The Magnificent Warriors

"The Magnificent Warriors" An episode of the Original Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 8
Writer(s)	Glen A. Larson
Story by
Director	Christian I. Nyby II
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	50912
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	1978-11-12
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release	2004-12-28
Population	survivors
Additional Info
Full Credits
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part II	The Magnificent Warriors	The Young Lords
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Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
Photo Gallery			@ BW Media
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When a Cylon attack destroys the Fleet's food supply, Adama and the others must agree to certain compromises with old acquaintances and with the inhabitants of a grain-rich, yet politically turbulent planet.

Summary

• Cylon Raiders slip past the defenses of Blue Squadron, destroying two of the fleet's three agricultural ships. The remaining vessel, Agro Ship Nine, has a breached airlock.
• Personally inspecting the damage, Colonel Tigh learns that the fleet's entire crop supply was destroyed in the attack. More importantly, the fleet's supply of seed has been exhausted and must be somehow replenished, according to Agro Specialist Carmichael.
• The fleet had recently passed by the planet Sectar, home to a small agricultural settlement of humans, in the Zeta Quadrant. Commander Adama plans to trade an old energizer (one without Colonial markings) to the settlement, in exchange for new seed.
• The only energizer available for trade is owned by Siress Belloby, an old acquaintance of Adama, who refuses to relinquish its ownership unless the Commander meets with her personally. Belloby hosts a bouquet-wielding Adama, who agrees to romantically court the siress, in exchange for the energizer.

Adama and Belloby in The Magnificent Warriors.

• Belloby and Adama insist on accompanying Apollo, Starbuck, and Boomer on the mission to Serenity, the small agro colony on the planet. Boxey and Muffit tag along as well.
• Before the Colonial's arrival, Dipper sees a full moon and warns the residents of Serenity of an impending attack by the Borays, herd-like humanoid creatures which pillage the town on horseback, killing constable Farnes. Bogan, the settlement's leader, has trouble recruiting a replacement constable.
• Starbuck and Boomer ride into town, posing as farmers looking to trade their energizer for seed. Bogan, seeking a new constable, offers the warriors employment instead, but they decline.
• Returning to their shuttle landing site, Starbuck and Boomer are ambushed by Dipper and accomplice Duggy. Their vehicle (and the energizer) are hijacked; freeing themselves, the warriors realize they've been robbed by Bogan's men. Starbuck returns to town to confront the thieves, while Boomer returns to the shuttle to inform Adama and company of the hijacking.
• Bogan denies involvement in the heist, but offers to sell the seed to Starbuck. Not having enough money, Starbuck joins a pyramid game to increase his funds.
• Producing a three-level pyramid, Starbuck wins the hand, drawing suspicion from Dipper and Duggy. Starbuck expresses his suspicions as to the source of their funds, implying their role in the theft of the energizer.

• Still short on funds, Starbuck is tricked into "winning" the constable's star during a hand of pyramid, becoming the de facto town constable. Entering the saloon, Adama demands to see the local law enforcement official, only to discover that it is none other than Starbuck.
• Bogan insists that Starbuck must face up to his duties as constable, regardless of how he came into possession of the constable's star. Facing the attacking Boray, Siress Belloby is captured and dragged off by the marauding pig-like creatures.
• The townspeople point out the general direction of the Boray camp. Apollo brings Muffit, who tracks Belloby by her scent to the Boray cave.
• Finding the Boray encampment, the Colonials hold off the creatures with a few warning laser blasts. Adama negotiates privately with Nogow, the Boray leader, but to no avail.
• Starbuck hatches a plan, trading his constable's star to Nogow in exchange for Siress Belloby.
• Back in town, Adama buys the required seed from Bogan, while the townspeople reluctantly meet their new constable, the Boray leader Nogow.
• Unimpressed with Adama's negotiating skills at winning her release, Belloby dumps Adama, much to the commander's relief.

Notes

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Main article: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

• Filmed for the most part in the backlot of Universal Studios, the town site looks remarkably similar to the towns featured in "The Lost Warrior" and "The Long Patrol." Also, just as on Equellus, the town is only seen at night. As to be expected, the backlot location was used in various Buck Rogers episodes, including "Unchained Woman" and "The Golden Man."
• Eric Server (Dipper) also voiced Dr. Theopolis in Buck Rogers' first season. Similar tunics worn by both Farnes and Dipper in "The Magnificent Warrior" later see reused by Buck Rogers in "Unchained Woman." These tunics also saw re-use in numerous Original Series episodes, including Kirk Alyn's (Old Man) in "War of the Gods, Part I" and a Warrior recruit (among with Bora and Maga) seen in "The Man with Nine Lives."
• A Boray appears in the background of the episode "Unchained Woman."

Due to the re-use of Silent Running footage, Bruce Dern makes a fleeting cameo aboard an agro ship just before its destruction.

Silent Running

• The footage of the Agro Ships, as well as the interior of the agro dome, were re-used from the film Silent Running. Bruce Dern, who played Freeman Lowell in Silent Running, makes a fleetingly uncredited appearance to the left of a re-used frame that also features the depiction of the planet Saturn.

The Magnificent Seven / The Seven Samurai

• The episode bears a resemblance to The Magnificent Seven—a movie where 7 gunslingers are hired to protect a town from an invading bandit—as well as the film The Seven Samurai. A further connection can be made in that there are seven Galaticans who come to the town: Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, Adama, Siress Belloby, Boxey, and Muffit.

Addenda

The Boray is the most rare of all the Mattel Galactica action figures.

• This is Richard Hatch's least favorite episode of Battlestar Galactica.
• The Mattel action figure of a Boray is the rarest and most valuable of all the Mattel Galactica action figures.

Analysis

• "The Magnificent Warriors" is the second of the two Western episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Where "The Lost Warrior" was a blatant rip off of Shane, "Magnificent Warriors" is a blatant rip off of The Magnificent Seven right down to the title.
• This episode is a light-hearted adventure which plays counter to the more somber tone that underlies the series. It has of course been argued that such radical variations in tone prevented the series from truly exploring the dramatic underpinnings of its premise, but this was a television program that was conceived of as light family fare in any case, and this episode certainly fits that bill.
• This episode contains a few comedic sequences, chief of which is Adama's visit to Siress Belloby's chambers to try and court her, and in so doing obtain access to her old power generator or "energizer." Embarrassed and nervous, Adama's ploy is only partially successful as the wily Siress maneuvers him into letting her come down to the planet, and to a longer term relationship. Belloby is ably portrayed by Brett Somers, who at the time was famous as one of the wittier regulars on the successful game show The Match Game. It seems the role of the Siress was perhaps created with Brett in mind.
• Starbuck's attempt at gambling in the casino provides another comedic scene, when Adama goes looking for the lawman of the town and is introduced to the young Lieutenant who was unknowingly tricked into winning the constable's star and assuming the post.
• The idea that Adama could not simply order Belloby to give up the energizer is, of course, ludicrous. It is even more ludicrous to think that the Colonials could not simply erase or burn off the Colonial markings on one of their own energizers. It seems to be a contrived way to bring Belloby into the story.
• The concern over the Cylons finding the energizers is hard to understand. The odds of it ever happening would seem remote, and even if it did, enough time would probably have passed that the Colonials would be long gone.
• Another alien race is introduced in this episode, the Borays, but they get no lines and are largely an undefined culture. Nogow is a bit of a pig, which makes sense given his appearance. This is not an episode that is heavy on subtlety.
• The title of this episode is not particularly imaginative, and does not differentiate it from other episodes. It could be easy to confuse the episodes "The Lost Warrior," "The Magnificent Warriors," "The Long Patrol" and "The Young Lords". Some fans refer to this one as the "Siress Belloby episode."
• Other than for dramatic purposes, why do Adama, Belloby and Boxey join the shuttle mission?
  • Belloby has a romantic agenda that seems to involve getting some alone-time with Adama on the planet. As the owner of the energizer, she may have insisted that they accompany the mission.
  • Apollo indicates that this mission isn't very dangerous, which is his excuse for including Boxey - and he turns out to be right; Boxey's involvement is almost non-existent. Apollo was probably as glad as the viewers are to not have to suffer through one more scene of Boxey pleading with Apollo and Apollo having to make excuses for Boxey's exclusion.

Questions

• Why does the sudden appearance of the full moon startle Dipper? Of course, the Boray attack under a full moon, but doesn't the moon appear in regular cycles that can be predicted by the colonists? They are aware of space travel, but somehow can't accurately predict the cycles of their own moon?
• Why does Starbuck risk confronting the thieving townspeople alone, without partner Boomer?
• Why is so much of this episode filmed at night? Was this due to Battlestar Galactica's crazy shooting schedule, perhaps? Or were these sets only available in the evening? In any case, this must have cost a lot of money. Hiring crews to work at night in California requires the payment of additional wages.
• Why does the whole settlement shake when the Borays riding in?
• Given that no Boray has heard a single articulated word, how does Adama and Starbuck manage to communicate with a grunting species?

Deleted Scenes

See: The deleted scenes from this episode.

Guest Stars

• Barry Nelson as Bogan
• Brett Somers as Siress Belloby
• Dennis Fimple as Duggy
• Eric Server as Dipper
• Olan Soulé as Carmichael
• Rance Howard as Farnes
• Ben Frommer as Nogow
• Bruce Dern as Freeman Lowell (archive footage from Silent Running)

Original Series definition: agriculture ^{(TOS: "The Magnificent Warriors")}

Galactica 1980 definition: a power source (see: energizer); Dillon voices his concern that the energizer feeding power to the invisibility field hiding their Vipers needs to be recharged before the ships are rendered visible ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}

Original Series definition: agriculture ^{(TOS: "The Magnificent Warriors")}

Galactica 1980 definition: Troy and Dillon look up this word after the desk clerk explains the reasons for the metal detectors. Unsurprisingly, a hijacking by Cuban nationals subsequently occurs on their flight ^{(1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I")}.

Re-imagined Series definition: popular Colonial ball game, see: pyramid

Original Series definition: a card game, similar to poker (see: pyramid)

Original Series definition: a title of nobility, typically ascribed to a civilian of the female gender (e.g. Siress Tinia, Siress Blassie)

Original Series definition: an all-purpose term for Colonial soldier and Viper pilot (see: Warrior)

Re-imagined Series definition: confirmed hostile contact, typically either or both a fighter and shuttle sized craft ^{(TRS: "Final Cut", "Razor")}