Battlestar Galactica "Kobol's Last Gleaming" Part 2 Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore Story by David Eick Directed by Michael Rymer Original air date: April 1, 2005

Commander Adama stages a military coup against President Roslin.

Read the synopsis of this episode at the Battlestar Wiki Clone site

Notes from the BSG chronology

This episode opens immediately after the events of "Kobol's Last Gleaming" Part 1.

Didja Know?

The title of this episode is inspired by the line "twilight's last gleaming" in the national anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

This episode was the season finale of the first season.

The music of the opening titles on this episode is different than the one used in all other first season episodes as aired in the U.S. It borrows the theme used for the UK broadcasts. The music becomes the regular opening theme at the beginning of the second season.

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

Chief Tyrol
Cally
Crashdown
Karma (deceased)
Socinus
Baltar
Head Six
Specialist Tarn
Specialist Seelix
Helo
Caprica-Valerii
Colonel Tigh
Commander Adama
Starbuck
Petty Officer Dualla
President Roslin
Billy Keikeya
Elosha
Apollo
Lt. Gaeta
Boomer
Racetrack
Number Six
Number Eight

Didja Notice?

At 1:26 on the Blu-ray, the name on the fuselage of Raptor 1 identifies the now-dead pilot as Lt. Cohen Baker, "Karma". He was killed while piloting the Raptor by Cylon fire in "Kobol's Last Gleaming" Part 1.

This episode introduces Specialist Diana Seelix, who becomes a Viper pilot, call sign Hardball, in the fourth season episode "He That Believeth In Me".

At 8:28 on the Blu-ray, the President's white board shows 47,887 people in the fleet, down ten from "Kobol's Last Gleaming" Part 1, presumably due to the destruction of a fully-crewed Raptor in that episode. (However, a scene later on at 15:06 shows the number back up to 47,897, where it was during "Kobol's Last Gleaming" Part 1; this is presumably an error in editing.)

The Arrow of Apollo is housed at the Delphi Museum of the Colonies on Caprica. The arrow and the museum were previously mentioned in passing in "Zarek" Part 1.

This episode is the first appearance of Racetrack.

President Roslin's security team carry Vektor CP1 handguns.

At 23:47 on the Blu-ray, notice that the Arrow of Apollo appears to have writing on the shaft.

The interior of the Cylon baseship seems like a cross between the derelict techno-organic derelict ship in Alien and V'ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

At 27:32 on the Blu-ray, the short pedestal next to Starbuck holds a museum plaque about the Arrow of Apollo. It is covered with dust, so only the heading is readable.

After losing her handgun in the melee, Starbuck tries to use the Arrow of Apollo as a stabbing/slashing weapon in the fight with Number Six, but to no avail.

When all the nude Number Eights approach Boomer aboard the baseship, it is fairly obvious that actress Grace Park is wearing a nude-colored leotard for these shots.

Boomer's memories tell her she is the daughter of Katherine and Abraham Valerii on the Colonial mining colony of Troy. Since Boomer is actually a Number Eight model Cylon, she has no biological parents. Katherine and Abraham Valerii are either made up figures or citizens who died in the Troy disaster but who were not parents to the Sharon Valerii who appears in the series.

The interior of the forum on Kobol in Baltar's head were shot at the Orpheum Theater in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Notes from the audio commentary by Ron Moore

The original idea for the end of this episode was that Dirk Benedict (Starbuck in BSG70) would appear as God.

Unanswered Questions

If Commander Adama's dismissal of Roslin as president of the fleet were to stand, would Vice President Baltar ascend to the presidency?