Arnwyn said:
Which was what? (Honest question.) I didn't really get what chick-in-the-tank (and what's her point, again? Something about the computer that calculates jumps? Or is it something more than that... seems pretty inefficient, whatever she is) was mumbling about, and I didn't really follow Baltar's "translation". (During that conversation, Three also mentioned something about how the cylon god and human gods were somehow connected, but I didn't understand how she came to that line of thought.)
Could anyone provide a synopsis/explanation for those of us who don't really get the mysticism mumbo-jumbo of BSG?
The "Hybrid" ("chick in the tank") is essentially "Model 0" of the humanoid cylons, an intermediate stage in their development between mechanical and biological life. The Hybrid is a genetically engineered humanoid body that is heavily cyborged and interfaced with computers and kept in a life support tank, it acts as the central computer of a Cylon Base Ship. In formal voting among the Cylon models for making major decisions, the Hybrid does not get a vote as one of the 12 models, but its opinion is listened to and considered. Some Cylons consider the random babbling of the Hybrid to be oracular, and they are hearing the word of their God, but most consider it the random gibberish of a mind that is crazed by being constantly interfaced to supercomputers.
The Colonials are pantheists who worship the Greco-Roman deities (they have used both Greek and Roman names, but the Greek ones far more often). The Cylons are monotheists who it has been implied worship the Abrahamic deity (some of their quotes on Cylon scripture and doctrine have been paraphrased from real-world abrahamic texts).
The speculation of Baltar and his Cylon friend was that there is some tie between the two deities, or they are somehow the same or related. Notably, a scene cut for time from "Kobol's Last Gleaming" telling the story of the human exodus said that the fall of civilization on Kobol came when one god wished to be elevated above all others, causing strife and civil war among humanity and the gods. The "Athena" copy of Sharon also mentioned on Kobol when they were planetside that the Cylons have a lot more information about what happened there than the Colonials do.
Both sides have deities that apparently answer prayers and grant prophecies. The Prophecy of Pythia has been very accurate in describing the colonials actions, and the oracle on New Caprica was quite accurate as well. Baltar's praying to the Cylon God has resulted in virtually miraculous turns of fate for him, and the Cylons apparently can have visions to (when they download).
While there is a significant amount of mysticism in BSG, there was actually far more in the old one. Literally angels and devils appeared and were recurring characters. This is just another aspect of old BSG that got redone in the new edition.
Oh, and personally, I love (new) Starbuck, she's a highlight of the show for me. Old Starbuck was a two-dimensional Han Solo clone, the new one is the same roguish starfighter pilot, but made a lot more realistic, three dimensional, and believable as a person.
