Some Random Thoughts on Battlestar Galactica: Revelations
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I was just thinking about the Battlestar Galactica midseason ending again, and I had a few more random thoughts. Here they are:
At the end of the episode, Earth has apparently gone through some kind of nuclear holocaust. The question is, how long ago did this happen? I’m thinking this catastrophe happened relatively recently. The reason for this? There are still buildings standing. I once saw a Discovery channel type show which talked about what would happen to the Earth if the people on it suddenly vanished. How long would the buildings last? The answer is, not that long. In less than a thousand years (or yaren, if you prefer), most of our modern buildings would be completely gone, weathered by the elements into dust. And that’s assuming the buildings were in tip top shape to begin with (IE, they hadn’t been hit by an atom bomb). So, I’m going to make a guesstimate and say that whatever happened to Earth (assuming it is Earth) the latest it could have happened would be 200 years in the past. However, looking at the final scene again, doesn’t it look a little like nuclear winter to you? I’m not sure how they did it, but is it possible that the other Cylons somehow got to this planet first, and nuked it? I don’t know, but this feels like a Galactica thing to do …
Another thing I’m been thinking about is the prophecies of Pythia. Remember this dialog from the first season?
Roslin: I’ve been taking chamalla for a medical condition.
Elosha: So what have you seen?
Roslin: It started out as dreams of the Cylon that we had executed but I had the dreams before we captured him. The images were…
Elosha: Prescient?
Roslin: Uncanny. And now I’m seeing things while I’m awake.
Elosha: What kind of things?
Roslin: Snakes, there were snakes crawling all over my podium during the press conference.
Elosha: How many?
Roslin: About a dozen.
Elosha: You’re kidding me, right? You read Pythia and now you’re having me o°©n.
Roslin: No. Who is Pythia?
Elosha: One of the oracles, in the sacred scrolls. 3,600 years ago, Pythia wrote about the exile and the rebirth of a human race. And the lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland and unto the leader they gave a vision of serpents, numbering two and ten, as a sign of things to come.
Roslin: Pythia wrote that?
Elosha: She also wrote that the leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the new land. But you’re not dying… are you?
Now, let’s assume that Roslin is the dying leader, and that the new land is Earth. If this prophecy is to be believed, Roslin cannot reach Earth. From the final scene then, either a) Roslin is not the dying leader (remember what Tori said to her “what else are you wrong about?) b) this planet is not Earth ( This could be correct, but it would be a cheap trick on the writer’s part) or c) the colonials think they are looking for Earth, that it is the promised land, but really, they’re looking for something else …
Here’s some more prophecy, this time from one of the Hybrids …
“Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of that revelation, bringing true clarity. And amidst confusion, he will find her… Enemies brought together by the apostle, enemies now joined as one. The way forward, once impenetrable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, though still in the shadow yet clawing for the light, hungry for redemption, that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all, the seven, now six self-described machines who believe themselves without sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching, the agony of the one splintering into many. And then they will join in the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.”
What strikes me most about this passage is how much it seems to point to Baltar as being the final 5 Cylon. Is there any character on the show who is seeking redemption more than Baltar? Especially since he has found religion and is worshipping the one God? There have been a few times that Baltar suspected he was a Cylon, and even voiced those thoughts. The writers almost seem to be setting up Baltar as a Christ like figure. Might he have to die to absolve us of our sins, not to mention his own? Now, the question is, wouldn’t D’Anna out Baltar right away? Perhaps she knows that Baltar hasn’t been activated yet? Remember when the final 5 were revealed to D’Anna, she apologized to him/her “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” When Baltar was on the Basestar, didn’t she threaten to blow him out an airlock at one point? As well, D’Anna did take Baltar’s opinion pretty seriously when the whole hostage crisis was going on …
Another fantastic theory that I’ve just read here is that Boomer is the final five Cylon. Boomer is looking for redemption too, as much or more that Baltar is. It also nicely explains why there is no Cylon model 7 ….
June 19th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Hello David, it’s me, again
You wrote:
At the end of the episode, Earth has apparently gone through some kind of nuclear holocaust. The question is, how long ago did this happen? I’m thinking this catastrophe happened relatively recently. The reason for this? There are still buildings standing. I once saw a Discovery channel type show which talked about what would happen to the Earth if the people on it suddenly vanished. How long would the buildings last? The answer is, not that long.
There’s a comment from RDM on this. He said the ruins are supposed to be the remains of futuristic buildings made of futuristic materials that could very well withstand the “test of time”. I think in his comment he wrote about “a few thousand years”.
Of course, after such a long time, earth would have regenerated itself, a green wilderness would be much more realistic. But would it have the same emotional impact on the viewer? I doubt that. So they had to show ruins, no matter how long ago the destruction is supposed to have happened.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:34 am
And so, Battlestar Galactica is reduced to a simple fable – we run from our past, believing the future holds something better for our species, while praying we can rise above our dark “human nature” before we do ourselves in. This episode was a mirror, showing how despite hope for a bright technological future, we’re simultaneously on the knife’s edge of destruction.
In one episode, Battlestar Galactica moved beyond the addictive, nit-picky details like “who is the last Cylon?” and “how did Tigh get Six pregnant?” and reminded me of the big picture – our irrepressibly hopeful yet frustratingly misguided humanity.
Enter Doctor Zee – The Fifth Cylon
“The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr
http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/2008/0…ca-revelations/