As you pointed out, Hera's role in the grand scheme of things seemed inconsequential; they already pointed out that all the Galacticans could interbreed with the Earth humans.
Did they interbreed, as some scientists contend, producing among their descendants the people who now populate Europe? Or did they compete for food and shelter, with Neanderthals .
What keeps the viewer going is the cat-and-mouse game with the Cylons, who can hide among and interbreed with humans.
Chicken has owner asking, ‘What the duck?’ Almost every scientific source you will find confirms that a chicken and a duck cannot interbreed. However, according to Cleveland resident Ron Schneider, “In nature, anything is possible.”
July 5, 2013 - Cleveland Advocate
Hendrik Poinar in Boston Globe (registration) The Siberian mammoths didn't hybridize, didn't just interbreed and blend with the new population - they disappeared,Poinar said. "And the New World guys ended up kings of the evolutionary heap."