Need answers! Battlestar Galactica by Hawk

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Need answers! Battlestar Galactica

POSTED BY: HAWK
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 14:41
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Wednesday, February 8, 2006 6:11 AM

Ok, so I've watched the first season of this excellent revamp. But questions? There are many.

The thing is, I'm not sure what is supposed to be revealed at a later date, and what we are perhaps supposed to have derived for ourselves at this point. Stuff like:

Machines that practise religion and strive to emulate the messiness of their creators

Why 33 minutes in the first episode?

What forces conspire to knock Baltar around like a proverbial football, forcing or guiding him into courses of action that apparently benefit him?

If anybody can give any insight or point me in the direction of the info I'd be grateful. Please though, if the answers are coming but have simply yet to arrive by the end of season one, I'd rather not know!

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Thursday, February 9, 2006 2:03 AM

NEEDY

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

Since nobody has replied I thought I'd might as well - though you might find my answers to be less that helpful

The thing with the new BSG, not everything is black and white and I suppose could be taken either way.
I wouldn't call the Cylons that bad, even though they have committed evil atrocities (but then again, so has man)
So the thing about their religion I've understood is that they believe that God loves them, even though they weren't created by him directly, and so strive to submit to him.
But at the same time, they're doing these things to humans because they see them as the violent self-destructive beings that live their lives their own way, and if they do have a belief its in the Lords of Kobol (whereas the Cylons, or at least the ones we've met, believe in just ONE God). And so this almost excuses the Cylons' act of purging humanity, because they believe the worlds would be better off without them

Of course there's always something thats thrown into the mix to shake things up a bit.
The cylons true motives and desires are ambigious at best.
They act like they're better than humans but at the same time they strive to look like humans, feel like them and have the desire to procreate. All the while they're committing acts as evil as man has

Just as unclear is the way Baltar is being maneuvered. Is he actually being used for God's purposes or is he being misled by No.6 n order for him to betray his colleagues?

Sorry to not really answer any questions but I think that's what makes the show so enthralling, not only do we get great entertaining stories but we are left with questions to ponder about. Whether these will be answered anytime soon or will be strung out in true X Files fashion is anyones guess

...

I will say though that regarding the episode "33", I believe there was nothing specifically said about why they would appear each time on the 33rd minute, except that that was how long it took for the Cylons' to track down where exactly the fleet had jumped to

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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Saturday, February 11, 2006 3:18 PM

VERA2529

I think you need to keep on until the end of season one. Some things will become more clear. You'll especially glimpse the depth and complexity of the non-toaster Cylon models.

This series brings up many issues that have come up post 9/11 and is ambiguous because there is no black or white answer on many of those issues. At least to many of us there is a lot of gray area. So again I think you need to finish out season one before you get worried.

I loved the "33" episode but I don't why they picked 33. Other than it being a totally annoying interval. Its not enough time for anyone to rest or recharge.

Other boards have discussed the forces surrounding Baltar and some believe some crazy things about him and six. Many of threads suggest religious based comparisons. I don't want to spoil it for you.

There is a BSG Companion book, but I have not seen it myself. That may have soem answers you are looking for.

Keep watching!

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Saturday, February 11, 2006 4:29 PM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by vera2529:
I loved the "33" episode but I don't why they picked 33. Other than it being a totally annoying interval. Its not enough time for anyone to rest or recharge.

That's what I was assuming, that it had been calculated somehow.

Too short to actually rest, but too long to maintain constant alertness (minds wander, tiny distractions pile up). Also not enough time to really do anything (by the time you see a problem, you need an hour to fix it, but you've only got 15 minutes left, then after the jump, it takes you a good five minutes to secure from jump before you can get to fixing it, and you still won't have enough time. . .). Also, if you'll notice, they varied a few seconds either way, so there was still an element of unpredictability to it.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006 11:41 AM

LWAVES

Been a while since I've seen '33' but here goes. This may seem obvious.

If you go with the idea that the other ship had been taken over by Cylons, then 33 minutes would be the time taken for a signal to be sent from that ship, reach the Cylons and for them to jump to that location. The time taken for the actual jump seems almost instantaneous so there is some sense that it would take the same amount of time for a communication and a jump to be made.

Of course if it hadn't been taken over then....but I believe there is enough evidence to say it had been taken over.

The fact that the show isn't all black and white is one of the main draws for me watching it. And Boomer!!

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006 12:08 PM

STAKETHELURK

Quote:
Originally posted by Hawk:
What forces conspire to knock Baltar around like a proverbial football, forcing or guiding him into courses of action that apparently benefit him?

I’ve been catching up on DVD, too, having seen up to Ep 2.10. Definitely a lot of fun. One thing they mention in the commentaries is that they try to have Six only tell Baltar things he could have figured out for himself; they seem to want to leave the possibility open that Six doesn’t exist at all and that he’s just totally nuts. So, the chance that no “forces” are actually manipulating him, that it’s just his own addled brain, is still plausible—though it might be something of a let down if that’s the truth. Right now, though, I’m enjoying the ambiguity.

Quote:
Originally posted by Lwaves:
The fact that the show isn't all black and white is one of the main draws for me watching it. And Boomer!!

Agree on both counts.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006 12:58 PM

THIEFJEHAT

Quote:
Originally posted by Hawk:

What forces conspire to knock Baltar around like a proverbial football, forcing or guiding him into courses of action that apparently benefit him?

I believe that Baltar's condition is one of 2 equally plausible possibilities.

1. He is schizophrenic in the same vein as Russel Crowe's character in A Beautiful Mind. Baltar has created an entire life centered around his hedonism and narcissism. We know that he is in fact a well known acedemic in the field of AI due to Adama's recoginition of Baltar in the pilot episode. But as to Baltar's life, we have no proof that any of it was real. His house by the lake, his relationship with #6, his life in general could be a grand fantasy of his mind. Or it could just be that #6 is the sole fantasy. Either way, the schizo theory centers on Baltar being human and that #6 is a complete delusion.

2. Baltar is a cylon. Just like Boomer's character not believeing that she was a cylon, Baltar is also unaware. The #6 we see is a subroutene running in his AI mindnet. Remember that in the pilot Adama recieved a mysterious message that "There are 12 cylon models". If it is to be believed we still have 6 models to discover. So far we have #6, the short guy from the pilot, the smarmy thief from the pilot, the Black doctor, boomer, and the reporter. That leaves 6 more to discover assuming that the centurions and raiders aren't counted as models of the 12. There is plenty of room to discover Baltar is a copy. The #6 subroutene is always there running and acting as a sort of guide. It also opens up the possibility that other models run other personalities as well to give them a diversity when dealing with the world. You'll note that she guides his actions when he is faced with important choices that will position him politically within the fleet.

Now for an aditional tidbit from season 2 that I think some readers may not have seen yet since it's not on DVD:

Select to view spoiler:

In a recient episode some evidence is shown that flys in the face of these theories. When President Rosalyn is on her deathbed she experiences flashbacks of her time on Caprica just prior to the cylon attack and she sees Baltar and #6 together. This proves to us that Baltar and #6 were at least together physically on caprica for a time.

I find myself leaning towards the "Baltar is a cylon" theory and I think that in an upcoming episode, perhaps the season 2 finale, we'll see a copy of Baltar in a place far away from Galactica, like caprica perhaps. Who knows.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006 2:41 PM

STAKETHELURK

Quote:
Originally posted by ThiefJehat:
That leaves 6 more to discover assuming that the centurions and raiders aren't counted as models of the 12.

Moore has said definitively that the "twelve models" comment refers specifically to the human versions. If mempry serves, he said something to the effect that the Cylons identified only twelve human personality types and assigned a model to each type.

Additionally, of the six models we know of right now, three are male and three are female. Given Moore's comment about personality types, as well as the aesthetic beauty of symmetry, I think it's reasonable to assume that this gender parity will continue for the remaining Cylon models.

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