How does Starbuck relate to Zach Adama? - Ep104

[McSwift]

Hey.

I'm slowly going through the episodes thru BSG, since Stargate is out at the moment.

How does Starbuck relate to Zach Adama anyways? All I know is that they are engaged? But how does this engagment conflict with Admiral Adama anyways? I don't get it. Was Starbuck Zach's Viper Instructor? Also how did Zach die?

[Trek_Girl42]

They were engaged, but Starbuck was running the testing of the new pilots for their basic flight. She tested Zach and he should have failed but because of their personal relationship, she passed him anyway. Zach moved on to flying a Viper, where he had an accident and died. Starbuck blames herself because she knows that she should never have passed him, and she let her personal feelings get in the way of doing her job properly, hence why she was riding the new recruits so hard in Act of Contrition. I'm pretty sure this continues in the episode "You Can't Go Home Again" but it's hard to remember what happens in which episode of the two-parter.