The Cylons from Glen A Larson’s Battlestar Galactica series are one of the most popular
antagonists in science fiction.
With the introduction of the humanoid cylon models in Ronald D Moore’s reimagined series
their threat to the humans of the 12 colonies reached a whole new level.
In the reimagined timeline, 7 humanoid Cylons lead a renewed war against the humans that
had previously enslaved them.
These 7 models have been referred to by fans as the significant seven and in this video
I’d like to examine the origin of these models, their place within the Cylon hierarchy
and how their inherent spirituality shaped their destiny.
Spoiler Warning as I will be discussing crucial story details within Ronald D Moore’s Battlestar
Galactica series.
In the reimagined canon the Cylon Centurions were created after Dr. Daniel Greystone made
the decision to upload an avatar of his daughter Zoe into a prototype robot soldier.
What resulted was the bonding of Zoe’s avatar to the soldier’s microchip, giving the machine
artificial sentience.
As these machine soldiers were replicated they each contained remnants of the Zoe Greystone
avatar, carrying with them her personality, beliefs and the seeds of rebellion.
A turning point in the Cylon’s evolution came from an unexpected ally at the end of
the first Cylon war; the only survivors of an apocalyptic war in an ancient Cylon society,
the final five, who had long since developed into true flesh and blood beings.
These Five traveled through space to find the descendants of their human creators in
order to warn them against repeating the same mistakes that led to the downfall of their
civilization and to bring an end to the cycle of violence between man and machine.
They were too late to stop the war that had since plagued the colonies but after making
contact with the colonial Cylons they offered to help them achieve the next stage in their
evolution and to share their knowledge if they agreed to end the war.
The Cylons agreed to these terms brokering a peace treaty with the humans and disappearing
from Colonial space with the final five.
The Five oversaw the incorporation of their advanced knowledge and expertise to upgrade
every facet of the colonial Cylons technology.
But their greatest achievement was their development of the humanoid Cylons.
Purely organic beings visually indistinguishable from humans even down to the cellular level.
Subsequently there came to be 2 distinct groups of biological humanoid Cylons, the 5 original
Cylons and the 8 models they created.
In regards to their physical specifications while they mimic the human form in every way
there are differences, some subtle, some more distinguished.
Their brain for example, while operating similar to the human brain, is based on silica pathway
technology that was used in the original Colonial centurion models.
This technology enables humanoid models to navigate the stars with the naked eye, program
and compile computer code, and even allow for direct interfacing with other technologies.
Humanoid Cylons are also stronger and have greater stamina than humans and are resistant
to most diseases.
They have the ability to sleep and dream but can also be programmed to operate without
doing so.
They are capable of controlling their perception of the environment and world around them with
an ability called Projection, a form of self-induced hallucination.
While these attributes are certainly desirable as they’ve surpassed certain limitations
of their human creators, their drive to emulate humanity meant living with their same weaknesses.
The humanoid models feel all the same sensations and emotions typical to humankind including
love, religious faith, sadness, anger, and physical and emotional pain and trauma.
As the Final Five created the 8 humanoid models they began to give them numerical designations.
The Number 1s, the first model to be created and which were especially treasured by the
Five began to exhibit anger and jealousy and murderous inclinations.
When he perceived that the number 7s were receiving special attention he became filled
with rage and sabotaged the entire line before they were completed by corrupting the genetic
formula.
Consumed with hatred towards the humans that had once enslaved his people and resentment
towards the Five for their foolish appreciation for humans and bestowing upon him their weaknesses,
he betrayed the Five and led the other 6 humanoid models in reigniting the war against the 12
colonies 40 years after the armistice was reached.
Their new appearance enabled them to spy on their former enemy and infiltrate colonial
society with ease, paving the way to enact their plan to destroy the human race.
While manipulation of memories was used to their advantage such as in the use of sleeper
agents to enter colonial society, Number 1 also used this against his creators.
In an act of rebellion against the final five he erased their former identities and placed
them among the 12 colonies.
He also made sure the other 6 models had no memories of the Five other than a vague recollection
and programmed them not to even think or talk about them.
The Cylon hierarchy changed drastically with the introduction of these 7 new cylon models.
In the new Cylon empire, these 7 lines would collectively hold counsel to make decisions
by vote.
While the centurions served in leadership roles in the past, in the new power structure,
both the raiders and the centurions are subservient to their humanoid counterparts.
Every individual humanoid cylon is an exact duplicate of their line and each is instilled
with their own distinct personality archetype based on the cylons own observations of humans.
The Number 1s even though adhering to group consensus, seek to lead and control the future
of the cylon race.
He is known for using draconian measures towards humans and seeks to rid himself of any inherently
human trait.
The Number 2s tend to be mystically oriented, obsessive and extremist.
The Number 3s are calculating and manipulative even towards her own kind when it differs
from her goals.
The 4s are intellectuals displaying cold logic and have a particular interest in medical
science.
The 5s with a deceptive everyman appearance are one of the most militant of the models.
The number 6 model is very religious and is particularly notable for her instrumental
role in the genocidal attack on the 12 colonies.
She carries a propensity to use sexual desire to her advantage but with no qualms about
resorting to violence.
The number 6 model is also known for producing several unique copies, each with their own
distinct personality traits continuing to be molded by their different experiences..
The number 8 model is also religiously minded and is known for her capabilities as a soldier
and saboteur as well as her qualities of empathy and compassion which is a source of much internal
conflict during the war.
It is clear that while each model starts out with the same base personality, each copy’s
individual experiences are capable of making them even more distinct from their model line.
Often this results in subtle cosmetic changes being made to their appearance or in rare
instances it can cause them to outright go against the core traits of their line.
One facet of Cylon society which distinguishes them greatly from humanity is in the matter
of reproduction as the seven humanoid models are incapable of reproducing as humans do.
With the Five’s gift of resurrection technology however upon the destruction of a humanoid
cylon their consciousness is immediately downloaded into an awaiting duplicate enabling them to
essentially live forever as long as they are in range of a resurrection ship.
Yet this is not viewed as a viable long term option for the continuation of the cylon race.
Their pursuit of biological reproduction remains a primary objective due to their inherent
belief in God’s command to be fruitful.
Even though the Cylon religion appears to be based on Zoe Greystone’s monotheistic
beliefs which were instilled in the original colonial centurions, not all of the significant
7 follow these beliefs.
The number 2 model has fanatacal devotion to God.
And while the 3s, 6s, 8s are deeply religious, they are more reserved.
In contrast the Number 1 model is atheistic and condescending towards the other’s beliefs,
While it is not revealed whether the 4s and 5s subscribe to the 1s atheistic ideology,
they generally tend to side with his non religious view.
The divide between the ideologies of the significant seven is a major factor in the outworking
of events leading to the cylon civil war.
For more information on the Cylon Civil War be sure to check out my video on the subject,
I’ll leave a link in the description below.
Toward the end of Ronald D. Moore’s series, the goals of the religiously inclined members
of the significant seven are ultimately realized through the birth of Hera Agathon, the first
cylon/human hybrid.
Hera’s existence serves as a motivating force for the unification of the flesh and
blood cylon models and the survivors of the twelve colonies.
Through Hera their dream of becoming fruitful becomes a reality as they integrate into human
society and start over on a newly discovered earth.
But I’m curious to know what you think of the significant seven Cylons.
Which of these models is your favorite?
Are there any personality traits from these seven that stand out to you?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always, have a very nerdy day!