Galen Tyrol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Galen Tyrol | |
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| Race | Humanoid Cylon |
| Gender | Male |
| Portrayed by | Aaron Douglas |
| First appearance | Miniseries |
| Rank | Chief Petty Officer (BSG Miniseries - Episode 4.04) Specialist (Episode 4.04 - current) |
| Colony | Gemenon (Assumed) |
| Affiliation | Colonial Fleet, Final Five Cylons |
Galen Tyrol (commonly referred to as The Chief) is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica. After the events of the miniseries, he was the ship's highest-ranking non-commissioned officer[1] at rank of Chief Petty Officer until he was demoted by Admiral Adama.
Chief Tyrol is played by Aaron Douglas, who originally auditioned for the role of Lee Adama before that role went to English-American Actor Jamie Bamber. Douglas once described his character thus:
Tyrol is fiercely loyal. He is a very good leader who is very much in tune with his crew. He admires honesty, hard work, common sense, intelligence and integrity. Tyrol is tough but fair and is what someone who possess the aforementioned attributes would want in their leader. Tyrol very much believes in the rule of military law and tradition. He is probably the most prepared of the crew who has not seen real battle and that combined with his natural leadership abilities has caused his rise to Chief. The crew respects and likes him.
Do not, repeat, do not cross Tyrol. If he senses weakness or disrespect you get one chance and then that is it. Tyrol believes in making mistakes. As he puts it, "If you don't fall down you are not trying hard enough." Just don't make the same mistake twice. New people who are really trying get the positive attention and teaching that Tyrol believes will get them where he needs them to be. Those who are not making the requisite effort get a good kick in the ass, and sometimes more than one.
I like Tyrol. He is the kind of person I would respect. The inner demons do not interfere with his day to day work. He deals with his own stuff when he is alone. Sometimes he takes on too much but you will never see it. He can wear his heart on his sleeve but he is very hard to read and get to know personally. Enigmatically simple if I can use those two together.
[edit] Character history
At the start of the series, Tyrol is romantically involved with Lt. Sharon Valerii aboard the Galactica, who is, unbeknownst to either Tyrol or herself, a Cylon.[2] Once Sharon's true nature is revealed when she attempts to assassinate Commander Adama, the Chief is accused of being a Cylon and is thrown into the brig with Sharon. He claims that he hates her and orders her to keep her distance, but when Sharon is murdered, he mourns her and reveals his true affection for her. He is proven not to be a Cylon and resumes his job. However, the existence of Sharon's double, Sharon Agathon - who is pregnant and in love with another man - confuses him, especially with the late Sharon Valerii's death still haunting him.[3]
Galen's parents were a priest and an Oracle. He has served in the Colonial Fleet since he was 18 years old, working at various points on Battlestars Pegasus, Columbia, Atlantia, and Galactica.[4] Based on Commander Adama's statement that Tyrol has served under his command for over five years, it is possible that Tyrol also served on the Valkyrie.[1] It is suggested that his experience extends beyond mechanical knowledge when he is stranded on the surface of Kobol - his actions there suggest a strong grasp of tactical and other military knowledge, as well as an extremely high level of competence overall.[5] Commander Adama holds him in very high esteem as Colonel Tigh acknowledges when he says that "the old man has a soft spot" for him.[4] Tyrol even modeled his own style of leadership on Adama's, and generally keeps a professional demeanor - although Tyrol tends to become overly protective, sometimes even irrational, when anyone under his command is injured or killed.[6]
Tyrol and Helo encounter trouble when Lieutenant Thorne, an officer on the Pegasus, attempts to rape Sharon Agathon while interrogating her (in the extended episode, Lieutenant Thorne succeeds in raping Sharon Agathon, but is quickly stopped and inadvertently killed by Tyrol and Helo). Rushing to her aid, Tyrol and Helo accidentally kill Thorne and are summarily sentenced to death by Admiral Helena Cain.[7] After Cain's untimely death, the two are eventually released from the brig by Pegasus' new commander, Jack Fisk, and all charges are dropped.[8]
Near the end of the second season, Tyrol begins to believe he may be a Cylon sleeper agent, and begins to entertain thoughts of committing suicide. He viciously attacks Cally when she wakes him from a nightmare, an act which prompts him to seek religious counsel. Brother Cavil's guidance allows Tyrol to realize that he isn't a Cylon, and makes him aware of Cally's feelings towards him. However, the meeting with Brother Cavil later allows Tyrol to expose the priest as a humanoid Cylon when a duplicate copy returns from the Caprica rescue mission.[9]
Tyrol and Cally are among the thousands that settle on New Caprica. The two get married and have a son, whom they name Nicholas. Tyrol worked as a union leader when the Cylons arrive and occupy New Caprica.[9]
During the Cylon occupation, Tyrol served as an active member of the resistance, bombing strategic targets and recruiting new members.[10] After the colonists escape New Caprica, Tyrol is appointed by President Tom Zarek to be a member of "The Circle," a six person jury charged with trying and executing humans suspected of collaborating with the Cylons. When Felix Gaeta is tried, Tyrol reveals that Gaeta was the "inside source" that the resistance relied upon, effectively exonerating him. Soon after, The Circle disbands.[11] Tyrol and Cally return to duty aboard Galactica.
After the fleet makes its way to the algae planet, Tyrol is one of those assigned to the base camp on the planet during the algae harvesting process. He feels a compulsion to walk into the hills above the camp where he discovers the Temple of Five. Tyrol's parents revered this place.[12]He tries to find the location of the Eye of Jupiter within the temple but the Cylons make their move before he is able to do so and the humans are forced to abandon the temple. Tyrol cannot bring himself to activate the explosives he placed there, and by the time Major Lee Adama presses the detonator it is too late, the devices have been disconnected by the Cylons. Afterwards, Tyrol finds Gaius Baltar within the temple and knocks him unconscious before he and the rest of the humans on the planet's surface return to Galactica as the local star goes supernova.[13]
Tyrol and Cally have a rough patch in their marriage caused by Tyrol always volunteering the two of them for additional duty instead of spending time with their son. They get locked in an airlock that is losing atmosphere due to a damaged patch. Admiral Adama decides that the best way to rescue them is to blow the main hatch and catch them in a waiting raptor. After they are caught, they are rushed to sick bay for treatment. Seelix brings his son to him in sick bay and he renews his commitment to his family and marriage. After a problem arises with the tylium refinery, Tyrol organizes a general strike to protest the working conditions. The fiery speech to the labor union that began the strike is based on Mario Savio's "gears of the machine" address at the University of California, Berkeley.[14] When Admiral Adama threatens to shoot Cally, Tyrol backs down. He then has a meeting with President Roslin to discuss working conditions, replacement personnel, and training.
In the cliffhanger Season 3 finale, "Crossroads, Part II", he, along with Samuel Anders, Saul Tigh, and Tory Foster become aware that they are Cylons, based on hallucinatory music (which turns out to be a cover of "All Along The Watchtower" written by Bob Dylan) that only they can hear, and a "switch" that Tyrol believes has gone off within them. Tyrol being a Cylon means that his son, Nicholas, is the second known Cylon-Human hybrid after Hera Agathon.
At the start of season 4 Tyrol and the other three Cylons begin meeting in secret. In "The Ties That Bind" Tyrol's wife Cally becomes suspicious of him being away from her all the time. After seeing him meeting in the bar with Tory she believes he is having an affair. However, she later listens in on a meeting between Galen, Tory and Tigh and finds out her husband is a Cylon. After he returns to their quarters she knocks him out with a wrench and takes their child to commit suicide in an airlock. However, Tory comes and punches her out, takes the baby and then opens the air lock killing Cally. In "Escape Velocity" the Chief gives a eulogy for his wife and is obviously deeply affected by it when it affects his work. Later, Admiral Adama comes and meets him in the bar telling him he can take time off or have more work, whichever he needs. The Chief then imagines Adama saying it was his fault that Cally died and he goes ballistic, ranting and raving about how he settled for Cally because Boomer turned out to be a Cylon. Adama demotes him after he refuses to calm down, thus removing him from duty on the hangar deck and is to report to Petty Officer Basim for reassignment.
Tyrol sinks deeper into depression, almost committing suicide and later assaulting Baltar at one of his sermons for mentioning Cally (although Tyrol eventually accepts an apology from Baltar). When Tigh reveals himself, Sam Anders and the chief to be Cylons and the marines arrest the latter two, Galen smiles, looking almost relieved.
After Lee Adama gives a full pardon to the final four, Galen Tyrol (before going down to Earth) was last seen in his quarters playing with his son. The feelings from his former deck crew to the knowledge of him being a Cylon are not yet known.
When on Earth, Tyrol explores the area he is in and is drawn to the remains of a wall that has a silhoutte burned into it that matches his shadow exactly. Upon touching it, Tyrol experiences a flashback of his life on Earth 2000 years ago. He is strolling down a crowded market street when he is suddenly engulfed by a nuclear explosion. Tyrol then realizes that he and the rest of the Final Five Cylons had previously lived past lives on Earth, though he is unsure how they found their way to the Colonies.
[edit] External links
- Galen Tyrol at the Battlestar Wiki
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Litmus". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Miniseries, Parts 1 and 2". Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries).
- ^ "Flight of the Phoenix". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ a b "Resistance". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Fragged". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Scattered". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Pegasus". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Resurrection Ship". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ a b "Lay Down Your Burdens". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Episodes 1–10". Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance.
- ^ "Collaborators". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "The Eye of Jupiter". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ "Rapture". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion Season Two: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" (p. 102)
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