Daybreak, Part II

"Daybreak, Part II" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 20
Writer(s)	Ronald D. Moore
Story by
Director
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	422
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	March 20, 2009
CAN airdate	March 20, 2009
UK airdate	March 24, 2009
DVD release
Population	survivors
Additional Info	Series Finale - 2 Hour Episode
Full Credits
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Daybreak, Part I	Daybreak, Part II	The Plan
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Official Summary
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Listing of props for this episode
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			@ BW Media
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Overview

The volunteers for the mission to rescue Hera launch their assault on the Cylon Colony, and the Fleet's journey comes to an end.

Summary

Teaser

"Caprica, Before the Fall"

• At a strip club, Tigh tries to buy a lap dance for Bill Adama, but he refuses. Tigh argues the merits of retirement from military service to Adama. As Ellen Tigh joins them, Adama reluctantly concedes, and the three of them drink "to retirement."
• In Kara Thrace's apartment, Lee, Zak and Kara discuss politics over wine – Lee espouses the importance of voting to a democratic way of life while Kara and Zak tease him for it.
• Zak tells Kara that despite appearing to be an idealist, Lee is a cynic at heart, which is one of the many reasons Lee is no longer on speaking terms with their father. Zak claims that their father believes in something greater than himself (namely, "the uniform"), but Lee disagrees, claiming that he merely believes in himself and his way of doing things.
• Zak questions why Lee has chosen to follow in their father's footsteps; Lee replies, pragmatically, that he is merely giving the service four years because it gave him four years of education. Zak touts Lee's reply as another example of his cynicism, to which Kara replies that she is beginning to like Lee.
• At Laura Roslin's home, a well-dressed Sean Allison arrives with flowers in hand. As Laura offers her guest some white wine, it dawns on her why he seems so familiar to her: he was one of her students.
• Sean admits he recognized her name as soon as Marcy mentioned it, but proceeded with the blind date anyway. He asks if he should go, but Laura tells him to stay, saying, "The night's young. Apparently, so are you. Let's see what happens."
• Still at the strip club, Adama still has some misgivings, asserting that Tigh "wouldn't do it." Tigh enthusiastically disagrees, saying that he would for that kind of money. Adama tells Tigh to look him in the eye and tell him that he would do it "for a civilian desk job." After some hesitation (and sidelong glances at the nearby dancers), Adama says he knew it.
• In Kara's apartment, Kara and Lee carry a drunken Zak to a nearby couch as he tells them, "I love you guys, you guys are my family." Lee states that Zak could never hold his liquor. Kara tells Lee that "it's time for shots."
• Outside the strip club, a drunken Bill Adama vomits. Looking at the sky in a stupor, he sees the night sky filled with stars and laughs to himself.

"Present Day"

• A civilian transport and Colonial One launch from Galactica's flight pod, presumably carrying anyone not participating in the impending volunteer-only rescue mission.
• Gaius Baltar sits alone in his followers' former living area. Virtual Six appears to him, reminding him to trust in God's plan for him. He questions whether he is following God's plan; she reassures him that he is, "by taking charge of humanity's remnants and guiding them to their end." He asks, "End of what?" just as Paula interrupts, coming to tell Baltar that everyone is ready to go. Baltar asks for five seconds more.

Notes

• A portion of this episode was being filmed in Kamloops, BC during the week of June 16, 2008. Local extras of all ages were utilized for this scene (or scenes) and were required to have an athletic build and a clean-cut look, or to be slim with long hair or dreadlocks. Extras were auditioned at Best Western room 137 (in Kamloops) on June 12th . The rural area surrounding Kamloops was previously utilized to depict the algae planet in "The Eye of Jupiter" and "Rapture".
• Although Part I had a runtime of one hour, Part II will run for two hours. An even longer cut of Daybreak will later be released on DVD.
• There was no final population count given after the engagement with the Cavil forces. However, there were no reported deaths by accident or violence before the engagement so the population count is most likely the same as it was in Daybreak, Part 1 before the attack on the Colony.
• There is a poetic ring to the nature of the conflict of the Second Cylon War. It began with the Cylon attack on Colonies nearly wiping out mankind. It ended with the Colonial attack on the Cylon Colony very likely wiping out the Cylons who didn't join with the humans. This is also in line with Romo Lampkin's observation of him being President or Poetic justice and Lee Adama's "What goes around, comes around"
• This episode marks the deaths of Boomer, Cavil, Racetrack, Skulls, Tory Foster, Samuel Anders and Laura Roslin and the destruction of Cavil's forces. The Doral and Simon lines are also presumably wiped out, or at least decimated beyond recovery. Kara Thrace, having fulfilled her purpose, vanishes without a trace and her whereabouts are unknown. In detail:
  • Boomer was killed by Athena in revenge for taking Hera, sleeping with Helo and beating her in the lavatory.
  • Cavil took his own life in Galactica's CIC when his side lost.
  • Racetrack and Skulls's Raptor was stuck by a meteor penetrating their wind screen and striking them. Both Skulls and Racetrack were killed on impact. Racetrack's dead hand later hit the launch button that launched the nuclear missiles after her Raptor was hit again by a asteroid.
  • Tory was killed by Galen Tyrol in revenge for Tory killing his wife Cally after he learned Tory murdered her during the mutual and involuntary exchange of private information of the Final Five's minds while downloading Resurrection technology data to the Cavil forces.
  • Anders guided himself in Galactica and the Fleet into the Sun.
  • Roslin died of cancer as Adama was giving her a bird's eye view of their new home on second Earth in a Raptor.
  • Since they did not have either Cylon females or Resurrection the Cavil, Simon and Doral models on the various Cylon Baseships presumably died out after their natural life spans were exhausted.
  • Kara was presumably taken by the same force, probably God, that resurrected her.
• This episode also marks the destruction of the Galactica and her Fleet.
• Humanity, along with the Cylons, finally reaches its new homeworld, names it Earth and the humans of today are the Colonials and probably the Rebel Cylons, descendants 150,000 years later. The Leobens, Sixs and Sharon models from the Baseship joined the Colonials on the new Earth.
• The Centurions are granted full independence and subsequently depart in the rebel Baseship to pursue their own destiny.
• The Kodiak, the command ship of the Global Defence Initiative (GDI) faction from the computer game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is seen among the fleet in one establishing shot.

Analysis

• The coordinates that Thrace enters, 1123 / 6536 / 5321 correspond to the notation of the Final Four theme [1]. The song is in a C# Phrygian scale (enharmonic with A major and F# minor). 1 represents C#, and each higher integer indicates the next note in the scale, such that

1 = C#

2 = D

3 = E

(4 = F#)

5 = G#

6 = A

(7 = B)

The linked graphic omits the first and last note of the theme, but both can be heard in the soundtrack during the jump montage. The second "five" (in the third chunk of four digits) corresponds to the tuplet G#/A/G#, effectively omitting the trill up to high A. Every note has the same duration except for the last two, which are twice the length of the others.

• The Virtual Beings are angels of God who came to guide Baltar and Caprica Six in their destiny of protecting Hera.
• Kara Thrace is an angel who was sent back from the dead to guide humanity to a new home the coordinates of which were hidden in The Music.
• As noted in the "Notes" section it is unlikely that the Cavil, Simon and Doral lines will continue without Cylon females. The Threes are extinct with the last copy D'Anna Biers herself dying on the original Earth; Boomer killed in the Colony (and in anycase couldn't single handedly save the lines even if she were alive); and the last Sixes and Eights staying with the humans on the second Earth. However, there is the possibility of having a few remaining human females from the survivors of the various Colonial worlds including Caprica being viable, so the lines could in theory continue. However, given the total lack of success in the forced breeding of Cylons and humans and the Cavil, Dorals and Simon's cynical view of love, an apparent requirement of conception between both Cylon-Cylon and Cylon-human combinations, it is unlikely.
• The scene where Adama is being questioned and abruptly quits the interview references the classic Sci-Fi film Blade Runner, which also starred Edward James Olmos.
• Ronald D. Moore appears in a cameo as the man holding a National Geographic magazine in New York City.
• The shelters erected by the Colonials on Earth resemble Quonset huts, World War II-era temporary structures.
• The final scenes of this episode, in fast-forwarding through time and attempting to set the entire work as a backstory, make the ending similar to that of the film How the West Was Won.

Questions

• What becomes of the Centurions?
  • Do they go after the remnants of Cavil's forces, or go their separate ways?
  • Will the freed Centurions eventually develop their own humanoid forms?
• Did any copies of Cavil, Doral, or Simon survive?
• Why does Cavil choose to commit suicide?
  • He probably realized he lost and just gave up.
• What becomes of the Baseships seen orbiting the Colony?
  • It's possible the nuclear blast could have propelled them right into the blackhole.
• Are any other human-Cylon hybrids born on Earth, or do the Twos, Sixes, and Eights remain childless?
• If "it" doesn't like to be called God, what does "it" like to be called?
• Will modern humans discover remains of Colonial technology such as Raptors?
  • That probably depends on how hard we look.
• Why do the angels still look like Baltar and Six 150,000 years later?
  • Probably so the audience will still recognize them, or it may have been a time jump of sorts by them to look into the future.
• Will humanity repeat the Cycle?
• Are Thrace and Anders together?
• Can Thrace ever return again?
• Do Baltar and Caprica-Six marry? Do they go into isolation like Adama and Tyrol, or will they be near a human colony?
• Do Adama and Tyrol stay isolated for the rest of their lives?
• Why was Romo Lampkin chosen as President? Wouldn't a member of the Quorum of Captains have been selected?
• What became of the remaining prisoners aboard the Astral Queen? Were they sent out amongst the rest of the human population, or were all of them deposited in some geographical area completely isolated from the other humans?
• Were any of the groups provided with medicine, or medical training or at least someone with medical knowledge before spreading out among the world?
• Is God related to the Lords of Kobol or something completely different?
• Why did the First Hybrid not want humanity to follow Thrace?
• How many angels are there? Are the ones that resemble Six and Baltar the same as those that appeared to the Final Five and Thrace, or distinct?
• Why have angels not been appearing to the Final Five since Old Earth's destruction, only to Baltar, Six, and Thrace?
• Since the notes of All Along the Watchtower lead to Earth, do they still serve a purpose on Earth?
• Will analysis of Hera's remains reveal that she was not a normal human?
  • No, since our reference for "normal human" is her descendants, she'd look like the rest of us.
• Does human life evolve on planets other than Kobol and the new Earth?
• Who did Hera eventually have children with? A human or a Cylon?
  • Most likely a human. Saul Tigh and the Leobens would be too old for her. While it was common in ancient times for men far older than their brides, for example as young as the female being 12 and and the male being 60, Colonial mores, which are much like our own in real life, would forbid the Leobens from sexual congress with Hera when she reach the accepted reproductive age. On the other hand there were many human children about her age and slightly older in the Fleet. She could had also had children with a human child unborn at the time of the landing on Second Earth perhaps within five years to ten years of her age. It is possible that other hybrid children could had been born after the landing given that the Sixes and Eights joined the humans. And it is possible that pure Cylon children could had been born to the age compatible Sixes, Eights and Leobens but as noted in the series it is difficult if not impossible for a pure Cylon child to come to term. Hera's offspring is most likely with a human or a more remote possibility another Cylon-human hybrid. Her breeding with a pure Cylon offspring is the least likely.
• Was it coincidence or divine intervention that an asteroid caused Racetrack's hand to hit the launch button for the nuclear weapons at the exact right moment?

Noteworthy Dialogue

"Silly me.... silly, silly me."
--Virtual Baltar in the last line of the series.

"Frak!"
--Cavil's last word before he blows his brains out.

"Can we not tell her the plan?"
"Right." (Athena kills Boomer)
--Starbuck and Athena about Boomer before Athena kills her.

"There must be some way out of here."
--Starbuck attempting to figure out the jump coordinates.