War of the Gods, Part II

"War of the Gods, Part II" An episode of the Original Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 14
Writer(s)	Glen A. Larson
Story by
Director	Daniel Haller
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	Patrick Macnee as Count Iblis
Production No.	50922
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	1979-01-21
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release	2004-12-28
Population	survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
War of the Gods, Part I	War of the Gods, Part II	The Man with Nine Lives
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Listing of props for this episode
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Photo Gallery			@ BW Media
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With the enigmatic Count Iblis usurping Adama's command of the Fleet, Apollo and Starbuck endeavor to find out the mysterious origins of their guest-turned-savior before all is lost to Iblis.

Summary

• The Council announces that Baltar has been found guilty of treason (amongst other things). He is sentenced to life imprisonment aboard the Prison Barge.

• Baltar protests the sentence, claiming that he came of his own free will under the banner of truce. Count Iblis speaks up, telling Baltar that his days of pursuing the fleet are over.

• Baltar recognizes something about Iblis' voice. Iblis claims that it is the voice of truth. Iblis uses his powers to force Baltar to his knees.

• Having delivered Baltar, Iblis explains that one of the three conditions of their bargain has been satisfied. Leading the fleet to Earth is the second, with the third to be determined by the council.

• One of the council members suggests that they immediately elect Count Iblis to be the President of the Council.

• Adama expresses some reservations. He says that they still do not know about the mysterious lights, or the disappearance of the Vipers.

TV Guide ad for War of the Gods

• Iblis visits Baltar on the Prison Barge. Baltar remembers Iblis' voice to be that of the Imperious Leader.

• Baltar explains that the Cylons were once a race of beings that allowed themselves to be overcome by their own technology, 1000 yahren ago (with the onset of the Thousand-Yahren War). Iblis says that if his voice was that of the Imperious leader, he'd have to be over 1000 yahren old.

• Iblis walks right through Baltar's cell door into his cell, and comforts him, telling him that all is not lost. Iblis then disappears, leaving behind a bewildered Baltar.

• Athena tries to get Adama to come to the games with her. Adama claims that he is too busy and has too many decisions to make. She says that he sounds like Apollo, who has decided not to play that night.

• Boxey walks into the warrior barracks with Muffit. Apollo tries to talk to him. Boxey claims that his friends all say that Apollo is a coward for not playing in the games.

• Count Iblis has predicted that Boomer's team will win. It is speculated that Apollo is afraid to lose, proving Iblis right and weakening Adama's position.

• Apollo claims that he doesn't want to play because he is more concerned for the missing warriors than in playing a game.

• Adama convinces Apollo to play, saying that playing may even be able to help his missing friends.

• Just before the Triad game, Count Iblis asks Boomer how badly he wants to win. Iblis says that he wants to play, through Boomer.

Darkness at Time's Edge - concept art for War of the Gods by Frank Frazetta.

• Boomer and Jolly's team win by a large margin.

• Iblis is hosting a party on the Rising Star. Apollo asks how long the party will last, as some of the people have critical jobs. Iblis says that he needn't worry about the fleet now that he is in charge. He claims that his only commandment is to enjoy life to the fullest.

• Sheba offers Apollo some consolation. Iblis comments that they make a fine pair. Starbuck is confused, as he thought that Iblis wanted Sheba for himself. Iblis asks why she should be limited to one man (or why Starbuck should be limited to one woman). Starbuck clearly likes this way of thinking.

• Apollo manages to kill the mood with Sheba, when she asks if he is jealous. He asks how she could think that he'd let something as petty as jealousy interfere with his judgment when the lives of everyone in the fleet might be at stake.

• The mysterious lights fly near Galactica, worrying Adama and Tigh.

• Core Command is understaffed due to an "overdose of pleasure". Officer curfews have not been strictly enforced under orders of Count Iblis. Adama wants Iblis to report to his quarters.

• No pilots have responded to the red alert. Apollo starts waking people up, and they appear hung over. Starbuck claims that not everybody has made it back to Galactica, and that the pilots are spread out all over the fleet.

• Iblis comes into the barracks and begins berating the warriors for not responding to the alert. Adama has to intervene when Apollo begins to assault Iblis.

• Adama confronts Iblis, asking what he fears about the beings outside the ship. Iblis claims that he does not fear them, but that they are from the same dimension that he is. Iblis claims to be above all laws, but Adama wonders if that is really true.

• The Vipers launch, and Boomer fires on one of the lights. He does not damage it, and it comes up behind him causing a high-pitched whine. His Viper disappears.

• Apollo and Starbuck return. Everyone agrees that Iblis is the only person who understands what is going on, but they cannot get rid of him due to his popularity. Adama claims that Iblis will be elected President of the Council in a few centars.

• Apollo and Starbuck visit Dr. Wilker. He has examined the plants that "miraculously" grew, and believes that it is possible that energy from the ships of light caused the plant growth.

• Adama sits alone in his quarters, moving an object on his desk with telekinesis. Apollo walks in on his demonstration. Adama explains that it was something he learned at the Colonial Military Institute before Apollo was born.

• Adama explains that their life expectancy is about 200 yahren, but they are just now starting to utilize parts of their brains that have a great deal of potential. He believes that if a race lived for thousands of yahren they would be capable of things that seemed miraculous.

• Adama suspects that the mysterious lights are the angels that the ancient colonials wrote of.

• They hatch a plan for Apollo to go back to the wrecked ship where Iblis was discovered. Adama tells Apollo to try to forget the conversation, though, as Iblis might detect it in his thoughts and discover their plans.

• Adama will be able to shield his mind from Iblis by crowding it with other thoughts. This also was part of the Military Institute training that he received.

The re-imagined Count Iblis from the Maximum Press comic series.

• Starbuck runs into Apollo as he is leaving, and forces Apollo to take him along.

• Iblis is aboard Agro Ship 9 with Sheba when he senses something is wrong. He heads to Core Command and discovers the shuttle has left, and that Apollo is on it. He heads to confront Adama.

• Adama says that he does not believe in Iblis like the poor people on the crashed ship did. Iblis says that Adama will pay the price with a life more meaningful than his own.

• Sheba has taken a Viper and is also heading to the planet.

• Apollo examines the wreckage, and discovers that the high radion levels that they thought existed were faked.

• Sheba arrives as they open the wreckage and look inside. They are horrified by what they see, and Apollo tries to keep Sheba from looking. Starbuck suggests that it might be a good idea, and Apollo reluctantly lets her look.

• Iblis arrives and forbids Sheba to look. Iblis claims that she is his, and has given herself to him freely. He orders her to his side, but Apollo interferes.

• Iblis commands Apollo to stop interfering, but Apollo claims that Iblis holds no power over those that do not give themselves willing over to him. Iblis suspects that Apollo knows who he really is, and Apollo believes that he does.

• Mephistopholes, Diaoblis, and the Prince of Darkness are names that he tells Sheba to try to recall.

• Iblis tells Apollo he has one more chance before he strikes Sheba down. Apollo shoots Iblis, briefly revealing his true form.

• Iblis commands her death, and moves to strike her down. Apollo jumps in front of the blast, and is killed.

• Iblis commands Sheba to come, but she refuses. She mourns Apollo's death.

• The mysterious lights begin to appear overhead.

• Starbuck asks why he seems so worried. Starbuck suspects that it is within Iblis' bounds to strike down a willing follower, but not an innocent.

• Iblis claims that nobody has dominion over him. He claims that they will meet again in another time and place, then disappears.

• They transport Apollo's body back in the shuttle. On the way back the mysterious lights fly near them, eventually approaching them (causing the whining noise).

• Starbuck appears in a strange white chamber. His uniform is entirely white.

• One of the mysterious white clad figures in the room claims that they are in a different dimension.

• Sheba arrives, and her uniform has also been turned white. Sheba wonders if they are both dead.

• They are lead to a chamber where Apollo is laying on a table on a raised pedestal.

• Sheba and Starbuck are asked if they would sacrifice their life for Apollo's. Sheba agrees to sacrifice her life. The voice also points out that Starbuck had said that he would trade places with Apollo if he could (back onboard the shuttle).

• Apollo sits up on the table. Sheba rushes to his side.

• Starbuck says that they can take what they want. The voice says that they don't want anything. They are fighting a common foe, the forces of darkness throughout the galaxy. The beings were once as the Colonials were, and the Colonials may someday become like the beings.

• Count Iblis is one of their race, but uses his powers to turn people away from the truth. The beings of light do not stop him because they cannot interfere with free will.

• The beings will return all the Viper pilots, as well as Starbuck, Apollo, and Sheba.

• The crew is reunited aboard Galactica. Their memories of the beings of light, and their experiences on the ship, have been erased.

• The last thing Apollo can remember was challenging Count Iblis. Sheba remembers that he lost the challenge. Starbuck then recalls that Iblis tried to kill Sheba, but Apollo intervened and died. They took his body into the shuttle.

• They assume that Apollo must have only been stunned.

• The only other thing they can recall is a light and sound, that leads them to believe that there is something good and caring out there.

• Sheba asks if they had been caught up between a battle between good and evil, but Adama says that is always the case and will not change even if they find Earth.

• This prompts the trio to almost involuntarily recite coordinates. "Earth quadrant alpha, 19 million sectars by Epsilon vector 22 on a circular reckoning course of 000.9, in a star system with nine planets and one sun."

Notes

• Sheba is seen in a dress before the triad match, but once the match starts she is shown on a viewer screen in her flight uniform. Then, in a live shot back is shown back in her dress sitting next to Count Iblis. It may be possible that the shot on the viewer were supposed to be highlights from an earlier match.
• Five figures representing the "Final Five" Cylon models make a brief appearance in the Re-Imagined episode "Hero". Their physical appearance and attire are reminiscent of the Beings of Light appearing in this episode.
• Iblis means "Satan" in Arabic.

The Mystery of the Crashed Ship

What Starbuck and Apollo found inside the crashed ship.

• From the War of the Gods original script at http://galactica1981.tripod.com/MissingWar.htm:

"When Starbuck and Apollo look into the wreckage of the ship, this is exactly what they see: A piece of metallic surface, highly scorched but out of which portrudes a foot-like extremity, except that its tip is clearly in the shape of a cloven hoof. (Then they lift the metal and toss it aside) They grimace in horror... Under the wreckage is the figure of a devil... a demon."

• Footage of the demon was shot but left out of the final cut. There are conflicting accounts as to why. Some believe the censors removed it due to its possible satanic implications. Anne Lockhart stated at the GoMainline Galactica Convention in September 1999 that it was left out because the demon "looked like a dead sheep." Interestingly, the footage does not appear in the Battlestar Galactica DVD box set which has deleted scenes from the episode.

• The image on the right is from Battlestar Galactica Vol. 1 #4 of Maximum Press comics in which Apollo recalls what he saw inside the crashed ship.

• A popular myth grew over the years that the crashed ship is the Battlestar Pegasus. In An Analytical Guide to Television's Battlestar Galactica, author John Kenneth Muir argues that the crashed ship is in fact the Pegasus despite the script for the episode saying otherwise. To be fair, because the episode never shows us what is inside the ship, the answer to the mystery is open to interpretation.

• In the aforementioned Maximum Press comic series, the writers play off this myth in issue #3 when Count Iblis returns to Sheba and teleports her back to the crashed ship where she discovers the body of Commander Cain inside. It turns out to be an illusion.

Questions

• What is in the ship that Starbuck and Apollo (and Iblis) do not want Sheba to see?
• Are there other Beings of Light who succumbed to Iblis' way of thinking? If so, what of them?
• What leads to Iblis' downfall before becoming "evil"?
• Have the Beings of Light, or even Iblis, been to Earth? If so, what is the extent of either party's influence?
• Is Sheba's Viper ever recovered from the red planet?
• When aboard the Ship of Light, why are the Colonials' skin and hair not white-washed like their uniforms and accouterments?
• Why were the other Viper pilots abducted to begin with?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Starbuck makes a superficial, yet accurate observation:

Starbuck: Is that right, are we dead, and you're angels?

Angel: Oddly enough, there is some truth to your speculation.

• Iblis delivers punishment to Apollo by attempting to kill Sheba:

Iblis: Death to her, Apollo. May her soul curse you through eternity.

• The "angel" explains why Apollo was resurrected and the Beings removal of Iblis from the red planet:

Angel: Apollo was not meant to die. Sheba, it was you that Count Iblis meant to destroy.

Guest Stars

• Patrick Macnee as Count Iblis
• John Williams as Statesman
• George Murdock as Dr. Salik
• Janet Louise Johnson as Brie
• Jack Stauffer as Bojay
• Ed Begley Jr. as Greenbean
• John Dullaghan as Dr. Wilker
• Norman Stuart as Statesman
• Leann Hunley as Warrior (uncredited)

External Links

• Deleted scene from War of the Gods: Starbuck, Apollo and Sheba return from the Ship of Lights - YouTube