arriving at Earth, Thrace is part of the first group on the surface, but finds only a destroyed city ([[Revelations]]).

=== The Thirteenth Colony and the Search for a New Home ===
*Thrace and [[Leoben Conoy]] explore the devastated Earth trying to find the source of the signal. They find pieces of wreckage belonging to a [[Viper (RDM)|Colonial Viper]]—the [[Viper 8757|same Viper]] that Thrace [[Maelstrom|flew into the gas giant]]. Finally, they come upon the cockpit of the crashed Viper, with its pilot still inside. Thrace is horrified to discover that the carcass inside the cockpit is hers. Thrace reveals to Conoy that the [[Hybrid]] aboard the rebel baseship called her the "Harbinger of Death." Conoy has no explanation for any of this and flees the scene, leaving Thrace alone to wonder who or what she really is. Thrace later retrieves the dog tags and wedding ring from the body. She then cremates the body and returns to ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''. She does not tell anyone what she has discovered ([[Sometimes a Great Notion]]).
*After ''Galactica'' leaves Earth, Thrace is still trying to come to terms with her discoveries there. [[Felix Gaeta]], who is unhappy about the Fleet's alliance with the [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylons]] and for the events leading up to that point (including a [[The Face of the Enemy|certain revelation]] about his role on [[New Caprica]]), decides to pick a fight with her. Gaeta accuses Thrace of collaborating with the Cylons, while Thrace retorts that Gaeta is just bitter because [[Faith|he lost his leg]]. Gaeta makes a thinly-veiled threat against Thrace, who responds by telling him she isn't afraid to beat up a cripple. Thrace then storms off ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]).
*A withdrawn Thrace later has an altercation with [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]. She teases him about his unexpected fathering of [[Nicholas Tyrol]]. Costanza is unamused, angrily retorting that Thrace slept with half the Fleet herself and has nothing to show for her efforts. This hits a nerve and Thrace throws a bowl of food at a retreating Costanza.
*An alarm goes off and Thrace is ordered by [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]] to evacuate the area. Thrace is suspicious and when she presses Allison for more information, he snaps that no one even knows what she is any more.
*Thrace turns to see a group of marines and civilians led by [[Charlie Connor]] run past her, and she follows them. She sees the group break into a weapons locker and arm themselves. She hears Connor giving his men orders to take the [[hangar deck]].
*Thrace rushes back to her barracks and grabs her weapons. She then tries to warn the CIC, but Gaeta blocks her calls. Realizing that Gaeta is also involved, Thrace takes off for the hangar deck.
*She arrives at the hangar deck just in time to rescue [[Lee Adama]] from Connor and his men, who are being assisted by [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] and [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]. Thrace kills one of the marines and wounds Skulls, forcing the others to back off. She and Lee then hurry away.
*Thrace and Lee take refuge inside a storage compartment. Lee doesn't think they can defeat the mutiny alone. Thrace responds by kissing him. She then says that this is the first time in weeks that she feels right.
*Thrace and Lee head for the CIC. They find that the mutiny has spread all across the ship. They arrive at Admiral Adama's quarters, where they meet [[Laura Roslin]]. After learning of the mutiny, Roslin decides that she must come out and address the Fleet. However, the ship's communications are down, and the only working [[wireless]] transmitter on the ship is in [[Gaius Baltar]]'s possession.
*Thrace, Adama, and Roslin make it to Baltar's compartment, where they find [[Galen Tyrol]] organizing a defense. Tyrol tells them that Admiral Adama has been arrested and is being escorted to the brig. Tyrol also tells them about a secondary storage airlock they can use to escape the ship. Thrace and Adama head off to rescue the admiral.
*At the brig, they find that [[William Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] have already escaped custody. They have also taken the rebel marine, [[Allan Nowart]], prisoner. Thrace tries to kill Nowart, but Adama thwarts her. As Nowart flees, Thrace argues that the mutineers are no longer his men, and as such are the enemy and that they can't afford to take prisoners.
*Thrace, Tigh and the Adamas arrive at the secondary storage airlock, where they find Tyrol, Roslin and Baltar waiting. A [[Raptor]] piloted by an [[Eight]] docks. After Roslin and Baltar board the Raptor, Thrace, Lee and Tyrol head off to continue the fight against Gaeta and [[Thomas Zarek]]'s forces ([[The Oath]]).
*Lee and Thrace head off to free the captives held in the brig, while Tyrol goes to sabotage the ship's FTL drive. They take out the mutineers guarding the brig and free Tigh, [[Sharon Agathon]], [[Karl Agathon]], [[Hera Agathon]], [[Caprica Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]].
*During the escape, a firefight ensues and Anders is shot in the back of the head by a mutineer, who was believed dead. He is not killed but is in dire need of medical attention. Thrace yells at the others to go without her and she starts dragging Anders towards the infirmary.
*Thrace eventually exhausts herself trying to carry Anders and she collapses. Marine [[Parr]] escorting [[Romo Lampkin]] appears; Thrace attempts to shoot Parr, but her gun is empty— however, Lampkin suddenly stabs the marine twice in the neck with a pen, killing him.
*Thrace asks Lampkin to help her carry Anders to the infirmary. Lampkin is reluctant but eventually agrees to help ([[Blood on the Scales]]).
*In the immediate aftermath of the mutiny, Thrace learns from Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]] that the bullet is still stuck in Anders' skull. Anders' suppressed memories of his Cylon life back on Earth are also triggered. To Thrace's disappointment, Anders does not have an explanation as to who she really is or how she apparently came back from the dead.
*Cottle manages to remove the bullet, which he gives to Thrace. However, when Thrace goes to speak with Anders, she discovers that he has zero brain activity—which the medical personnel are unable to explain ([[No Exit]]).
*Thrace is later part of a joint Cylon-Colonial CAP which escorts [[Raptor 702|a Raptor]] carrying [[Ellen Tigh]] and [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] onto ''Galactica''.
*Thrace is later seen in [[Joe's Bar]] drinking and toying with the bullet removed from Anders' skull. She and Tyrol have a brief discussion about Valerii, who is being held in the brig ([[Deadlock]]).
*Thrace gets a drawing of what seems to be stars from Hera and later visits Joe's Bar where she helps piano player [[Slick]] with the music he's composing. There she reveals that she used to play piano as a girl with her father until he left and then stopped and she had a song she used to play that made her happy. She realizes that Hera's drawing is of the notes for that song and she and Slick start playing it together. The music turns out to be [[The Music|the same music that activated the memories]] of the so-called [[Final Five]]. Slick, who was a manifestation of her father, disappears and Thrace later goes to Anders in the hope of finding out the reason she knew of the Music and its meaning, but is unsuccessful.
*When Admiral Adama comes to see Anders—now acting as ''Galactica's'' Hybrid—to find out the location of [[The Colony]], Thrace reveals to him that she has tried to make sense out of the notes by assigning numbers to them, but has had no luck in understanding it. Adama tells her he knows who she is: she's his daughter. Later she and Adama spread red tape down the hanger deck to create a line for people to cross one way or the other to show whether or not they volunteer for the rescue mission for Hera. Thrace stays on the volunteers side of the line and doesn't move the whole time having made her choice.
*During [[Battle of The Colony|the battle]], she leads a strike force that includes both Agathons into The Colony through Raptors. They encounter Sharon Valerii who gives them back Hera before being killed by Sharon Agathon. Thrace's team meets up with Lee's and they retreat to ''Galactica'', which has its nose inside the Colony as their Raptors have been destroyed.
*Thrace helps defend the ship and after an agreement is reached with Cavil, takes damage reports on their forces alongside Lee. After things go badly and the Colony starts to fall into the black hole with ''Galactica'', Thrace—the nearest person to the [[FTL]] console—is ordered to jump them away. Thrace doesn't know the rendezvous coordinates and, after Adama makes it clear that it doesn't matter, is inspired to input the numbers she assigned to [[The Music]]'s notes as the coordinates and jumps ''Galactica'' there. According to Thrace, Thrace jumps them to "the watchtower," which turns out to be the singular moon in orbit around another planet that the Colonials later dub [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].
*Thrace says goodbye to Anders before he flies the Fleet into the sun, destroying ''Galactica'' and the other ships, and later says her final goodbye to William Adama. Then she says her final goodbye to Lee Adama, having fulfilled [[The Destiny|her destiny]] to bring the Fleet to the second Earth. She disappears while Lee is talking about his dreams, leaving Lee surprised.

==Lords of Kobol, Hear My Prayer==

Despite her tough, rebellious exterior, Thrace is deeply spiritual and possesses a great deal of faith in the [[Lords of Kobol (RDM)|Lords of Kobol]]. She usually prays in moments of mourning or desperation, such as when she thinks Lee is dead ([[Miniseries]]), when she is trapped on a desolate moon with a broken knee and low oxygen ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]), and when she discovers she's in Cylon captivity ([[The Farm]]). This spirituality is put to the test as a series of events lead her towards a mysterious destiny.

==The Destiny==
{{mainarticle|The Destiny}}

From early in her life, Kara Thrace has been guided through her mother's actions for a special role in life, a plot point that begins with a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy in the Season 1 episode, "[[Flesh and Bone]]". In "[[Maelstrom]]", the character dies, but reappears as a guide for the Fleet at the end of Season 3.

A Cylon [[First Hybrid|Hybrid]], speaking to Major [[Kendra Shaw]] moments before their deaths, warns her that Thrace is the herald of the apocalypse and the harbinger of death, that she would lead the human race to its end, and that she is not to be followed ([[Razor]]). Similarly, another [[Hybrid]] describes her as the harbinger of death, and she would lead them to salvation and destruction ([[Faith]]).

This becomes the case, as she leads ''Galactica'' (and the Fleet) to a second, new planet the Colonials dub "Earth." There, both Colonials and both races of Cylon (the Kobollian-based "[[The Final Five|Final Five]]" and the remaining models from the "[[Significant Seven]]") are saved. However, as their blend in with the native humans on the new Earth, the distinctive natures of Colonial human and Cylon creations blur and merge. In a sense, the blurring results in the "death" of both races as a new human race begins. [[Hera Agathon]]'s body, a perfect human/Cylon merging, is later represented as the Mitochondrial Eve for the humans on the New Earth ([[Daybreak, Part II]]).

Starbuck is/was Aurora, the goddess of the dawn; more modern, a manifestation of Shiva in Hinduism. Now before you go thinking that an Avatar is some character in the movie Avatar, let me use the Hindu definition of an Avatar as being the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god. What’s a Shiva? Shiva is the Hindu goddess that is known as the ''Harbinger of Death'' and the ''Restorer of Worlds''. Likewise, Aurora is considered as the ''goddess of the dawn''.

Now, with these definitions acting as the method of analysis for Starbuck’s being, let’s look at the justification. In the movie Razor the first Cylon hybrid refers to Kara Thrace as the ''Harbinger of Death''. This definition of Kara was also used by varying Hybrids throughout the rest of the series. How was she the Harbinger of Death? When Starbuck was resurrected it was her task to restore mankind by acting as a guide to Earth. However, when she led the human caravan to Earth they found a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Human hope vanished the way life did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Varying crew members committed suicide, sewed mutiny within the fleet, and created mass depression among all mankind- literally being the Harbinger of Death, to hope.

Needless to say, this Avatar of Shiva/Aurora had to also be the restorer of worlds, and Starbuck did this in spades! In the finale of BSG Starbuck was able to use the mathematical elements of the music her father played to plot the course to a life-filled planet. This planet acted as the incubator of all life as we know it. The humans, and Cylon-human hybrids, were able to successfully mate amongst themselves, and the planet’s indigenous life what seemed like Neanderthal man. Thus, restoring life to lifelessness.

Not good enough?

Towards the latter half of season 3 Starbuck went through immense suffering (suffering being the central tenet in Hinduism). We saw what she went through with her mother (her mother stating that she had to put young Kara through hell because of her higher purpose); furthermore, the self-hatred Starbuck had for herself during her love triangle with Lee and Sam almost ripped apart her psyche. Additionally, constant drunkenness, random sex, and her suicide are all indicators of her suffering. Only after Starbuck was able to let go and detach herself from her material desires and accept the way of the universe, and succumb to her death in the maelstrom, was she able to be resurrected as the Avatar Shiva.

Finally, let’s remember the flashbacks seen in the show’s finale. The only thing Starbuck was afraid of was “not being remembered. I don’t want to be forgotten.” This aspiration was no mere statement of vanity; rather, if you look throughout the course of human history you will always find a god, goddess, social movement leader, etc who can be considered as a virus to the current system while at the same time being an agent of new beginnings. And in that vein, Starbuck was never forgotten. First it was Aurora, then Athena, then Starbuck, presently Shiva, more modernly Martin Luther King, the list goes on. It was Starbuck’s ROLE that enabled her to never worry about her highest fear: that the agent of a new dawn will continually exist in human society. The only reason she gets the status of an Avatar, though, is because she is somehow connected to another being that hates to be called “God.”
--[[User:Themario|Themario]] 15:50, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

==Notes==
*On the Sci-Fi Channel's preview for season 2.5 (US), Katee Sackhoff is quoted as saying that Starbuck is "the best Viper pilot...EVER."
*[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]] was a region in south-eastern Europe that was heavily influenced by the ancient Greeks and was eventually conquered by [[Wikipedia:Philip II of Macedonia|Phillip II of Macedonia]]. Thracians were considered by most to be the most ferocious fighters and were often highly paid mercenaries for Greek kings.
*Thrace may have been named after [[w:Thrax (mythology)|Thrax]], the son of [[w:Ares|Ares]], the god of war, who was said to reside on the Thracian plain in Greek mythology.
*After auditioning for the role of [[Anastasia Dualla|Dualla]], [[Grace Park]] was asked by director [[Michael Rymer]] to audition for the role of Starbuck, and she was actually one of two finalists up for the role (the other obviously being [[Katee Sackhoff]], who got the part). Ultimately Park was cast as [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]].
*In a TV Guide [http://online.tvguide.com/newsearch/detail.aspx?id=4371595&sourcetype=S&progseriesparentid=4371595&tvobjectid=191395&keyword=Battlestar+Galactica&referrer=search1 photo shoot] at the BSG studios, Katee Sackhoff explained that the [[tattoo]] that Starbuck bears on her left arm is a wing and a circle and has half of the constellation of Capricorn (a reference to [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] obviously) and a small symbol of the planet as well. It matches a mirror image of the tattoo on Anders' right arm. When the two of them hold each other with their respective arms crossing, the 2 tattoos come together to form an image of a single ring with 2 wings that is supposed to represent their union. According to Sackhoff, Kara and Anders had the tattoos done around the time of their wedding, a fact later confirmed in dialogue during Season 4.5.
*The license plate on Thrace's truck on Caprica is "FB 42 E3" ([[Valley of Darkness]]).

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