The colonies believe in gods known as the Lords of Lords of Kobol. Baltar says they don’t exist as preaches about the monotheistic Cylon God. Back on Caprica, monotheism was illegal, but Zoe Graystone who became the first Cylon, was a secret monotheist.

But are the Lords of Kobol myth or real? They’re not actual gods, of course, but they do seem to have a real presence. There is a real arrow of Apollo. There was a real Tomb of Athena with a 3-D representation of Earth. The exodus from Kobol is described as involving a battle among the Gods. The Final Five worshiped a “god whose name must not be spoken” and there was talk of a “jealous god who wanted to be raised above the others.” The Final Five and their temple are real, and the Cylon god is real (but not divine in the traditional sense) but what about the Lords?

The Oracles are real. They make real prophecies that come true, they are tied to something. Dedona Selloi is an interesting Oracle because she gives #3 a message from the Cylon god about Hera. She seems to be able to speak with the Cylon god, and knows the difference between that and communing with the Lords of Kobol.

Could the Lords of Kobol simply be a mythologized representation of the Final Five and the Cylon god? Possibly. But there are certainly more than 5 of them. Or might they have been contemporaries or rivals of the Final Five? I suspect they might also have been from Earth, and that the exodus from Kobol was a result of a battle between these forces.

But if so, where are they now? Are they dead or defeated? Are they back on Earth, not playing a role? Or might we see them again? Since the forces behind things are very powerful, it is necessary that they have equally powerful antagonists if the story is to be interesting. This might suggest we see them.

Some characters have also been tied to the Lords. Adama is called Zeus several times. Starbuck is connected to Aurora, goddess of the dawn. Lee is “Apollo” and Sharon is “Athena.” Or will the Lords simply never be addressed. If not, who will provide the counterpoint to the powerful beings who took Starbuck to Earth and have been manipulating so much of this — presumably the white-robed aware copies of the Final Five.