Battlestar Galactica (2003)/Laura Roslin

President Laura Roslin
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Actor	Mary McDonnell
First Appearance	Miniseries
Last Appearance	4x20 - Daybreak, Part 2
Series Billing	Billed
Episode Count	—
Notable Episodes	—

Basic Information

President of what is left of the Twelve Colonies.

Character History

Laura Roslin was originally a schoolteacher on Caprica. She eventually became the Secretary of the Department of Education, a cabinet position under Colonial President Adar. In the days before the Cylon attack, Secretary Roslin learned that she had contracted terminal breast cancer.

After the Cylon attack, Roslin became President of the Colonies once it was discovered that the 42 cabinet members ahead of her in the line of Presidential succession were killed.

To treat the cancer growing in her, Roslin chose to self-medicate with the controversial and oft-considered placebal drug known as "Chamalla Extract", a drug used by Colonial priests and priestesses to induce visions (not unlike peyote here on Earth), which leads to a series of hallucinations that lead her to believe that she is the "dying leader" prophesied in the holy Book of Pythia (a book that can be compared to the Biblical book of Isaiah).

Roslin's increasing unreliability ultimately convinced some in the fleet, including William Adama, that she was incapable of leadership and should be deposed. After convincing Kara "Starbuck" Thrace to commandeer a salvaged Cylon Raider and return to Caprica to retrieve the artifact known as "The Arrow of Apollo," William Adama relieved her of her position and had Colonel Tigh, Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama and a squad of Marines board Colonial One to take her into custody.

With help from Captain Apollo and a good portion of Galactica's crew (including Racetrack and Dualla), Roslin escaped Galactica and sought refuge within the fleet, meeting up with Tom Zarek aboard the Cloud Nine and then moving to Zarek's ship, the Astral Queen. She then convinced a third of the fleet to follow her to Kobol with the intention of finding the Tomb of Athena, which she believed would, in conjunction with the Arrow of Apollo, give the fleet directions to Earth.

Upon regaining consciousness from the coma he went into after Boomer's attempt from his life, William Adama returns to Kobol with the intent of putting the Fleet back together and, along with the returned Starbuck, Apollo and the President, discover an (admittedly vague) holographic map with a clue to Earth's location. Commander William Adama restored Roslin as the President upon her return to the Fleet.

This peace was only temporary, as upon the Battlestar Pegasus' arrival in the Fleet Admiral Cain refused to recognize Roslin as anything more than a schoolteacher with delusions of grandeur, denying the civilian fleet valuable supplies and refusing to return President Roslin's calls.

Quotes

• Resurrection Ship (2): [talking about Admiral Cain] "I'm afraid this can only end one way... You've got to kill her. "