A Star Wars Fixture Played A Small But Powerful Role In Battlestar Galactica

Actor Sam Witwer loves "Star Wars" just as much as "Star Wars" loves him. Since his performance as the voice and motion-capture model for Starkiller, Darth Vader's apprentice, in the video game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," Witwer has popped up again and again in the galaxy far, far away. (His encyclopedic "Star Wars" knowledge has helped out his performances.)

While Starkiller has his face, Witwer is even more beloved by "Star Wars" fans for voicing Darth Maul since the Sith Lord's improbable but acclaimed return in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Witwer is now the definitive Maul actor. Both Witwer and Maul's original voice, Peter Serafinowicz, were brought back to record Maul's lines for "Solo," and Witwer's voiceover was chosen for the final cut. He's also going to return as Maul for the new series, "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord," out in 2026.

"Star Wars" is not Witwer's only dance with space opera, though. Before he was Starkiller, his first recurring TV role was on the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" as Alex Quartararo, call-sign Crashdown. Crashdown, who served on a "Raptor" spacecraft, was partnered with Sharon Valerii/Boomer (Grace Park), the Raptor's pilot. (If the Vipers in "Galactica" are fighter jets in space, a Raptor is both a signal-jamming jet and a troop transport helicopter.)

In a discussion with his former "Battlestar" and "Clone Wars" co-star Katee Sackhoff on "The Sackhoff Show," Witwer said that, being a huge fan of the "Galactica" pilot mini-series, he chased a role on the show. "I thought it was just the coolest damn show I'd ever seen," Witwer recalled, and so he pushed his agent to get him an audition for it. While he ultimately wasn't on the show for long, he still left happy with a chance to "contribute" to it.

Speaking to a fan at Boston Comic-Con, Witwer said he was hired as Crashdown to be comic relief. "This was before they knew whether the show should be funny or not. Turns out, shouldn't be that funny," Witwer recalled. "James Callis will bring all the funny you possibly need." 

Feeling this left Crashdown with little identity and not much to do, Witwer suggested to co-creators Ronald D. Moore and David Eick that they give him a strong exit. So, in season 1 finale, "Kobol's Last Gleaming," Crashdown's Raptor is shot down over the titular planet. He, along with several deckhands and Doctor Gaius Baltar (James Callis), are left stranded and hunted by Cylons for three episodes. As the only soldier, Crashdown takes command and does not rise to the occasion.

Moore got his start writing on "Star Trek," but grew frustrated by creative constraints. Working on "Galactica" was him utilizing his experience writing for "Trek," but doing space opera his way now that he was the boss. That meant the continuity, stakes, and interpersonal conflict that "Trek" had started to avoid on "Voyager" were all present on "Galactica." Crashdown's arc on Kobol demonstrates this. For a story like this, "Trek" would use red shirts who we'd never met before, while "Galactica" used a mix of new and old small characters. This added verisimilitude to the size of Galactica's crew and made the story tighter.

On Kobol, Crashdown's group loses two survivors: Tarn (Warren Christie) is killed by the Cylons, then Socinus (Alonso Oyarzun) succumbs to crash injuries. The group decides the ethical act is to give Socinus a morphine overdose to make his death quicker and painless. Crashdown balks, so Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) does it.

In the next episode, "Fragged," Crashdown tries to lead the survivors into a suicide attack against the Cylons. Cally (Nicki Clyne) freezes and eventually Crashdown lifts a gun to her head; shaking, he threatens to shoot her for insubordination. Tyrol pulls his own gun and aims it at Crashdown. "Fragging" is the term for when soldiers purposefully kill a superior officer, and true to the episode's title, that happens here because Baltar (not Tyrol) shoots Crashdown before he can kill Cally. By the episode's end, the survivors are rescued and Crashdown's death is covered up as a heroic attack on the Cylons.

It's a dark conclusion that leaves you with unanswerable questions. Would Crashdown have actually shot Cally? It sure looks like it, even though his voice was trembling and his eyes tearing up. Still, we can't know for sure. For Witwer's part, he said on the "Battlestar Galacticast" that he played it as if Crashdown regretted pulling his gun the second he did it: "Oh God, what did I do? But I can't back down," was how Witwer summed up Crashdown's thoughts.

Baltar shooting Crashdown also has no easy read on it. It makes sense he's the one who rebelled; he's a civilian scientist, and so the only one present who never got the military chain of command mindset beaten into him. But while he saved Cally's life, does that make his fragging an act of compassion? Baltar is a coward and opportunist; Crashdown was forcing him into the suicide mission too, and him shooting Crashdown may have been him taking the chance to save himself. One reason "Battlestar Galactica" is so good, and its character so layered, is because it doesn't paint good and evil with black and white strokes.