To be fair I recognised the voice first

D'Anna claims that Caprica Six committed the first act of Cylon on Cylon violence in their history when she crushed her head with a rock. But I guess D'Anna just didn't know about when Athena shot another Number Eight to protect Helo on Caprica, during the scene when he realizes that she's a Cylon.

I know Mary McDonnell shows up later, but, I wasn't expecting an actual reference to BSG.

The "Bucket" Galactica retracts her flightpods before FTL jumping. What is with the "Beast" Pegasus? Does she retract her flightpods before jumping as well?

Havnt found anything so far, which can answer me this question.

"I deliberately used the pronoun "her", because those two beauties are female for me"

Ever since my first watch of Ronald D. Moore’s reimagined \Battlestar Galactica*, I’ve been
  utterly captivated by the mythic, theological engine driving the show—specifically ***The Sacred**
  Scrolls*\* and the **Book of Pythia*\*.

Throughout the series, we hear Laura Roslin, Priestess Elosha, Sharon Agathon, and William
  Adama recite haunting fragments from these ancient scriptures:
> \"Life here began out there..."**  
> \"A dying leader shall lead the remnants of humanity unto the promised land, but shall not*
  live to enter therein..."\*  
> \"The scrolls speak of a lower demon born of the adversary who shall descend to aid them..."**
> \"A return to Kobol shall exact a price in blood."**  
> \"All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."**

Yet, in official canon, the complete holy scriptures were never compiled into a full-scale,
  coherent sacred book.

---

### The 15-Year Backstory of this Project

Back in late **2011*\* (right around the time \Caprica** concluded and post-BSG discussions were
  at their peak), there was an infamous, sprawling thread on 4chan's `/tv/` and `/lit/`where an
  anonymous fan and classical literature enthusiast posted a massive pastebin. They had
  meticulously combed through episode transcripts, transcribing on-screen dialogue and attempting
  to reconstruct the opening cantos of the **Book of Pythia*\* in archaic, Homeric / King James
  poetic meter.

I saved that pastebin to an old backup hard drive in 2011 and never forgot it. Over the
  following decade, I kept returning to those files during rewatches—cleaning up the verses, cross-
  referencing every single mention across all four seasons, the 2003 Miniseries, \Razor*, *\The*
  Plan\, and *\Caprica**, and expanding the incomplete fragments into a coherent, comprehensive
  sacred text.

What began from that 2011 archival seed has finally been completed: a **110-page Monumental
  Critical Study Edition*\* of \The Scrolls of Pythia**, 100% faithful to BSG canon, typeset in XeTeX
  with classical book typography, drop caps, and liturgical rubrics.

---

### Architecture of the Work (110-Page Critical Study Edition)

The work has been crafted as an authentic sacred volume, presented in a high-register **King
  James / Homeric prophetic English*\, complete with:
*1.** **Praefatio Canonica & The Calling of Pythia:*\* Textual history and the oracle’s initial
  trance in the Delphic Caverns of Mount Olympus upon Kobol.
2. **Six Canonical Books (28 Canticles & Liturgies):*\* Fully rendered in numbered verses (e.g.,
  \Pythia 4:2:1–16*).
*3.** **The Great Exegetical Codex:*\* An extensive academic commentary breaking down every canto,
  linking each verse to exact episodes, scriptural parallels (Hesiod, Genesis, Virgil, Exodus), and
  mythological motifs.
4. **Historical & Theological Appendices:*\*
\* Comprehensive monograph of the Twelve Colonies (Patron deities, zodiac signs, stars,
  capitals, socioeconomic roles).
\* 4,000-year canonical chronology (from the Golden Millennium on Kobol to prehistoric Earth
  and modern Times Square).
\* Theological treatise analyzing Cylon Monotheism (*"God is Love"*) vs Colonial Greco-Roman
  Polytheism.
\* Sacred Lexicon & Glossary with over 40 classical Kobolian terms.

---

### Summary of the Six Sacred Books

\* **Book I: The Theogony of Kobol and the First Creation (5 Canticles):** The primordial
  harmony between gods and men; the covenant of the Twelve Houses; the hubris of the kings; the
  invention of synthetic organic flesh in the crucibles (*No Exit* canon); and the clandestine
  gospel of the One True God discovered in the catacombs.
\* **Book II: The Thirteenth Tribe and the Path of Oblivion (5 Canticles):** Athena’s
  intervention at the Amphitheater of Jasper; the fabrication of the Arrow of Apollo and the Tomb
  of Athena; the deep interstellar migration to the Algae Planet and the Temple of the Five; and
  the tragic forgotten holocaust of Earth 1.0.
\* **Book III: The Curse of Kobol and the Great Diaspora (4 Canticles):** The decay of the Holy
  City; the fire of Zeus consuming the towers; the diaspora of the twelve arks unto Cyrannus; the
  sealing of the Tomb of Athena; and the long amnesia leading to the creation of the modern Cylons
  on Caprica.
\* **Book IV: The Canticle of the Dying Leader and the Star Wilderness (5 Canticles):** The
  nuclear destruction of the Twelve Colonies; Laura Roslin as the anointed Mosaic leader; the
  Chamalla visions; Sharon Agathon as the redeeming "Lower Demon"; the supernova of the Eye of
  Jupiter; and the melody of the bulkheads (*"All Along the Watchtower"*) awakening the Final Four.
\* **Book V: The Ouroboros, Redemption, and the New Dawn (5 Canticles):** The discovery of the
  true Earth 150,000 years in our past; the peaceful dispersal among the native hominids; the
  solemn sacrifice of the fleet into the Sun guided by Anders; Hera as Mitochondrial Eve; and the
  prophetic epilogue of Angel Six and Angel Baltar in modern Times Square.
\* **Book VI: The Liturgical Psalter and Rituals of the Twelve Houses (7 Liturgies):** The
  complete ritual texts of Colonial religion: The Salt Line Funerary Liturgy (*"So say we all"*),
  the Morning Litany of Gemenon, the Nuptial Rite of Hera, the FTL Jump Invocation to Apollo the
  Far-Darter, the Battle Hymn of Ares and Athena, the Litany of Atonement, and the Great Colonial
  Creed.

---

### Excerpt: Book IV — The Canticle of the Dying Leader (*Pythia 4:2:1–12*)

> \*I.** And Pythia looked through the mist of the burning incense, and her spirit groaned*
  within her:  
> \*II.** «Woe unto the daughters of Caprica, and woe unto the strong men of Tauron; for the*
  hour of their visitation draweth nigh as a thief in the dead of night.  
> \*III.** In one single day shall the twelve crowns be cast down into the mire; the heavens*
  shall rain burning pitch, and the pride of two thousand years shall become a heap of radioactive
  ash.  
> \*IV.** Look unto the vessel that saileth at the vanguard of the Caravan; there have I placed*
  my staff upon a woman stricken in her own flesh.  
> \*V.** **A dying leader shall lead the remnants of humanity unto the promised land;***  
> \*VI.** she shall bear within her breast a wasting plague that consumeth the marrow, melting*
  her strength as wax melteth before the furnace.  
> \*VII.** She shall have visions in the night when she drinketh of the bitter root of the*
  sacred chamalla; she shall behold twelve serpents dancing upon her couch, and the gates of the
  royal palace shall open unto her in dreams.  
> \*VIII.** The proud shall call her deluded; the captains of the fleet shall question her*
  sanity; and the scholars shall mock her prophecies.  
> \*IX.** Yet her words shall be the only torch in the midst of the deep gloom, for she seeketh*
  not dominion for herself, but the deliverance of a people in mourning.  
> \*X.** Yet this is the decree of the Lords of Kobol, unalterable as the northern stars:*  
> \*XI.** The dying leader shall know that she hath attained the haven; she shall behold the*
  verdure of the new cradle from the mount of repose;  
> \*XII.** **yet she shall not live to enter the promised land, nor shall her feet tread upon*
  its soil,\* for the shepherd must yield unto the shadow that the flock may awake unto life».*

---

### Excerpt: Book VI — The Rite of the Salt Line (*Pythia 6:1:7, 14–16*)

> \«Across the threshold we trace the white line of pure salt, which no shadow of the pit may*
  ever cross.\*  
> \Behind it resteth the agony of the wound; behind it resteth the toil of the oar and the*
  groaning of the rib in the tempest; behind it resteth the lamentation of perishable flesh.\*  
> [...]  
> \The body returneth unto the stardust from whence it was taken; the spirit returneth unto the*
  unquenchable fountain that gave it being.\*  
> \For all that is born must die, and all that dieth shall be born anew within the circle of*
  light.\*  
> \**SO SAY WE ALL!*  
> SO SAY WE ALL!  
> SO SAY WE ALL!»\***

---

### 📥 Free Download (110-Page PDF & Source Code)

The full 110-page book is open-source and free to read or download:

\ 🌐* **GitHub Repository:** https://github.com/joheld/scrolls-of-pythia

I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and canon impressions! So say we all!

Ok spoilers for MCU Vision Quest.

I’m loving the irony (and deep cut) of Mary McDonnell playing one of the humans advancing AI in VisionQuest.

Maybe this is Roslin reincarnated, having finally learned from the Cylons that humanity’s only viable future is one where humans and artificial life coexist.

Which raises the obvious question: is Vision a Cylon? And what does that make Ultron? 🤖

So say we all.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.

Travelling through space over such enormous distances affects time. Those jumps close to home aren’t really noticeable, but once they start fleeing the Cylons - it’s difficult enough to measure exactly the where part, but FTL travel would most definitely have a “when” element at those distances and speeds.

If think in terms of four dimensions where the past present and future all exist in the same space and you design a technology to fold space time in order to travel greater distances, you might actually end up in different times. The colonist looking through a telescope to see a distant sun is actually looking into the past. If they were travelling in normal speeds by the time they got there, it would be the present still. But if they’re doing something to fold space time. They might be arriving at the sun that they were looking at through their telescope.

>!This is a situation where you might actually end up being your own grandfather.!<

>!It’s not just a story about humanity learning a lesson about technology. It’s about humanity being stuck in a time loop.!<

>!And that’s why Caprica has chickens.!<

>! The final five are descendants of that last rebel cylon ship that went off to do its own thing!<

And that could also mean that many of the myths and legends have completely incorrect timelines due to space travel

I just read about her post Battlestar career (if you can call that) and her involvement in the NXIVM cult. All I can say is I was shocked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicki_Clyne?wprov=sfla1

Her character introducing an AI robot reminds me of the saying " All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again."

Turned out to be one of the final five cylons instead of Tory. Because the reactions to the five were pretty big (the other 4 actually had some long term bonds that would be tested because of this.) But Tory, it wasn't the biggest blindside in the world, and it certainly didn't help that Roslin basically had no reaction to it either.

Billy had been Roslin's main guy for a few years before the attacks, right? And people always like to call him the last bit of innocence in the series. So if he turned out to be a cylon after 4 seasons...it would probably be the second biggest surprise (after tigh of course)

Obviously it's not an easy fix, since the actor didn't want to sign on the bigger contract. And don't get me STARTED on how they ended him (probably the worst conclusion in the show, Roslin only cared for like 1 scene!!!)

Doing a rewatch and caught a detail in the season one finale that I hadn't noticed before: you can clearly spot a cameraman/crew member lingering in the background of this shot.

Hey guys I just want to know something. Did the actors from the 2004 show really do a pre-show for the ride in Universal Studios Singapore Galactica at the Human side?

The game BSG: Deadlock has an interesting piece of lore that was already hinted in Caprica:

The 12 Colonies are not the 12 Tribes, only named after them. They have no settlement, ethnic and cultural connection.

Kobol was already in a process of globalisation and homogenisation when it became wrecked. The Galleon took in survivors from all over the planet. They all settled on Gemenon 2000 years ago.

Presumably because the other planets weren't habitable to begin with (there are space stations called Kobolformers around them in the game) and the settlers wouldn't have been that many anyways.

The people on Gemenon were thrown back to pre-industrial technology soon after and split into several countries with different cultures again. When the planet re-modernised, different states ran their own space programmes.

E.g. Caprica, Picon and Virgon were settled by the same nation on Gemenon, NOT by the Capricorn, Pisces and Virgo tribes from Kobol. Aquaria didn't begin 2000 years ago as a home for the Aquarius tribe, but a few centuries ago as a research post.

I very much like this piece of the lore because it inverts an expectation and gives depth to worldbuilding.

I just finished the series and I have to say that the writing was pretty bad on the whole. I'm amazed to read older comments saying that everything lined up and was planned all along - in my view nearly everything that was set up went nowhere or only ended up having the most minor significance. It seems like the show went through several re-writes as it was airing.

There are way too many frustrations if I really wanted to dig into it. But I'll just mention the biggest ones I'm left with fresh off the finale.

1. The Second Earth. So they ended up at a random habitable planet with prehistoric human civilization on it. Adama decides to name this planet Earth, saying that Earth was more of a dream. And we later see that this planet becomes our Earth. This doesn't make sense to me for many reasons. Most importantly, the star map that the characters had been using to locate Earth contained 12 constellations that are visible on our real Earth and which have been recognized for thousands of years. It's not possible that this other habitable planet has the same visible stars while being distinct. There had been so many hints throughout the show that a time-loop was in play and that things would have to be set up for the next cycle. But no real loop is established, and there is no time travel. At the last moment they try to divert this towards a semi-inevitable conflict between man and machine, but this falls flat and really does not fulfill all the setup. Even more questions are raised by the lines that indicate that "New Earth" was the original birth place of Humanity. We learn nothing about how these pre-verbal hominids could have led to Kobol and the Twelve Colonies without leaving a trace.
2. Kara's Body. One of the big mysteries has to do with Kara's death and return and her true identity. A couple things about her story just don't add up, however. Lee Adama sees her ship break up in the atmosphere of a gas giant - they even caught video of it. Later, the resurrected Kara finds a crashed raptor on Earth that apparently has her original body in it. This causes a crisis for her character, but these two fates for the original Kara aren't compatible. Are we meant to believe that Kara's raptor broke up in the gas giant's atmosphere, then went through a portal to Earth, where she then crash landed and died? Because this is never addressed. The other possibility is that the body she found was another copy of Kara, but if so we never learn what she was doing there or why. And remember, no time loop was established, so it can't have anything to do with the final five or other cycles. Even if you can kinda sorta make up a reason to believe that the body was the original Kara, it is unsatisfying narratively.
3. The Opera House Meant Nothing. There is a recurring plot line where certain characters see a vision of themselves walking through an Opera House, meeting with each other, and it's centered on Hera. This set-up goes all the way back to Season 1, and they return to it frequently. However, these visions do not receive any payoff, nor do they communicate any effective information to the characters or the audience. In the end, there is no opera house. Hera is only really important because they choose to believe she is. Basically the only meaning of the entire opera house plot is that there will be an ending. They go through the motions in the final episode, but there is no real rhyme or reason to any of it.
4. The Missing Number 7, 'Daniel'. We are finally told that there was a secret additional Cylon - a number 7 named Daniel. Lingering questions remained about the possible Cylon connections of many characters - Kara, Gaius, Adama, and Roslin. But Number 7 is never returned to, and it has nothing to do with any of those main characters. Apparently his only significance was being killed by Number 1.
5. Cavil as Main Villain felt like a retcon. Cavil was previously introduced as the straight-laced cylon. He believed in majority rule, and respected the wishes of their creators - not wanting to learn about the final five. In the last season we learn that Cavil already knew everything about the final five, and had the entire time. Some of this new story is believable, but a lot of it feels forced to fit. If he only rebelled with the creation of number 7, why do the models 2-6 know *nothing* of this important history. If he took full control of Cylon society and mind-wiped the other models, why does he submit to democratic rule by his ignorant clones, and provide them with access to critical information like the locations of the only resurrection hubs?
6. The real Cylons were completely passive. Now that the full story is in place after the finale, it seems that the real Cylons - machines, centurions, raiders, etc - were never real players in the plot. We know that they were designed as servants, attained self-awareness, fought humans for their freedom and settled on their own planet. After that, however, they meet some other humans from Earth and they essentially abdicate the entire society they had fought for. Everything is left in the hands of these humans and their 'Cylon' skinjobs. These cloned humans are essentially identical to regular humans, and they make all the decisions going forward. Even after the 'inhibitors' were removed from the machines (which they apparently agreed to?!) - the machines themselves never make any meaningful decisions, and there are no significant machine characters. This not only does not track logically, it also feels like a massive waste of potential given the premise of the show.
7. Nothing is learned about the gods. At the beginning we know that humans have a pagan religion similar to ancient Greek beliefs, centered around twelve deities. And that Cylons believe in a single God. At the end of the show, this is still essentially all we know. We are constantly told that "this has all happened before, and it will happen again." We are told that the Cylons know more about man's religion than he does. We are given main characters with names like Apollo and Athena and Aurora. Gaius is constantly being told that he is in service to the One God, but none of this is ever elaborated upon. Despite all the teasing and setup, there is no connection between the Twelve Gods, The Twelve Colonies, or the Twelve Cylon models. There is no loop. There are no characters that become the inspiration for these myths. It's all essentially a bait or red herring. Gaius is focused on so heavily - constantly being told that he will become the leader of mankind in the future. There is no indication that Gaius actually accomplishes anything of significance once on Earth, and he is only ever a fringe figure after the failure of his presidency on New Caprica. All we really know is that 'God' exists and he is messing with these people. We are left completely in the dark about the twelve lords.

There are many other disappointing points in the writing I could get into, but this is already getting long. And these complaints are focused solely on the overarching story and plot. Do not get me started on other issues like the pacing, character writing, or direction. I won't say that none of the show was enjoyable. I thought that the pilot mini-series, some of the earlier episodes, and the New Caprica plot in season 3 were fairly compelling. But I'm not at all pleased with where the writing went afterwards. Does anyone else share these frustrations?

It's been 150 thousand years since the Cylon Holocaust. Do you think the radiation levels have dropped enough that we might be able to resettle them if we had FTL ships?

Heck, there might be some evolved Cylons there and we have another war with them! That'd be neat.

Cylons were created by Graystone Industries on Caprica. There are 7 models of Cylon, numbered one through eight, with Number Seven missing because they were destroyed. The Final Five are the last members of the Thirteenth Tribe. Calling them Cylons is like calling all personal watercrafts "Jet Skis" or calling all adhesive bandages "Band-Aids." These are brand names that have become so commonly used that everyone would understand what you're talking about, but they're technically not correct if it's not the specific brand.