What is Starbuck?

SPOILER ALERT. If you have not watched Battlestar Galactica episode 4x14 - "Sometimes a Great Notion", do not continue any further as this post is chock full of shocking development.




So Kara Thrace aka Starbuck crashed and died on Earth several months ago. This brings up the question of the identity of Starbuck 2.0. Exactly what is Starbuck 2.0? Here's my theory.

2,000 years ago, Earth Cylons created immortality in the form of a primitive resurrection machine. This technology can clone many copies of the Cylon body, and allow the mind to be "downloaded" from a dying body to a new body. Perhaps it is an experimental machine. It makes sense because only 5 Earth Cylons were resurrected. Also, it explains the resurrection machine's flaw. While the download of the mind (or soul) works, old memories are not accessible. Thus the five newly resurrected Earth Cylons can't remember their past lives.

Since Earth is nuked, the five resurrected Cylons obviously need to find a new home. They take one of their resurrection machines, and travelled all the way to the twelve colonies where they lived anonymous lives for most of the next 2,000 years. However some time during the past century, the Colonial Humans stumbled upon the resurrection machine and managed to decipher some of the technology. They used the machine to create artificial intelligent beings who choose to call themselves Cylons. Thus was born the Colonial Cylons.

Fast forward a few decades. There's a war between Colonial Humans and Colonial Cylons. The Colonial Cylons somehow gained possession of the primitive resurrection machine and recognized it for what it is. They not only mastered the resurrection technology, but also perfected it and eliminated the memory loss issue.

So what has all of the above has to do with who Starbuck 2.0 is? Well, here is my theory. Starbuck 2.0 was resurrected using the primitive Earth resurrection machine. This is why she cannot remember the past. Yup, I believe Starbuck 2.0 is a brand new 13th Cylon!