Battlestar Galactica: The Truth of the Opera House [Speculation]

The ruins of the Opera House on Kobol. What happened here, and why are several main characters seeing visions set in this long-forgotten music hall?

This has been a Look Again regular feature.

Welcome to the weekly Thursday installment of our NVBSG series. Today I'd like to explore a recurring theme in season 4 - the shared vision of the opera house, and what it may or may not mean. As usual, there are spoilers below - so don't read if you're not caught up!

So, if you're like me, you're a bit confused. We have this vision of the Kobol Opera House, right, which is like a recurring dream except that it happens to multiple characters. In this essay, I'm going to first describe the details of this dream and then turn to an examination of the potential metaphorical implications. Finally, as always I'll leave you with some questions and open up the comment thread for discussion.

The Truth of the Opera House: The Dream

In this dream, the child Hera is wandering alone through a richly decorated, atmosphere-heavy Opera House. She seems lost - or at least separated from her mother.

Searching for her in the dream are:

• President Roslin
• Her mother, Athena
• Gaius Baltar and a Number 6

The dream, as it usually presents itself, unfolds as follows: Athena and Roslin are both searching for Hera, running anxiously through winding corridors, looking out of place in a fancy music hall. As the search goes on, they become aware of each other - there's an added sense of urgency, each realizes that she's not the only one looking for the girl. Finally, there comes a panicked climax - Athena and Roslin find each other, but fail to find Hera.

Hera then wanders into a brightly-lit room where Baltar and Six are waiting for her. She joins them, and they lead her through a door into a blinding white light.

The Truth of the Opera House: Interpretation

In thinking about this, I've come to one conclusion: Roslin is NOT the final cylon. Think about it: this vision presents a symmetrical event unfolding. A Cylon (Athena) and a Human (Roslin) are racing each other to secure the Future (Hera). Hera is a fusion of Human and Cylon, and joins with Baltar and Six who are a Human/Cylon couple.

Roslin, then, must be human - for the symmetry. Furthermore, I bet Baltar is also having this vision - though he has so far not admitted it.

So what does the vision represent? Just this, in my opinion: there are two factions who are so wrapped up in competing with each other that each has become blind to the presence of a third faction. Inner 6 / Baltar represent this third faction - and the future of both races lies with them. Hera is all of humanity and all of the cylons - she is the future of civilization, and her future lies with this mysterious third faction. The fate - the very survival - of the two "main" factions lies almost entirely in the benevolence of this third faction. If the power that Inner 6 represents is benevolent, then perhaps we can expect something of a happy ending.

If, on the other hand, that power is malevolent - or ambivalent - then things are looking grim for our ragtag fleet of survivors.

The Truth of the Opera House: Questions

The main question, then, is this: are Baltar and Six good? Or evil? Do such standards apply? Why does Hera go to them and what do they want from her? What is in the room with the bright light?

Other threads to follow: interpretation aside, why does the dream take place in the Kobol Opera House? What's so special about that place? Did something happen there? Are we going to see a return to Kobol? What significance does Opera (musical + performance) have?

What else do you see in this vision?

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