I just got done watching Exodus at the beginning of season three. Among other things, our intrepid insurgents on New Caprica discover that Ellen Tigh sold them out to the Cylons in order to protect her husband. After some whispering and “You know what you have to do,” Colonel Tigh proceeds to poison his wife.
Uhm, what?
Why was this necessary? Why on earth would he “have” to do this? Yes, obviously, as long as they were on New Caprica and living amongst and being oppressed by the Cylons, she was a wildcard they couldn’t afford. But the Gallactica was literally already on its way to rescue them. The evacuation was only hours away. And once Ellen’s on a ship several light-years away from the Cylons, what’s she going to do? Especially since she was only doing it to protect her husband; she’d have no reason to continue collaborating with the Cylons if she and the Colonel are safe on Gallactica.
This was so nonsensical, in fact, that I believed until the end of the episode that Tigh had drugged her so she’d sleep and not be a problem during the evacuation. I only twigged to the fact that she was really dead when we weren’t shown anyone carrying her aboard, or given any indication that she’d made it aboard at all.
So, what the hell? I can’t believe it was even suggested, nevermind that Tigh would actually consent to doing it.
She had betrayed people, resulting in deaths. In the minds of hardened, no-nonsense underground guerillas, the penalty for such treason was death. Tigh was a hardened ( indeed, perhaps the hardest ) non-nonsense guerilla leader - he would have shot anyone else for such an offense without even blinking an eye ( well, THE eye ). To maintain his own sense of morality he could do no less even when it was own beloved wife.
Pretty straightforward I thought - again in wartime the treasonous are typically executed without compunction. Adama may or may not have done the same ( imprisoned and formally tried her, perhaps ), but he’s a different person than Tigh.
IIRC, other resistance leaders implied that Tigh could kill her easy, or they’d kill her hard. Fast acting poison was the most merciful means available.
It’s not just that: Tigh couldn’t continue to be the leader of the resistance if he wasn’t willing to personally do the dirty work required. He can’t ask someone else to do something that he wasn’t willing to do himself.
Okay, yeah. I at least see where their logic train was headed, now. I was confused because I guess I just have a higher standard of motive to call something “treason” – she wasn’t doing it out of self-interest, nor because she had any desire to help the Cylons. (Baltar, on the other hand…)
Unfortunately treasonous action without treasonous motivation is still functionally treason. Novels ( and real life ) are full of stories of betrayals undertaken to spare a loved one. One can feel sympathy, and I think it was intended we feel at least some sympathy for Ellen Tigh - it heightens the drama and tragedy of the whole mess. But the end result is invariably the same.
How is Baltar shown as wanting to help the Cylons? He’s clearly just trying to save his own skin (still treason, but it’s not as if he actually like the Cylons).
Which was why I included “doing it out of self-interest.”
Whether or not he wants to help the Cylons or help himself doesn’t matter much to me – more pertinent is that he knows the consequences of his actions, yet nothing he does is undertaken out of caring for another human being. There’s neither altruism nor loyalty, even misguided altruism or loyalty.
In contrast is how I regard Ellen Tigh. She screwed up, absolutely. She was stupid, really stupid. But she did it out of loyalty and love for her husband. That’s the difference.
). To maintain his own sense of morality he could do no less even when it was own beloved wife.