Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques

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Members of Battlestar Wiki: This page is to coordinate all questions to any official members of the cast or crew of "Battlestar Galactica." Please sign your question after you are done. the "summary" of the question should be be first, if any, and then the questions, in short form, should be placed at the bottom. This is to not confuse people and to keep the quetions distictive.

Cast/Crew: These are questions we are seeking from you. If you have the time, please answer them as best you can. We will move these questions/answers to the correct page once they have been done. You can also check out Category:Seeking Official Information for larger items - particularly pictures.

All questions which have been previouslly answered can be found on the archive pages. Questions get moved here once items and questions seeming from the issue have stopped.

Archive 1:

Other concerns about interview text in "Final Cut", 3 Raptor pilot names, Tie-in Material, Helo Rank, Colonial One and One, Hadrian in "Valley of Darkness", Scar, Rebirth Room, Restraints on Galactica-Sharon in "Downloaded", "Radar" gaffe in "The Hand of God"?, Resurrection Ship, "Skin Jobs"

Archive 2:

Resources, Red Line, Human sacrifice, Centurion armor, Tom Zarek / Ellen Tigh involvement, "Caprica-Six", Cylon Homeworld

Ask a new question by clicking here.

Squadron numbers[edit]

How many Vipers are in a "squadron" in the terminology used by the Colonial Fleet? I ask because in "Scar" Roslin said they were getting enough metal ore to build "two squadrons" of Vipers. Is a squadron 10? 12? 20? If a squadron is 20, this would be a dramatic increase.

While I'm on the subject, we've speculated that based on this dialogue, Mercury class battlestars have some sort of limited Viper production facilities but the exact nature of such facilities eludes us.--->Another problem has come up regarding information from Battlestar Galactica Magazine: it's information isn't always quite accurate and when I asked Ron (via Mrs.Ron) on the messageboards, he said they aren't directly affiliated with the magazine in any way, so I don't know how this fits--> in issue #3, they say:

"A Battlestar's air wing generally consists of six to eight squadrons (20 ships each)...20 Vipers also form a reserve unit to replace lost or damaged ships on an ad hoc basis. Each squadron is also supported by a single Raptor" (P.59)

Is this magazine information accurate? Are there 20 Vipers to a squadron? How many Vipers is Galactica capable of carrying (that is, during its prime when it was a new ship in the Cylon War, how many Vipers is it meant to support?): How many can a Mercury-class Battlestar like Pegasus hold? --->Based on these magazine numbers, there should only have been 6-8 at most Raptors on Galactica (during it's prime, so by the time of the Cylon attack probably less): In "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I" we see 20 Raptors jump to Caprica; Pegasus probably had an equal number of Raptors on board, but where did so many Raptors come from? Can Pegasus construct Raptors just like Vipers? Or (my explanation), are there just many refugee Raptors which escaped to Ragnar, because they've got their own FTL drives? I mean Boomer escaped all the way from Caprica to Ragnar, and Crashdown was stated as being a refugee from another ship, so presumably a few other Raptors made it out (well, that's our assumption. I still think its entirely plausible and not a stretch that there were 20 though). --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:53, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

In the Miniseries, a total of ninteen Vipers are shown on screen (at approx. 47 minutes, 25 seconds in), supported by a single Raptor (Boomer and Helo). It's safe to assume that the 20th ship was merely off-screen. --Madbrood 15:20, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

You don't understand, the number on parade for the Miniseries decomissioning isn't clearly reflecting "a squadron", more specifically referring to just how many were built in "Scar" if "two squadrons" were built. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:46, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

True, but Adama does refer to them as "our squadron", that's the basis I was going on. --Madbrood 10:49, 16 July 2006 (CDT)

Galactica Chain of Command[edit]

in "Scattered", Commander Adama is shot so his XO Colonel Tigh takes command, while Captain Aaron Kelly then becomes his acting XO. Is Captain Kelly normally third-in-command of Galactica (well, before the many promotions and shifting assignments in Season 2.5 post-"Pegasus")? Or is Apollo normally third in command, but because he was arrested for mutiny, he was removed from the normal succession?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:11, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Captain Kelly would undoubtadely be the "third in command", or more correctly, the "Second Officer". Captain Adama is the Commander of the Air Group- if, as much of the rest of the show suggests, the Colonial Fleet closely follws the US military's organization, then Apollo would not be directly involved in the day-to-day running of Galactica herself, merely the air group stationed aboard her. Thoughts? --Madbrood 14:48, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

Timeline[edit]

The season two timeline discontinuity left us all a bit baffled. Can you help clarify matters? --Peter Farago 00:40, 18 June 2006 (CDT)

This one gives me a headache. We were advised by post-production that we may have goofed in the timeline. There were large pow-wows between writers and post trying to sort this out. If memory serves (and it is highly suspect), the issue was a chyron that was subsequently changed -- or not changed -- for the DVD release of Season 2.5. But don't hold me to that. These discussions went on for days and I'm not anxious to revisit them. I do know that what we came up with made sense at the time. Ngarenn 20:05, 19 June 2006 (CDT)

Those are actually two separate things: yes, there was a mistake in post for "Downloaded": the card at the beginning says "10 weeks ago", which would have been impossible. The messageboards were in an uproar, and apparently, Joe (owner of BattlestarWiki) e-mailed the post production office and showed them our Timeline article, showing how it was a clear mix up in post: They sent us an e-mail back saying that it would be fixed in the Season 2.5 DVD and all subsequent international airings: Fans in the UK have confirmed to us that when "Downloaded" premiered in the UK, the sign was changed to "10 weeks later".----->However, what we've dubbed the "season 2.5 timeline discontinuity" is different from that, but I think it's more something we're waiting for Ron to explain in his Scifi.com blog. --->Basically, there was a jump in time of about 2-3 months between "Pegasus" and "Res Ship I", which we've been trying to explain but can't: All dates within season 2.5 are consistent with each other, but not with the earlier half of season 2. That is, we worked out that "Pegasus" must take place around three months post-attack, but then in "Res Ship I" Admiral Cain said "Six month" had passed since the attack: at first we thought it was a random dialogue error, at first, but then the rest of Season 2.5 consistently used this, i.e. in "Downloaded" Hera is born 9 months after the Cylon attack (one month premature, as she was conceived on Day 24). The reason we encountered the "season 2 timeline discontinuity" is that there are a few things that are not really reconcilable, which are:

A) Caprica-Sharon is not visibly pregnant in "Pegasus" while wearing a tight tank top, but by "Epiphanies" (at most, two weeks later) she is visibly into her second trimester. Her "Pegasus" appearance fits our initial "three months" dating, while her "Epiphanies" appearance appears to have fast fowarded three months.

B) The Presidential elections are stated to take place Nine months after the Cylon attack, however in "Bastille Day" Apollo said they'd take place in Seven months, and one month later in "Colonial Day" they said they would take place in Six month (so season 1 consistently says they're 7 months post-attack). ***Ron himself actually says in the LDYB I podcast, "we said in "Bastille Day" that elections were due in Nine months", so we think not even Ron noticed this.

C) The last point is a bit complicated, but follows our detailed Timeline: the last firm date we got from the Helo-on-Caprica ticker was that season 2 begins Two months after the attack. Scattered through Fragged span a day or two, then Resistance (ground team wasn't on Kobol very long). In "Resistance", Cally killed Galactica-Sharon and was sent to the brig for 30 days as a result. Cally gets out in "Flight of the Phoenix". --->Colonel Tigh was in command of Galatica for less than two weeks, more probably one, a command which ended in "Resistance" when Adama returned. Anyway, in FotP Roslin is told she has one month at the most to live. That means at most one month passes between this scene and "Epiphanies", when she's dying. --->It is stated that "weeks" pass during FotP while Tyrol builds the Blackbird, and this is actually the episode which includes the longest amount of time from beginning to end; we assumed it took maybe 2, but it could have taken many weeks. In any event, we figured out that Flight of the Phoenix starts about two and a half months after the attack, a lot of time passes during the episode, and by the end, Roslin has one month to live. "Epiphanies" states it took place Six months post-attack, subtracting one month for Roslin life expectancy, the end of Flight of the Phoenix would have to be at Five months poast attack....which would mean that during the episode, 2 months pass while Tyrol builds the Blackbird (which would be a lot given that all of season 1 lasted just two months).

Actually, Tyrol could conceivably have spent that long building the Blackbird, Caprica-Sharon's gestation could have just been really fast because she's a Cylon, and some Canadian viewers have pointed out to us that when an election "is called" in a Parliamentary system isn't the same as when the actual voting is held, and that in like Canada and the UK 2 months can pass after an eleciton "starts" and the voting, which could explain all of this (although Ron states in the podcast that as he remembers it, Bastille Day actually just said "Nine").------->We actually don't want to split hairs and be the Comic Book Guy pointing out how in a Xena episode, in one frame she's riding a winged Andalusian horse, while in the next shot she's riding a winged Arabian, and surely we must demand explanation: (this is from a Simpsons episode guest starring Lucy Lawless in which she appears as herself at a convention, and her answer is: "Every time something like that happens, a wizard did it. Wizard!" We've had a hard time keeping track of things ourselves and we appreciate everything the production team is doing on BSG....we take hours upon hours away from friends and family to update this dang encyclopedia (nay, we are compelled)! --->We just want to know what to do in our Timeline. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:17, 19 June 2006 (CDT)

Unfortunately, you're going to be forced to the conclusion that wizards did it. At least for now. - Ngarenn 21:05, 20 June 2006 (CDT)

Guns nomenclature[edit]

(BTW, thank you for taking the time to read all of these.): A matter which has come up is what to refer to the guns in BSG as. That is, on Star Trek we'd have an article title "Phasers", and have subsectios talking about ship-mounted phasers and various models of hand phasers. On BSG, are the ship-mounted guns railguns, officially? Do Cylon Basestars have gun batteries like Battlestars? In our own analysis, we thought they didn't (except for missiles) and that while both Battlestars and Basestars are Carrier/Battleship hybrids, a Battlestar is more battleship than a basestar and a basestar leans more towards carrier: that they rely on sheer weight of numbers and hundreds upon hundreds of Raiders, at the expense of having no room left over for railgun batteries (so if you lure the hundreds of Raiders away, they're at a disadvantage to Battlestars, as in the Battle of the Resurrection Ship). ---->Meanwhile, like I said in Trek we'd have an article for "hand phasers", but on BSG we've just got "guns". And for Vipers, what do Vipers have? ---->My point is, we've been using the term "Kinetic Energy Weapons" for the name of an article on all of this, but we're not sure if this is in anyway what the show itself uses. This many seem like a minor point, I know, but after we started using "KEW", simply as a term of convenience on the Viper articles and such...other fansites and messageboards I've seen read BattlestarWiki and I think they assume it's an official term. So if this is not what people in the BSGverse refer to their guns as, I think I should add a disclaimer or something (just like "Note: KEW is not an official term"). --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:35, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

In short, is "KEW" a correct termology of the "guns" of Battlestar(s)? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 21:39, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

[Spock]I believe that is what I said, Mr. Shane [/Spock]--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:52, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

Just a simple explain. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 22:17, 21 June 2006 (CDT)

During rewrites of Epiphanes, we ran into this same question, at least in terms of Viper ordnance. The writing staff originally proposed chemically propelled projectiles (easier to sabotage) but Gary Hutzel protested. He preferred rail guns, and that's what we adopted, but nobody's said it on screen. Which means there is no canon on our cannons yet ;) Ngarenn 18:23, 22 June 2006 (CDT)

The plot thinkens. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 18:25, 22 June 2006 (CDT)

The visual evidence on Epiphanies seems to suggest chemically propelled projectiles. However, since railguns are still a form of KEW, do the production staff ever refer to them as KEW? We are trying to verify if the term Kinetic Energy Weapon is an "official" term. --FrankieG 18:50, 22 June 2006 (CDT)

I'm pretty sure it's just something one of us came up with. It's been proposed that we go to a more generic "Weapons" over on the talk page of that article. It's not like we have an article for each different "kind" of weapon at this point.--Steelviper 07:46, 23 June 2006 (CDT)

The broken cartridge (with what appeared to be gunpowder spilling out) did seem to point to chemical propulsion. And not even caseless (as had been proposed during the miniseries). Oh well. As long as something comes out whenever they pull the trigger, I suppose. The (rail gun/Gary Hutzel discussion) is an awesome piece of trivia! --Steelviper 07:50, 23 June 2006 (CDT)

"Kinetic Energy Weapon" and "KEW" are terms I first saw used by the US Air Force in a book called MILITARY SPACE FORCES commissioned by the US Congress and published in 1989. As to its "official" nature on Galactica, I'm sure they'd use the term where appropriate, just as they use the terms "nuclear weapon" or "noodle." The Rail guns aboard the Vipers fire a mix of tracer/incendiary, armor piercing and explosive rounds, in various ratios depending upon mission requirements, so not all their projectiles are strictly kinetic. - And the powder in the degraded projectile might have been chemical explosive used in the HE rounds. - Ngarenn 16:14, 28 June 2006 (CDT)

Can I ask, then, why chemically-propelled ordnance was rejected? I ask mainly because rail guns as we know them (theoretically) propel ordnance at a percentage of the speed of light- which, it stands to reason, would be far faster than any chemically-propelled weaponry, such as missiles. However, in the Miniseries, when the fleet is escaping Ragnar, the shells fired by both Galatica and her Vipers do not seem to be travelling much faster than the missiles fired by the enemy vessels.--Madbrood 14:57, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

Here we're stuck with what we can actually SEE in order to make exciting visual storytelling. Just as the Vipers and Raiders have been slowed down and moved closer than they would "really" be so we can enjoy cool shots, the weaponry has also been made viewer friendly. - Ngarenn 20:43, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

No HUD's in Vipers?[edit]

I've noticed that the Colonial Vipers don't seem to be equipped with any type of Heads-Up Display (HUD) or any such device. I was wondering if this was a design feature of the Vipers or if it was born simply as a way to reduce the number of VFX elements in a cockpit shot. Also, without a HUD, is there some other form of gunsight in the pilot's line of sight? --Thetruthseeker 15:55, 24 June 2006 (CDT)

Actually, if you look really hard at screenshots from "The Hand of God", etc., they do seem to have HUD's, although they haven't been prominently displayed on the show.--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:02, 24 June 2006 (CDT)

What appears to be a HUD in screencaps of "The Hand of God" seems to actually be reflection of the Viper's central display on the cockpit window. It's most evident in the first pov cockpit shot on this page, where there are several upside down DRADIS screens.[1] --Thetruthseeker 13:34, 25 June 2006 (CDT)

No HUDS in the Vipers. We haven't put gunsights in them, either. I'm not sure what the design reasons were for these decisions, but I'm guessing that it came down to VFX money that was better spent elsewhere. Our pilots simply have to be that much better. - Ngarenn 16:01, 28 June 2006 (CDT)

Perhaps because a HUD would require several systems linked together via a computer, and this would be vulnerable to manipulation by the Cylons? The MkII was, after all, designed NOT to be vulnerable to this sort of attack.--Madbrood 15:01, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

FTL and the cylons[edit]

What is the range of Galactica's FTL engines? I have read some were that it is 30 light years. If this si true then it means that the fleet would have jumped around 7500 light years due to all the jumps they made in '33'. So were in the galaxy are they?

Also in the show the Cylons are divided into two types. Skin jobs and Centurions. The thing is that the Cylons say that they are better than humans but they are making the same mistake the colonies made made. I say this because Ron Moore has said that the Centurions are not sentient and so are treated as expanderble, like the first cylons were treated by the Colonies. So will we ever see the Centurions rise up against there flesh and blood counter parts. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Viper1982 (talk • contribs).

I have always speculated (pure speculation) that there is NO "range" on FTL engines in theory...but there is an "effective" range of practicality: That is, based on Admiral Cain's order for a blind jump and the way they talk more about "plotting coordinates at such a distance" (as Ragnar) than engine range, I always assumed that an FTL Jump can take you anywhere in the universe, but "it ain't like dusting crops", and if you just go without safe coordinates, you could easily wind up in a star or planet, so it's too unsafe to use. The Cylons have better computers than the Colonials, and thus are able to plot safe jumps along longer distances in their Nav computers, that's why they can jump back to Caprica relatively easily compared to the Colonials. Theoretically (This is my longstanding *assumption*, is it correct?) Galactica could Jump across the entire galaxy...it's just so unsafe without good coordinates and the odds of winding up in a star or something so big that it's deemed not worth it. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:07, 24 June 2006 (CDT)

I agree, there's also the question of how much fuel is invested in each FTL jump, which would also prove as a limiting factor. And if Tylium is as rare as they said it was, then they must have some form of calculating how to spend it best. --Sauron18 22:05 24 June 2006 (CDT)

Exactly. If, as we speculate in the FTL article, the propulsion is wormhole-based, then it stands to reason that to make a bigger wormhole, one would need more jucie, so to speak. It also stands to reason that the further away one's desired exit point is, the more difficult it would be to pinpoint said location. An analogy- have you ever tried to land the end of a long piece of string on a particular point? It's MUCH easier to do with a shorter piece. --Madbrood 15:12, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

Sleeper Agents[edit]

I have been updating an article on the Miniseries novelization. The novelization gives a lot of extra info about Aaron Doral, making a big point that he is a sleeper agent. Was this from official sources or artistic license by the author? The main point is that his realization (unlike Boomer's) that he was a Cylon was easy. Also, if true, might imply that Brother Cavil from Galactica might be a sleeper agent? Thanks. --FrankieG 11:56, 26 June 2006 (CDT)

Writing a novelization involves fleshing out much of what the original presentation only hints at. To my knowledge, the extra information was not gleaned from any of the documentation/bibles used on the series. How "official" that makes it is an open question. If we don't address it in the show, then everyone's entitled to their own theory. - Ngarenn 15:55, 28 June 2006 (CDT)

Was Galactica's Brother Cavil a sleeper agent, or was it never considered or discussed? Thanks, --FrankieG 17:05, 28 June 2006 (CDT)

We discuss a lot of stuff, but if it doesn't show up on screen, it's as if it never happened. That philosophy leaves us open to more possibilities. Was Cavil a sleeper? Until we find a story where that matters, we won't define it -- and leave you wondering. Ngarenn 15:27, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

Cavil definitely seemed not to be a sleeper. It's odd that Boomer appears to be the only one. There should be more, I would think. Noneofyourbusiness 19:11, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Didn't Internal-Six same "some are sleepers" in the Miniseries? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 19:25, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Galactica's Armor Skin[edit]

Just to clarify more than anything - and mainly so that people can stop arguing about it. Did the Galactica always have such a patchy armour skin, or before the days of decommissioning, was it more like Pegasus in terms of looks? Here's an image as an example, just in case ;) [2] --Fordsierra4x4 18:56, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

I asked Eric Chu about this on the MediaBlvd messageboards, and he said the ribs were supposed to be there, so only a missle coming from a perfect 90 degree angle would connect. Of course, I think that might have just been his opinion. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 19:06, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

It makes sense for there to be SOME ribs, but the ventral plating (there i go, using trek terms again...) looks....oddly laid out. As though half of it has been stripped off. Look at an image of Pegasus for comparison. I know they're different classes and all, but it just seems....wrong...somethow, for the galactica to be so oddly patchy. --Fordsierra4x4 19:09, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

To be annoyingly particular, "ventral plating" is just a phrase composed of two normal words in their normal meanings, so it is not peculiar to Star Trek. --CalculatinAvatar^(C-T) 19:37, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

Troo dat, but it sounds like it's lifted straight out of an episode of DS9 :D --Fordsierra4x4 19:45, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

(You mean dorsal plating (top); ventral plating means on the bottom). --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:11, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

It's 2:38am - not work brain! --Fordsierra4x4 20:33, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

Surely the lack of armour across her entire hull hints that she did, at one time, have a full complement of armour? Perhaps the armour was being stripped off for other uses, due to the decommissioning of the ship? --Madbrood 15:04, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

This was my point, and i'd like to believe that this is the case, although i dont want to end up being a fanboy about it - just would be nice for clarification! --Fordsierra4x4 21:01, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

SkyOne Biography Canonicity[edit]

We've been debating the status of some information from SkyOne for some time now: Around the Miniseries, biographies for several main characters were posted on SkyOne's website. You can wee one at the bottom of the William Adama article, as well as for Kara Thrace, Galactica-Sharon, etc. ----->This information was taken down from SkyOne's website over a year ago. To our knowledge, BattlestarWiki is actually the only site keeping this info posted. We didn't know if it reflected Series bible things, or even if it did, if these still "counted" any more. You see I've made little notes on the bottom of each pointing out that they're not consistent with how the show turned out. For example, Galactica-Sharon's bio says she was on Galactica a different period of time, that Troy blew up recently not years ago, etc. Bits and pieces of other things are also kind of weird, and the only source for some things, i.e. Starbuck's mother's name, which honestly I don't think is official anymore. The SkyOne bios even say that Starbuck a Picon and Baltar a Sagitarron, while we had assumed both were from Caprica. --->Long story short we're debating whether to delete these from BattlestarWiki entirely, and base nothing we have on information from them, because A) The information was taken down, probably because it wasn't "right" anymore, B) It actually contradicts things from aired episodes, throwing dubious light onto their status. So we wanted to know if this information from SkyOne's website, no longer extant, is invalidated. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 16:48, 3 July 2006 (CDT)

Your definition of the series bible is accurate. Ron came up with it before the series went into production and we use it as a reference, a starting point. It isn't carved in stone. Sky One may have had access to pieces of it, but what happens on screen supercedes anything that doesn't. - Ngarenn 13:09, 7 July 2006 (CDT)

For my part, I'm just curious as to what role the writing staff had in the creation of those bios in the first place. --Peter Farago 20:54, 5 July 2006 (CDT)

In the beginning was the bible. Then came the staff. - Ngarenn 13:09, 7 July 2006 (CDT)

Basestar losses in Res Ship II[edit]

In "Resurrection Ship, Part II", were both Basestars destroyed (which is what I think) or was one destroyed, and the other escaped? Some say that because we didn't see the second one explode on-screen, it might have escaped...though I thought it was implied that it was, and it was taking a pounding from not one but two battlestars focused on it. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:56, 11 July 2006 (CDT)

Cylons build tough ships and nobody's better at making repairs on machinery, so we have to follow standard Colonial Fleet procedure in this -- unless it's confirmed as destroyed (by gun cameras, witnesses, or wreckage) Galactica can only claim it as "Damaged." -- Ngarenn 19:27, 13 July 2006 (CDT)

The Colonials just can't win. When the Red Baron scored his first kill, the brass said it was unconfirmed and didn't count. He flew into a rage, and the next time he scored a kill, while behind enemy lines, he landed, went to the downed craft and carved off the identifying insignia, and flew back to base with them. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:08, 13 July 2006 (CDT)

Webisode series[edit]

In this article it's said that Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, the webisode series bridging the gap between seasons 2 and 3, will have 10 episodes. In a recent interview, David Weddle mentioned that the Thompson & Weddle writing team were behind the webisode series. Not giving spoilers, just clarifying production details: How long will each of the 10 webisodes run? Will they be run on TV right before season 3 starts (I assume they would). Did the Thompson & Weddle writing team write each of the 10 webisodes? Do you have any idea who directed them? (were they made by one director, or did different ones do different webisdoes?)--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:48, 18 July 2006 (CDT)

It's true that David Weddle and I wrote the webisodes. Ron Moore and David Eick assigned them to us during the production of Exodus. The ten short segments combine to tell one story, which takes place during the Cylon Occupation that ended Season 2. The webisodes plant seeds that come to fruition in Season 3. They were all directed by Wayne Rose, the veteran director who's been doing 2nd Unit and 1stAD work for the series. The original title of the story was "Crossroads." The running lengths will vary with what's necessary to tell each segment of the story. The first cut I saw of all ten ran about 25 minutes. The run plan we were told was that they'd put up one a week as a countdown to the season premiere -- but SciFi may have other ideas on that by now. - Ngarenn 16:48, 20 July 2006 (CDT)

Are the webisodes live action or animated like the Doctor Who web series? --Mercifull ^{(Talk/Contribs)} 17:15, 20 July 2006 (CDT)

Thanks Mr. Thompson; at first from rumors we heard we thought each segment had it's own title and the first webisode out of 10 was titled "Crossroads". Mercifull, I've heard RDM in interviews talking about people actually filming it live, plus Leah Cairns said she wasn't one of the people appearing in it, implying that live-action people actually are. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 09:45, 21 July 2006 (CDT)

The webisodes are all live action, using our actors - Ngarenn 14:01, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

In determining on how we should list it here on BSG Wiki, should it be associated with Season 2 or Season 3? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 14:10, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

I'm leaning towards Season 3. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 14:13, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Scar Podcast Transcribed[edit]

While I personally HATE listening to recordings of myself, I thought I'd let you know that we've finished transcribing the Scar podcast in case you interested in checking that out. We did our best, though it is sometimes hard to sort out who's who or pick up everything that is said. Any corrections are welcome. --Steelviper 10:37, 21 July 2006 (CDT)

Let me get this straight: we lost both a "Starbuck naked in the bowels of the ship with a revolver" scene, and a "Starbuck strips off her flight suit, soaked in sweat, and takes a shower" scene from this episode? But it would have shown the mental state her character was in....--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 11:01, 21 July 2006 (CDT)

The armed Starbuck naked in Galactica's bowels was an image Ron gave us to communicate an emotional place he wanted her to reach. It was never a scene. The soaked in sweat scene was shot but time didn't allow it to appear in the show. The shower part of it was not shot. - Ngarenn 14:12, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Odd, it was not included on the recent set of deleted scenes posted on Scifi.com; of course, I think they're saving most of the deleted scenes for the DVD set to encourage us to buy them...which I will. Yes, if you check our transcript for "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I" when Terry Moore insists to Ron that "yes, there are 5-6 people that listen to these things the day that they're posted online"....we're about half of those people :) --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 14:53, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Episode titles[edit]

Your mention of "Exodus" brings up another point: BattlestarWiki has a news policy where we don't trust any news that cannot be sourced back to a cast or crewmember...the result being we don't trust some news even from TVGuide or the respectable www.gateworld.net because we think they're just repeating unsourced information which might be wrong. As you can see on our list of Season 3 episodes, we've resorted to calling certain episodes "Episode 3.1" in order to err on the side of caution. As a result, we've currently listed:

Episode 3.1 -- written by Ronald D Moore, Dir by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Episode 3.2 -- written by Ronald D Moore, Dir by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Episode 3.3 -- two parts, written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Felix Acala (Part 1) Part 2 is technically unassigned right now.
Episode 3.4 -- written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.5 -- written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Dir by Jean de Segoznac
Episode 3.6 -- written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Bill Eagles
Hero - name confirmed (and written by) David Eick, Dir by Michael Rymer
Unfinished Business -name confirmed by Grace Park - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Bob Young
The Passage -name confirmed by Jane Espenson, Dir by Michael Nankin
Episode 3.10 - written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.11 - written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.12 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Edward James Olmos
Episode 3.13 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.14 - written by Mark Verheiden
Episode 3.15 - written by Anne Cofell Saunders

Please keep in mind that these credits have not yet been confirmed by the WGA or the DGA. Episodes 3.12 is about to go into preproduction. Eps 3.13-3.15 are in various stages of the pipeline. The directors have been assigned but - this is TV - anything can change. Eps 3.1 & 3.2 were merged to form a two-hour premiere episode, and 3.3 broken was into two episodes, which I guess technically makes them 3.2 & 3.3 -- but numbering is something I'll leave to you. - Ngarenn 20:32, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Like I said, many reputable websites have listed the names of the first 5 episodes (though they didn't confirm their source, so we didn't list them) as "Occupation", "Precipice", "Exodus", "Collaborators", and "Torn".

I can confirm that those are the titles on the scripts. None of them are final. - Ngarenn 20:32, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Chances of a change? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 20:35, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Without asking for any information that is an actual spoiler (if something is a spoiler and cannot be revealed, please just say so) what are the names of the Season 3 episodes? (btw, do you know who wrote and directed some of these?) --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 14:48, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

It's wise to avoid nailing titles down because the titles can (and do) change up to the date they air. I'll get back to you on the rest of this. - Ngarenn 15:47, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

BTW, Ron Moore just cleared up that "Exodus is a two parter" thing in the blog:

"In another of our patented feats of editorial derring-do, we've taken what was to be episode 3, "Exodus" and crafted two episodes from it, thereby obviating the need to shoot one more show. As it currently stands, we will be opening Season Three with a two-hour premiere of what were originally two stand-alone episodes, "Occupation" and "Precipice" ("Occuprice," as it were) then resume airing normal one hours with "Exodus Part One." Confused? Good, that's the way we like it. Gotta keep the audience guessing." I'm still sorting through this...--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:01, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

How could "Exodus, Part II" not have a director assigned yet?

I'm reading this from the in-house script status report - "Unassigned" just means his deal hadn't been struck at the time the report was generated. Directing credit is turf of the DGA. I believe the contractual obligation is that Felix must shoot the additional material needed for the two eps, unless he chooses to do otherwise. We're hoping his schedule will permit it, because he did a great job on the initial shoot. But this still leaves the official credit for the ep blank at the moment. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Haven't the first half of the episodes already been filmed?

There are about eight minutes of material we still need to shoot to make both of them work. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Thank you for this...incredible boon of information. Excellent that you and David got to write Exodus. I can only imagine that it can be best described by the phrase "Stuff's gonna 'splode"; looks like lots of fighting. Remember, the enemy's gate is down...

Mr. Rymer's dailies are awesome. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Anyway, I want to make sure I got this correct:

Occupation - Episode 1 - written byRon Moore, directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Precipice - Episode 1.5 (aired the same night, same writer/director team)
Exodus, Part I - Episode 2 - written by Thompson & Weddle, director Felix Acala
Exodus, Part II - Episode 3 - written Thompson & Weddle, director Felix Acala
Collaborators - Episode 4 - written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Torn - Episode 5 -written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Dir by Jean de Segoznac
A Measure of Salvation - Episode 6 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Bill Eagles? RDM keeps calling Hero episode 7, but more than 6 episodes were listed before it above.

That's because you're counting Occupation and Precipice as two eps. Which they used to be, but they will air as one massive season premiere. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Hero - Episode 7 (Ron and David keep referring to this as "Episode 7", so I think this one is in sync) written by David Eick, Dir by Michael Rymer
Unfinished Business - Episode 8 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Bob Young
The Passage - Episode 9 (confirmed at the moment) writer Jane Espenson, Dir by Michael Nankin
The Eye of Jupiter - Episode 10 - Christmas break cliffhanger two part episode. written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Rapture - Episode 11 - written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Michael Rymer (This is the second half of the cliffhanger)
Episode 3.12 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Edward James Olmos
Episode 3.13 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.14 - written by Mark Verheiden
Episode 3.15 - written by Anne Cofell Saunders

Correct as noted, to the best of my knowledge today - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Thanks. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 23:07, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Thank you, sir. This entire concept of having "19" episodes, with the first being a super-episode which audaciously defies to be categorized as a mere "two part episode".....seems entirely fitting with RDM's essay on "Naturalistic science fiction", which set out that the show would break the old habits in all respects. Thanks. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 18:09, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

I want to add my thanks too. --FrankieG 18:23, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Bouns. Thanks for the tips and clarifiing some data. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 18:38, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

de nada. Y'all are doing a good thing here. BTW, just found out that Felix is doing the additional shooting for Ep 3. - Ngarenn 20:35, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Just make sure you get the word.. that we want at least 10 seasons. That's about 50k pages. :D --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 23:16, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Well okay, but personally I would wish the production team to "make the best stories possible", rather than just for a long time; I'd rather have one season of BSG, then not even get season two, than have a guarantee of 7 years and thus a repeat of Star Trek where they just kept it going until they bled it white. No, I'd rather see 5 trailblazing years of episodes which are practically small movies (like Hand of God).--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 00:30, 30 July 2006 (CDT)

Caprica[edit]

Are any of the current BSG writing staff considering or expressing interest in writing episodes for the prequel series Caprica?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 14:50, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

The issue has not yet come up. - Ngarenn 20:34, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Pegasus (Extended Version)[edit]

The upcoming DVD release of "Pegasus" in the Season 2.5 DVD will be the re-edited, 5-Act Extended Version of Pegasus. Should we consider all of the scenes in this extended edition as non-canonical as the deleted scenes from other episodes? Many Lord of the Rings fans consider the "Extended Edition" longer DVD versions to be the "definative" version, not the theatrical release, which got me thinking on this. Case in point, there's reportedly a scene where Admiral Cain explains the technical differences between a Mercury class battlestar and a Galactica type battlestar: is this information not going to be "valid"? Much of the Deleted Scenes information we've examined previously has existed in a bizarre state of limbo on BattlestarWiki (but it's a system that works) in which we say "this is from a deleted scene and probably not canonical, but as it is not contradicted by anything (yet) its the current version" (i.e. Ellen Tigh said she'd been married to Saul Tigh for 7 years in a deleted scene, so we don't consider that strictly canonical. ——Of course the problem is, as Ron has explained in the podcasts, most BSG episodes run long (into the 50 minute range often) and many scenes are simply deleted for time (i.e. the problems that ensued when Apollo/Dualla relationship buildup scenes were cut, usually just for time, from other episodes)--->However, the difference in the Extended Version of (soon to be Hugo Award winning) "Pegasus" is that Ron has openly stated that almost all of this removed material was taken out simply for time issues, not story issues. How should we approach this material? --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 15:03, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

There is rumor that Ron Moore is even doing a separate, new podcast for the Extended Version of Pegasus, co-hosted with David Eick. Is this just wild rumor?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 16:23, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

"Cally Henderson"?![edit]

On the Scifi Messageboard: "At Comic-Con, I asked the writer Bradley Thompson what Cally's first name is and he said, "Cally is her first name. Her last name is Henderson." He said he didn't think her last name was ever used in the first two seasons, but he's pretty sure it comes up in Season 3." ——— Can you confirm this?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 15:38, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

I'm not sure when we established Cally's surname as Henderson, but it's been in and out of several scripts. I know we originally had it in a line during the webisodes, but it vanished during a later draft. The art department has been using it to label her clothing, lockers, etc, since Ron christened her. She took Tyrol as her last name when she married the chief. - Ngarenn 15:43, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Thanks! Yes, the BSGverse is very gender-neutral, and although Caroline Adama, etc. established that many women do take the surname of their husband, I wasn't entirely sure how far the gender-neutrality of everything extended (Indeed, Ron apparently has even toyed with the idea of saying that Admiral Cain's colony, Tauron, was matriarchal). But this is excellent news. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 16:33, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

I guess this would make her (as of season 3) "Cally Henderson Tyrol"? Actress Nicki Clyne always felt "Cally" was her first name too. How is this reconciled with how at some points in the series (I'd have to look hard to find them) people have called her "Specialist Cally", as if that were her last name (by including rank)....come to think of it, there is a possibility that no one ever actually called her "Specialist Cally" in dialogue. I will check. (Btw, while I'm on the subject, who is this "Mexichick": she's one of the regulars in Terry Moore's thread on the Scifi board, and seems to have contact with several cast or crew members).

I must say, Cally is one of the best characters on the show. She won Best Supporting Actress in our large-scale online fan awards supported by Ron himself, beating out Dualla, Racetrack, Kat, and Ellen Tigh (it was a landslide victory). Sorry to get so excited, but I'm a card-carrying member of the Nicki Clyne fansite. You see I've actually been watching Trek from Next Gen, through DS9, and then the Voyager and Enterprise years, and I really feal that "lets get ratings fast by inserting Seven of Nine! Put T'Pol in a blatant shower scene!" stuff was a big blow to scifi genre tv, as it took out a lot of seriousness and believability. I viewed Cally as the "Anti-Seven of Nine" and living embodiement of Ron's essay on Naturalistic science fiction: instead of one Lara Croft-esque supersoldier Hot Space Babe [TM] main character surrounded by redshirts, on BSG Cally is a *third tier character* and a *female* who gets incredible development and characterization (note: I AM a male aged 18 to 25, it's just that even WE got sick of 7 of 9 and T'Pol).

A few of use on the messageboards in early 2005 just said "hey, that girl from the Miniseries was cool, we hope we see her more"...then came "Bastille Day" and her popularity exploded. She's the girl next door. And it just became a treat to see she was in and episode, like "Six Degrees of Separation", or "Flight of the Phoenix", or Fragged and Resistance (her standout episodes). It's the same reason we like Kat and Racetrack: they're well rounded, secondary female characters; and like Tyrol and Helo, minor characters can *actually die* in a given episode, increasing the tension. (I.e. Starbuck wouldn't die in Scar, but Kat might have, so I was actually invested in her fate).

And Cally just gradually grew into this really popular character online, from the grassroots up. Some people think it's a joke, but it's because we seriously like the actress and character and think it's one of the elements of scifi genre tv that BSG has fixed.

Btw, have you decided what colony she is from yet? (That is, will it be mentioned in Season 3?)--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 15:55, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Not yet. Hasn't been relevant so far in 3, but we've got seven more shows to break. - Ngarenn 15:43, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Exodus! v. Exodus, Part I[edit]

Is there going to be any simularities between the Marvel comic and these episode's? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 19:22, 2 August 2006 (CDT)

I would doubt it, Shane, because afaik the Exodus comic was an adaptation of Saga of a Star World. --Mercifull ^{(Talk/Contribs)} 06:43, 3 August 2006 (CDT)

Yeah. I realized it a little late, but hey, it could happen. :) --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 09:07, 3 August 2006 (CDT)

Cally vs Caprica-Sharon[edit]

I've been listenning through the writer's podcasts that Ron put up on Scifi.com, like the one for "Sacrifice" etc. -->Was a scene of Caprica-Sharon bumping into Cally in a Galactica hallway ever filmed and was then deleted? I'd assume that Cally would encounter Galactica-Sharon (one she shot) on New Caprica next season, so if that other scene was never filmed I guess this would be their first encounter. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 20:51, 2 August 2006 (CDT)

Tyrol's Pegasus service[edit]

In "Resistance", Chief Tyrol listed off that he had served on Battlestars Atlantia, Columbia, and Pegasus, since he was 18. This was actually the first time Pegasus was mentioned in the series, and it led some to speculate that Tyrol knew some of the Pegasus crew from before: in an intervew, Aaron Douglas said that a fan asked him about this at a convention, and he said he had never realized that about the referrence, and as far as he knew his character's behind-the-scenes backstory contained nothing particular about his time on Pegasus, (i.e. he didn't really have a relationship with anyone on it, he just served on it along with a dozen other ships); however he said he didn't know what the writers intended. Was there supposed to be any higher significance behind this?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 15:52, 5 August 2006 (CDT)

Helmets[edit]

I've noticed that the helmets the piliots wear in Season 2 are different from the ones used through Season 1; were they changed because the actors thought the old ones were too bulky or something? I liked what Ron and David said on the Miniseries DVD commentary, that it's kind of weird but cool how the helmets scrunch the faces of the pilots so they look like they're in an entirely different world (i.e. Grace Park's face looks drastically different when she puts a helmet on, and Jamie and Katee too) so it doesn't just look like "a person on a soundstage" but seems more like they're actually in this other environment. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 16:31, 5 August 2006 (CDT)

Just thought I'd note the helmet discussion at the end of act two in the Captain's Hand podcast. In it, Ron indicated there were some lighting and sound problems with earlier models. --Steelviper 08:08, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

RE: Military Ships[edit]

Dear Brad,

I like to thank you for joining the discussions on BattlestarWiki. It's nice to see cast and crew and even producers talk to the fans, and act politely compared to many pompous skinjobs out in the frakking world. The question I pose to you, is that I'm aware of a statement Cylon Number 0, also known as "Ronald D. Moore" said in his Scifi Podcast that the Battlestars had support ships in the fleet in Battlestar Groups, analogous to modern day Aircraft Carriers. What I want to know is that the possibility of ALL military ships being destroyed is very how to say; unrealistic. That's not to say that this series has been unrealistic, the fact that many in the Colonial Military reverted to networking after a semi recent war with heuristic machines seems about right with human nature and their lazy ways. But to get back to the point, would it be likely that some military vessels (besides the obvious, Galactica and Pegasus) survived. Many have pointed out that the Todd Boyce fan produced ship model, the 'Defender' has been seen, but I'm not sure how to take this as an "official" military spacecraft. If so, can they maybe rejoin the fleet? --Volostheguardian 01:49, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

Not meaning to speak for Mr. Thompson, but A) Within the mythology of the show, Galactica is the "Last battlestar" and Pegasus is the "shockingly, another ship that survived" B) It's not unrealistic given that the Cylons through Caprica-Six had information on the tactical deployment of all ships within the Fleet, knew where every single one was, etc. Ships smaller than battlestars could not survive against the Cylon fleet on their lonesome. I am unaware of anyone pointing to any fan-produced ship models. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 13:19, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

I did some checking and found this page (Scroll down a bit): rather than "Undeniably canon", I see a similar ship to the design this guy made, propably the same basic CGI model, but that's hardly another surviving military ship. They just used the basic CGI model as another Rag Tag Fleet civilian ship. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 15:18, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

I'm not trying to start a text war, I was just meaning to ask a question to Mr. Thompson, which you seemed to answer on a matter of your personal opinion. I'm not one to doubt what you said, since your answer has some validity to it, but I won't take this as a solid answer unless Mr. Thompson says so. Also what's not to say that the design wasn't used as intended; many ships in the fleet have yet to be designated a definitive role. --Volostheguardian 21:25, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

Oh I'm not answering it I'm just putting my thoughts on the matter out. I must admit it was a pretty good question, given the uncanny resemblance of the CGI model and the ship in the screenshot.--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:58, 7 August 2006 (CDT)

Then again, I was thinking not about like other Battlestars, more like cruisers or the Colonial Analog of Coast Guard Cutters. That would be an interesting plot point or strategic matter in later episodes.--Volostheguardian 18:42, 9 August 2006 (CDT)