By MICHAEL HINMAN <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Source: SyFy Portal <http://www.syfyportal.com> Apr-30-2008
This story contains possible MINOR SPOILERS for the fourth season of "Battlestar Galactica." David Weddle, a member of the elite "Battlestar Galactica" writing team, told SyFy Portal just a couple months ago that fans should be paying close attention to a publicity photo featuring the cast of the SciFi Channel series posed as if they were in Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. One man feels he may have cracked the code, and the funny part is, he's not exactly a devoted fan of "Battlestar Galactica" catching it week in and week out. N.E. Lilly, who runs SpaceWesterns <http://spacewesterns.com> , started to study the photo as if he were stuck in a Dan Brown novel using simple photographic software on his computer to see if there were any hidden clues inside the photo that features Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer (times two), Michael Hogan, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Katee Sackhoff, Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas, Grace Park, Tehmoh Penikett and Edward James Olmos. "I've only become recently bound up in the knotty problem of the 'Battlestar Galactica' Last Supper image," Lilly said on his site. "As a designer, the image seemed staged. People weren't just standing there, acting their parts. They were placed, from the positions of the groupings to the unnatural positions that they were holding. Not just the people, but certain items on the table as well." Some of the ideas Lilly tried came from study of the real Da Vinci painting where shifting the image around digitally seemed to create new, very distinct images that could or could not have a hidden message. Since the people who put together the "Battlestar Galactica" photo likely would know about some of that, Lilly was convinced that they could've incorporated it into the publicity shot. Beginning with the two glasses of water on the table that were either half-full or full, Lilly discovered that they were on the same base line, which meant they could be lined up. "The two glasses were the same shape, on the same line and transparent," Lilly said. "I proceeded to lay one glass over the other and set the one layer to roughly the same percentage as one glass [has less water] than the other. And my heart jumped at the image that was produced." To see the images produced, click here <http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/60/> . Those who prefer a description, the image of Starbuck and Anders immediately move over to where it looks almost perfectly like Starbuck is leaning lovingly into Lee Adama, with Lee holding her shoulder, not Anders (who pretty much fades into the background). Also, Tyrol moves directly behind Gaius Baltar, holding the knife while looking down at him, while Baltar appears to be looking up at Tyrol. "The relation between Kara and Lee, and between Tyrol and Baltar is too good of a fit to be coincidental," Lilly said. "It places Kara squarely in front of the grail." Lilly was a guest on SyFy Radio <http://blogtalkradio.com/syfyradio> last week to discuss his discoveries and share some of his theories about what the picture means. Before he did that, however, he sought some advice from Logan Gawain of Galactica <http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/> Sitrep to what some of the "decoding" might mean. "The perfect alignment of the glass of water and other elements proves to me that either this is the way the image has to fit, or it's one amazing and wild coincidence," Gawain said. "Just look at how exactly every element fits rather precisely, as if it's meant to fit that way. For instance. does Chief Tyrol's position change to now holding the knife at Baltar's head foreshadow a final confrontation between the two of them? The Number Six, known as Natalie who is leading the Cylon rebellion against Cavil's faction, in this positioning is now pointing directly at Tyrol. Does that convey some special meaning or deeper understanding?" It might be impossible to tell for now, but it seems that since there are some secrets to be found, fans like Lilly and Gawain will continue to study the photo and try to find its hidden meanings. Shane Coffey put together an extensive analysis on the characters, and used his knowledge in the Mormon religion (which the original series was based on) to come up with who he feels is the final Cylon. We won't tell you who he concluded it was, but you can read his entire analysis by clicking here <http://www.cellounge.com/2008/04/27/the-final-cylon-will-be-revealed-now/> . http://www.cellounge.com/2008/04/27/the-final-cylon-will-be-revealed-now/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
