The Final Cylon Reveal *spoilers*

UPDATED 18/07/2008 23:58

In an interview with Aaron Douglas prior to May this year, he had this to say…

Jamie: Are we going to have to wait till the very end to know who the final Cylon is?
Aaron: Nope. You’ll know, I don’t know if you’ll know in the first ten, but somewhere around there.
(Source)

During the writers strike he said…

Aaron: I was curious quite a bit but it was certainly a shock when I found out who it is. I never would have expected that person. It is revealed in the last thing we shot so if we don’t come back, that will be the end of the show. (Source)

Two for the price of one!

Katee Sackoff has also previously said that she had been told, but seemed sceptical…

Katee: We do know who the fifth [and final] Cylon is, but…(Source)

After filming episode 14, when asked if she knew who the final Cylon is, Katee replied…
Katee: ”Um…no. Maybe. No, no. Maybe. I don’t know. Does that help you at all?”
Katee: ”We’ve been told who it is. I personally don’t believe it, I think that is something that is going to be kept until the very end.” (Source)

All of these quotes came well before the filming of the grand finale, and it seems fairly obvious by the actors reactions to that finale that the final cylon wasn’t revealed until the very end. Ron confirms this…

Will the identity of the fifth and final Cylon be something you reveal early in the fourth season?
Ron Moore: It will be late in the season, it won’t be in the first half. (Source)

Ron’s comment directly contradicts Aaron’s and Katee’s comments, its almost as though the actors were told who it was early in Season 4.5, and then told again at the end of the show!

Around the time they filmed the grand finale, Grace Park indicated that all was revealed, it seems likely she was talking about the final episodes….

Grace Park: “There’s one episode where everything is explained and I had to read it three times, I had to sit down with [executive producer] Ron Moore and he had to break it down.” (Source)

With the Final Cylon Solution, this makes a certain amount of sense. We know that there are in fact two unrevealed mortal LOK – both Baltar and Starbuck.

It would fit in with the style of the show that they keep this charade up and add further confusion by implicating Starbuck as the final cylon early in Season4.5 (probably Revelations Pt II), then in full dramatic style in line with the grand finale, reveal everything – that neither Starbuck nor Baltar are true cylons- but rather it is Baltar that hosts the final cylon.

Also bear in mind that due to the writers strike, it wasn’t entirely certain that they would get the chance to film the remainder of Season 4. They had already commited to revealing the final cylon before they got the go ahead to film the remaining episodes. So it would make sense to provide some sort of conclusion to the show just in case, and then use the “bonus” episodes to reveal answers to hopefully every other mystery that has been generated in the previous seasons including the “true” final cylon.