My theory as to who the head people are.

[Jothoma]

OK. So I was a little troubled by the ending and by the Deus Ex Machina (literally Deus) of the angelic beings (in the background) directing the actions of the humans and cylon to the final place that we now call Earth. All along we knew there was a 3rd party involved and I was a little unsatisfied by having that 3rd party remain undefined at the end. Thinking about it this morning I have come up with my own answer to that question (my apologies if this was mentioned already).

We know Ron Moore worked on the Next Generation so he is familiar with the continuum. I think the “HE” mentioned at the end (who hates the name God) is Q and the head people all are part of the continuum. This would explain why they have godlike abilities but are really not truly gods. They are way to morally ambiguous for that and they love to mess with humanity.

Obviously it would be way too cheesy for Ron Moore to come out and say the it was all a set up for BSG to be some kind of grand prequel to the Star Trek Universe but it still wraps it up into a nice bow, for me anyway, to think of the “Head” people as the representatives of something like the Q Continuum.

[CylonMATRIX]

Were you expecting, Morgan Freeman?

[Cavatar]

OK. So I was a little troubled by the ending and by the Deus Ex Machina (literally Deus) of the angelic beings (in the background) directing the actions of the humans and cylon to the final place that we now call Earth. All along we knew there was a 3rd party involved and I was a little unsatisfied by having that 3rd party remain undefined at the end. Thinking about it this morning I have come up with my own answer to that question (my apologies if this was mentioned already).

We know Ron Moore worked on the Next Generation so he is familiar with the continuum. I think the “HE” mentioned at the end (who hates the name God) is Q and the head people all are part of the continuum. This would explain why they have godlike abilities but are really not truly gods. They are way to morally ambiguous for that and they love to mess with humanity.

Obviously it would be way too cheesy for Ron Moore to come out and say the it was all a set up for BSG to be some kind of grand prequel to the Star Trek Universe but it still wraps it up into a nice bow, for me anyway, to think of the “Head” people as the representatives of something like the Q Continuum.

I must be honest, I never really liked “the Q,” in Star Trek. However I LOVE your theory and it almost seems too perfect. If you are right, it looks like the cycle is finally broken.

[Tom]

Obviously it would be way too cheesy for Ron Moore to come out and say the it was all a set up for BSG to be some kind of grand prequel to the Star Trek Universe but it still wraps it up into a nice bow, for me anyway, to think of the “Head” people as the representatives of something like the Q Continuum.

Exactly, it would have been cheesy if there was any indication that “he” was in fact Q, but as your personal theory it’s great, and fits nicely.
Did Ron Moore even have the continuum in mind? I don’t know…and that’s okay.
I don’t understand how people can feel slighted that each and every answer wasn’t explained down to the letter (pun intended). It would take away the mystery and frankly, it’s just bad art.
It’s like what Nimoy said to those who wanted to sub-title the conversation between the alien probe and the whales. " I don’t want the audience to know what they’re talking about, I want them to wonder what they’re talking about."

[Roman_Sandstorm]

I don’t understand how people can feel slighted that each and every answer wasn’t explained down to the letter (pun intended). It would take away the mystery and frankly, it’s just bad art.

I’m not sure people are slighted that every little thing wasn’t explained. Rather, I, for one, feel a tad slighted that much of the internal consistency which had been created in the BSG universe over four years was cast aside in a some biblical, neo-creationist, anti-scientific, deus ex machina resolution.

If god can, and does, interfere personally in the events of man, then what is the point of anything? He knows all (by definition ‘god’ is omnipotent, and if he is capable of inserting ‘head’ characters, and resurrected immortal angels, and blowing up star systems, then he’s as close to omnipotent as bugger-it), he knows your supposed free-will choices in advance (by definition); why bother nudging here, hinting there?

By explicitly stating ‘angels’ as real entities BSG has flown in the face of its whole previous ethos. There was mystery. There was the unknown about which we could debate - and think. Sticking pseudo-Christian angels in there to explain stuff is just a cop-out, and BSG deserved better. Much much better.

[Tom]

I’m not sure people are slighted that every little thing wasn’t explained. Rather, I, for one, feel a tad slighted that much of the internal consistency which had been created in the BSG universe over four years was cast aside in a some biblical, neo-creationist, anti-scientific, deus ex machina resolution.

If god can, and does, interfere personally in the events of man, then what is the point of anything? He knows all (by definition ‘god’ is omnipotent, and if he is capable of inserting ‘head’ characters, and resurrected immortal angels, and blowing up star systems, then he’s as close to omnipotent as bugger-it), he knows your supposed free-will choices in advance (by definition); why bother nudging here, hinting there?

By explicitly stating ‘angels’ as real entities BSG has flown in the face of its whole previous ethos. There was mystery. There was the unknown about which we could debate - and think. Sticking pseudo-Christian angels in there to explain stuff is just a cop-out, and BSG deserved better. Much much better.

How is the ending a deus ex machina or cop out? The head characters were part of the mythos from the beggining.
How is the ending anti scientific? because they abandoned technology in order to assimilate? One could argue that the show was anti scientific when an entire race was practically annihilated by the technology they created.
Who said the “angels” are of the biblical or christian variety? that’s your interpretation, and that’s the point, the ultimate answers are left to our interpretation and imagination.
The questions about God and free will have been asked long before BSG, and will go on long after. Were you expecting an epiphany from Ron Moore?

[hansioux]

I’m not sure people are slighted that every little thing wasn’t explained. Rather, I, for one, feel a tad slighted that much of the internal consistency which had been created in the BSG universe over four years was cast aside in a some biblical, neo-creationist, anti-scientific, deus ex machina resolution.

If god can, and does, interfere personally in the events of man, then what is the point of anything? He knows all (by definition ‘god’ is omnipotent, and if he is capable of inserting ‘head’ characters, and resurrected immortal angels, and blowing up star systems, then he’s as close to omnipotent as bugger-it), he knows your supposed free-will choices in advance (by definition); why bother nudging here, hinting there?

By explicitly stating ‘angels’ as real entities BSG has flown in the face of its whole previous ethos. There was mystery. There was the unknown about which we could debate - and think. Sticking pseudo-Christian angels in there to explain stuff is just a cop-out, and BSG deserved better. Much much better.

Deus ex machina is using god or gods or the supernatural as a plot device to resolve the story when the writers wrote themselves into a dead-end. It is using a machine (crane_ to lower actors to play god or gods to resolve a plot. I don’t think that’s what happened to the finale.

BSG has always treated the religions in universe as very tangible, like people see evidence of it as they run across the galaxy. And head people was there since the every first episode. Just confirming it was a higher power in the finale isn’t escaping from explaining something.

It would be pretty lame if head people were computer chips in the head. Even if they are just hallucinations, such profound and realistic (not to mention fortune telling) hallucinations are pretty mysterious and otherworldly.

It’s like of hard to fault the show for bring in elements of religion at the finale, when it has been using it since the beginning, and we didn’t fault it then.

[Hybrid_Master]

I’m not sure people are slighted that every little thing wasn’t explained. Rather, I, for one, feel a tad slighted that much of the internal consistency which had been created in the BSG universe over four years was cast aside in a some biblical, neo-creationist, anti-scientific, deus ex machina resolution.

If god can, and does, interfere personally in the events of man, then what is the point of anything? He knows all (by definition ‘god’ is omnipotent, and if he is capable of inserting ‘head’ characters, and resurrected immortal angels, and blowing up star systems, then he’s as close to omnipotent as bugger-it), he knows your supposed free-will choices in advance (by definition); why bother nudging here, hinting there?

By explicitly stating ‘angels’ as real entities BSG has flown in the face of its whole previous ethos. There was mystery. There was the unknown about which we could debate - and think. Sticking pseudo-Christian angels in there to explain stuff is just a cop-out, and BSG deserved better. Much much better.

I have to agree. What really bothered me about the head character angelic resolution was, why the frak did they wait to get involved until AFTER the cylon attack? It just doesn’t make any sense. OK, we’ll let them blow each other apart, and THEN we’ll start directing and nudging and saving them.

And another thing! THe whole Opera House “resolution.” So, all of the visions were leading up to a moment in which,…in which…they would all be together at that moment to make a compromise with Cavil??? A compromise that didn’t last as long as Baltar’s speech???

[hansioux]

I have to agree. What really bothered me about the head character angelic resolution was, why the frak did they wait to get involved until AFTER the cylon attack? It just doesn’t make any sense. OK, we’ll let them blow each other apart, and THEN we’ll start directing and nudging and saving them.

And another thing! THe whole Opera House “resolution.” So, all of the visions were leading up to a moment in which,…in which…they would all be together at that moment to make a compromise with Cavil??? A compromise that didn’t last as long as Baltar’s speech???

Because god is not on anyone’s side.

The two angels probably just wants to ensure there are survivors after the attack. You can read it as the angels are trying to stop the cycle from happening. But I read it as the angels simply doesn’t want everyone to die, to ensure a new cycle can start over.

Whether or not the cycle does repeat itself is up to the people. And that’s the free will part.

[Old_Timer]

I have to agree. What really bothered me about the head character angelic resolution was, why the frak did they wait to get involved until AFTER the cylon attack? It just doesn’t make any sense. OK, we’ll let them blow each other apart, and THEN we’ll start directing and nudging and saving them.

And another thing! THe whole Opera House “resolution.” So, all of the visions were leading up to a moment in which,…in which…they would all be together at that moment to make a compromise with Cavil??? A compromise that didn’t last as long as Baltar’s speech???

I guess I’ll have to go back and watch untold hours of the show, but just on memory, the head people did not influence events all that much - right? (Wrong?) And, as I noted elsewhere, they were hardly always “angelic”.

The non corporeal being that truly influenced the outcome was, of course, Starbuck. The angel. Whatever that means.

[Hybrid_Master]

I guess I’ll have to go back and watch untold hours of the show, but just on memory, the head people did not influence events all that much - right? (Wrong?) And, as I noted elsewhere, they were hardly always “angelic”.

The non corporeal being that truly influenced the outcome was, of course, Starbuck. The angel. Whatever that means.

I would have to say that Head Six did a lot of manipulating - from the nudging of Baltar to realize how to make a real cylon detector (“I need a nuclear warhead” - and we all know how that turned out), to not revealing Sharon, to putting words in his mouth on numerous occasions, to revealing important points about the future, to making him stand up to the marine to get back in his harem room, and on and on. The Head Baltar character was also instrumental in the development of the Caprica Six and Boomer relationship in Downloaded.

In a slightly off-topic note, I would have to say that my favorite Head scene was right after Baltar was elected VP and he was with the Pres and Billy and was having a conversation with both Head Six and Laura at the same time. Laura called him a strange little man at the end…

[DavidFromMontreal]

I still think Head Six and Baltar are really Daniel and Marty from Chapterhouse Dune. (And no, his son’s interpretation isn’t canon!)

[FireBreathingChicken]

I still think Head Six and Baltar are really Daniel and Marty from Chapterhouse Dune. (And no, his son’s interpretation isn’t canon!)

That is the freakiest idea I have heard; and I totally can’t argue with it.

Amazing.