Kara Thrace and Her Special Destiny - Discussion Question

Posted by battlestar

April 29, 2008 |

I was debating about making the first discussion question about the identity of the Final Cylon, but then I saw previews for Friday’s episode and decided to change the topic…

Herald of the Apocalypse, Harbinger of Doom, Starbuck–take your pick on Kara Thrace’s titles.

Undoubtedly with this being the final season, finding Earth is going to be at the forefront of people’s thoughts. And apparently there’s only one person who’s sure they can accomplish this task. Starbuck has it stuck in her head (quite literally) that she can sense the way to Earth. But how is that so? One theory goes along with a line said to Kara before her Viper exploded: “All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.”

In the original BSG, there are two episodes titled “Gods of War”. Both are on Hulu, but you really only need to watch the second one for the details we’ll be discussing. In Part II, Apollo (for those of you who’ve only seen the current series, this version of Adama’s son is played by the same actor who plays Tom Zarek), Starbuck (in the original he’s a dude), and Sheba have a run in with a fallen angel named Count Iblis. The villain attempts to kill Sheba with an energy bolt, but Apollo sacrifices himself by throwing his body in front of the woman. Count Iblis goes away, and Starbuck and Sheba load up Apollo’s body into a shuttle and head back towards Galactica. Along the way, the run into what’s called the Ship of Lights. Onboard they encounter “seraphs” who revive Apollo. When the trio return to the battlestar, their memories are fuzzy about what happened, and all of the sudden the three of them know the location of Earth.

Let’s compare: Kara dies, but is then brought back to life. When she returns, her memory is fuzzy about what happened, and all of the sudden she knows the location of Earth. Also, there’s this:

Photo from io9.com

On the left is the Ship of Lights from the original series, and on the right is the picture Starbuck painted in her quarters on the Demetrius. Over her left shoulder, you can see she painted something that looks familiar.

So did Starbuck actually die? Was she brought back to life by seraphs on the Ship of Lights? Was she sent back to guide the way to Earth?

Or, did she just appear and reappear for some totally other reason? Is she crazy and sending the fleet on a wild goose chase?

What are your thoughts?

And if you’re more interested in the Ship of Lights idea, check out these two websites: one and two.

Comments

4 Comments so far

Adam on April 30, 2008 2:02 am
Whoa. Nice job noticing that! You’ve gotta be right. Really, we’re all going nuts trying to figure out what’s what and what’s going to happen, but I bet a lot of it “has happened before…” in the original series, that is.

I wonder how they’ll make the idea of human resurrection plausible and not cheesy. It may involve explaining that humans are indeed a kind of cylon.
Sarah Bauman on April 30, 2008 10:43 am
That is really interesting and that is definitely a nice job of noticing that. I sort of remember seeing the old series but don’t remember that particular show. Something to think about for sure. I too start to wonder if Kara is taking them on a wild goose chase. I’m also wondering if Kara will start to remember what happened to her after the ship exploded? Have to wait for everything to play out.
Jessica on April 30, 2008 10:51 am
See, this is what I love - about this show, and this blog. VERY interesting observation.

There’s no doubt some sort of very plausible connection. The writers have made it tougher on this Starbuck, because she was alone when she ‘died.’ I think I’m going to wait before I bet on all out human resurrection. There are several things about the last few minutes before the ship exploded that intrigue me. In addition to “this has all happened before,” I remember “they’re waiting for me.” Who was she, a self-proclaimed athiest, speaking about?

Also, if they’re going to stay true to this part of the original series, we’ll likely see a deeper delving into the mythological structure established thus far. The gods worshiped by the humans and the ‘one true god’ of the cylons sounds awfully like a angels/Lucifer break off to me. And I’m starting to feel like this entire final season is based on the “convergence” factor. Everything - humans, cylons, religion, past, present, etc. - is converging together into a new thing, “great than the sum of their parts.” I’m not sure what final shape it will all take, but it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
OpenBothEyes on April 30, 2008 12:45 pm
I think the most glaring difference between the original series where Apollo dies and this one where Starbuck dies is that fact that Starbuck blew up. KABOOM! No body. Vacuum of space. Big fireball and wreckage. It’s one thing to repair a human body (like the sarcophagus in Stargate)- it’s quite another to create a whole different body and viper and put Starbuck’s consciousness into this new body.

However, I am not one of those people who think Starbuck is a Cylon. Cylons would have been much more careful in sending her back to the fleet. They wouldn’t have given her that pristine viper. Remember in season 1 on Caprica when Athena faked being captured? Before going back to Helo (I think) Doral beat her up so it would be believable. I’m pretty sure they would have beaten up Starbuck’s replica viper before sending her back.

If they can figure out a way to do it without being corny, I am very into the SOL theory. So far BSG has handled polytheism especially in a way that is interesting and believable where other shows/mediums do not. If they can carry off the same tone in this case, I’d love to see some higher plane intervention here. Kara Thrace and her Special Destiny!