10 Mind-Blowing Battlestar Galactica Facts You Didn't Know
4. Galactica Was A Punishment For Adama
In the third season of Battlestar Galactica, Danny 'Bulldog' Novacek returns, seemingly from the dead, escaping Cylon imprisonment. He is a former officer who served under Adam and Tigh, though of course not all is at it seems.
What is perhaps the biggest revelation in the episode has nothing to do with this soldier, but that Adama received command of Galactica as punishment.
While commanding the Battlestar Valkyrie, he was sent by the Admiralty to the Cylon armistice border, where a stealth ship, piloted by Bulldog, was sent behind enemy lines but almost immediately shot down. Adama was forced to fire a missile at their own ship to ensure it would not be captured by the Cylons, fearing a reprisal.
This came with consequences, and the more advanced Valkyrie was taken from him. There are numerous references throughout the show to Galactica being an older Battlestar that is ready for the scrap heap, though this was the first time it was explicitly stated that this was a deliberate choice.