In this, the final season of “Battlestar,” we will learn the identity of the remaining unrevealed Cylon. Below the ol’ Cowboy handicaps the most likely candidates…
TOM ZAREK—Odds: 1-1—FOR: It doesn’t get more metatextual than having the original Apollo, Richard Hatch, turn out to be the Number One Cylon. Prominent enough for everyone to go “Him?!?” And he’s missing from the big “Last Supper” picture, in which a chalice sitting next to an empty chair may symbolize that the missing Cylon isn’t represented in the portrait. AGAINST: Might be a shade too metatextual for the show’s creators.
LAURA ROSLIN—Odds: 2-1—FOR: Who better to have as a Cylon than someone who was in charge of education? And that was Roslin’s job before the Cylon attack wiped out the three dozen people ahead of her in the line of succession. Also, Cylon blood cured her of breast cancer. AGAINST: If a Cylon were in such a position of power, it’s amazing humanity is alive at all.
BALTAR—Odds: 5-1—FOR: We laugh now when we think about kids in the 1950s being told to duck under their desks in the case of a nuclear attack. What an absurd notion. So how equally absurd that Baltar survived the initial Cylon nuclear strike simply by crouching behind Number Six? Also, Lucy Lawless’s Cylon, upon “seeing” the number one Cylon, said, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” Considering some of what they put Baltar through, the apology makes sense. AGAINST: It would undercut the drama of his being humanity’s greatest tortured traitor if he’s not human.
LEE ADAMA—Odds: 10-1—FOR: The conversations he had with his father over how the old man would feel about Lee’s long-dead brother being a Cylon could be a foreshadowing. Plus he fought hard to get Baltar off the hook, and Baltar has been a valuable Cylon ally. AGAINST: He’s just gone through the interesting transition from fighter pilot to civilian. Giving him yet another shift in his status quo so quickly would undercut that.
DUALLA or GAETA—Odds: 20-1—FOR: Three of the newly revealed four are active in the military fleet. Dualla or Gaeta would be consistent with that. AGAINST: Kind of an anticlimactic reveal.
STARBUCK—Odds: 30-1—FOR: She disappeared under mysterious circumstances, returned under mysterious circumstances, and practically has a big “Suspect me as a Cylon” sign stuck on her back. AGAINST: Too obvious.
CALLY TYROL—Odds: 50-1—FOR: Tidily resolves the fact that, with the reveal of Tyrol being a Cylon, there are now two Cylon/Human hybrids running around. AGAINST: I thought Cylons couldn’t reproduce. Unless it’s a fake-out and the chief isn’t actually a Cylon. Great, now my head’s starting to hurt.
ADMIRAL BILL ADAMA—Odds: 100-1—FOR: Roslin once said to him, in requesting that he take Baltar’s test, “If you’re a Cylon, I’d like to know,” to which he replied, “If I’m a Cylon, you’re really screwed.” That line would take on a whole new meaning, plus his initial opposition to Roslin and his new determination to lead them away from what Starbuck contends is the true path to earth makes sense. AGAINST: Nothing else would make sense. Nothing from Sharon’s putting bullets into him to the fact that the humans are still alive holds water.
AGATHON—Odds—150-1—FOR: Not much. AGAINST: Everything. Hera is no longer a hybrid, plus we’re back to two Cylons reproducing.
HELEN TIGH—Odds—200-1—FOR: She’s dead. But since that means nothing to Cylons, how much of a psych-out would it be if she turns up as their leader. Plus all her manipulation of her husband is consistent with a Cylon trying to exert her influence. AGAINST: With Tigh already revealed as a Cylon, would be repetitive.
ADMIRAL CANE—Odds—200-1—FOR: Likewise dead. Would give further support as to why the Pegasus managed to survive the Cylon attack. Would also explain her brutal command style and her selection of a support staff so abysmal that the Pegasus went through CO’s the way Spinal Tap went through drummers. AGAINST: Why would Six murder her?
BILLY—Odds—250-1—FOR: Just as dead as the previous two. Since the current assistant to the president is a Cylon, why not the previous one? AGAINST: Because it would be repetitive, that’s why.
BOXEY—Odds—300-1—FOR: For a series so obsessed with religious symbolism, how can they pass up Isa. 11-6, “And a little child shall lead them?” AGAINST: Hasn’t been seen since the very earliest episodes.
PATRICK MCGOOHAN–Odds–1000-1–FOR: The last time we had a character named Number Six and a big reveal of a Number One, it was in “The Prisoner” and it turned out to be McGoohan himself. AGAINST: Makes no frakking sense. Then again, neither did “The Prisoner,” so…
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“I’ll say it again: Apollo and Zarek. Same Cylon model, different ages.”
Nah. Other than both being white guys, they don’t look alike. Plus, Zarek didn’t just appear out of either at the beginning of the show. In his first appearance they talked about him getting arrested years and years ago. People know what he looked like when he was younger. Saying that they’re identical except for age but nobody noticed until know? Nah.
You mean like how different Admiral Adama looked when he was younger? And obviously, the Cylons have been able to create human looking models since before the end of the first war, so time isn’t a factor at all. As for people knowing what Zarek looked like when he was younger? If I showed you a picture of someone who looked alot like you, would you presume they were a long lost twin? All it takes is a superficial difference in hairstyle and facial hair, plus the passing of decades, and people will see the differences rather than the similarities.
Additionally, it’s clear within the program that there is some kind of connection with Zarek and Apollo.
Also, has anyone thought that maybe the final one might not be a sleeper, but aware the whole time? Might explain how the other four got ‘switched on’?
I thought about that too. If my theory that the last is on Earth, they may sensed them getting closer and activated them. Or it may be a satellite in the nebula that did it. They didn’t get much time there.
We still don’t know what purpose the final five have, whether benevolent or malevolent and to which side. Tori acts like Mr Spock on a pon-far bender, Tigh appears to be having delusions, and the last two don’t know what to think.
Wouldn’t it be cool if the four aren’t cylons but are close to them. For example;
Anders=Kara
Torie=Roslin
Galen=Calley
Tigh=Adama
If Torie going a little nuts now, imagine if she found out that it was all lie?
BTW, what’s up with Helo and Athena on Starbuck’s crusade? They are two of the most competent officers on Galactica. And what about Hera?
“I showed you a picture of someone who looked alot like you, would you presume they were a long lost twin? ”
If you’re talking about our world, no. I’d just think that was an amazing coincidence.
In the world of BSG, I wouldn’t think anything because someone would have shot me already. Two people who aren’t related but look exactly alike? Cylon, bang, dead.
But it doesn’t matter because they aren’t twins. They look nothing alike. If the show *does* say that they’re the same model and Tom looked like Lee when he was younger, that will be incredibly cheesy.
They look just as much alike to me as young Admiral Adama and older Admiral Adama do. I mean if the show were to go in that direction, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief would be required. Just as it’s required when we see young Admiral Adama. Are the two actors actually identical in appearance? Obviously not. But the passage of time combined with the necessary suspension of disbelief can be used to account for a great deal of that discrepancy.
Unlike the audience, the crew of Galactica has no conception of how far back the Cylon infiltration of humanity goes. Until after the destruction of society, no one was likely to have seen Zarek and Apollo side by side. Zarek spent decades in prison and photos of him in his youth are potentially scarce, even before most records were destroyed. All that is required to explain how Zarek could have looked suspiciously similar to Apollo when younger without anyone making a connection is a very small amount of writing.
I’m certainly not saying I’m right. It’s just a theory. But if I’m not right, the relationship between Zarek and Apollo makes considerably less sense.