My feeling is that, if the enemy Cylons came looking for them, having ships in orbit really would be more of a "HEY, WE'RE HERE!" than a defense: I mean, what could they have used? Galactica was junk. One rogue Basestar isn't going to hold off a fleet of Basestars for long.
posted
Plus of course the best defence for the colonials is in hiding in plain sight. If the Cylons arrived at Earth and did a scan, what would they find exactly? A thriving biosphere and scattered tribes of primitives. These aren't the humans we're looking for, move along! Regardless, if there were any loyalists that weren't at the colony when it went into the black hole, they'd probably be dead and gone within a generation, leaving the hybrids and centurions to fend for themselves. Perhaps the redstripes find them.
posted
Were there still cylons stretching all the way back to the colonies? Or when we saw them having up and left Caprica (back when they rescued Sam Anders and co.) did they really up and leave? Does that mean they were chased with what was left of the Cylons - or were there heaps still out there? I'm guessing that that was it - Rogue Cylons and Cavil's Colony cylons... and no more left.
Did the final 5 really have resurrection technology? Or was it a ruse. If they knew they held the capability - why not just take it and go start afresh?
What happened to D'Anna!?! Did she really stay back on nuked Earth?
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Well, BSG wiki has a good point in their analysis, that even if D'Anna didn't die on Earth and was found by the remaining Colony Cylons they still wouldn't be able to keep their race going. And that's supposing they could even have a Cylon-Cylon baby, which never worked in the past.
If she did die, then the only remaining Colony Cylons would be Dorals, Simons and Cavils. No danger of any kids there. So I guess the Colonials really would be safe.
On the other hand, there's a chance they downloaded enough of the resurrection technology info to be able to figure out the rest, provided it was sent out to the baseships before the Colony was destroyed.
I guess what bothers me is, this notion that by giving up all their advanced technology, they'll have a better life. I don't believe that. Technology is what you make of it, and I believe humanity should do what it can to advance.
So, yes, I have a personal objection to all this, it feels to me like back-to-nature tree-hugging hippy crap which is so much in vogue these days. It's totally unrealistic. People who espouse it fondly believe they'll live some kind of pastoral existence untroubled by want or hate or fear. Instead someone gets greedy and it's next stop a feudal society.
Obviously my personal view is coloured by the hindsight I as the viewer have over the characters - that I know their decision dooms the human race to more than a thousand centuries of hunter-gathering leading to gradual cultivation before anything resembling a worthwhile civilisation develops - no matter how long the Colonials managed to maintain decent standards of living and education, their way of life soon collapsed into ignorance and superstition. (The Mitochondrial Eve referenced in that NatGeo article, she wasn't more than about thirty when she died, sucks to be Hera I guess. But it's a bit of a harsh destiny to suffer all because Lee bloody Adama decided to think outside the box!)
But, more than that, I don't believe it's a realistic decison the characters would make. Sure most of the Colonials would probably prefer a life of simple farming after the stuck-in-tin-cans existence they've had to endure for the past four years. But their leadership, they've seen all too well that the problems they've faced cone from within, technological matters are at best only a catalyst. Consider the Miniseries: right there in his Decomissioning speech, Adama explicitly says that in Colonial society there is a denial going on that the Cylons were created by them and they reflect their own failings.
I'm curious to see what my Dad thinks about it. He's seen Daybreak Part 1 and already he's asked me what the point of the flashbacks is, I haven't told him anything as yet.
Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
quote:their decision dooms the human race to more than a thousand centuries of hunter-gathering leading to gradual cultivation before anything resembling a worthwhile civilisation develops
Isn't that just a value judgment? Who are you to say that hunter-gatherer society isn't "worthwhile"? What makes industrial society any more "worthwhile"? Do you think whatever happiness you have stems from how many books are in the local library or how much math your civilization knows or how many Btus of energy it uses? If technology isn't the problem, it's not the solution either; it's just a thing. So I guess what you mean by "worthwhile" has something to do with art or culture, but it's a misunderstanding to think that hunter-gatherers don't have art or culture - and I'm sure it's quite worthwhile to them.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
About the "million light years" comment, I think that was just hyperbole on the speaker's part. The Milky Way is only 100,000 ly across.
I thought it was odd the way Cavil suddenly just shot himself. What was the point of that, and why did he do it?
I've said this before, but Racetrack is the unsung hero of the entire fleet, and this time being truly dead (unlike Starbuck) doesn't even stop her! How many times did she end up saving their collective butts over the course of the series?
So, you think Galen's wanting to be alone in the Highlands will lead him to kilt-wearing and running around yelling "There can be only one!"?
It was sad seeing the fleet head off into the sunset, but it was very cool hearing the original theme music again. (But seeing that fleet was kinda creepy in a weird way, knowing that it's a ghost fleet with all but one ship completely deserted.)
Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:their decision dooms the human race to more than a thousand centuries of hunter-gathering leading to gradual cultivation before anything resembling a worthwhile civilisation develops
Isn't that just a value judgment? Who are you to say that hunter-gatherer society isn't "worthwhile"? What makes industrial society any more "worthwhile"? Do you think whatever happiness you have stems from how many books are in the local library or how much math your civilization knows or how many Btus of energy it uses? If technology isn't the problem, it's not the solution either; it's just a thing. So I guess what you mean by "worthwhile" has something to do with art or culture, but it's a misunderstanding to think that hunter-gatherers don't have art or culture - and I'm sure it's quite worthwhile to them.
I have to agree with him Lee. As for the fact that whatever civilisation they made eventually collapsed, well duh, doesn't every system eventually come to it's end? From eco-systems to whole galaxies, everything has it's time and then goes, the alternative is an eternity of stagnation, which is exactly the cycle that the Kobolians (new word!) were locked into. Still, some of their memory survives in some form since we've all heard of Apollo and Athena and the names of the constellations and of Starbuck, the ancient God of coffee and not smoking!
quote:I thought it was odd the way Cavil suddenly just shot himself. What was the point of that, and why did he do it?
One of the final five were dead and the secret to resurrection with her (and good riddance.) His options were either die of old age, get killed by someone else or eat a bullet.
posted
Actually, in hindsight perhaps "worthwhile" wasn't the right choice of words. I was really meaning something like "viable."
But yes, I guess there is an element of value judgement in it all. There were millions of human beings who lived probably quite happy (if occasionally tough, and likely short) lifestyles which hadn't changed in any real way in tens of thousands of years - and wouldn't change for tens of thousands of years afterwards! I guess I just want to believe that humanity is proceeding towards something. . . better. What that is, I don't know. Maybe starting again from first principles IS the way forward (although in the case in question it demonstrably wasn't!).
You all know how much the varying Perils Of Hera have freaked me out over the years. I guess, as my daughter-substitute, I would have wanted more for her than just to have a bunch of kids then die before reaching middle age. Perhaps Helo and Athena felt differently - just to be able to be there to watch her grow up without living in danger every day might be enough for them after all they've been through.
posted
For ancient humans, I think 30 was a pretty respectable age. Of course for all we know, being a cylon hybrid it's possible she was much older while still being physiologically 30.
Still, a life can be short while still being worthwhile and fulfilling. Having a pulse for 100 years isn't necessarily the same thing as living. For all we know Hera lived to be a grandmother and was remembered for generations after her death. That's more than most of us can hope for. As for not having air conditioning, money or a mortgage...again, we should all be so lucky.
posted
"There are those who believe that life here began out there...."
Funny how that finally came to be.
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
Oh, and about the Cylons living forever - I think the Five were only 2,000 years old because of resurrection technology. I think they'd die eventually, probably within a human lifespan (it seemed to be their goal and ideal to be as human as possible).
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The Final Five were 2,000 years old because they were on a ship that moved almost as fast as light -- time slows down, they didn't experience it as a 2,000 year trip!
Plus, I think "THE PLAN" will show that they were downloaded into new bodies by Cavil to be inserted unknowing into Caprican society.
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quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: Why do we keep having this discussion?
"This has all happened before, and it will happen again.... again.... again.... again...."
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WizArtist II
"How can you have a yellow alert in Spacedock? "
Member # 1425
posted
One thing that seems out of whack is the inference that ALL modern day humans are descendants of Hera. So what happened to the 59,000 odd other people that 'arrived'? Did all THEIR kids up and go the way of the Neanderthal?
I just don't think that this was a satisfying closure for the series overall. Too many things just seemed out of kilter with what we've seen the last few seasons.
-------------------- There are 10 types of people in the world...those that understand Binary and those that don't.
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