Click to viewBattlestar Galactica comes back in January, and it has a hell of a cliffhanger to resolve. Just where did our heroes land up in "Revelations," and more importantly, where do they go now? Since the show disappeared for a nine-month hiatus, there's been a slow drip of information about the new season, so we thought we'd collect them all in one place. One thing's for sure: You'd better strap yourself in, because it's going to be a crazy ride. Spoilers ahead. This is the second half of our "Battlestar clues" roundup. You can read our first half, about the final Cylon, here. Here's the trailer for the second half of the season, which aired after "Revelations." Among the noteworthy scenes, as analyzed by Galactica Variants: Tigh points a gun at someone aboard Galactica. Starbuck reads from a book, which could be her own notes from aboard the Demetrius. And Starbuck burns her own crashed Viper and dead body, see below. Also, a rough hand holding dog-tags (Kara's?), Bill Adama saying to a shrouded figure, "You're the fifth," and stubby fingers (Tyrol's?) feeling a ruined stone wall, like a temple. And here's what we know about specific upcoming episodes: Episode 11, "Sometimes A Great Notion": The official summary says, "Kara Thrace learns that the dire predictions of the Cylon Hybrid might be correct, and a devastating discovery plunges the Fleet into chaos and despair." And this episode includes scenes of Leoben and Starbuck in a forest on Earth. Series writer Jane Espenson says this episode was meant to be the second half of a two-parter with "Revelations," and you should really watch both episodes a week apart. It's definitely Earth. Here's what Aaron Douglas said about Earth, the final Cylons, and the Cylon homeworld:
The four that were revealed at the end of season three are what they are, but they're one-offs. They're the original Cylons. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when there were 13 colonies on Kobol, 12 went that way and one went that way to found Earth - or create an Earth - and that colony was actually Cylons. They're individuals, there's no multiple models. The seven that we know are a different kind of Cylon that came much later. They're probably ten, 20 years old, born out of the metal machines that fought back in the Cylon wars of the 12 colonies. So they're essentially like the gods. And we were on the new Earth, and destroyed that and came back to the 12 colonies to rejoin humanity to find the cycle of time.
He also said the humans find Cylon skeletons on Earth, proving it's the Cylon homeworld. Which we know happens in the very next episode. Also, this could be the episode where we see Tigh in the water screaming for Ellen, and Tyrol having flashbacks to his past. Episode 12, "A Disquiet Follows My Soul." Adama is seen with blood on his hand and his uniform in this episode. Could Tigh be pointing a gun at Adama, in some kind of big showdown? This takes place on the Cylon homeworld (Earth) and Galactica, with things really falling apart on Galactica. The relationship between Admiral Adama and Roslin starts to get interesting. This could be the episode where we start to deal with the friction between President Roslin and "acting" President Lee Adama. Also, we're promised a huge storyline dealing with Dualla, which could come about hereabouts. We're also supposed to see much more of Starbuck and Apollo paired up this season. Episode 13, "The Oath": We glimpsed a call sheet which includes a scene where Tom Zarek is not forthcoming with the press. Adam meets Zarek in the brig. And Adama gives Tigh some coordinates. And there's a scene in Laura's temporary quarters where "Adama and Laura don't care." We also got hold of a second call sheet, which shows a scene where Kara finds a crashed Viper (on Earth?) and discovers the dead body of a Viper pilot — which appears to be the skeleton of a second Kara Thrace. She finds the "ELT box" and is determined to keep searching. Finally, she lights the Viper and the dead body on fire. (Which is presumably that bonfire we saw her sitting in front of, in the trailer for the rest of the season.) Here are the pages of the call sheet: When we finally get an explanation of how Starbuck came back from the dead, "it's not an uplifting understanding," says Edward James Olmos. Rather, it's sort of sickening and dark. (Could her resurrection have something to do with the Ship Of Lights, the mystical ship from the original series? Starbuck painted it aboard the Demetrius.) Episode 14, "Blood On The Scales." No specific info. Episode 15, "No Exit": Named after the famous Sartre play, this will probably be an especially bleak episode. The good news: Laura Roslin's still in it, according to a leaked call sheet. Episode 16, "Deadlock": No specific info. Episode 17, "Someone To Watch Over Me": I think this is the one where Starbuck meets a charismatic piano player named "Slick," and opens up to him about her inner Starbuckiness. They talk about music and piano playing and she opens up like she never has with anyone else. I read a scrap of script from this episode last spring, but I can't find it now. They hang out in Joe's Bar, and talk about destiny. And Slick is shocked by how much Starbuck knows about music, thanks to her musician dad. Jamie Bamber said Apollo only appears in one or two scenes in this episode. And Felix Gaeta is apparently still alive at this point. And we do get some huge resolution of the Gaeta/Baltar relationship, where everything is finally explained. The two have a huge scene together. Episode 18, "Islanded In A Stream Of Stars": A big episode for Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma). Also, the reappearance of Zak Adama, the Admiral's dead son. Episode 19, "Daybreak, Part 1": No specific info. Episode 20, "Daybreak, Part 2": Are we going back to the algae planet? At least, BSG filmed some scenes in and around Kamloops, which was the setting for the algae planet before. And they needed lots of extras who were either cleancut and athletic, or slender with long hair or dreadlocks. And here are some more general spoilers for the upcoming episodes: The humans and their Cylon allies strand D'Anna on Earth when they haul ass away from the nuked planet. Nerd-god John Hodgman will have a small but vital bit part as a doctor in an upcoming episode. Boomer will probably betray Brother Cavill. Just a thought. The Boomer Cylon, the only eight model who sided with Brother Cavill in the civil war, probably won't stay on his side. That was strongly hinted in "Revelations," in the scene where Cavill calls Boomer his "pet eight," and D'Anna warns that an eight makes a passionate ally... until she sees something shiny. In any case, several of the producers have said Boomer (as opposed to Athena) has a huge role in the final episodes. Also, Rick Worthy, who plays Simon the Cylon, says he has some great scenes with Grace Park coming up, probably meaning Boomer. Lots of flashbacks. It seems like the final few episodes will feature tons of flashbacks. We've spotted some filming that looks like it takes place on pre-attack Caprica, with a healthy Laura Roslin wading into a fountain pool. That wrap video and slideshow included what looked like shots of a younger Bill Adama and two-eyed Saul Tigh inside a strip joint on Caprica. We know that Zak Adama, the Admiral's dead son, shows up in the last few episodes, according to IMDB. Also in the second-to-last episode: Crewman Specialist Prosna, who dies in the original miniseries. Another character who makes a comeback: Xeno Fenner, foreman of the fuel refinining ship where Tyrol led a strike shows up in the final episode. There's a rumor Tom Zarek dies before the end of the season, but he "takes a lot of them with him." It sounds as though there's some big development with the Starbuck-Lee-Anders love triangle at some point. We'll see the old-school Cylon centurions at least once more before the end of the show. The final few episodes will be like Apocalypse Now, the show's cast told Comic-Con. The wrap reel we showed a while back included lots of battle scenes, and Lee Adama's final filmed scenes involved running around with a bunch of extras, shooting people. Looks like something bad happens to the Kevin Spacey Cylon: There are lots of quotes about how the final episode's scripts made the actors cry when they read it. Tahmoh Penikett says he cried three times, and hints that the show's ending won't be entirely dire. And he said in another interview that the show didn't go in the obvious direction for Helo. But in a third interview, Penikett described the ending thusly:
Everybody dies. We have a dark ending...Obviously you know, those last couple of episodes, they're going to blow your mind. They are going to go down in history as the best television ever done.
"I felt like I was punched in the stomach" reading the final script, says Tricia Helfer. And Admiral Adama is going to have a rough ride in the final episodes, according to Edward James Olmos.
He does break down, he goes to the bottom of the pit and just squirms around in there and it's really difficult for him to carry on.
Another dire EJO quote about the ending:
Emotionally, heartbreaking. I'm telling you this for a reason, because I don't want you guys to think you're going to go through this without getting yourself really twisted … it's brutal what happens to us. Not many of us make it.
One thing's for sure: Lee Adama doesn't die. Actor Jamie Bamber refers to the conclusion as "an ending and a beginning" for Lee.