'Battlestar Galactica' bits from Comic-Con

A few more notes regarding "Battlestar Galactica" come from the Comic-Con panel on the series and also from a press conference that followed it.

Lucy Lawless will be back for two or three episodes. Her character, D'Anna, will be unboxed around the middle of the season by those who are interested in what she may know. "It's a pivot point for the season," executive producer Ron Moore said.

Asked about the reveal of the four Cylons in the season finale, Katee Sackhoff (who plays Starbuck) said, "I thought it was a great idea. Every single Cylon was aligned with a person in power, in a strategic position to take down the fleet." Tricia Helfer, who plays Number 6, said, "The beginning of the season is a lot of their inner turmoil."

Will Starbuck be the same this season? Not completely, Sackhoff said. "She is more enlightened, but she's still just as hotheaded as ever," Sackhoff said. "She's heightened ... but she is calm at times, too, because she has a sense of purpose now, so she's almost been validated now."

The decision to bring back President Laura Roslin's cancer was one that came "on the page" when the finale was being written, Moore said. And it's not going away again; this time around, it's "serious." Mary McDonnell, who plays Roslin, said though the return of her cancer made her "a little ill" and made her worry that she might get killed off, she said she was "gratified" that the writers didn't just drop it. "I was glad that Ron [Moore, executive producer] continued to commit to the journey," she said. McDonnell added that she "wasn't thrilled" that Roslin had been cured in the past by DNA from a Cylon.

Of the two Cylon-human babies, something special will definitely happen with Hera, the offspring of characters Karl "Helo" Agathon and Sharon "Athena" Valerii. As for Nicky, the son of Galen and Cally Tyrol, there are no definitive plans for a special fate.

The final of the five Cylons will be revealed late in the season.

When it comes to grabbing mementos from the set of the show, which is filming its last season, Sackhoff said, "I want to take the goddess Aurora," the little statue glimpsed in the show, when "Battlestar" ends its run.

As far as direct-to-DVD movies in the future, such as the upcoming "Razor," those might be difficult. Once the "Battlestar" sets are broken down after the Season 4 finale, that puts "a practical limitation" on bringing the show back, Moore said.

One thing I'd always wanted to know is whether Romo Lampkin's famous sunglasses were in the script or something actor Mark Sheppard brought to the show (he also wore them on the "Bionic" panel). Sheppard said in a conversation that they were scripted.

Michael Trucco (who plays Samuel Anders) is a series regular on "Battlestar" this year. I've never bought into a shred of the fan animosity for this character; I've liked Anders since Day One.