I was at a panel with EJO last summer, and he wasn't kidding when he said these last episodes are going to be very, very dark, if this clip is an indicator.

As much as I don't want BSG to end, I can't wait to see how it ends.

still wondering who the final model is...

Yeah, we wonder.

There may not be 'Human' life on this version of Earth, but as LR has discovered....there IS life!

Can't wait!

They are not ON earth! LR was never supposed to survive to see earth!

she was also supposed to die in S2.

written thousands of years ago, even prophecies can't be expected to account for procreating robots and unimagined medical miracles,

i always figured that part of the prophecy (if not the whole thing) was no longer valid.

The dying leader wasn't supposed to live to see "the promised land" that doesn't look much like paradise to me and I don't think they've found it yet.

Perhaps there is something more sinister a foot. Something neither Human nor Cylon anticipated? Questions...I have so many questions. I can't wait for January 16th.

Looks like just an average day in Vancouver to me. ;)

The promised land of the prophecy is not Earth. Laura will not see it. Whether or not the planet they are presently on is Earth or Terra remains to be seen.

The funny thing with prophecies is that they can be interpreted a number of ways.

They could be separate places...or perhaps that the promise land is an area on Earth itself and not the planet as a whole.

You people have got to try to remember two things; 1, Ron Moore has cleverly introduced nearly all the plot elements of the original series into this one. 2, From Galactica's crews point of view, they are ASSUMING this is Earth. That doesn't mean their assumption is correct. Does anybody remember an old episode involving the "Eastern Alliance" and the planets Terra and Paradeen?

C'mon people! Please tell me that I am not the only one to consider that the entire series is taking place in the past! Now that we've learned that there is no human life on this planet (whatever it's name,) and the ruins to show that they've either died off or moved on years ago - ala Kobol - the more convinced I've become that this is OUR past. You see, regardless of whether or not this is THE "Earth" that they've been searching for, this planet will BE Earth - for the simple fact that they know of only ONE planetary colony this far from the other eleven... EARTH!

Nik IS on to something when he says to look to the original series... All ya gotta do is take a look at the trailer for the old Battlestar Galactica movie and TV series and you'll know what I'm driving at. Mankind's home planet is Kobol (Eden), and it is from there that the 12 Colonies (12 Tribes of Israel) originate. One of these colonies was never heard from again, and after hundreds of years, this lost colony on Earth (the Lost Tribe of Israel) became a fable - the original Atlantis.
Don't let the technology of Galactica, or Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" fool you into believing that this story is taking place in our future. All ya gotta do is read up on some of Mankind's technological achievements: the "Baghdad Battery", Roman engineering, Greek fire, Mayan astronomy, Viking navigation, Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid, etc... Our history is filled with discoveries and inventions that were long ago forgotten - only to be re-discovered and re-invented thousands of years later. It's a real trip to imagine that a BSG-esque HUMAN HISTORY could have been one of the MANY - MANY - MANY pieces of knowledge that were lost when the Library of Alexandria burned to the ground.

The humans of BSG are our Adam... the Cylons - our Eve.

Right or wrong? I honestly don't have a clue how BSG will wrap-up. I do know that I am VERY excited to see how the series comes to an end... and, VERY sad to see it go.

I agree with GearHead. Perhaps the humans are the progenitors of us - and the hybrid child is the prototype for all our saviors of various faiths.

GearWater said:

"C'mon people! Please tell me that I am not the only one to consider that the entire series is taking place in the past!"

If so, then why was the music they heard and started saying lyrics to was "all along the watchtower", originally by Bob Dylan but then played awesomely by Jimi Hendrix?

@ danielf

Because it had to be a song that we the audience knew, so that we'd recognize the lyrics even as the characters did not and tried to sing along.

It's not REALLY "Watchtower", that's just the filler used so that we the audience were "in the know".

There's nothing in those clips of presumable Earth, that makes it seem un-inhabitable. It's no Death Valley. That's my opinion on that subject matter.

Prophecy said that Roslin is supposed to die before they reach the promised land right?? That's what we've all been led to believe. Is it too far of a stretch to maybe consider that Roslin is not the leader that they were talking about.

I just want to put out this theory because I've haven't heard it anywhere else yet.

Maybe the leader that the Scrolls of Pithea are talking about is suppose to the Cylon leader Natalie. Maybe the scrolls tell the story of the cylons. Maybe that's the crazy twist on the story. Sine Quo Non translate to ( This must happen It's all happen) right? Maybe that's the reasoning that RDM named that episode just that.
It's all happened before and It will happen again. The cycle just goes on and on. What came first the chicken or the egg. Who created who? The cylons or the humans?
Everyone always likes their own theory the best. I like mine. Tear me apart everyone.

Maybe it's like Planet of the Apes, and "Earth" is really Caprica...
:O

I doubt it's Caprica since they probably would have recognized it before landing, but I also doubt it's Earth. I'm betting LR's interest in that plant will somehow reveal these facts (maybe it's kamala, or however you spell it), but I wouldn't bet much.

danielf/NottheFinalCylon: Here's my take on the Watchtower. I think this is taking place in the future, obviously. The version the cylons heard was not Dylan or Hendrix, it was a remake, if you will. We all know that Our broadcasts go out into space, as exampled in "Contact"... so this is clearly a version not yet released, in the future, then when the Four hear it, it's in the past.
I do agree that this might not be Earth, per say... the earthlings having left or destroyed themselves. But it might tie in to NASAs current search for habitable planets. It's all connected in some witty way.

In Vegas last year I met Aaron Douglas. He was happy to talk, I asked him if it was Earth. He said, absolutely, but Earth as it is written in the series. Its the earth they were looking for. (Oh and he hates being a Cylon....)

Looks to me like Laura Roslin is continuing her galactic search for that marijuana she found on New Caprica.

I think the Dylan song is a red-herring. In one interview, RDM said it was meant to be known to the audience, but part of a universal tune - If this is the past or the future, it doesn't matter, especially if Dylan was the one who created it - or Dylan was the one who "rediscovered" it. In other words, it doesn't mean the past or the future, in my book, and is not intended to.

I think they will discover that:
1) This is Earth, the original home of humanity;
2) There was a holocaust on Earth in the distant past;
3) The holocaust forced all of humanity that was left to strike out and they found Kobol;
4) That from Kobol humanity struck out and founded the twelve other colonies

In other words, I think their history is backwards! Instead of humanity evolving on Kobol and founding the Twelve Colonies (er, Thirteen)- Mother Earth was where humanity got it's start. We screwed up and moved out to Kobol. Perhaps Kobol had some incompatibility- so after some time there, humanity founded the Twelve Colonies. If my theory is correct, there were some major civilizational/technological crashes along the way from Earth to Kobol to the 12 Colonies! They lost and jumbled a whole lot of history along the way! Also, my guess would be that many many centuries have passed since humanity left Earth. Maybe thousands of years.

My original gut reaction to the mid-season finale was that they found Earth directly after it had been bombarded with nukes by the "bad" Cylons (not like they haven't done this 12 other times). That was more satisfying to me... I don't like the "Planet of the Apes" scenario too much. Still, I can't wait for the 16th! I do hate to see the best series on TV come to an end though. So much talent, such an awesome cast... rare in TV these days!

Could Jimi Hendrix be the final cylon?!

That seawater is SO CGI!

basestar-actual: you are not the only one to debate the identity of the "dying leader". Fandom on LiveJournal has gone extensively through pretty much any option you can imagine.

For my part, I still want the final Cylon to be Roslin or Adama, simply because given their existing relationship, it offers a hell of a lot of dramatic potential, and even without it, it still would.

I think that "this has all happened before . . ." alludes to Kobol being founded by earth's descendents after a war with sentient technology we will create here. Mankind reaches a point where he tries to play god, by creating artificial(?) life, it turns on him, and he is forced to retreat and start over again.

after wtching S4E11 we ow know that Kara Thrace duplicated crashed on Earth, that Earth was populated by cylons and that Soul Tigh's wife was a cylon too. So we now got 13 cylon models? Are there more ?

does any one know what happened to episode 11 ad 12. seems to have missed a couple, went from 10 - 13

Listen. Kara Thrace is not a cylon, which is why leobin ran off and was scared shitless. Ellen is the 12th cylon. there isn't 13! but then again, if you think about it. were all those other people on earth cylons?? than there could be millions. but i doubt that. and please, perhaps i am wrong, but from a logical point, this cannot be our past. how could we lose all that technology. they are traveling threw space, something we cannot do. if that is the case then we all know everything dies in the end and all the ships are destroyed except the kids. we will just have to wait until the final episode.

How do you know Kara isn't a cylon. Isn't the point that we don't know thusly why the cylons in the bar are shocked to here her play their "song" on the piano? Frankly, the show has taken a few divergent paths from the original show, thereby developing into its own, so I wouldn't be surprised if they never encounter Luna 7 and the Eastern Alliance. That would however be an interesting plot twist if there was such or similar encounter. What does it mean? Heck, we won't know till the end. I'm still reeling from Gaida's betrayal, but i suppose i'll get over that eventually :P