Sure, I guess everyone has different "crossing the line" points when it comes to their suspension of disbelief. To me, Kara's choices in Season One/Two (she risks her life based on Roslin's mystical vision in order to get an arrow that shows them an inexplicably magical map to Earth which they all proceed to follow) don't seem all that different from her choices in Season Three/Four (she sacrifices her life based on her own mystical vision and gets an inexplicably magical Viper that picks up a radar signal from Earth which they all proceed to follow). I think the story depends on supernatural forces being real in both cases, or else following these signs and visions they're sending makes no sense. The Tomb of Athena map and Kara's resurrection both seemed like free-standing miracles that were hard to deny on a sensory, empirical level.
I guess you could say that Lee and Adama somehow accepted the Tomb of Athena map without accepting the prophecies behind it, but that seems a little irrational, given the circumstances. Those prophecies were about finding Earth, the mythical haven for humanity. If you don't think they're true, then why bother following the physical map? If Earth isn't really the safe haven that the Scriptures promise, then it's a really bad idea to go there and try to settle when the Cylons are still chasing you, it seems to me. You'll just get yourselves killed or occupied, like at New Caprica, and bring down whoever is already settled there along with you.
I definitely share your frustration that they never explained why Kara needed to die in order to guide humanity to Earth. That's bad storytelling, period. Although now that I think about it, I realize they never explained why Roslin needed to be a dying leader in order to lead her people to Earth, either. "Because that's what the prophecy says" seems to be the only answer we get in either case. So I think maybe they've been playing that little game from Season One onwards, too.
Now, I freely admit I enjoyed the Arrow of Apollo/Tomb of Athena stuff a lot more than I enjoyed the Magical Viper/Mystical Lullaby stuff. But for me it was mostly because the earlier storylines played better as drama and had happier outcomes for the characters I loved, not because the series was following certain rules then that they later abandoned. I always accepted that there were gods and/or a higher god wandering around this fictional universe, but I always viewed them as plot devices rather than as serious examinations of real life or beliefs. Sadly, though, even as plot devices they proved unsatisfying, since the plot was muddled and they were muddled along with it.
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I guess you could say that Lee and Adama somehow accepted the Tomb of Athena map without accepting the prophecies behind it, but that seems a little irrational, given the circumstances. Those prophecies were about finding Earth, the mythical haven for humanity. If you don't think they're true, then why bother following the physical map? If Earth isn't really the safe haven that the Scriptures promise, then it's a really bad idea to go there and try to settle when the Cylons are still chasing you, it seems to me. You'll just get yourselves killed or occupied, like at New Caprica, and bring down whoever is already settled there along with you.
I definitely share your frustration that they never explained why Kara needed to die in order to guide humanity to Earth. That's bad storytelling, period. Although now that I think about it, I realize they never explained why Roslin needed to be a dying leader in order to lead her people to Earth, either. "Because that's what the prophecy says" seems to be the only answer we get in either case. So I think maybe they've been playing that little game from Season One onwards, too.
Now, I freely admit I enjoyed the Arrow of Apollo/Tomb of Athena stuff a lot more than I enjoyed the Magical Viper/Mystical Lullaby stuff. But for me it was mostly because the earlier storylines played better as drama and had happier outcomes for the characters I loved, not because the series was following certain rules then that they later abandoned. I always accepted that there were gods and/or a higher god wandering around this fictional universe, but I always viewed them as plot devices rather than as serious examinations of real life or beliefs. Sadly, though, even as plot devices they proved unsatisfying, since the plot was muddled and they were muddled along with it.