The Tighs always had an unconventional relationship, to say the least. She was clearly either unwilling or unable to remain faithful to any one man, and he dealt with that surprisingly well. Most of the time, anyway. He loved her helplessly, and it was tempting to see his love as naive, foolish, and above all, one-sided. After all, her behavior seemed to imply that she was with him for the purpose of manipulating him to seek power for himself, which would mean that she had chosen him because she believed she could drive him toward a role in life that would suit her own ambitions; also, their interactions were mutually abusive on many levels; and most obviously, as mentioned previously, she cheated on him endlessly and openly.

But there was more to their marriage than the mundane cruelties and shallow perfidies we, as an audience, were allowed to see at first. It took a long time for the show to present anything likable about Saul's chosen mate, allowing us to revile and pity him as we were witness to her Lady MacBeth tendencies, encouraging us to wonder whether he had been trapped into matrimony by a bait-and-switch courtshipm, or was simply a fool taken in by beauty, or perhaps a damaged soul (Saul, soul, there's a coincidence if you believe in those at all) easily led by a strong personality.

Here's the thing though, lest we forget even for a moment: all souls in the fleet must be considered in the light of profound trauma, and loss, and gut-wrenching terror. The truer measure of any of these people could be seen in those all too brief moments of peace and hope for the future as they lived on the solid, albeit tundra-like, ground of New Caprica. On New Caprica, Ellen Tigh's love for her husband was suddenly every bit as radiant and clear as his had ever been for her. Never would her love burn more brightly, finally, than in the last months of her life, as she brokered for his freedom and his life by offering first her body and then her soul to Brother Cavil. Her acceptance of death at her husband's hand was her last blazing act of devotion, and in his consuming grief, we were free to love her too.

Now, that last burning blaze of her eyes haunts Saul as he begins to deal with even greater demons....


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