The Invisible Library

Now that we’ve all had a few days to chew on the details of last weeks BSG season finale, (which is where I’ve been all week. It was a lot to ponder), some questions still remain:

Is Starbuck the 5th Good Cylon or just in Apollo’s head? If a Cylon, where’d she get the viper? If just in Appollo’s head, how does she know where Earth is?

I’m leaning towards her being the number 5 good Cylon. She fits with the other four, who all have similar traits: high profile positions in the fleet, all dedicated to the freedom and protection of humanity and all in secondary service roles rather than leadership capacity. Tigh and Torri are the Right hand Man/Woman to the two most powerful people in the fleet and though flawed, often act as the conscience of the leaders. Chief and Anders (and Tigh and Torri) were all Resistance leaders on New Caprica (and Anders led the resistance on Cylon occupied Caprica). Starbuck, likewise is a protector of the fleet (a Viper pilot) as well as someone others looked up to. She was a motivational force to the other pilots, egging them on, encouraging them to be their best by leading as an example. It would also explain how she knows where Earth is: The fleet is close enough that when she died, she uploaded on Earth, which is where the 5 are from. The other 4 will pick up on this next season. Starbuck, as usual, is one step ahead by having died.

And this is what makes the 5 different from the other 7 Cylons. Where the 7 change bodies on a whim,uploading and downloading as you or I would change our shoes, they’ve hindered themselves from learning what it means to be Human and so lack that empathy gained by the 5 from not just living among the humans, but by living. They age, experience and learn. while the 7 Cylons retain memories from one body to the next, they seem to loose experience whenever they download into a new body, as if the shock of the Resurrection process dislocates them from humanity. All previous lives were just dreams, some more fruitful than others but all distant. It puts space between life and death, making them more meaningful.

And just how close to Earth are they? Distance in space is relative, but if Starbuck died only four weeks ago and is close enough to have been there and back and bought a shiny new viper along the way, that means they can’t be more than two weeks from Earth. Now, a lot can happen in two weeks and their could be any number of diversions between the Ionian Nebula and Earth but however way you look at it, Earth is close. Very close.

If our library had a book bound in human skin, it would be the best Library, ever!