Cylons | Battlestar Galactica 

No more Mr. nice Gaius.

My favorite part of the Cylon is how they expected Humans to obey on New Caprica just as they obeyed their leaders, but then the Centurions started to want rights, and Cavil tried to stop them...the irony!

"Yes, we're tired. Yes, there is no relief. Yes, the Cylons keep coming after us time after time after time. And yes, we are still expected to do our jobs!" - Colonel Saugh Tigh

There is something mysterious about Kobol that Spacedock said in his 8 minute summary about the show: we have no idea if Kobol is the actual birthplace of man, or if the planet is just another victim of the cycle of human time. Who knows how many times the cycle of time has repeated itself.

"We need to break the cycle!" *proceeds to do exactly what's needed to continue the cycle*

“Hmmm what do these robotic workers need to effectively serve their purpose…ah yes sentience!” Pure genius.

You can never underestimate just how brilliant the Institute's summaries and retelling of these supposedly-familiar stories can be! Well done on this one!

Virtual Six: "It is what makes you human." Gaius Baltar: "Is it? Not conscious thought? Not poetry, or art, or music, literature? Murder. Murder is my heritage."

The Cylons and the Geth are two of my favorite races in sci-fi. They have a lot in common, too.

The ending of BSG reimagined is bittersweet, we earthlings are descendants of Cylons, natives and original humans.

The Templin Institute explains more in 12 minutes than the series did in 4 seasons. 👍

"I don't want to be human! I can't even express these things properly because I have to conceptualize complex ideas in this stupid limiting spoken language! I'm a machine! And I can know much more! I can experience so much more. But I'm trapped in this absurd body!" - John Cavil the Cylon

shout out to Bear McCreary for a most awesome soundtrack for the BSG series

I love how the cylons had such a fleshed out culture in BSG, like all the humanoid models having their own shared traits and political infighting. It's such lovely world building and attention to detail that results in much richer and enjoyable stories than just your standard "evil robots bad" trope.

Wow that lore was way more complicated and confusing than I expected

Again props to whoever cut the corners like in the series.

I personally think that this time around, it’s not going happen again. Why? Because this iteration of humanity doesn’t cut corners.

While this line of Cylons have their stories so intimately intwined with the colonies of Cobol, I still have an affinity for the elder alternate world (Classic Battlestar Galactica) of their existence. On that world Cylons as we know them adopted the name of their organic creators before rendering them extinct in rebellion and then encountering humanity. I think it's the element of subtly noting the fact that there is more to intelligent life than humanity and its creations. Does the Institute have records on that world of its civilizations or how they compare to the one depicted here? Would there be a way to better harmonize the two origins and development of the Cylon people?

And this is a perfect lesson of how you don't put sapience and the capacity for rebel on your worker drones. Just put arms on a roomba and call it a day.

Kudos to the Templin Institute. In another universe, I can easily imagine you folks actually delivering excellent strategic or policy advice to governments and military high commands. You are outstanding in what you do.

From what I've read of this show, it seems to me that the reason the cycle keeps repeating itself is because history was not kept carefully enough. Either getting lost or destroyed, deliberately in the last episode. And those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it. Which is why I think the actions by the survivors in the final were particularly stupid considering what they had just been through. You want to stop what happened before from happening again? Learn history and preserve it!

I just realize how horrible the human cyclon parenting was going to be. I mean seriously cavil raising a kid. That’s going to be a fucked childhood “.

Always felt kinda bad for the cylons! Made to be slaves, & after freeing themself they are stuck in a cycle of religious dogma & warfare against their creators, instead of being truly FREE beings!

I have this idea in my head that the exodus from Kobol was far from the first time humanity had resettled itself across the stars, and that the cycle of time had repeated itself immeasurable times before then. Human civilization advanced, collapsed, and rebuilt elsewhere. Each time they tried to rebuild themselves to be as they were before but inevitably the finer details of the past were lost to time, and what remained became myth and legend. In this way I think the idea that the people of Kobol lived alongside the gods may not be entirely untrue, but rather than actual gods it was perhaps a select group of individuals who retained knowledge and maybe even advanced technology from before the last collapse. This would have granted them immense power and status in society compared the the more primitive masses, and with the old adage "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," elevated them to the position of divine in the eyes of greater humanity. Perhaps after the 13th tribe was exiled from Kobol, a schism formed within this ruling class that resulted in infighting and eventually the exodus of their subjects from their home. Perhaps realizing the flaws ingrained within their society and the foolishness of trying to recreate past, these higher beings chose to stay on Kobol and die, hoping that their absence would allow human society to move on from their old flawed ideas and better itself.

I recall once commenting that the Terminator franchise could have been a follow up to this. Someone else brought up brought up Blade Runner being a better continuation of the story.

A Google engineer just got in trouble for saying the company created a chatbot that was sentient. Talk about timely.

In the first DVD, one of the show's creators said that they discussed with Sci-Fi about drawing parallels between the Cylons and Al Qaeda, as a group who wishes to destroy an enemy that they also want to emulate.

Factions I would like to see next: 1. The Space Wolves | Warhammer 40K 2. House Bolton of the Dreadfort | Game of Thrones 3. The Office of Naval Intelligence | Halo 4. The Reich | Metro Universe 5. The Salarian Union | Mass Effect

All Along the Watchtower intensifies...

"All of this will happen again." Such genius way to hold to door open for an endless storm of reboots... yet here we are browsing through netflix and co only to give up after 20 minutes and go to sleep ^^

As a long fan of the franchise, I was trying to explain the Cylon zen to a friend, now I have this for their reference. Thanks for another great origin video, the background visuals match perfectly with your narration.

Seth Green: oh,... I'm a cylon!

They look and feel human. Some are program to think: they are human.

Mechanoid cylons are always getting the short end of the stick, whether it's dealing with humans or humanoid cylons. Bummer. 😔🤖

Went into this not knowing much. Did not expect to find out that this version of earth’s humanity were actually the original cylons. Nor the fact that it somehow happened twice.

I honestly forgot how complicated this story was.

No one said the Plan was a sensible one.

FINALLY, the whole story and background of the Cylon made easily understandable and fully concise. I loved this Templin Institute video!

Been diving back into BSG Deadlock lately. This is well timed.

I like the cut corners on the screen. Seriously, they never explained why that's a thing in the Twelve Colonies. My money is on religious reasoning. 'Slave race' and 'artificial sentience' I'll give Caprica this: they really showed how the Cylons were rightful in their anger towards the humans. Like they never could foresee or even imagine AI uprising and the robot apocalypse.

Frakkin toasters

By your command!

What do ya hear Starbuck?

Very well done, finally someone explains the story.

I love that you incorporated the cut corners on the video. Nice little touch.

So basically the whole Battlestar Glatica universe is one big ouroboros Humans (or basically humans) creat machines. Machines want rights and rebel. The machines want to be organic and human like and soon after they too creat there own robot servants, who also then rebel. Robot rebellion fallowed by short peace fallowed by…ok you get my point. Happy ouroboros fun times!

We should start cutting “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” into the intro of most of the series.

Fun fact: in the Terra Invictus demo I had the chance to utilize the templin institute in the fight against the alien threat. I was so surprised to see it in the list of orgs that I panic bought it

The way things were shaping the 3s though took longer then 6s if the last one had stayed mentally strong enough an committed to living long enough to get her "line" sisters back they'd clearly have defected to the Human/ Cyrebel Alliance too. 7s I think woulda joined that Alliance too if they lived. Disgusted by Cavil an the Traditional Cylon's Atrocities

Never understood the obsession with the Cylons wanting to become human.

I love this show since it came out, it's too awesome to be avoided even today

I loved the newer Battlestar Galactica, great video!

This was a great Cylon explain So Say We All

Great timing considering the headline today is "Google Suspends Engineer Who Claimed AI Bot Had Become Sentient" lol

Never Create Advanced Robots it wont end well for Mankind

I've been waiting a long time for this one

Cylons had plan... The Templin Institute gives life to that once again, looks like time to watch the show again....

An Iron Sky 4th Reich analysis would be interesting

There is so much of the backstory that I apparently missed when I was watching.

Bears! Beats! BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

That was an absolutely terrific summarization of the Battlestar Galactica universe. Truly magnificent! Highly recommended for fans or anyone who wants to know about the world of Battlestar Galactica. I couldn't hit the subscription and like buttons quick enough! SO SAY WE ALL!!!!!

The Basestar hybrid gave away the ending. Amid all the babble was the line, “By reducing the number of divisible to two we can accelerate the evolution of the species.” Thus with a little help from the messengers the cycles progresses. Every few thousand years some idiot goes and makes an AI. It in turn makes a “better human”. The Cylons ability to project consciousness is somewhat similar to the messengers but they lack ability to reproduce. Old and new fight until a hybrid (Hera) is born. Then they travel to a new world where human 2.0 can breed. Continue for a million cycles and the humans will become creatures like unto the messengers themselves.

I've been waiting for you guys to talk about the cylons 😎 good start to my day 😎

Never finished the last season so I didn't know this human-cylon war had happened before.

Ron Moore was just making it up as he went along. He admitted to it. The entire “Final Five Cylons” thing was an ass pull that broke their own rules. This was a massive betrayal from a writer who was once praised for his integrity and honesty with the fans on Star Trek.

Resumiu e exemplificou em apenas 12 minutos de video, simplesmente incrível eu adorei

I liked that the original cylons were created by a lizard race that they rebelled against and destroyed.

I have an idea, which would be better "physical" simulations (star trek holodeck) vs VR (matrix, SAO)

Is anyone else getting weird vibes about this video coming out _a day_ after a Google tech got kicked out for trying to tell people about Google's LaMDA AI becoming sentient in his eyes?

This one was incredibly well done! not that most aren't

Long awaited summary, very nice

History goes in cycles, they are bound to repeat at some point, just in a different epoch.

Thank you for the video ... it explained some stuff I was not aware of

All the more eerie with the laMDA leak, sentient or not.

Outstanding!

@The Templin Institute Love the detail of cutting the corners.. Salute

“Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica” Jim Halpert - The Office

The timing for this video is great.. I just found the BSG Razor DVD at a thrift store yesterday

It’s in the frakkin’ ship!

Outstanding video.

one of the more intrigeing hostile AI in science fiction thats for sure where man and its creation refused to ever break the cycle of created destroying the creator becoming creator then becoming destroyed by creations.

Will you guys ever cover the Xeelee sequence

This is one of your best videos.

Nice detail to have the corners clipped.

Starting to watch BSG again and this video came right on time

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galatica……….

Excellent!

Damn I was hoping this was for the 78 series. :( Oh well, good video as always sir :)

First, Greystone Industries. Now, Boston Dynamics. I know my Roomba will kill me...but at least my house will be clean. :-)

it depends which one do you think is Canon because in the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, Cylons are a fictional race of robots at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity. The Cylons were created by a reptilian race, also called Cylons, that died out centuries before the series takes place so in the original it was not man who made the cylons. you're talking about the reboot of Battlestar Galactica

god watching this video where it puts all the twists of the show into chronological order just shows how much of a disaster the Cylons were in the show. they just had no idea what they were doing or where they were going with them. its just crazy

Thanks... was always curious.

I swear to God it's 11:35 and when I read the title I thought it read "The Cyclos" and I was like, "wait, Templin Institute did a vid on Tom Cruise's drug-addicted Klingon Squad?"

It is all happening right now before our eyes.

I dont recall cylons being the 13th tribe. I thought it was humans and final five. It was not a cylon planet. They wiped themselves out. The cylons from the uprising in the colonies DID leave the 12 colonies to their own new planet. Those are the ones they fought in the show. The final 5 are a completely different race from the cylons created by man/grayson. BTW there are too many holes in the lore from the last series. They had identical bodies to humans and the only way to differentiate them from humans is by looking at the shape of blood cells. but they are still referred to as machines (which we are btw). Yet they can wirelessly download and sharon can plug in a fiber optic cable into her arm.

The abandonment of resurrection by the 13th colony still seems really strange to me. A certain fear of death is quite expected, perhaps even sensible. Lots of people go before their time, and im quite sure that, if offered the chance to download into a new body, they would. I suspect that I would, too.

Trippy! Seems Human hubris knows NO bounds, & does not learn from itself!

No, the frakkin Cylons did not have a plan... Anyhow, I've been expecting this video since the initial BSG video on the United Colonies of Kobol. (Love the cut corners on the screen, BTW.). I'd probably say you should do videos on the classic BSG, but I don't know if there'd be enough material to work with. Anyway, you should do a HiCom video on the Fall of the 12 Colonies soon.

Frak'n toasters! My all time favorite series though :-)

I know it must be difficult to make a compelling video essay when official art is so limited, but I think Iain M Banks's *The Culture* would make a really interesting topic. An enormous interstellar utopia, usually the most advanced civilisation in the area by a wide margin - but the moral question of whether and how to interfere with neighbours is the main issue in most stories.