Saul Tigh
Encyclopedia
Saul Tigh is a fictional character
on Battlestar Galactica
played by Michael Hogan. The character was named Paul Tigh in early scripts, and was renamed due to legal issues, according to producer Ronald D. Moore
. He is one of the main characters of the show.
assigned as executive officer
on the Galactica. At the opening of the series, he believes himself to be an ex-Colonial Viper
pilot, the son of another military pilot and the grandson of a Presidential military advisor, and to be around 70 years old. Memorabilia in his quarters suggest that he flew with a squadron named "Vigilantes".
It is revealed during season four of the show Tigh's early memories are artificial, implanted by Brother Cavil
when he killed and temporarily boxed Saul and his fellow Final Five Cylons. It is unclear if these memories were fabricated or taken from a human by Cavil. Tigh is actually a survivor of the ill fated 13th tribe, a tribe made entirely of Humanoid Cylons. He is approximately 2000 years old, with his last body having been operational since the first cylon war - any memories prior to that time are artificial. Tigh and the rest of the Final Five worked at the same research facility to rebuild resurrection technology lost since the Cylons started reproducing biologically. Since the destruction of the original planet known as Earth, he and his colleagues travelled to the 12 colonies, where the Cylon war was already in effect. There, they made a deal with the Centurions: stop the war and they would teach them how to make humanoid Cylons as well as resurrection technology, which eventually led to the Five's memory wipe and placement in the colonies. He has struggled with alcoholism
for much of his life, a problem that stems from Posttraumatic stress disorder connected to his artificial memories of the First Cylon War
and his depression after he was mustered out of the fleet. Despite this, he has excellent tactical skills and is fiercely loyal, especially to William Adama
.
Tigh is gruff and sometimes rather unlikable, although he once observed that "If the crew doesn't hate the XO
, then he's not doing his job." He and Kara Thrace
initially had a particularly unpleasant relationship; he regarding her as an insubordinate hothead, while she considered him mentally weak. Tigh attempts to bury the hatchet at one point, but does it in such a high-handed manner that he fails to accomplish anything. They appear to have reconciled at some point during the colonization of New Caprica and relations between them are now much warmer. Tigh also has a strong dislike of Gaius Baltar
; this turns into murderous rage during Baltar's tenure as head of the collaborationist government. Tigh had a particular respect for his subordinate Felix Gaeta
, going so far as to defend him after he makes a foolish mistake separating Galactica from the civilian fleet, though this respect all but evaporated after Tigh suspected Gaeta of collaboration with the Cylons on New Caprica. It is unclear how Tigh feels about Gaeta after he found out it was Gaeta supplying the human resistance with vital information.
He expresses contempt at civilians' unwillingness to forego certain comforts, such as having more than "a thimbleful of water a day" and seems genuinely shocked they refuse to accept martial law. He has an unrelenting moral vision and sense of duty, to the extent he publicly refuses to shake hands with Tom Zarek
, a former Sagittaron rebel turned politician, even though it would be politically expedient to do so.
Some time after the first Cylon war, he was mustered out of the service, and took low status work in civilian freighters for several years.
He had a strained relationship with his wife, Ellen
; as Adama later puts it, there were rumours "she slept with half the Fleet while Saul was in space." He divorced her after her infidelity was discovered; he carried a great deal of bitterness about this, to the extent he attacks Kara Thrace for mentioning it during a card game. After Ellen's reappearance on the Rising Star and move to the Galactica, they rebuilt their relationship. Part of their marital problems apparently came from their inability to have children, though in one episode he makes a comment thanking the Lords of Kobol he was childless after seeing the issues William Adama was having with his son Lee.
Up until approximately one year before the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies
, he served as William Adama's executive officer on board the Battlestar Valkyrie. After a failed Black Ops mission along the Armistice Line, the two friends were reassigned to the less prestigious Galactica to serve out the twilight of their careers.
At some point during this period Tigh had three volumes of war history published, until his personal problems interfered.
Tigh leads the marine detachment sent to overthrow
Laura Roslin
's presidency. Declaring it isn't worth it to sacrifice democracy, Captain Lee Adama
puts his gun to Tigh's head. Calmly telling him, "this is mutiny, you know that," Tigh takes control of the situation after Roslin surrenders and is able to take both Roslin and Lee into custody.
Tigh's greatest challenge comes soon after, when Sharon Valerii
shoots Commander Adama. As Galactica' s interim commander, Tigh has to deal with both military matters and mollifying the civilian population. His first test comes when he orders an emergency jump to forestall a potential Cylon attack; due to Gaeta forgetting to transmit recently-updated emergency jump coordinates to the rest of the fleet, Galactica jumped to a different location than the rest of the civilian fleet. With the fleet's only surgeon on another ship (and thus unable to perform surgery on Adama), Tigh orders the ship's computers to be networked in order to reunite with the fleet as soon as possible, despite the fact that Adama had strictly forbidden any networks on Galactica as the Cylons could easily infiltrate them.
Not possessing Adama's sensitivity or regard for the civilian population, Tigh finds them almost impossible to deal with. He tries to keep the press and Quorum of Twelve
from seeing Roslin. When they finally make it through, she reveals she has cancer.
Perhaps Tigh's worst decision is his declaration of martial law and dissolution of the Quorum of Twelve. Like many of his poorer decisions, it is spurred on by Ellen. The civilian ships declare they will not resupply Galactica until the Quorum is restored. As a show of force, Tigh sends Marine contingents to important supply ships with instructions to forcibly take what is necessary. Onboard the Gideon, protesters begin to throw coffee at the Marines, inflicting a bloody head injury on one of them, and causing the others to open fire. Several civilians die and the media dub the event "The Gideon Massacre", The lieutenant in charge becomes mentally unhinged by the situation and later tries to kill Tigh.
With Adama's recovery, Tigh returns to his preferred position: Adama's right-hand man. However, with more and more civilians believing in Roslin, ships begin leaving the fleet and jumping to Kobol
, where Roslin has told them to meet. After seeing the futility of allowing the family of what remains of humanity to be split apart, Adama goes to Kobol and uses his rapport with Roslin to resolve the situation.
Tigh supports Adama's reconciliation with Roslin even though he himself did not have the political skills to hold the Fleet together, and appears to bear her no ill will. Indeed, he, along with then-Petty Officer Second Class Anastasia Dualla
, instigate the attempt to rig the presidential election in favor of Roslin when it becomes clear Gaius Baltar is nearly assured victory. When the rigging attempt is discovered, he confesses his guilt to Adama.
After the Cylon occupation of New Caprica, Tigh is the highest ranking officer left on the planet, and leads a human resistance movement, with Chief Galen Tyrol
and Samuel Anders
as his right-hand men. He is jailed and tortured several times by the Cylons for acts of resistance against them, and his right eye is violently ripped out. Now even more embittered, Tigh allows volunteers to carry out suicide bombings against the Cylons, despite qualms from others within the Human community. Tigh reluctantly kills his wife by poisoning after she betrays the resistance to the Cylons—she had slept with the Cylon Cavil
to get Tigh out of jail, and was threatened with his death if she did not provide information on the resistance. When her betrayal of the humans to the Cylons is discovered, Anders tells him "You know what you have to do"; Tigh then poisons Ellen while sharing a final drink with her. While Saul views her death as necessary, he weeps bitterly as she dies in his arms.
for the purpose of secretly trying and punishing known (or suspected) Cylon collaborators. Colonel Tigh, along with the other members of the Circle, secretly execute 13 people, including one of Tyrol's deckhands, James "Jammer" Lyman
.
Following this, Tigh expresses bitterness and resentment over Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon's
continued occupation of his former position as XO of Galactica, stemming from both his lack of respect for anyone not involved in combating the Cylon occupation on the ground, and also his rage toward anyone he considers a Cylon collaborator. Adama confronts Tigh, accusing him of spreading discontent and lowering morale. Adama tells Tigh he is to stay in his quarters until he can return to being the man Adama has come to know after 30 years of service together. Tigh replies, "that man doesn't exist anymore, Bill, and you won't be seeing me again," and returns to his quarters, drinking heavily from any bottle he can find.
When Lieutenant Daniel "Bulldog" Novacek is picked up by the Galactica after three years in Cylon captivity, Tigh reveals Adama's role in Bulldog's capture, again driven by his depression and anger: "Sometimes surviving can be its own death sentence," he says bitterly. Nevertheless, this incident ultimately provides the stimulus for him to break out of his downward spiral: when Bulldog attacks Adama, it is Tigh who comes to the rescue, saving his old friend's life and making Bulldog see how he was acting as an unwitting pawn of the Cylons. After Adama is awarded a long-service medal by President Roslin, Tigh visits Adama in his quarters. Although still not sure of himself, he shares a drink with Adama and the two begin to talk and repair their friendship.
After this point, Tigh begins to return to his former self, participating in ship-board activities. He acts as referee for the rank-free boxing competition held aboard Galactica, and calls the event to a halt after Adama's fight with Tyrol and Adama's subsequent speech. He eventually returns to duty as Galactica' s XO: before returning to duty, he stands outside the CIC self-consciously adjusting his eyepatch, then enters not via the main hatch but via a less-visible door on an upper level, eschewing the attention and praise of the CIC crew. Confessing to killing Ellen Tigh
during Baltar's trial and suffering a breakdown, Tigh's position on the bridge is taken by Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon
until he feels fit to resume the post.
", Tigh, along with Samuel T. Anders, Galen Tyrol
, and Tory Foster
experience snippets of hallucinatory
music
, that only they can hear, yet cannot grasp. As they are drawn to meet and the music becomes clearer in their minds (which turns out to be the Bear McCreary
cover of "All Along The Watchtower
"), a mental "switch" (as described by Chief Tyrol) is activated and gives them the revelation they are, in fact, Cylons . As the four come to terms with this knowledge and its consequences, the Cylon fleet attacks. Tigh orders the others to report to their stations and defiantly declares, "My name is Saul Tigh. I'm an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."
Soon after, he joins William Adama on the bridge of the Galactica to coordinate fleet efforts to repulse the Cylon fleet. During this time, Tigh has a vision of himself calmly shooting Adama through the head with his service pistol, which is reminiscent of Boomer's attempted assassination of Adama earlier in the series. Tigh is shocked and dazed, but quickly regains his composure. However, his visions continue as he visits the captured Cylon, Caprica Six, and hallucinates her with his dead wife Ellen's face.
It was revealed in the episode "Sine Qua Non" Tigh has been involved in a sexual relationship with Caprica Six and she is apparently pregnant because of it. This relationship has therefore apparently brought about the first successful Cylon- Cylon pregnancy, something which, according to Athena, wasn't possible between two regular Cylon models. During "Sine Qua Non", Saul is temporarily promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral with the command of the Galactica by Rear Admiral Adama who resigns his position and elects to remain behind in the hope the missing Basestar holding Roslin will attempt a rendezvous with the fleet. Saul never actually puts on the Rear Admiral insignia given to him by William Adama.
In the mid-season finale episode "Revelations", Tigh reveals his Cylon status to Adama, stating, "If I had the guts to airlock myself when I first found out, we wouldn't be in this mess" showing that despite his true nature, he still identifies himself with the human fleet. Tigh offers to let himself be jettisoned from an airlock in order to provide the Colonial Fleet with leverage against the Cylons, who do not want him harmed. Ultimately, Tigh and the remaining Final Five Cylons are given general amnesty by Acting President Lee Adama.
Upon finding Earth to have been devastated by a nuclear attack, Tigh has a vision that revealing his wife, Ellen, was actually the final Cylon. When Ellen rejoins the fleet she is angry with Saul for the relationship he has had with Caprica Six and votes that the Cylons leave the fleet. Saul refuses to leave and tells Caprica Six to go with the rest of the Cylons. Ellen, upset with Saul, attempts to put herself on an even keel with Caprica and claims Saul loves the ship and Adama more than both of them. Caprica becomes upset and collapses, eventually losing the child she and Saul had intended to name Liam.
Tigh is with Ellen, Tyrol and Tory in Joe's Bar when Kara starts playing the music, surprising them all. (Someone to Watch Over Me
) Afterwards he's shocked when Adama decides to order Galactica's repairs to stop and the ship to be scrapped for parts. The two share a toast to the ship. (Islanded in a Stream of Stars
)
When Adama calls for volunteers for a rescue mission for Hera Agathon, Tigh volunteers immediately alongside Ellen. (Daybreak, Part 1
) During the Battle of The Colony, Tigh coordinates the battle with Adama in CIC. When a fire breaks out near Anders, he goes up with Tyrol to put it out and stays on the balcony afterwards. During the attempt to get Cavil to stop all of this and release Hera who he has taken hostage in CIC, Tigh offers him resurrection technology if he agrees to let Hera go and stop chasing humanity. After he agrees, the Five combine together to send the plans for resurrection to The Colony and Tigh tells a nervous Tory they forgive her sins when she gets worried about everyone seeing everyone else's memories. Tigh is shocked to discover Tory murdered Cally and can only watch as Tyrol kills Tory in revenge, sparking a firefight that results in the demise of the attacking Cylon forces led by Cavil. After Galactica jumps away, Tigh resumes his duties as XO and reports that Galactica suffered critical structural failures, "broke her back" and can't jump anymore. After landing on their new home planet which they name Earth, Tigh and Ellen say goodbye to Tyrol who plans to go off and live as a hermit. Tigh forgives him for killing Tory, saying he'd have done the same thing if someone had done that to Ellen. Tigh and Ellen rekindle their relationship and go off to spend the rest of their lives together. (Daybreak, Part 2
)
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...
on 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...
played by Michael Hogan. The character was named Paul Tigh in early scripts, and was renamed due to legal issues, according to producer Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
. He is one of the main characters of the show.
Overview and personality
Saul Tigh is a line officerLine officer
In the United States armed forces, the term line officer or officer of the line refers to an officer who is trained for command — that is, to be the commanding officer of a warship, ground combat unit, combat aviation unit, or combat support unit....
assigned as executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
on the Galactica. At the opening of the series, he believes himself to be an ex-Colonial Viper
Colonial Viper
The Colonial Viper is the primary fighter spacecraft type used by the human protagonists in the Battlestar Galactica fictional universe. Appearing in both the 1978 original series and the 2003 reimagined series, as well as various derivative works, the single-pilot spacecraft are carried aboard...
pilot, the son of another military pilot and the grandson of a Presidential military advisor, and to be around 70 years old. Memorabilia in his quarters suggest that he flew with a squadron named "Vigilantes".
It is revealed during season four of the show Tigh's early memories are artificial, implanted by Brother Cavil
Brother Cavil
John Cavil is a fictional character and the main antagonist from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series. In the fourth season episode "Six of One", Cavil's model number was revealed as Number One.- Background :...
when he killed and temporarily boxed Saul and his fellow Final Five Cylons. It is unclear if these memories were fabricated or taken from a human by Cavil. Tigh is actually a survivor of the ill fated 13th tribe, a tribe made entirely of Humanoid Cylons. He is approximately 2000 years old, with his last body having been operational since the first cylon war - any memories prior to that time are artificial. Tigh and the rest of the Final Five worked at the same research facility to rebuild resurrection technology lost since the Cylons started reproducing biologically. Since the destruction of the original planet known as Earth, he and his colleagues travelled to the 12 colonies, where the Cylon war was already in effect. There, they made a deal with the Centurions: stop the war and they would teach them how to make humanoid Cylons as well as resurrection technology, which eventually led to the Five's memory wipe and placement in the colonies. He has struggled with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
for much of his life, a problem that stems from Posttraumatic stress disorder connected to his artificial memories of the First Cylon War
Cylon War
The Cylon War is a fictional interstellar war that occurred in the Battlestar Galactica universe. Both the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica movie and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries are set shortly after that conflict....
and his depression after he was mustered out of the fleet. Despite this, he has excellent tactical skills and is fiercely loyal, especially to William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
.
Tigh is gruff and sometimes rather unlikable, although he once observed that "If the crew doesn't hate the XO
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
, then he's not doing his job." He and Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
initially had a particularly unpleasant relationship; he regarding her as an insubordinate hothead, while she considered him mentally weak. Tigh attempts to bury the hatchet at one point, but does it in such a high-handed manner that he fails to accomplish anything. They appear to have reconciled at some point during the colonization of New Caprica and relations between them are now much warmer. Tigh also has a strong dislike of Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
; this turns into murderous rage during Baltar's tenure as head of the collaborationist government. Tigh had a particular respect for his subordinate Felix Gaeta
Felix Gaeta
Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Alessandro Juliani.- Character overview in his early career :...
, going so far as to defend him after he makes a foolish mistake separating Galactica from the civilian fleet, though this respect all but evaporated after Tigh suspected Gaeta of collaboration with the Cylons on New Caprica. It is unclear how Tigh feels about Gaeta after he found out it was Gaeta supplying the human resistance with vital information.
He expresses contempt at civilians' unwillingness to forego certain comforts, such as having more than "a thimbleful of water a day" and seems genuinely shocked they refuse to accept martial law. He has an unrelenting moral vision and sense of duty, to the extent he publicly refuses to shake hands with Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
, a former Sagittaron rebel turned politician, even though it would be politically expedient to do so.
Early life and the First Cylon War
According to the memories implanted by Cavil, Tigh entered the Colonial Fleet as an enlisted man during the first Cylon war. Whether he replaced an existing human being, or was a complete fabrication, is unknown. Still a teenager, he was serving on the Brenik when it was boarded by Cylon Centurions. The bloody hand-to-hand shipboard combat that ensued left him with mental scars lasting for the rest of his life and convinced him that, although they are machines, the Cylons truly hate the human race. He is also frequently able to anticipate Cylon tactics from his considerable combat experience. Tigh was eventually trained as a Viper pilot and commissioned as an officer.Some time after the first Cylon war, he was mustered out of the service, and took low status work in civilian freighters for several years.
Return to the Fleet
Tigh met William Adama during a bar fight that began when Tigh was taunted by his shipmates over his wartime service, and the two quickly became firm friends. Adama was instrumental in saving Tigh from his most self-destructive tendencies. After his marriage, Adama was able to use his new wife Carolanne's connections to get first himself and then Tigh reinstated in the Colonial Fleet.He had a strained relationship with his wife, Ellen
Ellen Tigh
After she is killed for treason against the resistance on New Caprica, Ellen resurrects aboard a Cylon ship, where John Cavil holds her prisoner. However, by downloading into a new body, she regains the memories that Cavil had blocked decades earlier...
; as Adama later puts it, there were rumours "she slept with half the Fleet while Saul was in space." He divorced her after her infidelity was discovered; he carried a great deal of bitterness about this, to the extent he attacks Kara Thrace for mentioning it during a card game. After Ellen's reappearance on the Rising Star and move to the Galactica, they rebuilt their relationship. Part of their marital problems apparently came from their inability to have children, though in one episode he makes a comment thanking the Lords of Kobol he was childless after seeing the issues William Adama was having with his son Lee.
Up until approximately one year before the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies
The Destruction of the Twelve Colonies
The Destruction of the Twelve Colonies is a fictitious interstellar holocaust first depicted in the 1978 motion picture Battlestar Galactica, which set the stage for the subsequent television series...
, he served as William Adama's executive officer on board the Battlestar Valkyrie. After a failed Black Ops mission along the Armistice Line, the two friends were reassigned to the less prestigious Galactica to serve out the twilight of their careers.
At some point during this period Tigh had three volumes of war history published, until his personal problems interfered.
After the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies
In the long years of peace, Tigh carries out his XO duties competently but unexceptionally; that all changes with the return of the Cylons. Almost immediately, Tigh is tested: after a nuclear missile hits Galactica, he has to decide whether to seal off the affected area and doom the crew serving there or fight the fire and potentially lose the ship. After several seconds of hesitation, he orders the area sealed, killing 87 of the crew but saving the ship.Tigh leads the marine detachment sent to overthrow
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
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...
's presidency. Declaring it isn't worth it to sacrifice democracy, Captain Lee Adama
Lee Adama
Leland Joseph "Lee" Adama is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by actor Jamie Bamber. He is one of the main characters in the series.-Early life:...
puts his gun to Tigh's head. Calmly telling him, "this is mutiny, you know that," Tigh takes control of the situation after Roslin surrenders and is able to take both Roslin and Lee into custody.
Tigh's greatest challenge comes soon after, when Sharon Valerii
Sharon Valerii
Number Eight is a female humanoid Cylon model on the television series Battlestar Galactica, a reimagining of the classic show of the same name. She is portrayed by Grace Park...
shoots Commander Adama. As Galactica
Not possessing Adama's sensitivity or regard for the civilian population, Tigh finds them almost impossible to deal with. He tries to keep the press and Quorum of Twelve
Quorum of Twelve
The Quorum of Twelve is a fictional governing body of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol on the two Battlestar Galactica television series. In both series, it was composed of one representative from each colony.Series creator Glen A...
from seeing Roslin. When they finally make it through, she reveals she has cancer.
Perhaps Tigh's worst decision is his declaration of martial law and dissolution of the Quorum of Twelve. Like many of his poorer decisions, it is spurred on by Ellen. The civilian ships declare they will not resupply Galactica until the Quorum is restored. As a show of force, Tigh sends Marine contingents to important supply ships with instructions to forcibly take what is necessary. Onboard the Gideon, protesters begin to throw coffee at the Marines, inflicting a bloody head injury on one of them, and causing the others to open fire. Several civilians die and the media dub the event "The Gideon Massacre", The lieutenant in charge becomes mentally unhinged by the situation and later tries to kill Tigh.
With Adama's recovery, Tigh returns to his preferred position: Adama's right-hand man. However, with more and more civilians believing in Roslin, ships begin leaving the fleet and jumping to Kobol
Kobol
Kobol is the name of a planet in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe.Within the context of both Battlestar Galactica stories, Kobol is the birthplace and original home of humanity, from which the civilization departed and formed the Twelve Colonies on other worlds...
, where Roslin has told them to meet. After seeing the futility of allowing the family of what remains of humanity to be split apart, Adama goes to Kobol and uses his rapport with Roslin to resolve the situation.
Tigh supports Adama's reconciliation with Roslin even though he himself did not have the political skills to hold the Fleet together, and appears to bear her no ill will. Indeed, he, along with then-Petty Officer Second Class Anastasia Dualla
Anastasia Dualla
Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, portrayed by Kandyse McClure, is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.-Character history:...
, instigate the attempt to rig the presidential election in favor of Roslin when it becomes clear Gaius Baltar is nearly assured victory. When the rigging attempt is discovered, he confesses his guilt to Adama.
New Caprica
Saul and his wife, Ellen, join the settlers on New Caprica, a short time before the Cylon occupation.After the Cylon occupation of New Caprica, Tigh is the highest ranking officer left on the planet, and leads a human resistance movement, with Chief Galen 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...
and Samuel Anders
Samuel Anders
Samuel T. Anders is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series, played by Michael Trucco...
as his right-hand men. He is jailed and tortured several times by the Cylons for acts of resistance against them, and his right eye is violently ripped out. Now even more embittered, Tigh allows volunteers to carry out suicide bombings against the Cylons, despite qualms from others within the Human community. Tigh reluctantly kills his wife by poisoning after she betrays the resistance to the Cylons—she had slept with the Cylon Cavil
Brother Cavil
John Cavil is a fictional character and the main antagonist from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series. In the fourth season episode "Six of One", Cavil's model number was revealed as Number One.- Background :...
to get Tigh out of jail, and was threatened with his death if she did not provide information on the resistance. When her betrayal of the humans to the Cylons is discovered, Anders tells him "You know what you have to do"; Tigh then poisons Ellen while sharing a final drink with her. While Saul views her death as necessary, he weeps bitterly as she dies in his arms.
Back with the Fleet
Following the Second Exodus, Tigh is appointed as part of a group of 6 called "the Circle". The group is a secret jury created by President Tom ZarekTom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
for the purpose of secretly trying and punishing known (or suspected) Cylon collaborators. Colonel Tigh, along with the other members of the Circle, secretly execute 13 people, including one of Tyrol's deckhands, James "Jammer" Lyman
James Lyman
James "Jammer" Lyman is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. His character was centrally featured in the webisodic Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance. In television series he appeared in 10 episodes, including a post-death flashback...
.
Following this, Tigh expresses bitterness and resentment over Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon's
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
continued occupation of his former position as XO of Galactica, stemming from both his lack of respect for anyone not involved in combating the Cylon occupation on the ground, and also his rage toward anyone he considers a Cylon collaborator. Adama confronts Tigh, accusing him of spreading discontent and lowering morale. Adama tells Tigh he is to stay in his quarters until he can return to being the man Adama has come to know after 30 years of service together. Tigh replies, "that man doesn't exist anymore, Bill, and you won't be seeing me again," and returns to his quarters, drinking heavily from any bottle he can find.
When Lieutenant Daniel "Bulldog" Novacek is picked up by the Galactica after three years in Cylon captivity, Tigh reveals Adama's role in Bulldog's capture, again driven by his depression and anger: "Sometimes surviving can be its own death sentence," he says bitterly. Nevertheless, this incident ultimately provides the stimulus for him to break out of his downward spiral: when Bulldog attacks Adama, it is Tigh who comes to the rescue, saving his old friend's life and making Bulldog see how he was acting as an unwitting pawn of the Cylons. After Adama is awarded a long-service medal by President Roslin, Tigh visits Adama in his quarters. Although still not sure of himself, he shares a drink with Adama and the two begin to talk and repair their friendship.
After this point, Tigh begins to return to his former self, participating in ship-board activities. He acts as referee for the rank-free boxing competition held aboard Galactica, and calls the event to a halt after Adama's fight with Tyrol and Adama's subsequent speech. He eventually returns to duty as Galactica
Ellen Tigh
After she is killed for treason against the resistance on New Caprica, Ellen resurrects aboard a Cylon ship, where John Cavil holds her prisoner. However, by downloading into a new body, she regains the memories that Cavil had blocked decades earlier...
during Baltar's trial and suffering a breakdown, Tigh's position on the bridge is taken by Captain 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:...
until he feels fit to resume the post.
The Final Five
Throughout the cliffhanger Season 3 finale, "Crossroads, Part IICrossroads (Battlestar Galactica)
"Crossroads" are the nineteenth and twentieth episodes of the third season and season finale from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica...
", Tigh, along with Samuel T. Anders, Galen 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...
, and 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...
experience snippets of hallucinatory
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, that only they can hear, yet cannot grasp. As they are drawn to meet and the music becomes clearer in their minds (which turns out to be the Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary is an American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.-Biography:...
cover of "All Along The Watchtower
All Along the Watchtower
"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more...
"), a mental "switch" (as described by Chief Tyrol) is activated and gives them the revelation they are, in fact, Cylons . As the four come to terms with this knowledge and its consequences, the Cylon fleet attacks. Tigh orders the others to report to their stations and defiantly declares, "My name is Saul Tigh. I'm an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."
Soon after, he joins William Adama on the bridge of the Galactica to coordinate fleet efforts to repulse the Cylon fleet. During this time, Tigh has a vision of himself calmly shooting Adama through the head with his service pistol, which is reminiscent of Boomer's attempted assassination of Adama earlier in the series. Tigh is shocked and dazed, but quickly regains his composure. However, his visions continue as he visits the captured Cylon, Caprica Six, and hallucinates her with his dead wife Ellen's face.
It was revealed in the episode "Sine Qua Non" Tigh has been involved in a sexual relationship with Caprica Six and she is apparently pregnant because of it. This relationship has therefore apparently brought about the first successful Cylon- Cylon pregnancy, something which, according to Athena, wasn't possible between two regular Cylon models. During "Sine Qua Non", Saul is temporarily promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral with the command of the Galactica by Rear Admiral Adama who resigns his position and elects to remain behind in the hope the missing Basestar holding Roslin will attempt a rendezvous with the fleet. Saul never actually puts on the Rear Admiral insignia given to him by William Adama.
In the mid-season finale episode "Revelations", Tigh reveals his Cylon status to Adama, stating, "If I had the guts to airlock myself when I first found out, we wouldn't be in this mess" showing that despite his true nature, he still identifies himself with the human fleet. Tigh offers to let himself be jettisoned from an airlock in order to provide the Colonial Fleet with leverage against the Cylons, who do not want him harmed. Ultimately, Tigh and the remaining Final Five Cylons are given general amnesty by Acting President Lee Adama.
Upon finding Earth to have been devastated by a nuclear attack, Tigh has a vision that revealing his wife, Ellen, was actually the final Cylon. When Ellen rejoins the fleet she is angry with Saul for the relationship he has had with Caprica Six and votes that the Cylons leave the fleet. Saul refuses to leave and tells Caprica Six to go with the rest of the Cylons. Ellen, upset with Saul, attempts to put herself on an even keel with Caprica and claims Saul loves the ship and Adama more than both of them. Caprica becomes upset and collapses, eventually losing the child she and Saul had intended to name Liam.
Tigh is with Ellen, Tyrol and Tory in Joe's Bar when Kara starts playing the music, surprising them all. (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....
) Afterwards he's shocked when Adama decides to order Galactica's repairs to stop and the ship to be scrapped for parts. The two share a toast to the ship. (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...
)
When Adama calls for volunteers for a rescue mission for Hera Agathon, Tigh volunteers immediately alongside Ellen. (Daybreak, Part 1
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...
) During the Battle of The Colony, Tigh coordinates the battle with Adama in CIC. When a fire breaks out near Anders, he goes up with Tyrol to put it out and stays on the balcony afterwards. During the attempt to get Cavil to stop all of this and release Hera who he has taken hostage in CIC, Tigh offers him resurrection technology if he agrees to let Hera go and stop chasing humanity. After he agrees, the Five combine together to send the plans for resurrection to The Colony and Tigh tells a nervous Tory they forgive her sins when she gets worried about everyone seeing everyone else's memories. Tigh is shocked to discover Tory murdered Cally and can only watch as Tyrol kills Tory in revenge, sparking a firefight that results in the demise of the attacking Cylon forces led by Cavil. After Galactica jumps away, Tigh resumes his duties as XO and reports that Galactica suffered critical structural failures, "broke her back" and can't jump anymore. After landing on their new home planet which they name Earth, Tigh and Ellen say goodbye to Tyrol who plans to go off and live as a hermit. Tigh forgives him for killing Tory, saying he'd have done the same thing if someone had done that to Ellen. Tigh and Ellen rekindle their relationship and go off to spend the rest of their lives together. (Daybreak, Part 2
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...
)