Battlestar Galactica's main plot point only exists because of a mathematical error

At Jonathan Klotz
| Published 6 seconds ago

It's no secret that Battlestar Galactica's opening, which explained to the audience that the Cilnons have a plan, is a lie. The show's writers didn't know where the series was ending, and creator Ronald D. Moore ended up admitting it on his broadcast and in subsequent interviews, but one example of poor foresight stands out thanks to basic arithmetic. When Moore was discussing the episode “stuck in a stream of stars”, he admitted that the seventh number was never seen because it threw the math behind the last five.

8+5 = 13

All Cylons are numbered, which wasn't a problem until Season 3, when the last five tabs were teased. early, Battlestar Galactica clearly stated that there were 12 cylons, which were symmetrical to the twelve colonies, but after the introduction of Athena as the number eight, the math no longer reached. If there were eight Cylon models, and then the last five, which equals 13 total models, but there were only 12, so number 7 Daniel was killed off-screen and is never seen during the series, keeping the total number of total models to 12.

Taking advantage of the “boxing” concept, Moore concocted the explanation that Number One (played by Dean Stockwell) sabotaged Number 7 long before the war and damaged the entire line, causing the tab to constantly box. The box, in Cylon terms, involves the digital consciousness of a machine that is trapped in a literal box during the resurrection process, placing it in a restricted state. It was useful for some of the narrative issues in Battlestar Galactica, both for the eight-plus-five variety and as a threat to the seemingly immortal robots.

Although the boxing of number seven kept the narrative from collapsing, the boxing of number three (Lucy Lawless) helped seal the narrative hole when Xena: Warrior Princess The star decided to leave the series. In a beautiful moment of a true believer in the loop accepting her fate, number three was removed from number one, while highlighting that she would see the final five. Seven and three remained the only two tribes in time Battlestar Galactica to feel the boxing of the whole model and for similar reasons.

The last five caused problems

Not planning for the last five correctly put more plot holes than it was worth, according to some Battlestar Galactica Fans, and it wasn't just the Cylon characters that suffered. Discovering this solar fiddle (Michael Hogan) was the Cylon's lack of evolution as a character, and Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) turned out to be a retroactive Cylon, her death robbed of any meaning. It's amusing that the writers put themselves in a mathematical corner, but Moore made another odd choice with number seven.

Number seven's name was revealed to be Daniel, which was the same name as Daniel Greystone, the creator of the Cylons. Although it was a coincidence, Moore's purposeful choice led to speculation that the missing Cylon was indeed a tab maker who had given himself eternal digital life. Capriceprequel series, showed why it's extremely unlikely that Grayon would do it himself, but it's still fun Battlestar Galactica fan speculation.

The legendary lack of planning didn't stop there Battlestar Galactica from becoming a hit and is still one of the best sci-fi All-time shows, but situations like issue seven, and everything about the final five, make it clear how easily the entire series could have collapsed after a while.