Noir Dame

If you’ve been following the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, airing in the US on Sci-Fi, tonight’s premiere is set to be a bit of a shocker – certainly, moreso than M. Night Shamalayan’s The Happening. The episode will be streamed all day on the Sci-Fi site for the benefit of early birds, and those whose bosses will be lenient about watching TV at work!

Having had this very dark story already “spoiled” to me (though, I was personally grateful to learn the details *before* I watch), it’ll be interesting to see how BSG’s 2 million viewers handle the news – especially with the show not slated to return until 2009.

In the meantime, fans will have at least six months to speculate about the “fifth Cylon model”. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the Cellounge website has published a pretty well-thought out theory for one character’s status as the final Cylon. If you’re a fan of the show, curious about who else the final Cylon could be, or want a summary on the Cellounge claim? Click “more” to unpack the rest of the post.

The Cellounge website argues that the final Cylon could be Anastasia Dualla: it’s also the top pick on at least one betting site. Why?

• Her name – Anastasia. This means “resurrection,” or “she who will rise again”. Think of the infamous Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna. Killed in 1918 during the Russian Revolution, the world was entranced when another woman, now believed to be a “commoner” named Anne Anderson, came forward and claimed to be the long-lost Anastasia, a secret survivor of the Dynasty.
• In a first season episode, the apparently precognitive Leoben Conroy, a Cylon, tells the human leader Laura Roslin, “Adama is a cylon.” It’s unlikely that either the late Zak or pilot-turned-lawyer Lee Adama could be cylons, since elements of their “natural birth” are widely known. It could be “Papadama”, William Adama, but again – elements of his “natural birth” are known. Anastasia Dualla is now an Adama by marriage, through her estranged relationship with Lee Adama.
• The spinoff Caprica, now in development, revolves around the creation of the first Cylon. It has already been revealed that the robotics expert who creates the Cylons, uses the memories and possibly the DNA of his daughter. That hints that the final Cylon could be a female. Additionally, there are twelve Cylon models: so far, seven men, and four women. Seven men and five women would correlate to the gender makeup of the Gods of Mt. Olympus, on a show rife with both astrological and Greek/Roman mythology .
• In another episode, Anastasia is the sole survivor of a raid on Galactica by Centurion fighters. We know that Anders, another “final five” Cylon, was able to survive a space firefight when he was spotted by Centurions. It is likely that Anastasia, if a Cylon, would be spared for the same reasons.

Who else could be the final Cylon?

• Terrorist-turned-politician Tom Zarek. As played by the original Apollo, Richard Hatch, this would simply be a great way to yank the fans’ collective chain.
• Studmuffin pilot and toaster-lover Karl “Helo” Agathon, whose last name literally means “virtuous”, “good”. As we’ve seen, two other “final five” Cylons have been able to reproduce, though apparently no male cloned models have this capability (despite a couple of really sicko episodes). One, Tigh, impregnates a female cloned model Six (“Caprica Six”). Agathon has similarly reproduced with a cloned eight, “Athena”. Perhaps the Final Five Cylons are an older model which can merge the two races together – human and Cylon – and reproduce with both.
• Felix Gaeta. Though many fans believe he’s just a red herring, and if anything, the closest BSG will come to a gay character.
• Laura Roslin. Unlikely, but if they could argue it well, would be a shocker.