Ellen Tigh

Character bio courtesy of Battlestar Wikipedia

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Biography

Cylon attack

Estranged from her husband, Ellen Tigh claims to have been on Picon at the time of the Cylon attack, on her way back home for a reunion with her husband. When the airport was hit in the attack, she claims an anonymous hero found her unconscious body and got her on to one of the last transports out, where she had been unconscious aboard the Rising Star for some three weeks prior to Adama finding her.

Following her reunion with her husband, Tigh claims she wants to make a fresh start (Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down), but no sooner as Saul (still hopelessly in love with her) agrees, Tigh influences him back to drinking heavily and begins flirting openly with other men. Her first target was an unwilling Lee Adama, with whom she tries to engage in a game of footsie under the table while she and her husband have dinner with Lee, his father and Laura Roslin. Later she flirts with Gaius Baltar with greater effect - annoying her husband in the process.

Not only are her claims of being rescue considered suspect - no one on the Rising Star can remember treating her through her long weeks of unconsciousness - Tigh takes an unnatural interest in Adama's plans to lead the fleet to Earth, almost badgering him into trying to reveal how long the journey will take. Her actions seem to support Adama's precaution of having Baltar scan Tigh's blood sample to see if she is a Cylon (unbeknownst to Saul).

While Tigh's mischief-making could be put down to her nature, and so hidden desire to drive a wedge between her husband and Adama, she does appear to be human, according to Baltar's tests, and this has quieted Adama's suspicion. However, unbeknownst to all, Dr. Baltar has sabotaged his own Cylon detection efforts; fearing that exposing a Cylon agent would make himself a target for assassination, Dr. Baltar now lets everyone "pass" the Cylon test, regardless of the test's true result. Tigh's status as a human or Cylon remains an open question, but as Commander Adama pointed out, "Cylon or not, she's nothing but trouble"...

Involvement with Tom Zarek

During Colonial Day, Tigh states her belief that terrorist-turned-politician Tom Zarek is "the future", and greets him warmly over her husband's objections. Later on in the next day, after Wallace Gray's poor showing at the Quorum, Zarek pours her a drink.

Tigh: So you worried about Wallace Gray? I hear he's ahead in the vote count.
Zarek: Whatever the people want is fine by me.
Tigh: Everyone has an agenda. I know I do.
Zarek: And what would that be?
Tigh: Same as yours, Tom. Me, myself, and... ooh. I.
Zarek: You are... clearly a well connected, well informed woman.
Tigh: Wife of the XO, for whatever that's worth.
Zarek: Ah. Quite a bit. Now, and in the future.
Tigh: That's what I'm interested in, Tom. It's my place, and my... husband's place in the future.
Zarek: Okay. I'm looking for a friend of mine. His name is Valance.

Valance is found dead immediately thereafter. Saul Tigh was among the only individuals privy to the location he was being held. The following evening, at Gaius Baltar's victory celebration, Zarek slyly comments to Roslin "Ah, one thing you should know. I didn't kill Valance. I wonder who did?" Shortly thereafter, Tigh dances with her husband and tells him:

Tigh: I have a surprise for you.
Saul: Uh-oh. Should I be worried?
Tigh: Not unless you consider a day in a luxury suite aboard the Rising Star something to be worried about.
Saul: How did you swing that?
Tigh: I have my ways. What you need to do is to figure out a way to get slave-driving Bill to give you the day off. And while we're there, you might want to talk to a few people about... your future.
Saul: What?
Tigh: Later, my love. It can all wait until later.

She then embraces her husband and locks eyes with Zarek, seated across the room.

The general subtext of these scenes is not difficult to determine: Ellen Tigh furnished Zarek with the information he needed to arrange Valance's death (or as Zarek implies, arranged it herself) in return for favors with Zarek's cronies. More difficult to determine is what the nature of these was intended to be. Two days later, Boomer reveals herself as a Cylon agent by shooting Adama, critically injuring him and throwing the entire Fleet into chaos. Saul becomes the acting commander of Galactica.

Although this turn of events is certainly beneficial to Ellen from her own standpoint, and possibly even to Zarek as it gives him another opportunity to vocally oppose an unpopular government, it is difficult to imagine Zarek having anything to do with it, given the identity of Adama's would-be assassin. If, however, Ellen Tigh is indeed a Cylon agent, she could easily have had the means to predict this, if not as clear a motive.

Martial Law

After Adama's attempted assassination, Tigh encourages (some viewers may say "nags") her husband to take extreme measures to assert his authority, sometimes in contrast to the more reasoned approaches he was proposing. While Saul seems to shy away from having authority, Tigh is intoxicated by the idea. Given Zarek's known views, Ellen Tigh may be influencing her husband's rule into a strong-handed military dictatorship in order to give Zarek the perfect opportunity to raise support among the fleet. Ellen convinces Saul to let the Quorum of Twelve witness the delusional Roslin, who she saw earlier in poor state. But, thanks to a smuggled Chamalla dose, Roslin shows her resolve and power, which invigorates the Quorum, although it appears to throw off any plans that Zarek had in the political presidential game. Frustrated of the civilian government's popularity, Saul Tigh later declares martial law to subdue protests by other Colonial government members on Roslin's arrest, particularly by the Quorum of Twelve (Fragged). Tigh would continue to spur on Saul to ill-advised behavior. Col. Tigh began to relent and consider reconciliation with the captains of other ships in the Fleet, but Tigh goaded him into advocating "stern measures" instead, which eventually led Col. Tigh to try to forcibly re-take supplies from unwilling ships, leading to the incident on the Gideon that left four people dead. Soon after, Apollo escaped with President Laura Roslin from the brig, and fled in a Raptor. Col. Tigh could not bring himself to fire on Commander Adama's son, and was receiving a scolding from Tigh in his quarters when the recently awakened Commander Adama arrived. Ellen slinked away, her hand gripping the door frame fiercely in frustration of her turn of fortune as she leaves (Resistance).

Assassination Attempt

Lt. Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino later attempted to exact revenge on Col. Tigh for the Gideon incident, forcing his way into Tigh's quarters and tying up Ellen, then holding Saul at gunpoint. However, Col. Tigh was able to defuse the situation (Final Cut).