How THE CYLONS Changed - LORE EVOLUTION 

Here's the Spacedock video I mentioned - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GX7rJnVM-qg.html

I loved how Ron Moore's BSG managed to incorporate the OG BSG Cylon designs and have episodes where those original Cylons had to be fought.

The common soldier in Rome was not a centurion. A centurion was a commander of a century. 100 men (less in some eras but still called century).

The reimagining of BSG is the only "reboot" I would generally call a success. Exception that proves the rule

This is a great lore overview. It's mostly missing the last episode of Galactica 1980, which is actually set in the continuity of the original series, and had Starbuck marooned on a planet with a cylon that Starbuck repairs because he's so lonely he'd rather talk to a cylon than no one. It strongly suggests several interesting things about the cylons (free will, ability to change/reform/generate personal attachments, etc.). That episode is canon too, and popular with fans, so it's highly relevant.

the 1978 Galactica came out when I was in my early teens and was one of my favorites. as an adult, and living through some serious dramas of my own, the re-imagined Galactica was very appropriate for its time. I once got to meet Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonald at an airport, and I got the chance to gush to them about how much we loved their show.

the evolution of the Cylons from robots to Tricia Helfer...is simply the best, the hottest, the most sublime evolution in the entire universe!!!!

Note: V had two miniseries or TV movies plus a brief TV series in the 1980's, and then a reboot TV series in the 2000's. It would be worth doing a Lore episode on this. There were also one or two (more?) novels for the 80's version. This was a big deal in the USA back then, a minor but influential success.

Gaius Baltar is the best character in BSG, more calculating and cold than a cylon but also more human than anybody in the fleet. Great performance from James Callis bringing to life someone you love to hate.

5:17 so we have a Necron situation here.

Its interesting that the comic storyline about the cylon race being tricked into a machine race is somewhat similar the Necrons from Warhammer 40,000

You will like the original V. Guaranteed.

The Unicorns are actually *IN* the episode "The Young Lords" novelization was based on. We get a brief shot of the girl riding one. There was also a scene involving unicorns in the original Saga of a Star World script, but I don't think it was ever shot. Starbuck is looking for Apollo and finds him on "The Livery Ship" (Evidently they brought some animals along with them for some reaons). In the script, there's a unicorn in a stall and when Starbuck comes closer, Apollo points to another one dead on the ground. He then grouses about how these are the only couple they brought, they mate for life, and the surviving one won't last long without his mate. "We'll jut have to get used to the idea that our children will grow up without knowing what a Unicorn is. Or a blahblah blah or a whoosis or a whatever, as he lists several other animals that presumably they weren't able to find examples of before they started running. It's a neat scene, but I totally get why they cut it. It would have been expensive, slowed the story, and didn't have any payoff later on.

I like the Cylons. I always loved the original Cylons. They had such a unique look and they reminded me of Roman Centurions.

"That cover art tho" followed by "...and Rob Liefeld" absolutely checks out.

"...everyone's favourite red-eyed robots: the Cylons." *sad KITT noises*

Yes, there is an audience for V the classic, the comics, and the 09 show as well.

Excellent Rowan, well done, always comprehensively detailed and entertaining.

*"By your command"*

Great review. I loved the pace and delivery.

If you find Cylons attractive, you have "metal fever".

V is Iconic. I still see people in visitor outfits at conventions. It also got a reboot with associated changes to the lore, which makes it a good candidate.

Save yourself the headache. Earth: Final Conflict is a reimagined "V".

V, the series is worth your time. I bet you are going to love it. Don't mind the A team style special effects, the underlying story is quite good and the occasional humour in it is, well timed. 😂

I've had a fan theory since 2009. Since Kobol's Organic Cylons left to create the Original Earth and since Humanity and the Colonial Organic Cylons found a compatible species on Our Earth, then was Kobol's humanity and Our Earth's humanity just offshoots of even earlier Organic Cylons created in the past further back than the time of Kobol?

Ooh. There's a comic. I'll have to check that out. Oh, it's by Rob Liefeld. Never mind.

The Cylon helmet design was eerily prescient. Every 21st-century Lexus spindle grill bears this out...

caprica is so close, I can smell it

+1 for Earth Final Conflict I'd also recommend Reboot.

Outstanding Video! Thank you! 👍🏼👍🏼

So glad you covered the BSG Classic novelization and backstory. There was a Battlestar Galactica Encyclopedia published during the show which may have had a little background as well. Unfortunately, my copy was ruined by storm damage. -- The Hasaris were mentioned in passing in the series, given a tiny bit more detail in the novelization, but then we never got anything more about them. The reboot bypassed the Hasaris entirely. They were an alien species, humanoid of some kind, and they were said to be covered in hair or fur. As far as I know, we never got to see one. This intrigued me on rewatch and reread. -- The BSG Classic and BSG Reboot (Ron Moore) were very different, yet the Reboot honored the original material, even while going in a very different direction. They were very up front with fans that it was a "re-imagining," a different take on the show, but they ultimately proved themselves a successful, strong, independent version. This is one of the best, maybe THE best example of a successful reboot, although Planet of the Apes and Lost In Space on Netflix have both done very well.

Great video explaining the cyclone between the original and reboot

"Uncataloged War Cylon TNA detected. Cylon TNA acquired and locked!". "Uncataloged Cylon Raider DNA detected. Raider DNA acquired and available!" - Omnitrix.

Earth Final Conflict is well worth looking into. By the end, it's a weird dumpster fire. But the number of times that show jumped a shark will make for an interesting Lore Evolution type video. There's a ton of really interesting and promising bits of early 90's cyberpunk that play out in whatever way kept the cast budget the smallest. Also from that era, Time Traxx. People seem to have thrown that show completely down the memory hole, but I think it's probably worth a revisit now that some of the futuristic tropes it predicted are past. For one even less loved than Time Traxx, but nice and short, and a bit more recent - Charlie Jade is an interesting South African / Candian sci fi that I don't think ever had wide distribution in the US. It only had one season, so easy to review for a video. A guy is jumping between three alternate universes, trying to unlock a megacorporation related mystery, meeting parallel versions of all the characters.

it is a great vid, thk u for the insight

This is probably gonna sound like sacrilege. But I actually prefer the original Cylon centurions to the rebooted series Cylon centurion. It's just me, but while the original Cylons look like robot Stormtroopers, they have an iconic look to them. And while I love the rebooted series (it's my favorite series of all time), their Cylons look like rip off Terminators. They're too bulky for my taste. Not to mention that the original Cylons are actually people in suits, while the rebooted Cylons are CGI, which is distracting since their budget isn't that big. The strengths in the rebooted series were the humanoid Cylons, specifically Number Six and Number Eight.

Didn’t realise that Andy Probert designed the original Cylons. He is a genius if only for designing THE most beautiful starship; the Enterprise (refit design) from Stat Trek The Motion Picture

looks like a Frazetta cover at 4:37. Man, that guy did everything!

i still have my copy of the novelisation of The Gun on Ice Planet Zero

lovely stuff.

The main problem I had with BSG reimagined was their reliance on Lost-style mystery box plots without every revealing satifying answers. A lot of the time it looked like the writers were putting things in that looked cool without knowing why or where they were going with it.

V yes TY nicely done Rowan

Thanks !

Ralph McQuarrie had his hands in so many science fiction shows and movies it would be hard to find someone who didn't recognize his work. From the X wing to BSG Viper to Dart Vader to Buck Rogers. The reason BSG looked so familiar wasn't just the fact the film crew just did Star Wars a year before the tv show but because McQuarrie designs . Even Buck Rogers ship Terran Starfighter '' Thunderfighter ''was the original design for the Colonial Viper. The only ship that was ever truly hated was the redesigned Enterprise for Planet of the Titans and rightfully so. You can't change an iconic ship like the USS Enterprise ( My point USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) the space ''GUPPY '' It was hated by everyone.) The USS Discovery was inspired by Ralph McQuarrie five years after his death. I truly hope the next story for BSG stay true Ronald Moore's vision and not BSG 1980

Anyone that calls themself a Star Trek fan should watch Earth Final Conflict. It's the Gene Roddenberry story of when humans meet not nice aliens. In some ways, it reminds me of Stargate SG-1.

chrome may get you home, but Caprica ''6'' is a bad ass robot chick........

Cool! Now do CAPRICA.

Linfield just can't help drawing everyone to look like bulked up superheroes

V both the og mini-series and the later updated version are worth checking out. They aren't that long and can be binged in a weekend.

The original BSG did not allude to any ancient Earth being connected to the Cylons. They did make a reference that humankind may have been a part of the 13th tribe of Kobol, but those were not Cylon, they were human. It wasn't until the re-boot under a different creator that the far-fetched idea that Cylons could look human and be clones of each other was created. The series also omitted certain characters, completely omitted certain events.

Love this video! I have to say, the reboot is a third favorite show of all time but I never liked the new cylon design. (The tall robot) However I did love their version of the second generation design (the ones resembling the original)

"What's with the unicorn?" It's actually in the TV episode, "The Young Lords," and the female guest star rides on it just like that. So it's a pretty accurate picture!

V is definitely worth a watch, and a video.

Just a point of fact: not all of us do twatter. So, I'd love for you to do Earth Final Conflict and V.

I like the Chrome Toasters! It just look right!

In terms of changes made for reboots, I think what was done to the cylons is about the best ever. Television got A LOT more sophisticated through the 90s and early 00s. If they'd maintained the original Cylon lore, it would have been way too corny for a 2004 audience. The brilliance is that they streamlined the origin while doubling (or more) the impact.

Please do a lore evolution for the Cromags on Sliders. Also a "Was it good" for Sliders and 7 days would be fun

Earth Final Conflict is one of my favorites.

I have to agree with Hans, I think V would definitely be worth checking out if you haven't seen it. It was a well written show for its time. I hope you enjoy it.

Love your videos - please consider getting a pop filter for your microphone! :)

V was a really cool series/miniseries ... I'd love to see you do that one

By Your Command!

i recently started re watching all of BSG (the remake not the original). And I am struck by how the themes of this show feel more relevant than ever. As our world divides in to 'them and us' camps, watching a sci fi show that openly explores the prejudices, fears and assumptions of what it means to be human - it's a pity more people aren't discovering this show for the first time now.

Uh I did not know the Cylons were aliens in the original series. I have only seen an episode or two and I thought they were robots leas by a Renegade human that want to conquer humanity. If they ever Reboot Battle Star Galactica. I hope they have the Galactica make it to us. By that I mean it is 2220 and humanity is in space and have faced or are facing an AI rebellion. In short Battle Star Galactica meets Space Above and Beyond.

Cylons were greatly equipped with humor.

In "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero," we're told that Commander Croft and his team are on the prison barge because they attacked a Cylon mine with no orders, stole whatever valuable stuff was in it, sold that for their own profit (Or were trying to before they were caught) and - most notably - that it was a CIVILIAN Cylon mine, at which point Starbuck and Boomer express some surprise that someone would do something like that. So clearly there were Cylon civilians, and they were off-limits as noncombatants. Croft's actions were considered a war crime. The ones that show up in part 2 of "The Living Legend" are not stated to be civilian Cylons on screen, but they're refered to as such in the script. Worth noting, also, that the Cylons are never called "Reptillian" in the series. All that is said is that they originally came from another galaxy entirely, that they were non-humanoid, but that they thought humans were surprisingly functionally designed, so they copied our form in making the Centurions. This is expressly stated by Apollo to Boxey in the Landram on Carrilon in "Saga of a Star World." He also mentions that the original, real, organic Cylons went extinct, but it appears no one knows why. There is no implication that they turned on their masters, and the feeling I got from it as a kid was that it was a "There will come soft rains" kind of thing, where the Organic Cylons killed themselves off in some way, or maybe from a plague, or whatever, and the mechanical Cylons just kept going on about their duties until something came along to upset them. That's just my feeling back when I was 10, it's not based on anything. It was 2/3rds of the way through the series when they rectonned the Cylon/Iblis connection, and this was not in their minds when they wrote the first few episodes. Basically they were getting tired of using Cylons every week, and wanted to introduce some new, cheaper villains, but they also wanted to give us a reason to care, hence the connection to the Cylons themselves. It was freakin' brilliant, of course, but the whole "War of the Gods" storyline was pretty unpopular, and I have my doubts as to whether or not they'd ever have revisited it. In the synopsis for season 2, there's no mention of the Seraphs (The ship-of-lights folk) at all.

It’s cute how many actors on the bsg reboot were in stargate sg1 first...

Earth Final Conflict - Yes. Also Space Above & Beyond - If you want to see where some of teh things that clearly influenced the recent BSG you have to do it.

Would be cool if the next BSG is a Mercury with a small fleet of Valkyries and Cruisers.

Tricia Helfer gave this video SIX likes.

I always liked the chrome Cylons and the vocoder voice.....but the modern version is also pretty cool as well I'm glad BSG had a second shot and nailed it, they totally got Glen Larsen's intent and expanded on it in big ways, who saw the final 5 playing out like that?? genius storytelling..... 😈

Sorry to be so chatty. In the original Galactica, it is made very clear that the Centurions consider themselves alive. They don't have the same self-preservation instinct that humans do, and they will always follow orders, but Lucifer informs Baltar that they don't want to throw their lives away for nothing, and have been grumbling about Baltar's wasteful strategy. Baltar is surprised by this, and says that they're just machines. Lucifer replies, "We are all machines of a kind, Baltar, even you." It's also very apparent that the IL series (such as Lucifer and Specter) are programmed to lie and cheat and be decieving. Imperious Leader is promoted from the IL ranks, and (evidently) the most decitful is the one who gets the job when an opening appears. This actually makes sense, as deceit is a highly flexible thought process, difficult to predict, and you'd want a leader who could consider all the options. When Lucifer has his first scene with Baltar on the base ship, he comments to a centurion, "Isn't he so delightfully devious? We have much to learn from him!" At this point the writers were toying with the idea that the series took place in earth's distant past, prior to the garden of eden in the Bible, so Lucifer was probably actually intended to be the entity that our legends of Satan are based on. The idea of Baltar giving the devil "Evil Lessons" has always cracked me up. The idea about the show taking place in the past, present, or future would change several times over the course of the series.

The new BSG show is going to take place in the Reimagined BSG world! I saw it in an interview last week. It will be interesting to see what they do. They said they didn’t want to mess with the BSG story in anyway. There is enough lore to create something new. I’m wondering if another Battlestar survived lol?

BSG is a funny franchise for me - I like the background and deep theoretical lore of the original series (the idea that these galactic level events are going on WHILE the show is focused on this group of humans) but I don't care to watch that many episodes. BUT the new series is flipped, I like to watch and rewatch episodes weekly and kind of gloss over the 'god/God' and angels stuff.

What was the name of that other vidcast that you mentioned that goes into greater depth on the cylons.

We know that Caprica Six was able to teleport out of the Galactica. She used a Cylon base ship to do it.

No comments on the Cylon design change in the post millennium shows? As much as I love new BG, those clunky '78 designs were BOSS, and way cooler than the fancy shmancy CGI updates

Take a look at First Wave. Great concept

The lore of Hollywood changing a story line.You know robots having kids with humans .Yeah smart.Not being able to tell what an artificial human is,even blade runner knew what they were.So great plot line devoured.

I was a teenager when the first BSG aired and I didn't mind that it was so cheesy. BSG reboot was so cool because of all the drama involved.

great video - can you do an episode on the krill?

Iv'e never seen Earth Final Conflict but V is an absolute must, even if you only watch just the two miniseries (shown as one in the UK) and not the follow on TV series (which only lasted for one series)

I know you hate Galactica 1980, but I think it should be mentioned that that was the series where human looking Cylons first appeared, and also in the episode Return of Starbuck there Is the character of Cy, a Cylon befriending a human, the first attempt to make Cylons more complex and not purely evil. Cy also tells a lot about Cylon philosophy. Also, Caprica reveals a lot about the origin of the new generation of Cylons, their beliefs and psychology, and basically what lead them to rebel against humanity. If you still haven't watched Caprica, I think you should have before making this video.

Space Opera for sure👍 I didn't like the reboot, but your explanation of it makes me want to give it another try, possibly Maybe👌

4:00 he wasnt meant to be a 'powerful alien of some kind' he was the freggin Devil himself (according to show creator Glen Larson)

I saw the original movie in a theater, and knew of the change for US TV. I also had the novelizations.

It was completely the idea of the comic book writers, count Iblis is "the son of the morning" according to LDS teaching. All the incongruities that people speculate on, are as clear as a bell to LDS fans. This does make it hard to tie together a finished show when so much of the story is not understood by most. I still get a kick that people all over the world have made BSG so much more than it states out. (Glen is a 3rd cuz on my mum's side)

Earth Final Conflict was a great show,

I found that book about this series lying around my shelf a while back. I started reading it a bit back and now this appeared. Coincidence??

Out of curiosity, have you seen the "A New Crew in Town" BSG music video? You can find it here on RU-vid. I have to say, having seen both the original and the reboot, I prefer the reboot Cylons. Their characters and society have much more depth than in the original. Now, I can't wait for Sunday to see your opinion on the convoluted Caprica.

Wow I remember

coud never get into the new BSG the space battles gave me migraine, but never the less another great video from you. But I loved the old show as a kid

BY YOUR COMMAND

I absolutely loved V when it came out in the 80s. Well, not so much the TV show back then, but the 2 original miniseries are pretty great.

7:48 When ever I hear people talk about the “Themes” in franchise I can help by see you guys as The-Aliens-Guy meme but with “Muh Themes” instead of aliens.

I love the original series of BSG and the fancy reboot, but I just don't want to re-watch the fancy modern one. I can't work out why, maybe it's a bit too depressing. I'm glad it exists and I'm glad I watched it, but once is enough.

I consider nuBSG as canon..because bloody show is fu***** great

Battlestar Galactica is an exception to the Rule. It is one of the few Reboots that was successful. The majority of other Reboots have Crashed-And-Burned. Is Hollywood ever going to learn?

The blonde cylon girl is so amazing and strong and she is so cool cos she just controls everything. I love her so much.

V the miniseries is something I highly recommend. It was a phenomenon when it first aired. The second mini series was OK. The subsequent TV series was poor. The remakes, well I think I gave up after a couple of episodes. Just watch the first two miniseries. I absolutely LOVE the OP to the original BSG. It is amazing. (That and the Buck Rogers one of course, and um, Battle of the Planets).