A weird thing and I wonder if it was brought up already. How could they have space travel and not recordable media? Instead the journey is recorded in archaic printed material. Why don’t we have recorded sessions of Pythia? Why not even video of the tribes leaving Kobol? We’ve seen D’anna and her film crew and a theatre on Caprica so we know they have video capabilities. Did they have space travel before learning to send a signal? Highly unlikely. Was there a Dark Age where all this data was lost?
If their recordable media was magnetic, there are any number of issues that could destroy them, especially after such a long time. Magnetic recordings can naturally drift and fade, leading to data corruption. An EMP (including a nuclear blast) can erase the media, as can strong magnetic fields from natural and artificial sources. The substrate of the media itself (the tapes, discs, etc.) can degrade over time. Not to mention a “good old fashion book burning” – Roslin used exactly that phrase, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that those recordings were purposely destroyed by various religious (or even anti-religious) groups, revisionist historians, etc.
Let’s face facts as well: most of us are using highly advanced (comparatively speaking) technology at this very moment, but few of us even have the barest inkling about how any of it actually works. Using technology and understanding it are very different things.
Of course then we have show runners who say there was absolutely no continuity error with having Adama on the Valkyrie a year prior to the attacks. Along with a lot of other little time issues its clear that the writers have a hard time keeping things in sync.
But she was on Kobol. How else could she know what was happening on Earth? Prophecy is a message from the gods, whether it’s the future or the past or even the distant present. The gods give knowledge that she could not obtain in any other manner.
You don’t believe that for a second.
Why not? Temples are formulaic. A common faith with common traditions from a common culture – why wouldn’t they share common architecture?
The one’s on GR’s thread re analysis of scenes from Revelations. The one that appears to have Lee’s thumb on it.
As Cpt. Tim mentioned, the illustrations in sacred texts can certainly be more a result of the faith and imagination of the artist than the words of the prophets themselves.
Case in point.
But it was history that she couldn’t be aware of unless she had contact with someone from Earth or she had a vision from the gods.
Reading through the thread over the last day or so I had the same thought - what if the people interpreting Pythia as history are doing the same thing as the “Young Earth” people who say that the earth is what, 4000 years old, that there was a literal flood, etc.
Also - do we have any evidence that Pythia is only one person (if this person historically existed, which appears to be in doubt)? The easiest explanation for her would be that she’s a divinely inspired prophet, but at the same time, thinking about religious texts in general, how do they prove her authorship? What language what is originally written in, and how well do the Colonials/Cylons understand that language, do they have the original texts?
I appear to be good at coming up with even more questions… sorry about the lack of answers!
Interesting tidbit… one of the “questions” on “Revelations” from the Battlestar Wiki is “Is Pythia’s book literally accurate history or metaphors for real historical events places and things or totally false?”
As I see it, we have several options (and I may be missing some from earlier up the thread…)
Pythia is a divinely inspired prophet, therefore her words are “true.”
The book of Pythia is a garbled translation of information received via whatever communications the supposed 13th tribe had with the rest of humanity (and/or the Cylons?)
The book of Pythia is complete fiction - sourced from the imagination of beings on Kobol or the Colonies.
What exists to the Colonials as the book of Pythia is some combination of all of the options.
These are the same questions that many of this Earth ask about our religious texts. Do we take them as historical or stories to learn from. Temple designs are in religious text in great detail. Yes, even down to the measurements. So all of your questions have been asked before and will be asked again even on this Earth.
I also have the bad habit of asking questions and not having any answers. That is why we have forums. There is always hope that someone will have all of the answers.
I think it’s more what had happened on Earth, when it comes to the temple. My thought is that the series will not establish that there existed some pantheon of immortal gods a la the Ancient Greeks to geive her visions. Now, that’s not to say that Cylons, thought to be gods, did so, as the 7 appear to be able to do with humans in the series.
Why not? Temples are formulaic. A common faith with common traditions from a common culture – why wouldn’t they share common architecture?
Sure they are, but rarely idenitical - at least to my knowledge. Also the idea that she drew the temple on Earth simply based on what she had seen on Kobol is a pretty weak explanation and a crappy plot device, if true.
As Cpt. Tim mentioned, the illustrations in sacred texts can certainly be more a result of the faith and imagination of the artist than the words of the prophets themselves.
Or the result of her at some point having “seen” the temple during the repeating cycles. I do not think the idea that Pythia is somehow related to the Hybrids on the basestars (not the OGG) should be ruled out.
But it was history that she couldn’t be aware of unless she had contact with someone from Earth or she had a vision from the gods.
Well there is also the possibility that she has seen the temple (or learned more about it) in an earlier cycle. Let’s assume it was not that and it was not some vision from “gods” - but information from Earth. Now, how that occurred is a pretty interesting question - assuming that the 13 Tribe REALLY seems to have wanted to cut ties with Kobol.
It is very possible that some of the colonists returned to the worship of all the gods, or at least Aurora to some degree. Look at the little hidden shrines of conquered gods that pop up all over the world, and the religions that resurface after generations.
Perhaps when the FF left earth they stopped in Kobol and told their story to Pythia. We have no clue when the FF left earth, how old they are, whether they left together or separately, at the same time or at different times. They have no memory of anything before thier current incarnation. Do they resurrect? Do they reboot? Is their HD reformatted every few decades?
Hi;
I was just exploring about Aurora on another forum and came across this link which may be of interest. There are a lot of pictures on that site
with references to Roman architecture etc…interesting reading.
Also; I had forgotten that in the origianl 78 series, Aurora was one of Starbuck’s old girlfriends who was part of an
a civilian uprising the fleet in one of the later episodes. WOnder if there is any connection to that other than character name utilization.
Thanks for reading
But it doesn’t really matter. The drawing of the interior of the Temple of Aurora by Pythia (as I think we are to conclude - it is a story after all) tells me that she had something very specific in mind, when she wrote about it and sketched it.
I don’t buy “visions” of things that have already happened or she was told by the gods, etc. She is recounting history here, not prophecising. But all in all her “behavior” comes much closer to the Cylon’s Hybrids than anything else.
And let’s keep in mind some things that we effectively know about the 13th Tribe:
Thay had a falling out with the other humans and Lords on Kobol over “their” god (not Aurora).
They were “led” by 5 priests and on the way to Earth stopped at the algae planet and built a temple to them.
4,000 years or so later that temple served as a road sign to Earth at the moment of a super nova - no mere coincidence.
The Temple of Aurora on Earth, as drawn by Pythia (probably), is BIG - not some small hideaway in which a sect could secretly worship a god other than he/she who must not be named. (Where’s the temple to that god, by the way.)
And all I am saying is that there is something very fishy about all this that causes at least me to wonder “what” Pythia really was and what sort of strife erupted on Earth - in the early days - after the arrival of the 13th Tribe.
I don’t know about the floor plans being identical, but Mormon churches throughout Latin America look like little slices of Mormon churches from the US. Manicured green lawns, brick buildings, totally architecturally different from the buildings near them. Their only concession to local culture/building practices is the big giant fence. But unlike everyone else, they don’t put bushes in front of the fence, you can see straight through. Seriously it feels like a little postcard from the US every time I go by one.
Unlike those people, the RTF has been led across space by following their sacred texts, from guidepost to guidepost. If the scrolls can map out interstellar travel, is a simple matter like recounting history beyond their scope?
Also - do we have any evidence that Pythia is only one person (if this person historically existed, which appears to be in doubt)? The easiest explanation for her would be that she’s a divinely inspired prophet, but at the same time, thinking about religious texts in general, how do they prove her authorship? What language what is originally written in, and how well do the Colonials/Cylons understand that language, do they have the original texts?
It seems to me that with only ten episodes left, such questions will probably be considered already answered. If any part of her story is in doubt, it’s the source of her visions. I, for one, consider that question answered as well, but obviously there is dissent on that point.
That’s already been established. Some may doubt whether they were real or not, but that’s consistently been the story right from the start.
Now, that’s not to say that Cylons, thought to be gods, did so, as the 7 appear to be able to do with humans in the series.
While I’ll admit the parallel between twelve Cylons and twelve Lords of Kobol is intriguing, I just don’t see it. Either they themselves are unaware of their divine pedigrees or they haven’t become gods yet. If the latter, without the Resurrection Hub to confer “immortality” on them, how exactly are they godlike? They’re stronger and faster, sure, but they die and stay dead now. There are also many copies, but presumably they’ll age now. For them to be “gods”, either the Hub needs to be restored (which defeats the whole purpose of destroying it in the first place) or they need to travel back in time, a new fantastic element without precedent in the series.
Sure they are, but rarely idenitical - at least to my knowledge. Also the idea that she drew the temple on Earth simply based on what she had seen on Kobol is a pretty weak explanation and a crappy plot device, if true.
Or the result of her at some point having “seen” the temple during the repeating cycles. I do not think the idea that Pythia is somehow related to the Hybrids on the basestars (not the OGG) should be ruled out.
Well there is also the possibility that she has seen the temple (or learned more about it) in an earlier cycle. Let’s assume it was not that and it was not some vision from “gods” - but information from Earth. Now, how that occurred is a pretty interesting question - assuming that the 13 Tribe REALLY seems to have wanted to cut ties with Kobol.
What if there were identical temples on each of the colonies and they were somehow connected to the one on Kobol? Perhaps the destruction of the one on Earth is why the thirteenth tribe lost touch with the other colonies.
Which could explain why Earth was destroyed. Turning away from “The One True God” has a high price.
The Romans equated Aurora with the Greek myths of Eos, goddess of the dawn. She was a “connoisseur of male beauty” (much like Starbuck, hmm…) and was best known for requesting immortality for her human lover Tithonus, but forgot to ask for eternal youth. (Some reference to the Resurrection technology, perhaps?) She was a winged goddess – Western cultures would perceive her as an archetypal angel. She also had a son named Eosphoros, the morning star. His Roman name? Lucifer. :eek:
I’ll grant it’s history, but your original question still applies: how did she know about it all the way back on Kobol? Present or past, it’s information that she could not access without gods or technology far in advance to anything we’ve seen up to this point.
And let’s keep in mind some things that we effectively know about the 13th Tribe:
Thay had a falling out with the other humans and Lords on Kobol over “their” god (not Aurora).
They were “led” by 5 priests and on the way to Earth stopped at the algae planet and built a temple to them.
4,000 years or so later that temple served as a road sign to Earth at the moment of a super nova - no mere coincidence.
No, it wasn’t a coincidence. So how did they pull it off? Either the presence of the RTF and Cylons triggered the supernova – no mean feat, considering the technology that appears to be available – or the prophecies timed it exactly to when it would be most significant. If the supernova was predicted, then how? Timing it with any degree of accuracy was almost beyond the ability of Galactica’s computers when it was right there in front of them. The technical expertise needed to time it perfectly 4000 years ahead of the fact is staggering to the point of being ridiculous. Gods, OTOH, could easily predict or cause the supernova. Once again, the same could said of aliens or heretofore unmentioned advanced technology, but the gods could manage it and have already been established.
I don’t buy “visions” of things that have already happened or she was told by the gods, etc. She is recounting history here, not prophecising. But all in all her “behavior” comes much closer to the Cylon’s Hybrids than anything else.
That’s an interesting thought. Could Pythia and the Hybrids be related somehow?
LOL
People do have DVDs, then there are torrents. They also have the entire series on Hulu.com. If you are a masochist you can even sit through the entire Galactica 1980 series.
