Battlestar Galactica: 10 Most Disturbing Episodes

During that brief, glorious period of the show when the Colonial fleet had two fully functional Battlestars at its disposal, there is an episode called Scar. Scar is a Cylon Raider who has died over and over again, each time its consciousness is placed inside a new body it has learned to become deadlier and faster.

With the nearby Resurrection Ship destroyed a few episodes previously, Scar now knows that its next death will be its last. Thus it has become truly vicious, ambushing Viper pilots in an asteroid field that the fleet is trying to mine resources from. Both Starbuck and younger pilot Kat swear that they'll be the one to kill it.

While the set-up for the showdown with Scar continues, we see how devastated Starbuck has become at the separation from Samuel Anders, who was left behind on Caprica. We see her descend into alcoholism and despair, lashing out at her friends and engaging in self-destructive behaviour. Her record as being the Galactica's best pilot is under threat and she can't deal with it. In the end, she almost throws away her life to kill Scar, but has to duck out and let Kat take the shot.

As they drink victorious, Starbuck recites the list of every pilot that they've lost since the exodus began. She's defeated herself.