What happened to Baltar in the premiere? Didn he die?
Prior to its premiere on ABC, the Battlestar Galactica pilot first appeared in theatrical release in Canada and Europe. In the theatrical version of the premiere, after Baltar betrayed humanity, he was beheaded in front of Imperious Leader. The execution never took place in the television premiere, as Baltar was spared for a later public execution (never to take place.) In an interview in Starlog #138, John Colicos (Baltar), discussed the evolution of the Baltar character between the two versions of the premiere: Initially, I was only going to be in the pilot. Then, Glen [Larson] decided he liked the character and the work that I was doing, so he decided to keep Baltar as a running character. He redirected the pilot’s final scene himself, so that when the sword came down to cut me head off, he stopped it at the last second and I was spared if I would betray the human race.
