Isis (Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
Hera Agathon or Isis is a fictional character
from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
series.
Isis or Hera is the first, and only, known Cylon-Human hybrid child to be born and she first appears in the episode "Downloaded
". She is the daughter of the Cylon Sharon "Athena" Agathon and human father Karl "Helo" Agathon
. They name her "Hera" after the Colonial goddess
.
Fearing that Cylon spies within the fleet would try to kidnap Hera, the President Laura Roslin
of the Fleet secretly orders Dr. Cottle
to fake the child's death. Hera had been born with underdeveloped lungs and Cottle uses this fact as the cause of her death. Sharon, however, refuses to believe this and accuses Cottle of having murdered her child on Roslin's or Admiral Adama
's orders.
Later however, while Helo and Chief Tyrol
scatter ashes into space that they believe are Hera's, Roslin and Cottle secretly meet on Colonial One and give Hera to a woman named Maya who had lost a child in a previous Cylon attack. Emphasizing the need for secrecy, Roslin's aide Tory Foster
tells Maya that the baby's mother is an anonymous Pegasus
officer who cannot care for the child due to political and religious reasons. Maya subsequently names the baby Isis.
After a year on New Caprica, Isis is still alive. She had been under the care of Maya, who works with Roslin in a New Caprica school. Roslin tries to keep Isis and her adoptive mother hidden. (see Exodus, Part 1
). However, Maya is killed during the evacuation of New Caprica (in the episode Exodus, Part 2
). Hera is taken into the custody of Number Three.
During the race to Earth, Hera begins to get sick and her Cylon caretakers cannot determine what the problem is. During a Cylon diplomatic trip to Galactica, Boomer tells Hera's biological mother Sharon "Athena" Agathon that Hera is still alive and is sick (see The Eye of Jupiter
). At Athena's request, her husband Helo shoots and kills her so that she can download to a new body in the Cylon fleet and attempt a rescue of her daughter (see Rapture
). On download, Caprica-Six takes her to Hera, who is under Boomer's care. Hera appears to be comforted by her mother's presence. As Caprica-Six observes, despite Boomer and Athena being biologically identical, Hera can apparently distinguish between them, and she has missed her real mother. However, Athena also discovers that Hera's belly is very hard, indicating a possible blockage in her bowels, and advocates that Hera be examined by a human doctor aboard Galactica. With help from Caprica-Six, Athena and Hera escape to Galactica, where Hera is presumably examined by Doc Cottle.
As a "hybrid", Hera/Isis possesses incredible regenerative properties. Some of her blood is donated to Laura Roslin, which helps treat her cancer to the point where she completely recovers (see "Epiphanies
"). This fact leads to Laura's decision to not have Athena's fetus aborted as she had previously ordered. It is not yet known if Isis/Hera possesses any of the machine qualities of her mother, such as the fiberoptic neural pathways, and she is too young to determine if she has the superhuman physical prowess demonstrated by other humanoid Cylon models such as Leoben Conoy
and Number Six
however in Islanded in a Stream of Stars
it is revealed that she possesses the Cylon ability to project
, that is, to inhabit an internally generated virtual environment and to share this environment with other Cylons. As previously mentioned, Hera can distinguish her mother apart from the other Number Eights, but whether this is attributed to a Cylon inherited ability or to the emotional bond between a mother and her child is unknown.
In Someone to Watch Over Me
, Hera gives Starbuck a drawing. Later, Starbuck realizes that the "stars" in Hera's drawing match up with the notes to "All Along the Watchtower" - the song that activated the Final Five. Hera is kidnapped by Boomer who arrives at the daycare dressed as her mother and then quickly drugs the little girl with a drink. Pretending to be Athena, Boomer smuggles Hera onto a Raptor inside a provisions container (Athena had planned to leave on an extended mission) and jumps away.
In the final episode
, it is revealed that Hera is apparently the Mitochondrial Eve
and lived 150,000 years before the present day. Her remains are recovered by the Smithsonian Institution
in modern-day Tanzania
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
series.
Isis or Hera is the first, and only, known Cylon-Human hybrid child to be born and she first appears in the episode "Downloaded
Downloaded (Battlestar Galactica)
"Downloaded" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on February 24, 2006....
". She is the daughter of the Cylon Sharon "Athena" Agathon and human father Karl "Helo" Agathon
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
. They name her "Hera" after the Colonial goddess
Lords of Kobol
The Lords of Kobol are deities featured in the fictional universe of Battlestar Galactica. The Lords of Kobol are worshiped by the humans of the Twelve Colonies...
.
Background and details
The humanoid Cylons are as biological as they are technological and can potentially mate with humans and produce offspring. This fact seems to be part of the "plan" of the Cylons who want to repopulate the human colonies with a new generation of hybrid beings. Once the Cylons learn of Athena's pregnancy, they decide the child must be protected at all costs and thus have impact on the Cylon agenda in pursuing the refugee fleet. Hera is believed to be the only successful hybrid born, which is believed to be due to the love between her parents. Attempts at producing hybrids in "farms" on the occupied Colonies have all presumably failed in the early stages of gestation, if they ever got that far.Fearing that Cylon spies within the fleet would try to kidnap Hera, the President Laura Roslin
Laura Roslin
Her first actions include organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander William Adama to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons. President Roslin and Billy Keikeya, her aide/press secretary/chief of staff, establish a working office space aboard her transport, renamed...
of the Fleet secretly orders Dr. Cottle
Dr. Cottle
Dr. Sherman Cottle is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series. He is the battlestar Galacticas Chief Medical Officer. The character is played by Donnelly Rhodes.-Character biography:...
to fake the child's death. Hera had been born with underdeveloped lungs and Cottle uses this fact as the cause of her death. Sharon, however, refuses to believe this and accuses Cottle of having murdered her child on Roslin's or Admiral Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
's orders.
Later however, while Helo and Chief Tyrol
Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica...
scatter ashes into space that they believe are Hera's, Roslin and Cottle secretly meet on Colonial One and give Hera to a woman named Maya who had lost a child in a previous Cylon attack. Emphasizing the need for secrecy, Roslin's aide Tory Foster
Tory Foster
Tory Foster is a fictional character from the 2004 TV series Battlestar Galactica, portrayed by Rekha Sharma.-Character biography:Tory, like the other members of the Final Five, was originally from a planet called Earth...
tells Maya that the baby's mother is an anonymous Pegasus
Battlestar Pegasus
Battlestar Pegasus is a fictional spacecraft that appears in the both the original and the reimagined television series Battlestar Galactica.- Battlestar Galactica :...
officer who cannot care for the child due to political and religious reasons. Maya subsequently names the baby Isis.
After a year on New Caprica, Isis is still alive. She had been under the care of Maya, who works with Roslin in a New Caprica school. Roslin tries to keep Isis and her adoptive mother hidden. (see Exodus, Part 1
Exodus (Battlestar Galactica)
"Exodus" are the third and fourth episodes of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. The episodes originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel on October 16 and 23, 2006....
). However, Maya is killed during the evacuation of New Caprica (in the episode Exodus, Part 2
Exodus (Battlestar Galactica)
"Exodus" are the third and fourth episodes of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. The episodes originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel on October 16 and 23, 2006....
). Hera is taken into the custody of Number Three.
During the race to Earth, Hera begins to get sick and her Cylon caretakers cannot determine what the problem is. During a Cylon diplomatic trip to Galactica, Boomer tells Hera's biological mother Sharon "Athena" Agathon that Hera is still alive and is sick (see The Eye of Jupiter
The Eye of Jupiter (Battlestar Galactica)
"The Eye of Jupiter" is the eleventh episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. It aired on December 15, 2006 and was filmed in Kamloops, B.C.- Plot :Survivor Count: 41,402...
). At Athena's request, her husband Helo shoots and kills her so that she can download to a new body in the Cylon fleet and attempt a rescue of her daughter (see Rapture
Rapture (Battlestar Galactica)
"Rapture" is the twelfth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. Aired on January 21, 2007, this episode marks the return of regular broadcasting after the Christmas mid-season hiatus.-Plot:...
). On download, Caprica-Six takes her to Hera, who is under Boomer's care. Hera appears to be comforted by her mother's presence. As Caprica-Six observes, despite Boomer and Athena being biologically identical, Hera can apparently distinguish between them, and she has missed her real mother. However, Athena also discovers that Hera's belly is very hard, indicating a possible blockage in her bowels, and advocates that Hera be examined by a human doctor aboard Galactica. With help from Caprica-Six, Athena and Hera escape to Galactica, where Hera is presumably examined by Doc Cottle.
As a "hybrid", Hera/Isis possesses incredible regenerative properties. Some of her blood is donated to Laura Roslin, which helps treat her cancer to the point where she completely recovers (see "Epiphanies
Epiphanies (Battlestar Galactica)
"Epiphanies" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on January 20, 2006....
"). This fact leads to Laura's decision to not have Athena's fetus aborted as she had previously ordered. It is not yet known if Isis/Hera possesses any of the machine qualities of her mother, such as the fiberoptic neural pathways, and she is too young to determine if she has the superhuman physical prowess demonstrated by other humanoid Cylon models such as Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy is a fictional character portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie appearing in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series....
and Number Six
Number Six (Battlestar Galactica)
Number Six is a family of fictional characters from the reimagined science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. She is portrayed by Canadian actress and model Tricia Helfer. Of the twelve known Cylon models, she is the sixth of the "Significant Seven"...
however in Islanded in a Stream of Stars
Islanded in a Stream of Stars
"Islanded in a Stream of Stars" is the twentieth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on March 6, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,521...
it is revealed that she possesses the Cylon ability to project
Projection
Projection, projector, or projective may refer to:* The display of an image by devices such as:** Movie projector** Video projector** Overhead projector** Slide projector** Camera obscura** Projection screen...
, that is, to inhabit an internally generated virtual environment and to share this environment with other Cylons. As previously mentioned, Hera can distinguish her mother apart from the other Number Eights, but whether this is attributed to a Cylon inherited ability or to the emotional bond between a mother and her child is unknown.
In Someone to Watch Over Me
Someone to Watch Over Me (Battlestar Galactica)
"Someone to Watch Over Me" is the seventeenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on February 27, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,556....
, Hera gives Starbuck a drawing. Later, Starbuck realizes that the "stars" in Hera's drawing match up with the notes to "All Along the Watchtower" - the song that activated the Final Five. Hera is kidnapped by Boomer who arrives at the daycare dressed as her mother and then quickly drugs the little girl with a drink. Pretending to be Athena, Boomer smuggles Hera onto a Raptor inside a provisions container (Athena had planned to leave on an extended mission) and jumps away.
In the final episode
Daybreak (Battlestar Galactica)
"Daybreak" is the two-part series finale of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, and are the 74th and 75th episodes overall. The episodes aired on the U.S. Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada respectively on March 13 and March 20, 2009. The second part is...
, it is revealed that Hera is apparently the Mitochondrial Eve
Mitochondrial Eve
In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal "MRCA" . In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person...
and lived 150,000 years before the present day. Her remains are recovered by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in modern-day Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.