Ladies and Gentlemen,

In two weeks, on January 16th, 2008, the final season of Battlestar Galactica will begin, and we will finally be treated to the answers to two tantalizing questions: Who is the final Cylon, and Where is Earth?

Last June, just before the airing of the final episode of season 4.0, I hinted that I had figured out "the riddle" of Battlestar Galactica. At first, I only thought I knew where/what "Earth" is. But now, I believe that it also leads me to the final Cylon. So before the final half-season gets under way, I'm going to put my cards on the table, and we'll see if I turn out to be right. Those who don't wish to be possibly spoiled should look the other way, now...

Okay, so back in June I, like everyone else, was naturally trying to figure out who the final Cylon was. I assumed that simply tracing all the unexplained mysteries to their commonality would provide a definitive answer. And it did, not the one I was looking for, but an answer nonetheless:

Earth is death.

Death, Heaven, the afterlife: call it what you will. It's a chilling revelation, but I have my reasons for believing it. Here are the clues:

1) Thematic Preparation

This is probably the most important hint of all. BSG as a series has been very good at subtly painting their stories with themes to emphasize a message being delivered by the story. For the sake of brevity, I've broken this clue down into individual hints:

a) In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the Cylon 6 called Nathalie tells the quorum about the plan to destroy the Cylon resurrection hub. She explains that Cylons need the one frailty that humans ahbor: mortality. She underlines this by saying: "In order for our lives to have meaning, we must die, and not come back."

b) In the episode Faith the action is dominated by a subplot in the infirmary, where President Roslin discusses mortality with another patient, Emily Kowalski. They share a dream where Emily crosses over to a beautiful paridise, where all their deceased loved ones are waiting for them. Emily departs to embrace her friends and family. When Roslin awakes, Emily has died.

c) The Sci-Fi network has set up a teaser site: You Will Know The Truth. The site contains audio clips, text, pictures, and a few teaser videos from season 4.5. This particular video shows a bedraggled Admiral Adama returning to his quarters and washing his face. He is shocked when he looks up: a huge crack has formed in the supporting bulkhead above him. His old ship is starting to decay.

2) The prophecy of the first hybrid

From the end of Razor:

"Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of that revelation, bringing true clarity. And amidst confusion, he will find her... Enemies brought together by the apostle, enemies now joined as one. The way forward, once impenetrable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, though still in the shadow yet clawing for the light, hungry for redemption, that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all, the seven, now six self-described machines who believe themselves without sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching, the agony of the one splintering into many. And then they will join in the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning."

And then...

"Kara Thrace will lead the human race to its end. She is the herald of the apocalypse, the harbinger of death. They must not follow her. As my own existence comes to a close only to begin anew in ways uncertain. All this has happened before and will happen again."

2) The prophecy of the current hybrid

From the episode Faith:

"Thus will it come to pass: The dying leader will know the truth of the opera house. The missing three will give you the five, who have come from the home of the thirteenth. You are the harbinger of death Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end."

3) Nathalie's Death Scene

Many fans probably let this little gimme gloss right past them, but it just made me all the more rabid about my theory. You can watch Nathalie's death scene on YouTube in a horrible, fan-made music video mashup (mute the audio and skip to the 4-minute mark if you value your sanity). Just before she passes away, we see through her eyes: a beautiful sky and green trees. Then she's dead.

4) D'Anna's visions

In the episode The Passage the Cylon subplot brings to light that the D'Anna Three involed with Baltar and Caprica Six has been continually killing and resurrecting herself, hoping to catch a glimpse of: "Something wonderful... miraculous... between life and death."

5) A Post-Apocalyptic Earth

In the final episode of season 4.0, Revelations, the fleet uses Kara Thrace's magic viper to find Earth. They jump, and upon landing on the surface find the ruins of an advanced civilization. The viper led them to Earth, but yet it isn't the Earth they're prophesied to find. What gives?

6) The Actors Themselves

The actors of BSG have been incredibly tight-lipped about the series ending. Sworn to secrecy, likely by contractual obligation. But one thing that many of them have said is that they ending made them cry, and that it was sick yet incredibly moving. James Callis (Gaius Baltar) even went so far as to say that the ending would "make Hitler cry".

7) "Sitdown, Cylon..."

Not directly related to Earth, but important. Again, on "You Will Know The Truth", Adama storms through Galactica's corridors. He demands a crewman hand over his sidearm, and swears "FRAKKIN' NOW!" when the crewman doesn't comply quickly enough. He continues down the corridor with the loaded gun and bursts into someone's quarters. The visual cuts out, and we hear him gravel: "Sitdown, Cylon." The final Cylon is on Battlestar Galatica in Season 4.5.

Which leads me to...

8) Kara Thrace

Kara is the key to everything. Leoben certainly has thought so from the start.

We know from the hybrid's prophecies that she is the "harbinger of death" and will lead the human race to their end. But the most damning evidence is that she died, and then came back, claiming to have seen Earth. Lee SAW her ship blow up. This is further confirmed by a number of rumors and hints that indicate Kara will find the wreck of her viper and her own dead body on apocalyptic Earth. She was dead, and came back to lead the rest of the fleet to the afterlife; To death.

My Final Theory

It has also been stated by the hybrids that the final five "have come from the home of the thirteenth". We would assume that this is Earth, but the "real" Earth has been destroyed, so the home of the thirteenth is the afterlife. Therefore, the final five have all returned from the afterlife. I suspect we will learn in season 4.5 that our final four have all had a near-death experience at some point. Or perhaps, that they were quite literally brought back to life by someone, or something, as artificial beings, as Cylons.

Which that would seem to indicate that Kara Thrace is the final Cylon. But that doesn't quite fit, does it? After all, the producers have indicated that everyone in the now famous Last Supper photo is NOT the final Cylon. Kara Thrace is there, next to Anders.

But if Kara died and came back, she wasn't a Cylon when she was with Anders. She IS now.

And where is the empty place setting where the final Cylon is destined to sit? Next to Apollo.

Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. I've placed my bet. And I'm not the only one who thinks that Earth, the true Earth, is the afterlife. And perhaps Kara isn't the final Cylon, but she is a huge question mark in the series. The truth? Only time will tell...