- This article concerns a copy of Cylon Model Number Eight first seen on Caprica, who marries Helo and becomes a Colonial Officer.
- For information on Sharon "Boomer" Valerii first seen on Galactica, the lover of Galen Tyrol, see Sharon Valerii. For general information about these Cylon copies, see Number Eight. For information on an Original Series character with a similar name, see Athena (TOS).
| Sharon Agathon | ||
|---|---|---|
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Human Name |
Sharon Agathon | |
| Age | ||
| Colony | ||
| Birth place | {{{birthplace}}} | |
| Birth Name | ||
| Birth Date | {{{birthdate}}} | |
| Callsign | Athena | |
| Nickname | {{{nickname}}} | |
| Introduced | 33 | |
| Death | ||
| Parents | ||
| Siblings | ||
| Children | Hera (Human-Cylon hybrid) | |
| Marital Status | Married to Karl Agathon | |
| Family Tree | View | |
| Role | Colonial Officer on battlestar Galactica | |
| Rank | Lieutenant (Junior Grade) | |
| Serial Number | {{{serial}}} | |
| Portrayed by | Grace Park | |
| Sharon Agathon is a Cylon | ||
| Sharon Agathon is a Final Five Cylon | ||
| Sharon Agathon is a Human/Cylon Hybrid | ||
| Sharon Agathon is an Original Series Cylon | ||
| Related Media | ||
| @ BW Media | ||
| Additional Information | ||
| [[Image:|200px|Sharon Agathon]] | ||
Sharon "Athena" Agathon is a copy of the Cylon human model Number Eight who is first encountered by Karl "Helo" Agathon, when he is stranded on Caprica. She is initially assigned to seduce him by impersonating Lt. Sharon Valerii, as part of a Cylon cross-breeding experiment, but later turns against her people and helps him escape the planet; pregnant with his child during that time. Helo, first shocked by her true nature, ultimately accepts her as the mother of his child and declares his love for her.
Once on Galactica, she is imprisoned and long seen as a mere object. She frequently provides intelligence, but is severely mistreated by an interrogator from Pegasus who beats and sexually assaults her. Over time, she earns Admiral Adama's trust by helping the Colonial Fleet escape peril several times and she is eventually appointed as an officer of the Colonial Fleet. Agathon gives birth on Galactica, but her child Hera is subsequently hidden from her and she believes Hera to be dead. She is married to Karl Agathon.
Biography[edit]
Cylon cross-breeding experiment[edit]
This Number Eight is first seen on Caprica, as the Cylons decide to use her in an elaborate experiment focused around Karl "Helo" Agathon who is stranded on the planet after he gave up his seat on his and Boomer's Raptor on the day of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. The Cylons intend to use this Eight who is an identical copy of Helo's friend and colleague Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, to explore the possibilities of Cylon-human procreation by getting Helo to fall in love with her (The Farm). This second Valerii appears to Helo to rescues him after he is captured by a Six and Cylon Centurions. Unaware that Cylons have developed human models or that there many copies, Helo believes her to be the "Boomer" he knows from Galactica, returning to rescue him. Following this rescue, Valerii leads Helo to "her" Raptor, now surrounded by several Cylon Centurions, convincing him that they have no direct way off of the planet. Copies of Aaron Doral and Number Six oversee the experiment (Water). The Sharon with Helo has accessed Boomer's memories, at least up to the point when she left Helo behind on Caprica (Flesh and Bone).
After receiving a "Colonial signal" on a radio receiver they carry, Valerii leads Helo to a city where they find a fully-equipped "fallout shelter" in which two people can live in reasonable security, hidden from above-ground Cylon operations, and with sufficient supplies to last a considerable period of time (Act of Contrition). The purpose in establishing this "nest" is to elicit an emotional response in Helo towards Valerii. When this fails, as Helo continues to seek a way off Caprica, the Cylons arrange for Valerii to be "captured", concluding that if Helo does not seek to rescue her, the experiment has failed, and he must be killed (You Can't Go Home Again).
Helo does indeed "rescue" Valerii. Helo has always been fond of Valerii; his long-time affection for her (stilled by "her" relationship with Galen Tyrol) arises within him from the dramatic rescue, which leads to Helo and Valerii having sex (Six Degrees of Separation). Valerii later reports this achievement to Doral and Six. A new hideout, a cabin in the woods, is being constructed for Helo and Valerii. She is instructed to lead him there and have him stay with her - or kill him if he attempts to leave (Flesh and Bone). But Valerii's human emotions begin to question the Cylon's overall goal. Realizing that she has herself fallen in love with Helo, Valerii disobeys her instructions and attempts to lead Helo to Delphi, where they hope to steal a vehicle and get off the planet (Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down). On the way to the spaceport, Valerii shows signs of being pregnant: she succumbs to a bout of morning sickness (The Hand of God) and develops a ravenous appetite (Colonial Day).
Helo's discovery[edit]
On reaching Delphi, Valerii and Helo break into the Cylon facilities to reach the spaceport. When Helo encounters yet another copy of Valerii, he draws the initial conclusion that she is a human clone created by the Cylons, and goes on the run alone (Colonial Day). When Valerii catches up with him, her emotional condition is so confused that she challenges him to shoot her (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I). Helo can only bring himself to wound her, and takes her with him to use her to somehow get off Caprica. While Helo keeps her at gunpoint, Valerii leads him to the Delphi Museum. Waiting out a storm in a nearby ruined building, Valerii tells Helo that her love for him is real and that she is pregnant with his child.
When she and Helo come across Starbuck, who lands near the museum to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo, Thrace realizes on-sight that this Valerii is a Cylon (having left "Boomer" Valerii behind with the Fleet) and attempts to shoot her. Helo stops Thrace and reveals to her that Valerii is pregnant (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II). Starbuck, like Helo, also wrongly concludes that Caprica-Valerii must be a Cylon copy of the "real" Sharon Valerii on Galactica. Valerii tries to convince her that she is just as much the "real Sharon" as the other is. Valerii attempts to prove this by recollecting the first time she and Starbuck met, to no avail.
Resistance movement and arrival at the Fleet[edit]
While Thrace and Helo argue over Valerii, the confused and frightened Cylon escapes in Thrace's Cylon Raider to save herself and the life of her unborn child (Scattered). After tracking them for several days, Valerii returns to Helo and a human resistance movement that had formed on Caprica. She offers her aid in finding the missing Thrace (The Farm). After Thrace escapes to the outside of the hospital where she was imprisoned, Valerii arrives at the rescue scene in a stolen Heavy Raider and destroys several Centurions that attack the Resistance rescue party. Convinced that Helo's Valerii copy can be sufficiently trusted, or at least give useful information on Cylon activity, the humans allow Valerii to accompany them as they fly the Heavy Raider back to the Fleet.
When Valerii walks aboard the Astral Queen, Lee Adama reacts violently. The son of Commander Adama (shot by the sleeper Cylon agent "Boomer" Valerii) grabs this second Valerii and places his gun to her head. Helo draws his sidearm against Adama, forcing a standoff, but President Roslin urges both men enough to withdraw their weapons, and orders Valerii to be ejected out the airlock. Valerii pleads for her life, telling Roslin she knows the precise location of the faction's objective: The Tomb of Athena. Roslin reconsiders and places Valerii in the brig. Roslin later confirms that the Cylon is actually cooperating out of a maternal instinct to protect her lover and child.
Guide on Kobol[edit]
Valerii accompanies Roslin's party to Kobol. Valerii recites the specific passages of the Tomb in the scriptures of the Sacred Scrolls and plots the group's path along a ridge nearby. As priestess Elosha examines a gravestone marker along the ancient trail, the handcuffed Valerii senses danger but is too late to warn anyone; two "Bouncing Betty"-style antipersonnel mines detonate, killing Elosha. At the same instant, a group of Centurions open fire. As others hide or return fire, Valerii vaults away, with Lee Adama in pursuit, believing she is trying to escape. Valerii scoops up a grenade launcher lying ahead, and just as Lee Adama thinks she is about to shoot him, she aims for the last Centurion and destroys it (Home, Part I). At camp, Adama and Thrace are perplexed that Helo still loves Valerii, despite his awareness of her true nature as a Cylon.
During the trek, Valerii casually tells Helo that their child is a girl. Not long after, Commander Adama's search party arrives at Roslin's camp. The warm reunion of the two leaders and family is interrupted when Adama sees this second copy of Sharon Valerii. Reacting as his son did, Commander Adama immediately tries to choke her to death. He releases her after experiencing terrible chest pains (probably the result of his recent surgery, or from anxiety), as she says "And you asked 'why'?" (mysteriously referencing what Commander Adama said over the dead body of "Boomer" Valerii).
Tom Zarek's follower, Meier, tries to convince Valerii to help him kill both Adamas as part of a power play by Zarek. Valerii believed her Galactica counterpart was being held in the brig, but Meier informs her that she was killed. She expresses her outrage to Helo that Cally killed Boomer, receiving only a minor punishment. Valerii deduces that the Colonials don't see humanoid Cylons are people; she is a thing they may destroy once they no longer need her. Valerii appears to take up Meier's proposal to kill Commander Adama and Lee Adama, but after they all draw their weapons, she shoots Meier instead, saving the lives of both Adamas. She announces to Commander Adama that she is not the same Sharon Valerii that shot him, and that she is not a sleeper agent with hidden protocols waiting to activate; she makes her own choices. She surrenders the weapon to Commander Adama, to everyone's surprise.
Cooperation with the human fleet[edit]
Subsequently, Valerii is brought aboard battlestar Galactica and imprisoned in a new reinforced cell designed to incarcerate "Boomer." The virtual Number Six tells Dr. Baltar that Valerii's baby will be born in that cell. Number Six considers Valerii's and Helo's biological child to be hers; she says that she will be its "mother" and Baltar will be its "father" (Home, Part II).
While in her cell, Valerii nearly has a miscarriage, and is rushed to Sickbay where Dr. Cottle succeeds in saving the fetus. D'anna Biers, a reporter for the Fleet News Service, stumbles upon Valerii while filming her documentary in Sickbay. Biers threatens to expose that Commander Adama is harboring a Cylon aboard Galactica, but he confiscates what he believed was Biers' tape of Valerii. In reality, Biers secretly switches tapes and keeps the real one. This critical information was not broadcast in the final cut of her documentary distributed to the Fleet, but it was broadcast back to other Cylons on Caprica (by way of two Raiders that attack Galactica in order to get within transmission range). The Cylons on Caprica (including another copy of Biers and yet another Valerii copy) are surprised yet overjoyed that Helo's Valerii is still alive (they are apparently unaware that she had survived). They are incredibly concerned that her hybrid child survives, saying that it must be protected at all costs (Final Cut).
When Galactica experiences mysterious computer failures and system malfunctions from a mutated version of a Cylon virus thought eradicated, Commander Adama orders Helo to show the incarcerated Valerii the strange Cylon code. Valerii identifies it as a very virulent Logic bomb that will take control of the ship and kill off the crew without her help. Reluctantly, on advice from President Roslin, Commander Adama brings Valerii to CIC, where Valerii cuts her arm open and connects her body to a fiber optic line to communicate with Galactica's mainframe computer and communication channels. With Valerii now with access, she takes into her a portion of the logic bomb code, then instructs Lieutenant Gaeta to wipe the hard drives of the system computers to erase all Cylon virus traces for good. Galactica is a sitting duck to a massive Cylon fighter force on the outskirts of DRADIS range while Valerii makes adjustments to the code. She resends the code out on the communication channels to the Cylons, disabling the entire fleet of Cylon fighters. (Flight of the Phoenix).
Interrogation and abuse[edit]
After Galactica reunites with battlestar Pegasus, Admiral Helena Cain sends Lieutenant Alistair Thorne to inspect the incarcerated Valerii. He beats and sexually assaults her while his guards watch and hold her. Fortunately for Valerii, both Helo and Tyrol find out about Thorne and what was done to his previous prisoner and arrive in time to stop him. Tyrol accidentally kills Thorne in the process. Both he and Helo are arrested by the Pegasus guards and taken to Cain's battlestar, where Cain hastily convenes courts-martial for the men (without Adama's knowledge) and sentences Agathon and Tyrol to death.
Commander Adama sends a Marine force and his Viper squadrons out to retrieve his men. Valerii and all of the fleet await news on the survival of her "past" and current love as a military standoff between the battlestars begins (Pegasus). Valerii's attempted rape by Thorne results in a hairline fracture in one of her ribs and minor bruising. Still in shock for the incident, Commander Adama (who has reached a détenté with Admiral Cain over Helo's execution) personally appologizes to Valerii over the incident (Resurrection Ship, Part I). This is also the first time that Adama refers to Valerii as a "her", as opposed to as an "it". Valerii is happily reunited with Helo and Tyrol when the two are released after Adama resumes full command of the Fleet, though she is more enthusiastic to see Helo than Tyrol. (Resurrection Ship, Part II).
Weeks later, President Roslin, on her deathbed, recommends that Valerii's fetus be aborted, fearing dire consequences for the Fleet. On hearing this news, Helo is terrified, but Valerii, having cooperated fully to aid the Fleet to save herself and her child and to show that not all Cylons are dangerous, is enraged. Marines sent to inspect her and later to take her to sickbay for the procedure are forced to restrain the angry Cylon.
At the last minute (spurred by threats from his virtual Number Six), Gaius Baltar learns of an astonishing ability of the fetal blood of Valerii's baby: it destroys cancer cells. Taking a small blood sample, he injects it into the dying Laura Roslin. Moments later, her cancer is "gone," according to Dr. Cottle. The abortion procedure is cancelled. The recovering Roslin visits Valerii in her cell and smiles at the sight of Valerii stroking her belly, just as a human female would (Epiphanies).
Birth of her daughter[edit]
Valerii begins to bleed; her placenta is detaching. An emergency birth procedure must to be performed by Dr. Cottle to save both the baby's and Caprica-Valerii's life. Helo and Valerii name the baby girl Hera and marvel at her as she lay in an incubator. Some time later, believing their baby is out of danger, the baby apparently dies due to her underdeveloped lungs and Dr. Cottle's failure to intubate her in time. In a state of shock, Valerii nearly strangles Cottle in grief before being subdued, and subsequently falls into a deep depression.
However, unbeknownst to Caprica-Valerii, Hera is still alive. In a move to not have to kill the baby but at the same time not have it raised by Valerii or risk having it captured by unseen Cylon agents, Valerii's baby was switched with another dead child. President Roslin, Dr. Cottle and Presidental aide Tory Foster place Valerii's baby in the care of Maya, a foster mother. Maya is told a cover story that disguises Hera's true identity (Downloaded).
Valerii's depression over losing her child only worsens. Helo convinces her to aid in the rescue of Anders and the other survivors on Caprica, in part to try and draw her out of her depression. Valerii's knowledge of Cylon FTL technology makes the rescue possible by acting as a conduit between the Colonial Raptors and the far more advanced FTL computer salvaged from a Heavy Raider (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I).
On Caprica, Thrace demonstrates a new level of trust for Valerii by throwing her a gun during a firefight with ambushing Centurions. Later, Valerii is as perplexed as everyone else when the Cylons disengage and apparently leave the planet for good. She is aware, however, that Brother Cavil, a man who approaches the group and loudly proclaims the end of the occupation to be a miracle, is a Cylon agent. She witholds this information from the others. On Galactica, Cavil is exposed by Chief Tyrol (who realizes that a copy of Cavil was already present in the Fleet). Angered by Valerii's obvious withholding of Cavil's nature, Admiral Adama sends Valerii back to the brig along with Cavil. When asked by a distraught Helo why she didn't report this crucial fact, she replies "They killed my baby. Do you think I care about you, or us, or whether or not Adama trusts me anymore?" Valerii withdraws further, shutting Helo out completely. (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
Officer of the Colonial Fleet[edit]
More than a year later, and four months after Galactica's and Pegasus's retreat from New Caprica, Sharon Agathon, now married to Karl "Helo" Agathon, is still in her special brig, but Admiral Adama has taken to sitting down to tea and talking in confidence with her. Her cell now has a couch, table, and other amenities (Occupation). Admiral Adama commissions Agathon into the Colonial Fleet as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade). This could be because he trusts her, because the upcoming rescue mission is much easier with her help, or some combination of both.
Her first mission as an officer has two objectives: to lead an insertion force that will serve as a liaison between the resistance and Galactica during the extraction of the New Caprica population, and to, herself, infiltrate the Cylon defenses and secure the launch keys to the grounded Colonial Ships. She leads two Raptors in an intra-atmosphere Jump and links up with Samuel Anders and his squad at the Breeders Canyon. Their planning is interrupted when an unknown number of Cylon Centurions ambush their position (Precipice). Agathon and her assigned Marines had anticipated enemy contact, so the Marines, from a supporting position, easily neutralize the Cylon attackers.
That night, the combined force of Agathon, her Marines, and Anders' squad return to New Caprica City. On the day following, Agathon enters the detention center to recover the launch keys. Two human New Caprica Police guards, not being able to distinguish Sharon from any other Eight unit, let her enter and she interfaces with a data terminal to determine the location of the keys. As she is taking them, a Number Three enters the room and recognizes her as a defector. The Three tells her that Hera is still alive, and Agathon responds that Adama would not lie to her, shooting the Three in each leg, and departs. When she hands over the keys to Galen Tyrol, she asks if Hera had truly died and, and he affirms (Exodus, Part I).
Following the Battle of New Caprica, Sharon is eating in the mess hall with Helo, insisting that they not use the callsign Boomer, as it belonged to another Sharon. Helo asks the crew for suggestions for a callsign, finally opting for Hot Dog's suggestion: Athena, after a number of robotic callsigns are proposed. The gathered personnel's treatment of Sharon during the exchange is good-natured ribbing, implying that she has finally managed to achieve a degree of acceptance (Torn).
Notes[edit]
- Until season 3, "Caprica-Sharon" or "Caprica-Valerii" was the nickname used to differentiate this character from "Boomer" Valerii, the original Cylon "sleeper" agent.
- During Season 1, Caprica-Valerii parts her hair on the left side of her head, while "Boomer" Valerii parted her hair to the right.
- Sharon Agathon's callsign, "Athena", may be a reference to her nature as a Cylon, if the Colonists share the Greek myth that Pallas Athene sprung from the head of Zeus fully grown without ever having a childhood – much as a Cylon does.
- Her callsign also creates a parallelism with the Original Series character of Athena. In the Original Series, Athena was the daughter of Adama. William Adama, in the Re-imagined Series, felt a close fatherly bond to "Boomer" Valerii. Agathon's relationship with Adama is very similar and reinforces the similarity with the Original Series character.
