Interest on my blog is off the charts for Battlestar Galactica lately, so I just had to put a post up as we count down the next five days until the season three finale.

First, if you are not caught up, a couple posts you should read:

1. My post on the Death of Starbuck. (this is currently the most viewed post on my blog)
2. This great summary of the Crossroads, Part 1 episode from this Sunday, March 17th.

Now, onto the spoilers. If you don’t want to know what’s going to happen, or more accurately, what I think is going to happen, then stop reading already. No one is forcing you.

Most of my good material is from BuddyTV, which has the best spoilers post on the season finale that I’ve been able to find.

First, Starbuck. She is not dead. Rumors abound that attempt to prove that she is not dead. Current spoiler sites are saying that she will be back in the season finale, claiming to have visited Earth, and ready to guide the fleet to the planet.

Second, who are the final five cylons? Here is a quick shout out to Elliot, who seems to have correctly commented that Anders, Tory, Tigh, and Tyrol are all Cylons… or are they? The spoiler just says that they are hearing the music, and they meet and decide that they think they are Cylons. But does that make sense?

To me, it would make more sense if they actually were not Cylons, but have been tampered with somehow to “hear the music”. Thus, like Baltar before them, they think they are Cylons, but actually aren’t.

It’s also possible that some are, and some aren’t. Tigh would be hard to explain, given his long history with Adama. After all, the war with the mechanical Cylons was only 40 years ago. They didn’t have humanoid models back then.

Anders, on the other hand, is easy to see as a Cylon. First, Starbuck just “found” him as a rebel on Caprica. Second, all of Starbuck’s hallucination about being married to a Cylon could reflect a subconscious realization that actually her husband was a Cylon. Tory is also easy to see.

Personally, I will be disappointed if the Final Five Cylons end up being just other individuals on the crew. I think the show has set up a very interesting question with the Final Five:

• Why don’t the other Cylons want to speak about them? Did the Final Five leave because they disagreed with the path taken by the other Cylons? Did they do something unspeakable?
• Are there many versions of the Final Five? Are they functionally like the other seven, or do they have special abilities? Are they more human? Do they resurrect?
• Why did Number 3 react the Final Five the way she did? She clearly had see the one she apologized to before.

Lastly, what is up with the virtual Baltar in Caprica Six’s head, and the virtual Six in Baltar’s head?

Very excited for the season finale, but I hope they don’t short-change these issues with a “quick fix”.

Please comment below – let’s use the next few days to assemble as many guesses as possible about the finale and Season 4. We’ll then see who’s right after March 24th.

Update (3/26/2006): See my final post on the Season Finale and the Wait for 2008, now available.

Update (1/8/2007): Possible spoilers for the fifth & last cylon, as we approach Season 4.

Update (4/22/2008): New post on Episode 3 of the 4th Season: Ties That Bind.