Resurrection Ship
the Cylon vessel of rebirth
A Resurrection Ship was an FTL-capable Cylon vessel that extended the reach of the resurrection network, downloading the consciousness of dying Cylons into new bodies far beyond the range of the Resurrection Hub.
A Resurrection Ship was a faster-than-light capable vessel used by the Cylons to extend their power of resurrection far from home. Working alongside the Resurrection Hub, these ships received the minds of dying Cylons and downloaded them into new bodies, so that a Cylon killed in deep space could be reborn. They served until the end of resurrection in the Cylon Civil War, and the destruction of one such ship marked among the first Cylon deaths made permanent. (Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 2"; Battlestar Galactica, "The Hub")
Purpose and function#
A Resurrection ship was a long, slim vessel with a large glass facade, behind which it stored spare Cylon bodies. Inside, its rooms held rebirthing tanks where a new body received the mind of a Cylon who had died. The ship carried no weapons and relied on the rest of the Cylon fleet for protection. (Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Rapture")
When a Cylon died within range, its consciousness was received and downloaded into a new body. After questioning the captive Cylon Gina, Gaius Baltar explained that the ships existed to extend the range of downloading, and that a Cylon killed beyond the reach of one would die for good. The ships therefore stretched Cylon immortality to wherever the fleet went, while the Resurrection Hub controlled the process itself. (Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?")
The Battle of the Resurrection Ship#
A resurrection ship was first found some months after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies by a Raptor from the Battlestar Pegasus, which had been tracking a Cylon fleet that jumped from system to system gathering natural resources. That fleet turned out to be pursuing Galactica and its refugees, and the resurrection ship was attached to it so that Raiders and humanoid Cylons lost in the chase could be reborn. Before Baltar explained what it was, Cain guessed it might be a command ship and Adama a Raider factory. (Battlestar Galactica, "Pegasus"; Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1")
Pegasus had found the refugee fleet by chance. A bitter conflict between Commander William Adama and Rear Admiral Helena Cain brought the two battlestars to a standoff, but both ships carried out Kara Thrace's plan together, destroying the resurrection ship and its basestar escorts. With no ship to download to, the Cylons killed in the attack could not come back, which may have made them the first true Cylon casualties since the Fall. The battle gives its name to a two-part episode in season 2, and the series episode guide places it straight after "Pegasus". (Battlestar Galactica, "Pegasus"; Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 2")
Decline and obsolescence#
During the Cylon Civil War, the resurrection ships were under the command of John Cavil's faction, which moved them out of range before attacking the rebel fleet. When the surviving rebel basestar later met the human fleet, its crew offered the location of the Resurrection Hub, and Colonials and rebel Cylons mounted a joint offensive to destroy it and end the Cylons' ability to resurrect. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Ties That Bind"; Battlestar Galactica, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?")
After the Battle of the Resurrection Hub, the remaining resurrection ships were left virtually useless. They had served as boosters for downloading, and with the Hub that controlled resurrection destroyed, the ships no longer had any function to perform. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Hub")
Frequently asked questions
- What was a Resurrection Ship?
- A Resurrection Ship was a faster-than-light capable Cylon vessel that extended the range of resurrection. It carried spare bodies and rebirthing tanks, so that Cylons killed far from home could download into a new body instead of dying for good.
- How did a Resurrection Ship work?
- When a Cylon died within range, its consciousness was transmitted to the ship and downloaded into one of the spare bodies it carried. The ships acted as boosters for the Resurrection Hub, which actually controlled the process.
- How was a Resurrection Ship first discovered by Colonial forces?
- A Raptor from the battlestar Pegasus found one while Pegasus was tracking a Cylon fleet that was jumping between systems gathering resources. That fleet turned out to be following Galactica and its refugees, with the resurrection ship attached.
- How was the resurrection ship at the Battle of the Resurrection Ship destroyed?
- Despite the bitter standoff between Commander William Adama and Rear Admiral Helena Cain, Galactica and Pegasus carried out Kara Thrace's plan together, destroying the resurrection ship and its basestar escorts. Cylons killed in the battle could not resurrect.
- Why did Resurrection Ships become useless?
- During the Cylon Civil War, the resurrection ships were under Cavil's faction, which moved them out of range before attacking the rebels. Once the Resurrection Hub was destroyed, the ships had nothing left to relay to, and resurrection was gone.
Gallery
Images via Battlestar Wiki
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Pegasus", Season 2, Episode 10 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 1", Season 2, Episode 11 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Resurrection Ship, Part 2", Season 2, Episode 12 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Rapture", Season 3, Episode 12 (2007)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "The Ties That Bind", Season 4, Episode 3 (2008)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?", Season 4, Episode 7 (2008)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "The Hub", Season 4, Episode 9 (2008)
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Followed from this entry
Galactica
Galactica was a Jupiter-class battlestar that served the Colonial Fleet from the Cylon War until the discovery of Earth. Never networked, it survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and shepherded the last fifty thousand humans across uncharted space before being scuttled into the sun.
Pegasus: Helena Cain's battlestar
Pegasus survived the Fall because an overhaul had taken parts of its Command Navigation Program offline. It was lost ramming a basestar to cover Galactica's escape from New Caprica.
Resurrection Hub
The Resurrection Hub was the central computer processing facility of the Cylon Fleet, the installation that made resurrection technology work. Every resurrection ship depended on its signal, so its destruction ended Cylon immortality for good.
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Basestar: the Cylon carrier
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Cylon Civil War
The Cylon Civil War was the genocidal conflict that split the Humanoid Cylons into two factions over the treatment of their Raiders and Centurions. It shattered Cylon society and drove one faction into an uneasy alliance with the surviving humans.
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Galactica Cavil was a Number One model humanoid Cylon who evacuated the ruins of Picon during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and reached the refugee fleet. Welcomed aboard Galactica as a priest, he formed and led a hidden cell of humanoid Cylons working to destroy the fleet from within.
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Helena Cain
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Resurrection Hub
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