The Return of Starbuck

"The Return of Starbuck" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
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Overview

Doctor Zee relates a dream he had about a pilot called Starbuck to Commander Adama; thus revealing Starbuck's fate.

Summary

Starbuck in The Return of Starbuck

• Unable to sleep, Doctor Zee awakens Commander Adama.

• Zee relates to Adama a dream he has had about a great warrior whose name was Lieutenant Starbuck, and the rest of the episode relates this tale.

• Years back, Starbuck and Boomer are on patrol, but are ambushed by Cylon raiders.

• In the battle, Starbuck's Viper is damaged severely, and he realizes he will not be able to make it back to the fleet.

• Starbuck manages to find a small planet in the nick of time, and crash lands his damaged Viper on the surface.

• He comes to, with a blinding headache, most of his ship damaged beyond repair.

• Climbing out of the wreck he discovers nothing but sand and barren rock on this desert planet.

• Exploring the terrain for a while, Starbuck suddenly happens upon the wreckage of a Cylon fighter from the battle.

• Surveying the wreckage, soon Starbuck begins pulling the Cylon ship apart to construct a shelter.

• After a time, Starbuck decides to cannibalize the robot Cylons and try to rebuild one of them into a functioning Centurion.

• When the task is complete, the Cylon activates and immediately threatens to kill Starbuck. Starbuck manages to win over the huge robot soldier with a combination of persuasion and threats to turn off his power.

Cy in The Return of Starbuck

• After the Cylon has managed to convince Starbuck not to switch him off for good, he asks why Starbuck reconstructed him.

• Starbuck explains, rather wanly, that after three days alone, he decided he needed a friend. 'We are enemies,' the Cylon states. 'We're cultural dissidents,' Starbuck rationalizes, since there are only the two of them on this planet.

• Starbuck offers to teach the Cylon everything he knows about humans, in the process names the hulking machine "Cy". He also instructs the Cylon on how to play the Colonial card game pyramid.

• Starbuck grows bored with the card games over time, and Cy realizes that Starbuck is cheating.

• Cy deduces that Starbuck is bored with him, and would prefer the company of a human female. Promising to locate a woman for Starbuck, the centurion heads out into the bitter cold.

• Feeling guilty, Starbuck searches for the runaway centurion all night, but is unable to find him.

• Starbuck is shocked when Cy arrives the next morning, carrying an unconscious, pregnant woman in his arms.

• Starbuck attempts to talk to the mysterious woman but she does not respond, just stares without speaking.

• This goes on for a few days, then, out of nowhere the woman asks Starbuck a short question: 'Would you die for me?' The woman, named Angela, remains enigmatic and refuses to elaborate on how she came to be on the planet.

• She starts strangely referring to her unborn baby as 'our child', referring to her and Starbuck, and indicates a vehicle must be built to transport the baby.

• In part to appease Angela, Starbuck enlists Cy's help in building an escape vessel from the combined wreckage of the Viper and the Cylon Raiders.

• The morning after the baby's birth, Starbuck is shocked to see another Cylon fighter landed close to the crash site. The Cylons apparently picked up the distress beacon, and are coming to investigate.

• Starbuck hustles Angela to the completed hybrid ship and gets her and the baby inside.

• There is no room for Starbuck in the ship; not if the mother and baby are to make it back to the Colonial fleet, and so he makes a sacrifice and decides to stay behind, launching the ship manually and letting Angela and the baby go.

Starbuck cradles Cy

• As the ship disappears into the sky, Starbuck is suddenly pinned down by the Cylon laser fire, but is surprised to see Cy appear, carrying his own laser.

• Cy guns down two of the approaching Cylons, but the third gets off a crippling shot before Starbuck drops him, and Cy sinks to the ground, mortally damaged.

• In his dying minutes, Cy describes his relationship with Starbuck as that of friends.

• Dr Zee's voice grows more disturbed as he recounts the progress of the pod towards the Galactica, containing the 'incredible gift' of a child from the stars.

• He realizes that the dream was referring to him, and that he is the gift.

• The fate of Starbuck, however, remains unknown, and on that melancholy note the episode, and the series, end.

Questions

• Now that the Cylons know about the first crash on planet Starbuck, will they follow up the first rescue mission with a second?
• What happened to Starbuck?
• Where is Apollo during this time?
• What is the status of the Fleet?

Analysis

While not explicitly stated, this episode takes place between "The Hand of God" and "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I".

Notes

• This is the only episode that fandom would deem canonical, as they believe it has the spirit of the original series; unsurprising as it was an idea thrown around during the run of the original.
• "The Return of Starbuck" is viewed as -- and was -- the last best hope to save Galactica 1980. It failed.
• Had the series been permitted to live, an episode called "Wheel of Fire" would have seen Starbuck rescued by the Beings of Light to become one of their rank.