Rantings of a New Yorker

During the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica, we’ve learned that there are twelve cylon models. To date, we know of seven of them. They are:

01:
02:
03: D’Anna Biers
04:
05: Aaron Doral
06: Gina/Shelley Godfrey/Caprica Six
07:
08: Sharon Valerii/Boomer/Sharon “Athena” Agathon
09:
10:
11:
12:

There are also Brother Cavil, Simon, and Leoben, though we don’t know their designation numbers.

Speculation abounds as to who the remaining five are and I have my own theories. I do not think that the cylon raiders, baseships or centurions are counted in the twelve. The cylons have always implied that the twelve models are indeed all “skinjobs.” They also treat the raiders as pets, the centurions as servants and, while the baseships have some sentience, there has never been any indication that they are on the same level as the skinjobs.

Given that Caprica-Six recently said, “We don’t talk about them,” when answering Baltar’s question about who the other five were, there is no reason to believe the raiders, baseships, or centurions are counted among the twelve. Lastly, we were recently treated to seeing a hybrid that controls the baseship, however,the cylons do not appear to consider them to be one of the twelve.

Early on, Boomer also said there were eight more cylons in the fleet. This doesn’t mean that they are all different models. The fact that there is limited sight communication between ships, it’s possible for the same models to hide within the fleet, even though this is less likely after the settlement and rebellion on New Caprica. After we met Gina/Six on Pegasus, we have seven remaining models running around the fleet somewhere. These remaining seven could be more of the models we already know or they could be one of the five we haven’t met yet.

Of course, this is all taken under the assumption that the cylons are telling the truth and the writers of the show aren’t screwing with our minds. For the time being, I will give both the benefit of the doubt as there is no reason to believe anyone is lying.

So, Who Isn’t A Cylon?

President Laura Rosyln: She isn’t because we saw she had terminal cancer, requiring frequent medical checkups, her DNA is trackable and she is saved by the human-cylon hybrid baby. She’s also too much in the public eye and other copies would be sighted easily.

Admiral Adama: Not likely since he has fathered children and has a family history.

Lee Adama:  If the Admiral isn’t a cylon, then Lee isn’t one either.  He also has far too many struggles within to be considered a cylon.

Kara Thrace: Not likely because she has a family history that is trackable as well, unlike most cylon models who have no history or faked history based on some cataclysmic event that makes it difficult to verify. The cylons have called her special but we don’t know why.

Gaius Balter: Not a cylon. He’s been the red herring in the show that messes with your mind and makes you think he is a cylon.  Of course, it has also been suggested that he is and the’s the mastermind behind all the cylons.

Chief Tyrol: Not a cylon. Early in the show he was having sex with Sharon. This might have been an attempt to breed with a human.

Cally: Unlikely that she is a cylon. She killed Sharon and ended up married to the Chief.

Colonel Saul Tigh: Unlikely. He’s just the drunkard friend of Adama, who keeps getting Tigh out of trouble his entire career. I can’t imagine such a drunk being a cylon. He is despised by all on Galactica and has now gone off the deep end, for the most part.

Billy: not a cylon and he’s dead now. Kind of sucks because I liked Billy. Though, wouldn’t it be great if later on it turned out he really was one? No one ever did an autopsy on him did they?

Doc Cottle: not a cylon but probably the only person who doesn’t see cylon when he sees a skinjob. He sees a person, which is what is needed sometimes to keep balance and perspective among the fleet.

Who Is A Cylon?

During the episode “Downloaded,” we see the Cylons back on Caprica. There is a scene where we are shown a courtyard with the cylons rebuilding the area. We see a Six walking with a tall, white, bald man. Is this one of the missing five or is this merely a mistake on the part of the writers who weren’t thinking ahead?

Ellen Tigh: Hear me out on this one. Yes, she drinks, a lot. She also uses booze as a way to control her husband. She has done this his entire career. It’s a great way to maneuver herself into the higher echelons of military power.  However, all those years of marriage and all those affairs and no children? We also don’t know her family history. Baltar also messed around with the cylon detector so we don’t know if she ever passed or not. She didn’t hesitate to have sex with Brother Cavil to save Saul or to turn over the plans of the resistance to the cylons out of misguided love for Saul. She could have been a sleeper agent that had yet to be activated. Yes, she died on New Caprica. How convenient it was that Saul had to kill her just before Galactica returned to save everyone. There was no body to take back and do tests on. I say it’s still a possibility.

Gaeta: He has access to all the command systems on Galactica. He magically creates firewalls to hold off the cylons just long enough to calculate new jump points so Galactica can find the fleet.  He is in a key position despite being a lower officer.

Gaeta is also suspected as a cylon because it appears that there are racial overtones to the different models. We have the tall, blonde female (Six), females with accents (D’Anna) the Asian (Boomer), the black man (Simon), religious men (Brother Cavil), and white men (Doral and Leoben). Duella is a black female and a major character. She also survived the attack from the centurions unharmed when they were on Galactica. Gaeta is Arabic looking. Hotdog is also suspect because he is hispanic. Why wouldn’t the cylons want to make a model of each ethnic group? This could also be me reading far too much into a silly TV show.

So, that’s my five guesses. I’m probably wrong on all of them but it sure is fun speculating each week and messing with your head on all of them. Even the ones I think aren’t cylons could still turn out to be cylons. There are arguments for and against just about everyone in the fleet. You really never know. And that’s what’s great about Battlestar Galactica. You never know what’s going to happen next so you just have to keep watching.