#twelve colonies of kobol

[searider--falcon]

Battlestar Galactica x The Odyssey

1 - The Twelve Colonies of Kobol as The Fall of Troy

Locations in Battlestar Galactica as stops in the Odyssey. Quotes are from the Robert Fagles or Emily Wilson translations, depending on what I thought fit best.

Screencaps are from https://frak-that.com/

[frakyeahbattlestargalactica]

From Classic TV Archives:

45 years ago, April 29, 1979, the final episode of Battlestar Galactica aired. It is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (Galactica 1980), a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games. A re-imagined version of Battlestar Galactica aired as a two-part, three-hour miniseries developed by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003. That miniseries led to a weekly television series, which aired until 2009. A prequel series, Caprica, aired in 2010.

All Battlestar Galactica productions share the premise that in a distant part of the universe, a human civilization has extended to a group of planets known as the Twelve Colonies, to which they have migrated from their ancestral homeworld of Kobol. The Twelve Colonies have been engaged in a lengthy war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons, whose goal is the extermination of the human race. The Cylons offer peace to the humans, which proves to be a ruse. With the aid of a human named Baltar, the Cylons carry out a massive nuclear attack on the Twelve Colonies and on the Colonial Fleet of starships that protect them. These attacks devastate the Colonial Fleet, lay waste to the Colonies, and virtually destroy all but a population of 50,000. Scattered survivors flee into outer space aboard a ragtag array of spaceworthy ships. Of the entire Colonial battle fleet, only the Battlestar Galactica, a gigantic battleship and spacecraft carrier, appears to have survived the Cylon attack. Under the leadership of Commander Adama, the Galactica and the pilots of "Viper fighters" lead a fugitive fleet of survivors in search of the fabled thirteenth colony known as Earth.

During the eight months after the pilot's first broadcast, 17 original episodes of the series were made (five of them two-part shows), equivalent to a standard 24-episode TV season. Citing declining ratings and cost overruns, ABC canceled Battlestar Galactica in April 1979. Its final episode "The Hand of God" was telecast on April 29, 1979

[starbuckscommitmentissues]

I took it upon myself to photoshop Laura Roslin as the Oracle of Delphi (also known as the Pythia) so you don’t have to. This goes out to the twelve colonies and the twelve lords of kobol.

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

The Battlestar Galactica (2003) Movie is the Perfect Reboot

Rebooting a property is extremely difficult. It's a balancing act between bringing back old iconography and creating new ideas and characters, and in no two instances is it the same.

Battlestar Galactica is the perfect reboot for a number of reasons. First, the characters.

There is not a single weak performance on the cast (in the movie). From legacy characters like Adama, Apollo, Starbuck and Tigh to new characters like the President and her aid and the flight deck crew to the fucking background characters, everyone is on their A-game for the entire three-hour movie, and their A-game is amazing. Relationships form and develop in believable ways between believable characters (we'll get to that). But no one outshines Gaius Baltar.

Of the changes to the series, Baltar is the most drastic. The original version of the character was cartoonishly evil - he sold out the Twelve Colonies of Kobol to the Cylons because he was told he'd rule his homeworld, Caprica (I think). The new version is a guy who was in an emotionally manipulative relationship with a Cylon (he didn't know it at the time) and got played. He feels awful for what he did, and the knowledge that all of this is his fault weighs on him heavily, not helped by the fact that is abuser has implanted herself in her brain and spends the back half of the movie tormenting him.

Second, the character dynamics.

There are a bunch of really interesting dynamics that form between characters, both pre-existing (i.e., they exist before the world starts ending) and that form as a result of the plot. Apollo and Adama's strained relationship over the death of Apollo's brother (Adama's son), Zak, which is on the mend by the end of the movie, Tigh and Starbuck fucking despising each other, the romance between Tyrol and Boomer - these do a great job of implying history between characters, while relationships like Apollo and the President becoming friends Billy and Dualla's spark (which is paid off brilliantly) act as story threads to follow.

Third, the story.

The Cylon attacks on the Twelve Colonies is played as the end of the human race, and there's a tension over the three-hour runtime around this fact (which is the next point on this review). It's the worst-case scenario, and it keeps devolving as characters react to the Cylon's genocide of the human race. The characters are all attempting to react as best they can to the unthinkable, and every time they've managed to adapt, it gets worse and they have to adapt again - first, the Cylons attack, then they find out that the Colonies have been obliterated and humanity all but destroyed, then the government is gone, then Galactica is the only Battlestar left, and it becomes clear that central focus of the story isn't how badass the Colonial Military is, but the indomitable nature of the human soul, as characters like Adama and the President refuse to stop doing what they can to save what's left of mankind.

Finally, the tension.

From the moment the ambassador is killed by Cylons at the end of the movie to the final conversation between Adama and the President, the movie is cloaked in tension. At first, it's the dramatic irony of the destruction of the colonies, then the situation deteriorating, then a number of heart-rending decisions made by characters where they have to make the survival of the human race a numbers game, then the human forces being trapped inside an ion storm which is surrounded by a Cylon fleet, then the final battle between the Galactica and the Cylon forces to buy time for the rest of mankind to escape, then the aforementioned confrontation between Adama and the President, where she reveals that, in this universe, Earth is a myth and Adama has given everyone false hope.

Sure, there are moments of relief from that tension, most notably when the remaining humans have regrouped in the ion storm, the movie's one joke (Adama looking over Billy and Dualla and echoing a sentiment expressed by the President that the priority of the human race is repopulation, causing an incredulous Apollo to ask if "that's an order", which got a real laugh out of me) and Adama's "So say we all" speech.

So yeah, it was a combination of the characters and the relationships between them and the plot and sense of tension that made Battlestar Galactica (2003) the Perfect Reboot.

So say we all.

[alliluyevas]

Glen Larson, himself a Latter-day Saint, had infused his series mythology with too many Mormon references to ignore. His Twelve Colonies of Man were essentially the Lost Tribes of Israel whose history began at Kobol, an obvious anagram for Kolob, which, in Mormon theology, is the star nearest to the throne of God. The colonies were led by a "Quorum of 12," and marriages were referred to as “sealings” that extended beyond mortality and “through all the eternities.” The show never shied away from religious themes, and, at one point, the characters encounter a group of angels who paraphrase LDS Church President Lorenzo Snow.

“As you are, we once were,” the angels tell the Galactica crew. “As we are, you may become.”

battlestar galactica mormon lingo is sending meeeeeee

[dan6085]

Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television series that aired on Syfy from 2004 to 2009. The series is set in a distant corner of the galaxy and follows the story of the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, a military starship that is one of the last surviving vessels of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol after they are attacked by the Cylons, a race of sentient robots. The series explores themes of survival, conflict, and the human condition as the crew of the Galactica tries to find a new home and outwit their pursuers.

The series begins with the sudden and devastating attack on the Twelve Colonies by the Cylons. As the survivors flee in their ships, they are led by Commander William Adama, the captain of the Galactica, and President Laura Roslin, the leader of the Twelve Colonies. As they journey through space, the crew of the Galactica must confront a wide range of challenges and dangers, including battles with the Cylons, internal conflicts, and a host of other threats.

Throughout the series, the crew of the Galactica is faced with a wide range of challenges as they try to survive in a hostile and uncertain universe. They must work together to outwit the Cylons, find a new home, and protect the last remnants of humanity. Along the way, they encounter a wide range of characters, including Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, a skilled pilot and warrior, and Gaius Baltar, a brilliant scientist who is suspected of collaborating with the Cylons.

As the series comes to a close, the crew of the Galactica is faced with its greatest challenge yet: the discovery of a new planet that may be their long-sought home. In the end, they are forced to confront their own mortality and the uncertain future that lies ahead.

Overall, Battlestar Galactica is a thrilling and action-packed series that explores the themes of survival, conflict, and the human condition in a distant corner of the galaxy.

[battlestariroh]

Star Trek versus Battlestar Galactica

Talking about Star Trek versus Star Wars yesterday got me interested in other sci-fi match-ups-- particularly those that wouldn’t be such a bloodbath. The comparison that came to mind was Star Trek versus Battlestar Galactica.

For simplicity, we’ll compare the Federation to the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Other comparisons-- say, the Borg versus the Cylons; the Dominion versus the Cylons; Q versus the Lords of Kobol-- sound fun in theory but are harder to make because we don’t know as much about the relevant civilizations. But we know quite a bit about the Colonies and the Federation.

In most respects, the Federation would have the advantage. First, the Federation is a far larger civilization than the Colonies in terms of size, population, resources, and manufacturing capacity. The Federation encompasses 150 star systems spread over 8,000 lightyears ("Star Trek: First Contact”). By contrast, the Colonials control only a single star system, albeit a relatively large one with twelve habitable planets (BSG Miniseries). And while the Federation has thousands of ships, the Colonials at their height had only around 120 (BSG Miniseries).

Likewise, the Federation has the advantage on most technologies. Federation starships have shields, antimatter torpedoes, and beam weapons, whereas Colonial Battlestars rely on physical armor, artillery, and nuclear warheads. We know that the Battlestars’ weapons and artillery are comparable to those of twentieth-century earth civilizations because Adama states that its nuclear warheads have yields in the kiloton range, just like real-world tactical nukes (see "Lay Down Your Burdens,” BSG S2 EP20). Star Trek characters frequently refer to twentieth-century nuclear weapons as “primitive,” though such weapons can still damage Federation ships (see “Balance of Terror,” TOS S1 Ep14). Federation ships also have transporter technology, which would give them a huge advantage over the Colonials in terms of sending over boarding parties and otherwise putting troops into combat.

The Colonials, however, have one major technological advantage over the Federation: speed. FTL technology allows Colonial ships to jump several lightyears in a matter of seconds, whereas Federation warp drive requires several days to cover the same distance (for fun speed comparisons: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/map_of_the_week/2013/05/star_trek_enterprise_vs_star_wars_millennium_falcon_which_ship_is_fastest.html). Battlestars are thus hundreds of times as fast as Federation starships. This would allow them to quickly penetrate deep Federation territory, attacking outposts, manufacturing facilities, and other strategic targets with impunity. Barring the most well-planned ambush, Colonial Battlestars might never need to go into combat against Federation starships.

Só who wins in a war between the Federation & the Colonies? It depends on how close they are starting out! If Federation forces were close enough to reach the Colonies within a matter of months, they could probably crush them through sheer force of numbers and firepower. The Battlestars might punch above their weight attacking Federation targets in the meantime, but in the end, they’d have to surrender or risk losing their homeworlds.

BUT if the two civilizations were farther apart, such that it would take the Federation years to reach the Colonies, Battlestars’ superior speed would prove decisive. Colonial forces could jump around Federation territory attacking strategic targets willy-nilly, all while Federation ships were still just in the early stages of their trip to Caprica. The Colonials probably wouldn’t have the numbers to occupy Federation territory-- but they could deal só much damage with só few losses to their own fleet as to force the Federation to surrender on highly unfavorable terms.

[hmslusitania]

Ok now you have to share the ship where one is a ghost and your current fav one that ends well! We need the infoooo

Okay so if you’ve been around on my blog a while, you may know I have a cat named Starbuck

She

Starbuck is named after one of my favourite characters from my childhood/early teen years, Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica

Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace. Is this character the reason I am bisexual? Sources say “its a strong possibility but tbh the entire cast of BSG may be responsible”

Now [SPOILERS, for a show that ended in 2009] Starbuck was a fighter pilot in humanity’s search for earth and a new homeworld after the cylon attack wiped out the twelve colonies of Kobol and she had an on again, off again, never quite, almost once upon a time romance with Captain (later Major) Lee “Apollo” Adama, who was their CAG and also their commanding officer’s once-estranged son, an absolute dick like 70% of the time, and also Starbuck’s late fiancé’s older brother (and, unfortunately, I love him).

Their already unstable relationship was challenged when Starbuck followed a ghost ship into a space-maelstrom set to the best cover of All Along the Watchtower that’s been done (shout out to my man Bear McCreary who also did the scores for Black Sails and other things including I think Outlander but I haven’t watched that). She was then assumed (rightly) to be dead until some time later when she turns back up claiming to know the way to earth (the goal of the entire series).

At the 4A finale, they find a planet that may be earth (It isn’t really but I’m not gonna get super into the mythology of Battlestar Galactica, you don’t care that much) and on that planet they find…Starbuck’s plane and her body. Even though she’s been there with them and led them to this place??

Anyway, they then go on to find actual!earth and its looking like Starbuck and Apollo are finally gonna get to be together, and they’re going to be okay, there are no more barriers left in their way after four seasons of this, and then he turns to look at her and she’s fucking gone. And it broke me at the tender age of 15 or however old I was in 2009.

However, I have now rewatched the show quite a few times because I like to Suffer™️ and am better now at recognising their relationship for the destructive mess it is and them as the broken people they are and i do still love them both and I do still ship it but it doesn’t quite hit Right anymore, you know?

The OTHER ship that is now my favourite from this otherwise deeply upsetting show that basically invented desaturated sci-fi for the modern era (Also you want to talk gritty reboots? Holy shit) is Them:

Grace Park as Lieutenant Sharon “Athena” Agathon and Tahmoh Penikett as Lieutenant Karl “Helo” Agathon

They are quite literally The Future in the show, because she is one of the cylon robots and he is human. He was in love with a sleeper agent copy of her who had no idea she wasn’t human and he sacrificed himself to save her (and a bunch of civilians) and ended up stranded on an irradiated wasteland that used to be their home planet and the only reason he was able to survive is because this copy of her, Athena, was given all of Boomer’s memories but without the questionable boyfriend and Athena absolutely fell in love with Helo, knowing full well what she was and like. Kind of technically baby trapped him? But they didn’t know that was possible (since she is a robot) and their daughter is like the key to the future of the human race and sapient life in general and when he finds out what Athena is he takes a minute to readjust (and frankly wouldn’t you?) and then decides “yeah no still in love with her.” Also in retrospect he is a bit of a himbo/malewife energy despite being very competent and badass when called upon to be and is also one of my favourite male characters in anything so I am slightly biased (fun fact when he guest starred in supernatural and died that’s about when I stopped following the show).

Anyway, they go through a LOT of shit because of their kid, various speciesism from both the human fleet and the cylon fleet, all while being entirely devoted to each other even when they’re led to believe their daughter is dead (she’s fine) and at the series finale, the three of them get to be happy together (even though there’s a heart stopping moment when you think he’s dead for a bit during the finale and I hate that moment).

Also my enduring crush on Grace Kim is probably the only thing that would ever convince me to watch Hawaii 5-0 in case I needed another troubling procedural to fall into but that’s neither here nor there.

Aren’t you glad you asked, Anon?

ETA: Starbuck and Helo are also implied to have been friends for a very long time and their moments of friendship spark so much joy for me

[planetaryalphabet]

Tauron, one of the Twelve Colony of Kobol, had a history of strife. It’s people were largely farmers and during years of famine they were called “dirt eaters”. When colonists from other worlds settled on Tauron, the native born people formed the Ha'la'tha which became resistance fighters. After the end of the wars, Ha'la'tha also settled on other colonies and were said to have been involved in organized crime. Like the other Twelve Colonies, Tauron was destroyed by the Cylons.

Source: “Battlestar Galactica” (2004)

[niceplacetovisit]

🟦  SONG OF THE DAY 📆  8th February 2021 🎶  “ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER” 🇺🇸  BOB DYLAN 💿  John Wesley Harding (1967)

So I reached the end of Season 3 of the wonderful re-imagined “Battlestar Galactica” last night. “All Along The Watchtower” is used as a pivotal tune that four characters keep hearing snippets of as they come to a collective realisation as to who they really are.

Bear McCreary who was responsible for the music on the series had imagined the song (although based on the later Jimi Hendrix version) as written by an imaginary writer who lived on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (which is set possibly millennia before the present day here on Earth). The song will keep popping up through Season 4 and used again as a plot point in the series’ finale.

[glowyjellyfish]

I just started rewatching Battlestar Galactica. Well, when i say just started, I mean i started two nights ago and I just finished season 1, so.

Firstly, at the beginning everyone is a tiny innocent baby and a sweet summer child (yes, even after their civilization gets destroyed. Sweet summer children all.), except Starbuck who is more of a tiny magnificent chaotic asshole.

Secondly, Baltar is one of my favorites and I think he’s among the best characters I have ever seen. His character development is phenomenal; I’d say he’s a stunning example of a redemption arc, but I’m not sure it totally counts when he was never really a villain at all. Arrogant, self-serving, and dickish, yes, but never deliberately evil. I love watching him break down and get built back up again, it’s a highly entertaining and often poignant roller coaster. And of course, he’s also just a delight to watch. I wish something like this had come up on the show, but I am convinced that people in the fleet--especially on Galactica and Colonial One--are well aware that he talks to himself and frequently disassociates, and chalk it up to trauma from being on Caprica during the attack. Sometimes I like to think that he 100% has that trauma and some degree of PTSD and Head Six took advantage of that state to set herself up in his head, but I’m not sure whether to make that headcanon or if it’s just a nice theory.

Thirdly, Gaeta is my favorite and I love him to pieces. The first time I watched when it first aired waaaay back in the day, I was rooting so hard for him to be a cylon, and I’m still slightly bummed that he wasn’t. I can’t complain about what he got as a consolation prize, going out with a bang and loads of juicy character development, with the added bonus that Anders also got some great character development. (Um, I should probably explain real quick that I read somewhere back in the day that when the writers were choosing the Final Five, it was kind of a toss-up between Anders and Gaeta, and they chose Anders. I felt validated that he was at least at the top of the list, and since I also loved cylon!Anders it proved to be a pretty good second choice for me. Believe me though, I wrote so many fanfics about how Gaeta might still be a cylon somehow, most of them super bad.) His whole development arc is less of a roller coaster and more of a long slow painful train wreck, and it’s gonna hurt so much but ugh I love it. Right now, at the end of season one, he is still such a sweet summer child, like my god he still has a crush on Baltar and hasn’t been disillusioned yet! And turns out I still firmly ship it. Gaeta’s got such a crush, poor boy, and it was so sweet and destroyed my little shipper heart at the end of Six Degrees of Separation when after a whole episode of everyone turning on Baltar and telling him they never trusted him and him freaking out, Gaeta came along and exonerated Baltar and told him he always believed in him. Awwww New Caprica’s gonna kill me, I swear. 

Chief and Tigh are also up there in terms of my favorites, and there’s always gonna be something wonderful about a rewatch and all those scenes where they’re talking about people being Cylons and suspecting people of being Cylons and hey guess what you two. Guess what.

On this rewatch, I really enjoyed seeing Lee acting as the compromise between the military and politics. I vaguely recall that that’s a major part of his character going forward, basically everything that isn’t Starbuck, father issues, or Love Quadrangle Of Doom, and am curious how I’m gonna see it now. Originally, I found him good for a hero character and reasonably interesting, and I seem to recall liking such plots as him quitting the military way more than other viewers, but he’s never been one of my favorites.

...I also feel obliged to point out that in these trying times it is very hard not to 100% agree with Tom Zarek. If he was a little less murdery, man. Of course, I should also point out that unlike some other viewers--no, I don’t remember specifics, I probably read opinions on a forum 15 years ago--I felt like the season 4 mutiny was bringing up some extremely valid points that needed to be addressed (even if Zarek was mostly using them as an excuse to coast to power and Gaeta was airing his grievances in the worst possible way when what he probably actually really needed was a lot of intense therapy) so perhaps this is nothing new. 

I’m also excited and scared for the President Baltar plot coming later, but in these times I am fairly certain my feelings will be “you guys are big babies. Oh boo hoo, your legally elected president is genuinely intelligent and charismatic and just happens to be rather self-centered and self-serving and shitty at governing, oh noooo he had to be held at gunpoint to sign death warrants for dissenters… grow up.” I… can’t take most “super evil villain becomes president oh no” stories seriously anymore, literally all the ones I am aware of were better than reality.

I don’t feel like it needs to be said, but Starbuck, Roslin, and Adama? All perfect and amazing, of course. They’re not my favorites, but that’s mainly because they are popular main characters, and I tend to prefer unpopular sideline characters and characters that need defending or merit lengthy essays. Everyone loves those guys for good reason, they don’t need me supporting them.

Also I forgot how precious Dee and Billy were, and how their relationship added interesting layers and angles to loads of plotlines. Makes me bummed about Billy (though I know it wasn’t the show’s fault), and then bummed that Dee got entangled in the Love Quadrangle of Doom, and then… kinda fridged to be honest. I wonder what would have happened with the Final Five if Billy was still around, would it have been Billy there instead of Tory? Or to keep the gender ratio and a touch of diversity, would they have gone with Dee? Would that have made them more or less likely to choose Gaeta over Anders, then? My gut says less, but who knows? It sure would have been rad if Dee got that much character development unrelated to romance, though.

It’s also weird how much I still keep trying to add things to the show’s arc and mythology to make it make more sense to me, personally. Like, logically I know that the whole thing is that god as spoken of by the cylons is 100% real, the head characters are literally communicating with people on his behalf, the opera house is the CIC and all the prophecies and stuff are leading to humans and cylons living together and interbreeding on Earth to make us. But I’m constantly trying to add things like “maybe the lords of kobol were twelve or thirteen original cylons on kobol 2000 years ago, and maybe they’re the head characters, like they ascended their physical bodies or something, and maybe the physical characters who look like the head characters are like the reincarnations of them or of the original humans they were modelled on, and the whole story is very similar and playing out again which is why certain characters have visions and stuff, but there have never been human/cylon hybrids before and that’s what god wants in order to end the cycle and/or because god is love god wants them to love each other and stop killing each other please? Maybe?” Shrug, I know some fans hate how spiritual it went, and I’m not one of them. I just prefer the slightly more humanist angle of reincarnation over literally just “god did it”. 

However, I am really enjoying just taking Head Six 100% at her word and watching her manipulate the fucking shit out of Baltar to get him reliant on her and in the position she needs him to be in. It’s kind of amazing. And also, fascinating to consider Leoben in Flesh and Bone in the context of knowing what happens to Starbuck. He absolutely knows that she’s going to lead them all to Earth and die in the process. I don’t think he knows any details at all, but it’s really interesting to watch assuming that he knows her fate. And I am not sure the show ever really explained why Leoben knows this stuff. Does he have visions? His own head person? Does he just sit and listen real hard to the Hybrids and interpret their sayings? ...I guess I do find it weird that the show chose to go so hard on making him creepy as fuck to her on New Caprica, and then apparently didn’t know a lot else they wanted to do with him, but we’ll see how I feel as it goes along.

Anyway, I think I’ve exhausted my most coherent array of thoughts. 

[lostanarchymagazine]

Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (Galactica 1980), a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games. A re-imagined version of Battlestar Galactica aired as a two-part, three-hour miniseries developed by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003. That miniseries led to a weekly television series, which aired until 2009. A prequel series, Caprica, aired in 2010. All Battlestar Galactica productions share the premise that in a distant part of the universe, a human civilization has extended to a group of planets known as the Twelve Colonies, to which they have migrated from their ancestral homeworld of Kobol. The Twelve Colonies have been engaged in a lengthy war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons, whose goal is the extermination of the human race. The Cylons offer peace to the humans, which proves to be a ruse. With the aid of a human named Baltar, the Cylons carry out a massive nuclear attack on the Twelve Colonies and on the Colonial Fleet of starships that protect them. These attacks devastate the Colonial Fleet, lay waste to the Colonies, and virtually destroy all but a population of 50,000. Scattered survivors flee into outer space aboard a ragtag array of spaceworthy ships. Of the entire Colonial battle fleet, only the Battlestar Galactica, a gigantic battleship and spacecraft carrier, appears to have survived the Cylon attack. Under the leadership of Commander Adama, the Galactica and the pilots of "Viper fighters" lead a fugitive fleet of survivors in search of the fabled thirteenth colony known as Earth.

[malefiquinn]

BSG Colonial Flags [1 / 2] A series of 14 BSG inspired phone wallpapers I did a while ago, depicting flags related to the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

(Click below for better resolution)

1) Aerilon flag

2) Aquaria flag

3) Canceron flag

4) Caprica flag

5) Gemenon flag

6) Leonis flag

7) Colonial Seal (w/ purple background) flag

[planetaryalphabet]

Caprica was the location of the central government for the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. It can also be said to be the homeworld of the cybernetic race, the Cylons, as their inventor, Daniel Greystone was from Caprica. The planet was destroyed in the 2nd Cylon War.

Source: “Battlestar Galactica" (1978).

[lincoln-cannon]

I love Battlestar Galactica. The story and characters inspire me. The reimagined TV series and movies bring them to life. And I recently decided to watch the show again – even better the second time!

But I ran into a problem when I was getting started. None of the viewing order and source guides that I could find on the Internet were good enough. For example, most don’t include Caprica, a prequel series that I consider highly under-rated. And most were written at a time when physical media sources (DVDs and such) were more popular than streaming sources.

So I’m fixing that problem. This is the ultimate guide to watching the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It includes the best viewing order for all of the TV movies and series, as well as all of the webisodes. And it includes streaming source recommendations and links to help you access them all.

Battlestar Galactica originally aired in 1978. It was created by Glen Larson (a Mormon, who used many elements of Mormon mythology in the story). The reimagined version was created by Ronald Moore in 2003. This guide is about the reimagined version.

How to Watch Battlestar Galactica

The viewing order in this guide is almost entirely chronological. But The Plan, one of the TV movies, is a notable exception. It covers the same period of time that the first two seasons cover, but it does so from the Cylon perspective. To avoid spoilers, it’s best to watch The Plan after Season 4 Episode 15.

Razor, another TV movie, includes a scene toward the end that some people consider to be a spoiler. I think it’s actually more intriguing than spoiling. But if you want to avoid any risk then watch the last 10 minutes of Razor after Season 3. That would be a small change to the order that I indicate below.

Where to Watch Battlestar Galactica

There are DVD and Bluray sources that purport to provide the “complete series.” However, none of them contain everything in my list. So even if you decide to buy physical media, you’ll have to resort to streaming for missing parts.

Presently, you can stream almost all of the TV movies and series from Amazon. An exception is Razor, which you can stream from Vudu. The Resistance and The Face of the Enemy are compilations of webisodes that you can stream on YouTube and Dailymotion. I link each item in the list to its best streaming source.

Battlestar Galactica Watch Order

Now, find your comfortable place. It’s time to visit the twelve colonies, meet William Adama, and join in the Cylon war. Sit back, relax, and enjoy one of the best science fiction stories of all time. Let’s get started!

Caprica (Amazon)

Episode 1, Pilot, Part 1

Episode 2, Pilot, Part 2

Episode 3, Rebirth

Episode 4, Reins of a Waterfall

Episode 5, Gravedancing

Episode 6, There Is Another Sky

Episode 7, Know Thy Enemy

Episode 8, The Imperfections of Memory

Episode 9, Ghosts in the Machine

Episode 10, End of the Line

Episode 11, Unvanquished

Episode 12, Retribution

Episode 13, Things We Lock Away

Episode 14, False Labor

Episode 15, Blowback

Episode 16, The Dirteaters

Episode 17, The Heavens Will Rise

Episode 18, Here Be Dragons

Episode 19, Apotheosis

Blood and Chrome (all parts combined, Amazon)

The Mini-Series (Amazon)

Season 1 (Amazon)

Episode 1, 33

Episode 2, Water

Episode 3, Bastille Day

Episode 4, Act of Contrition

Episode 5, You Can’t Go Home Again

Episode 6, Litmus

Episode 7, Six Degrees of Separation

Episode 8, Flesh and Bone

Episode 9, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down

Episode 10, The Hand of God

Episode 11, Colonial Day

Episode 12, Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 1

Episode 13, Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 2

Season 2 (Amazon)

Episode 1, Scattered

Episode 2, Valley of Darkness

Episode 3, Fragged

Episode 4, Resistance

Episode 5, The Farm

Episode 6, Home, Part 1

Episode 7, Home, Part 2

Episode 8, Final Cut

Episode 9, Flight of the Phoenix

Episode 10, Pegasus

Episode 11, Resurrection Ship, Part 1

Episode 12, Resurrection Ship, Part 2

Episode 13, Epiphanies

Episode 14, Black Market

Episode 15, Scar

Episode 16, Sacrifice

Episode 17, The Captain’s Hand

Razor (all parts combined, Vudu)

Season 2 (continued)

Episode 18, Downloaded

Episode 19, Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1

Episode 20, Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2

The Resistance (all parts combined, YouTube)

Season 3 (Amazon)

Episode 1, Occupation

Episode 2, Precipice

Episode 3, Exodus, Part 1

Episode 4, Exodus, Part 2

Episode 5, Collaborators

Episode 6, Torn

Episode 7, A Measure of Salvation

Episode 8, Hero

Episode 9, Unfinished Business

Episode 10, The Passage

Episode 11, The Eye of Jupiter

Episode 12, Rapture

Episode 13, Taking a Break From All Your Worries

Episode 14, The Woman King

Episode 15, A Day in the Life

Episode 16, Dirty Hands

Episode 17, Maelstrom

Episode 18, The Son Also Rises

Episode 19, Crossroads, Part 1

Episode 20, Crossroads, Part 2

Season 4 (Amazon)

Episode 1, He That Believeth In Me

Episode 2, Six of One

Episode 3, The Ties That Bind

Episode 4, Escape Velocity

Episode 5, The Road Less Traveled

Episode 6, Faith

Episode 7, Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?

Episode 8, Sine Qua Non

Episode 9, The Hub

Episode 10, Revelations

Episode 11, Sometimes a Great Notion

The Face of the Enemy (all parts combined, Dailymotion)

Season 4 (continued)

Episode 12, A Disquiet Follows My Soul

Episode 13, The Oath

Episode 14, Blood on the Scales

Episode 15, No Exit

The Plan (Amazon)

Season 4 (continued)

Episode 16, Deadlock

Episode 17, Someone to Watch Over Me

Episode 18, Islanded In a Stream of Stars

Episode 19, Daybreak, Part 1

Episode 20, Daybreak, Part 2

Episode 21, Daybreak, Part 3

Originally published at lincoln.metacannon.net on February 26, 2020.

[steenpaal]

Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks - Wikipedia

Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks is a collective title given to a series of seven "webisodes" released in late 2007 in lead up to the television movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor via the world wide web and weekly airing. According to Ronald D. Moore, the Razor Flashbacks, in contrast to both The Resistance and The Face of the Enemy webseries, should technically be considered as featurettes. 'The distinction between the two is that webisodes were new material created specifically for the internet, while the featurettes are really little more than deleted scenes from Razor.[2] Despite this, the series is still often referred to as being a series of webisodes due to their separate release.

The final scene, "Escape", featuring Edward James Olmos as the older Adama, is omitted in both the television and extended DVD versions of Razor. Otherwise, the flashbacks from "The Lab" onwards were directly integrated into the TV version, while the DVD edition included all of the remaining episodes except "Day 4,571" and "The Hangar". All webisodes are available for individual viewing on the Region 1, 2 and 4 DVD sets of Razor as a special feature, and are included in "The Complete Series" DVD and Blu-ray box sets. The webisodes are also available as free downloads on the Xbox Live Marketplace, some of which are featured in high-definition 720p resolution.

The series is set during the final stages of the First Cylon War. It focuses on a younger William "Husker" Adama in his fighter pilot days aboard Galactica while on an important mission to uncover the Cylons' “super weapon” on a mysterious icy planet.

The webisode series starts on the 4,571st day of the war (about 40 years before the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol). While Galactica is fighting Cylon threats, Adama faces his own problems when he discovers his lover has been gravely injured after her raptor is attacked by the Cylons. Adama soon finds himself swung into action shooting down Cylon raiders, but after a head-on collision with a raider, ejects and lands on the nearby planet, only to be confronted by the unexpected reality of what the Cylons have been working on.

Webisodes

Title Directed by Written by Release date Day 4,571 Wayne Rose Michael Taylor October 5, 2007 A young William Adama, on Galactica, speculates with a close fellow fighter pilot about the ship’s current mission. The Hangar Wayne Rose Michael Taylor October 12, 2007 Adama recognises a familiar face amongst some wounded in the midst of “Operation Raptor Talon”. Operation Raptor Talon Félix Enríquez Alcalá Michael Taylor October 19, 2007 While Columbia and a Cylon Basestar battle above an icy planet, Adama’s squadron battle the Cylon Raiders. As the fight draws to a close with Columbia's destruction, Adama, as an impulsive response for revenge, blindly follows two of the Raiders into the planet’s atmosphere. Free Fall Félix Enríquez Alcalá Michael Taylor October 26, 2007 As Adama freefalls through the planet’s atmosphere, he finds himself in an awkward position as he encounters a Cylon Centurion. The Lab Félix Enríquez Alcalá Michael Taylor November 2, 2007 Adama begins to investigate the mysterious building on the planet’s surface only to inadvertently discover the remnants of Cylon’s violent experiments with humans. Survivors Félix Enríquez Alcalá Michael Taylor November 9, 2007 Several live humans are discovered in a vault-like room while the sudden vibrations of a Cylon ship can be heard. Adama is faced with a difficult decision of saving himself or rescuing the trapped captives. Escape Félix Enríquez Alcalá Michael Taylor November 16, 2007 The Cylon ship on the planet takes off with haste as Adama makes contact with Galactica only to find out an armistice had been signed between the Humans and Cylons.

References

External links