The Cylon Attack (aka The Cylon Master Plan)

[chyron]

I'm usually a bit more observant than this, but two thing have occurred to me (or I've just missed them entirely)...

1. The Human Cylons have never really stated WHY they attacked the colonies.

2. Along with that, neither are they *REALLY* trying to wipe out the remnants of Humanity. How many times have they assaulted the fleet? (Apart from 33 minutes.)

This leads me to make two conclusions...The Cylons needed the planets that the Colonies inhabited. The Cylons still have a need for Humanity (proven in 'The Farm'.)

[Bl4de]

Their plan is weird and messed up, that's for sure. They spent 40 years making it. I really just don't understand though. They had no reason to fear the humans, humans wanted peaceful relations with them, the cylons were always instigating war, even after they got their own home world they instigated war, they try to preserve what's left of the humans while at the same time try to destroy it. Some of the cylons don't know they're cylons, some do. It's so confusing...

I'd really like to see the homeworld of the cylons, the basestars are creepy as anything (all bio-organic and slimey), their world must be worse.. and I don't know why... the cylons were robots that humans created, so somewhere along the line they must have come across a technology to create human cylons (whatever that means... cylon humans physiologically are human in every respect, what makes them cylon who knows). Perhaps the people the colonials think of as "gods" were some advanced race with technology that could do that.

So many possibilities... the show could go on for 5 seasons and there wouldn't be a resolve for many of them!

[theBlind]

The easiest explanation why the fleet has not been wiped out (and in fact, the cylons have allowed them to do quiet some damage with that destroyed basestar) would be that they are using the survivours to lead them to earth.
Maybe they heed some ancient prophecy that only the humans can find earth or something.
They have shown (in Final Cut) that they always seem to know where the fleet is and given the jump capabilities their raiders possess, I see no difficulty for them in drawing all their strength in for a single strike to destroy the fleet.
Unless they fear that shattering it would make them more likely to survive, that is. They could be waiting for the surviours to settle down someplace and attack once they can no longer run away. (getting to destroy earth in the bargain)


One thing is for sure. That sentence from the intro better be true.
"And they have a plan"
Destroying 12 planets and killing billions, they damn well better have a plan, one more involved than some wanton slaughter!

[anotherquestion]

The ending of "Final Cut" firmed up a few ideas and starts to narrow some of the more ambiguous aspects of the Cylon Plan.

• We see, for the first time, Cylons openly speaking of "god's plan" among themselves alone. This reinforces the idea that Cylon "monotheism" is a genuine belief system and not some kind of ploy played out only during interactions with Colonials (such as Leoban's interrogation or the repeated prosyletizing of Number 6 with Baltar).
• Apparently, the Cylons can easily track the fleet, sending in two Raiders to relay the video information from D'anna
• Cylons, once again, show a readiness to sacrifice their own assests for the sake of gathering intelligence
• Cylons cannot "communicate at a distance" with their embedded agents, hence the need for the relays. The embedded agents did not communicate the existence of Caprica Sharon until the video was relayed. Although it is not clear exactly which crew members know of Sharon's presence, I would assert that this eliminates most of the Bridge personnel from suspicion of being Cylon agents (at least the "self aware" kind of agents).
• The Cylon Sharon in the audience says at first, "I'm still alive" when she sees the Boomer video, then quickly restates the matter to her companions as "she is still alive, see I told you". This may or may not be a significant "Freudian slip" since a strong identification with the health of Sharon on Gallactica may erode alligence to the Plan. It also has a resonance with the first statement made by Number 6 at the "treaty station" at the beginning of the miniseries ("Are you alive?")
• Number 6 in the audience seems to be strangely elated at the resilience of the Fleet. Is this a smirking admiration of a predator who is amused at the confidence of a hopelessly outmatched adversary, or a genuine acknowledgment of respect?
• The religious reference by the D'anna in the Cylon audience reinforces, once again, the authenticity of the Number 6 in Baltar's head. This number 6 broached the theology of the Cylon's "one true god" well ahead of any of the other instances we've seen, although aspects of that theology were amplified by Leoban during his interrogation, and also from the anecdotal reports from the Resistance fighters on Caprica. Despite the mindgames played by Number 6 and the BSG writers in Home II, it seems clear that Baltar's Number 6 does have some aspects that are genuinely Cylon in nature. Why, then, is she not a source of information herself to the other Cylons?
• The continued health of Sharon's baby appears to be a critical strategic goal in the Cylon Plan. Sharon has not, apparently, been in communication herself with the other Cylons.

[mikeforrest2003]

And has anyone said what the 33 minutes was all about?

Why 33 minutes and not 1 hour or 10 minutes?

In fact if they'd really wanted to mess with the Colonials heads they could have varied the timing of their attacks. Given enough time people can adjust to any pattern.

And I can understand the crew of the Galactica having problems with sleep but why would it necessarily affect the Civilians? Sure the FTL jumps and the klaxxons would have been anoying but again people can adjust. And the klaxxons could have been turned off by the civilian crews.

[chyron]

And has anyone said what the 33 minutes was all about? Why 33 minutes and not 1 hour or 10 minutes?

It probably just sounded good to the writers/producers. If you follow Stargate (and who wouldn't), the episode 'The Fifth Race' was so named because it sounded better than 'The Fourth Race'.

[Kaviyd]

I'm usually a bit more observant than this, but two thing have occurred to me (or I've just missed them entirely)...

1. The Human Cylons have never really stated WHY they attacked the colonies.

2. Along with that, neither are they *REALLY* trying to wipe out the remnants of Humanity. How many times have they assaulted the fleet? (Apart from 33 minutes.)

This leads me to make two conclusions...The Cylons needed the planets that the Colonies inhabited. The Cylons still have a need for Humanity (proven in 'The Farm'.)

My personal theory is that the Cylons made contact with the last surviving Lord of Kobol, who bears a serious grudge against the Colonial humans. He inspired in the Cylons the goal of wiping out all of humanity -- including those of the lost planet Earth. He also had a role in creating the humanoid Cylons, but deliberately left them with limitations that they are still struggling with.

Thus, the Cylons have two goals: (1) Find Earth and exterminate its inhabitants, and (2) Find a way for the humanoid Cylons to reproduce freely. So far all Cylon activity seems to serve one or both of these goals.

[chyron]

My personal theory is that the Cylons made contact with the last surviving Lord of Kobol, who bears a serious grudge against the Colonial humans.

Ding! Ding! I like that idea.

[923flanigan]

I'm usually a bit more observant than this, but two thing have occurred to me (or I've just missed them entirely)...

1. The Human Cylons have never really stated WHY they attacked the colonies.

2. Along with that, neither are they *REALLY* trying to wipe out the remnants of Humanity. How many times have they assaulted the fleet? (Apart from 33 minutes.)

This leads me to make two conclusions...The Cylons needed the planets that the Colonies inhabited. The Cylons still have a need for Humanity (proven in 'The Farm'.)

You know, what happened to the nice answer known as 'just because'?

My personal theory is that the Cylons made contact with the last surviving Lord of Kobol, who bears a serious grudge against the Colonial humans.

Well, we know by now that cylons are a lot like humans.(See #6, Pegasus) They do feel for each other in some way or another, although they usually don't fear death. That's the most evident marker seperating them from humanity. So how could they make contact with a Lord of Kobol if humans couldn't? Sure, they have lots of supplies that they can waste, but when it comes down to it, they're just metal humans.

My theory is that the cylons are tired of being considered below humans, and want to get rid of them so that they can start anew. They probably had spies in Galactica who found out they were going to earth, and now the cylons want to exterminate everyone there as well, to achieve maximum power.

[chyron]

You know, what happened to the nice answer known as 'just because'?

Were you referring to things being the way they are just because thats the way they are?

So how could they make contact with a Lord of Kobol if humans couldn't? Sure, they have lots of supplies that they can waste, but when it comes down to it, they're just metal humans.

When I first read that comment, my though was that the last Lord of Kobol was hiding out somewhere. I'm liking the idea that the Lords of Kobol somewhat genetically engineered Humans and that the last Lord of Kobol got ticked off at the direction that the species was evolving in so he left and then when the Cylons discovered him, he saw it as his/her chance to start over.

[Vee]

Interesting theories! However, I'm not sure we ever got a sound explanation as to why the Cylons initially turned on their human masters. I'm referring to the original war and not the subsequent attack on the twelve colonies. Leoban talked a little bit about this with Commander Adama in the mini-series. He mentions that god decided humans needed to be punished for their crimes or something along those lines. The Cylons seem to justify their attack on the humans as god's will. Humans are savages, they must be destroyed. Obviously there is more to their plan than that.

What I want to know is what truly prompted the Cylons to turn on their human masters? Did they simply boot up one day and decide to annihilate the human race? Had they been conspiring for years? Were they coordinating with some other force?

To be honest, I think the Cylons true goal has been to completely destroy humanity per "god's will." But perhaps once they completed their initial attack on the twelve colonies, they realized some humans might be useful. Their behavior is ambiguous at best. However, I think they still seek to wipe out humanity, but perhaps in a different way than originally planned. The Cylons clearly believe that humanity is more than capable of destroying itself. That could easily be a factor in why the Cylons don't always seem to be trying with great effort to kill the humans.

So while they obviously have more to their plan than meets the eye, I doubt any of it involves the longevity of humans. Especially after in “Home 2/The Raid” where

Spoiler:

Six mentioned that she was there to protect Gaius until the end of the human race.

[923flanigan]

Were you referring to things being the way they are just because thats the way they are?



When I first read that comment, my though was that the last Lord of Kobol was hiding out somewhere. I'm liking the idea that the Lords of Kobol somewhat genetically engineered Humans and that the last Lord of Kobol got ticked off at the direction that the species was evolving in so he left and then when the Cylons discovered him, he saw it as his/her chance to start over.

Yes, I was referring to that.

I'm not saying it doesn't sound interesting, it just sounds a bit.....weird. And we're talking about a religious figure, who is hardly as real to them as Greek Mythology figures are to us. It just seems far off.

[chyron]

Yes, I was referring to that.

I'm not saying it doesn't sound interesting, it just sounds a bit.....weird. And we're talking about a religious figure, who is hardly as real to them as Greek Mythology figures are to us. It just seems far off.

Any werider than the goa'uld's possing as gods?

[923flanigan]

Any werider than the goa'uld's possing as gods?

No, just weird. Weird as in my opinion of weird.

[ronsmytheiii]

Any werider than the goa'uld's possing as gods?

Battlestar Galactica is NOT Stargate. I believe there are some questions that will never be answered about what happened beecause that happens in real life, especially with religion. I hope we never actually see a Lord of Kobol.