Battlestar Galactica: Who's the Final Cylon?

The West Wing with hyperdrive? TV's smartest reaction to the war on terror? The greatest space opera since Gene Roddenberry boldly sent Kirk and the gang on their first trek? Whatever you call it, the reimagined Battlestar Galactica has established itself as one of the most compelling pieces of television for years - and now it's drawing to a close. The last series has been split into two halves, with the final 10 episodes arriving this month (16 January in America, and 20 January in the UK on Sky1) to answer all the cliffhangers.

If you've missed out, there may still be time to power through the boxsets and catch up before the last episodes (though if you're going to, I'd suggest you stop reading and start now). If not, this is pretty much what's been going on: a fleet made up of one combat-ready Battlestar (the Galactica), some smaller fighter craft (Vipers, and a ragtag combination of freighters and civilian spacecraft have been jumping through space "in search of a home called Earth", after their home planet Caprica and most of the human race was decimated by the Cylons - basically a bunch of sentient robots who've somehow evolved to look like humans. Along the way, the show's managed to incorporate storylines involving everything from rigged elections to religious wars, occupation politics, the ethics of torture during wartime, mystic prophecies, abortion rights, births, deaths and the separation of church and state. Oh, and tons of cool space battles.

Which leads us to the biggest question that the final 10 episodes are expected to answer: the identity of the still-hidden Final Cylon. It's the show's very own "Who shot JR?" moment, with pretty much the entire cast under suspicion. There are only seven basic "skinjob" models of Cylon around (all played by the same seven over-worked cast members), so they're all pretty easy for the human fleet to spot now. But four of the long-trusted fleet were programmed to believe they were human, and then suddenly activated, like cold war sleeper agents, unaware that they were playing for the other side - and there's one left.

So what do we know about this last human sleeper agent? The writers have promised it will be someone already in the series, and not a new character. So that probably rules out the chances of Dirk Benedict showing up in the final episode. (Or Boxey.)

The Cylon Number Three known as D'Anna Biers had a vision of the final five sleepers - and offered some brilliantly sly glances at the first four to be unmasked: Tyrol, Tigh, Sam and Tory. During her vision, she apologised to the last one - could it be someone she's had a run-in with in the past?

One of the Number Twos, Leoben Conoy, told everyone that Adama was a Cylon - was he just winding them up?

How much can we trust the Hybrid's mystical babble that "the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering"?

Like the final four and Boomer before them, there's no indication that the last Cylon would have any idea that they were the last one, or that they would have been feeding "the toasters" info all along. That said, Brother Cavill, the D'Anna model who pretended to be a news reporter and the Leobon who was stationed at Ragnar Anchorage were all adept at keeping their human covers going for as long as possible.

With that in mind, here's a look at some of the most likely candidates:
Commander William Adama
The Case: Could it really be the Old Man? It would be the final kick in the teeth for humanity to have the fleet's trusty leader turn out to be a toaster.
Verdict: Probably too obvious a move for the writers, and it might undercut the earlier emotional payoff they managed when he was betrayed by right-hand man Colonel Tigh.

President Laura Roslin
The Case: As the fleet's spiritual mother, the idea of Roslin-as-Cylon would probably push Bill over the edge (especially if they're finally going to properly get it on in the last leg of the series). She's been at the heart of the human's religious odyssey, relying on the Scrolls of Kobol to guide her presidency (not much separation of church and state there). She's also shared the same vision of the Opera House with Cylons Sharon Agathon and Caprica Six - evidence of some deeper connection?
Verdict: Strong outside chance, given that in some ways she's been one of the more likely. With her pantheist religious beliefs, Roslin's take on finding herself a Cylon would be pretty interesting to say the least (they're all monotheists) - but maybe she'd be able to bring the two beliefs together?

Gaius Balthar
The Case: Balthar's probably had the biggest character arc in the series. He betrayed the entire human race as the original Cylon collaborator, was president on New Caprica under the occupation, hung out in a deep space menage a trois with D'Anna Biers and Caprica Six, and then set himself up as a cult leader, all the while carrying on a conversation with the first Six he met on Caprica in his head (even though she's dead). Is he hallucinating her? Are they psychically connected? Is there an implant in his brain?
Verdict: He's probably not going to be the final Cylon simply because he wants it too much.

Lee "Apollo" Adama
The Case: He's crossed from military to civilian life, so might have given the Cylons some valuable insights all round if they were using him as a spy.
Verdict: Wouldn't Adama have noticed if his son had been switched for a Cylon at some point?

Doc Cottle
The Case: Even though he's popped up only intermittently, Cottle's something of a prime candidate amongst BSG fans. He's been around just long enough for us to know that he's trusted by the human inner circle, but also not long enough for us to have really kept an eye on him.
Verdict: He would have been in a strong position to work with the other Cylons if he's been aware of his Cylon nature, but may not be prominent enough to really make an impact on viewers.
Felix Gaeta
The Case: He's been around both the Battlestar command and Balthar's New Caprica presidency, so would have been in a good spot to know what everyone was up to.
Verdict: The homosexuality subplot in the Face of the Enemy webisodes is probably enough revelation for this character.

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
The Case: Kara is "The herald of the apocalypse, the harbinger of death," according to the Hybrid. She's definitely been at the heart of the whole BSG universe, and is a strong candidate. Where did she disappear to when her ship went off-Dradis? Is it really the same Starbuck who has come back? How did she return with a vision of the route to Earth? What were those trippy paintings in her apartment about? Why was that shifty Number Two so interested in her with all his "you will learn to love me, Kara" mind games? She's been like a daughter to Adama since dating his other son Zak, so it would frak him up even more.
Verdict: Possible - but surely the Cylons might have noticed something when they had her under house arrest in their New Caprica breeding laboratory? Or would their programming have prevented them from recognising her if she was the Final Cylon?

Tom Zarek
The Case: There would be a certain symmetry to having Richard Hatch turn out to be the final Cylon - he played Apollo in the original 1978 series, and was behind an earlier attempt to revive the franchise. Zarek's had an interesting journey, going from terrorist to vice president, and offering an alternative vision for the human race in the face of the military/political axis lead by Adama and Roslin.
Verdict: Good chance.

Romo Lampkin
The Case: As the only lawyer in the fleet happy to defend Balthar, Lampkin's one of the shadiest characters around. Shady enough to be a Cylon?
Verdict: His moral ambiguity might make him too obvious, but he's definitely been in the shadows for most of the series.

Helo
The Case: Fathered Sharon's hybrid baby (so if he was the last one, that would make it a full Cylon baby, and mean that they can breed all on their own).
Verdict: Unlikely.

Zak Adama
The Case: Could Adama's eldest son return from the dead? It would be a pretty big shock for everyone, and certainly for Bill, Lee and Starbuck, but wouldn't be that satisfying?
Verdict: Too much of a rabbit-out-of-a-hat moment to introduce a whole new actor, and they've promised it will be someone we already know.

Ellen Tigh, Admiral Cain, Billy
The Case: Apart from the fact that they're all dead, they would have been interesting candidates. Both Ellen and Billy were peripheral figures close to the human leaders, like Tigh and Tory.
Verdict: Unlikely. The Final Five seem to be different models to the regular skinjobs, without the power to be downloaded via the Resurrection Hub. And they've all been destroyed, haven't they?

The Battlestar Galactica itself
The Case: It's the ultimate toaster, it's been around from the start, and would have given the Cylon command a pretty handy insight into what Adama was planning (if they'd been able to communicate with it).
Verdict: A sentient spaceship? Come on. That would just be daft.

Battlestar Galactica returns, Tuesday 9pm, 20 January, Sky1 - and I'll be keeping up with the rest of the series on this blog every week. Go Panthers!