The best episodes of Battlestar Galactica
Ranked by viewer rating, highs first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
A stripped down Galactica attacks the Cylon's Colony ship in the hopes of rescuing Hera. The meaning of the shared dream in the Opera House on Kobol is revealed. Sam Anders is moved in his Hybrid tank to the CIC in the hopes that he will be able to assist the combatants.
- 02
Coincidences creates new alliances aboard Galactica. The identities of the final five are revealed.
- 03
The group on Caprica is under fire by the Cylons, but suddenly they stop. When Baltar wins the vote, Roslin considers stealing the election because she believes he is a Cylon collaborator.
- 04
Infuriated that Roslin usurped his command by ordering Starbuck to steal the captured Raider, Adama decides that his only option is to storm Colonial One with marines and terminate her presidency. Starbuck reaches Caprica and finds the Arrow of Apollo in a museum, but she has to go through a copy of Number Six to get it.
- 05
D'Anna demands that the four Cylons in the fleet be sent to the basestar. Only Tory goes, while the remaining three are suddenly drawn to Kara's Viper by the music. The route to Earth is finally found.
- 06
The Fleet refuses to cooperate with Cylon engineers and Adama decides to put and end to it. He sends the Quorum a message stating that unless they wish to join Zarek in the cell, they get their people in line. However, Gaeta is already freed Zarek with the help of other would-be-revolutionists. They allow Zarek to leave Galactica on a raptor. He lands on Colonial One and enters a gathering of the Quorum. Meanwhile, Anders gets ambushed and captured. At the CIC, Gaeta cleverly manipulates everyone else until the time is at hand for the revolution to begin.
- 07
Eighteen months ago: Saul poisons Ellen, who then finds herself downloaded into a new body aboard a Cylon Base Star, with a single Centaurion keeping watch over her. After the initial shock, she has a revelation as she remembers things she had forgotten. Present Day: Dr. Cottle is operating on Anders, who has a bullet lodged in his brain. Anders starts to remember things he had forgotten.
- 08
Roslin is on board a raptor en route to the Rebel Cylon Base Star, but Gaeta has ordered to engage and destroy it. The marines have used a stun grenade on Adama and Tigh. Roslin manages to get a wireless transmission out for everyone to hear and learn what Gaeta has done. She and the others barely make it to the Base Star, where she convinces Tory and the other Cylons to use the Fleet as a cover in order to prevent Gaeta from attacking it. She also believes that Adama will be able to save the rest of the Final Four.
- 09
Galactica stumbles upon Kobol, the long-lost home world of humanity that the 13 Tribes came from, which legend says holds the only clues to the location of Earth. Roslin convinces Starbuck to steal the captured Cylon raider and return to Cylon-occupied Caprica with it to retrieve a religious artifact that will unlock the secrets on Kobol.
- 10
The struggle between Adama and Cain is temporarily put on hold while the two Battlestars combine forces for an assault on the Cylon Resurrection Ship. Apollo faces a momentous decision. Dr. Baltar takes an interest in Gina, the Cylon prisoner.
- 11
The Cylon baby is finally born, leading to some political decisions being made. Meanwhile, the Cylons on Caprica contemplate life and humans when they meet up with a certain human from a previous episode. This story explores the Cylon world.
- 12
While Commander Adama tries to join Roslin's team on Kobol, Dr. Baltar's Number Six tells him he's crazy.
- 13
Gallactica meets Pegasus, and Adama's command is threatened when the captain of Pegasus outranks him. A joyous celebration turns sour at some of the secrets emerging out of the differences of the two crews, and Baltar meets a familiar Cylon prisoner aboard Pegasus.
- 14
Two of Pegasus' raptors go missing after a suspicious distress call. President Roslin must make a decision on abortion that could hurt her political career.
- 15
The Cylons descend upon the re-supply mission as the Chief races to decipher the markings in the temple believed to hold The Eye of Jupiter, a sacred icon that is believed to contain a map to Earth.
- 16
Guess What's Coming to Dinner?
A shaky alliance between the Colonial Fleet and Cylon rebels is put to the test when the two groups combine efforts to take out a Cylon "Resurrection Hub". Meanwhile, Athena loses control when Hera becomes unnaturally drawn to Natalie.
- 17
The fleet is running out of tylium fuel and will soon not have enough to keep running from the Cylons, when they find an asteroid with several years worth of tylium ore...unfortunately, the Cylons have already built a mining base on it.
- 18
As the premiere for the second season unfolds, Adama lay dying leaving Tigh in command. Lee and Roslin have been sent to the brig. An emergency jump goes wrong leaving the Galactica alone in space without the fleet.
- 19
Sharon informs Adama that the Galatica has been infected with a computer virus that is tampering with the basic ship functions and is scanning them for weaknesses. All this is preparation for a major assault by the Cylon Raiders. So with the clock ticking, Adama must pull himself together and decide whether or not she can be trusted, while Tyrol decides to start building a new fighter.
- 20
Adama and Cain find common ground when Starbuck returns with footage of the new Cylon target, a "Resurrection" ship. Roslin negotiates a temporary truce, while Starbuck plans an attack.
- 21
The Hybrid keeps jumping the basestar, and Roslin has visions. The three, D'Anna, is un-boxed. Humans and Cylons engage in a battle to destroy the Resurrection Hub. Baltar is badly wounded and Roslin has to decide whether or not to help him.
- 22
Scouting the planet reveals that there is no life except plants. The destruction occurred about 2,000 years earlier. Among the ruins, skeletons and wrecks of a different kind of Centurions are found. But closer examination of the skeletons reveals they are Cylon! Could the 13th Tribe really have been all Cylons? Chief Tyrol, Colonel Tigh, Sam Anders and Tory remember living on the planet and dying there.
- 23
Tigh imposes martial law and threatens to split the fleet as Lee works to free President Roslin and organize democratic resistance. On Caprica, Helo and Starbuck meet other humans.
- 24
The attack to rescue everyone on New Caprica begins. The Galactica encounters four rather than the expected two Cylon Basestars. The end appears in sight but they get help from a welcome but unexpected source. On the planet below, Tyrol and Anders lead the attack to free everyone from the prison. Anders finds Starbuck but she won't leave without Kacey. Her successful return to the Galactica results in mixed emotions. Colonel Tigh must decide what to do about his wife Ellen after she admits to giving the rendezvous coordinates to the Cylons.
- 25
The Admiral is forced to make the decision of whether to ground Kara Thrace when she begins to show signs of an oncoming nervous breakdown.
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