Daybreak, Part II

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"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
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
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]]
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
Online Purchasing
Amazon: Standard Definition | High Definition
iTunes: [{{{itunes}}} USA]

Overview

Act 1

The final episode begins with a series of events before 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, rather than to take command of an aged battlestar Over drinks, Adama decides to take the job.
• Elsewhere on Caprica, Lee Adama is having dinner with Kara Thrace and her fiancee, Zak Adama. Zak questions why his brother joined the Colonial Forces, despite Lee's idealism and his dislike of his father. Lee simply answers that he received college funding in exchange for service.
• Elsewhere, Laura Roslin greets her date, Sean Allison, at her home. After realizing he seemed familiar, Roslin finally recalls where she had seen him. Sean was a former student from years ago. Despite the age difference, Roslin decides to let him stay the night. "The night's young. Apparently, so are you," she says. "Let's see what happens."
• Back at the strip bar, Bill Adama challenges Saul on whether he'd take 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 pulls out more alcohol for shots between her and Lee.
• Bill Adama is drunkenly sick, vomiting outside somewhere 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. He listens to the Virtual Six, telling him to trust in God's plan for him. When he asks what that plan is, she tells him that he already following it. Paulla interrupts his conversation, but Baltar asks for five minutes before he leaves.

Act 2

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

• In sickbay, Dr. Cottle leaves assistant Layne Ishay two injections of heavy medication to allow Laura Roslin enough lucidity and mobility for 48 hours. She thanks him sincerely, causing Cottle to be something he'd rarely been: 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 where little Hera would likely be: 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. He orders the gun batteries to fire until exhausted, and after that, "start throwing rocks," he says with a small smile.
• The Final Five plan to use Samuel Anders, now effectively a Hybrid on Galactica, to interface with the Colony and its Hybrids to interrupt their commands and slowing the Colony's weapon systems. The catch is that Anders will need to be connected to the DRADIS, fire control and C-3 systems. They plan to take Anders and connect him inside the CIC.
• In CIC, Saul Tigh jokes at his old friend at the bizarre sight of a Cylon interfaced to his battlestar, gooey wires and conduit that extend over Adama's command console everywhere and into the DRADIS console. "Still not too late to flush them all out of the airlock," Tigh quips. "Take too much time," Adama answers.
• 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 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, 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 breeched 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. "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.

• The Fleet jumps into Earth orbit as Galactica passes by. A Raptor came to Hoshi to guide them to Earth.
• Landing ship after landing ship leave for the new world.
• On a green, rich savannah 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.
• At a camp, as Lampkin considers a building of a new 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 Earth 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

The fate of the Colonials and Rebel Cylons

• This episode marks the deaths of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, John Cavil, Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson, Hamish "Skulls" McCall, Tory Foster, Samuel Anders, Laura Roslin. and all the Cylons at the Colony. Kara Thrace, having fulfilled her purpose, vanishes without a trace and is taken to a place unknown. In detail:
  • Boomer was killed by Athena in revenge for taking Hera, sleeping with Helo and beating her in the lavatory. Also she was a security threat and there was no way to take her along and despite her redeeming act of giving back Hera, couldn't be trusted.
  • Cavil takes his own life in Galactica's CIC when the resurrection designs are irrevocably lost with the death of Tory Foster.
    • It is unknown what happens to the other members of the Cavil/Number One line. The death of only a single Cavil is depicted, but any other Number Ones would face eventual extinction like all other humanoid Cylons.
      • This particular Cavil is most likely is the same John Cavil that has been carrying on an affair with Boomer for months and who spoke with Ellen Tigh in No Exit; was killed by Natalie in the baseship at the start of the Cylon Civil War; was killed by D'Anna Biers in the Resurrection Hub; and was shot by Baltar in the Temple on the Algae planet (from his recollection to Ellen). He is also the same one who had sexual relations with his own "mother" Ellen Tigh before she regained her memories, and tortured and maimed her husband on New Caprica. These are not certainties but for dramatic purposes it fits to follow one particular Cavil rather than a variety of Number Ones (and Boomer would most likely be in an affair with only one particular Cavil).
  • Racetrack and Skulls's Raptor is struck by an asteroid fragment, puncturing their canopy and killing them on impact (as well as at least three marines on board). When another asteroid hits the Raptor, Racetrack's limp hand hits the launch button that fires the nuclear missiles.
  • Tory is killed by Galen Tyrol upon his learning Tory murdered his wife Cally during the Final Five's mutual and involuntary sharing memories while downloading the Resurrection designs to the Colony.
    • This is ironic considering that in their previous lives on the original Earth the pair were madly in love and planned on marriage.
  • Anders pilots Galactica and guided the Fleet into the Sun.
  • Roslin dies peacefully as Adama gives her a bird's eye view of their new home in a Raptor.
  • Since they have neither female Cylons nor Resurrection technology, the Cavils, Simons and Dorals on the various Cylon baseships will presumably die out.
  • Kara is presumably taken by the same force, stated to be God by Virtual Six, that resurrected her.
• The fates of numerous supporting characters are not shown.
  • Hot Dog is last seen flying his Viper back to Galactica after the initial cease fire. He likely survives since there is no mention of him being killed, and he is alive when the truce is called and the remaining Vipers and Raptors safely land on Galactica.
  • Since she isn't seen volunteering in the hanger deck or depicted in the attack, it is possible Diana Seelix didn't volunteer.
  • Ishay is not seen after Roslin leaves sickbay.
  • The episode also never touches on what becomes of Baltar's cult, including Jeanne, Paulla and Tracy Anne. Founding member Jeanne, who is absent from the finale but it is perfectly safe to assume that they are with the people on the planet. Paulla and Tracy Anne were last scene on the last Raptor trying to get Baltar to come with them to the baseship where many of the civilians including Baltar's flock were taken. They were unsuccessful and Paulla and Tracy-Anne went to the baseship without incident. Jeanne was almost certainly there and with the settlement on Earth.
• The recurring subplot about the Sons of Ares and its growing conflict with the Cult of Baltar is unresolved.
• The Raiders are seen using missiles for the first time since the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
• Racetrack's Raptor, and possibly the other ones in its flight group destroyed in the assault on the Colony, was carrying the last nukes from Galactica and Pegasus, marking the end of humanity's use of these weapons (which were used to destroy the Twelve Colonies at the start of the series). Presumably the baseship's store of nukes remains intact.
• It is very likely that Saul Tigh, Galen Tyrol and definitely Tory Foster never recovered their first hand memories of life before and after Old Earth and before Cavil killed them and blocked their true memories when they resurrected. Tory Foster will certainly never have that chance since she was killed by Tyrol in a fit of rage over Tory's murder of Cally.
• The tracing of the human blood line through Mitochondrial DNA to the furthest maternal common ancestor and dubbing her Mitochondrial Eve is a real theory. Mitochondrial Eve was the matrilineal most recent common ancestor, the most recent person in the female line that all of humanity can be said to be from. In other words, Hera is everybody's mother's mother's ... mother's mother. This does NOT imply that she is the only ancestor of modern humans. In fact, it implies that each female alive at the time either has no surviving descendants, or is ALSO a common ancestor (though not a purely maternal one). This also means that we as a species are related to Athena Hera's mother.
  • In the series, Hera is Mitochondrial Eve, meaning that all of modern humanity is a combination of Colonial humanity and Cylon, although there maybe ancestors of native New Earth in the current population from the male line of descendants.
  • The fossilized remains are said to be of a young woman, indicating Hera does not live to see a middle age, though she has children before she dies. Specifically, she must have had daughters to pass on her mitochondrial DNA.
  • Since mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only, and Hera has a Cylon mother, her mitochondrial DNA and that of all her descendants is pure Cylon (discounting mutations).
• Also in the podcast, RDM is happy to confirm that Tyrol did find some natives in Scotland and ended up being the 'King of the Scots', apparently since Aaron Douglas loved the idea of Scottish civilization (with its tradition of great engineers) being descended from Tyrol. This may suggest that Galen Tyrol, a male Cylon, had successfully mated and produced children with a New Earth native human female.
• Gaius Baltar, with deliberate forethought, gave Caprica Six the back door to the Colonial defenses. He still did not know Caprica Six was a Cylon, but he did commit willful corporate espionage knowing he would be punished for it if caught. Previously Baltar's giving of Caprica Six the secrets was implied - or at least inferred - to be from naive vanity to impress his girlfriend Caprica Six. The Colonists still don't know this.
• The Colonials never did find out that Gaius Baltar gave Gina Inviere a nuclear device on the space liner Cloud 9 destroying that liner and all on board near what would be called New Caprica. That same explosion would bring the Cylons to New Caprica a year later due to them being a light year away at the time they saw it, making him responsible for the occupation.
• Humanity, along with the Cylons, finally reaches its new homeworld, names it Earth, and the humans of today are the distant descendants of Hera.
• Before deciding that Galactica should reach Earth in prehistoric times, Moore toyed with the idea of having the Fleet arrive during the Hellenistic period and formed the basis of the ancient Greek religion and society. However, this idea was rejected as it suggested that the Colonials blessed only Western civilization with their knowledge rather than all of humanity, and it did not acknowledge Hera's importance. Moore read an article on the idea of a common human ancestor which he decided should be Hera. This also explains why the Fleet personnel landed in Africa (the network had been suggesting it should be North America, presumably to match the final shot of Season 3).
  • According to the podcast for the episode, the destruction of the Fleet and the spreading out of the surviving Colonials over the planet's surface was supposed to be a sign of humanity's committal to their new world, not necessarily promoting a Luddite agenda. The comparison that is drawn is Cortes burning his ships on the shores of central America so his men would not have a way of retreating if things got difficult. However, RDM later mentions that one of the last shots was to have been of the Colonials destroying their last Raptors, which suggests that the Luddite approach was more what they were aimng for.
• There was no final population count given after the engagement with the Cavil forces. However, there were no reported deaths by accident or violence before the engagement so the population count is most likely the same as it was in "Daybreak, Part I" before the attack on the Cylon Colony, 39,516.
  • A new population count post-engagement is given in the separate iTunes release of Daybreak, Part III. The count is 39,406, putting Colonial casualties from the battle at 110. Then shortly after their arrival on New Earth former President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol Laura Roslin dies, and Kara Thrace vanishes without a trace. From this we can derive that the number of people settled on New Earth is 39,404. This does not include the unknown number of humanoid Cylons from the baseship (which probably was never stated) and possibly Athena and the remaining three of the Final Five who aren't considered human survivors.
• The Centurions are granted full independence and subsequently depart in the rebel Baseship to pursue their own destiny. Their status 150,000 years later remains a mystery. The Colonials and humanoid Cylons believe it is unlikely they will be a threat, as they have no reason to bear a grudge this time around.
• When Galactica and the Fleet fly into the Sun, only 15 ships can be seen when at least 35 ships were still in the Fleet during the Mutiny, and upwards of 90 after the events of the mini-series. However, establishing shots of the Fleet rarely show more than a dozen ships in one shot regardless, and the implication is that the entire Fleet was destroyed.

Aftermath of the War

• There is a poetic ring to the nature of the conflict of the Second Cylon War:
  • It began with the Cylon attack on Colonies nearly wiping out mankind. It ended with the Colonial attack on the Cylon Colony very likely wiping out the Cylons who didn't join with the humans.
  • Shortly after the Cylon attack on Caprica, Baltar -- having unintentionally brought about the near-annihilation of the human species -- flees Caprica when Karl Agathon gives him his place on a Raptor, feeling that his own life is less important to save than a famed scientist's. But at the end of the series, it is Baltar who puts his own life at risk for the sake of saving Agathon's daughter Hera and expresses concern for her future well being to the very end of the series (both ends of this parallel occur in wide open fields).
  • Agathon and Cylon Sharon Valerii are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
  • The earliest known detail we see of Gaius Baltar's life is his effort to break away from his family history as farmers, and his shame over his heritage. The last event we see in his embrace of a new beginning as a farmer.
  • Baltar and Number Six are seen together near the very beginning of the series and near the very end.
  • The earliest event we see from Laura Roslin's life (retroactively) is the death of her sisters, killed during transit. The last event of her life that we see is her own death, which occurs during transit.
  • The series began with Galactica's scheduled decommissioning and ends with its actual decommissioning.
  • The series begins with a selfish decision Baltar makes (to give Caprica Six access to military mainframes) that nearly destroys Colonial humanity. It ends with a selfless decision Baltar makes (to fulfill his destiny in saving Hera) that gives Colonial humanity a new start in the form of Hera.
  • At the beginning of the series, William Adama divorces his wife soon after returning to Colonial military service. At the end of the series, Adama abandons all trappings of the military to be with his unofficial wife Laura Roslin, upon whose finger he puts his wedding ring just after she dies.
  • This poetic ring is also in line with Romo Lampkin's observation of him being President of it being "Poetic justice" and Lee Adama's "What goes around, comes around" since Lampkin originally pushed him to be a politician. Indeed, the Cylons were revisited by the destruction they wrought on the human Colonies.

Miscellaneous

• The title of the episode is a reference to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s book of the same title. This is appropriate since there are numerous references to Nietzsche’s philosophy throughout the episode. Most obviously, Baltar, in his speech to Cavil in the CIC, states that "God is a force of nature … beyond good and evil." Beyond Good and Evil is another of Nietzsche’s works. Baltar goes on to say "Good and evil—we created those," echoing Nietzsche’s claim in the First Treatise of On the Genealogy of Morality that morality, including the concepts of "good" and "evil," are human constructs whose utility must be examined. Baltar also asks Cavil if he wants to "break the cycle of birth, death, rebirth…" which recalls the Pythian prophecy that "All this has happened before. All this will happen again." This is also a reference to Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence, that living one's life exactly the same, over and over for eternity, can be the worst of punishments (for those who live trivial lives) but also the greatest of gifts (for those who live great lives).
• With the ramming of The Colony by Galactica Hera's prophetic Projection at the very beginning of Islanded in a Stream of Stars came true. In her projection as she was playing on Galactica's tactical light table with the models of Galactica, three Baseships and three Cylon Raiders, she rammed a model Baseship with the model of Galactica.
• Saul Tigh in order to bring peace between Mankind and the Cylons he offered almost the same exact deal that the Final Five offered to the Centurions over 40 years before during the First Cylon War: If they halt the attacks on humanity "now and forever" they will give them resurrection. Durig the first war it was resurrection and helping them create biolgical humaniod Cylons.
• During Adama's polygraph examination for his high paying civilian job post retirement from the service he was asked Are you a Cylon? by the examiner. This is one more indication that it possibly known to some in power that the Cylons were working on humanoid looking versions of themselves although it was not widely known publicly.
  • It is clear from dialog in the episode that the question was meant as a control to get a baseline reading. Polygraph interviewers begin with a series of questions that they already know are true or false; like the subject's name, date of birth, etc. Asking Adama if he's a Cylon was simply an absurd question, the answer to which would obviously be "no," for later comparison when the real questioning began.
    • True, but remember what young Lt. William "Husker" Adama saw in that facility he crash landed in just minutes before the end of the First Cylon War in Razor. People being experimented on and a vat. I would think he reported what he saw to his superiors. And of course there could be the revelations of the up coming "Caprica" and some knowing the research Graystone was working on which his own father was privy to. The Examiner may believe his question was absurd but it could be the reason Adama hesitated and was offended and not laugh it off as the absurd question.
• According to the podcast, the Galactica was originally going to jump right inside the Colony for the attack, but RDM changed it because he wanted the ship to have open space around it for the final Viper/Raider dogfight.
• Apparently contrary to previous information, Galactica executes a successful jump with her flight pods extended. It is unclear why on previous occasions the pods needed to be retracted prior to jumping, or why the Cylons targeting the pods in the mini-series battle would have crippled the ship. However, when Galactica comes out of the jump a Viper can be seen being hurled clear from the ship, which is presumably why retracting the pods is advisable. It is also possible that the strain of jumping with the pods extended contributed to Galactica's structural failure.
  • There may be a clue in the nature of the damage incurred following the jump. A wave-like motion appears to run the length of the ship; perhaps FTL jumps always inflict similar stresses, but under normal conditions the nesting of the flight pods into their recessed 'valleys' (and their support arms into the presumably void spaces between them) lends structural reinforcement to counter said forces.
• According to the podcast, when Laura asks "Where have you taken us, Kara?" Starbuck was supposed to reply, "Somewhere along the watchtower." Director Michael Rhymer did not like this idea and simply didn't shoot the line. Moore later agreed that it was better not to have Kara speak.
• The shot of Galactica flying over the Moon and reaching Earth was inspired by real-life shots from the Apollo space program, specifically Apollo 8's shot of coming around the dark side of the Moon and the Apollo 17 shot of the Earth itself.
• A portion of this episode was being filmed in Kamloops, BC during the week of June 16, 2008. Local extras of all ages were utilized for this scene (or scenes) and were required to have an athletic build and a clean-cut look, or to be slim with long hair or dreadlocks. Extras were auditioned at Best Western room 137 (in Kamloops) on June 12th . The rural area surrounding Kamloops was previously utilized to depict the algae planet in "The Eye of Jupiter" and "Rapture".
  • According to the episode podcast, the sequences on Earth at the end were the ones filmed at Kamloops. Some CGI was used to remove distinctive Canadian evergreen trees from the background and replace them with more Africa-looking foilage, but otherwise the landscape was actually a decent match for Africa.
• Although Part I had a runtime of one hour, Part II will run for two hours. An even longer cut of Daybreak will later be released on DVD.
• The Kodiak, the command ship of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) faction from the computer game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is seen among the fleet in one establishing shot.
• The final scene, like most of the rest of the series, was filmed in Vancouver, BC, and not in New York City at all. In the final scene with Angel Baltar and Six, "Bread Garden Bakery and Cafe", W Pender St, and Dunsmuir St are visible, all of which are within a couple blocks of each other along Granville St in downtown Vancouver. [1] Furthermore, a bus passes by just before the credit, sporting the colors of the Coast Mountain Bus Company.
  • According to the podcast, Ronald D. Moore was wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt in the final shot, but they chose not to show this. The shot of the realistic Japanese female robot was found by Terry Moore online and was referred to as the 'next' Number Six by RDM.
  • Also according to the podcast, Baltar saying "It doesn't like that name," is significant, and is indeed meant to confirm that whatever 'God' is in the series, it isn't necessarily what the name implies.
• The Centurion Model 0005 in the museum case is a retcon. In the Miniseries, it was an Original Series costume, with the black skirt and non-exposed joints. In this episode, it is a CGI First War Centurion 0005 with exposed joints and no black skirt.
  • It is not explained why the museum flight pod is shown to be in nearly pristine condition when, in addition to four years of battles and the atmosphere-drop over New Caprica, a Cylon Heavy Raider crashed through the overhead window and crushed several of the exhibits in Scattered. Repairing the museum and exhibits would have seemed to be a low priority during subsequent events.
• Reference (possibly intentional) is made to Olmos' earlier work: Adama's flushing of flamingos while flying a Raptor is reminiscent of the flamingos flushing during the opening credits of Miami Vice, the TV series in which Edward James Olmos co-starred.
• The news network covering the story "Advances in Robotics" as Angel Baltar and Six pass by is MSNBC, the 24 hour news network arm of the NBC Universal media conglomerate which also owns the SyFy Channel (at the time the SciFi Channel), which produces Battlestar Galactica and airs the series in the United States.
  • The last advance in robotics shown was a humanoid "cybernetic robot" named "ACTROID", a Japanese design that was unveiled in 2005.[2].
  • The ACTROID's appearance in the final scene bookends the first scene of the mini-series in which several "traditional" robotic Cylons appear, following by the first appearance of the attractive humanoid Cylon, Number Six.
• Although many of the magazines on the newsstand appear familiar, close examination reveals that at least some have made-up names. A magazine that appears at first glance to be Sports Illustrated is actually Sports Limited. Also, although the magazine read by Angel Six and Baltar (and Ronald Moore) closely resembles National Geographic, at no time is the complete title of the magazine or its full logo actually shown on screen; furthermore, the back cover of the magazine is solid yellow whereas actual issues of National Geographic always have advertising on the back cover.
• Initially, Helo and Athena were supposed to die and Hera would be raised by Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six. This would make sense as in the Opera House vision Baltar and Caprica-Six take Hera into the Opera House and Athena and Roslin don't make it inside. It also lends well for a symbolical structure of the series: Caprica-Six kills a child at the beginning and raises one at the end, they destroyed one civilisation and then at the end they nurture the foundation of another one.

Analysis

Who and what guided them

• The coordinates that Thrace enters, 1123 / 6536 / 5321 correspond to the notation of the Final Four theme [3]. 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 long 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 anycase 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. A more remote possibility is with 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 humans males then the likely hood of Hera having a child with a human is very likely.
• The Final Five can be considered ancestors of present-day humanity because they created Athena and the other Eights, Twos, and Sixes.

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, 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 intitial 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 reisgnation when on leave from that ship), or to another battlestar that Adama once commanded but has never been mentioned before.

Questions

Characters

• Did any copies of Cavil, Doral, or Simon survive? (See Notes)
  • It is likely that some did on other baseships.
    • If so, did they try to leave a legacy through the purely mechanical models, or by continuing the previously abandoned research which created the hybrids?
• Why does Cavil choose to commit suicide?
  • RDM has stated that the manner of Cavil's death was suggested by Dean Stockwell: "I just really think that in that moment, Cavil would realize the jig is up and it's all hopeless and just put a gun in his mouth and shoot himself."
• Are Thrace and Anders together after Thrace's disappearance?
• Do Baltar and Caprica-Six marry? Do they go into isolation like Adama and Tyrol, or will they be near a human colony?
• Since Caprica Six and Gaius Baltar genuinely love each other, do they eventually have a child?
• Were Caprica Six and Baltar "supposed" to bring about the destruction of the Twelve Colonies?
• Do Adama and Tyrol stay isolated for the rest of their lives?
• In what part of Earth (a northerly island with "highlands") did Galen Tyrol settle? Scotland?
  • Scotland, according an interview with RDM
• Why was Romo Lampkin chosen as President? Wouldn't a member of the Quorum of Captains have been selected?
  • They likely needed a "neutral" party and had no time to hold an election. Also, a bond of trust had been established between Lee Adama and Romo in previous episodes.
• Why was Doral convinced that the Final Five and the humans were trying to deceive the Cylons? The download was disrupted by Tyrol alone, not the other four Cylons. For that matter, when Tyrol attacked Foster, why didn't anyone try to separate them?
  • Things happened so fast and so suddenly that there simply wasn't enough time for anyone to get control of the situation. Doral panicked when he realized that the Colony's hybrids were disabled and the first obvious explanation that came to mind was that they had been tricked.
• When the Final Five interfaced with each other during the download, did any of them regain their memories of events from before Cavil wiped them?
• Assuming that (as Tigh indicated to Adama in Revelations) the Final Five Cylons age but the rest do not, what will become of Caprica-Six, Athena, and any other survivors of the non-Final Five models? How will Helo and Baltar cope with the non-aging of their spouses as they themselves age?
  • Since Helo and Baltar deeply love their Cylon spouses, they will probably not care too much about this issue.
  • As the humanoid Cylons are biological by nature, they will age at some rate. Considering that they are nearly identical biologically to humans, they likely age at a similar rate. It is likely that they might have previously prevented the appearance of aging due to frequent resurrection. Since that is no longer an option, they would age and die like the humans do.
  • What Saul and Bill discuss is not necessarily fact; they don't know everything about the Cylons and characters are often seen speculating throughout the show in ways that have turned out to be false. For eg. in Season 1, some were scared people had been "replaced" by Cylons, which never happens.
  • Ellen said John Cavil was once a boy, but this is not necessarily literal.
    • It is not. The Significant Eight were never physically children. Ellen was referring to their emotional level of maturity when they first emerged.
• Had the download been successful, would Cavil have upheld his end of the bargain?

God and the Angels

• Why does God want the Cycle to be broken?
• If "it" doesn't like to be called God, what does "it" like to be called?
  • This is a possible reference to the numerous other names attributed to God by different religions.
  • This may also indicate that "it" is not God in the strict sense of being an omniscient/omnipotent deity that has always existed and always will exist, but that "it" is something else of great power that followers of different religions mistakenly interpret as God.
• Why do the angels still look like Baltar and Six 150,000 years later?
  • It is possible that the Number Six line was based upon the appearance of the being that presented itself to Galen Tyrol and the others prior to the nuclear destruction of the first Earth, as the five modeled the new eight after people they knew, Cavil was Ellen's father etc. That said, the Angel Six may actually appear as such.
• Is God related to the Lords of Kobol or something completely different?
• How many angels are there? Are the ones that resemble Six and Baltar the same as those that appeared to the Final Five and Thrace, or distinct?
• Why have angels not been appearing to the Final Five since Old Earth's destruction, only to Baltar, Six, and Thrace?

Kara's Destiny

• In what way, if any, did Starbuck fulfill her destiny as the "harbinger of death" that would lead humanity to its "end"?
  • The pure Human and pure Cylon races both came to an end due to Starbuck's part in bringing them together. Furthermore, she helped bring about the apparent death of the Cycle.
    • It could be also argued that she fulfilled her destiny in that Colonial humanity came to an end when the Colonial humans removed all technology from their lives and chose to live a more primitive existence with both the Cylons and the tribesman they discovered on Earth.
• Why did the First Hybrid not want humanity to follow Thrace?
  • It appears that there was a faction of Cylons who did not accept the Final Five's offer to have humanoid models built for them, so it stands to reason they were the most "pure" Cylons following their own path and would not want to share human DNA.
  • It is also possible that "they must not follow her" refers to Kara's fatal journey to Earth between Maelstrom and Crossroads, Part II to a potential disaster which could have happened if Adama chose to follow Kara's directions with the entire fleet in Six of One rather than sending her on the Demetrius.
• Why was Starbuck not aware of her true nature until after her role had been fulfilled?
• What is the nature of Starbuck's journey to the First Earth, crash, and return in the unscathed Viper? How did she "jump" to its coordinates? If her return was engineered by God to use her as an angel and bring humanity to Earth, why do so in a way that raised more questions about how it occurred than it answered?
• Was there anyone like Kara Thrace in previous iterations of the Cycle?
• How will Lee explain Kara's sudden disappearance to those at his settlement?
  • People will probably just assume she was killed in the battle or that she went into isolation like Adama and Tyrol.
• Can Kara Thrace ever return again?

Hera

• Will analysis of Hera's remains reveal that she was not a normal human? (See Notes)
  • What we deem a modern human is in fact a mixture of Colonial human and humanoid Cylon. However, modern humanity should have more human than Cylon ancestors.
• Who did Hera eventually have children with? A human or a Cylon? (See Analysis)
• Has any of modern Humanity inherited Hera's ability to project?
• If Hera was found to be "Mitochondrial Eve", wouldn't that mean that the 8's/Sharon were as well, seeing as that is where Hera got her Mitochondrial DNA?
  • As framed in the show, no, because archeologists discovered Hera's remains, not Athena's. The more interesting question might be, "where did Saul, Ellen, etc. get the mDNA to create the Sharon line in the first place? Was that mDNA human, or Cylon?"

Other Questions

• Will humanity repeat the Cycle?
  • The last scene indicates that things could go either way.
• What becomes of the Centurions?
  • Do they go after the remnants of Cavil's forces, or go their separate ways?
  • Will the freed Centurions eventually develop their own humanoid forms, or develop in a completely other direction?
  • If there are descendants of the Centurions 150,000 years later, do they remember their history?
• The Final Five were able to download some of the Resurrection technology data to the Cavil Faction Cylons before Galen Tyrol in his rage over discovering Cally's murder by Tory Foster broke the connection. Would the surviving Cavils, Dorals, and Simons be able to rebuild Resurrection technology from extrapolating from the data they did receive?
  • Unlikely, as the only copies of this data would've been on board the Colony and in the minds of the final five. As Tory died and the Colony was destroyed, none of the remaining Cylons would have access to this information.
• What becomes of the baseships seen orbiting the Colony?
  • Since the Fleet's baseship with its liberated Centurion crew is seen departing for parts unknown, perhaps they united.
• Are any other human-Cylon hybrids born on Earth, or do the Leobens, Sixes, and Sharons remain childless?
  • Since the key to Cylon-Cylon or Cylon-human copulation seems to depend upon a profoundly genuine sense of love, it would likely be entirely dependent on any humans choosing to mate with the Twos, Sixes and Eights to fully love them. The same would likely be true for mating pairs of Twos and Sixes or Twos and Eights.
• What became of the remaining prisoners aboard the Astral Queen? Were they sent out amongst the rest of the human/Cylon population, or were all of them deposited in some geographical area completely isolated from the other humans and Cylons?
• Were any of the groups provided with medicine, or medical training or at least someone with someone with a strong background in medicine before spreading out among the world?
• Since the notes of All Along the Watchtower lead to Earth, do they still serve a purpose on Earth?
• Is the evolution of humans on two planets due to the same divine hand that's been guiding other events?
• Given the strong emphasis on some kind of divine hand at work over the course of the series (specifically Kara's role as a guardian/guiding angel), is it safe to interpret the message that this Earth is a "gift from God" and that part of the discussion between Angels Six and Baltar in the closing frames is meant as an environmental message?
• Does human life evolve on planets other than Kobol and the new Earth?
• Was it coincidence or divine intervention that an asteroid caused Racetrack's hand to hit the launch button for the nuclear weapons at the exact right moment?
• Why was Galactica able to jump without retracting its flight pods when escaping from the Colony? Did this cause Galactica to break its backbone?
• Will modern humanity venture out into space and discover places such as Kobol, the original Earth, the Twelve Colonies, and New Caprica?
• How close are the two Earths? The Tomb of Athena star map showed constellations known on the second Earth, but was supposed to have been the sky as seen from the first. Does this mean they are very close indeed?
  • New Earth is apparently 1 million light years from Kobol, and old Earth had to be within 2000 light years of Kobol and the 12 Colonies, based on the Final Five not having jump drives and having to travel at sub-light relativistic speeds. That means old Earth has to be nearly 1 million light years from new Earth. If this is the case, how do the constellations line up?
    • Possibly gross exaggeration (similar to "a million miles from home") of the distances involved in their travels, when considering the lengths of time it took for the fleet to initially reach Kobol, even with the hundreds of jumps that occurred during 33; and then the further time to reach the first Earth 2000 light years away. The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is 100.000 light years and the fleet never leaves this galaxy.
      • Earth could not possibly be one million light years from the Caprica system. The next nearest metal-rich galaxy to Earth is roughly three million light years away; and the Milky Way is between 75,000 and 100,000 light years across. Further, the closing of Crossroads II clearly show our Earth, and the Ionian nebula was shown in the zoom-out/zoom-in shot to be located in the Orion arm. Or RDM frakked that detail up writing the script. . . . I doubt that, though and it's likely the line is simple hyperbole.
• How did the proto-Greek polytheistic religion of the Colonies survive nearly 150,000 years before being revived in garbled form with the rise of Greek civilization? Did it die out in practice but return through the universal subconscious?
• In what way, if any, did the Cylons' monotheistic religion and the Colonies' polytheistic religion intertwine? Did they coexist peacefully, or were there conflicts? Do modern monotheistic religions trace their traditions ultimately to those of the Cylons and the Cult of Baltar?
• During the lie detector test in the flashback scene of William Adama's attempt to secure a civilian job, why did the interrogator ask him if he was a Cylon? At that point in history, it was unknown that the Cylons had humanoid appearance.
  • The question was likely a control question to establish how a truthful response to an absurd question would register.
• Even after committing the fleet to destruction, there are still serviceable Raptors on the surface of Earth, which are jump-capable. Would any of the surviving humans or Cylons come to regret having settled on a primitive world without technology and decide to return to the stars in search of resources or other habitable planets? Is there any tylium available on Earth?
• Will modern humans discover remains of Colonial technology such as Raptors?
  • Adama and the others may have eventually destroyed the Raptors, or perhaps programed them to leave Earth's orbit towards the Sun on autopilot to prevent any chance of Colonial Technology being discovered by their descendants.
• Would discoveries of several genetically identical humanoid Cylon remains spark scientific interest?
• Did the old-style Centurions on the Colony fight for Cavil because they had telencephalic inhibitors, or of their own free will? If the latter, why?
  • If the old-style Cylons are still the Cylons that participated in the first Cylon war, they likely still do hold a grudge against humanity for enslaving them. Consider that Cavil has claimed in the past to want "justice" for what was done to his Centurion ancestors(No Exit), and that the rebel Cylons are responsible for what could be taken as a genocide against the Cylons (The Hub), it's entirely possible that these old-style Centurions would hold a grudge against humanity and as such fight against them in an invasion of their home.
  • Considering these old Centurions were sentient before Cavil was created it's highly unlikely Cavil was able to equip them with telecephalic inhibitors. These Centurions were probably treated as equals by the humanoid Cylons and were allowed to live with them on the Colony until they broke down.
    • That may not be so, as the humanoid Cylons supposedly scrapped most of the old Centurions. The ones at the Colony may have been reprogrammed or been created after the First Cylon War with no free will.
    • It is also conceivable-- given that the First War Centurions were researching organic bodies when the Final Five contacted them-- that the creation of the Significant Seven (Eight including Daniel) involved some sort of transfer of programming from the Model 0005s to serve as the basic 'operating system' or consciousness for the newly developed organic bodies, upon which distinct personalities may have later been imprinted. This would place Cavil's longing for a more mechanical nature in the context of a form of nostalgia, and would explain the decommissioning of millions of 0005s. It would also clarify the facility with which humanoid Cylons communicate with computers, and the sleeper agents' ability to compartmentalize, if their consciousness originated as literal programming. This would also have been more efficient than having to 'code' the organic Cylons' mentalities from scratch.
• Why so many zeros in the Model 0005?
• Is the Adama family the origin of the name Adam for the mythical first man?
  • Glen Larson, the creator of the original 1978 cult classic of campy space operaness (not to mention Knight Rider) named Adama after the Adam of Biblical myth. Canon implications of this, of course, are far more interesting.
• Does the cult continue under Paulla's leadership?
• Spreading humanity across all continents 150,000 years ago seemingly violates the Out of Africa theory of migration. What implications does this have for the Recent African origin hypothesis? Further, what of the Toba eruption theory bottlenecking the species roughly 70,000 years ago?
• If Hera is Mitochondrial Eve, was Mitochondrial Adam for each Haplogroup also part Cylon, or were some of them fully human?

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:

Virtual Baltar: "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.

• The Final Five are discussing things among themselves about to download the specifications of Resurrection technology. Cavil is impatient shouting from below up to the Five:

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

• 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.

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 heard of grezlles 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. She raises her weapon. Boomer makes no move to escape, but stands strait head up, 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)