Zak Adama, brother of Apollo and a significant figure in the Battlestar Galactica mythos, meets a tragic end in both the 2004 reboot and the original series. However, the circumstances surrounding his death differ dramatically. In the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Zak is introduced as a photograph in the miniseries – throughout the main series, more details are revealed about Starbuck and Zak’s romance and Zak’s death.

This is a development of the original series. While the loss of Zak triggers the events of the original series, he is not developed as much as in the reboot, in which he is a key presence in the psyches and motives of Bill, Lee, and Kara. The trauma of this event is, at least initially, an unspoken backstory making the characters feel more lived-in, much like the Battlestar Galactica “nothin’ but the rain” phrase.

In Battlestar Galactica 2004, Zak Adama Died During A Routine...