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What are your theories about who the fifth and final cylon is on Battlestar Galactica?
Please do not just give the name of the person you believe it may be. Back up your theory with evidence from the series.
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Personally, I think the final Cylon has got to be Roslin.
I don't have any direct evidence, except for Roslin's visions, but a lot of circumstantial evidence based on what we know about "Galactica" and the decisions that Ron Moore and Dave Eick make about the show.
First off, Ron Moore said at Comicon in LA that the final Cylon is someone we've seen before. Meaning it's not a new character and it's not a dead character -- they're purposely making it someone who is a major character.
Second, consider how many non-Cylon major characters are left, and who they are:
Adama
Lee
Roslin
Starbuck
Helo
Baltar
Every other major character of consequence is a Cylon -- and specifically, the people who are members of the final five are people who hated Cylons more than anyone else.
Now, we can eliminate several people from the running:
First, I'm confident it's not Adama (despite some of the ads I've seen). It can't be because he's 1. the main character and 2. the father of Lee. Because of that and his history as laid out in "Razor," I think it's safe to say Adama isn't in the running to be the final Cylon. His angst with dealing with Cylons as a human is too important to the show, plus the weirdness of explaining away all that other content would be too hard for the audience to buy.
Next, it's not Lee for the same reason that it's not Adama. It'd be too weird if Adama's son somehow was a Cylon. Yes, he was gone for a long time before showing up on the Galactica, but it would probably take too much creative explaining to make the audience believe.
Starbuck is far too obvious a choice. There's some kind of weirdness going on there, but Ron Moore has never in "Galactica" given us what's obvious. There was absolutely no evidence of the other final five being Cylons before it was revealed, so I doubt they'd cast so much doubt on Starbuck's humanity only to be like, "hey, you know how you thought Starbuck might be a Cylon because she acts crazy? Yeah, you were right." That's not the "Galactica" style.
Helo's out because it's much more interesting to make him a human who loves a Cylon. Turning him into a Cylon removes any conflict from his relationship with his wife, plus it (obviously) destroys the whole Hybrid subplot.
Baltar is also not a Cylon. If that's not clear from past episodes in S3, there's the reason that there's no way "Galactica" would let Baltar off the hook for genocide. It's far too much a part of his character and his conflict with living on the ship.
The secondary characters, I feel, aren't important enough to be members of the final five. Zarek, Dee and Gaeta, and anyone else in that vein, are just too small-time. It'd be like randomly turning Billy into a Cylon and having him appear again (which might be awesome).
Therefore, the only person left that could fit the bill is Roslin. The groundwork has been laid with her visions and her interactions with Athena and Caprica Six. And while Ron Moore avoids the obvious, Roslin is still a great choice -- a well-loved leader of the humans; an avid hater of Cylons (who invented spacing them, no less); and someone who would have a horrible personal struggle with coming to terms with Cylon-inity the way Tigh, Anders and Tyrol did.
Not exactly the coolest way of coming up with the answer based on all the "Galactica" lore, but I think it's a pretty sound deduction.
I don't have any direct evidence, except for Roslin's visions, but a lot of circumstantial evidence based on what we know about "Galactica" and the decisions that Ron Moore and Dave Eick make about the show.
First off, Ron Moore said at Comicon in LA that the final Cylon is someone we've seen before. Meaning it's not a new character and it's not a dead character -- they're purposely making it someone who is a major character.
Second, consider how many non-Cylon major characters are left, and who they are:
Adama
Lee
Roslin
Starbuck
Helo
Baltar
Every other major character of consequence is a Cylon -- and specifically, the people who are members of the final five are people who hated Cylons more than anyone else.
Now, we can eliminate several people from the running:
First, I'm confident it's not Adama (despite some of the ads I've seen). It can't be because he's 1. the main character and 2. the father of Lee. Because of that and his history as laid out in "Razor," I think it's safe to say Adama isn't in the running to be the final Cylon. His angst with dealing with Cylons as a human is too important to the show, plus the weirdness of explaining away all that other content would be too hard for the audience to buy.
Next, it's not Lee for the same reason that it's not Adama. It'd be too weird if Adama's son somehow was a Cylon. Yes, he was gone for a long time before showing up on the Galactica, but it would probably take too much creative explaining to make the audience believe.
Starbuck is far too obvious a choice. There's some kind of weirdness going on there, but Ron Moore has never in "Galactica" given us what's obvious. There was absolutely no evidence of the other final five being Cylons before it was revealed, so I doubt they'd cast so much doubt on Starbuck's humanity only to be like, "hey, you know how you thought Starbuck might be a Cylon because she acts crazy? Yeah, you were right." That's not the "Galactica" style.
Helo's out because it's much more interesting to make him a human who loves a Cylon. Turning him into a Cylon removes any conflict from his relationship with his wife, plus it (obviously) destroys the whole Hybrid subplot.
Baltar is also not a Cylon. If that's not clear from past episodes in S3, there's the reason that there's no way "Galactica" would let Baltar off the hook for genocide. It's far too much a part of his character and his conflict with living on the ship.
The secondary characters, I feel, aren't important enough to be members of the final five. Zarek, Dee and Gaeta, and anyone else in that vein, are just too small-time. It'd be like randomly turning Billy into a Cylon and having him appear again (which might be awesome).
Therefore, the only person left that could fit the bill is Roslin. The groundwork has been laid with her visions and her interactions with Athena and Caprica Six. And while Ron Moore avoids the obvious, Roslin is still a great choice -- a well-loved leader of the humans; an avid hater of Cylons (who invented spacing them, no less); and someone who would have a horrible personal struggle with coming to terms with Cylon-inity the way Tigh, Anders and Tyrol did.
Not exactly the coolest way of coming up with the answer based on all the "Galactica" lore, but I think it's a pretty sound deduction.
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I think that this answer went above and beyond and turned into a great discussion. While I wish more fans had participated, the discussion generated was worth it.
Well, except for the problem that she's dead, I'd say Ellen Tigh. She was introduced into the fleet in a highly suspicious fashion (they found her in suspended animation out in the middle of space!). She always caused trouble, pretty much worked for the Cyclons, and she spent a lot of time protecting Colonel Tigh (who we know is Cylon).
Since Tigh is a Cylon, and since he was the one who "killed" Ellen, perhaps he subconsciously spared her, somehow.
Since Tigh is a Cylon, and since he was the one who "killed" Ellen, perhaps he subconsciously spared her, somehow.
I think this is an interesting answer, and one that I contemplated in the past myself. There are a number of circumstances that suggest that she's something other than human, but again it could just be a false breadcrumb trail. I like the idea of her protecting Saul because she knew he was a Cylon.
I'd really love for the final cylon to be someone who already gave up their life for the show, and comes back through some weird trick of resurrection -- maybe not quite all that we remember them to be. Though, not Kat, because she sucks.
That said, I don't think it'll happen (and not just because Ron Moore more or less said so). I doubt the writers want to lessen the impact of some of the losses we've felt. I'd love to see more of Ellen Tigh, but not at the expense of one of television's all-time greatest moments in Season 3. I love the final scene between Tigh and his wife. If she came back as a Cylon, that scene would definitely lose something.
That said, I don't think it'll happen (and not just because Ron Moore more or less said so). I doubt the writers want to lessen the impact of some of the losses we've felt. I'd love to see more of Ellen Tigh, but not at the expense of one of television's all-time greatest moments in Season 3. I love the final scene between Tigh and his wife. If she came back as a Cylon, that scene would definitely lose something.
Phil, I agree with you about Ellen coming back really taking away from Tigh's suffering. After everything he's already been through, that would just be too much. It wouldn't feel real after that, and everything they've all gone through up to this point has been incredibly identifiable.
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In fact, I just tipped you M$2 for being so smart.
If you look back through Season Three and just about every episode in Season Four there is clear evidence pointing directly to Laura Roslin. During a recent rewatch of season three, I paid close attention to Roslin during the power surge that occured when the four of the final five awakened to who they are. Roslin reacts similarly to Tory, swaying, clutching her head as though she's dizzy. That coupled with the fact that she was "projecting" with Sharon and Caprica Six seemed to point again toward her being a Cylon. On the DVDs, in the deleted scenes, she actually talks to Sharon about projecting and asks why she would be connected to Sharon's projection. She also projects on at least two other occasions in season four, the one time being when she's receiving treatment in the hospital and foresees herself crossing the river to join her deceased family on the shore. The second time occurs when she sees Elosha during the jumps while the cylon rebellion is chasing down the resurrection hub. It is these same visions that prompt her to save Baltar's life. Something she would never have considered in the past, under the circumstances.
Definitely a sound deduction, phil h. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!