Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Battlestar Galactica: Season 3

"The links require me to join the web group first. I can't get to the pictures."

Ah, hell... I just don't know how else to post those things... (Frank Frazetta did at least 4 paintings to promote the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. i guess they figured, if they wanted to compete with the production paintings of Ralph McQuarrie, who can we get to beat that? And DAMN, they were good... I've even got a small poster of one of them on my wall ALL these years!)

I'm really enjoying finally getting a closer, more in-depth look at the Cylons.

One thing that's been on my mind the last couple weeks is, since they got rid of The Pegasus (amazing I didn't see that coming), effectively adapting the climax of "THE LIVING LEGEND", will they soon (or maybe even right now?) be doing a new version of... "WAR OF THE GODS" ??? (That was the story, after all, where they finally got ahold of the EXACT heading for Earth!)

Could there be a split between the 7 Cylon models we've seen and the "Final 5?" Are they athiests? Will they become a third faction in the war between Cylons and humanity? IS one of them Balthar? Hmm...

Great to see "Athena" back in BG. I didn't see that coming. When one of the pilots threw that name out there, I thought they'd let it go as a reference to the past and nothing more - it was a nice suprise that they actually used it!

What was that thing that killed the Cylon baseship? Was it from earth?? (man, we earthers must have some deadly cooties...)

John Edward Olmos is a God! I was totally holding my breath during his scene with Startbuck and Tigh. And when he threw her off her chair to the ground... holy crap!

AWESOME!

I dunno. The scenes from inside the cylon ship were tough to swallow--the corridors and the control center and the "hybrid." Maybe they'll just take some getting-used-to. I suppose they're all okay concepts. At least better than Baltar in a chair with robots coming to visit him. Still awkward that they needed to have Sharon standing around naked to partly explain the nude Sharons in Season 1. In any case, I'm a sucker for more mystery, and now we've got the 5 models who can't be dicussed and the disease-ridden probe/beacon.

But why would an ancient probe lead to all of those problems?

The hybrid is very strange. Echoes of The Matrix. "Jump." Pretty cool, too.

I guess we're getting some more info on the Cylons. The writers are going out of their way to get us to question the evil of the Cylons--are they truly bad, or just...misunderstood? Misinformed? Genocide is awfully hard to explain away in retrospect.

How the hell can they trust Athena, after all? By her own admission, couldn't she have some buried programming just waiting to kick in? And what happens when she finds out that the Cylons have Hera? What DID happen to Hera?

Interesting that they "don't talk about" the other five. Why?

All told, way more questions than answers as far as our artificial friends go.

Starbuck: Thank the gods! I couldn't stand much more self-destruction (or extensions) from her.

Tigh: No doubt being set up for something plotwise, but what? Great scene chewing from both Adama and his former second. And can't the guy just give up the gauze and get an eye patch already?

The probe reminded me of the first Star Trek Movie and Vyger (the Voyager probe)

And the Hybrid reminded of of the Tom Cruise movie, "Minority Report"

Don't get me into all that "V'Ger" crap. I don't quite understand how you can have a pretty good movie when the central concept is crap, but the first Star Trek movie just about manages it.

Why isn't the hybrid a model we've seen before? Does the hybrid count as a separate model?

Me too. It's another interesting aspect to Cylon society. I used to wonder how the toasters and Raiders were considered since they're partly alive (or is it just the raiders?). It appears they consider the Centurians to be robots and nothing more (interesting if they ended up rebelling against the Cylons...).

Do we know for a fact that the Cylons used to look like the toasters? I know it's an easy assumption since they resemble the Cylons from the old series, but has it really been established what Cylons used to look like before they left?

More-or-less. In the miniseries an original series style centurian is seen in the museum on board the Galactica, and a schematic was seen with the Colonial envoy in the opening scene. My geuss is the current Centurian model is less intelligent than the old ones.

The whole Basestar plot thread is kind of strange coming so quickly after the intensity of New Caprica. The "sci-fi" aspect is a little jarring, coming from suicide bombers to hybrids like that. Still great though.

It was suggested that the Toaster model was designed by humans but new designs were developed as the 'Race' evolved. A six model made the remark that "that model (toasters) is still kept around for tasks no other will do"

Guess even robots need that lower class to piss on

Yep, not that much different from humans, after all, eh? Seems like the segregated "other 5" models might exemplify that as well, potentially.

For some reason, just now I'm reminded of the line Wolf had in the Tribbles episide of DS9: "It is not something we discuss with outsiders."

Has it been established that Centurions have lower intellects than the 12? What about the raiders? Was Scar from that ep last season just a simple hunter/killer, or was there more to him?

I wasn't so thrilled with the last episode. For something dealing with a flavor of genocide, everyone seemed to be just delivering lines (except, maybe, for Gaius--that was quite a scene). Maybe it's just the shift from the more epic New Caprica storyline.

Definitely a bit of a letdown after the big events of the last few shows. Much respect to Adama for letting the perpetrator be. Can't really see what the point would be to outing a guy who prevented genocide. Besides, couldn't the old smoky doctor keep a sample of the disease for a "doomsday scenario" kind of thing?

'Bout time somebody tortured Baltar besides himself. And 'bout time the humans realized Baltar is a traitor...although I guess they figured that out on New Caprica. Caprica Six sure isn't helping Gaius out much, is she? So again, we're back to the essential question that has pursued Baltar for two seasons: What or who is inside his head?

I really think when all is said and done, at the end of the series, Gauis will be shown to be a Cylon. It would explain why they had him board the diseased ship in a containment suit. And Chip Six's existence would be shown to be a malfunction of his software... maybe explaining why he's the only copy. His model was scrubbed due to a defect in his software which makes him project in a different manner than the otehr models.

that makes a lot of sense, BWB.

That does seem to be what they're hinting at. Especially now that we're getting more information about "projecting."

Yeah, which makes me also think it's too obvious, nothing that the writers do on this show is ever that clear cut.

Maybe in the end it'll all end up being a space version of the infamous St. Elsewhere finale, where the malfunctioning model (Gaius) has basically dreamed all this up... everyone is a chip version in his head, with Six being a chip w/in a chip.

Oy... I've given myself a headache.

What if chip six is exactly what she says, an angle for God sent to guide all creation down a path of its creation. Her taking six's image could be Gauis' subconscious giving her that form. She is aware of all the events around her but has never claimed to be anything but an angle. Also, no six, including the one with a Gauis in her head, has admitted to projecting with Baltar, I think the 'Baltar is a Cylon' is a red hearing that the many people are falling into. It has been Baltar's actions that left the Humans with reduced numbers and a will (Desire) to move from their stagnate colonies and rebuild (redesign) their culture, going back to their gods and their scriptures to do so. It was Baltar who introduced doubt into Cylon society, helping them to change their minds (Desire) from killing all humans to finding Earth. They now want to rebuild (redesign) their society rather than track and kill the Human fleet. It was Gaius Baltar who new of the half breed child first, helped it come to term, was aware of its presence hidden among the humans and made sure the child would change hands and become safe among the Cylons. The child, I believe, will change hands again several times as it grows, and become the pivot point of a reconciliation between the sides and the one hope or either race to survive. It is Gaius and his inner Angel that are making sure this path remains available to both races.

We are starting to see factions, maybe on both sides, develop. There is a growing divide among the humans that, while some think will be NC survivors vs. Ship dwellers, I belive will become Military vs. Political. The differences between Roslin and Adama are growing and more and more, we find them taking almost polar opposite sides on things like the Cylon genocide plan. I see 5 factions being formed during season 3, Human Political, Human Military, Cylon 7, Cylon 5, and Baltar continuing to try and find a 'Chosen Path'

That was the most fascinating post on this show I've read in months!

I'm reminded a bit of DS9 where "The Prophets" appeared to people in the form of people they already knew. Ron Moore worked on both shows, didn't he?

It's interesting that the non-military humans (Roslyn) seem most interested in a genocide plan, while Adama, who has been guilty of a certain amount of bloodthirstiness in the past seemed at least passive towards the plan, if not somewhat relieved that it did not come to fruition.

I definitely hope Baltar being a Cylon is a red herring. I believe it is one because such a revelation would probably have been saved for the series finale.

I agree with prof that Tekwych's latest post is utterly fascinating! Just think: Baltar the Traitor may actually be Baltar the Messiah! What a twist!

I didn't think that Chip Six would still be in his head after he and Caprica-Six were reunited bodily after the season-ending cliffhanger. But she is, and it makes me think more and more about what she is.

I hope they show more of Baltar in Caprica's head, so we can compare and contrast. IIRC this has only been shown in the episode that focussed on resurrected Caprica-Six and Boomer-Sharon last season. I have to wonder what's going on with Caprica and her own inner voice given her more anti-Baltar stance of late. Is he no longer in her head?

All fascinating concepts. I have a feeling that upcoming episodes will show us more of this as it's been such a strongly-featured subplot this season.

Is it "God" in there heads? If not, who or what is it?

Beginning with the appearance of Pegasus-Six, I've been amazed at how sympathetic Baltar has been treated at times. (Only at times, of course... heh) It seems to me Chip-Six (as everyone seems to be calling her) disappeared when Caprica-Six showed up... and reappeared when Baltar left to go with the Cylons. That seems a really STUPID movie on his part, all things considered-- the Cylons suspect him of being a traitor against them, but while the humans definitely think of him as a traitor (or at least, the worst President since Nixon), had he gone with them, he'd be a recipient of amnesty by now.

The fact that Caprica-Six (and EVERYONE ELSE) still remains completely unaware of Chip-Six, and her advice to "Take this opportunity to learn all you can about the Cylons" does seem to suggest he's there to SPY on them-- even if that was never his intention!

I keep thinking, Chip-Six is a big change from Edward Mulhare... (heh heh heh)


At another board, I speculated on the possibility that we're now seeing the opening part of a new version of "WAR OF THE GODS". And if so, I wonder, WHO could possibly fill Patrick MacNee's shoes? Only one actor comes to my mind... TOM BAKER.