In Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck/Kara Thrace established herself as one of the most skilled Viper pilots in the Colonial fleet. From the beginning of the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies, she demonstrated her talents as a fighter pilot and her commitment to protecting civilians. However, beneath her confident exterior, Starbuck struggled with personal demons relating to her difficult childhood.

Growing up without a father, she had a strained relationship with her mother that left unresolved issues. This trauma manifested in Starbuck's reckless tendencies as a pilot, which often led her to disobey orders from commanders like Colonel Tigh. Yet her fellow pilots, such as longtime friend Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama, respected her skills in the cockpit. Throughout Battlestar Galactica's four seasons, viewers learned more about Starbuck's mysterious past and destiny, but her ultimate fate remained shrouded in ambiguity.

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Starbuck’s Journey in Battlestar Galactica

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Quick Facts

Starbuck's full name is Kara Thrace, and she was born in the colony of Picon.
She was raised by her abusive mother, Socrata Thrace, who worked as a marine instructor.
She demonstrated talent as an artist, painting the mandala on the wall of her apartment.
Starbuck married Samuel Anders, a resistance fighter and a Cylon, who was part of the Final Five.
A tattoo of a winged horse adorned her arm, symbolizing the god Poseidon.
Starbuck excelled at the pyramid and had a rivalry with Lee Adama on the court.

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace begins her journey as a gifted but reckless Viper pilot serving under Commander William Adama. Though her attitude sometimes hinders her career, Adama recognizes her flying skills and keeps her on as his CAG. When the Cylons launch a surprise nuclear attack, destroying the Twelve Colonies, Thrace and the Galactica are among the few survivors.

In the aftermath of the attack, Starbuck plays a crucial role in defending the fleeing civilian fleet from Cylon attacks. She also leads search and rescue missions to find other survivors. One mission takes her to the destroyed colony on Caprica, where she encounters Sam Anders. Sparks fly between the two of them, leading them to begin a relationship. However, Thrace continues struggling with the trauma of the attacks and her fiancé Zak's death in a training accident years prior.

As the fleet searches for a new home and the Cylons pursue them, Thrace must push past her demons to protect the survivors. She takes on dangerous missions, one of which involves raiding a Cylon medical ship for information. There, she uncovers clues about her mysterious visions of a tomb on a faraway planet. Thrace believes these visions hold the key to finding Earth.

When the fleet settles on the contaminated planet New Caprica, the Cylons capture most of the survivors, including Thrace. In the Cylon occupation, she leads resistance efforts with Sam Anders, who is now her husband. When the fleet escapes two years later, Thrace struggles with the trauma of her time as a prisoner of war. She questions if she still has what it takes to be a Viper pilot. Her hatred for the Cylons is best summed up in a conversation with Sam, in which Starbuck says:

You are a better person than I am, because if I found out that you're a Cylon, I'd put a bullet between your eyes.

What Happens To Starbuck?

In the third season of Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck engages in a pursuit of a Cylon vessel, which culminates in a crash landing. During this event, she experiences visions of Leoben, who implores her to confront her past and embrace her destiny. Subsequently, she appears to meet her demise as her Viper is engulfed in an explosion. However, in a subsequent episode, she inexplicably reappears unscathed in her Viper, asserting that she has visited Earth.

Throughout the fourth season, Starbuck grapples with defending her humanity while simultaneously questioning it. Her behavior sometimes becomes erratic, and she admits that she feels disconnected from her physical form. Leading the fleet to what she believes to be Earth, they encounter a desolate, nuclear-ravaged landscape instead. Upon their arrival, they also stumble upon Starbuck's lifeless body in her crashed Viper.

Struggling with confusion regarding her true nature and her resurrection, Starbuck recalls a song her father taught her. Utilizing the musical notes from the song, she inputs coordinates that guide the fleet to a version of Earth from the viewers' perspective, approximately 150,000 years in the past.

By fulfilling her destiny of shepherding humanity to Earth, Starbuck brings closure to both the narrative of the Lords of Kobol and the overarching storyline of Battlestar Galactica. The implication arises that she may be an angelic or divine entity dispatched to aid humankind. Subsequently, Starbuck vanishes, leaving her resurrection and purpose unexplained. Her actions suggest that she was fulfilling a transcendent purpose in guiding the human race to its ultimate destination.

Kara Thrace/Starbuck underwent a tumultuous journey throughout Battlestar Galactica. Through it all, she showcased her exceptional piloting skills and undying commitment to protecting the survivors of the Cylon attack. Despite grappling with demons from her troubled past, she played a pivotal role in the fleet's survival and search for a new home. Her enigmatic fate, marked by unexplained resurrections and a mysterious destiny, ultimately led her to guide humanity to a new beginning on Earth.