Baby Mamas: Of Infants and Offspring on "Battlestar Galactica"

Now I'm confused...

Much debate has been made in recent months about Battlestar Galactica's Sharon "Athena" Agathon and Helo and their half-human/half-Cylon daughter Hera. Hera has been the subject of several visions, prophecies, and now, in light of Athena's paranoid kidnapping scenario by the "Natalie" Six, the motivation for Cylon-on-Cylon murder. (Side note: how sad was Natalie's death as she gripped Doc Cottle's hand and envisioned the deep forest before dying?)

Over the past two seasons, Hera has been the source of much conflict, confusion, and worry, not to mention providing a temporary cure for Laura Roslin's cancer, thanks to her regenerative blood. Hera was also ground zero at a major Colonial conspiracy and cover-up by Roslin, Adama, and Doc Cottle to pretend that Hera died in childbirth; after lying to Athena and Helo, they shuttled her off to an adoptive mother and had her raised as a human child on New Caprica... only to see her taken by the enemy during their final stand against the Cylons.

But here's where I am confused: why is Hera considered to be so special when it seems that Cylon offspring seem to be popping up all over the place now on Battlestar Galactica?

After all, there's been another human-Cylon baby aboard Galactica for quite some time now in the form of Tyrol and Cally's baby Nicholas. (Granted, no one other than poor, doomed Cally knew that Tyrol was one of the Final Five Cylons, but still.) While the nature of the Final Five Cylon models is still under serious scrutiny (such as what they really are), there's no denying that one of them fathered a child with a human.

And now for the clincher: we found out on this week's episode ("Sine Qua Non") that Caprica Six is pregnant... with Colonel Tigh's baby. Or so it would seem. We're certainly told that Tigh is the father, he's been spending more and more time with the Six (with the cell cameras off, no less), and well he doesn't do anything to dispute the charges. To me, this is a very interesting development in a season filled to the brim with them. After all, Tigh's status as one of the Final Five means that this might be the very first Cylon-Cylon offspring in existence.

The significance of the discovery with the humans and Cylons (A) launching a joint offensive to destroy the Resurrection Hub, ending the Cylon's innate "immortality" and (B) inching closer towards finding Earth isn't lost on me. After all, one major tenet of the Cylons' plan was to figure out how to procreate (it was Sharon's mission on Caprica to ensnare Helo and force him to fall in love with her) and attempt to produce offspring with the humans. And, while we haven't seen any of the Cylon females' backs glow recently (remember that little trait?), it seems as though they may have started a new generation that is blending together the genetic codes of both human and Cylon forebears.

Do these offspring represent a new chapter in the history of both races? Or are their harbingers of doom? Will Caprica Six give birth to something altogether new and different (the final model, perhaps?) and will we see Tricia Helfer trade in her slinky black prison wear for maternity garb and a prosthetic tummy? Discuss.