Thirteen Hints We Know About The Final Cylon
(#26)
The last Battlestar Galactica post was very popular, so this week’s Thursday Thirteen will explore what we know so far about the Final Cylon and Starbuck’s “special destiny.” This post came out of a conversation with some friends and has actually been a collaboration between myself, the AppleJedi and my friend Scott B. — as well as some feedback from my writing buddy Betty. To recap, twelve Cylon models exist, eleven have been revealed. The twelve can be grouped into the Significant Seven and the Final Five. The big mystery as BSG winds down its last season is the identity of the Final Cylon. What follows is a compilation of hints that might reveal the identity of the Final Cylon. Be warned, what follows is complete and total BSG nerdiness, not to mention spoilers.
1. Ron Moore has said that the Final Cylon is not shown in the Entertainment Weekly “Last Supper” photo. To quote the EW article: “Someone indeed is absent from the table, admits Moore: ‘We have not yet revealed the final [unknown] Cylon.’ Does that mean the people already at the table are not the final Cylon? Moore laughs. You ferreted that out pretty slyly. I didn’t really want to give that away.”
This rules out quite a few characters as possiblities: President Roslin, Lee “Apollo” Adama, Commander Adama, Karl “Helo” Agathon, and Gaius Baltar. Who’s left? A few possibilities: Felix Gaeta, Anastasia “Dee” Dualla, Tom Zarek, Ellen Tigh, Cally Henderson Tyrol, (if it is Cally, then she would have to be resurrected and her son Nikki to Galen Tyrol would be the first fully-Cylon child), and Doc Cottle.
Space Westerns has a great article dissecting the Last Supper photo and concludes that Starbuck is the “Last Cylon.” At first, we discounted this, but since there are technically two versions of Starbuck — pre-death and post-death — this is possibly consistent with what Moore has said, if the version of her in the photo is meant to be pre-death.
2. Process of Elimination. In the Frak Party Podcast, Ron Moore said the Final Cylon is not Commander Adama or President Roslin: “The idea for the final four Cylons came up in the writing room. They had to narrow down the parameters a bit as to who would make the best choice to be a Cylon. Not Bill Adama and not Roslin (he felt that would have robbed something from the show). And what did Lee give you were he a Cylon?”
In this quote, Moore does not specifically state that the Final Cylon is NOT Lee, he only asks what would be the gain of a such a plot development. We think this is a fake out for casting doubt on Lee as human or Cylon. Also, Moore implied in this podcast that Cally is indeed human when he said that Nikki is a hybrid child: He confirms that Nicolas (Tyrol’s son) is a hybrid child. His story is different than Hera’s but is closely related. However, in the DVD commentary for the episode “Bastille Day,” David Eick said of Cally: Yeah, and she’s taken on, in season 2 actually, a much, much, much more prominent role. You have no idea how prominent a role.
This definitely rules out President Roslin and Commander Adama as possibilities. Lee is still in the Last Supper photo, so he’s out of the running. This casts some doubt on Cally, however.
3. Cylon Incognito. In the episode, “The Eye of Jupiter,” Number Three/D’Anna Biers recognized the Final Cylon before the Temple of Five was destroyed. From Battlestar Wiki: “She steps into the light and finds herself in the Kobol Opera House standing before the Final Five. She approaches and sees their faces clearly for the first time, recognizing one of them in particular she says with a surprised look on her face, ‘You… forgive me. . . I had no idea.’ She is pulled back to the temple and collapses in Baltar’s arms. She tells Baltar, ‘You were right,’ but dies in his arms before answering about what.”
We wonder for what is Three asking forgiveness? Could it be that the Final Cylon is someone that Three discounted, someone lower in rank than she considered important — like Anastasia Dualla, Felix Gaeta or Cally Tyrol? This scene definitely rules out Baltar, since he’s standing right there with her and she dies in his arms. Sure, the Final Cylon could be a copy of Baltar, but the apology doesn’t quite ring true if that’s the case.
4. Representatives of Humanity. In an interview Ron Moore said: “The Cylons on some level looked at humanity and said ‘You know what? There’s really only 12 of you.’ If these are the 12, and sort of if you look at them they each represent different archetypes of what humanity is.”
Out of the eleven so far, six of them are white guys. Just sayin’. See the next item for a run-down of the known models, but Moore’s quote here seems to imply that the Final Cylon should be a female of minority ethnicity to round out the representatives in the group.
5. Lucky Number Seven. We haven’t seen anyone yet point out that the Final Cylon is actually model Number Seven:
1- Brother Cavil
2- Leoben Conoy
3- D’Anna Biers
4- Simon
5- Aaron Doral
6- Caprica/Natalie/Shelly/Gina
7- ?
8- Sharon Valerii Agathon Boomer/Athena
9- Galen Tyrol
10- Samuel Anders
11- Saul Tigh
12- Tory Foster
Does this explain why the Final Cylon didn’t hear the music in the episode “Crossroads?” Is Number Seven a transitory model between the two groups? Traits such as religious fundamentalism and self-awareness seem to fluctuate from Number One to Number Eight, but we don’t yet know the order of the revealed four, so this may be irrelevant. For instance, Cavil is the most fundamentalist of the group: he doesn’t ask questions about his existence, he follows the letter of the law as the Cylons know it. Leoben speaks in half-truths, as if he were trying to divulge information without crossing the lines (see next item). Number Six displays an emerging self-awareness and a willingness to ask esoteric questions about their existence. Number Eight regularly dissents from the Cylon ranks — even from her own model line — and has also procreated with a human. Is it this mental leap that enabled the conception of Hera to take place? Number Eight’s mental leaps might mean she is the first (or maybe the second if Number Seven managed the feat first) Cylon to possess a soul, which some might see as prerequisite for being able to procreate. We placed Galen Tyrol as Number Nine since he has also been able to produce offspring. The order of the last three is unknown, but while Tory Foster seems to have gone off the mental deep end, she’s also asking questions like “Do Cylons cry?” in the episode “Six of One,” which implies grief and a soul.
6. Fingerpointing, Cylon Style. In Season 1’s “Flesh and Bone,” Leoben told President Roslin that “Adama is a Cylon.” Could he have meant Lee and not William? Or possibly Dualla since she was an Adama when married to Lee? This adds more weight to the Final Cylon being Dualla.
7. Pithy Pythia. In Season 1 “Hand of God,” Roslin is told about the Prophecy of Pythia: “And the lords anointed a leader, to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland. And onto the leader they gave a vision of serpents numbering 2 and 10 as a sign of things to come. . .” This simply defines that there are twelve Cylons models, but the naming of them as “serpents” seem relevant. In the Classical world, Pythia was the original name of the Oracle at Delphi and described the mountain, which was considered to be the decaying body of Python, the monstrous serpent slain by Apollo. For more on serpents, see item 13.
8. That I, the son of a dear father murdered. This Associated Content article makes the case that Lee is the Final Cylon. There are a couple hints that count against this idea: Lee appears in the Last Supper photo and was also exposed to the virus on the basestar, but did not succumb to it. The earlier humanoid Cylons seem to show immunity to many human diseases, but not to the Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV). Later models may be the opposite, however, see item 9.
9. Healthy as a horse. Some viewers have ruled out President Roslin due to her cancer, but we should note that Anders was very ill with pneumonia on New Caprica, so the revealed four are susceptible to diseases, though it’s not clear whether they are susceptible to LCMV. Note that Dualla fell ill with the Mellorak infection in the episode “The Woman King.”
10. What’s in a name? It may signify nothing, but the Greek name “Anastasia” means “resurrection.” A few viewers have said that the word “dualla” is somehow connected to the Sanskrit word for “12,” but we haven’t been able to verify that connection. There’s also a connection of the word “dualla” to “doula,” a Greek word referring to a female servant or a modern term referring to a birth and labor coach. Considering Moore has admitted that he has named characters from an internet site of ancient names, placing too much importance on the meaning of Dualla’s name could be a dead end.
11. Starbuck and her “special destiny” (a.k.a. Kara’s back-up band). Leoben said of Starbuck’s destiny: “This is not your path, Starbuck. You have a different destiny. All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again. You kneel before idols and ask for guidance and you can’t see that your destiny’s already been written. Each of us plays a role, each time a different role. Maybe the last time I was the interrogator, and you were the prisoner. The players change, the story remains the same. And this time…this time, your role is to deliver my soul unto God. Do it for me. It’s your destiny, and mine.”
Several events in Starbuck’s life follow in line with the biographies of Classical heroes, who were often the offspring of a god. Like many of these heroes, Starbuck is a natural athlete, first as a pro Pyramid player and later as a hotshot Viper pilot. She is the classic larger-than-life hero with a tragic flaw, her self-destructive behaviors. Starbuck’s mother (Jocasta), who was also in the military, believed she had a special destiny to fulfill and tried, in a twisted way, to prepare Starbuck for it. Of her father, we know only that he was a pianist who left early in Starbuck’s life. Lisa has for a while conjectured that Jocasta could have conceived Kara while posted somewhere in her military duties and the truth of this is what pushed Starbuck’s father away. This would follow with the classical structure of the hero sired by a god being raised in secret until called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. Sackoff has said that “Starbuck, as we know her, is dead.” Starbuck’s “death” at the end of Season 3 also follows the Classical hero’s journey idea of the Apotheosis. We don’t think Starbuck is the Final Cylon, but rather the offspring or an avatar of one of the Lords of Kobol, most likely Aurora.
12. Aurora Avatar, Ship of Lights and Eye of Jupiter (all great band names). Lisa has in the past outlined the Starbuck-Aurora connection, but to recap, when Starbuck visits the oracle Yolanda Brenn she is given the winged Aurora figurine and the oracle reiterates verbatim what Leoben told Starbuck in “Flesh and Bone.” Also, the writers of the re-imagined series have successfully incorporated elements from the original series, but an important element yet to show up is the Ship of Lights. In the original series, according to Battlestar Wiki, the Ship of Lights is “the spacecraft used by the Beings of Light. The Ship of Lights is an immensely large and fast spacecraft of unknown but highly advanced technology.” We think the writers of the re-imagined series will incorporate this element by combining the idea of the Beings of Light into the Lords of Kobol. We doubt it’s by accident that the winged Aurora figurine looks like an angel and the Beings of Light were referred to as “Angels” in the original series. Also, we know that Starbuck has been drawing the Eye of Jupiter her entire life, and now with her return from the “dead,” she is also drawing additional white “comet” elements:
These “comet” elements bear a striking resemblance to the Ships of Light as they appeared in the original series episode “War of the Gods, Part 1” (source, Battlestar Wiki):
In Razor, the First Hybrid said: “all of this has happened before and will happen again. . . [Kara Thrace] will lead the human race to its end. She is the herald of the apocalypse. The harbinger of death. They must not follow her… My children believe I am their god.”
We usually think of “apocalypse” as referring to an ending only, but its Greek meaning is actually a “lifting of the veil” or “unveiling.” Considered in this light, Starbuck may lead humans and Cylons to a new beginning. The reference to “My children believe I am their god” possibly implies that the First Hybrid is the monotheistic god of the Cylons, and also a Lord of Kobol who became the “one jealous god [who] began to desire that he be elevated above all the other gods, and the war on Kobol began” as described in Book of Pythia. In “Wheel of Fire,” the never-filmed sequel to Galactica 1980’s finale, Starbuck is revealed to have been living on the Ship of Lights and to have become a “Guardian of the Universe.” Starbuck helps to destroy a Cylon raider, and its fiery destruction while spinning down to Earth fulfills the vision from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, who saw wheels of fire turning in the sky.
13. Closer than you think. In the establishing shot for “The Ties That Bind,” we see a brief glimpse of the Orion constellation (see here and here.) For this constellation to appear as it does, the Cylon ships have to be on an exact vector between Earth and Orion. With this in mind, could the Colonies have been located in the Magellenic Clouds or Andromeda? Galatica SitRep has a great rundown of the fleet’s possible proximity to Orion and also to Ophiuchus, and notes that Ophiuchus is the 13th zodiacal sign. Ophiuchus is a zodiacal sign because contains the Sun during the course of the year, but it is not counted as an astrological sign, and its name originally meant “serpent-holder.” The names of all the other of the Twelve Colonies correspond to signs of the zodiac.
CONCLUSIONS: So, after all of this, who do we think the Final Cylon is? Dualla. Here’s why:
- She’s not in the Last Supper photo.
- Moore did not rule her out as he has Commander Adama and President Roslin.
- Number Three may have discounted Dualla as a junior officer and therefore unimportant, necessitating her apology upon discovery in the Temple of Five.
- As a female of minority ethnicity, Dualla completes the Twelve Models as being representative(s) of humanity.
- The Final Cylon is actually Number Seven, possibly a transitional model between the two groups.
- She’s an Adama, technically.
- Like Anders, Dualla is susceptible to human disease.
- Esoteric meanings of Dualla’s name refer to resurrection and (re)birth.
- Starbuck is not the Final Cylon, but rather connected to the Ship of Lights and possibly the offspring or avatar of a Lord of Kobol.
Who do you think the Final Cylon is? Sound off in the comments.
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Got me convinced… great research…and how is your own writing coming?? 😉
Wow. I didn’t miss an episode of season one. I saw half of season two. I have not seen an episode since. I may just wait for the complete DVD set and catch up at once.
It’s #77 for me. An homage to Earth Day. Stop by if you get a chance.
Lisa,
Nice work! I hope you’re right. Maybe you should write a Galactica novel. I’d buy it!
S
I wish I liked the new BSG. I just couldn’t get into it. I stopped watching when I realized I couldn’t stand ANY of the characters. Doesn’t make it so suspenseful when you wouldn’t mind if any of them get killed off! lol
Betty: Not getting much novel writing done this week. Must keep trying, but wait! It’s Friday, BSG will be on. 🙂
Dane Bramage: Hope you can catch up. You’ve missed some good storytelling.
Scott B.: Thanks! That would be frakking fantastic.
You could write what happens when they all get to earth, since we know the fans won’t be permitted to see that. 🙁
Wow! You are good. I have watched every single episode, several more than once and missed many of your points but I buy every one. Well done!
Happy TT!
Here’s another link with some additional information.
This is a great commentary. This person has done research. I offer my own theory and explanation of the final cylon at:
http://www.briandemilio.com/battlestargalacticaseason4finalcylon/
I love this show!
Thanks Brian! It was fun to finally write down all of my thoughts on this topic. I’m definitely enjoying your article and may update mine to include the possibility that you’re correct. I hadn’t even thought of Romo Lamkin, but I do think the evidence still weighs in on Dualla.
Lisa, your commentary on the LIGHT SHIPS is cool because I did not ever see the original BSG – and I watched episode 4:4 again tonight and in the prview to next week it looked like the Leoben that comes onto Kara’s ship is helping her draw what looks like that Light Ship into her mural on the wall. What else can you tell us about the Light Ship and the imagery it uses? Like I said, I never saw the original BSG.
Brian, I’ll try to do a separate post on the Beings of Light sometime this week before Friday. In the meantime, here and here are two more interesting articles on this topic.
You make some good points that I had not thought about before, such as Anders having been sick. The more I read, the more I can’t see that any of the characters is the last one. I suppose that is the point. 🙂
For me, the text I found of the Hybrid talking to Kendra Shaw (from Razor) the final one is described as “from the shadows, clawing toward the light, through much turmoil and agony” I’m paraphrasing. To me, this does not describe Lee, Gaeta, or Dualla. They are having no apparent turmoil or painful evolution as many of the characters are. In this premise alone (of turmoil and “clawing toward the light”) many others can be considered. Starbuck is too obvious. The Admiral is impossible with the children and parent issues. Roslin I suppose is possible but I don’t believe it. Baltar is possible but I don’t believe it. I can’t remember if it was this site or another, that said Starbuck encountered the “Light Beings” and they are the ones who saved her, showed her earth and fixed her ship and sent her back to the fleet. That’s why I want to know more about the Light Ship and if anyone thinks they will play a role in the series.
You’ve forgotten a very significant point in support of your theory that Dualla is the final Cylon. As of yet, she has never directly encountered a Cylon Raider, which evidently won’t fire on one of the final five, but Starbuck has repeatedly engaged Raiders. Also, Dualla has never been directly threatened by one of the Centurians, which might logically share the Raider’s restriction. Baltar, however, has been repeatedly threatened by Centurians.
Good details, definitely, but I’m not sure what you mean by it? Dualla did actually directly encounter Centurions in the episode “Valley of Darkness.” She was the only one of a particular group left alive when the Cylons raided the Galactica.
Starbuck repeatedly engaging Cylons and being fired upon says to me that she’s *not* the Final Cylon. It might be that Raiders (and only raiders? what about Centurions?) only avoid harming the Final Five *after* they’ve been activated, which could be the case considering Anders faced many as a resistance fighter only to have a Centurion turn away after his activation to self-awareness of his Cylon status. If that’s the case, and let’s say that Starbuck is a Cylon, then she hasn’t been activated yet. I do like the idea of there being two Starbucks — who she was before going into the nebula and who she is now after returning. That would circumvent Moore’s statements about the Last Supper photo as well as be consistent with Space Western’s dissection of the photo.
I’m not sure what to think of Baltar, honestly. To make him be a Cylon seems a bit obvious, but also he’s sort of a character representing chaos, much like Loki. There’s the notion of the “Lower Demon” which Battlestar Wiki says is one of the Sharons, but I keep thinking the title fits Baltar better.
Lisa makes a good point, I was reminded how odd it was that she was the only one left alive when the centurions came through the ship.
But also, remember on New Caprica when Sharon/Athena went to find the launch keys for the raptors and the centurion like stepped up to her and checked her out and then let her pass. As I’ve now stated on my site, it could be the raiders only began “scanning” in such manner after the Final Five became self-aware. But who can know for sure? Lisa is right because Anders faced many centurions on Caprica and they didn’t leave him alone.
This site and the “Ship of Light” stuff I never knew about before. I think there’s a whole new element no one has considered before. The whole “Lords of Kobol” and the deleted scene from season one with the priestess reading from Colonial scripture that “one of the Lord wished to be exalted above all others” and that’s when the exodus began. That one “Lord of Kobol” could be the driving force behind Baltar. Another “Lord of Kobol” could be the driving force behind Starbuck – because before she died, she recognized it was NOT Leoben that showed her her mother’s death… and she said before the crash “their waiting for me” and we’ve assumed that meant the cylons but what if it is the Ship of Light people (ie: the Lords of Kobol)?
WOW, I just got finished watching some old BSG episodes from the 70s – I’d never seen them.
Prepare to be rocked! I’ve explained in full detail on my site. I have no doubt now the Beings of Light are coming into the show in some form. And now, many things that made no sense before I understand totally.
Thanks to this site for putting me in that direction. Lisa, I’ve linked back to you for the information you have here on the Ship of Light!
If an Adama is the final cylon, what about the dead son? Is it possible that he was resurrected and is yet to show himself? Think of the impact that will have on William Adama, Lee Adama, and Starbuck? This would be the ultimate in a resurrection theme that runs through the whole series. It would also be a twist worthy of Ronald D Moore…Food for thought…
agreed x1000000000000 with the last comment. The final cylon is ZAK ADAMA.
At least she doesn’t have a childhood. Zak, Lee, etc all had fathers who saw them grow up.
None of the “7” know who the Final 5 are (save Three), so when Leoben told Roslin “Adama’s a Cylon” he was clearly just messing with her. Plus, even if he did know, and was telling the truth (and there’s no indication of that) Lee wasn’t married to Dee yet. So she wasn’t an Adama.
Also, there’s no way to know which Cylon D’Anna apologized to. It’s extremely unlikely D’anna even knows who Dee is. Dee wasn’t even on the ground during the occupation. The only known F5 that D’Anna’s ever interacted with personally is Sam, who she very nearly killed on Caprica. That seems like a far better reason to apologize then simply dismissing someone as a lower officer. Besides, Sam is a lower officer to. If that were her reasoning for apologizing to Dee, she should also have apologized to Sam.
The “ethnic diversity” argument is solid, though.
I’m not saying it’s not Dee, she could very well be, but I don’t really think there’s much there to back that up. Plus it would be a very boring choice, in my opinion.
I agree with it being Dee, and that she’s known all along. She’s the one with the PLAN the show has always professed to.
Every major fleet decision to head to Earth has been helped/nudged along by Dualla. She and Billy kissing helped get Adama to run in the first place. She convinced him to go back to Kobal to reunite the fleet. She found Lee after the Blackbird was destroyed. She and two other cylons conspired to rig the election –didn’t that seem in character for her — to assure that the fleet wouldn’t stay at New Caprica. When it didn’t work, she saw the invasion first through the fog on the dradis, just in time to get the fleet to leave, assuring they could come back to rescue the Colonials. While it wasn’t shown, she probably helped convince Lee to bring Pegasus back to help the Exodus. She was a facillitator for Kara/Lee at the same time being a reason they couldn’t be together. Her arguement with Lee helped push him out of the military and into a position of politics, where he could act as a check on Roslin and be a force to head for Earth when Roslin dies.
She’s the final one — the non-sleeper whos been there the whole time — and has been working to get everyone to Earth.
Great comment, Matt. I was just formulating a response to Ryan, but you beat me to it. I love the idea of Dee not being a sleeper, that she knew about being the Fifth all along and has had a plan.
Added to what Matt said, Dualla and D’Anna (Number Three) indeed have met. Dualla guided D’Anna around the Galactica in the episode Final Cut. D’Anna actually interviews Dualla about why she joined the military.
Your first point was excellent. But you dropped Doc Cottle from the discussion after that. Over the past few episodes I have become convinced that he is #7.
My logic:
As a writer myself, the character I would choose as #7 would be Doc Cotter. He has the power of life and death over everyone on Galactica.
What if Laura isn’t really dying of cancer? Who says she is? Cotter. What if he is killing her slowly to make it appear that she is dying of cancer? Dramatically this makes perfect sense.
Natalie died under his watch. He was in the perfect position to sabotage the human/cylon alliance.
When Laura has the vision of herself dying, there are four people in the room. The camera slides past Cottle and focuses on the other 3. But Cottle is there.
Gothique, you might be right about Doc Cottle, but I’ll be disappointed if he turns out to be it. I just don’t find his character to be all that interesting. While he certainly has the means, his character is marched out whenever they have a medical storyline. Have we seen him in any other capacity?
Thanks Lisa. I forgot she D’Anna interviewed Dee in S1. That doesn’t really change my argument, though. Dismissing someone as a lower officer seems like a bizarre and weak reason to apologize to someone, and she would as I said owe the same apology to Sam if that were the case. Also, if Dee somehow knew that Adama witnessing her kissing Billy (and knew somehow that Adama was there) would help him to run and that breaking up with Lee would lead to him leaving the military and lead to Zarek offering him a job which would also lead to him one day becoming the President she would have to be magic or something. Which would be very stupid. Lisa, the way you feel about Cottle, is the way I feel about Dee, which is why I’m so resistant. She just doesn’t interest me at all. I’d much prefer Cottle, or if we go female, I like Admiral Cain or Kendra Shaw.
I’d be all for Kendra Shaw. I wasn’t particularly happy that they killed her off in Razor. However, I think the hybrid at the end of Razor might have had a different reaction to her if Shaw were the Fifth. I’m torn about Cain. Did you see my other post on Gaeta?
Also, I just noticed that Tory is not in the Last Supper photo. I have no idea if that’s relevant or not, but it does seem odd to me that all the other members of the Fab Four are in that photo except for her.
Lisa, I actually agree with you about how uninteresting Cottle is, but that could be a direct result of him actually being a cylon. Of the original 7, the ones, fours and fives (ie; the non-alliance cylons) are far less interesting than the others precisely because they are more one-dimensional …more true to the original cause of wiping out humanity. A textbook case of the banality of evil – except for the fact that Cottle has always struck me as a little sinister! It could be great fun taking him all the way in that direction over the remaining episodes – Dr. Mengele in space…but the magnitude of the horrors he may have perpetrated not obvious until after the fact. I don’t think I’ve seen a more disturbing film than Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer – and that character was certainly banal. I trust Moore and his writers to make such a twist work extremely well.
Well, back to the drawing board. It’s not Dee, Gaeta, or Cottle. They’re all in the fleet. If the F5 can download, then possible suspects are Cain, Kendra, Callie, Ellen, Zak, or Billy. If they can’t, then the only person I can think of is Bill’s wife, who though we’re told is dead, we don’t know that for sure. And we never witnessed it.
Ryan, well you could make that argument and I’m not ruling that out. However, having Zak be F5 would be very disappointing as I think it needs to at least be a character who has had some involvement in the series in more than just flashbacks/backstory. His whole reason for being was to create intra- and inter-personal conflict for Starbuck and Lee. Cain and Ellen are such loose canons that it really depends on what role the writers want F5 to play — a foil or a leader? Kendra, Cally or Billy, any of those could work, I suppose. I don’t know, though, except for Cally, making F5 a previously dead character seems a bit like a cop out.
All that being said, Dualla made a reappearance in this episode after having been significantly absent in the past few. She was right in the middle of things, much more than Gaeta. I’m not writing her off yet. If she’s already been triggered, perhaps a while ago, she could just have a good poker face.
The writers are throwing out a lot of false leads (as they should) and it’s impossible to tell which one is actually a true clue: Dualla pops up after having been gone; a whole episode practically devoted to Gaeta; this last episode they mentioned Doc Cottle as if to say “Don’t forget about him!”; Lee steps up to the plate in ways a little bit out of character; and Romo Lamkin is oddly not around.
Also, in the previews for the mid-season premiere we saw Tigh holding a gun to someone and then audio of him saying something like “You’re the fifth.” It was probably just editing to make the two go together, but to me that person looked like it could be Baltar, Lee or Dualla — definitely not a blond, so it’s not Starbuck in that scene. Also, in the end of the episode where they see a devastated Earth, didn’t the Pythia prophecy say that the dying leader would never see Earth? I have to look that up, but it could mean that they have in fact not found Earth. I kind of hope they haven’t, otherwise we’re in for the latter half of the last season being a re-imagining of Galactica 1980. I suppose if anyone can make that work it’s RDM, but even for him that’d be a feat.
If Three says the fifth is not in the fleet, then I take her word for it. If she’s lying, then that’s basically a big “frak you” from Ron Moore, and it would really ruin things for me. Gaeta said the constellations in the sky match what we would expect from Earth. Also, the ruined city looked like New York. If it’s not Earth then that’s an incredible cheat as well. I’m sort of just willing to believe what they’re telling us.
I had actually forgotten that Three said that about F5 not being in the fleet. That does make this more difficult. Have you seen this post on some interesting speculation?
If F5 was on the basestar, then s/he would technically not be in the fleet. Also, this could be referring to a presumed dead character like Cally, Billy, Cain or Shaw.
Also, I did double-check the Pythia Prophecy, and as I remembered the dying leader is not supposed to ever see Earth. In the Hand of God episode, Elosha said “She also wrote that the new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the new land.” If that’s the case, then showing Roslin standing on “Earth” has to be a fakeout.
At the end of that last episode, was I the only one saying “You blew it up! Oh, damn you!”? I keep waiting to hear Tigh say “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty toaster.”
I have a new post up about Revelations.
Crewman Specialist Cally Henderson is the final cylon model.
I have a new post about the season 4 opener.
well the final cylon is Ellen Tigh (Sometimes a Great Notion S04E11)
Saul has a flash back at the end of that episode
Dualla blew her head off in this episode too (lol)
I was shock when i know it was Ellen coz she was killed back in season 3