# Battlestar Galactica 4.15 - "The Oath" (spoiler warning)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 30, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723 "2009-01-30T16:30:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/141 "2009-02-02T04:04:44Z")
I noticed that about the marines too. It’ll be hard to recover normal ship operations when _all_ your marines are in the brig.
OTOH, in real life I’ve known and worked with marines and they are very much pack animals. All Gaeta would have to do is turn a couple of the senior ones and the rest of the pack would follow. It seemed the one Adama set free was a pack-follower. Adama might take that into consideration if he ever gets control of his ship back.
---
### Author:  [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/142 "2009-02-02T14:55:43Z")
The marines, while one might generally expect them to be loyal to Adama, may have also been on the front lines of previous conflicts with Cylons that make the idea of an alliance very unpalatable. Would season-two-era Tigh have stood for cylons installing equipment in fleet ships? Even now, you can tell he’s grumpy about the whole thing and pretty self-despising.
---
### Author:  [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/143 "2009-02-02T15:08:33Z")
…
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/144 "2009-02-02T16:14:25Z")
I need to watch the episode again, but I’m pretty sure I saw, in the brief flashes of the running battle in the corridors, at least one Marine fighting against the mutineers (possibly against his fellow Marines). I’ll watch for it again on the re-view.
---
### Author:  [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/145 "2009-02-02T16:34:03Z")
Yeah, **Cervaise** , I don’t remember anything specific except that I really came away from it with the impression that each side had some of all groups. It does sure seem like a lot of the marines side with the mutineers, but that could be just because they were shown moving and acting in organized groups, while the resistance was taken by surprise and spread out. I do think it’s plausible though that the soldiers would have even stronger anti-cylon prejudices and thus be more likely to defect as a large proportion of their population.
---
### Author:  [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/146 "2009-02-02T16:58:00Z")
Also remember that they raided the munitions areas - there certainly could have been some civvies wearing marine gear in addition to the marines.
I think no matter what happens, there is going to be some hardcore population reduction moving forward.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/147 "2009-02-02T17:44:36Z")
Will Adama have enough guys to man the ship?
---
### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/148 "2009-02-02T17:52:50Z")
Most of Galactica is empty, anyway – that’s why there’s room for Baltar’s harem. Um, “religious sect”. So it’s not too clear just how many people they need for day-to-day operations on Galactica. The marines, surely, aren’t running the engines or coordinating DRADIS or whatever.
More likely, they’ll fall further behind on maintenance, more things will break, there’ll be fewer people doing more work and thus under greater stress, they won’t be able to get as many Vipers into space as they used to…
I think the mutiny will actually end up making them _more_ reliant on the rebel Cylons, actually.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/149 "2009-02-02T20:49:59Z")
> [@Lightray](#):
>
> Most of Galactica is empty, anyway \
Is it? I thought once Galactica and Pegasus combined, it was close to being full strength.
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/150 "2009-02-02T20:55:35Z")
That was pre-New-Caprica. Lots of the crew mustered out and a fair number of them probably didn’t make it back.
---
### Author:  [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/151 "2009-02-02T20:57:11Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> I need to watch the episode again, but I’m pretty sure I saw, in the brief flashes of the running battle in the corridors, at least one Marine fighting against the mutineers (possibly against his fellow Marines). I’ll watch for it again on the re-view.
I remember a scene where Starbuck and Lee encounter a marine in uniform while they were cautiously moving through looking from the flight deck and there is a tense moment where they weren’t sure if they were going to start shooting at each other or not, but the marine seemed to gesture that he was on their side and then continued down another hallway with his weapon drawn.
I remember thinking “how the hell are they going to know who’s friendly and who’s hostile?” but it never really came up in any other scene.
---
### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/152 "2009-02-02T21:03:12Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Is it? I thought once Galactica and Pegasus combined, it was close to being full strength.
Pegasus had a much smaller crew than Galactica because it used modern technology. Galactica is a relic from the First Cylon War (50 yrs ago); it was the oldest battlestar in the fleet (remember it was being turned into a museum ship in the mini).
---
### Author:  [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/153 "2009-02-02T21:03:28Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#):
>
> I remember a scene where Starbuck and Lee encounter a marine in uniform while they were cautiously moving through looking from the flight deck and there is a tense moment where they weren’t sure if they were going to start shooting at each other or not, but the marine seemed to gesture that he was on their side and then continued down another hallway with his weapon drawn.
>
> I remember thinking “how the hell are they going to know who’s friendly and who’s hostile?” but it never really came up in any other scene.
I remember that now, and actually I was thinking that I would NOT turn my back on that guy just because he waved (or nodded, or whatever) at me.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/154 "2009-02-02T21:11:44Z")
> [@troub](#):
>
> I remember that now, and actually I was thinking that I would NOT turn my back on that guy just because he waved (or nodded, or whatever) at me.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/155 "2009-02-02T21:34:54Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#):
>
> I remember a scene where Starbuck and Lee encounter a marine in uniform while they were cautiously moving through looking from the flight deck and there is a tense moment where they weren’t sure if they were going to start shooting at each other or not, but the marine seemed to gesture that he was on their side and then continued down another hallway with his weapon drawn.
>
> I remember thinking “how the hell are they going to know who’s friendly and who’s hostile?” but it never really came up in any other scene.
I just rewatched the scene, and the guy was wearing a regular officer uniform, for what it’s worth. He evidently wasn’t a marine. It seemed like three civilians were being chased by a marine, and shooting back, then Starbuck and Apollo rounded a corner an encountered the officer who held up his hand and said “whoa, whoa, whoa.”
It’s still unclear how they knew this guy was on their side but it seems it was mostly marines vs. civilians and officers. Mostly.
---
### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/156 "2009-02-02T23:50:59Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Pegasus had a much smaller crew than Galactica because it used modern technology. Galactica is a relic from the First Cylon War (50 yrs ago); it was the oldest battlestar in the fleet (remember it was being turned into a museum ship in the mini).
Also, as far as I know, they’re still only using one of the flight decks/landing bays.
And as I’d mentioned, the emptyness of Galactica’s berthing was specifically given as the reason that Baltar’s cult is there at all.
---
### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/157 "2009-02-03T00:45:36Z")
> [@TJVM](#):
>
> I liked that, too. But one thing that bothered me was the fact (or maybe just the impression) that virtually all of the Marines have sided with the mutineers. I would think that they would be among the people _most_ loyal to Adama, and, conversely, would not find Zarek or Gaeta appealing as new leaders (Zarek is a criminal; Gaeta is a smart guy and competent officer, but he’s fundamentally a techie, not a warrior). I can buy that Gaeta could recruit a small group of mutineers among the Marines, and that they could seize the CIC through careful planning and surprise. But it seems like maintaining control should have been more difficult than it apparently has been.
It’s not necessarily all the marines. Gaeta could have arranged some shift-swings so that “his” men were on duty at once. The non-Gaeta marines just weren’t on duty - and as such, weren’t armed or wearing their gear.
-Joe
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/158 "2009-02-03T01:40:59Z")
Traditionally the marines are there to prevent the crew from mutiny. As such, I would think they would be cohesive and remain loyal to Adama. Of course, it ain’t Earth, the nineteenth century or the Royal Navy. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/159 "2009-02-03T04:05:41Z")
Did you notice that when Gaeta called the CAP to target the Raptor, he told them to call someone other than Hot Dog? I think they are going to try to give HD a little more action and let him fight alongside the others. As my bf Dewey said in last week’s episode: OMG - they finally gave him a real name - not just a call sign!
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723/160 "2009-02-03T06:23:31Z")
I’m pretty sure we heard Hot Dog’s name in the episode where he was introduced (in season one, when he was a flight school washout recruited for Starbuck’s nugget training after the regular pilots got asploded).
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723.md?page=7)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-15-the-oath-spoiler-warning/483723.md?page=9)