Daybreak (Battlestar Galactica)

"**Daybreak**"
"Daybreak"
Battlestar Galactica episodes
	The Galactica reaches the second Earth
Episode nos.	Season 4; Episodes 19, 20 and 21
Directed by	Michael Rymer
Written by	Ronald D. Moore
Original air dates	March 13, 2009 (Part 1); March 20, 2009 (Parts 2 & 3);
Running time	141 minutes (aired); 152 minutes (extended)
Guest appearances
	Callum Keith Rennie as Leoben; Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh; Dean Stockwell as Cavil; Mark Sheppard as Romo Lampkin; Rick Worthy as Simon; Donnelly Rhodes as Doc Cottle; Matthew Bennett as Aaron Doral; Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster; Kerry Norton as Layne Ishay;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Islanded in a Stream of Stars"	Next →; The Plan
	Battlestar Galactica season 4
	List of episodes

"Daybreak" is the three-part series finale of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, and are the 74th (labeled "Daybreak, Part 1" on the DVD) and 75th (labeled "Daybreak, Parts 2 & 3" on the DVD) episodes overall. The episodes aired on the U.S. Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada respectively on March 13 and March 20, 2009. The second part ("Daybreak, Parts 2 & 3") is double-length. The episodes were written by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Michael Rymer. The Season 4.5 DVD and Blu-ray releases for Region 1 feature an extended version of the finale, which not only combines all three parts as a single episode, but also integrates it with new scenes not seen in the aired versions of either part. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 1 is 39,516. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 2 is 39,406. At the end of Part 2, Admiral Adama announces the survivor population at approximately 38,000.

The episodes portray the Galactica launching a rescue mission to retrieve Hera Agathon from the "colony", a heavily armed and defended Cylon base located near a black hole. They manage to rescue Hera and, in the end, the fleet finds a new planet to settle on, which they come to call Earth (revealed to be the actual Earth). The final episodes gave Battlestar Galactica the strongest ratings since its second season, though they received mixed reviews.