Battlestar Galactica:Season 2 7.22.05; Part 1 NSCR

[wingsandsword]

especially since I believe they are cylon-manufactured and intended to cause her to put the fleet in danger.

I don't think the visions came from the Cylons, because the Cylons appear to want Roslin dead. Remember that back to the mini-series, Aaron Doral, the person on Colonial One who kept trying to convince her not to order the FTL jump even as the cylons were bearing down, the one who was being obstructive and obstinate the moment Roslin started to take command in the aftermath and prevent her from taking command. He turned out to be a Cylon infiltrator just a few episodes in. Thus if the Cylons had their way, Colonial One and Roslin would have been wiped out in the initial strike when it didn't FTL jump when she ordered it to as the Cylons were bearing down on them. The Cylon centurions also fired on Roslin in last week's episode, literally missing her by less than an inch as they shot through her clothes and missed her.

As for the dangers of a government lead by religious ideology, a good chunk of human governments in the real world are lead significantly, if not primarily by religous motivations and with religious beliefs in place of scientific ones (I'll not mention anything specific to try and keep this away from No Politics/No Religion), but it's another level of realism in the series that the Colonials are also guided by their faith as much as they are their logic, and sometimes the two clash, sometimes explosively (Roslin is Faith, Adama is Logic).

Of course, the fact that the ancient prophecy seems to precisely fit Roslin's condition (the last leader of humanity leading it to a new home, not living to see the new homeland, right down to the details of the visions). It looks like a sci-fi analogy of the story of Moses actually (given that the original name for BSG was "Adam's Ark" when it was first concieved in '69, with Adama literally being a slight renaming of Adam, and the show always having this theme, it fits perfectly).

The idea of perfectly atheistic futuristic human governments lead by an infallible belief in science may work in Star Trek, but it's not very realistic, and it's way against the grain for BSG.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I don't think the visions came from the Cylons, because the Cylons appear to want Roslin dead. Remember that back to the mini-series, Aaron Doral, the person on Colonial One who kept trying to convince her not to order the FTL jump even as the cylons were bearing down, the one who was being obstructive and obstinate the moment Roslin started to take command in the aftermath and prevent her from taking command. He turned out to be a Cylon infiltrator just a few episodes in. Thus if the Cylons had their way, Colonial One and Roslin would have been wiped out in the initial strike when it didn't FTL jump when she ordered it to as the Cylons were bearing down on them. The Cylon centurions also fired on Roslin in last week's episode, literally missing her by less than an inch as they shot through her clothes and missed her.

They were obviously trying to kill her then, but it is possible that they changed their plans since then. There is also the theory floating around that there is more than one faction of cylons at work.

Of course, the fact that the ancient prophecy seems to precisely fit Roslin's condition (the last leader of humanity leading it to a new home, not living to see the new homeland, right down to the details of the visions).

One could also say it fits a little too perfectly. It does not seem terribly far fetched that the cylons could be aware of the prophecies and manufacturing visions. I'm not saying that's exactly what's happening -- just that there is more than one explanation for the prophecies matching the current situation pretty well.

The idea of perfectly atheistic futuristic human governments lead by an infallible belief in science may work in Star Trek, but it's not very realistic, and it's way against the grain for BSG.

True, but there are degrees of reliance on faith in a government or society. I think what it comes down to is that we don't know how the colonials feel about someone thinking they're a prophet.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

This episode was brutal, there was maybe something like 8 cylon centurions and they killed at least 50 people if not 100, before getting taken out.

If it was the original series, starbuck and apollo would have easily killed those 8 cylons who would have had the accuracy of a Star Wars stormtrooper, and no one would have died.

But in this new series with the cylon centurions running around the ship unleash a massacre on the crew, it was more like Aliens with the Terminator (since the cylon centurions remind me of the terminator skeletons) mixed in.

For the scenes on Caprica, it's a good thing they're using more of those backalleys in downtown Vancouver for a planet that's supposed to be devastated by nukes. Those alleys can be really messy and dirty, even if they're in the cleanest part of downtown Van.

I don't know if anyone here remembers that for one of the deleted scenes, Elosha was saying the disaster on Kobol was caused by one of the gods trying to elevate themselves above the others. Six in Baltar's head responded by saying it was heresy.

We still don't know if those were Cylons that killed Tarn on Kobol, because somehow I suspect they might be automated sentry guns put in place.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

They were obviously trying to kill her then, but it is possible that they changed their plans since then.

I don't know that they were specifically trying to kill her at that point, I think they were just going after another governmental target. I wouldn't expect that the Cylons knew who was in charge or what they wanted to do with them quite at that point.

On the other hand, the Cylons do seem to be testing, prodding, challenging the humans, but not destroying them utterly like they probably could. Maybe they're pushing them in such a way to force them to fulfill prophecies that the Cylons wnat fulfilled for some reason.

 

[ecliptic]

Well I believe her "visions" are cylon induced. Either she herself is a cylon or the cylon she talked to (the one the captured and whispered into her ear) did something to her.

She was sacraficing everything for her "visions". Cylons excel at being manipulative and this is no different. I feel Adama had full right to do what he did and it was justitifed.

The President should have stepped down as soon as she found out she was sick.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I don't know that they were specifically trying to kill her at that point, I think they were just going after another governmental target. I wouldn't expect that the Cylons knew who was in charge or what they wanted to do with them quite at that point.

Oh, I doubt it was anything more than them trying to kill another government official as well. I don't think there was any "Laura Roslin Must Die" order.

On the other hand, the Cylons do seem to be testing, prodding, challenging the humans, but not destroying them utterly like they probably could. Maybe they're pushing them in such a way to force them to fulfill prophecies that the Cylons wnat fulfilled for some reason.

I think it's pretty clear that the Cylons want something besides the utter destruction of humanity at this point. My suspicion is that they're trying to wipe out any form of military defense and effective leadership at this point.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

The President should have stepped down as soon as she found out she was sick.

And left the military in charge when its quite clear early on that Adama just wants to fight? Ha, no.

Though I'm more on Adama's side than anything, I think its best to sit back and wait for some explanations. We really no SO LITTLE about the Cylons, their plans(other than they have one...), etc, that its near impossible to make any useful predictions.

 

[fett527]

And left the military in charge when its quite clear early on that Adama just wants to fight? Ha, no.

Though I'm more on Adama's side than anything, I think its best to sit back and wait for some explanations. We really no SO LITTLE about the Cylons, their plans(other than they have one...), etc, that its near impossible to make any useful predictions.

But guessing and discussing is what makes it so much fun!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

But guessing and discussing is what makes it so much fun!

Oh, definitely, but usually we've got more to go on than we do with BSG. Actually, that makes it all the more fun, but the point is its hard to make any accurate predictions with what we've got.

 

[fett527]

Oh, definitely, but usually we've got more to go on than we do with BSG. Actually, that makes it all the more fun, but the point is its hard to make any accurate predictions with what we've got.

True. Little info to make accurate predictions. Let's keep 'em comin' though!