10 Battlestar Galactica Twists You Never Saw Coming

Ten episodes into the final season, the Rebel Cylons that had joined the fleet and the Colonials are standing with guns pointed at one another, as the identities of the Four of the Final Five hang in the balance. Admiral Adama is devastated to learn that Saul Tigh is one of them, leaving the decision making up to his son Lee. Lee coldly puts all of the remaining Cylons in the launch tube, willing to space them, to force D'Anna Biers to stand down.

As the tension escalates, Starbuck hits on an idea. The brand new Viper that she miraculously appeared in is tracking a signal, which she shows to Lee, who in turns tells D'Anna. All of the weapons are lowered and the ships, together, head to the source of that signal, thinking that they will have finally, finally found Earth. The ships jump as one and they find a planet, one that fits the description. They descend to it, full of hope.

But the planet below, Earth, is a devastated nuclear wasteland. There are ruins and wreckage. There's no hope here and the realisation is like a blow to the soul.

Due to the Writer's Strike of 2008, it would be nearly a year until there was any kind of resolution to that cliff-hanger and the damage from it would spiral out of control. At its heart, Battlestar Galactica wasn't really a show about space ships and epic battles and mystical prophecies. It was about what people might do when they have to survive and subsist on nothing but a dream. These revelations along the way mark just how difficult that can be.

For all of this has happened before...