Daybreak, Part II

CONTRIBUTORS: Remember that an episode summary is just that, a summary. Don't use the article to ask questions that you haven't bothered to search for in related articles. Limit speculation; the Re-imagined Series is essentially over: no further significant revelations should be expected. Follow standards: Don't ask questions in questions. If an answer is found, move that data to the relevant article, phrasing it as a statement in the article body. This article will be naturally long; be concise and avoid unnecessary detail. Thanks!

"Daybreak, Part II & Part III" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 20
Writer(s)	Ronald D. Moore
Story by
Director	Michael Rymer
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	422-423
Nielsen Rating	1.7/2,364,000 viewers (Live+SD)
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
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Daybreak, Part I	Daybreak, Part II & Part III	The Plan
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
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Listing of props for this episode
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			@ BW Media
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Overview

Act 1

The episode begins with a series of events that occurred before the Fall.

• In a strip bar in Caprica City, William Adama and Saul and Ellen Tigh enjoy themselves. Adama questions whether to take a civilian job or take command of an aged battlestar, finally deciding on the civilian job.
• Kara Thrace has dinner in her apartment with her fiancé Zak Adama and his brother Lee Adama. The conversation turns to Lee Adama's decision to join the Colonial Forces, despite his idealism and his dislike of his father. He simply answers that he received college funding in exchange for service.
• Elsewhere, Laura Roslin greets her date, Sean Allison, at her home. She eventually recognizes him as a former student from years ago. Despite the age difference, Roslin decides to let him stay the night.
• At the strip bar, Bill Adama asks Saul whether he'd have taken the civilian desk job. Saul doesn't answer.
• Lee Adama and Thrace manage to drag Zak to a couch after a night of drinking. But Thrace isn't done and challenges Lee to shots.
• Bill Adama is drunkenly sick, vomiting outside on the street. With a weak smile, he looks up to the stars in the night sky.

Aboard Galactica, Gaius Baltar sits in the former home of his followers, now empty. Virtual Six tells him to trust in God's plan for him, a plan she says he is already following.

Act 2

Aboard Galactica, final preparations are made for the mission...

• In sickbay, Dr. Cottle leaves assistant Layne Ishay enough medication to allow Laura Roslin enough lucidity and mobility for 48 hours. She thanks him sincerely, leaving Cottle uncharacteristically speechless.
• In the pilot ready room, Karl Agathon briefs the Raptor teams on the special nature of their rescue mission. Despite the odds, all volunteer.
• Lee Adama briefs the marines on Hera's likely location: deep inside the Cylon colony.
• In CIC, Admiral Adama work out the tactics of the battle against the colony; Close-range combat - no nuclear weapons and missiles.
• The Final Five plan to use Samuel Anders, now effectively a Hybrid on Galactica, to disrupt the Colony's Hybrids, a plan which requires Anders to be brought to CIC and connected to Galactica's computer systems.
• Saul Tigh is disturbed at the sight of gooey wires and conduit used to interface Anders with the battlestar.
• Admiral Adama hands over command of the Fleet to Hoshi, noting that if they aren't back from the mission in 12 hours, they will never come back. Similarly, Lee Adama appoints Romo Lampkin as President of the Twelve Colonies. He joins Admiral Hoshi on the last Raptor to leave Galactica for the baseship, the Fleet's new flagship.
• Baltar's followers get in the ship. Baltar enters, but then tells Paulla that he must stay on the ship. Lee Adama throws Baltar a weapon. As Baltar is given a weapon, a Number Six leads a large number of Cylon Centurions down the hangar deck; a red sash painted on them for identification.

Act 3

• A shot of the Fleet shows that the rebel baseship fully regenerated since the Cylon Civil War, and ready to lead the civilians to safety. Galactica separates from the fleet, retracting its flight pods to prep for FTL.

• Adama asks to go "around the horn", with the XO calling out combat stations over the loudspeaker.
  • In sickbay, Layne Ishay prepares sickbay for wounded, with Laura Roslin assisting as best she can.
  • Vipers are in launch tubes, and the entire Raptor squadron, armed with troops and missiles, have been placed inside the starboard flight pod deck, amidst the ruins of the old Galactica Museum.
  • Lee Adama and his force of marines (including Sergeant Allan Nowart) and red-striped centurions take their positions.
  • Gaius Baltar is a soldier protecting the hallways against boarders. He is surprised to find Caprica-Six by his side.
  • In CIC, Ellen Tigh signals that Anders is ready to work.
  • Adama gives a final speech, a final understanding and call to arms.

• The battlestar jumps away from the fleet, and Battle of the Colony begins...
  • Galactica arrives only meters from the edge of the Colony, and is immediately besieged by the Cylon batteries.
  • Ellen starts up Sam Anders, who makes contact with the Colony Hybrids and takes them and the guns offline. Ellen warns that Cylon Raiders will appear any minute.
  • Galactica responds by launching its fighter wings. The Vipers launch, and the Raptors jump directly from within the starboard pod to the opposite side of the Colony in a flanking position. The Raptor jumps, however, cause massive damage to the pod, with gas venting outside from a gaping hole.
  • Adama orders the battlestar's engines ahead at flank speed, ramming the alligator head into the Colony. Galactica's inhabitants take a beating, but breach the Colony through the forced entry. Lee Adama leads his marines and several Cylon Centurions inside from a front airlock.
  • Racetrack and Skulls arm their nuclear missiles, presumably to strike the Colony after the rescue. But suddenly a piece of debris strikes their Raptor, killing all aboard and leaving the Raptor adrift.
  • Several Raptors, including the one with Sharon Agathon, Helo, and Starbuck, dock and make their way into the Colony.
  • Deep inside the Colony, a Simon works on young Hera as Boomer looks on in disgust. When she questions why he continues to work on Hera when they are under attack, the Simon explains that they maintain and superior force and numbers. Boomer assaults the Simon, snapping his neck, and takes Hera out of the room.

Act 4

• The Colony's halls are filled with gunfire. Cylon Centurions, including older Model 0005s fight each other as the Colonial fire teams push through.
• Cavil, a Number Five and another Simon decide to go on the offensive, to attack the battlestar with their troops.

• In a hallway in Galactica, ready to repel boarders, Caprica-Six and Baltar come to terms with their old relationship. As they kiss, they hear a Six's voice. "All of the pieces are falling into place."
• The Virtual Six--and the Virtual Baltar--stand above them. To the surprise of Caprica-Six and Baltar, they can hear and see each of the avatars.
• With a shudder, the battlestar hull is breached as waves of enemy Centurions, both old-model and modern, pour into the ship.

• The Agathon's team find Boomer, holding Hera. She gives the child to them, telling them to tell Admiral Adama that she "owed him one." With the child safe, Athena shoots Boomer.
• A flashback scene shows what Boomer meant: a time back in her days on 'Galactica, as Adama and Tigh redress her but give her another chance to be a better pilot.

• Ishay has her hands full in sickbay, trying to triage and treat as many people as she can. The event is taxing, physically and mentally, for Roslin, as she comforts more dying than not.

• Lee Adama's team connects with Starbuck's team, with Hera in tow. When Lee asks where Thrace was, she answers, "Stopped for coffee." With their objective complete and no other Colonial troops found, they head back to the battlestar's alligator-head.

• Galactica batteries are being targeted by Raiders. She is losing what little defensive ability she has left. Enemy forces are coming at the reserve forces--where Baltar waits.

Act 5

• Caprica-Six and Baltar hold off the enemy Centurions. Baltar's passion at killing Centurions gets a bit out of control as Lee Adama's team reenter the battlestar with Hera. As more enemies appear, Lee and Baltar fire away.
• Laura Roslin sits and experiences yet another vision of the Opera House and little Hera. Struggling to walk, driven by something she can't fully realize, she gets up to find Hera.
• Starbuck leads the Agathons through the hallways, but a Number Five appears from behind, seriously wounding Helo in the leg and killing a marine before Starbuck eliminates him. A damaged, but still functioning enemy Centurion shows up and in the confusion, Hera runs away. Athena runs after her at the request of her wounded husband.
• Hera walks amidst the gunfighting, when soon she encounters Roslin, who pulls out of the path of an enemy patrol and to safety. But when Roslin turns back to the child, she is gone again.
• Caprica-Six and Baltar are running, and are out of ammo. Suddenly they see Hera, as well as Roslin and Athena--all grouped together as in the Opera House vision. Caprica-Six scoops up the child and enters a hallway, closing the hatchway, preventing Athena and Roslin from following. The opera house vision had Caprica-Six and Baltar closing the door on boht Athena and Roslin after picking up Hera.
• As the scene shifts between visions of the Opera House and the corridors, Baltar and Caprica-Six realize what they must do: follow their vision into the Opera House--which turns out to be CIC, where the Final Five reside, overlooking the lower deck of CIC as they appeared in the vision, standing above.
• Adama and his men have apparently just finished defending the CIC from a break-in by Cavil, a Doral and a Simon. The Doral and the Simon are dead, and Cavil is under guard. An explosion rocks the CIC, and Cavil picks up a gun and grabs Hera as a shield.
• Baltar pleads for the child's freedom, telling Cavil that Hera is key to humanity's survival as well. He reasons with Cavil that there are higher forces at work, that led them all, here, for a reason. Baltar also reveals that he has been visited by angels - the agents of God. When Cavil questions if God has his people's interests at heart, on how Baltar knows that God is on his side, Baltar replies (in an allusion of something Virtual Six once told him), "God is not on anyone's side." The Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar look on with a pleased expression.
• Baltar asks Cavil to take a leap of faith. Saul Tigh sweetens the pot by offering to reteach Cavil the secret of resurrection, this time in exchange not only for Hera's life but for permanent peace, where the Cylons leave humanity alone.
• Cavil agrees. He uses the Battlestar comm to order his forces to stand down and releases Hera. Admiral Adama orders stand-down as well.

Act 6

• Vipers and Raptors return to Galactica as the Raiders return to the Colony. Laura Roslin joins the admiral in CIC.
• The Five each know part of the secret to resurrection. They will combine their knowledge by connecting themselves through the water in Ander's tank. Ellen Tigh tells the others that the process will also share memories as well as data.
• But before they begin, Tory Foster, visibly anxious, warns the others that they will see "certain things" of their bad behavior. She tries to prepare the others of what they will see of her. An impatient Cavil screams. "Hey! I don't mean to rush you, but you are keeping two civilizations waiting!"
• The Five dip their hands and make the connection. As the data flows to the Colony, Foster's visions of murdering Cally Tyrol in an effort to protect her secret of being a Cylon comes to the forefront, surprising the others of the Five, and angering Galen Tyrol immediately.
• Tyrol pulls his hand from the pool and wraps both hands tightly around Foster's neck in a death-grip, eventually snapping her neck.
• As Anders screams from the sudden disconnection, the Cylons in CIC believe they are deceived and open fire. The Colonials kill all but Cavil, who shouts an exasperated "Frak!" before putting his pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

• High above, as the Raiders begin attacking Galactica again, Racetrack's damaged Raptor drifts, its crew lifeless. A rock strikes the ship, causing Racetrack's dead hand to strike the firing button to the Raptor's tactical nuclear missiles, launching them all straight at the Colony.
• The force of the explosions severely damage the Colony, pushing it towards the black hole, threatening to take Galactica with it.
• Adama orders Kara Thrace to make a blind jump, but Thrace thinks about the music her father played, the music that Hera wrote to her. Recalling the mathematical associations she tried to discern from the music, Thrace realizes the music works as a series of FTL coordinates.
• She punches in the coordinates into the navigation computer and jumps the ship.

• A flashback scene appears where Lee Adama and Kara Thrace talk about how she thinks about death every time she gets into a cockpit.

• Galactica completes the jump--but the strain of the last battle causes the battlestar's structure to ripple and twist as structural members tear and break. The ship will never jump again. Engines and life support are still online, but Galactica's backbone is broken.
• "Where have you taken us, Kara?" Roslin asks, as the scene changes to an exterior shot to show the battlestar flying over a gray, rocky moon.
• But is not just a moon...Galactica has arrived at the moon of Earth...another Earth, this one with the continent of Africa in prominent view.

Act 7

A crippled Galactica seen in orbit over the Sahara Desert.

• Twelve hours later, the Fleet jumps into the new Earth's orbit as Galactica passes by. A Raptor came to Hoshi to guide them to new Earth.
• Landing ship after landing ship leave for the new world, which unlike the old Earth, is clearly lush and full of life.
• On a green, rich savanna in Africa, Admiral Adama, Cottle, Saul Tigh, Hoshi, and Baltar look on, lying prone on their stomachs with binoculars at a tribe of early humans. Cottle confirms that the native humans are compatible with the Colonials genetically. Adama is astonished that humans just so happened to have evolved on this particular world.
• At a camp, as Lampkin starts making plans for the construction of a city, Lee Adama tells him to let humanity start all over again, leave their technology behind, which has almost always gotten them into trouble. Let the Colonials enter the new world with just their basic possessions.

• Admiral Adama maps out a plan to populate various continents and land masses, spreading out humanity and Cylon far and wide, distributing supplies to give all a good chance of survival. To Lampkin's surprise, the peoples of the Fleet take a liking to leaving technology behind.
• A Number Two tells Adama that the remaining Twos, Sixes, and Eights will stay on Earth as well, handing over the baseship to the Centurions, to give them their own freedom. When Lampkin questions if setting the Centurions free won't cause another holocaust hundreds of years from now, Ellen Tigh agrees it's a risk, but believes the cycle of death has been ended. Adama agrees.
• Adama tells that, after everyone is offloaded from the ships, the Fleet will reunite with Galactica a final time. Piloted by Samuel Anders, still in his tank in CIC, connected into the battlestar, he will fly all the ships on a final voyage into the Sun.

• Kara Thrace, eyes filled with tears, meets with Anders at his tank, kissing him goodbye for the last time, and leaving her dog tags. As she leaves, he mutters, "I'll see you on the other side."

Act 8

• Admiral William Adama descends into the hangar deck, wearing a flight suit. The deck is otherwise completely empty of anything, and anyone.
• He takes a seat in a Viper Mark II. Not just any Mark II...but the one that Galen Tyrol's team rebuilt for him as a retirement gift so long ago.
• As Adama's Viper launches, the scene shifts to six years prior, where Adama is taking a lie detector test for the prospective desk job. When the test administrator asks him test questions such as, "Are you a Cylon?" and "Have you ever stolen money from a cash drawer?" Adama is angered and leaves, saying, "I'd rather spend the rest of my career--what's left of it--on a broken old down ship, than to have someone sit here and question my word."
• Husker's Viper makes a final fly-by of the old battlestar, looking at her one last time before pointing his Viper towards Earth.

The fleet heading straight into the Sun.

• Samuel Anders' voice from the past talks of his days in sport, dreaming of perfection, and being linked to it, to creation, as Anders guides the Fleet, now united to the mathematical perfection he once spoke of through his duties as a Hybrid.
• As the Colonial Anthem--a version of the Original Series main theme--plays, the scene shows Galactica and the Fleet gathered a final time, heading away from Earth and towards the sun to its demise.

• Walking in the savannah, the Tighs speak with Galen Tyrol a final time. He has decided to go to the northern highlands of Earth (likely Scotland ). The scene shifts to the Tighs, partying back in Caprica City, once upon a time.

Act 9

• On the plains, Bill Adama sits with Laura Roslin, watching herds of gazelle. Her vision weakening, she tries to use her glasses with the binoculars. "A very beautiful world," she says. When she asks what the name of the planet is, Adama tells her it's Earth. He adds, "Earth is a dream," believing that their new home, a long-sought destination, deserves the name.
• Roslin's breathing becomes labored and shallow. Adama offers to give her a better look at the wildlife. He picks her up and carries her to a nearby Raptor.
• Lee Adama and Kara Thrace notice and meet Bill Adama there. The Adamas hug, and Bill Adama gives Thrace a final greeting of "Nothing but the rain" before he hugs and kisses her. Thrace and Lee wave goodbye to a smiling Roslin as the Raptor ascends.

• Lee realizes that his father isn't coming back. Kara Thrace tells Lee that she isn't coming back, either. "I just know that I am done here. I've completed my journey...and it feels good."

• A flashback scene, back in Thrace's apartment, where Thrace dares Lee to make love to her on her dining room table. But before they could do anything, the crash of a glass partially awakens Zak, causing the two to realize what they were doing. They shake hands and say goodbye.

• "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Lee," Kara Thrace says. As Lee tells her of desire to explore and climb mountains, he turns to find that Kara Thrace has vanished, as if she were a ghost. "Goodbye, Kara," he says. "You won't be forgotten."
• A flashback scene shows the pigeon that would be trapped in Lee's apartment after his visit to Kara and Zak. It looks at Lee and flies out of the window and away.

• In another flashback from six years prior, Laura Roslin returns to stand by the side of the bed, thanks Sean Allison, but tells him that they will not meet this way again, and asks him to leave. As the man leaves, Roslin returns to her bathroom, lights a cigarette, then makes a phone call. She accepts the opportunity to work on Mayor Richard Adar's campaign.

• Bill Adama's Raptor flies over flamingos. "So much..life," Laura Roslin says...her final words as she closes her eyes and quietly passes.
• Moments go by before Bill realizes that she is gone.
• In tears, Bill removes his wedding ring and places it on Laura's hand. "Right there...I'm going to build our cabin right there," he says, pointing to some hills.

Act 10

• A line of people walk into the wilderness, calm and ready to take on the world. Romo Lampkin appears to be in charge. Saul and Ellen Tigh bring up the rear.
• The Agathons walk as well, Helo using a makeshift crutch, talking of hunting and other pleasantries. Hera runs about in play, a smile on her face.

• Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six look on at Hera playing as the Virtual Six and Baltar reappear. When Caprica-Six questions if the protection of Hera was all that God wanted of them, the Virtual Six replies, "God's plan is never complete." "Great..." Baltar replies sullenly.
• Virtual-Baltar counters, "I think it's safe to say that, from now on, your lives will be less...eventful."

• Another flashback to Caprica City. Baltar offers Caprica-Six an opportunity to "peek" into the Colonial Defense Mainframe.

• When Baltar points to some land, he recalls his heritage, and his father, and that he knows a bit about farming, to a bit of tears.

• Bill Adama sits, looking out into the hills and valley. "I laid out the cabin today. It's going to have an easterly view. You should see the light that we get here. When the sun comes from behind those mountains. It's almost heavenly. It reminds me of you."
• As he speaks, the camera pans up to show Adama, seated near the cairn he built for Laura Roslin's body.

• The scene turns to show Hera playing and looking upward. Scenes of wood and desert and sea pass by in a geologic montage to reveal an Earth city - New York City - 150,000 years later.

• As a fly-over of the city appears, a voice-over of Virtual-Six reads from a magazine article of the Tanzanian discovery of the bones of what scientists believe are the remains of the mitochondrial Eve, the matrilineal common ancestor of mankind.

• As a man reads about the scientific discovery, the Virtual Six and Baltar look over his shoulder at a magazine article of the news, and reveal what they know...the bones are that of Hera Agathon, born of a Cylon mother and a human father. No other people on the street appear to notice them.

• The two talk of the technology and decadence, of whether this Earth will repeat the mistakes of generations past and again become overwhelmed by their creations. The Six thinks not, believing it to be God's plan.

• "You know it doesn't like that name," Baltar says. Six only looks back in mild defiance. "Silly. Silly me," he replies as the two walk away into the metropolis.

• The episode concludes with scenes of robots, from toys to advanced automatons growing and evolving, as Jimi Hendrix's--Earth's popular version--of "All Along The Watchtower" plays, ending with an image of an attractive-looking female automaton gazing out over Times Square from a giant outdoor television screen as Six and Baltar walk off into the distance.

Notes

See Daybreak, Part II/Notes

Analysis

Who and what guided them

• 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.
• 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.
• There are at least two distinct angels. They have known each other a long time and born witness to Kobol and the original Earth, as well as the Twelve Colonies and the new Earth. They can walk around and observe events even when no one else present can see them, though they may have the ability to appear to anyone they wish. In the final scene, a man walking by the Angel Six appears to check her out (though this may have been a simple acting goof or an actual pedestrian happening by).
• The constellation Ursa Major (commonly known as the "Big Dipper") appears briefly in this episode. It makes only the second appearance of a recognizable star pattern in the series, the first being Orion in "The Ties That Bind" (Orion is also visible in this episode).
• Adama's statement that New Earth is "one million light years" from Kobol must be taken as exaggeration or an error. The Milky Way is 100 000 light years across, and earlier statements in the show indicate that it considerable time to travel much shorter distances.
  • It's possible that Adama's "million light years" comment is meant metaphorically instead of literally, in essence saying the Colonials have come an unthinkable distance to reach their new home.

The reproduction prospects of the races

• It is possible that some Baseships of Ones, Fours, and Fives were not at The Colony when it was destroyed, given the fact that they were observed jumping in and out of the system by Racetrack and Skulls. However, 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 was killed in the Colony (and in any case 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, if they still exist, 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, with their hatred of humans it is unlikely. One final option could remain. The Final Five was able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction before Tyrol in his rage at Tory broke the connection. It is possible that the Cavil faction could extrapolate from the data they did get to recreate the technology, but only if it was transmitted to Baseships beyond the destroyed Colony. How long this could take or even if it is possible depends on how much and/or if the most critical and unique part of the technology was downloaded.
• On the second Earth Hera's mate that produced children was most likely human. Saul Tigh and the Leobens would be too old for her. While it was fairly common in ancient times for the men to be far older than their brides (particularly with royalty), for example with the female being as young as 12 and the male being say 60 to take an extreme. However, 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 Twos, 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 making any pool of pure Cylon children that were successfully born-if any-very small. Cylon-Human mating with a human male with a Six or a Sharon is very possible with the example of Hera herself It is possible given the precedent of Karl and Sharon Agathon Giaus Baltar and Caprica Six could had had a child particularly since they truly love each other. It is a theoretical possibility that a Leoben could had taken a human wife (they are inclined to do so given one Leoben infatuation with Kara Thrace even before her specialness was known to them) In any case it Human-Cylon offspring are an much more likely than with a Cylon-Cylon birth, but it is still harder than with human-human pairings. This would make any children pool of those pairings, while much more likely and larger than Cylon-Cylon offspring, would still quite small number compared to pure human offspring frequency of birth. Therefore Hera's offspring is most likely with a human. To sum up: It is the most likely that her husband was pure human the next probably that she took as a husband another Cylon-human hybrid. Her producing children with a pure Cylon offspring is the least likely of the three since pure Cylons are the least likely to exist. Throw in the possibility is Hera mating with the New Earth native tribal human males then the likely hood of Hera having a child with a human is very great.
• The Final Five can be considered some of the ancestors of present-day humanity through their link with Athena and the other Eights, Twos, and Sixes although it is unlikely they have a direct genetic link to us due to their age, deceased status or self imposed isolation.
• Mitochondrial Eve, Hera, is the most recent matrilineal common ancestor for all people alive on Earth today. Like Hera, all people alive on Earth today carry some Cylon genes along with human genes--no one is one hundred percent "pure" human, as those who fled the Twelve Colonies were. Assuming that there are no "pure" humans living somewhere else in the universe today (descendants of the tiny number of survivors left behind in the Colonies), this means that humanity, as it was defined by people in the Twelve Colonies, has gone extinct.

Miscellaneous

• Ronald D. Moore appears as himself 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.
• In another piece of irony in a program that is full of such, the two beings most directly responsible for the attack and destruction of the 12 Colonies, Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six, get to live on a lush green New Earth in love with each other.
• Even if humanity does repeat the Cycle, Lee Adama's plan would seem to have had some success, because it will have taken much, much longer to do so this time around.
• Ellen says that hopefully the Hybrids will still respond to Anders' commands. In other words, they would recognize him from the time the Final Five ran the Colony.
• Cavil's suicide, in the way it is framed and executed, closely mirrors the televised 1987 suicide of American politician Budd Dwyer.
• Adama's drunken moment, where he sits against a wall, vomits, and then looks up at the night sky, echoes Oscar Wilde's famous aphorism: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
• Though it was never explicitly states in the Miniseries or after, it seems that TIgh was indeed planning to retire whenever Adama decided to leave the Colonial Military. The flashbacks in this episode to Saul and Ellen Tigh in the bar make it clear that Tigh is planning on following Adama out of the service. However Adama, as viewers come to see, decides ultimately to finish out his last years as the CO of Galactica despite reservations. Tigh obviously followed. This also sheds more light on Tigh's eventual estrangement from Ellen- which was where their relationship was at in the miniseries. The bitterness she doubtless felt at Tigh once again choosing Bill Adama over her was probably a factor in not only her noted loose behaviour, but their growing estrangement before the war.
• It is not entirely clear when in Adama's career he decided to pursue the idea of a civilian job as seen in both parts of "Daybreak". Dialogue during the lie detector test scene suggests Adama has been given his orders to command Galactica, but is considering resigning before taking up the post. However Adama notes in his initial interview with his prospective employer in the previous episode that he has already commanded two battlestars. One of these is obviously Valkyrie, but it is not clear if Adama is already referring to Galactica as the second command (which could also suggest he is already commanding the Galactica at the time this flashback is set and is considering his resignation when on leave from that ship), or to another battlestar that Adama once commanded but has never been mentioned before.
• Chief Engineer Galen Tyrol's decision to travel to a highland area, which is implied to be Scotland, is a nod of the head to the Star Trek character 'Scottie', another famous Sci Fi Chief Engineer.
• The discovery of humans on the new Earth by the Galactica crew makes this, technically, the only epsiode of the reimagined series in which an "alien" race (non-Colonial-related) is actually featured.

Questions

• What happened to the newly liberated Centurions?
• What happened to the Raiders?
• Why does "God" want the Cycle to be broken?
• What was the "similar incident" Skulls was starting to tell Racetrack about just before they were killed?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Virtual Baltar says the last line of the series as he walks down a street of modern day New York City with Virtual Six. Baltar questions what God wants to be really called:

Virtual Baltar (moving in closer to V-Six, whispers): "You know it doesn't like that name!"

Virtual Six (Doesn't answer vocally but her expression says "C'mon! you know better than that!"): ...........

Virtual Baltar (Seeing her reaction): "Silly Me.....silly, silly me".

• The Galactica is about to jump to The Colony and into harms way:

Admiral Adama: Just so there'll be no misunderstandings later... Galactica has seen a lot of history, gone through a lot of battles. This will be her last. She will not fail us if we do not fail her. If we succeed in our mission, Galactica will bring us home. If we don't... it doesn’t matter anyway.

• Tory Foster is saying something to the other Final Five who are about to download the specifications of Resurrection technology, delaying things. Cavil is impatient and shouts from below up to the Five:

Cavil:" HEY! I DON'T MEAN TO RUSH YOU BUT YOU ARE KEEPING TWO CIVILIZATIONS WAITING!

• The Final Five are about to to stick their hand into Anders's hybrid tank and through that the datastream They are about to download the technical data of Resurrection to the Cavil Faction's Colony as agreed. As they do so their minds will essentially become one and they will all know each other's secrets whether they want to share or not. Tory Foster is unusually agitated and nervous:

Tory Foster (hesitantly with slight fear): "There are things that....that we've all done. Certain things that...people would be shocked.... to learn about."

(Cavil impatiently shouts from below, Foster continues)

Tory Foster (voice trembling slightly): Let's....Let's just all agree that no matter what we learn about each other...we're all Cylons and we're all capable of making mistakes."

(Those were her last words. Less than two minutes later, Tyrol learns of Tory murdering Cally and kills Tory by snapping her neck. She was being strangled to tightly to say anything else.)

• Cavil's last word before he commits suicide.

Cavil: Frak!

• Nuclear missiles has knocked the Colony falling into the Singularity and is dragging Galactica with it and Starbuck is frantically attempting to figure out the jump coordinates. This is a lyric from the song "All Along the Watchtower.''

Starbuck: There must be some kind of way out of here.

• Virtual Six and Virtual Baltar speculating if the cycle will continue.

Virtual Baltar: All of this has happened before...

Virtual Six: But the question remains: does all of this have to happen again?

• Sam Anders, essentially Galactica's Hybrid, says his last words to Kara Thrace after she leaves his side.

Samuel Anders: See you on the other side

• Baltar to Caprica Six on New Earth in unspoken reference about his father

Baltar: "You know, I know about farming." (sobs)

• Laura Roslin is speaking to Dr. Cottle about the state of her health which both know it is grave with only a few days to live. Also, she is about to essentially go into battle to retrieve Hera and the Doctor appears to be on the verge of choking up:

Laura Roslin: Don't spoil your image, just light a cigarette and go and grumble."

• Former Admiral of the Fleet William Adama is showing Laura their new home on New Earth in a Raptor. She sees a herd of gazelles stampeding at the sight of the Raptor over the lush and rich landscape and says her last words:

Roslin: So much life...

• William Adama is sitting on a high ridge overlooking what would later be called the African Savannah in spectacular view. Laura Roslin's grave is behind him close by and he talks to her spirit. It is his last statement in the series:

William Adama: I laid out the cabin. It's gonna have an easternly view. You should see the light we get here. When the sun comes from behind the mountains, it's almost heavenly. Reminds me of you."

• Boomer has just given over Hera to Athena, saving her life from Cavil and Simon dissection-and both redeeming herself and condemning herself to death

Boomer (to Athena): Tell the old man, I owed him one.

Athena (angrily) Doesn't change anything you did though!

Boomer (shakes her head slightly): No. We all make our choices. Today I made a choice. I think its my last one.

Starbuck: All right this is really touching. Now can we get the frak out of here!?!

Boomer (to Starbuck): You should know that your Raptor been destroyed. You can't go back that way.

(Athena passes Hera to Helo)

Athena: Yeah well, that is not the plan.

Starbuck (sardonically): Can we not tell her the plan?

Athena: Right.

(Athena and Boomer look each other in the eye for a moment. Athena raises her weapon. Boomer does not try to flee, accepting, if not welcoming her fate. Athena fires. Boomer is dead before she hits the deck.)

Guest Stars

• Callum Keith Rennie as Number Two
• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Rick Worthy as Number Four
• Mark Sheppard as Romo Lampkin
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Sherman Cottle
• Matthew Bennett as Number Five
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Kerry Norton as Layne Ishay
• Dean Stockwell as Number One
• Bodie Olmos as Lieutenant Brenden "Hotdog" Costanza
• Leah Cairns as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant/Admiral Louis Hoshi
• Colin Lawrence as Ensign Hamish "Skulls" McCall
• Lara Gilchrist as Paulla Schaffer
• Colin Corrigan as Marine Allan Nowart
• Leela Savasta as Tracey Anne
• Darcy Laurie as Dealino
• Iliana Gomez-Martinez as Hera Agathon
• Tobias Mehler as Zak Adama
• Simone Bailly as Shona
• Kevin McNulty as Frank Porthos
• Richard Jollymore as Marine #1
• Anthony St. John as Marine #2
• Dan Payne as Sean Allison
• Holly Eglinton as Stripper
• Tiffany Lyndall-Knight as Hybrid (uncredited)
• Ronald D. Moore as Man at news stand (uncredited)