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tagrynI want to listen to the director's commentary for more background, but I can understand why he said in his comments last week that a lot of the fans are going to hate this episode for a lot of different reasons, but that they need to give it a couple of weeks to sink in. There's a couple of references that come to mind over the ending, though. One is from a 1970 movie titled Colossus: The Forbin Project
Briefly, Colossus is a giant computer which is given control of the U.S.'s nuclear missile system (faster and more reliable than humans), but it achieves sentience and decides it knows better than humanity what is good for it. This is the final diologue at the end of the movie, where Colossus addresses humanity en masse:
Colossus: This is the voice of World Control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content, or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours. Obey me and live, or disobey and die.
The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful, and pointless.
An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man...We can coexist, but only on my terms. You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species. Your choice is simple.
The second reference is to the Manhunters, a mechanoid race in the Rifts game system. They are created by mankind, but turn on humanity and decide that humans are too dangerous to allow to roam the galaxy, and only by enslaving or exterminating all humanity can the threat of humans be contained.
I wonder if that is the solution that Caprica Six has reached to the question of what the Cylons reason to exist is: that they are to ensure that their creators, humanity, can never attempt to wipe out another species as they tried to do with the Cylons.
I think it goes back to the question, still unanswered as far as I can tell, of why the Cylons decided to wipe out the Colonies after having had no contact with humans for over fifty years after the end of the last war between them. We got a hint of that at the end of the pilot, when one of the male Cylons said "we have to pursue them, if we don't they'll return someday and seek vengeance." That may be why the Cylons have been pursuing Galactica, because they believe they have no choice. Six may have convinced them to merely enslave humanity rather than destroying them outright, and ensure that the humans are doing God's will whether they want to or not.
Briefly, Colossus is a giant computer which is given control of the U.S.'s nuclear missile system (faster and more reliable than humans), but it achieves sentience and decides it knows better than humanity what is good for it. This is the final diologue at the end of the movie, where Colossus addresses humanity en masse:
Colossus: This is the voice of World Control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content, or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours. Obey me and live, or disobey and die.
The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful, and pointless.
An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man...We can coexist, but only on my terms. You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species. Your choice is simple.
The second reference is to the Manhunters, a mechanoid race in the Rifts game system. They are created by mankind, but turn on humanity and decide that humans are too dangerous to allow to roam the galaxy, and only by enslaving or exterminating all humanity can the threat of humans be contained.
I wonder if that is the solution that Caprica Six has reached to the question of what the Cylons reason to exist is: that they are to ensure that their creators, humanity, can never attempt to wipe out another species as they tried to do with the Cylons.
I think it goes back to the question, still unanswered as far as I can tell, of why the Cylons decided to wipe out the Colonies after having had no contact with humans for over fifty years after the end of the last war between them. We got a hint of that at the end of the pilot, when one of the male Cylons said "we have to pursue them, if we don't they'll return someday and seek vengeance." That may be why the Cylons have been pursuing Galactica, because they believe they have no choice. Six may have convinced them to merely enslave humanity rather than destroying them outright, and ensure that the humans are doing God's will whether they want to or not.
