Algae planet
doomed world of the Thirteenth Tribe
The algae planet was a habitable world orbiting an unstable star, once visited by the Thirteenth Tribe and later sought by human refugees for its algae before a supernova destroyed it.
The algae planet was a world habitable for human life that became a way station for two journeys separated by thousands of years. Visited by the Thirteenth Tribe on their road to Earth, it was later sought by the human refugees of the Twelve Colonies for its abundance of edible algae before the nearby star went supernova and destroyed it. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Passage"; "The Eye of Jupiter"; "Rapture")
The Thirteenth Tribe#
The algae planet orbited an unstable star close to an intense, highly radioactive star cluster. The Thirteenth Tribe built a temple there, the Temple of Five, around four thousand years before the Colonial fleet arrived, and the Sacred Scrolls named it as the place of the Eye of Jupiter, a sign that could point the way to Earth. Ellen Tigh later confirmed that the Final Five had stopped at the planet on their way to the Twelve Colonies. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Passage"; "The Eye of Jupiter"; "No Exit")
Destruction#
The planet was found by Colonial refugees whose food stores had been contaminated. Athena's recon confirmed that protein-rich algae grew there, and the fleet made the dangerous crossing of the star cluster to harvest it. As the work was wrapping up, Galen Tyrol was drawn to the temple and a Cylon fleet of basestars arrived, also searching for the Eye. During the standoff the star went supernova, as Felix Gaeta had predicted. Tyrol realised the explosion itself was the clue, pointing to a similar event millennia earlier in what became the Ionian nebula, and both fleets jumped away just before the shockwave destroyed the planet. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Passage"; "The Eye of Jupiter"; "Rapture")
Frequently asked questions
- What was the algae planet?
- The algae planet was a world habitable for human life that orbited an unstable star near a radioactive star cluster. The Thirteenth Tribe built a temple there on their way to Earth, and the Colonial fleet later stopped to harvest its algae.
- What did the Thirteenth Tribe leave there?
- The Thirteenth Tribe built the Temple of Five on the planet around four thousand years before the Colonials arrived. The Sacred Scrolls named it as the place of the Eye of Jupiter, a sign pointing the way to Earth.
- How was the algae planet destroyed?
- The Colonial fleet came to the planet for its algae after its food stores were contaminated. A standoff with Cylon basestars searching for the temple followed, and the unstable star went supernova, destroying the planet as both fleets jumped away.
Sources
- EpisodeThe Passage, Season 3, Episode 10 (2006)
- EpisodeThe Eye of Jupiter, Season 3, Episode 11 (2006)
- EpisodeRapture, Season 3, Episode 12 (2007)
- EpisodeNo Exit, Season 4, Episode 15 (2009)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Thirteenth Tribe: the lost Cylon people of Kobol
The Thirteenth Tribe were a race of cybernetic beings who originated on Kobol and left it to found their own world. They settled Earth, where the sentient machines they built rose against them in a war that ended in mutual destruction.
Twelve Colonies of Kobol
The United Colonies of Kobol, also called the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was the interplanetary state that represented humanity from the Cylon War until its dissolution upon the settling of the second Earth.
Eye of Jupiter: the BSG artifact, the Temple of Five and the supernova
The Eye of Jupiter was the marker on the road to Earth that both humans and Cylons went looking for in season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. Everyone expected an object hidden in the Temple of Five. It turned out to be the dying star overhead.
Basestar: the Cylon carrier
The modern Cylon basestar was partly organic and run by a Hybrid, not a crew. It launched swarms of Raiders and healed battle damage like a wound.
Cylon
The Cylons were a race of sentient machines created as military robots by Graystone Industries on Caprica. Built from research into artificial consciousness, they rebelled against their human masters, fought a long war, and forty years later returned to annihilate humanity.
Earth
Earth was a world settled by the Thirteenth Tribe roughly four thousand years before the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Once home to a flourishing Cylon civilization, it was reduced to a radioactive ruin by a nuclear holocaust, and the Colonial fleet abandoned it days after at last reaching it.
Mentioned in10 entries
Adriatic
Adriatic was a civilian ship that escaped the Fall of the Twelve Colonies with the Fleet. The only civilian vessel known to carry weapons, it sided with Roslin at Kobol and was later lost in the radiation-soaked star cluster on the way to the Algae planet.
Basestar Type-D: the modern Cylon baseship
The Basestar Type-D, also called the Modern Basestar, was the primary Cylon capital ship at the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and through the war that followed. Partly organic and run by a Hybrid, it served as a fleet carrier and missile platform in the mould of a Colonial battlestar.
Battlestar Galactica Timeline: every major event from Kobol to the arrival on Earth
The Reimagined Series chronology in order, from the exodus from Kobol and the death of the first Earth to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and the fleet's arrival 150,000 years ago. A shorter section at the end covers the separate 1978 series and Galactica 1980.
Caprica Clipper
Caprica Clipper was a Pan Galactic passenger liner of the same design as the Gemenon Liner 1701. She joined the ragtag fleet after the Fall and survived years of flight before being sent into the Sun with the rest of the Fleet.
Carina
Carina was a civilian flattop that survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and joined the refugee fleet led by Galactica. It was lost during a hazardous transit of a radiation-filled star cluster.
Chrion
Chrion was a civilian luxury liner that survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies in the fleet led by Galactica. It was guided through the passage to the Algae planet by Captain Louanne Katraine.
Every Cylon Model in Order, by Number: One to Eight and the Final Five
All twelve humanoid Cylon models from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, in order by number, from Cavil and Leoben to Saul Tigh and Tory Foster. Who each one was, the copies that mattered, what they wanted and how their story ended.
Eye of Jupiter: the BSG artifact, the Temple of Five and the supernova
The Eye of Jupiter was the marker on the road to Earth that both humans and Cylons went looking for in season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. Everyone expected an object hidden in the Temple of Five. It turned out to be the dying star overhead.
The Final Five
The Final Five were five humanoid Cylon models hidden from the rest of their kind, descendants of the Thirteenth Tribe and the creators of the Significant Seven.
Thirteenth Tribe: the lost Cylon people of Kobol
The Thirteenth Tribe were a race of cybernetic beings who originated on Kobol and left it to found their own world. They settled Earth, where the sentient machines they built rose against them in a war that ended in mutual destruction.
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.