Number Three
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| Number Three | ||
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Human Name |
D'anna Biers | |
| Age | ||
| Colony | ||
| Birth place | {{{birthplace}}} | |
| Birth Name | ||
| Birth Date | {{{birthdate}}} | |
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| Nickname | {{{nickname}}} | |
| Introduced | Final Cut | |
| Death | ||
| Parents | ||
| Siblings | ||
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| Marital Status | ||
| Family Tree | View | |
| Role | Cylon Infiltrator/Journalist | |
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| Serial Number | {{{serial}}} | |
| Portrayed by | Lucy Lawless | |
| Number Three is a Cylon | ||
| Number Three is a Final Five Cylon | ||
| Number Three is a Human/Cylon Hybrid | ||
| Number Three is an Original Series Cylon | ||
| Related Media | ||
| @ BW Media | ||
| Additional Information | ||
| [[Image:|200px|Number Three]] | ||
Cylon Model Number Three, known to the Fleet as D'anna Biers, has infiltrated as a Colonial reporter for the Fleet News Service (Final Cut). Biers appears to be more of a tabloid rumor-and-innuendo format news journalist and less of the conventional Fleet journalist types such as James McManus.
Biers is investigating the shootings of four civilians during a military intervention authorized by Colonel Tigh in what she dubs for sensationalism's sake as the "Gideon massacre". Her efforts to interview Galactica's crew are constantly thwarted by military protocol and stonewalling by Commander Adama, who privately acknowledges Tigh's mistakes, but seems adamant not to render any punishment.
The social and political repercussions of the Gideon incident become too much for President Laura Roslin to ignore. The citizens of the Fleet are becoming critical of Galactica and wonder if the military places itself at a different level of self-responsibility than its citizens. Working with Commander Adama, President Roslin invites Biers aboard Colonial One and proposes something interesting to the reporter. Adama and Roslin will give Biers "unlimited" access to Galactica and her crew to create a documentary on what it is like to be the last defensive group of the Twelve Colonies, as well as allowing her to interview many of the crew on the Gideon incident.
Biers is initially given a tour of the battlestar by Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla, but finds the nuts-and-bolts technology and layout information boring. She and her photographer, Bell, prefer to record and interview the candid moments of Galactica's crew--even going so far as entering the senior pilot's quarters, where a scantily-clad Lee Adama finds the intrusion most unwelcome.
Biers begins in-depth personal interviews with many of the crew, including Dualla, Lieutenants Gaeta, Margaret Edmondson, Kara Thrace and Karl Agathon, as well as attempts to interview command staff such as Colonel Tigh. Of all the interviews, she desperately wants to ask Tigh many questions on his decisions in the Gideon incident, but Tigh stonewalls and evades her questions, partially from his annoyance in the situation, but also because he is distracted by a mysterious death threat left in his quarters: a verse of a poem from a Caprican poet known as Kataris.
Biers appears to be in the right place at the wrong times throughout her documentary filming. She captures the growing behavioral problems with Lieutenant Louanne Katraine, a Viper pilot who later crash-lands her Viper after failing a routine landing and is found to have been abusing stims because of the pressures she endures from the loss of her family and friends as well as the demands of being a Viper pilot. Biers also captures the sabotage to a Raptor that was intended to shuttle Colonel Tigh to Cloud Nine for some downtime for the colonel as well as a bit of business on orders of Commander Adama.
As Biers passes through sickbay during her documentary, she makes a highly unusual find. Sharon Valerii is alive and being treated in sickbay. The existence of this second copy of the known Cylon infiltrator, who was thought to be dead by The Fleet, is too much for Biers not to document. However, Commander Adama intercepts Biers and demands that she give him the intriguing footage of Valerii. Biers pointedly asks why Adama is harboring this known Cylon in secret aboard the ship, and suggests that news of Valerii's existence could ruin Adama in the eyes of the Fleet. Adama evades the question and redirects it at Biers, asking whether exposure of this second Valerii's existence to the Fleet would do anyone any good. She surrenders a tape to Adama, but unknown to him, Biers retains the actual footage of Valerii in secret for herself.
Biers gets an opportunity to document what happens in CIC during a Cylon Raider raid at the Fleet.
As Biers is editing the documentary, reviewing the footage from the senior pilot's quarters, she sees Joe Palladino on his bunk with a copy of a book by Kataris. Biers' knowledge of Palladino's involvement in the Gideon incident immediately determines that Palladino is the likely suspect in the death threats. She and Bell grab their photo gear and rush to Tigh's quarters to find that Palladino has bound Tigh's wife, Ellen and threatens to shoot Colonel Tigh with a sidearm. Tigh manages to talk the agitated lieutenant down and disarm him, where marines take the wayward Viper pilot away.
Bier's final documentary is reviewed by Tigh, Adama, and President Roslin. While Tigh is initially perturbed at the documentary's unshiny look into Colonial military life, Adama finds it a good story, "warts and all." The documentary is broadcast to the Fleet, with Biers concluding the documentary with a rousing monologue:
- "I came to Galactica to tell a story. In all honesty, I thought I knew what that story was before I ever set foot here. How an arrogant military let their egos get in the way of doing their job safeguarding the lives of the civilian population. But I found the truth was more complex than that. These people aren't Cylons. They're not robots blindly following orders and polishing their boots. They're people. Deeply flawed, yes, but deeply human too. And maybe that's saying the same thing. What struck me the most is that despite it all: the hardships, the stress, the ever-present danger of being killed-- despite all that, they never give up. Never lie down in the road and let the truck run them over. They wake up in the morning, put on their uniforms, and do their jobs. Every day, no pay. No rest. No hope of ever laying down the burden and letting someone else do the job. There are no relief troops coming, no Colonial fleet training new recruits every day. The people on Galactica are it. They are the thin line of blue separating us from the Cylons."
- "Lieutenant Gaeta told me a remarkable statistic. Not a single member of Galactica's crew has asked to resign. Not one. Think about that. If you wore the uniform, wouldn't you want to quit? To step aside and say, "Enough. Let someone else protect the Fleet." I know I would. But then, I don't wear a uniform. Most of us don't, most of us never will. The story of Galactica isn't that people make bad decisions under pressure. It's that those mistakes are the exception. Most of the time, the men and women serving under Commander Adama get it right. The proof is that our fleet survives. And with Galactica at our side, we will endure. This is D'anna Biers, Fleet News Service."
But the Fleet is not the only group that sees the documentary. A group of humanoid Cylons on Caprica--copies of Aaron Doral, Number Six, another Sharon Valerii copy and one other person, hidden from view initially in the theater where they sit, watch Biers' documentary (including, surprisingly, the footage of the Sharon Valerii copy in sickbay that Adama had presumably confiscated) with great interest. The Valerii copy remarks in surprise about the survival of her pregnant doppleganger on Galactica, and the others are very intent on monitoring the pregnancy and survival of the Cylon/human hybrid fetus. The mysterious 4th person in the theater is revealed: a second copy of D'anna Biers, which notes that the Raiders that intercepted Galactica were used to relay the documentary and its forbidden footage of Valerii from themselves to a nearby Cylon fleet for transmission to Caprica, at the price of some loss of Cylon material.
Another version of Number Three was also in charge of "Downloading" Cylon agents, and presided over the returns of both Caprica-Six and Sharon. Like her counterpart in the movie theater, she is assisted by a Five, Six, and Eight.
Yet another Three (or possibly one of the previous two) enlisted "Caprica-Six" to help "reintegrate" the Sharon Valerii model known to humans as "Boomer" (Three and Six were previously friends from Six's own reintegration). Though her motives were outwardly altruistic, her conversation with them is filled with double meanings, trying to subtlely nudge both into exposing that they were "corrupted" by their close human interaction. Three's real goal is to assess the risk factor of these "Heroes of the Cylon" to the status quo, due to their different perpectives on the war and the genocide, and later box their consciousnesses when she became convinced they were a threat to the Cylon collective society.
Three is later trapped with both Caprica Six and "Boomer" Valerii beneath a garage after capturing Anders. With a hint from her internal "Gaius Baltar", Six deduces the truth. Shortly thereafter, Three resolves to kill Anders in spite of her previous agreement. But "Caprica" proves Three's assessment correct, and smashes her in the skull with debris (Downloaded).
Number Three (or at least this particular Number Three) appears to be a strict devotee of the Cylon religion. In Lucy Lawless' words "She's like the ultimate narcissist. She believes that she is the pure form, so she is constantly trying to bring everyone else in line with her worldview".
D'anna Biers was supposed to appear in a subplot of "Downloaded" in which she conspired with Gina to kidnap Hera. The episode ran overtime and the scenes, which were indeed filmed, were cut.
Notes
- D'anna Biers is one of three Cylon agents revealed in Season 2. Her ultimate goals may have originally been to turn the civilians against Galactica, but this plan may have been later abandoned. Her current goal seems to be to keep tabs on Caprica-Valerii, being held in Galactica's brig.
- Since Biers has not appeared in past episodes that feature the fleet-wide press, it can be speculated that prior to the Cylon Attack, she was more of a tabloid investigative reporter than a mainstream journalist.
- Actually, there's a simpler explanation - the journalists we've seen so far have mostly been members of the press crew covering Galactica's decomissioning - print journalists and radio commentators. Biers is a filmmaker. I mean, you wouldn't expect to find Michael Moore covering a white house press conference, right? That's just not what he does.
- Biers' existence as a Cylon infiltrator brings the total number of revealed models to six as of "Final Cut". This leaves five unknown models as of "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II". Speculation on other characters and their true identities as Colonials or Cylon infiltrators is still ongoing.
- In behind the scenes interviews, Lucy Lawless has said that to contrast her character with Galactica's crew, D'Anna still wears fashionable clothes, make up, and jewelry, probably because she has access to some form of black market in the Fleet.
- Lucy Lawless has stated that she will return as D'anna for the first 10 episodes of season 3.
- Lucy Lawless' more renowned TV character, Xena, originates from Amphipolis; an actual village situated between Greek provinces Macedonia and Thrace. See also Kara Thrace entry.
| Spoiler follows, highlight to read. |
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| *At the official Xena 2006 Convention, Lucy Lawless stated that "they" turned around and asked her "Do you want to play God?" There is a character who sets herself up as God, and Lucy would likely play her. Her theory is that there's nowhere to go after playing Xena but to playing God! But none of this is a done deal, she cautions, because they're still working out the logistics |
- According to James Callis in an interview, In Season 3, Lucy Lawless's character (unspecified if it is D'Anna Biers or the Number Three model as a whole) "puts herself at odds with the rest of Cylon society".