Dead but Dreaming

[andrewducker]

A few thoughts on where the last few episodes of BSG are going.

Since the very beginning there's clearly been _something_ going on.  While some of it was the work of the cylons, (as manipulated by John/Cavil), there's also been a whole bunch of stuff which seemed 'unexplainable' - things which people _in_ the TV series have explained in religious terms, and which most people outside the TV series have assumed was just the writers pulling stuff out of their arse.

I think it's all Daniel.

It was explained that Cavil destroyed all of the '7's ('Daniel's) in the vats, and then corrupted the genetic formula so no more could be grown. I think that Daniel is still alive, and living inside the Cylon Matrix.  He's the god in the machine - manipulating things in ways small enough that Cavil can't see them, preparing to strike back.

I think that when the Hybrids talk nonsense, it's bits of his personality being picked up.

I think that he has the ability to use resurrection tanks that are "out of the way" to create a new Starbuck (who is part Cylon and thus amenable to that kind of thing) and to grow her a new Viper (after all, that's how Cylons create their ships - out of organic goo).

And I think he has the ability to use the Cylon Projection ability to talk to part-Cylons.  Like his daughter Starbuck.

Like his son, Gaius.

(You may now recall an event from season one and say "Ewwww" if you like)

I'm not 100% on Gaius - but it sure as hell would explain a lot.

and it means that we've been given the last piece of the puzzle - and the last few episodes are building towards a reveal of Daniel (presumably at the end of the episode on the 13th) in time for the two-parter climax.

The only questions that remain are around "What does he want?" - particularly "Why did he guide them to Earth?" (Unless that was him trying to "wake up" the final five (his parents) from the bad dream that Cavil had put them in.)

Thoughts?

Comments

[andrewducker]

Dammit - except that the final five _also_ saw visions of people before their apocalypse.

So it can't _all_ be Daniel.

Bugger!

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'm not certain what you mean. Do you mean that when the Final Five were in their first incarnation on pre-apocalypse Earth they also saw visions? Where was that mentioned?

Alternately, if you are referring to the Final Five getting visions of their pre-apocalypse lives on Earth when they visited post-apocalypse Earth, then that could easily still be Daniel - all he needs is access to their stored memories.

My take is that Baltar is merely insane and that he's definitely not a Cylon (I've occasionally entertained the idea that everyone except Baltar is a Cylon :)

We clearly have another player - the Final Five were one player in this,

I also wonder if we'll see more about the centurions gaining independence & free will (and hope that we do). Perhaps Daniel's ghost in the machine is working with the actual machines (the centurions and suchlike).

[andrewducker]

It was mentioned in "No Exit" - the one where Ellen comes back and Anders tells them lots of stuff.

I'm not sure either way with Gaius. The visions he's had have been far too useful, plot-wise, to just be madness.

I'd be happy for him to have a chip in his head though :->

Oh - and I also hope we get more about centurions having free will. I hope that there are ones in the rest of the fleet with free will, rather than just on the rebel cylon ship.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

There's enough prophecy going on that one possible answer is that all this is some sort of elaborate Matrixesque simulation. I think this would likely be the least satisfactory non-supernatural explanation possible, but I'm also not willing to entirely rule it out.

[andrewducker]

I'm not ruling it out, but I'll be very disappointed if they lower themselves to that.

Of course, there's the prequel series Caprica in production at the moment - if BSG is "all a dream" I can't see many people watching that...

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they'll be naughty and not really explain anything, but make it clear that the answers are to be found in the past (read: watch Caprica).

[andrewducker]

Well, they've already said that Caprica is designed to be stand-alone - you don't need to have seen BSG to enjoy it.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

But, pedantically, that wouldn't technically rule out having to see it to enjoy BSG :)

[ishkhara.livejournal.com]

I think they're all Cylon/human hybrids and that there is no such things a 'pure' human anymore.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

A MatrixDaniel is a nice idea, one that hadn't occured to me. It solved the problem of where to hide him, if Daniel *is* the Rogue Agency in the story. Mind you, if he's hiding inside the Cylon Matrix, it begs the question of why he didn't poison John's (Cavill's) amniotic fluid right back at him.

(Producer's comments notwithstanding, the actor playing Dreilide hasn't been identified as being cast in the next couple of stories. Not that this means much.)

I was thinking that Gaius might well be Starbuck's half-brother last night. It would save Gaius's arse, story-wise. Unless he can be identified as "Other", he'll die at some stage soon as "retribution for his sins", as it were. Story-wise, as it were.

Of course, this doesn't explain Laura's connection to the Cylon Projection Process.

Either the "truth" will be even stranger than all of our speculations... or it will be lamer.

[andrewducker]

I definitely agree with the last line :->

And yeah, I'd like to know about Roslin too!

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

She had a cylon blood transfusion...? Did the hallucinations happen before this? I cant remember...

[andrewducker]

She had the visions of snakes,Pythia, etc. before that. When she was on that drug.

Jesus - I wonder if that drug was something to allow Cylon projection!

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

Well, do we actually know what the final five are? It looked like they were normal people who jigged up some old resurrection device, which works by removing consciousness and putting it into a body which is an exact replica.

Consciousness may be a commonality shared by all the "humaniods". So if the ability is innate, then something like the president's drug might enhance it.

[andrewducker]

The final five are definitely Cylons - from the Cylon colony on Earth.

Quick back-fill: Thirteen colonies were formed when the people left Kobol - 12 human ones went to the Twelve Colonies, one Cylon one went to Earth.

2000 years later Earth is destroyed by a Cylon/Centurion war, five Cylon survivors make their way to the Twelve Colonies and arrive just too late to prevent a war starting there.

We've not seen any evidence that humans can transmit minds.

But we don't know whether it's impossible.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

But how do we know the cylons on Earth are any different from the humans?

We know the 7 are different, because they can plug themselves in to things; but we've never seen the 5 do it. Have we seen the 5 do anything remotely like the 7?

Were the 7 not created because cylon guards wanted to develop biological life type creatures? and this was the gift from the Earth colony to the AI robot cylons?

[andrewducker]

Analysis of the remains on Earth apparently made it clear that they were Cylon remains, not human ones.

And the final five can do the whole cylon melding thing.

How close they are to humans, we don't know...

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

the whole cylon melding thing

What was that?

[andrewducker]

Sorry, I meant Cylon Projection.

Of course, Gaius seems to be sometimes able to do that too. So either people can, or he's part Cylon...

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

Or Six got burned into his consciousness when the nuclear bomb hit :)

Is he the only one who can?

[andrewducker]

Well, we saw The Chief do it with Boomer - but then they are both Cylons, so that's not surprising.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

Or thats what Cavil made Daniel into ;)

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

Actually, while they do make it clear that Earth was full of Cylon remains, Ellen later talks about how they were destroyed because of Human/Cylon tensions. I'm guessing whoever was left over human from the 13th colony, or the ancient Lords of Kobol did it after inventing Jump Drive, but before heading to the 12 colonies. She stressed that anywhere humans and cylons interacted, they wiped each other out, which is why they needed to blend the two races.

[andrewducker]

Aaargh - I thought it was Cylon/Centurion tensions.

Got a link to anything useful on this front??

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

Sadly, no, but IIRC it occurs during the sequence when they're arguing over whether or not to leave the fleet at Anders' bedside.

[andrewducker]

I'll have to go back and take a look at the episode when I get a chance!

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

Interesting theory about Gaius - though we know some of his background and it doesn't seem that he was abandoned by his father (as he would have had to have been if Daniel was his dad, since he would've then had to leave to meet Starbuck's mom). Still, it would explain the "MOAR GUNS FIX EVERYTHING" mindset - obviously it runs in the family. :P

[andrewducker]

There would be more than one Daniel, of course - mind you, they might all have vanished at the same time, when Cavil killed them all.

And yes, SEND MOAR GUNS!!!

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

Duh, totally forgot there would be multiple copies.

[diotina.livejournal.com]

Interesting--I was thinking exactly the same thing re: Daniel=Dreilide. Not entirely convinced re Gaius being his son, though they might very well be connected in some way.