LEOBEN CONOY

'Leoben Conoy' is a fictional character appearing in the reimagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series.
Conoy is a humanoid Cylon agent with a bizarre demeanor. He portrays himself as having philosophical and religious enlightenment. Meanwhile he delights in playing mind games by engaging in distorted conversations that entwine both truth and lies.
Leoben expresses a pantheistic view of God as inherent in all beings, telling Starbuck, "We're all God."

Contents

Copies

Ragnar Anchorage

Colonial fleet

Occupation of New Caprica

Leoben's role in Starbuck's destiny

See also

References

Copies

Ragnar Anchorage

Conoy is first encountered in the miniseries by Commander Adama hiding in the Ragnar Anchorage supply depot posing as an arms dealer scrounging for weapon supplies. To avoid arrest, Conoy offers to "help" Adama's supply team gather cannon shells for ''Galactica'''s railguns. After an explosive device is accidentally detonated, Adama becomes trapped with Conoy and separated from the rest of the crew. As Adama and Conoy converse, Adama notices Conoy's "allergies" getting worse. This makes Adama suspicious as it is a reaction that Cylons have to radiation (in this case emitted by the gas giant the anchorage orbits). Eventually, Conoy confirms Adama's suspicions and admits that he is a Cylon.
In the ensuing struggle, Conoy reacts with amazing speed and strength, but Adama manages to kill him by bludgeoning him in the head with a flashlight. Just prior to his demise, Conoy reveals to Adama that Cylons can be "resurrected" with their personas downloaded into another copy upon death, allowing all of their experiences to be saved and providing effective immortality. It is implied, however, that the radiation field in which the Ragnar Anchorage is located in prevents Conoy from downloading to a Cylon facility for proper resurrection.
After Adama is rescued, Conoy's body is taken back to ''Galactica'' and examined, revealing that humanoid Cylon variants are almost identical to humans.

Colonial fleet

In the episode "Flesh and Bone", a copy of Conoy is found in the fleet hiding aboard the ''Gemenon Traveller'' and is arrested. After dodging questions and playing mind games he claims he has planted a nuclear bomb within the fleet. Conoy is subsequently brutally interrogated by Starbuck, with whom it seems he has a growing obsession. President Laura Roslin intervenes the interrogation and questions Conoy more courteously. He then makes startling predictions about Kobol and the future of the fleet. After admitting there was no bomb and frightening Roslin by claiming Adama is a Cylon spy, Roslin has Conoy vented into space.

Occupation of New Caprica

In the final episode of 2nd season "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II", Conoy appears once again during the Cylon invasion of New Caprica. He asks Starbuck's husband Samuel Anders for Starbuck's whereabouts.
In the third season premier "Occupation", it is revealed that Starbuck has been captured by the Cylons, and has been forced to live with Conoy for a number of months. During this period she has killed Conoy five times, though he would simply resurrect and return, exercising extreme patience in his task of winning Starbuck's affection.
Conoy claims that he has created a baby from an egg retrieved from Starbuck's ovary (see "The Farm") and presents a girl named Kacey. Conoy says that Kacey is a half-Cylon hybrid, Starbuck and Conoy being the parents. In "Exodus" (part 2), however, it is revealed that Kacey is a human child taken from her mother on New Caprica, and the two are reunited (much to Starbuck's shock) when Starbuck and Kacey arrive back on ''Galactica''. In order to rescue Kacey, Starbuck was coerced into saying "I love you" to Conoy and kissing him, before stabbing him to death once more.

Leoben's role in Starbuck's destiny

Ever since Starbuck first encountered Leoben aboard the ''Geminon Traveller'' and during the time she was forced to live with him on New Caprica, Leoben has continually told her that she has a special destiny and an important role to play in future events. Despite Starbuck's guilt that she has been nothing but a "screw up" since childhood, Leoben tries to show she is more significant than she believes. In later episodes of the third season, Starbuck has bizarre dreams of Leoben, with some becoming erotic.
In the episode "Maelstrom", Starbuck begins hallucinating things, such as her younger self, fleeting images of her mother, and finally non-existent Cylon Raiders. Because of this, her fitness for duty comes into question. Thinking she's losing her mind, she seeks help from an oracle who tells her that Leoben is her spiritual guide and that her deceased mother, Socrata Thrace, is using him to get a message to her.
During a hallucinatory dogfight with a Raider, Starbuck's Viper takes damage and she falls into unconsciousness, ending up in a dream of her mother's apartment. Leoben appears and takes Starbuck to a scene six years prior, where she learns her mother is dying of cancer. However, her mother's heartless and derogatory comments force Starbuck to walk out on her mother for good. Her mother dies alone and Starbuck kept the pain of that decision locked inside her.
Leoben next takes her to the moment of her mother's passing and allows Starbuck another chance to be with her mother at her deathbed. Leoben consoles Starbuck, telling her that death is nothing to fear. Starbuck states "You're not Leoben," to which he replies, "Never said I was. I'm here to prepare you to pass through the next door; to discover what hovers in the space between life and death." Starbuck finally accepts death and decides to go down with her damaged Viper when it explodes in the atmosphere of a gas giant.

See also

★ List of Battlestar Galactica (2004 television series) episodes

References