Battlestar Galactica: Did The Pilot’s Opening Minutes Tease The Final Five Twist?

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The reveal of the Final Five was a turning point in Battlestar Galactica. These five characters, who had been part of the show for a long time, were discovered to be Cylons – and they were responsible for starting the entire conflict. Interestingly, other Cylons had once seen them as almost godlike beings.

The Final Five were essentially the creators of the humanoid Cylons seen in Battlestar Galactica, including models like Number Six and Boomer. At first, they acted as parental figures to these human-like machines. However, one of the Five, Cavil, went rogue. He gave the Cylons human personalities and spread them throughout the Twelve Colonies. He also erased all memory of the Five from the other Cylons’ minds and took over the entire operation.

At the start of Battlestar Galactica, the robotic Cylons are deliberately disguised among humans, while the Final Five are unaware they are also Cylons. The other Cylons aren’t allowed to know who the Final Five are, but they seem to have a general sense that this group exists.

Battlestar Galactica’s Opening 10 Minutes Links Saul Tigh To Number Five

During the first ten minutes of the original Battlestar Galactica miniseries – the one that launched the rebooted TV show – there’s a peculiar conversation between Doral (who is actually a Cylon known as Number Five) and Saul Tigh (who is secretly one of the Final Five Cylons). This exchange immediately makes the viewer question what’s really going on.

As a huge Battlestar Galactica fan, I always find myself rewatching scenes and picking up on little details. There’s one moment where Doral is giving a tour of the Galactica, and he walks past Saul Tigh who seems a bit under the weather. Doral awkwardly offers a quiet ‘hello’ and then just…continues the tour. When you first watch the show, it’s just a normal, almost forgettable beat. But knowing what we eventually learn about both Doral and Tigh? That simple ‘hello’ becomes incredibly loaded and changes the whole scene. It’s those subtle moments that really make the show brilliant.

Doral walks past several other officers on Galactica without even a glance. While it might seem he only acknowledges Tigh because of his rank, his casual ‘hello’ feels less like a formal greeting and more like awkwardness. Doral clearly seems surprised to see Tigh, stumbling over his words as if he’s meeting a celebrity and doesn’t know what to say.

Looking back, it seems Doral picks up on something about Tigh. He shows an unexplainable respect whenever Tigh walks by – a connection that’s mysterious and doesn’t happen again. Later in the series, it’s revealed that humanoid Cylons subconsciously remember being one of the Final Five. It’s possible Doral has a brief, hidden memory of the past in the very beginning of Battlestar Galactica.

How Far In Advance Did Battlestar Galactica Plan The Final Five Reveal?

Re-watching Battlestar Galactica, I noticed something interesting: Doral’s admiration for Tigh feels much more significant knowing what’s coming. But honestly, I doubt that connection was planned from the start. The showrunner, Ronald D. Moore, actually said in an interview with Cinemablend that the seeds of the ‘Final Five’ twist really started to sprout around season three. It wasn’t a grand plan from day one, but something that evolved as the show went on.

Moore and his team might have suspected all along that Tigh was secretly a Cylon. However, Tigh didn’t fit the established rules – flashbacks showed him as a younger man, and Cylons aren’t supposed to age. If they’d planned his Cylon reveal from the beginning, this inconsistency could have been avoided.

Therefore, it’s likely Tigh wasn’t intended to be a Cylon during his scene with Doral in the original miniseries. The odd interaction between them probably wasn’t a planned hint, but rather a coincidental moment.

The Other Clue That Saul Tigh Is A Cylon In Battlestar Galactica’s First Episode

The mystery surrounding Saul Tigh’s potential Cylon identity in Battlestar Galactica starts right in the first episode, and the Doral incident isn’t the only clue. Throughout the opening miniseries, the crew of the Galactica is shown exhausted from Cylon attacks that happen every 33 minutes. As pointed out by Petersaber, it’s notable that two members of the Final Five – Tigh and Tyrol – seem less affected by this fatigue than everyone else.

Tigh surprisingly volunteers to take Adama’s duties so the captain can rest. Considering Tigh’s drinking, he should arguably be more exhausted than everyone else. The only other person on Battlestar Galactica who isn’t showing signs of fatigue is Boomer, and that’s because she’s secretly a Cylon – a fact established from the start of her character.

It’s hard to know if these subtle clues are just what we notice when we’re actively searching for them, or if the show Battlestar Galactica intentionally hinted at Saul Tigh being a Cylon all along.

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2025-12-24 22:51