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The Unified-BSG Theory / All Along the Watchtower
Submitted by The Avante Guardian on March 28, 2007 - 8:20pm.
- WARNING! - SPOILER ALERT - BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON 3 FINALE "Crossroads Part II" SPOILER ALERT - WARNING! -
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Ye have been warned - ArrRRrr - if ye haven't seen the season finale episode titled "Crossroads Part II"
(aired Sunday March 25th at 10pm on Sci-Fi in the U.S and Space in Canada - Ed)
..of this seasons BSG as yet, then..
EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!EJECT!
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Right, still here? Excellent. Take your clothes off., slower.. slower..
sorry, relapse.
The 2 main Questions that occur are:
1. What happened to/with Starbuck?
2. Who is the 5th member of the Cylon Final Five?
^Raise-Eyebrow.
Hmmmmmmmmmm(n)
What do we know?
We know Starbuck appears at the end of the episode and that she is returning to the series next year.
We can suspect this with a great degree of probability because
Ronald D. Moore has been quoted as stating Starbuck is coming back next year.
He and/or she previously also implied Katee wasn't coming back to BSG, but according to Moore, if we examine their comments closely we'll find that what was said were things like "Katee is already looking for new work" that while "technically true", is not quite the same thing as saying she wasn't returning to BSG.
Apparently she -was- looking for other work, it's just work that won't conflict with BSG.
(Moore claims) they deliberately chose their words/statements carefully so as it would *appear* she was leaving, yet at the same time, their statements wouldn't be a complete lie.
Two points for that subterfuge Mr. Moore, except that I knew Starbuck wasn't really dead.
Even if I did predict earlier this year she was going to be the one you killed and even if you did name the episode that you killed her in ("Maelstrom" - Ed), after me.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
*tug down on purple shirt*
Sorry, where were we..
Conclusion: Starbuck is really back.
but in what capacity?
There are 3 likely possibilities:
Theory number 1: Starbuck ejected and survived the explosion of her Viper in "Maelstrom" and has returned.
If she's coming back as the original Starbuck then they'll need to explain how she survived the explosion in "Maelstrom".
Let's assume she ejected, was picked up, went off and had a cathartic experience with someone, and it was terribly wonderful and multi-orgasmic and don't you wish we had video footage of that instead of that Paris Hilton video ..and then Starbuck was returned by whomever rescued her.
The important question then is how did she get ahold of a new Viper? and without anyone noticing?
Point being, Original-Starbuck-Returning seems like it has quite a few large logistics problems to me.
You could argue that in the confusion she simply grabbed a Viper from Galactica and no one noticed, but that's a bit of a stretch, because she'd have had to have been hiding *someplace* on Galactica prior to taking the new viper.
Assuming it is a new viper.
We may be able to answer a key question here:
Does anyone have an image capture of Starbuck's viper from the season finale?
It occurs, that we may be able to identify whether it correlates to her original "Maelstrom" viper, a Battlestar Galactica viper, or another colonial viper.
AISI Which viper she is flying gives us a big clue into where she was.
Until we can get a photo comparison, at this point, I say we move on from the original-Starbuck-returns theory, and temporarily call it "unresolved and unlikely at this point"
why? because on close analysis it requires much more elaborate explanation than theory number 2.
Which is..
Theory number 2: Starbuck was fried in her viper and was resurrected.
Consequently she is the 5th member of the final five, she is one of the "special" (hybrid/advanced) Cylons.
This one is an easier fit.
This theory would hold that post her "Maelstrom" Viper hit, Starbuck died and resurrected, she was then informed of her true identity and purpose and
one of 2 things occured.
1. she was inserted back into the Galactica convoy by the Cylons.
2. she's still soaking on the resurrection ship.
Mathematically problematically Cylon-Starbuck and the elements of Maelstrom + Crossroads P2, work with BOTH options 1 and 2.
Theory Number 3: Lee is the 5th cylon.
This one appears at surface value to make the most sense of them all in terms of "simple explanations" because his seeing Starbuck-in-the-viper could be explained as a neuro-connected "vision" sent to him from Cylon HQ.
sent to him by a rather hot resurrection-vat bubble-bath soaking Starbuck.
(we know Starbuck is returning, so she is present in some form, someplace)
However Lee as Cylon on close-inspection contains a rather large flaw, wouldn't that make both Lee and Starbuck Cylons for a total of 6 Final 5's?
Logically we'll assume Lee and Starbuck can't both be Cylons.
Lee's view of Starbuck then requires another explanation.
and there is one.
We haven't established Baltar as a Cylon yet and he has that neuro-connection to Six, who we know is a Cylon.
Ergo it would be consistent that Lee and Baltar (both as humans) share the same apparent capability to receive neurovisions from Cylons.
What's my point?
*scribble* *scribble* *erase* carry the 2.
Preliminary Conclusion: I think at this point, I'm going to come down here:
1. Starbuck as the final fifth Cylon.
2. Starbuck broadcast the music "All Along The Watchtower" to the other 4.
That's right up her sense of frackin humour alley, and it would corroborate her line that "she's been to Earth". It's a popular song on Earth. I certainly love Jimi Hendrix version of it, and come to think of it, I could see Starbuck smokin a fat one with Hendrix himself.
and
3. Lee has a Baltar-like symbiotic relationship with Cylon-Starbuck.
I'm beginning to like this unification-theory best.
because the one stickler here was that the most obvious choice as Final Cylon would be President Laura Roslin (owing to her power position and Cylon shared dreams)
However, If Lee is linked to Starbuck as Baltar is linked to Six then _specific_ Colonials/Humans may have a common symbiotic/neuro-link to _specific_ Cylon models.
and that would explain why the President shares dreams with cylons.
She'd then under this theory be the human connected-counterpart of the Cylons whose dreams she shared, and that, would eliminate her as the 5th Cylon, it would eliminate Lee as the 5th Cylon, and it would eliminate Baltar as the 5th Cylon.
All told, that would eliminate Starbuck's major contenders as final 5 Cylon, explain their experiences, and corroborate this theory.
(what theory? - Ed)
Maelstrom's Unified-BSG-Theory of course.
(I had to ask - Ed)
1. That Starbuck is the 5th Cylon.
2. That she broadcast the music to the other 4.
3. That she got the music from Earth. (or an Earth database).
4. That Lee is Starbuck's human symbiotic counterpart, just as Baltar is the human symbiot to Six's Cylon, just as Roslin is to her Cylon counterpart.
5. That colonials/humans have a symbiotic/bio-neural connection to cylon counterparts.
---
(6. possibly because humans bioengineered cylons based on specific dna patterns though as an aside strictly from a writing/concept perspective, one could conceive that the twist might be that ultimately (*wait for it* - Ed) cylons bioengineered humans)
(dun-dun-duuunh - Ed)
Go Away Ed.
Anyway, I present points 1 to 5 for your consideration, as a preliminary unified-BSG-theory that is self-contained and that I believe is consistent with evidence seen thus far on BSG.
(and point 6 as an unrelated in progress external wild-theory with extreme retro-fit requirements - Ed)
I feel close, may even be onto something (though we doubt it - Ed) in any case, I think I'll leave it there for now.
*P.S if anyone has an image capture of Starbuck's viper at the end of "Crossroads Part II" and a capture of her Viper prior to the explosion in "Maelstrom" it would be greatly appreciated if you could upload them so we could examine and cross-reference them to discern which Viper she's flying.
And that's my (current) BSG-unification theory.
G'night,
Michael X. Maelstrom / The Avante Guardian.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Earth, Sometimes.
»
BSG Theory #2: Count Iblis & The Ship of Lights.
BSG Theory #2, as sugged by some online friends: This could be leading to a re-imagining of the original 79 BSG story-arc as seen in BSG:TOS episode "Experiments in Terra".
I went over the original 79 BSG "Experiments in Terra" episode arc..
(The Count Iblis Continuum *cough* Trelaine *cough* Q *cough - Ed)
and Count Iblis and/or the ship of lights (TSOL) does appear to follow Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd Law:
re: "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".
In the original Experiments in Terra episode, he/it/they ARE capable of plucking a viper and/or person from space and/or moving a viper great distances in space.
Question that has been bothersome: how does Starbuck get a new Viper?
(when they re-aired Crossroads P2 on Wednesday I examined the Viper Starbuck is flying in Crossroads Part 2, it looks like it never saw battle compared to Apollo's, as does her helmet, comparatively they look like they were formerly on display in the Ford intergalactic space museum, so where did she get this Viper?)
Answer: RDM could be going with uber-advanced-technology aboard Count Iblis' ship or aboard TSOL.
(whichever picked Starbuck up - Ed)
note: in the original BSG Iblis was excommunicated from TSOL.
id est. he/they could conceivably have a matter reconfiguration device similar to,
o Star Trek food dispensers
o matter-to-energy-to-matter Transporters
o and matter reconfiguration on Holodeck.
..yet more advanced than those found in Star Trek in order to be able to reconstruct a damaged Viper.
Accepting the former, they would therefore likewise have a long range transporter to "teleport" objects or people, such as Starbuck.
(as according to RDM's _former_ show, Star Trek, matter reconfiguration and transporting were initially based on the same technology - Ed)
In the BSG:TOS EiT episode, Apollo (originally written to be Starbuck! -Ed) is brought aboard TSOL and sent on a mission to Terra. He is also "teleported" quite a distance in space in his Viper.
The one problem I have had with Crossroads P2 and Starbuck's statement , is that IF she's really there and not in Apollo's mind, it seems too early yet for Starbuck to know where Earth is AND to be taking the fleet to Earth.
yet in the original BSG:TOS EiT episode, it turns out _not_ to be Terra.
I'm liking this original BSG episode "re-imagining" theory more and more.
The Avante Guardian. ---- Einstein's Hair^2 //Approved.
Finally watched the BSG finale
At long last I've watched all of the episodes of this year's season of BSG and was finally able to read your theories about what it all means. I do think that your lines of reasoning are sound. I have the feeling that we're going to find out Starbuck is a Cylon, but I'm not so sure about Lee, although your idea of some sort of connection between pairs is intriguing.
The fact that the crew is hearing a song from Earth and that Starbuck has said she's been there does make you consider that there's a link between those two facts.
Remembering that episode from the original BSG series when they returned to Earth I vaguely recall that the scenery of the futuristic buildings was shot at Man and his World which was the remnants of Montreal's 1967 Expo. Does anyone else remember that?
C.X.
BSG Expo
Remembering that episode from the original BSG series when they returned to Earth I vaguely recall that the scenery of the futuristic buildings was shot at Man and his World which was the remnants of Montreal's 1967 Expo. Does anyone else remember that?
Nah. I gave up on the original series long before it ended so I never saw this episode. Never knew that they filmed it at MahW as I would have liked to see that.
~ Lazarus ~
BSG on Earth
Hiya,
Yes, I remember that. One episode of the original Galactica took place in an abandoned alien city, and it was filmed in and around the Man and His World pavilions that still were in existence at the time.
Similarly, an episode of Buck Rogers used footage from the site, and the white tower-like pavilion (forget which country) was used in stock footage to portray one of the buildings of New Chicago.
As far as Crossroads II goes, there's no doubt in my mind that Starbuck is one of the Final Five. Baltar is not, because 1. blood tests have proven that he is human 2. the Cylons themselves have said that he's human 3. he was immune to the disease that wiped out the crew of the base star a few episodes prior.
Blue Jean -- GP/approved -- Beware of Frog!
"Counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor... Death's too good for them!" - Vogon Captain, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I'm glad I didn't dream it
I poked around a bit and found this interesting analysis of which pavillions were used in the 1978 episode entitled Greetings from Earth, part 2:
http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/expo67/battlestar-galactica.htm
The tall pavillion that you remembered was the British pavillion.
Quintet!
I forgot to mention the one movie I always knew that was shot using Expo as a backdrop was Quintet. I remember because at the time it was being filmed, with Paul Newman as star, it was mentioned on the evening newscasts. The big difference here is that Quintet also featured a frozen/snowy setting which made the choice all the more appropriate. It was years before I ended up actually seeing the movie which was a futuristic SF thriller.
It is even mentioned in the IMDB listing: www.imdb.com/title/tt0079770/
~ Lazarus ~
I was going to mention Quintet
For some reason, that movie came to mind after I had posted my comment, but I couldn`t remember the title. Thanks for reminding me.
I remember watching it one late night on television and I thought the film looked good, but the story wasn`t very engaging so it`s not a film I`d recommend unless you`re a) interested in seeing Expo 67 buildings or b) curious to see Paul Newman in a science fiction movie!
C.X.
Quintet trivia: A Game!?!?
I remember Quintent as the movie theatre i was working at in the 70' played it for two weeks. I actually enjoyed it.
The real weird thing about that film is they had a giveaway of a gane that was based on the film. If you can ever find it, it is the most confusing game I have evr seen, and I play Avlon Hill, D&D, and even the most obscure computer games. (Anyone remember 'Guns and Butter"?), and this one even stumped my boss who had his PHD in physics. But that is another story.
And bringing it back to BSG, if you whink of the original series and the Cylons, wouldn't Kitt from Knightrider be a stealth Cylon? Or has that been brought up here before?
Bobb
What do we want?
Time Travel!
When do we want it?
Yesterday!
Quintet Give-away
I never knew that there was a Quintet give-away game that they gave to movegoers. Cool idea though. I actually don't recall any movies having give-away gadgets.
Does anyone know of any other examples? I know that the Japanese used to give movie programs for movie audiences. Any these were nice slick color bound paper mini mags. I've got 2 from two of the Planet of the Apes movies. (Wish I could read them though.
).
This may actually be a great idea for studios trying to differentiate their product from pirated versions. Collectors may want to fork over to get the big screen experience AND a collectible toy. Seems to work for McDonalds and their 'Happy meals'.
~ Lazarus ~
Lee Adama
1st rule in writing cheesy TV shows -- always produce the most dramatic result, regardless of facts or preconditions.
It's totally Adama. People have to remember that this series is ficitional and the writers can of course do whatever they wish, but they tend to go in the direction of the most dramatic(one low-light was the Helo "you cant do that on TV!" cause it's genocide episode), and they've certianly been hinting in Adama's direction.
That being said, if you ask me, by the simple rule I just stated, it won't be the old man. They'll push you and push you in that direction until it's finally revealed that the 5th and final cylon is:
LEE ADAMA
Gods, can you imagine the 90210-style dramatic fall-out from that one !? The old man would work, but Lee would be too juicy to pass up, and I don't think the writers will be able to resist. I mean just the plot line of the old man having to cope with a cylon as a son, the death of his one son prior, his failed marriage etc., may cause people's heads to explode.
I think in the end, it will be revealed everyone on some level has cylon blood -- the whole "everything is happening again" plotline. That is, they'll find earth, the cylons will be destroyed but not without revealing everyone is a cylon on some level (through half-bloods mixing in the general gene pool), and they'll return to Kobol. Then they'll destroy all evidence that they have any cylon bloodline connections, and the cycle can be repeated for them to return as the 12 tribes/colonies once the whole radiation thing goes away on the planets (circa +4000 years). Repeat as necessary.
Possible BSG ending?
Call it intuition or whatever, but while watching tonights episode when Lee said he doesn't know why he is quitting the military; I started to think, what if the real Galactica came to earth some 10,000 years ago? and the cylons have been trying to find them ever since? In hopes that they will be able to find earth and finally wipe out humanity, the cylons make perfect copies of the Galactica refugees in hopes that they will be able to somehow figure out how the original humans escaped to earth. Kind of like retracing your steps.
Now here's my idea of what happens. the Cara Thrace being the one who finds earth but also brings about the destruction of the Galactica finds out the truth that they are all cylons. (the cylons reproduced humans too well) she tells Bill Adama who turns the Galactica's weapons on the refugee ships just before self distructing the Galactica.
The only thing that doesn't quite fit is who is the "5th" cylon, If I am right it would have to be someone significant to the concept of reproducing humanity, this mind frack is what sends Lucy Lawless into a psycotic psudo-releigious state and ultimately gets boxed.
I really don't know about
I really don't know about the final cylon but the only two Adama' it could be are Zach and Joseph. Anyway here's what I think will happen when they get to Earth. It was once populated by Cylons and humans, one in command and the other slaves, which I don't know. But they get there and the place is a wreck because they killed each other and destroyed the planet. So they decide, for each others sake, to live together with one God (I'm not religious by the way). The final five I believe left Earth with the 8 humans and settled on Cobol and had a go at each other again so they went their separate ways. And here we are again, the cycle that keeps happening again and again. What do you think?
arc story theory
my theory is thus...
kara went to earth through the nebula, the fleet go to earth through normal space using jumps - the difference being the nebulas gravity acts as a wormhole with associated time dilation. she arrives at earth in the past (of their current time). she is the harbinger of death because by her going there through the nebula she allows the cylons (leoban) to follow her and find out where earth is. they go there through the nebula (ie into the past) and destroy humanity on earth. Kara returns to the fleet (she is now a hybrid - ill explain in a mo) but the fleet choose not to listen to her and eventually jump there way to earth - they find it desimated (because the cylons have destroyed it through the nebula in the past) they eventually realize they need to listen to kara and go back through the nebula to earth. they arrive at earth as the cylons are strating the fight. they all blow each other up and make the earth uninhabitable, the cylons and humans that are left make peace and flee to a new planet to make a home - this will be kobol (a place where gods and humans lived in harmony for a time). eventually they will split again (into 13??) and go off to their respective colonies...etc etc
i think that is the main story arc. i belive that kara (or possibly rosslin) is pithia. So kara writes the scrolls when she is in earth past and then they get past down to the present day, hence it is not religion but simply her journal.
Kara was *human* before she went through the nebula, but she died and was ressurected by a higher tech on earth (one that greystoke seems to have invented in the upcoming film). She mentions lots of things to suggest this - about feeling like shes not attactched to her body. Of *sensing* the direction that earth is - something the cylons quote that only the hybrids (in the baths) can do.
the fifth? not sure! most obviously looks like Baltar but i believe he is actually their creator rather than a cylon (as the human form seems to have been created byhumans - greystoke) not the cylons themselves suggesting that they merely stole the tech from humans. I t hought it was roslin for a while - simply because in the original series the final one was the one who tried to split the fleet and get them to follow him instead of adams - something only laura has done.
now with the clues i wonder if its hera.
anyway thats mostly it - what you think?
pps - i also thought that baltar was killed with caprica 6 in the original attacks in the mini series. that they both died but he ressurected somewhere in his house (i belive he maybe greystone) and that because they both died at the same time their conciousnousses became mixed so part of her got downloaded back into him and part of him into her hence why they see each other in their heads.
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