Season 1, Episode 13:
Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2
On Caprica, Helo and Sharon are hiding from the Cylons. She says that they need to find the Arrow of Apollo, because it is very important for their future, and that they need to head to the Delphi Museum. She then tells him that their relationship is important to the Cylons, and that she is pregnant. Helo listens in disbelief.
On Kobol, the crashed Raptor is being evacuated. As Crashdown helps move the occupants out of the craft, Baltar awakens, only to find himself surrounded by flames. He is scared to go through them, but HeadSix's reassurance allows him to escape before the craft explodes. The group checks their numbers and wounded as Baltar walks into a nearby field, still confused as to what just happened. HeadSix tells him that she wants to show him something, and leads him towards a set of ruins in the distance.
On Galactica, Bill is angry over what Kara did in the previous episode, and confronts Roslin over the matter. She admits that she told Kara what to do, and Bill orders her to resign her presidency.
Roslin refuses, and lies that the press corps is recording their call. As a result, Bill orders Colonial One to be cut off from the fleet, and for Tigh and Lee to take a Raptor over and remove her from office.
As both men prep for the mission, Bill visits Boomer and asks her to take part in a mission that will destroy the Basestar—she will use a Cylon transponder to enter the Basestar, drop a bomb into it and get clear before it explodes. Boomer reluctantly agrees to do it.
Kara wakes up aboard the captured Raider, and realizes that the long-range jump to Caprica was successful. After a tense moment going through a Cylon blockade, she sets down on the planet and begins searching for the museum.
Lee and Tigh make their way onto Colonial One, flanked by a group of Marines. However, Roslin is also prepared, and stands behind several members of the press who are wielding pistols. As the two groups standoff, Tigh tells Roslin to stand down and come with him, but Roslin refuses on the grounds that she is looking out for the fleet. Panged by his conscience, Lee turns around and pulls his own weapon on Tigh, telling him that what they are doing is wrong. Seeing what is happening, Roslin stands down, not wishing to see any bloodshed. She is arrested and put in Galactica's brig, while Lee is led to Galactica's CIC in handcuffs.
Boomer and her new co-pilot, Margaret "Racetrack" Edmundson, jump to Kobol and successfully infiltrate the Basestar. However, the release mechanism is jammed forcing them to land and deploy it outside. Boomer volunteers to handle the task, and goes outside to prep it. However, she is distracted by a number of naked Sharon models, who tell her that she is a Cylon just like them. Visibly disturbed, Boomer contends that she is human, while the copies tell her she can't escape destiny. Boomer arms the bomb and manages to pilot the Raptor out before the Basestar explodes.
On Kobol, HeadSix leads Baltar through a vision of the Kobol Opera House, which were the ruins he had seen earlier. She tells him that he has been chosen by God, and brings him to a crib on the empty stage. As Baltar looks into it, HeadSix tells him that this is the shape of things to come, and that he will have to be the protector of God's children.
Kara enters the museum and manages to find the Arrow of Apollo, but is confronted by a copy of Six, who begins to fight with her. The two trade blows, until Kara ends the fight by tackling Six over a hole in the floor, killing the latter instantly. As Kara tries to recover from the fall, Helo enters with Sharon, and he helps her up. Kara is grateful to see him, then freaks out when she sees Sharon, and attempts to shoot her. Helo stops her, and says that Sharon is pregnant, causing Kara to break down.
Back on Galactica, Bill confronts his son and asks him why he turned on the crew, but is distracted by the arrival of Boomer and Racetrack. As Bill thanks them for their resolve, Boomer moves to shake his hand… only to shoot him twice in the chest at close range. Boomer is apprehended as Bill lies on the CIC command table, bleeding out…
Tropes
- Arc Words: "This is the shape of things to come."
- Call-Back: Lee's choice to side with Roslin instead of Tigh echoes his dialogue with his father from "Bastille Day", where the elder Adama told his son he would eventually have to pick a side in government matters.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Baltar in the Opera House.
- Ethereal White Dress: Head!Six trades her usual skimpy wardrobe for a more modest white dress which she'll wear for the duration of Gaius' time on Kobol. The first time she's seen wearing it is when she appears to Gaius to pull him from the burning Raptor.
- Idiot Ball: The Six that completely forgot she was in a fight with Starbuck and got killed for it.
- Internal Reveal: Boomer gets confirmation that she's a Cylon, something the audience has known for a while.
- Manchurian Agent: Boomer, who shoots Bill at the end of the episode.
- Mexican Standoff: The press corps and Colonial Marines holding each other at gunpoint.
- Military Coup: Bill stages one to get Roslin out of office.
- Mission from God: Head Six tells Baltar that he's been chosen to protect "the next generation of God's children".
- The Mutiny: Lee sides with Roslin and pulls his sidearm on Tigh. The Colonel informs him that it's an act of mutiny and has him arrested.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Lee turns on Tigh and the other Colonial Marines in order to make a stand with Roslin and the press corps against what he feels is going over the line with respect to military protocol.
- So Proud of You: Subverted. Bill congratulates Boomer on completing the mission and stepping up, only for her to pull out a gun and shoot him.
- Stealth Insult: Adama makes a point of congratulating the pilots for carrying out their mission "regardless of any personal feelings you might have had" in front of a nearby Lee, handcuffed and under guard. This becomes Dramatic Irony a moment later.
- Take My Hand!: Head Six to Baltar in the crashed Raptor.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The episode jumps between events on Caprica, Kobol and the Fleet itself, after Helo and Sharon's plot on the former was relegated to short screentime throughout the season.
- Wham Episode: Baltar discovers events that will occur in his future, Adama stages a coup, Boomer learns that she's a Cylon, and Bill is shot in the stomach.
