Crazy Battlestar Galactica Theory #1: The Cylon Sex Disease (STD)

April 11th, 2007

Battlestar GalacticaOkay. I touched on this theory in an earlier post when I was flailing for an explanation of why Tigh heard the music in the first half of the Season 3 finale.

I was pretty much joking, but I think this theory has some merit. Bear with me. It’s completely ridiculous, but hey, what else are we to do until Season 4 except wildly speculate?

The Purpose of a Cylon STD

  • Make the Final Five Cylons receptive to the “song” message delivered in the Season Three Finale.
  • The disease is used for monitoring purposes (how did Baltar know Tigh killed Ellen?).
  • The disease contains dormant programming for the Final Five that would be activated at a later date, perhaps upon hearing the song.

Why Use A Cylon STD?

  • Computers have viruses, and so do humans. A cross species virus can be an efficient and covert delivery mechanism. Because the final five were unknown but known to be living among humans, how would the other seven Cylons contact them? The viral program may be designed to infect humans and Cylons alike, but only serving a purpose in the Cylon hosts.
  • Maybe the Cylon STD is sent out by the other seven Cylons in an attempt to locate and take control of the Final Five. In Season Four, the Final Five will realize they have been infected and turn to the humans to cure them.
  • Cross species diseases and STDs could allow the show to tackle some contemporary issues like bird flu and computer viruses.
  • Viruses have appeared on the show in previous episodes as plot devices. Cylons tried to hack into Galactica, and a “beacon” infected with a virus landed aboard a Cylon base star.

Tracing the Spread of the Infection

Tracing the infection is just a matter of following who slept with who among the crew of the Galactica. The biggest evidence for a Cylon sex disease is that all Four of the Final Five Cylons either slept with Cylons or have links to people (carriers) who slept with known Cylons.

The Final Four Cylons

The four Cylon models revealed in the Season 3 Finale were Anders, Tori, Saul Tigh, and Tyrol (Chief). Let’s deal with them on a case by case basis to see how they could have been infected by a Cylon sex disease.

Anders and Tori

Saul Tigh

  • In Occupation, Ellen Tigh sleeps with the Brother Cavil Cylon.
  • Ellen Tigh sleeps with Saul Tigh.

Tyrol (Chief)

There are obviously some collateral individuals who may not be infected with the disease despite having sexual relations, which is entirely possible since they haven’t been identified as necessary carriers between the above individuals:

  • Helo (slept with Sharon)
  • Lee Adama (slept with Starbuck)
  • Callie (slept with Chief)

Note also by omission the few individuals that aren’t known to have had sex with Cylons (or anyone, for that matter) who have shown a remarkable steely confidence throughout the show so far:

  • Commander Adama
  • Roslyn
  • Gaeta
  • Doc Cottle
  • Zarek
  • Dualla (although she may be infected if Lee Adama is)

(I hope they keep pure. The human race depends on it.)

The Fifth “Final Five” Cylon?

Based on this Cylon STD theory, I personally think Starbuck is the fifth Cylon.

If Starbuck is a Cylon, the sex disease is seen to have spread mostly from Cylon to Cylon and needing only one human carrier:

Starbuck -> Anders -> Tory

Sharon -> Tyrol

Cavil -> Ellen -> Tigh

Who knows, maybe Tigh was injected with the virus while in captivity, removing the need for Ellen as a carrier. Then maybe we can forget the whole cross-species aspect of the Cylon STD, making it even more believable.

Conclusion

Personally, I see the Cylon sex disease as a great way to pay homage to original series Star Trek. I always wondered how Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and other crew members could have numerous horizontal intergalactic alien interfaces and not come down with a case of sexually transmitted space cooties. Meanwhile, there were tons of galactic bugs going around: the aging virus (The Deadly Years), diseases that only affect grown ups (Miri), to the sweat transmittable disease Psi-2000 virus that caused Sulu run around shirtless with a fencing sword (The Naked Time). Not having an STD on original Star Trek (too sensitive an issue for the sixties?) was a real missed opportunity and could be rectified by Battlestar Galactica.

Plus, if Cylon sex disease eventually leads to topless Galactica crew members with fencing swords, I’m all for it.

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  • This is a very plausible theory.
  • Walker
    Wow, that is (in a very funny way) actually possible. Makes sense to me. But this disproves my theory about Tom Zarek being the final cylon. (I don't think he slept with anyone).
  • Eric
    Very nice theory. I thought of something similar myself though albeit about 'love' rather than STD. It is certainly interesting throughout the show various characters say something alone the lines of "How could you fall in love with a machine?" to Helo and the Chief. I seem to remember it most vividly from Tigh (who is a cylon himself) and from Lee Adama. Lee has/is been in love with both Starbuck and Dualla who are both in the running, and they have also both been in love with him. This also leaves Dualla in the running for being the final cylon. However I would agree with you that it is most likely to be Starbuck.
  • Speaking of crazy BSG theories, which interestingly enough are also connected to sex, what do you guys think about the idea that Starbuck may be Col. Tigh's daughter?

    http://www.watchingbsg.com/is-starbuck-col-tigh...
  • Chapman
    In Razor, it is revealed that Starbuck is the bringer of the Apocalypse, and that if humanity follows her to earth that it will be the end of humanity. Tori, a known final five was responsible for the hybrid ( born of Sharon and Helo ) babys safely being evacuated from new caprica. The Chief a known final five had a child with Callie, another unknown hybrid. That would be two female hybrids born into humanities protective custody, one known to humanity, one unknown. Two Females, the Eve's of the new race of mankind. Maybe earth is the Breeding Ground for the new generation of mankind. Baltar is known to be leading a new group of followers, with the Six he fell in love with. Born of this love is the next step of evolution? Born of this love is the end of humanity? In Razor it is revealed that William Adama witnessed the first of the human cylon hybrids made by the cylons in an effort to be more like their predecessors, they were trying to be human, trying to be able to reproduce, trying to make their own living race, not copies but true individual lifes to carry on their legacy. All of this has happened before and will happen again. True evolution, each humanity has actually been the evolution of machines, and in the end it is the beginning of a new humanity, and the evolution of machines begin again. There are a million possibilities, but the only thing that is for sure is that destiny seems to be writing the coarse of history, will this cycle be different than before, will they finally break the loop, it is a battle for survival, a battle for superiority. Maybe the solution lies in the choices we make, if mankind can get past its hatred of the cylons, and the cylons can get past the resentment of their predecessors, then maybe the two can work together towards their own means and be a unified civilization and that history will record this as a new beginning, a new civilization no longer divided by man and machine but one united by life. The fundamental underlying issue in all of this is life, and its very preservation and if humanity wants to survive, and is to be allowed to survive by their gods or the cylon god, then they must appreciate the value of life in all its forms and set down their preconcieved notion that the only value of life is that which we give, and not the value that existance gives. Does humanity really have a chance to continue? That is if everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen again, then do we have the power to change our fate and have life and existence be what we make of it instead of what destiny makes it? And if humanity does make it or not will they find solace and understanding in the reason? Will humanity see the big picture before it meets its end, or new beginning?

    These thoughts are by Chapman at chapmanhester@gmail.com
  • Grand Tiger
    I too thought that perhaps Kara is a Cylon, especially following her apparent resurrection. But as several have pointed out, her spine doesn't glow when she has an orgasm! But my impression at the end of Series 3 was that the writers were making it all up as they went along and gotten themselves into a bit of a fix and needed a year to figure out how to continue!
  • Greg
    It may be something like in Star Craft when the Protoss can 'mind control' one of the human (Terran) characters and turn them in to a Protoss fighter. That has got to be what happen the XO. If he has known Adama for 40 years, and the cyclons' left 40 years before with out any 'skin jobs'.

    It has to be some type of virus or take over. The final 5 are not true 'machine cylons'. They are humans taken over by the cylon virus.
  • Grand Tiger
    Perhaps the Kara we know is fully human after all, but the Cylons had managed to get all they needed from her to make a Cylon model of her. So they lured her to her death and have now introduced Cylon Kara. Looking forward to new series starting tonight, but I'm not too hopeful that we'll get the answer so soon ...
  • Jeremy
    I think the final 5 have to be from the first cylon war. Remember Sol has been in the military for 40 years. If that were the case, it could not be possible. The whole series I believe is based on RAZOR. When the cylons were trying to perfect machine humans. That is why the first 7 do now know who they are, they are the technically "the first five"
  • Greg
    Beside the stuff with Sol being to old to be a skin job...
    How could the chief get a girl pregnant if he is truly a cylon machine?
    How could a machine produce spermatozoa that can fertilize an egg?
    I am sticky with the theory of some kind of mind control. They just think they are cylons.
    I even re-watched Razor to see if one of the capture humans looked like the chief or Anders.
  • Brandon
    Just to add an alternative viewpoint to this theory...

    Perhaps the original 7 coming in contact/coupling with one of the final five corrupts their programming. As evidence of this, look what happens to "Boomer", the only known cylon model to sleep with one of the final five. As evidenced by the six of One episode, it's almost as if she is malfunctioning when she splits with the rest of her models in the vote on whether to lobotimize the raiders...
  • yeah
    Everyone in the series is a cylon, the humans abandoned them a long time ago, maybe they are on earth. Their "gods" were the humans who made the first cylons, who then evovled to look human, forgot they were cylons and made their own cylons. There.
  • Brandon that's an interesting idea, and a good example in regards to Chief. I'll have to remember that thought!
  • Arjay
    I love the series but Sol Tigh a Cylon(?) Doesn't make sense with his age verses the timeline of the original Cylon revolt and war. I dearly hope the writers actually have a good explanation for this and not delving into weird twists to confound the internet guessing of what comes next. I can accept the others as Cylons but poor old Sol???
  • Hey Arjay - yeah that definitely seems odd to me also since Saul Tigh was supposed to have fought in the first Cylon wars or something. Which leads me to wonder if the Cylons "swapped" the actual Saul Tigh for a Cylon model at some point. It could even have happened as late as the Occupation on New Caprica - Saul, Roslin, and Starbuck were all held prisoner for a time.

    But yeah that's kind of a cop out so I hope the makers of the show have some solid answers for us soon.
  • Grand Tiger
    This series is becoming almost too heart wrenching to watch. It was emotionally devastating to see Cally treated and disposed of this way. How could the writers do this to us? May we hope to see Cally resurrected as one of the final five?
  • Hi Grand Tiger. I am writing a post about the most recent episode (The Ties That Bind) right now. Yeah it was a very sudden and horrific thing. I wonder if the last final five is a living character or a dead one as well.
  • Eric
    Well think about it, the final cylon would have gone to the room to meet the other four if he/she was on the Galactica and was able to get there. The two characters that were noticeably unable to get to the room were Starbuck, because she was away, and Baltar, whom was locked up. Potentially it could have been someone in the CIC whom was unable to leave because they were on duty, possibly Dualla - she's my longshot bet on the final cylon.

    If the fifth is in fact a dead character, it's more than likely he or she wasn't killed by the cylons, because we know the cylons don't shoot them. I'm thinking this explains Anders' survival on Caprica and New Caprica - it's easy to survive gunfights if noone ever shoots at you. Also, in the first episode of the fourth season, Caprica Six says that the five are close, whereas before they weren't. Starbuck is the obvious returnee.

    Starbuck being a one of the final five explains quite a lot. It explains her natural flying ability - because she's been doing it for however many cycles of time - and also the raiders probably didn't shoot at her too hard...
  • Jim
    All of humanity is Cylons evolved. What's happened before will happen again.

    The Cylons destroy their human counterparts, evolve, and become (as) human. They then create the Cylons, and the cirlce continues.
  • Andrew BB
    All good theories, but they are all wrong. Remember at the end of the trail when the lawyer for Baltar walks off and says that he'll get back into contact with jr. Adama. I believe this to be the final cylon: Baltar's defense lawyer. Think about and watch the episode again...

    I also think he might know what he is. Why else would he want to fuck over the president and help Baltar.
  • turan
    remarkable. and final fours names starts with T
  • max
    You guys know there are 13 cylons, right? Listen to what the first hybrid said in Razor 'I see all of them before me, seven now six described machines' 7+6=13
  • You know, with this attractive photo cylon looks really seductive! I feel like I already want to try it out! I will learn about it a little bit more and hope that, me too, I will like it! and the feedback is also positive...
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