There was a lot of emotion being thrown around at the end, but the part that got to me the most was actually Anders’ final journey into the sun (though Adama calling it “The Sun” was kind of jarring - how does he know to call it that?).
You have this character who wasn’t liked a lot at first by the fan community and he becomes incredibly important to the series but seems surrounded by tragedy endlessly. He is obviously very conflicted at times, loves his wife but can’t ever find happiness with her, slugs it out on New Caprica, finds out he’s a Cylon, and eventually gets brain-fried and ultimately dies while sending the fleet to its destruction. I found it surprisingly sad; it left a real ache in my heart to see Sam go. So much happens after it’s easy to lose that part of the finale, but it really stuck with me, even while trying to parse Starbuck’s meaning and purpose (and eventual comeback when we get the cycle going again in the future). As someone who thought he was unnecessary at first, it kind of broke my heart to see the now-hybrid meet his end. Within the show’s mythology, however, it seems to me that he most likely did cross over to the other side and meet Starbuck there, or at least that’s how I like to think of it. Sam the Hybrid and Starbuck the White, together and hopefully happy for a few hundred thousand years before she is called to duty again, confused and troubled until remembering her true purpose.
