So I just watched BG’s “The Plan,” which is a movie that seeks to portray why the Cylons wanted to destroy humanity, but from the Cylons’ perspective. The movie was great, thought provoking, and definitely delivered on the series’ usual ethics and theological/religious perspectives regarding the nature of love, mercy/grace, sacrifice, redemption, repentance, relationality, and god’s love (not capitalized on purpose).

My initial overall problem/quandary with the series was the question of why Cylons would care to destroy humanity in the first place (?). I mean, they are machines after all and I’m not sure how a machine could phenomenologically experience or have the emotion of vengeance. Ah, yes, good point right–but–these “machines” have now evolved and are striving to understand themselves in the universe, both as creations of humanity, and also creations–in some way–of god. The vengeance motif is powerful within the series because the Cylons want revenge due to  humanity using them as slaves so to speak. Though again, how can a machine even perceive itself to be a slave? This question was answered in the prequel series called Carpica. Simply put, the Cylons achieved  A.I. from human cosmology, so that’s how they achieved some sort of evolutionary leap into some sort of humanity. And since they were created by humanity, then they bore the likeness of humanity (according to the series). Sound familiar? Ya, Genesis says something very similar regarding the creation of Man.

Anyhow, back to the point: the Cylons hate humanity, but come to realize that they actually want to be loved by humanity. Some Cylons rebel against the love of humanity while some embrace it. Ultimately, the Cylons realize that they need to overcome vengeance by giving mercy to the humans. The result of the mercy and grace manifests itself in reconciliation and love between both creations. This happens, of course, after the Cylons destroyed 99% of humanity. Ooops, my bad…

There’s a lot more there, but you just need to go watch the series. It’s very dark and weighty, but worth it if you’ve got the stomach for serious ethical gray areas, nebulous theological references, and a loving god who is hidden but active in every episode.

P.S. The Cylons are monotheists and the humans are polytheists, so that’s weird too.