Prophecies

Written by Dan Carlson • @minutiaeman@tenforward.social

Published March 15, 2009

At last, they have come for me. I feel their lives, their destinies spilling out before me. The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough. Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves. The pain of revelation bringing new clarity. And in the midst of confusion, he will find her. Enemies brought together by impossible longing. Enemies now joined as one. The way forward at once unthinkable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves without sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of one splintering into many. And then, they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.

One more episode. Two hours. And for the life of me I can’t figure out exactly where the Galactica will end up. (The show, of course, not the ship. I think they’ve made the latter’s fate pretty obvious.)

Last week, while browsing Battlestar Wiki, I happened across their collection of quotes from the Cylon hybrids. And I looked in particular at the monologue from the First Hybrid in Razor. What’s amazing to me is just how perfect the prophecies have turned out to be. “Denial of the one true path ... on a world not their own”? That’s Cylon-occupied Caprica. Check. “...in the midst of confusion, he will find her.” Lee and Kara in the nebula. Check. “...The wrenching agony of one splintering into many.” The Cylon civil war. Check. “Enemies now joined as one.” The rebel Cylons joining the Fleet. Check.

But then things get interesting. “...They will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel.” Well, I’d say that the angel is probably Kara, since she played the largest role in bringing the rebel baseship into the fleet. But what’s this promised land about, and where is it?

Naturally, the most obvious sentence is also the most useless: “Not an end, but a beginning.” Though I have to admit, I love the prospect of an unending story. Just so long as we get a few answers!