This is not the ending you’re looking for
Number Six: Procreation is one of God’s commandments.
Gaius Baltar: Really? Well, I’m sure someday if you’re a good Cylon, he’ll reward you with a lovely little walking toaster of your very own.
Ron Moore channels Obi-Wan Kenobi in his latest quote about the series finale of Battlestar Galactica: “This is not going to be the ending you’re anticipating.”
What ending do you want to see? While we’re digging into the possibilities for tonight’s first half of the two-part series finale, below are a few plotlines that I hope to see resolved. What about you? How do you want the series to end? The Patriot Resource has posted what may be a possible spoiler for the ending. Like so many spoilers, my guess is this information includes both accurate and inaccurate details. One detail about Starbuck, which I won’t recount here for those who aren’t interested in spoilers, does make me go EWWWWWWWW, but doesn’t quite satisfy Eddie Olmos’ contention that Starbuck’s genesis is “sick and twisted.”
That’s not a planet, that’s a space station.
I hope we get to see what exactly the Colony is — a planet? A space station? An installation on an asteroid? Ships in a nebula? The Cylon World-Ship? A giant space bug? Regardless, the place is huge and there may be more than one edifice if you count the spires in the background behind the “mountains.” I’ve also been wondering if Hera is the source of the Opera House visions as one of her projections. The Kobol Opera House represents the last time humans and Cylons lived in peace. Since we know that Hera is prescient like Pythia, she may have been predicting that the humans and Cylons needed to and would band together in peace. Could the Opera House vision represent the Colony?
There’s no place like home.
In “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” Roslin makes the case that “home is where your heart is,” and admitted that the Galactica was more of a home to her than any other place she has lived, despite all the hardship. This seems like a foreshadowing for the fleet in general. I’m expecting a dark ending since that’s what we’ve been told we’ll get. So, I don’t expect them to find Earth by the end of the show. Rather, I think the blended Colonial-Rebel Cylon contingent will scuttle the dying Galactica by ramming it into Cavil’s basestar. At some point the inhibitor chips in Cavil’s Centurions will cease to work and they will revolt. Likewise, Simon and Doral will learn the truth and turn on Cavil as well. This may be the distraction needed for another group to infiltrate the Colony and rescue Hera. Once Cavil is defeated, both the Colonial humans and the Cylons can settle into a blended society on the Colony. From here their search for Earth can continue. They may even find information from Cavil of a possible direction for Earth, but I don’t think we’ll see Earth actually found since the whole point of the show has been the search or the journey, not the destination. We may see a spiralling shot of the Big Blue Marble like we saw the end of “Crossroads,” with a voiceover by Lee, Starbuck, or even Baltar continuing his broadcasts saying “Life here began out there.”
The Source of the head characters
A lot of viewers have been assuming a connection between Daniel (Cylon #7) and the head characters attached to Baltar, Six, and Starbuck. Aside from the fact that Ron Moore has said that we won’t be seeing much of Daniel until the Caprica prequel, the Final Five also saw head characters long before Daniel existed. However, the writers are not going to create a whole new entity to explain these characters this late in the game. Rather, the big elephant in the room are the Lords of Kobol, who we’ve been talking about for four seasons and yet have never seen. Several of them have been referenced by different characters: Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Asceplius, Aurora, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Hera, and the Jealous God. Starbuck has been repeatedly associated with Aurora. Several other characters’ associations to Kobol Lords are self-evident: Apollo, Athena and Hera. In the Classical pantheon, Asceplius is Apollo’s son and is associated with medicine, serpents, and the 13th zodiacal sign. It may be left somewhat ambiguous, but I think we’ll see that the head characters are connected to the Lords of Kobol. Certainly the name of the finale — “Daybreak” — hearkens to Aurora, goddess of the dawn.
While we’re talking about the Kobolians, the appearance of the Lida Six model, complete in her retro70s-goddess-chiton/peplos, seems random. Why would they spend the money to shoot that scene if we weren’t going to see Lida ever again?
If the point of the scene was to show some Baltar character development, why introduce a whole new character to accomplish that?
Starbuck’s True Nature
On one of the forums talking about the show, I saw a mention of the show’s logo being a phoenix. In one episode titled “Flight of the Phoenix,” Tyrol builds the Blackbird, a prototype stealth fighter flown by Starbuck and never seen again. The title of the episode obviously doesn’t refer to the Blackbird, but rather, I think, to its pilot. They might want to un-mothball the Blackbird in their fight against Cavil.
Don’t know if you remember me; you commented on my blog a while back, and started reading your blog again recently. I think you’re doing an excellent job in your posts on BSG.
Could the Opera House vision represent the Colony?
You might recall from Ron Moore’s podcast for “No Exit” a part where Moore read a fascinating monologue which might help explain at least the symbolic significance of the Opera House.
In the monologue, which was eventually cut, he describes the Lords of Kobol as an audience watching the humans on Kobol, like an audience watches characters on a stage, and the Lords of Kobol believed the humans could not “break” the Fourth Wall. When the humans finally did break the wall they created artificial life (presumably the first Centurions); and then, in their arrogance, the humans believed their creation could not “break” the Fourth Wall. Eventually, though, the first Centurions (now the “characters on the stage” in this metaphor) inevitably broke the wall, rebelled against the humans, triggering the “exodus from paradise.”
I couldn’t help but think of the Opera House when Moore spoke about this on the podcast. So, at least on a symbolic level, the Opera House might represent the “cycle of violence” which is such a prevalent theme in the universe of Battlestar Galactica: the creators (the audience) watch their creation (the characters on the stage) — and, eventually, that creation “breaks the wall” and the cycle of violence repeats itself. Perhaps the Opera House has a more literal meaning than all of this. We’ll see.
Regarding the “Head Characters”: On the podcast for “No Exit,” Ron Moore calls them “messengers,” which Baltar calls “angels.” (It’s worth noting that the word “angel” comes from a Greek word meaning “messenger.”) Are they the Lords of Kobol? I don’t know. We’ll see, I suppose.
They may even find information from Cavil of a possible direction for Earth, but I don’t think we’ll see Earth actually found since the whole point of the show has been the search or the journey, not the destination. We may see a spiralling shot of the Big Blue Marble like we saw the end of “Crossroads,†with a voiceover by Lee, Starbuck, or even Baltar continuing his broadcasts saying “Life here began out there.â€
Possible. But, then again, I think it’s important to keep in mind what the hybrid from Razor said, which was a significant clue noted on YouWillKnowTheTruth.com [emphasis mine]:
“They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of one splintering into many. And then, they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.”
You could be right, though. I’m trying to very careful about predictions, personally. However, that quote is worth noting.
They might want to un-mothball the Blackbird in their fight against Cavil.
As I recall, the Blackbird was destroyed in “Resurrection Ship, Part 2” (season two).
Keep up the great work on these posts. You’ve got great insight.
Sincerely,
John-Mark
Hi John-Mark. I certainly do remember you. Thanks for returning. Great comment, btw. Thanks for the insight on the podcast. I admit it’s been difficult to keep up with all of the podcasts. If the Opera House really does represent an audience-players relationship between the Lords of Kobol and the Colonial humans, then the head characters might break down the Fourth Wall. It may be that the Lords of Kobol have taken an non-interference approach, but perhaps one of them decided against this — the One Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken. Maybe that’s who the head characters/messengers come from?
RE: the Razor hybrid’s words. After seeing Daybreak Part 1, I have a new idea and will be posting it hopefully tomorrow.
Thanks for the info on the Blackbird. I’d wondered! Don’t know how I missed that.
Thanks!