Talk:Gaius Baltar/Archive 1

You Heard It Here First (I think)

Things are just adding up too well in my mind that Baltar is now a Cylon. Consider his uncanny tendency to sense what turn out to be other Cylons (Doral, Boomer). I added speculation on this based on past events. In particular, a nuclear blast of the type that leveled his home would cut both Six's and his body to shreds--her body was far from sufficient protection. Remember that such a blast turns everything (rocks, metal, wood) into a wall of death that bludgeons all, like a volcanic pyroclastic flow. Consider that we see Baltar relatively unscathed after this, with no explanation of his escape. This is a serious matter to consider since we must remember that the TOS Baltar actually joined the Cylons, becoming a commander, and became more than a mere traitor. Spencerian 11:16, 2 Aug 2005 (EDT)

Peter Virago has a good point where we should ask, if Baltar is a Humano-Cylon, why does she protect Baltar from the nuclear blast at his home in the first place?

Answer: For appearances. Remember that the information of a Humano-Cylon's brain is transmitted to another copy. Since a Baltar clone would need to keep a contiinuous memory (fragmented briefly by blind terror in escaping the area), it would be a simple matter to have a new copy of Baltar "wake up" with minor wounds, where his natural tendency to be chickenshit would have him run with the rest of the groups. For Six's aims, Baltar may need to continually reminded that he is human and never reveal what might be his true nature. A lot of things that the Humano-Cylons do seems to be for show, to drive or manipulate the remaining humans, rather than killing them outright. Spencerian 12:22, 3 Aug 2005 (EDT)

OK. Feldspar makes the most convincing argument against the possibility of Baltar being a Cylon. It still doesn't eliminate the thought, however. Remember that Baltar's chain has been pulled this way and that. The idea that he is still human may also be an illusion to both the viewer and him. Remember that Galactica Boomer was just all happy and thought she, too, was an ordinary human, and look how that turned out. Despite what Six shows him in terms of a baby, it may still be a deception as a process of brainwashing his consciousness to work as a Cylon agent. I don't believe that Cylons want to make human/Cylon hybrids the default: they just need human DNA to get started on their own. Hopefully we'll get some kind of resolution to this one in this season. Spencerian 15:48, 22 Aug 2005 (EDT)

Now THIS deserves Quality Article status

Mq59's addition of a publicity photo of James Callis' incredibly "crazy look" as Baltar, along with Day's and other recent edits have really refined this page. The page is very close to perfect in format, standards, sources, and balanced speculation. This is a good example of how other character articles should resemble. Thoughts? --Spencerian 17:11, 5 January 2006 (EST)

Right, but we still don't know how that stupid "quality article" template works, and the Help:Template page isn't very instructive. Back on topic though, I do like the article. Nice balance of the pictures. I agree with the new "crazy pic". Do the parenthetical citations need quotes, though ("Gaius Baltar")? Otherwise, I can't find any other nits to pick offhand. --Steelviper 17:20, 5 January 2006 (EST)

Well, of course, like others here I view the entire "could Baltar be a Cylon?" arguement as insanity, but much of that same article also gives much evidence of how he couldn't be; regardless, it's a fine article. I'm not one to use the phrase "slam dunk" lightly, but this page...--Ricimer 18:04, 5 January 2006 (EST)

Just you wait, Ricimer, I will be proved right in the end about Baltar, even if we have to waltz through Season 5 to find out! I did try to keep the Baltar-the-Cylon section balanced, so thanks for the nit-pick. On quotes within parentheses: No, we generally don't use them unless:

• The items are in a sentence format within, such as here (Miniseries, "Valley of Darkness", "Scattered"). Quotes should not be used in single episode notations as shown here (Fragged). When "Miniseries" is single-noted, it should not have quotes as it's not an episode name per se.
• A certain emphasis or sic implication is needed to note an important variation. In SV's example, "Pegasus" was in quotes within ()s to differentiate it from the battlestar article. I don't know if this particular practice was made convention, but I use it, and for this episode wikilink only.

Yeah, it will be nice once we get that Quality Template working, but yes, it should be reserved for the best o f the best, and hopefully, we can update the Main Page to show the article and give it a look like Wikipedia to highlight them or an Article of the Day. T-Minus 28 hours and counting... --Spencerian 18:25, 5 January 2006 (EST)