The Circle

The Circle.
Pictured clockwise are members Saul Tigh, Jean Barolay, Kara Thrace, Diana Seelix, and Charlie Connor.

The Circle is the name given to a tribunal secretly authorized by President Tom Zarek. The task of this tribunal is to decide the fate of people implicated as collaborators during the Cylon occupation of New Caprica.

The Circle's initial members include Saul Tigh, Galen Tyrol, Samuel Anders, Diana Seelix, Jean Barolay, and Charlie Connor. After the trials and executions of thirteen suspected collaborators, Anders decides that he is no longer able to handle the emotional burden of deciding the life or death decisions made by the group. He is replaced by his wife, Kara Thrace.

While certainly not the normal manner for the trial (and punishment) of suspected traitors, the Circle does have an arguably legal basis, having been established by executive order of President Tom Zarek. When Anders drops out, the group needs to find a sixth member. As Colonel Tigh mentions, they "are not a death squad. [They] need six members to be legal, as the President [Tom Zarek] ordered."

Although Connor is out for revenge for his dead son and cares little for proper procedures, Tigh and Tyrol emphasize that they need proof and eye witness accounts to convict people. Nonetheless, Roslin and Adama are appalled that Zarek would authorize trials without granting the accused the legal representation they are entitled too. Zarek tries to justify this, by saying that the Fleet would be occupied for months or years with proper trials and wants to spare Roslin signing death warrants for the entirety of her next term.

The suspect list includes Galactica military personnel James "Jammer" Lyman and Felix Gaeta. The Circle convicts Lyman for perpetrating crimes against humanity and treason and executes him by expulsion through one of Galactica's launch tubes. Gaeta, who had served as a presidential aide to Gaius Baltar on New Caprica is also convicted by the Circle of crimes against humanity. Just before Gaeta is to be executed, Tyrol is able to confirm that it was Gaeta who served as the "inside source" during the occupation of New Caprica, passing top-secret information to the resistance. Tyrol convinces the other members of the Circle to stay the execution and Gaeta is released.

Fifty-six other suspected collaborators on the list are not tried. The Circle disbands when newly reinstated President Laura Roslin grants general pardons for all collaborators (Collaborators), other than President Gaius Baltar.

Notes

• Ironically, three of the founding members are members of the final five Cylons, though they were not aware of it at the time.