Burning questions for the final 'Battlestar Galactica' episodes

By Andy Grieser

January 14, 2009 12:01 AM

Battlestar Galactica returns Friday to a stunning tableau: In the Galactica midseason finale, a combined human and Cylon force finally found Earth... lifeless, gray, war-shattered Earth. The Promised Land was a wasteland, and now neither human nor Cylon knows where to go or what to do next.

We feel their pain. The series has routinely teased us with more questions than answers about motivations and mysticism. Here are 10 questions we want answered in the final episodes:

Who's the last Cylon? Okay, yes, we've been promised this answer, but it has to be done well. We still don't know how Tigh can be a Cylon (see below), which only reinforces the joke that the show's writers threw darts to decide. The final Cylon's identity has been built up too much for us to stomach an out-of-left-field reveal. Even making the obvious choice -- Starbuck -- the final Cylon would be better than that.
What happened to Starbuck? Our favorite blonde found Earth by following a Cylon heavy raider into a high-pressure atmosphere. Her ship seemingly imploded, but she claims to have been jumped to a star system near Earth. Know what could survive that kind of pressure? A Cylon. Remember, Caprica Six shielded Baltar from nuclear blasts with her body. Follow-up question: Why was Starbuck dubbed the "harbinger of death?"
How will the Cylon civil war play out? Surely we haven't seen the last of this one; the rest of the Cylons may still be able to find our human-Cylon alliance. That said, I'd sure love to see a follow-up series set in the future when a new round of humans (or hybrids?) run across the Hub-less Cylon remnants.
Who's gonna die? This is war, people. We've seen our share of losses in the supporting cast, but with the Resurrection Ship destroyed, I fully expect heavy casualties on both human and Cylon sides. My totally unsupported hunches? Chief Tyrol, Brother Cavil, Baltar and Laura Roslin. Probably we'll lose more.
Speaking of human-Cylon hybrids, what role will they play? Is Hera merely the first of a new combined species? Why is she so important to Six and Baltar? And in a holdover from the first part of this season, could Tigh really have impregnated Six?
What happened to Earth? We aren't owed an answer; after all, the real story now is what to do next, not necessarily what happened. That said, the quest for Earth has been guided by the past for both human and Cylon sides, so it seems reasonable Roslin and Six will be equally interested.
Why not settle Earth? Though ravaged, the Earth we saw was still capable of supporting plant life. Sure, the overall feel was gray, but so was New Caprica, and standing buildings in the Earth scenes mean the planet can still be a treasure trove of knowledge. That last goes double if the Temple of Aurora does actually exist on our little gray ball. (We did get some hints of radioactivity, but that's likely localized and wouldn't bother the Cylons.) Despite these arguments, most of the scenes in preview take place back on human and Cylon starships.
How the frak is Col. Tigh a Cylon? In Galactica lore, the skinjobs are new; Adama and Tigh in their youth fought against robotic Cylons more resembling the clunky armor-suits of the 1970s incarnation. (Heck, one can be seen in this series' very first episode.) Granted, previews for Caprica seem to imply the skinjobs are also a human invention, but for now canon insists they're Cylon evolution. So, was Tigh always a Cylon, or was he captured and his personality transferred? The Adama family knew Starbuck all her life as well, and we're willing to accept that her personality was at some time downloaded to a Cylon body.
Will Starbuck and Apollo end up together? Come on, you're all wondering. This isn't Moonlighting; Starbuck and Apollo have hooked up a few times, so the show doesn't rely on their sexual tension. Still, it feels a bit too much like fan fiction to picture them flying off into the sunset.
Why is Lee Adama the president?: Leading up to the series finale, every minute should be meaningful. Okay, that hasn't always been the case, but other than his role in forging a Cylon-human treaty for the purposes of finding Earth, what can come of throwing Apollo into Colonial One's puffy chair?
Will we see Dirk Benedict? Don't laugh. Remember how hammy we expected Richard Hatch to be as Tom Zarek? Yet he's one of the show's better characters. Rumor is that Benedict, the original Starbuck, was invited to play God. Considering the parallels between the Earth storyline and the original series' "Ship of Lights" episodes, that could still happen.

Did we miss anything? What questions do you want answered? The Battlestar Galactica midseason premiere airs at 10 p.m. Eastern Friday on Sci Fi.

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The Earth might be too radioactive to settle; just because there was evident plant life doesn't mean that humans could live there. Plants have a much higher tolerance for radioactivity than most animals, particularly mammals.

How Col. Tigh can be a Cylon is a great question. Besides the uploading of personalities you mention, another (more bizarre) explanation might be that the "final 5" Cylons, which are different from the others, were created not by Cylons, but by some other "power". Note that the Cylons believe Starbuck has a "destiny", and she was plucked from a gas giant and taken to Earth by *someone(s)*, then returned in a mint-condition Viper.

Whatever or whoever took Starbuck and showed her Earth could be connected with the provenance of the final 5. This reminds me of the "City of Light" advanced civilization/people from the original series, who saved Starbuck and Apollo.

As for why Starbuck was said to be "leading her people to destruction", well, she DID. She is the one who found the final direction to Earth (the signal in the mystery viper in Galactica's hanger), and Earth was destroyed, it's people (presumably) all dead. She lead her people directly to a world of death and destruction, maybe that's all it was?

Kirk | January 14, 2009 7:32 AM

I know that Tigh, Tyrol, Anders and Tory are not the same Cylon type as the other seven we've seen. For one thing, If I'm not mistaken, I believe they are unique, there is only one copy of each. Unlike sleeper agents among the other Cylon models, I think they grew up normally lived their lives normally, and only when they reached Ionian Nebula, when something triggered their awareness of their Cylon nature, but otherwise didn't alter their personalities or inflict any obvious external agenda upon them.

Another question I'm very curious about is why Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" was the music that the aforementioned 'final four' Cylons heard in the Ionian Nebula. What significance/connection does it have to Earth?

Speaking of Earth, they've obviously found it, but WHEN did they find it? Is this our Earth's future, or past? Are the humans and Cylons our ancestors, or are they our descendents? I could see either scenario playing out, I'm curious to see whether it's addressed in the show. One thing's for sure, we haven't seen the last of Earth on this show.

I'm just glad the show is finally coming back! It's been too long.

Siansonea | January 14, 2009 8:41 AM

I've always thought that the "harbinger of death" thing most likely referred to the fact that Starbuck led them to find the baseship in the first place and then ultimately destroy the resurrection hub. I think the hybrid meant that Starbuck will be the harbinger of death for the Cylons, not the humans.

Bethany | January 14, 2009 10:10 AM

We've been led to beleive Earth was the last colony. Maybe it was the first.

fred | January 14, 2009 12:11 PM

@Andy Grieser:

Thank you for actually writing about a sci-fi television show. Since Zap2it essentially abandoned its "Misfits of Sci-Fi" section, I thought we'd be forever stuck with endless discussions/recaps about Gossip Girl, 90210, American Idol, Dancing with Stars, etc.

I wish Zap2it would consider re-launching the "Misfits" section with additional content.

Daniel | January 14, 2009 1:04 PM

I first wrote this before the episode where the ressurection hub was destroyed, but it turned out to be pretty valid I think:

It occurs to me that Kara could fulfill the Harbinger of Death prophecy by being instrumental in removing the Skin Jobs' ability to resurrect. This would fit the "death" bill by causing the Cylons to become mortal. It would also fit in a larger, less literal way by bringing about a "death" of an era in Cylon/Human relations and an end to the Cycle that is often alluded to (but which we've never really seen any evidence for?). The Hybrid's statements are always gnomic and wide open to interpretation, but she has never said Kara will lead them all to their deaths. She has said Kara will lead them all to their "end" - which I would be inclined to interpret as the end of the cycle/status quo. The only way Cylons could have a taste of their former immortality/continuity would be through good, old fashioned, biological reproduction - which they need the Humans for. Perhaps this will be accomplished through the Humans frakking with Cylon technology aided by the renegade Skin Jobs they are currently forging an alliance with. My only question is why would the Humans go for it? What could compel them to give up the fight to eradicate the Cylons once and for all and become one genetically integrated race? Even if they were presented with overwhelming evidence that it was Divine Will, well, there would be dissenters. There has to be some benefit that serves the Human self-interest on an unequivocal level. They are Human after all...

Also, the Centurions are now loose cannons as demonstrated by the death of the 8 when she tried to take the Hybrid offline. If Humans/Cylons are to evolve jointly and share a destiny, the Centurions will all need to be decommissioned. Another "death" brought about through Kara's determined efforts to find Earth and follow her destiny?

Lin | January 14, 2009 6:21 PM

@Siansonea:

I agree with you about the question of *when* they found Earth - it's been something I've wondered about ever since the mini-series in 2003.

One possibility I thought of was that they would ultimately find Earth circa 2500 BC, and end up crashing/being stranded in pre-Ionian Greece. That would at least mesh the colonials quasi-Greek religion with that of ancient Greece (same Gods, constellations, and so on).

Sadly, the finale of season 4.0 last year seems to make this unlikely. So that leaves Earth's future as more likely (to me). We still don't know if any Earth-born human settlements exist (on Mars, or nearby stars?). I guess we'll all find out very soon though!!!

This show has been a bit like The Matrix, trying to deduce the backstory from the plot.

Kirk | January 14, 2009 11:13 PM

The most likely final cylon in my opinion is Roslin. I don't believe "Six" was being untruthful when she told her that she was a cylon. Six saw that Roslin had no idea and realized that there must be a reason why. Notice that when they went to get the other cylons, she never look for the last one, nor made any implications that the last cylon was on Galactica, in fact, she stated that the last cylon was not aboard Galactica. Roslin is my best guess.

I, like others, have always believed that this show takes place long before our earth time. Thousands, possibly, tens of thousands of years before our time. The most telling aspect of this seems to be the God vs. Gods issue. They could easily be our ancestors, if this is so, I think the tens of thousands scenario is more likely. This would allow for all of their technology to be lost to us. The other possible scenario that I can forsee is that they are roughly in our time, but the separation with the final colony was thousands of years in their past. It could be fairly likely that they are approximately 2000 years in our past, just between the days of the old testament and the new. The destruction they see could, in our biblical understanding be Sodom and Gomorrah. Which could really be an accidental destruction of the last tribes nuclear powersource. That would allow Baltar, with his preaching of the one true God, to possibly be, "you know who". Unless they landed in the North American continent, then all bets are off.

cgreen | January 15, 2009 8:13 AM

@ Kirk

Why do you think the midseason finale obviated the possibility that the fleet landed in Earth's past? We saw ruins of a civilization, and I think we were 'meant' to ***ume it was the ruins of modern civilization, but that could have been a heavy dose of misdirection. Moore has been known to do that, after all.

I think the Final Cylon is Helo. I don't know why, but he's such a paragon of humanity, the least 'flawed' character on the show. I can't shake the feeling that he's 'too perfect'. He was on the Basestar with Roslin and Adama when Deanna made her "only four are with the Fleet" remark, so he is still a likely candidate as far as I'm concerned.

Siansonea | January 15, 2009 10:40 AM

As far as we know (that I know of), Adama and Tigh met 40 years previously during the war. No one has proven to have known Tigh before that date.

If all of the Final Five have been to earth before, then they most likely were created by humans *on* Earth. They then flew away with the other seven founders of the colonies. They helped make the robotic cylons and then Joe Adama's friend made the rest of the hybrids while the five stayed in the colonies.

wooster182 | January 16, 2009 6:42 AM