Ezra Barzel

Ezra Barzel
[[File:|300px|Ezra Barzel]]
[show/hide spoilers] Spoilers hidden in infobox by default only.
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Colony
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Introduced	Blood and Chrome
Last Known Appearance	[[{{{lastseen}}}]]
Death	Killed by friendly fire
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Marital Status	Former husband of Becca Kelly
Family Tree	View
Role	Cylon War hero
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Portrayed by
Ezra Barzel is a Cylon
Ezra Barzel is a Final Five Cylon
Ezra Barzel is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Ezra Barzel is an Original Series Cylon
Related Media
Additional Information
[[File:|300px|Ezra Barzel]]

Ezra Barzel was the husband of Graystone Industries software engineer Dr. Becca Kelly and a hero among Colonials during the Cylon War. Formerly a historian, Barzel chose to enlist and join the fight against the Cylons, but was killed by friendly fire from members of his own unit. Despite the truth surrounding Barzel's death, Colonial propaganda spun his story to inspire others to join the fight. Popularly, Barzel is remembered for single-handedly killing an entire platoon of Centurions and was all but resurrected in the virtual world ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}.

Script Version Details

The pre-production script for Blood and Chrome provides significantly more background about Ezra Barzel and his impact on both the war effort and his wife's subsequent actions. According to the script, Barzel was a history professor who "woke up one day and decided he couldn't sit back and just watch history happen anymore," leading him to enlist as a Colonial Marine despite having no previous military aspirations. Becca Kelly describes him as "idealistic" and "ambitious," but notes that "he never wanted to be a hero" - the heroic narrative was imposed upon him posthumously by military propagandists.

The script reveals that Barzel's death was not simply a case of friendly fire, but rather his scouting party being "shot up by men from his own unit" in what appears to have been a more complex incident than officially reported. The truth about his death was eventually discovered by a reporter, but this information was suppressed by the Colonial Fleet to preserve the propaganda value of his heroic legend.

According to Becca Kelly, Barzel's fabricated heroics were not merely exaggerated: they were completely invented. The story that he "took out any Cylon platoon" was "all a fabrication" and "a lie," created to boost military recruitment after his actual death. The military "slapped his face on recruiting posters" and "all but resurrected him in V-World," turning his tragic death into a propaganda tool that successfully inspired others to enlist.

The revelation of these lies becomes central to Becca Kelly's motivation for betraying the Colonial Fleet. In the script, she tells William Adama that "it's the lies, more than anything, even the killing and destruction" that drive her actions, emphasizing how the systematic deception around her husband's death contributed to her disillusionment with the Colonial war effort.