Answered Questions from Season 1 (RDM)

VISITORS: Please be aware that this is a list of answers for questions that are posed as a result of content from Season 1 episodes. The answers to these questions, however, likely come from episodes of later seasons that you may not have watched yet. While we do have a spoiler policy in place that warns you that spoilers are to be expected, we are reiterating that warning here, as there will undoubtedly be spoilers in this article. Thank you for your consideration. Good hunting.

Part of the series on Answered Questions in Battlestar Galactica

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This is a list of answers to questions posed as a result of content from individual episodes from Season 1 of the Re-imagined Series. These questions are taken directly from the episode guides.

33

• Billy Keikeya reports that the number of survivors is down by 300 as a result of some being lost through death from injuries, initial inaccurate counts, and others having "disappeared." How can people simply "disappear" in the Fleet?

Answer: At first glance, there appears to be an error with Billy Keikeya's math with the survivor count. The episode starts with the count being 50,298. He informs Roslin this is in error by 300, thus reducing this number to 49,998. When Olympic Carrier is destroyed (1,345 people), he reduces the total to 47,972—a reduction of 2026, or 681 people more than listed on Carrier. However, in deleted scenes from this episode, Keikeya is continually reducing the survivor count additional times set between the beginning of the episode and Olympic Carrier's destruction. Therefore, these other refinements just occur off-screen.

As for how people can simply "disappear," this can be attributed to many factors: deaths from injuries sustained during the attack, suicides, and miscounts due to the hectic nature of the flight from Ragnar Anchorage and the fatigue experienced by the ship's crews who were concerned more about survival than statistics at this juncture.

• Is Head Six actually in contact with other Cylons, and thus involved in the disappearance and reappearance of Olympic Carrier?

Answer: Head Six may be involved with the disappearance and reappearance of Olympic Carrier, however she herself is later revealed as an angelic force who merely appears in the form of Number Six. As this is the case, Six's objectives aren't necessarily in sync with the objectives of the Significant Seven.

• What happened to the group of survivors Karl Agathon was left with in the Miniseries?

Answer: According to "Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far," radiation sickness kills a majority of these survivors, and Karl Agathon clearly separated himself from this group. His objective is to leave the planet and get back into the fight.

• Was the person speaking over the wireless when the Olympic Carrier returned really its captain, or a humanoid Cylon?

Answer: The voice does not correspond to any of the Significant Seven who are eventually revealed during the run of the series, nor any members of the Final Five. Therefore, the voice is human, as the presence of humans aboard Olympic Carrier is confirmed by the producers. It is not impossible for the Cylons to be using equipment to fake a voice, however.

• Were there any people aboard Olympic Carrier when it was destroyed?

Answer: Yes.

• What is the Cylons' plan?

Answer: It's complicated.

Water

• Is Sharon Valerii completely unaware her Cylon personality, which planted the explosives?

Answer: As Sharon Agathon neé Valerii essentially tells Kara Thrace and Karl Agathon in "Resistance," Cylons can be programmed as sleeper agents unaware of their true nature. Valerii's programming, however, is not without faults of their own as evidenced by her conflicted nature throughout the series run.

• Is the wireless message picked-up by Karl Agathon on Caprica genuine, or a Cylon fake, designed to keep him on the planet?

Answer: It is a Cylon fake, designed to lure Agathon to a "honey trap."

• Do the Colonials have food recycling capabilities to match their water recycling capabilities?

Answer: Yes.

• Why do the Cylons want to keep Agathon on Caprica?

Answer: The Significant Seven Cylons—with the exception of John Cavil, who aims for the Seven to become the universe's most perfect machines as exemplified in his speech in "No Exit"—desire to reproduce biologically, believing it to be one of God's commandments. By pairing Karl Agathon with a Number Eight with the same memories as Boomer, the Seven hope to foster love, a pivotal component they believe necessary for successful procreation. See: "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II," "The Farm."

Bastille Day

• Is Tom Zarek genuinely willing to die for his beliefs?

Answer: Yes. Zarek has continually shown a martyrdom complex throughout the series run. His willingness to remain imprisoned over his beliefs, particularly when offered a pardon in return for a public renouncement of terrorist acts, proves he's willing to sacrifice his freedom for his cause. Zarek's beliefs are so strong that, in fact, he does not cooperate with the Cylon Occupation Authority as Baltar's vice president, which results in his imprisonment after the Cylons invade and, later, in his near execution in "Precipice." After the discovery of the First Earth, Zarek's attempt at taking political power (with the help of Felix Gaeta) results in both their executions by William Adama in "Blood on the Scales."

• Can Gaius Baltar really use a nuclear warhead to build a Cylon detector, or does Head Six have some other plan? (Answer)

Answer: With the help of Head Six in "Bastille Day," he is able to create a Cylon detector by using the warhead. The detector does work and is able to detect Sharon Valerii as a Cylon in "Flesh and Bone," but is later reprogrammed to produce exclusively "human" results. The nuclear warhead is later used as a bargaining chip in the event that Gaius Baltar lost his bid for the presidency, or perhaps was later "found out" as being involved with the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, as he hands it over to the Demand Peace terrorist organization in "Epiphanies." Despite wresting the presidency from Laura Roslin thanks to the promise of settlement of New Caprica, Gina Inviere later activates the device, destroying Cloud 9 and several vessels—and leaving a radiation signature that attracts the Cylons' attention one year later (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).

• Will elections really be held in seven months?

Answer: Yes.

Act of Contrition

• Why does Major Sherman Cottle smoke, knowing full well the medical implications of cigarette smoking?

Answer from Ronald D. Moore: "Because smoking is cool. Don't let anyone tell you different, kid. [...] Seriously, we're showing people doing what people really do and not all of their choices are smart ones. We smoke, we drink, we have sex with the wrong partners -- we make lots of bad choices and some of them we do knowingly and in full cognizance of the risks and consequences. Dr. Cottle obviously knows the risks associated with smoking and he elects to do it anyway — that's his choice."

You Can't Go Home Again

• With almost 50% of fuel reserves gone, can Galactica obtain additional supplies to keep her Vipers flying?

Answer: Yes.

• What use will be made of the captured Raider?

Answer: Kara Thrace uses the Raider to return to Caprica to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo for use in the Tomb of Athena. ("Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I," "Scattered," "Home, Part II")

• How many more Cylon spacecraft include biological elements in their design?

Answer: Virtually all Cylon craft have biological elements in their design.

• Will Karl Agathon now go in search of the “missing” Valerii?

Answer: Yes.

• Will he question why the Centurion left him unconscious in the restaurant, rather than taking him prisoner?

Answer: Yes.

• Did the Cylons develop bio-mechanical capabilities first in a basic form with the Raiders, before going on to develop the humanoid constructs?

Answer: The Cylons originating from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol experimented with creating biological life in the form of "hybrids," however the ones who give them the ability to fully evolve into humanoid forms were members of the Thirteenth Tribe—who were, themselves, humanoid Cylons. ("Razor," "No Exit")

Litmus

• Why did Hadrian fixate on the Tyrol / Valerii relationship? This line of questioning was distinct from her attempts to expose Tyrol as a "Cylon conspirator."

Answer: Hadrian is likely mounting a case against Commander William Adama, to prove that his leadership and decisions aboard ship have not been up to military standards. By permitting the relationship between Tyrol and Valerii to continue (despite Saul Tigh's order to Valerii to put a stop to it), and his decision to keep the fact that Cylons now look like humans secret, she can justify her "witch hunt" and make it difficult for Adama to put a stop to it. In an interesting twist, Hadrian was ultimately on the right track. Both Tyrol and Valerii are not merely conspirators but actually Cylons. Valerii's true nature will be revealed to the Fleet in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II", and Tyrol's in "Revelations". Though Tyrol had no direct involvement in subversive Cylon activities, beyond covering up evidence that would implicate the sleeper agent Valerii of destroying the water tanks in "Water", it is revealed in "No Exit" that he and the other four of the "Final Five" were in fact responsible for the creation of the other humanoid Cylons, the ones that did carry out the attacks on the Colonies.

• Will the "outing" of Aaron Doral and Leoben Conoy make Cylon activities within the Fleet that much more difficult? What of Number Six? Does this mean that the other still-unknown models take on a more active role?

Answer: Difficult, yes, but not impossible. There are still five Significant Seven Cylon models unaccounted for at this point: Number One (John Cavil), Number Three (D'Anna Biers), Number Four (Simon), Number Six, and Number Eight (Sharon Valerii). Six is outed after the unsuccessful attempt by Shelly Godfrey to discredit Dr. Baltar in "Six Degrees of Separation", a copy of Conoy is later discovered in "Flesh and Bone," Valerii is outed as a Cylon agent after her botched attempt at killing Adama in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II," Cavil is outed in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" after Tyrol spots a copy from Caprica disembarking from a Raptor and Biers is outed as a Cylon after the occupation of New Caprica.

• Why is the concept of love so important to the Cylons?

Answer: See: "The Farm." In the Cylon religion, "God is Love". Because all other attempts at Cylon procreation have failed, the Cylons are attempting to have Agathon and Valerii conceive a child in love. They have previously tried the direct, but loveless, mating of male and female Cylon models, and forced human/Cylon hybridization experiments using artificial fertilization techniques.

Six Degrees of Separation

• Is Head Six in communication with her "sisters" in the Fleet? (Probable Answer)

Answer: As "Head Six" is an angelic entity, "she" is merely in the form of Number Six, in much the same way that Head Baltar appears to Caprica Six in "Downloaded" and, interestingly, to Baltar in "Six of One." She has no particular allegiance to the Cylons, but to the desire of God.

• Will Gaius Baltar forgive Laura Roslin for her condemnation of him? (Answer)

Answer: Initially, yes, but this view changes in "Epiphanies" after reading the letter Roslin wrote him in the event of her death. This, and Roslin's decision to ban abortion in the Fleet, lead his desire to challenge Roslin for the presidency in "The Captain's Hand." The two eventually reconcile after the events of "'The Hub" and in "The Oath."

• Even if Baltar completes his Cylon detector, will any results it gives be trustworthy?

Answer: The detector does work and is able to detect Sharon Valerii as a Cylon in "Flesh and Bone," but is later reprogrammed to produce exclusively "human" results.

Flesh and Bone

• Is Leoben Conoy's comment to Kara Thrace concerning Kobol meant personally (as in she herself will find Kobol) or in a general sense?

Answer: While Thrace has a hand in retrieving the Arrow of Apollo for use in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol, Thrace is not the one to find Kobol. In fact, Sharon Valerii and Alex Quartararo are the ones who do so in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I."

• How will Roslin react to Conoy's claim about Adama? Considering that she has already demonstrated a willingness to readily accept the worst about a person without proof, as was the case with Baltar in "Six Degrees of Separation."

Answer: Her reaction is central to the story in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down."

• Why is love so vital to the Cylons?

Answer: See: "The Farm."

• Other than silica pathways and the substance discovered by Gaius Baltar in the cremation process of the genetic material of a humanoid Cylon, are there any other major differences between them and humans?

Answer: See the article on humanoid Cylons for details.

• Do Conoy and the Cylons truly possess powers of prophesy?

Answer: Conoy does appear to have an uncanny power of prophesy, however this seems intertwined with the Hybrid, the only Cylon construct capable of true prophecy.

• To which Adama does Conoy refer in his final statement to Roslin?

Answer: William Adama. Conoy's statement is misdirection, with his aim to place a wedge between the military and civilian leaders of the Fleet. Interestingly, Leoben could still have said nothing, as Laura Roslin's auctions in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" regarding Kara Thrace and the Raider easily did this, splitting the Fleet over the wedge-issue of Kobol.

Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down

• Is Ellen Tigh a Cylon?

Answer: As revealed in "Sometimes a Great Notion," Ellen Tigh is the last of the so-called "Final Five" Cylons revealed.

• What is Baltar hoping to gain from keeping the test results secret?

Answer: The official Season 1 companion book explains this more fully. Basically, Baltar does not know if the Cylons in the Fleet are capable of communicating with each other. That's why in "Flesh and Bone" he didn't call in the Marines to grab Sharon as soon as she left his lab; if he reveals one or two of the Cylons, while more are still at large, he is afraid that the others will then target him for assassination. More or less, Baltar's plan is to screen out as many people as he can to find all of the Cylons, and then reveal them in one fell swoop. Even if they don't possess a communications net, they might just realize his Cylon detector works if one of their number like Boomer is revealed by the test; he wants them to think it doesn't really work. Alternatively, as it might take years to test the entire Fleet, Baltar would do what he will do later on in "Resistance"; find one Cylon, then interrogate it to find out who the other Cylons are, etc. For the moment, he is biding his time.

The Hand of God

• How many Vipers does Galactica actually have? Do they have a contingency plan should the majority of the Vipers be destroyed?

Answer: A list of remaining Vipers is tallied in this article. As for the Vipers themselves, Pegasus bolstered Galactica's overall numbers by both her arrival and her Viper manufacturing facilities ("Pegasus," "Scar"). As for any contingency plans before Pegasus's arrival, the plan was to keep what Vipers they did have operational with little to no hope of replacing what was lost, as demonstrated by "Flight of the Phoenix."

• How can a 3,600 year old text foretell the exodus of humanity, and the leadership of Laura Roslin?

Answer: Refer to the article on the Sacred Scrolls.

• If Gaius Baltar read the Sacred Scrolls in "... the 6th grade", why, in spite of being the former Secretary of Education, doesn't President Roslin know who Pythia is?
• Answer: According to Ronald D. Moore, the Sacred Scrolls are much like modern Earth religions in that the vast majority of the general populace often knows many often-quoted phrases and the general philosophy of a religion. However, this doesn't mean every person is a theology scholar. Like Earth different sections of the Twelve Colonies are more religious than others: Caprica being quite secular in regards to religion, while Gemenon is religiously fundamentalist, believing in the literal truth of the Sacred Scrolls.

• Is Baltar truly an instrument of "God?"

Answer: Yes ("Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II", "Home, Part II", "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II", "He That Believeth In Me", "Daybreak, Part II").

Colonial Day

• Just how much freedom of movement within the Fleet have Zarek’s people gained since the events of "Bastille Day?"

Answer: Zarek's people have gained considerable freedom of movement within the Fleet, presumably having won their "freedom points" as a result of their participation in the water replenishment operations of Galactica. This relatively unhindered movement throughout the Fleet is proven to be the case in "The Farm," as Zarek is able to hide Laura Roslin, Lee Adama and Elosha despite the military's resources.

• Will Zarek be able to use this apparent freedom to rally support for the forthcoming elections?

Answer: Yes, however he realizes that he cannot hope to defeat Roslin as president, as he does not have the popularity or the public support needed to overthrow her. As such, he supports Gaius Baltar's candidacy and is the one who brings the possibility of settling New Caprica to Baltar's attention. Subsequently, the hope of colonizing the planet is offered as the key difference between Roslin's administration and a Baltar one, thereby allowing Baltar's win in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II."

• How does the Quorum of Twelve relate to the Office of the President? Does it function in a similar manner to the United States Congress?

Answer: Refer to the article on the Government of the Twelve Colonies.

Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I

• Why did the Thirteen Tribes leave Kobol?

Answer: In a deleted scene, Tigh asks Elosha this same question, and she says that one God decided that he should be raised up above all others, and rebelled, and this triggered the cataclysm that drove humans off of Kobol.

However, in "No Exit," four of the Final Five discover—through Samuel Anders—that a war between the humans (the Twelve Tribes) and the Cylons (the Thirteenth Tribe) occurred, leading to the original exodus from Kobol thousands of years prior.

• Given the similarities with the Greek pantheon, did the gods decide to follow the 13th tribe to Earth, thus establishing the myths of the Olympian gods?

Answer: As the events of the series occur some 150,000 years before the "present day" (2009 CE), this is not scientifically probable (Daybreak, Part II).

• Do the Cylons consider Kobol as their spiritual home as well (“The birthplace of us all” – Leoben Conoy, "Flesh and Bone")?

Answer: While it is uncertain whether or not the Cylons consider Kobol as a "spiritual" home, Kobol is where all Cylons originated either directly or indirectly, depending on the type of Cylon (No Exit).