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."

In Their Own Story

When Kara Thrace goes missing after being shot down over an unnamed red moon, Lee takes a leading role in the search. President Roslin points out that their personal feelings are taking precedence over the welfare of the fleet, leading to the difficult decision to cease the search. Starbuck is able to return to Galactica using a Cylon Raider she shot down. The incident cements the father-son bond between William Adama and his surviving son. Lee questions how long his father would search for him, to which the elder Adama responds, "If it were you, we'd never leave." Lee is part of the strike team sent by then-Commander Adama to Colonial One to terminate Laura Roslin's presidency. On board Colonial One, Lee has a change of heart, declaring that it isn't worth it to sacrifice democracy. He puts his gun to Colonel Saul Tigh's head. Tigh calmly tells Lee, "This is mutiny, you know that." Tigh takes control after Roslin surrenders and takes both Roslin and Lee into custody. Lee is present in Galactica's CIC when Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii shoots Commander Adama twice in the chest; despite his disagreement with his father over deposing Roslin, he tries to comfort his father. On Tigh's orders, Lee is physically dragged from his father's side and thrown in the brig. Needing Lee's services as CAG, Tigh later releases Lee on parole. Lee breaks his parole after Tigh's leadership results in civilian deaths, helping Roslin lead a breakaway fleet to Kobol. After Commander Adama and President Roslin heal divisions in the fleet, Lee returns to duty on Galactica. Lee is one of the five people who see firsthand the map to Earth in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. After the Battlestar Pegasus joins the fleet, Lee is temporarily transferred to Pegasus, given duties flying Raptors rather than Vipers, and demoted to Lieutenant. These misfortunes are reversed after the successful attack on the Cylon Resurrection ship, the death of Rear Admiral Helena Cain, and his father's promotion to flag rank. Lee battles with depression at this time, confessing to Kara Thrace "he didn't want to make it back alive." While on leave on Cloud 9, Lee is accidentally shot by Kara Thrace during a hostage rescue. He takes almost a month to recover, during which time he is promoted to Major and consummates his relationship with Petty Officer Second Class Anastasia Dualla. He is assigned to Pegasus to assist Commander Barry Garner. After he successfully commands the ship during a Cylon surprise attack in which Garner is killed, Lee is quickly promoted from Major to Commander and given command of Pegasus.

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 Adama's callsign is "Apollo," and President Roslin often called him "Captain Apollo" despite his correction that Apollo was his call sign.
• 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.
• Lee ordered the crew of Pegasus to abandon ship in Raptors before ramming a Cylon basestar, instantly destroying both vessels.
• Lee read his grandfather's law books and developed an interest in Colonial law, leading him to join Gaius Baltar's legal team instead of returning to CAG duties.