willravel I think you keyed on something here is his value. But lets not think of it in terms of his value to the fleet / human race. Instead lets think about his value to:
See to the viewers, you have things like:
- is he attractive enough to garner female viewership
- does he make an interesting foil / love interest to a female charachter
- is his role on the show intriguing
- Does he make you tune in?
- etc.
So what I am saying is that as a pilot without the Starbuck thing or as a Marine his value is limited. He needs a new task that is compelling or foil that makes the show better. He has been this freedom fighter for a while. If you just stash him away in a fairly mundane role, his value to the viewer may be fairly low. If that is the case, an interesting thing may happen to his value to the writer.
For the writer:
- He is a character that is well liked and thus far interesting
- He is a character that the writer and the viewer has made an investment in (getting to know him)
- The writer may want to maximize the collective investment in the character
If the above is true about his value to the viewer being low without a new interesting role or ability to continue as a foil / interest to a main character then the writer on a show like this would look to kill him while his value is still high. It would be done in an interesting way that provides a payback in terms of an exciting, compelling and unexpected story line.
So what I am saying is not that they can't have him as a pilot or a Marine etc. but I can't see my way to an interesting enough way to use him other than to kill him. As I said earlier, I don't think Anders has an obvious flaw like so many of the other characters. Therefore someone so free of sin is that much more compelling to kill off to teach a lesson or change a thought process of a major character.
So unless we can think of what other interesting roles he might play, I would love to hear what lesson you all think Starbuck would learn from Anders dying.