Leland Gaeta

Lore & Background

By the time of the Cylons' devastating attack on the Twelve Colonies, Lee Adama is a Captain in the Colonial Fleet Reserve with the call sign "Apollo." He is a special guest at the decommissioning ceremonies for Battlestar Galactica, commanded by his father. After Major Jackson "Ripper" Spencer, the Galactica's CAG, is killed in battle, Lee becomes senior surviving pilot, then joins the Galactica crew and becomes its CAG. His strained relationship with his father causes him to become a strong supporter of Colonial President Laura Roslin, who appoints him as her personal advisor. Early in their relationship, Roslin often referred to Lee as "Captain Apollo"; Lee once corrected her, stating "Apollo" was his call sign, but Roslin replied "'Captain Apollo' has a nice ring to it."

Reader's Guide

On New Caprica, after Gaius Baltar wins the presidential election and orders permanent settlements, Lee and Kara Thrace become inebriated at a party, express their love for each other, make love, and fall asleep together. Kara wakes first and departs. When Lee wakes and returns to the settlement, he finds Kara has married Samuel Anders. This betrayal causes bad feeling between Adama and Thrace.

He takes to overeating and puts on a lot of weight; he also marries his new first officer, Anastasia Dualla, now a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Eight months later the Cylons find New Caprica and take control. With only a skeleton crew, Lee flees with the fleet. Four months later, Lee has become overweight, sentimental and "soft," interfering with his ability to command Pegasus.

When contact with the resistance is established, Lee is ordered by his father to take Pegasus and continue the search for Earth while Galactica attempts to liberate the planet. When Galactica is near destruction, Lee and Pegasus come to the rescue. Under heavy fire from four Cylon Basestars, Pegasus is heavily damaged. Lee orders the crew to abandon ship in Raptors; Pegasus then rams a Cylon basestar, instantly destroying both vessels, and a large piece of flight pod wreckage damages or destroys a second basestar.

After the rescue, Lee returns to the role of Galactica's CAG with the rank of Major. After much hard physical training, he loses the excess weight and asks Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon to remind him to never let himself go like that again. Lee advocates using captured Cylons infected with lymphocytic encephalitis as biological weapons. His plan is approved by President Roslin but thwarted by Helo.

The renewed strength of his bond with his father is shown when his father confesses to Lee about his fears he may have inadvertently provoked the Cylon onslaught on the Colonies. The father-son relationship sours after the death of Kara Thrace. Recognizing his son has become unhinged, Adama pulls Lee from flight duty and assigns him to lead the security detail for the defense attorney of Gaius Baltar. After two assassination attempts on Baltar's lawyer, Romo Lampkin, the culprit is identified.

Adama reinstates Lee as CAG, but Lee has developed an interest in Colonial law after reading his grandfather's law books and believes he could assist Lampkin. Despite Adama's resistance, Lee refuses to resume his duties as CAG and joins the legal team. During the trial, Admiral Adama becomes infuriated upon learning that Saul Tigh is compelled to admit he killed his own wife on New Caprica. Adama blames Lee.

Did You Know?

• Lee was accidentally shot by Kara Thrace during a hostage rescue on Cloud 9 and took almost a month to recover.
• Lee was promoted from Major to Commander and given command of Pegasus after successfully commanding the ship during a Cylon surprise attack in which Commander Barry Garner was killed.