I have been wondering who or what this One True God is since learning that the idea came from the Centurions. I had been thinking that the OTG was only important in showing the difference between the cylons and the humans. Now I’m not so sure. Obviously, the Centurion creators were polytheistic, and one would assume a good machine would believe what its creators believed OR, at the very least, not believe in anything. Where would the Centurions get this OTG idea? It’s a notion strong enough for Ellen to believe she can use it to stop the cycle of violence. Interesting, it is not a theoretical construct for her either, since she (apparently, though with Ellen it is hard to know) believes that the OTG caused the supernova and was responsible for the reveal of the FF to 3.
I think it more likely that Starbuck is the child of Daniel, but perhaps she is actually connected to the One True God in some way. In any event, I feel the need to puzzle this OTG construct a bit more.
k, so the centurions from the 12 colonies were programmed by someone, no? ive heard that caprica will center around the adama family, and the greystone family. the greystone family worked on the creation of artificial life… the centurion cylons. daniel greystone. daniel. the seventh cylon. created by ellen and the final five…?
ive also seen promos for caprica, in which characters are talking about there being a one true god (i think it may have been greystone’s daughter, but i really don’t know.) so if we assume that the idea of a one true god did not randomly pop up in a centurions head, did it originate from daniel or the final five? or from whoever was talking about it in the caprica promo. either way i think that the centurions were programmed with this belief by someone, i dont think they came up with it on their own.
Some the things we’ve learned about events on Kobol led me to think that the 13th tribe were monotheists. Now I think that the One-True-God appeared after the 13th tribe departed for Earth and may have had something to do with the catechism that forced the 12 Tribes to migrate to the Colonies. Promos for Caprica indicate that the monotheistic faith is an underground religion, fighting for legitimacy, probably because it is blamed for whatever forced the first exodus. Also, I suspect Ellen is, or was, unaware of the religions existence amongst the Colonials.
Also the fact that the Centurions are the ones that believe in the One True God could tie back into what we saw in Razor. The Centurions were already experimenting with making flesh Cylons when the Final Five arrived and found the war already raging. This implies that the Centurions had already created the first (Goo Daddy) hybrid who claimed to be seen as the old style Centurion’s God.
While I doubt the Goo Daddy was actually God, he and the other hybrids certainly seem much closer to what ever ‘God’ may be in the show considering their ability to act as vessels of Higher Godly Wisdom and prophesy. The original Goo Daddy was probably the Centurions’ first experience with the words of god, so they transferred their belief into the God(s) into this first hybrid. As that hybrid went off on its separate way, maybe the belief in the one God got mythologized into the many of the other 7 flesh Cylons…
The 5 priests of the 13th Tribe worshipped the god who must not be named. Whether he was their one and only god or not, we do not know - but it smacks of monotheism.
Battlestar Wiki advises that an ancient Hebrew word for the One God translates into he who must not be named.
There has been some thought that this god is the same as the jealous god or is some other “problematic” god.
Yet, the jealous god and the god who wished to be placed above all others appear to be the same and we know that the former was still on Kobol 2,000 years after the 13th left and played a role in causing whatever it was the led to the exodus of the 12 Tribes.
Also, for Ellen to have been made so hopeful by the Centurions, created on the 12 Colonies, being monotheistic indicates that she and her kind also must have been/are monotheistic.
So, it seems to me that the 13th was monotheistic. One more reason for the Lords to want them off of Kobol - in addition to them being the creations of humans. I also sense that the 13th wanted to leave - to escape the ire of the Lords, the domination of the humans and to exercise religious freedom. Recall that on Caprica, practicing monotheism was “illegal”. No reason to believe that it was otherwise on Kobol.
(I still think that we shall learn that the Lords were/are akin to S7/8 type Cylons. Having prevailed in a final battle, they settled with the human survivors on Kobol. They did not technically “create” the humans, but certainly were their masters. Over time the relationship became harmonic, as long as the humans stayed in their place. Being worshipped is good right? When discord arose for whatever reason … the exodus was inevitable. So the cycle is - and it has no begining per se;
Humans create metallic Cylons
Metallic Cylons rebel
FF typed Cylons (initially created by humans) arrive and create humanoid S7/8 typed Cylons to stop the human/metallic Cylon war.
The S7/8 Cylons disable the FF type Cylons and nearly obliterate the humans in a second war
The humans leave their “home” in search of “Earth”
The FF type Cylons “remember” who they are
A final battle between the humans and (some of) the S7/8 type Cylons results in victory by the latter and end of the FF type Cylons.
The S7/8 type Cylons and humans settle on a planet (Kobol) in a god/supplicant relationship
The humans create FF type Cylons
For the reasons noted above, the S7/8 Cylons are not pleased - nor are the FF type Cylons, so they leave to found their own home
The humans much later “revolt” against their Lords and leave for a new home
At about the same time the FF type Cylons realize that the humans inevitably will do what they have done - create metallic Cylons and that so doing will cause a great war - so, as their own planet is being destroyed by a like war - they head off to find their humans creators
Meanwhile, after time the humans do indeed create metallic Cylons
They rebel before the FF can intervene
And here we go again
I am sure that there are holes in this large enough to drive a truck through.)
Oh yeah - all of the foregoing ties in to separation of the various types of beings. No cross breeding allowed. If that occurs, the whole cycle thing falls apart.
Which is why Hera is so important. Cavil & Co will want to destroy her (and in previous cycles they always have). Cavil is not interested in mingling of the species and natural procreation. They are an anathema to him. The end of Cylon domination of the humans.
If Hera survives, and Cavil is vanquished - then there is truly a new beginning, perhaps, because the cycle of each type of humanoid destroying the other is less likely to continue as/if the species intermingle.
If that is the case that he would want to destroy Caprica’s baby as well. If the cylons can learn to procreate biologically then that would presumably make them more human and less machine. They would no longer need resurection.
Goo Daddy does say that “my children think i am god.” if his children are the centurions… well… then maybe he really is the one true god. how he created the supernova / eye of jupiter setup… dunno.
I don’t think there’s anything that’s indicated that, besides the fact that Cavil’s a sadistic, human-hating, murderous bastard. But he’s such a sadistic, human-hating, murderous bastard that I think you’re right.
It makes a certain degree of sense that keeping the humans and cylons separate keeps them hating each other. Nothing breaks down barriers like individual relationships, which is why miscegenation was such an anathema in the Old South.
It’s in the scrolls. The Temple of 5 was built for/by the priests who worshipped the god whose name must not be spoken. It’s all over at Battlestar Wiki.
I think he was meaning where was it mentioned in the show. Episode and scene. As it is I have watched most if not all of the shows. I still don’t remember anyone mentioning that.
According to Battlestar Wiki, Laura Roslin discusses the 5 priests worshiping "the one whose name must not be spoken in “The Eye of Jupiter” and “Take a Break from All your Worries.” Battlestar Wiki is extremely reliable,
The “bad” S7/8 Cylons “win”. Hera is killed - obviously Cavil would not favor intermingling of Cylons and humans. 6 is unable to save her (which is her mission - hence all the 6’s in Hera’s coloring book).
So you have a small band of bad (and maybe some good) Cylons left, along with the remnants of the humans. All in all not many humanoids.
The real relationship between the humanoid Cylons and the humans on Kobol (or where ever in a later cycle) remains unclear. Certainly, given that the bad Cylons are calling the shots it starts off as a “lord” “servant” relationship. Whether it later becomes harmonious as per the scrolls, or whether that is historical revisionism, I do not know. But to the humans, the S7/8 Cylons sure seem like lords/gods.
The existence of resurrection technology on “Kobol” also is unclear. Whether it (has been rebuilt) and brought to Kobol, is developed by humans on Kobol re the FF type Cylons they develop OR is remembered on Erf by the FF from before the final battle that landed the Cylons and humans on Kobol - don’t know.
After the FF Cylons leave Kobol, things rock along for 2,000 years until one of the Lords (a Cavil type) wants to be honored above all others. The humans balk at that, and because there are so many more of them than Cylons/Lords/gods, they are able to leave.
The jealous god/the lord that wished to be placed above the others and the one whose name must not be spoken are NOT one and the same. The former is “bad” and not a god. The latter is “good” and is a true god in the sense that he/she is being who is not corporeal, but whose existence is supported by “faith”. This god, is a god of love and is a monotheistic god.
The cycle is broken IF the “bad” Cylons are “defeated” and Hera is saved AND a mingling of the humanoids occurs as they strive to survive and build a society on some new world.
I do not know how “our Earth” figures into all this, but it does. I also have not figured out how the head creatures figure into this. But this is my story and I’m sticking to it.
If that is the case that he would want to destroy Caprica’s baby as well. If the cylons can learn to procreate biologically then that would presumably make them more human and less machine. They would no longer need resurection.
And don’t think that this fact doesn’t escape Cavil’s view of loathing towards all things limited by humanity, such as procreation.
Hmm makes me wonder, now, if Cavil didn’t tamper with other aspects of the S7/8 other than their knowledge of the FF - like say, their ability to procreate with each other? Because, as we now know, that wasn’t a problem for the Earth cylons/FF types, and Ellen has confessed their intentions of making the S7/8 cylons as human as possible, it might stand to reason that they would have written that in.
So potentially:
Maybe Cavil nixed cylon reproduction capability, in order to become less human, maintain immortality AND as a result, also control the cylon population’s need for resurrection.
Maybe Ellen and the other FF decided to not to include the ability to procreate in order to preserve the hard work they had done in re-inventing resurrection and prevent the cylon population from completely spiraling out of control.
If Cavil did do that, well, I just hope the Simons find out. Think of those poor guys spending all their screen time, trying to encourage Kara to have babies, and solve the cylon procreation mystery, only to find out Cavil tampered with that bit of ‘programming/genetic info’.
