Battlestar Galactica-Final Season (4) 4/11/08--Six of One

[Elf Witch]

I agree with Roslin I would have had good ole Starbuck thrown in the brig from the moment she stepped on Galactica. The fact that Adama let her walk around with just guards was really stupid and annoyed me no end.

If Starbuck was a cyclon she would be stronger than the guards so she could easily over power them.

After what they went through with Boomer why would they trust her. They know that skin jobs can be programed to not know they are cyclons.

She died her ship was not the one she left in even if it had the same serial numbers. Adama's love for Starbuck and the fact that he wanted to believe her and risk the entire fleet makes me grind my teeth.

I thought it was badly written having Roslin say Starbuck might lead them into an ambush since they had just seen the cyclons let them go. A far more likely scenero would be Starbuck leading them away from Earth so the cyclons could find it first.

As for Boomer I think she is unhappy. It must bug the living daylights out of her that Athena is accepted on Galactica but she will never be. She lost Tyrol and all her friends. She tried on New Caprica to stop the killlings she even tried to save that little beatch Callie and she was met with hostility. I think she is now going the extreme and accepting her cyclonhood and screw the humans who won't forgive me or accept me.

 

[LightPhoenix]

So, it appears as if the new Centurions are artificially dumbed down, and have the same capabilities as the original Centurions. And Raiders are actually more then just cylon animals...

You have it backwards. The Raiders were lobotomized (for not attacking last episode) and the Centurions were given higher intelligence.

 

[Mark Hope]

You have it backwards. The Raiders were lobotomized (for not attacking last episode) and the Centurions were given higher intelligence.

From what I understood, the Centurion's innate intelligence (or rather, their capacity for reason) was being supressed. Natalie removed that, restoring their naturally higher intellect. And the inference indeed seems to be that the Raiders are more than just dumb hunks of meat - they at least have some ability/programming that allows them to recognise the Final Five. I think that's what Mustrum_Ridcully is saying .

If the Centurions do begin to more closely resemble the Centurions from the original series and, say, regain or develop the power of speech, it would be the coolest thing in the world. I'll admit it - I just wanna hear them say "by your command" in that cool, 80s synthesised voice ...

 

[Arnwyn]

I just don't think it was written well. After all, it needs rationalization to make it work, which means it was sloppy and ill thought out.

I agree. And it's yet another example of BSG trying to make something into a "big deal" and then botching it.

What was the point of blasting those 3 cylon models? (Other than maybe "making a point", heh.) They're just random individuals of certain model types, and they'll just resurrect anyways. Cool scene anyways, I guess.

Baltar + Head Baltar was hilarious. Goofy and out of left field, but hilarious nonetheless.

Very cool to see that they'll give Starbuck a chance with her own ship (though it's kind of a "well, duh" decision). I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of that, even though I despise Starbuck (though hopefully Helo, who I like, goes with her).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

From what I understood, the Centurion's innate intelligence (or rather, their capacity for reason) was being supressed. Natalie removed that, restoring their naturally higher intellect. And the inference indeed seems to be that the Raiders are more than just dumb hunks of meat - they at least have some ability/programming that allows them to recognise the Final Five. I think that's what Mustrum_Ridcully is saying .

Yes, you got it. Thanks for translating it.

 

[D.Shaffer]

What was the point of blasting those 3 cylon models? (Other than maybe "making a point", heh.) They're just random individuals of certain model types, and they'll just resurrect anyways. Cool scene anyways, I guess.

I suspect it's meant to show the growing instability in the Cylons. Two things to add to this.

We know for certain that this is going on through the one ship. What we dont know is how far this has spread. What if every single member of that model is being hunted down and what's to guarentee they CAN resurrect? This could be the beginning of something much larger.

I dont think there IS a guarentee they can resurrect now. That's certainly a key area of the ship, and it'd like be the first place targeted for control. They limit which models can be brought back, and that model is effectively gone.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The reason for blasting the 3 skin jobs? It appears that, although there is normally agreement between clones of a model, one usually steps out as a dominant clone. We have heard before that resurrection is not an easy, comfortable thing and can change them. By fragging the three dominant clones and making them resurrect, Natalie is establishing a dominance over them and when they resurrect, they may not be as strong as they were before.

Regarding the vote and why Boomer voting with Cavils would make a difference, it doesn't make sense that there are an equal number of each clone and therefore one vote by one clone would affect the result as if it were a one clone-one vote system. It was a rather sloppy part of the show. The way I rationalized it was: by Boomer siding with Cavil's side, she broke the unanimous decision of the Eights, something that had never happened before, and so she essentially made the "voice" of the Eights abstain from the voting, allowing Cavil's block to win.

 

[Shayuri]

The impression I got about the voting thing was just this:

Before, each model got a vote. The number of individuals was irrelevant. All models voted as one. They were all presumed to have the same "mind," and would thus all vote the same way. That's not to imply they are a hive mind. Just saying that the Cylons have rather...deterministic view of themselves. Each model has a unique perspective, but all within a model are assumed to process the same information the same way to arrive at the same conclusion.

That's why it was such a shock. It'd be like entering 2+2 on a computer, and one says 5.

Cavil took advantage of the situation to press his agenda. The fact is that because it had never happened before, there was no precedent...no way of deciding easily how to deal with it. Technically speaking, for Boomer's vote to count individually would mean that, to be fair, ALL individuals must be polled. But in the confusion of the moment, that point was drowned out by Cavil...as he must have planned on from the moment Boomer first conferred with him about her dissension. Remember...HE knew it was coming in advance. Natalie didn't. Cavil used that against her rather effectively.

He just didn't understand the depth of her feeling on the subject.

 

[kinem]

Shayuri, I think you've got it.

Another thing is that, aside from impractically, it might not be considered legitimate to poll all individuals, because the active number of copies of each model is arbritrary. A model could 'pack the vote' by activating many copies of itself, and this should not be a factor, because generally it can be assumed that the new copies would just vote the same as the rest of thier model; why should active copies count more than inactive ones?

If this guess is correct, the only "fair" way in cylon thinking might be to preserve "one model, one vote" by first polling each model, then giving 1 vote to the majority decision of that model, in a sort of electoral college.