"Humanity's Children" Battlestar Galactica (the mini-series, part 1, hour 1) (0:00-46:19) TV episode Written by Ronald D. Moore and Christopher Eric James Based on a teleplay by Glen A. Larson Directed by Michael Rymer Original air date: December 8, 2003

Humanity created the robotic Cylons to be their servants. When the Cylons gained intelligence, both races warred until the Cylons agreed to leave the Colonies to found their own world. Now, after 40 years without a trace of the Cylons, humanity’s children are returning home.

(This episode opens with the human liaison arriving at Armistice Station and ends with Commander Adama receiving word in his quarters that the Cylons are attacking the Colonies.)

Read the full story summary of Part 1 of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series at the Battlestar Wiki

Notes from the BSG chronology

This episode takes place a year or two after the events of "Balance".

Didja Know?

The Battlestar Galactica mini-series was made up of two 2-hour parts, originally broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy). I have chosen to break down the mini-series into four ~45-minute segments to more closely match the running times of episodes of the ongoing TV series that followed it.

For Part 1, I have assigned the title of "Humanity's Children" based on a line of dialog spoken by Number Six in the episode as the Cylon attack against the Twelve Colonies begins, "Humanity's children are returning home."

The script is by show runner Ronald D. Moore with Christopher Eric James, based on a teleplay by Glen A. Larson. Larson was the creator of the original Battlestar Galactica series (BSG70). The teleplay mentioned is the one by Larson for the 3-hour pilot, "Saga of a Star World" (which PopApostle has broken down into three studies, "Annihilation", "Exodus", and "Deathtrap").

The music for the mini-series was composed by Richard Gibbs. He chose not to return for the ongoing series, which had music by Bear McCreary.

Brown-eyed actor Edward James Olmos wears blue contact lenses for his role as Commander Adama to more closely resemble actor Jamie Bamber who plays his son, Apollo.

Throughout the mini-series, the human characters generally refer to "God" rather than "gods" as they do in later episodes. Most likely the producers had not yet decided on using the Colonial pantheon of gods at this point.

Humanoid Cylons appear throughout this series. A human-looking Cylon also made an appearance in the Galactica 1980 episode "The Night the Cylons Landed" Parts 1 and 2.

Characters appearing or mentioned in this story

Colonel at Armistice Station (unnamed, but called Colonel Wakefield in the novelization)

Number Six

Aaron Doral (Number Five)

Starbuck (Lt. Kara Thrace)

Commander Adama (William "Bill" Adama)

Captain Kelly

Specialist Prosna

Specialist Socinus

Cally (Petty Officer 2nd Class Callandra Henderson)

Lt. Felix Gaeta

Colonel Tigh

Chief Tyrol

Boomer (Lt. Sharon Valerii)

Helo (Lt. Karl Agathon)

Ellen Tigh (mentioned only)

Secretary of Education Dr. Laura Roslin

Roslin's doctor (unnamed)

Billy Keikeya

Chantara

Chantara's baby (unnamed)

Chantara's husband (unnamed)

Kellan Brody

Dr. Gaius Baltar

President Adar (mentioned only)

Apollo (Captain Lee Adama)

Dipper (Major Jackson Spencer)

Joker (mentioned only)

Ice Cap (mentioned only)

Wiper (mentioned only)

Greenback (mentioned only)

Super (mentioned only)

Jolly (Lt. Anders, mentioned only)

Dee (Chief Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla)

Elosha

Didja Notice?

The Colonial shuttle that docks at Armistice Station looks quite similar to the Colonial shuttles depicted in BSG70. This particular shuttle was previously seen in the flash-forward at the end of "The Red Line", already docked at the station as a Cylon Heavy Raider carrying a Six model Cylon and two centurions approaches. We never actually see a Heavy Raider here in the episode though.

A Colonial colonel arrives at Armistice Station for the annual non-meeting with the Cylons. The sheet of Cylon specifications he pulls out of a folder depicts Cylon centurions that look much more like the centurions of BSG70 than the antebellum ones seen in Blood and Chrome and "The Lab". A similar-looking BSG70-style Cylon is seen as part of a display for the Galactica museum later in the episode. The visible paragraph describing the Cylons reads (note that "Centurion" is spelled incorrectly and that the BSG70 term "yahrens" is used instead of "years" as is used throughout the rest of BSG2000): 

CYLON SPECIFICATIONS Cylon Centurian Model 0005 The Cylon: A Cylon is a bipedal robot. They are self-aware, and usually quite logical. They are not especially fast, but they are quite strong. They are artificial in nature, and are larger than a human, around 6' 6" (2m), although this varies with their type. Cylon eyes glow red, and pulse back and forth. A Cylon is powered by internal powercells which allow it to function without outside aid for around nine to ten yahrens.

Notice that the photo of the colonel's son is Boxey, who will be one of the survivors of Caprica taken aboard the Galactica in "Serve and Protect". The novelization refers to the Colonial representative sent to Armistice Station as Colonel Wakefield; this implies that Boxey's last name is Wakefield.

Notice that the documents on the colonel's desk are printed with the header "Cimtar Peace Accord". In the BSG70 episode "Annihilation", the false peace meeting between Cylons and Colonials arranged by the traitorous Baltar was supposed to take place near the old moon Cimtar.

As we observe Starbuck jogging through the corridors of Galactica, she passes a group of officials being given a tour of the ship in preparation of the decommissioning ceremony and conversion into a museum by government P.R. man Aaron Doral. Doral is a Number Five model Cylon, seen previously in "Twisting in the Wind".

Doral tells the tour group that the Galactica was constructed over 50 years ago, during the early days of the Cylon War. He also says there were originally 12 battlestars, each representing one of Kobol's Twelve Colonies. Galactica, of course, represents Caprica, and was first commanded by Commander Silas Nash (who was first seen in Blood and Chrome).

LSO Captain Kelly tells the retiring Commander Adama that he is proud to have served under him. Kelly has actually served on the Galactica longer than Adama and first appeared, greeting the newly arrived Adama and Tigh about two years earlier, in "Two Old Men and a Woman".

As Commander Adama arrives at CIC on Galactica, Lt. Gaeta informs him that one of the messages from fleet headquarters is about the officer assigned to Armistice Station is overdue in his return. Lt. Gaeta first appeared in "Absolutely Necessary".

Gaeta tells Adama it has been an honor to serve under him these past three years. According to "Two Old Men and a Woman" it has been only about 2 years that Adama has commanded the Galactica.

Doral tells his tour group about the seemingly antiquated technological components of the Galactica, a sign of the Colonies' fear of the Cylons' ability to compromise wireless computer systems during the war. I wonder if Ron Moore's idea for this was inspired by the dated computer technology of BSG70, which was supposed to be centuries in advance of our own at the time, but which we've already surpassed only 30 years later.

As the opening credits appear on screen, at 7:03 on the Blu-ray, the word "Production" in "Production Designer" has a typo, reading "Prduction".

At 9:26 on the Blu-ray, notice there is a standard Mark VII Viper model in the hangar bay behind Adama and a second is being towed into position by a hoist.

As the Mark II Vipers are being unveiled for the Galactica hangar's museum display, the first one unveiled is Commander Adama's original Viper from the Cylon War, N7242C. This Viper was first seen in "The Hard Six". Chief Tyrol tells Adama they found it rusting out in a salvage yard on Sagittaron. The Viper is used by Apollo throughout the mini-series and is used by various pilots in later episodes. Adama himself pilots it in the final episode of the series.

Tyrol refers to the tail number of Adama's old Viper as "Nebula 7242 Constellation". The "Nebula" for "N" and "Constellation" for "C" designations are probably intended as the Colonial equivalent of NATO's phonetic alphabet, where "November" represents "N" and "Charlie" represents "C".

At 10:42 on the Blu-ray, when Adama unwraps the gift given to him by the hangar crew, notice that not only is the picture frame crafted in the traditional Colonial octagonal shape, the two metal labels on it are as well. The same photo was first seen in "Endings and Beginnings".

The Colonial cubits on the card table in the officer's lounge are rectangular-shaped coins, just as those in BSG70. But later in "Black Market", we see octagonally-shaped cubits. I suppose there could be different-shaped cubits depending on the coin's denomination and/or colony of origin.

During the triad card game in the officer's lounge, notice that Helo is sucking on a lollipop.

After Tigh sits down at the card table, Starbuck wins the hand of triad with full colors. "Water" reveals full colors to be the highest possible hand in the game.

At 13:47 on the Blu-ray, Adama has a photo of what must be his ex-wife (Carolanne) and his two sons, Apollo and Zac, when they were still kids.

At 15:12 on the Blu-ray, several spaceships are seen flying over Caprica City through the window of Roslin's doctor's office. One of them appears to be Serenity from the Firefly/Serenity series!

Roslin's affliction with cancer may have been borrowed by the writers from Serina's illness in the original script of the BSG70 pilot episode "Saga of a Star World" (the scenes were cut from that pilot, leaving Serina in good health).

The music heard as the Caprican TV interview show The Spotlight introduces Gaius Baltar is the Colonial anthem, actually the main theme of BSG70. This interview is the one that was seen scheduled on Baltar's calendar in "The Red Line".

Interviewer Kellan Brody states that Baltar has been the winner of three Magnate awards. She also states he is a personal friend of Colonial President Adar (as seen starting with events in "A Higher Purpose"). "Adar" was also the name of the President of the Twelve Colonies in BSG70.

At 20:05 on the Blu-ray, notice that Number Six wears a dress of transparent fabric, through which we can see her underwear!

As Number Six makes love to Baltar, her spine begins to glow and pulse red under her skin. This doesn't really make a lot of sense and, in fact, could be a giveaway to others that she is a Cylon if it should be noticed! Executive producers Ron Moore and David Eick admit to this in the audio commentary of this episode on the Blu-ray. The novelization explains this light as being mostly infrared, making it invisible to human eyes.

As Apollo is coming in for a landing on Galactica, he is told to "call the ball". This is naval pilot terminology for sighting the landing lights on an aircraft carrier on approach to landing.

As Apollo brings his Mark VII Viper in for a landing on Galactica's landing bay, notice that a Colonial shuttle is seen sitting on deck in the background.

The code number of Apollo's Mark VII Viper appears to be 2276NC.

At 25:17 on the Blu-ray, several pilot call signs can be read on the pilot roster in the pilots' briefing room: Helo, Boomer, Apollo, Starbuck, Joker, Ice Cap, Wiper, Greenback, and Super. A few other names can't be made out. The man leading the briefing is the CAG (Commander Air Group), Major Jackson Spencer, call sign Dipper. He remarks that Lt. Anders is replacing Starbuck in the decommissioning ceremony (due to Starbuck being in the brig for striking Colonel Tigh). Lt. Anders is revealed to have the call sign Jolly in "Serve and Protect", but is never actually seen in an episode (he does appear briefly in the Season Zero comic "Loose Cannon"); this Anders would seem to be no relation to Samuel Anders, a civilian resistance fighter and former professional pyramid player introduced later in "Resistance". "Jolly" was also the name of a Viper pilot in BSG70.

The shot of Caprica City at 26:10 on the Blu-ray shows a few skyscrapers with pentagonal roofs. Possibly these are Graystone Industries (or former Graystone) buildings, as the motif was seen in use by it in episodes of Caprica.

Baltar tells Number Six that the final results of the CNP project are that it's working close to 95% efficiency throughout the fleet. These results were obtained during the events of "The Red Line".

The novelization establishes that Baltar and Caprica Six are strolling through Government Center Plaza in Caprica City during the above conversation.

At 26:29 on the Blu-ray, notice that two children run quickly across the scene in the background. They are wearing classic (BSG70) Cylon centurion heads and carrying plastic Cylon swords! 

At the end of the conversation between Baltar and Caprica Six in Government Center, Baltar leaves and Six turns around to find someone waiting for her. She says, "It's about time. Wondered when you'd get here." We don't see here who it was, but The Plan reveals it was Number One. The novelization of the mini-series takes the discussion just a bit farther, without revealing who Six is speaking to; the additional dialog does not, however, match what Six and One say to each other in The Plan, the TV movie being filmed and aired several years after the novelization was published.

The Cylon Centurion and basestar displays in the new Galactica museum are modeled after those seen in BSG70, as representative of Cylon technology at the time of the first Cylon War. The signs are in a font similar to the one used for the main titles of that series. Notice that a model Cylon Raider is hanging from the ceiling as well (hard to see). The photographs seen in the distance behind the basestar model look as if they may be images from BSG70 as well.

At 28:47 on the Blu-ray, notice that Billy shares a passing flirtatious glance with Dee in the corridors of Galactica. In fact, it's this lingering look at her as she disappears in the opposite direction down the corridor that causes him to get lost. Notice that at the end of Secretary Roslin's encounter with Commander Adama at 30:19, Dee can be seen leading Billy back to the group in the background. After a couple of other encounters, they share a kiss in "Serve and Protect" and date in some later episodes.

When Apollo tells Starbuck it's been two years since they last met, Starbuck remarks it seems like the funeral was just a couple months ago. She is referring to the funeral of Zak, seen in "Endings and Beginnings".

For their photo-op together, the estranged Adama and Apollo are wearing dress uniforms with a diagonal sash adorned with their service medals. The particular medals are never explained in the course of the series. The top star-shaped pin that each man wears is a variation of the star insignia pins worn on the collars of Galactica crewmembers in BSG70.

The meeting table and chairs seen in the meeting room on the Galactica where Adama and Apollo have their uncomfortable photo-op are similar to the design of the table and chairs seen for Dr. Heywood Floyd's meeting with the National Council of Astronautics about the moon enigma in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Meeting room in Galactica	Meeting room in 2001: A Space Odyssey

During the decommissioning ceremony at 40:42 on the Blu-ray, notice that a Colonial landram is seen on the hangar deck in the background; the Viper next to it appears to be a Viper from BSG70 (the Mark I?)! Also, another photo display appears to show the classic battlestar design from BSG70, among other images.

Notes from the novelization of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series by Jeffrey A. Carver (The page numbers come from the 1st printing, paperback edition, published July 2006)

Prologue

The prologue of the novel states that the first Cylon War lasted 10 years, but most other sources say 12 years.

The prologue seems to state that the Cylons sent a representative to Armistice Station the first year, but after that, sent none. The Cylons' Secret states the Cylons sent a representative for "a year or two".

Chapter 1

Page 4 refers to the Colonial representative sent to Armistice Station as Colonel Wakefield. This implies that Boxey's last name is Wakefield.

Pages 4-5 reveal there are Cylon-built maintenance robots permanently assigned to Armistice Station to keep it functional.

Page 5 states that the Colonial representative to Armistice Station waits three days there for a Cylon representative to show up before leaving.

A couple of times in the novel, characters use the expression, "Sweet Lords of Kobol."

Page 10 states that Number Six's raw sexuality/sensuality fogs the Colonial representative's mind, preventing him from resisting more than he does.

Chapter 2

Page 13 reveals that the two male crewmembers Adama bumps into in the Galactica corridor with Cally are Specialists Prosna and Socinus.

Page 14 reveals that CIC is located in the belly of the battlestar.

Page 16 reveals that Galactica was once the flagship of the Colonial fleet.

Page 16 also reveals that even Doral (a Cylon) feels twinges of pride in the Galactica as a long-time ship of the Colonial fleet.

Chapter 3

Page 21 reveals that it is whiskey that Tigh pours into his coffee in the officers' wardroom before joining the triad game.

Chapter 4

Page 27 reveals that Laura Roslin's appointment with her doctor for the bad news takes place at Caprica Medical Center. On page 28, the doctor tells her he will notify specialists at the Caprica Institute. These are the first and only mentions of these organizations in the series.

Page 28 reveals that Roslin is a doctor in her field (presumably doctor of education).

Page 30 reveals definitively that Roslin's affliction is breast cancer. It is not stated explicitly elsewhere in the series that it is breast cancer, though it is implied in this episode when she has a minor panic attack shortly after learning of it and locks herself in a restroom, clutching at her left breast.

Chapter 5

On page 33, the mother of the baby that Caprica Six kills is called Centura instead of Chantara as found in most other references.

Page 33 reveals that Caprica Six feels she has spared the baby suffering by killing it (presumably because she knows the Cylon attack on the Colonies is imminent).

Chapter 6

Page 34 refers to Baltar as a Ph.D. Though that is the abbreviation used in our world for someone with a doctorate degree, it seems slightly odd that the same exact term would be used in the far distant past of the Twelve Colonies. Still, there is precedence (retroactively) with the use of such university education terms in the Caprica episode "Know Thy Enemy".

Page 34 reveals that Baltar's home overlooks King's Bay Inlet on Caprica. Chapter 10 reveals it is south of Caprica City.

Also on page 34, Baltar drinks a glass of Olympia spring water. Possibly, this is a play on Olympia beer in the real world, which has long used the slogan "It's the water."

Page 35 reveals that Caprica Six's assigned name is Natasi.

Chapter 7

Page 41 reveals that Atlantia was the newest battlestar in the fleet and Apollo had once served aboard it.

Page 42 refers to the artificial gravity used by Colonial vessels as "Lorey-field gravity" (possibly named for one or both of the author's friends Nancy and Fred Lorey).

Page 44 refers to Boomer's features as "Oriental". While this is true from an Earth-centric point of view, the Orient is a specific region of the Earth and would presumably not have an application in the Twelve Colonies. Author Carver has said he did struggle with ways to describe racial/ethnic physical differences in the characters without using Earth-specific terms.

On page 46, Cally is referred to as "Jane Cally" instead of her actual name, Callandra Henderson. The canon name was not established until the fourth season of the series, so the novelization's author Jeffrey Carver would not have been aware of it.

Page 46 also establishes Specialist Prosna's first name as Leonard. Specialist Socinus here is given the first name Brad, though later episodes establish his first initial as "D".

On page 51, Natasi's unrevealed contact tells her that one way or another she will always be with Gaius Baltar. This would seem to be an allusion to Baltar's visions of her after she is already dead. These visions later claim to him that he was implanted with a chip in his brain that allows her to manifest inside his consciousness. It's never definitively resolved in the series whether he really does have a chip or he's just experiencing a psychotic break or she is actually a Messenger (though by the end of the series it seems she is a Messenger). It would seem that author Carver is leaning towards it being a chip in Baltar's head.

On page 63, Natasi comments that parents must die so that their children can replace them, an allusion to the approaching holocaust against the Colonies by the Cylons. Baltar remarks nervously with a bad attempt at humor, "Nothing worse than parents that hang around too long. Mine certainly did." Not much is known about his father, but his mother died recently, as established in "The Red Line".

During the decommissioning ceremony on page 76, Doral introduces Commander Adama to make a speech and states that Adama served on the Galactica as a young pilot during the Cylon War. Small portions of his early tenure on the ship were seen in Blood and Chrome, "The Lab", "Stealth Mission", "Armistice", and "The Hard Six".

Page 78 has Colonel Tigh thinking about how he's known Adama for better than 40 years. But according to the events of "A Bird to Fly", it's closer to 30 years.