DW 9.07 and 9.08. The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion

[elisi]

Meta! I am leaving out so much, but time is snatching at my heels. So this'll have to do. With thanks to promethia_tenk without whom I couldn't do this.

Also janie_aire wrote a fascinating post that you should go read: Genre Competition (Kill the Moon)... and Zygons


The Doctor
The President of the world
The heart of this episode is the Doctor's speech. Moffat has said that this was a story he wanted to tell for a long time, and Day of the Doctor was the set-up. It is also in many ways a continuation of those themes. DotD focussed so much on the Doctor's actions that there wasn't time to go into all the details of what war means. But in this episode the Doctor - older and wiser - gets to speak out about what he's learned.

I presume that that scene, that speech, will come to define the Twelfth Doctor - much like A Good Man Goes To War did for Eleven. Follo wme for a brief run-through of the evolution.

AGMGTW was pivotal – a moment of reckoning. Eleven tried to move on from Ten’s PTSD, but the change needed to be fundamental, and acknowledged and permanent.

The other pivotal moment was Day of the Doctor.

And now we have a third such moment, although it is different in quality – whereas those episodes saw major shifts, a clear break with what came before, in The Zygon Inversion we see the result of the other moments, the ways in which they have affected the Doctor.

In all three cases it’s a question of war.

DOCTOR: There was another box. I was going to press another button. I was going to wipe out all of my own kind, man, woman and child. I was so sure I was right.

War Doctor. No other option. We saw how this mindset affected later incarnations. Nine refused to duplicate his actions. Ten in contrast became very rigid, and dangerously self-assured. (No second chances.) His way, or nothing. (He had to be right. About everything. Because if he was wrong, maybe he had been wrong about the Time War too…? And he couldn’t have been, because that would mean he murdered his own kind in error.)

Then Eleven is put on an intensive course of Pondliness, at the heart of which stands Demons Run, and the war he waged to save the child of his companions. The child who was River, and it was River who then turned it all back on him: Is this who you are? A warrior? Asking questions that Clara would echo, later, in Day of the Doctor:

CLARA: Look at you. The three of you. The warrior, the hero, and you.
DOCTOR: And what am I?
CLARA: Have you really forgotten?
DOCTOR: Yes. Maybe, yes.
CLARA: We've got enough warriors. Any old idiot can be a hero.
DOCTOR: Then what do I do?
CLARA: What you've always done. Be a doctor.

We see this basic kind of statement again in S9:

DOCTOR: I know where I got this face, and I know what it's for.
CLARA: Okay, what's it for?
DOCTOR: To remind me. To hold me to the mark. I'm the Doctor, and I save people.

But it goes back further than this. We see the first proper outcome of Day of the Doctor in Time of the Doctor, and Eleven’s choice to stay on Trenzalore.

He often gets accused on running away, and he often does.

DOCTOR: Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men.
OCTAVIAN: I know that, sir. And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families.
Time of Angels

ASHILDR: So you intend to fix me? Make me feel again, then run away? I don't need your help, Doctor, you need mine. Just this once, you can't run off like you usually do.
DOCTOR: How do you know? How do you know what I usually do? We've met once in a Viking village. I didn't give you my life story.
ASHILDR: It's true though, isn't it? You're the man who runs away.
The Woman Who Lived

But… Beginning with the Ponds (River in particular) we see him taking responsibility for things he has set in motion. Most of the time he turns up, upends things/events/people and then skedaddles off once the main issue has been resolved.

However. With River he very carefully looks after her, makes sure she is OK. Her start in life, the loss of her parents, the way she was turned into a weapon – it’s all his fault, and he does his utmost to make it all up to her. And it starts in AGMGTW.

Ditto Trenzalore. The planet gets caught in the crossfire between the Daleks, his own people, and the Church of the Silence, and he stays.

His war, his people, his planet. His responsibility.

Which brings me to:

DOCTOR: You're all the same, you screaming kids. You know that? Look at me, I'm unforgivable. Well, here's the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you've done, I forgive you.

I’m sure we all remember Ten forgiving the Master after The Year That Never Was. At the time I called it ‘breathtakingly arrogant’, as the Doctor basically made himself a god.

But this time it’s very different. I’ll go into the personal side in a moment, but first I want to point out how the Doctor’s position is very different. Because this time he does have the authority to speak for humankind. Yes, the ‘President of Earth’ thing is played for laughs, but the fact of the matter is that they chose him. He can speak on behalf of humankind, he has that authority.

And he takes it seriously.

DOCTOR: There are safeguards beyond safeguards. I did this on a very important day for me and this ceasefire will stand.

Most times the Doctor turns up when there’s a conflict. But here the conflict has already happened. And everyone sat down and discussed things and found the best possible way forward.

So now he’s not the chaos element, but the peace keeper. It’s a shared role, with the Osgoods ‘on the ground’ and the Doctor as the one who resolves conflicts when they crop up.

As above, so below. The Doctor in his TARDIS, in the heavens, the Osgoods in the Black Archives, underground. Remember Osgood peering through the painting of Ten and Liz I? Her face in the place of the Queen's? If not, then here it is:



Queen Elizabeth's role in DotD had a heavy emphasis on protecting her kingdom: including the Undergallery and appointing the Doctor as protector. We can see a direct line from then to now. The Doctor is the President of Earth, rather then King of England, but that's merely because the scope has widened. And Osgood has stepped into the Queen's place. Protector and defender of not just England, but the world.

And if we want to consider what the Doctor ‘as President’ is like, then he’s very responsible and responsive, but also hugely manipulative (the boxes are empty, he tries to get people to think) – and heartfelt.

Because it’s personal.


Amazing Grace
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

(I love this show. The fact that this was the song the Doctor was playing…)

BONNIE: I don't understand how you could just forgive me.
DOCTOR: Because I've been where you have.

Where Ten’s forgiveness of the Master came from a place of… Well, all their issues plus a god complex, Twelve’s forgiveness of Bonnie comes from a place of compassion:

AMY: You want to be forgiven
DOCTOR: Don’t we all?
The Doctor’s Wife

DOCTOR [to River]: And you are forgiven. Always, and completely, forgiven.
The Wedding of River Song

As he told Bonnie, he’s been in her shoes, he knows what she needs:

BONNIE: You don't understand. You will never understand.
DOCTOR: I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war? This funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight till it burns your hand, and you say this. No one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will have to feel this pain. Not on my watch!

The Doctor comes from a place of profound empathy, but now he’s not just dealt with some of the pain, he’s able to articulate what it has done to him, and help others, not just condemn them.

The Twelfth Doctor is quite gruff, and often rude and dismissive. But, as we guessed, at heart he’s a marshmallow. He struggled, last year, with the question of whether he was a good man. Of course this turned out to be irrelevant – it was the wrong question. What matters is what he does.

And what he does in these episodes is to keep the peace, and stop someone following his own path. Because he knows that 'winning' isn't all it's cracked up to be:

BONNIE: We'll win.
DOCTOR: Oh, will you? Well, maybe, maybe you will win! But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning.

This goes right back to 'Dalek' in S1:

DOCTOR: A little piece of home. Better than nothing.
ROSE: Is that the end of it, the Time War?
DOCTOR: I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?

DOCTOR: Sometimes winning, winning is no fun at all.
Vincent and the Doctor

Because what the Doctor knows is that the cost of winning that kind of war is not a price worth paying...

Now I feel I should really say something about this whole issue in the light of last night's attacks in Paris. I'm not sure what. Because if we had the Doctor facing the terrorists from last night - and forgiving them - what would people think? It's easy when it's just a story. But every story worth telling contains truth. I shall have to quote C.S.Lewis:

The problem of forgiveness
I said in a previous chapter that chastity was the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. But I am not sure I was right. I believe there is one even more unpopular. It is laid down in the Christian rule, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Because in Christian morals 'thy neighbor' includes 'thy enemy', and so we come up against this terrible duty of forgiving our enemies.

Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then, to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible. 'That sort of talk makes them sick,' they say. And half of you already want to ask me, 'I wonder how you'd feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?' [Or to update it: How would you forgive last nights terrorists if you were from Paris?]

So do I. I wonder very much. Just as when Christianity tells me that I must not deny my religion even to save myself from death by torture, I wonder very much what I should do when it came to the point. I am not trying to tell you in this book what I could do — I can do precious little — I am telling you Christianity is. I did not invent it. And there, right in the middle of it, I find 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.' There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. There are no two ways about it. What are we to do?
From Chapter 7 of Mere Christianity.

DOCTOR: Look at me, I'm unforgivable. Well, here's the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you've done, I forgive you.

Whatever faith [or none] you are of, It seems to me that forgiveness, mercy, grace - these are important in order to move forward. Be doctors, not warriors. Because what the Doctor got from River in AGMGTW and from Clara in Day of the Doctor wasn't forgiveness. What he got was a second chance. Someone to save him from himself. Grace.

Grace has, in Western Christian theology, been defined, not as a created substance of any kind, but as "the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it", "the condescension or benevolence shown by God toward the human race". It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man – "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" – that takes the form of divine favour, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God.
(x)

♥


Claras and Osgoods and hybrids
CLARA-Z: What happened?
DOCTOR: The same thing that happened to you. I let Clara Oswald get inside my head. Trust me. She doesn't leave.

I would say this quality is inherent to Clara:



The first time they met, he never even saw her face. But she got into his head… She existed as a mystery, a riddle, as an instruction…



And he went searching for her.



But as it turned out, she was in his head because she had always been a part of him:



She was the girl ‘born to save the Doctor’. Always there. The Doctor's protector. She goes on to save him - and Gallifrey - again in Day of the Doctor, and in Time of the Doctor gets him a whole new cycle of regenerations. Look into the Doctor, and who do you find? Clara.

Now the thing that struck me, even last week, was how Osgood (or the Osgoods, rather) have basically become a concept:

DOCTOR: Which one are you? Human or Zygon?
OSGOOD: I don't answer that question.
DOCTOR: Why not?
OSGOOD: Because there isn't a question to answer. I don't accept it. My sister and I were the living embodiment of the peace we made. I will give all the lives that I have to protect it. You want to know who I am, Doctor? I am the peace. I am Human and Zygon.

Now we have a lot of Clara hybrids...





The former was permanent (a full conversion), the latter not. And yet... Could she be altered without her knowledge?

MISSY: There's loads of nano-tech repairing any damage as the feed goes in.
CLARA: What about when it comes out?
MISSY: No idea. Nobody knows.
The Witch's Familiar

AMY: Explain. That's what you're good at. How'd he get all Daleked?
DOCTOR: Because he wasn't wearing one of these [wristbands]. Oh, ho, ho. That's clever. The nanocloud. Microorganisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet. Anything attacks this place, it automatically becomes part of the on-site security.
AMY: Living or dead?
DOCTOR: These wristbands protect us. The only thing stopping us going exactly the way he did.
The Dalek Asylum

And she has also been inside the Doctor's time stream:



What do these things mean for her? What does it mean that one of her echoes, apparently, became Gallifreyan?



That she now also became a Zygon hybrid is almost the last step, if that makes sense... (The caps are awful, I'd have loved an image of her in the Zygon pod a la the one where she was in the Dalek Missy put her in - as in, the pod open, with her inside it. So this'll have to do):



Because in Day of the Doctor the Zygon story was a small story inside a bigger story, leading the bigger one by the hand, as it were - and I think this will also be the same case here. And Osgood is showing us how a ‘hybrid’ could work. (And Clara was always two things at once...)

We have the Osgood boxes, such beautiful echoes of The Moment - The Moment which was a concept, an action, pure destruction. Yet it became a person.

OSGOOD: You want to know who I am, Doctor? I am The Peace.

People can be concepts, can be a living story:

DOCTOR: There's no such thing as the Doctor. I'm just a bloke in a box, telling stories. [...] And because sometimes, on a good day, if I try very hard, I'm not some old Time Lord who ran away. I'm the Doctor.
The Witch's Familiar

Identity is mutable. Names are aspirations. Bonnie becomes Osgood, leaving behind her warrior mantle and becomes The Peace.

The boxes are of course important - the very design, the circle in a square, is (as I'm sure everyone by now knows) is a spiritual reference to man’s instinctive quest to harmonize our physical and spiritual natures. Since Antiquity, the square has represented the physical body. The circle, on the other hand, has always represented the soul. Or, in the words of janie_aire: 'The boxes themselves bear the Circle in the Square motif. This comes to us from Masonry, and symbolizes the union of the Divine in the Material Body. The alchemical “great work” is all about synthesis, of bringing together opposites and by so doing transcending the limits of duality altogether.'

In other words - circles in squares is all about hybrids.

Back to Osgood, then she died - yet now she lives again. Both of her. And it's entirely possible that the 'original' Osgood is dead, yet the two we have now are still most definitely 'Osgood'. It is their title, their identity, their work.

I don't know what Clara's fate will be, as I don't know what the show has in store. (NO SPOILERS!!!) But her ultimate fate, I think, will be to be Clara Oswin Oswald. The way the Osgoods are Osgood, and the Doctor is the Doctor.

And of she is indeed the prophesied hybrid Davros was talking about, I'll presume that the 'warrior' part is deeply subversive, and means something other than they think. (After all, The Moment was a weapon that chose to save instead of destroy.) Because if anyone could be 'The Peace' between the Daleks and the Time Lords... I'd say it'd be Clara. The girl who held onto her humanity when all alone in the Dalek Asylum, with no hope of rescue. The girl who saved Gallifrey, and later told the Time Lords to save the Doctor.

She gets into people's heads. And she doesn't leave.

And if it seems that there could never be any such thing as a Dalek-Time Lord hybrid, that their differences are too pronounced, that the Daleks are quite simply too evil...

DOCTOR: I'm not sure that any of that matters, friends, enemies. So long as there's mercy. Always mercy.

Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness, Peace.

Clara?

Comments

[purplefringe.livejournal.com]

<333 Beautiful, as ever. (And oh god am I glad neither of these eps aired this weekend. You are right that it's easy to admire something like forgiveness in a story and so much harder to countenance it in real life.)

Not really the point of this essay, but I really like the way you phrased the bit about Ten's arrogance - 'He had to be right. About everything. Because if he was wrong, maybe he had been wrong about the Time War too…?' - that's something I've understood for a long time but never properly been able to articulate, so thank you for putting it into words so clearly!

One thing I have noticed, and very much enjoyed about this season so far, is the ongoing theme of Redemption. (Which is perhaps the same thing as Grace? That line 'I'm old enough to be your messiah' really put this at the forefront of my mind). Davros pretended to have turned over something of a new leaf, and the Doctor really wanted to believe him. Later we have Ashildr/Me, who is forgiven by the Doctor, redeems herself and goes on to find her own higher prupose in life. And then we have Bonnie, who goes through the same thing but in an even more extreme way. I like the idea that perhaps his Caecilius-face is there to remind him that he can AWAYS save someone, but that 'save' doesn't have to just mean physically. There are other ways to save people. Just as Clara - and River, and the Ponds, and all his companions at various times - have saved him from himself.

And as for Clara. I FLAILED SO HARD when she woke up in yet ANOTHER dreamworld at the start of Inversion. \o/ She definitely gets inside other people's heads (which is why she is a teacher! It's what teachers DO) but she also tends to get stuck inside her own head, literally holding onto her humanity inside her own mind by force of will alone, whilst her body is stuck inside a Dalek/a Zygon pod/a dream crab/has been knocked out by a spoonhead/etc. It's a wonderful trait and like you I hope we get to see it play its part in her departure.

[elisi]

<333 Beautiful, as ever.
<333

(And oh god am I glad neither of these eps aired this weekend. You are right that it's easy to admire something like forgiveness in a story and so much harder to countenance it in real life.)
IKR? Although the fact that it aired on the eve of Remembrance Sunday was something it took me like two days to notice...

Not really the point of this essay, but I really like the way you phrased the bit about Ten's arrogance - 'He had to be right. About everything. Because if he was wrong, maybe he had been wrong about the Time War too…?' - that's something I've understood for a long time but never properly been able to articulate, so thank you for putting it into words so clearly!
I owe that insight to a huge long discussion on doctorelevenOne thing I have noticed, and very much enjoyed about this season so far, is the ongoing theme of Redemption.
*nods* I wish I could have fitted Ashildr in, but OMG TIME! /o\

Later we have Ashildr/Me, who is forgiven by the Doctor, redeems herself and goes on to find her own higher prupose in life.
And she forgives him. Which I think is also key - letting go of the anger and resentment.

like the idea that perhaps his Caecilius-face is there to remind him that he can AWAYS save someone, but that 'save' doesn't have to just mean physically. There are other ways to save people. Just as Clara - and River, and the Ponds, and all his companions at various times - have saved him from himself.
*nods a lot*

And as for Clara. I FLAILED SO HARD when she woke up in yet ANOTHER dreamworld at the start of Inversion. \o/
I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH ON DREAMWORLDS! There's too much. But yes, I loved it to itty bitty pieces.

She definitely gets inside other people's heads (which is why she is a teacher! It's what teachers DO)
!!!

but she also tends to get stuck inside her own head, literally holding onto her humanity inside her own mind by force of will alone, whilst her body is stuck inside a Dalek/a Zygon pod/a dream crab/has been knocked out by a spoonhead/etc. It's a wonderful trait and like you I hope we get to see it play its part in her departure.
I can't imagine it won't. Chekhov's gun and all that.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Whoa, this was very thought-out and well-written <3

[elisi]

Thank you! ♥

The show is SO RICH, I feel like I'm only unearthing a tiny corner. But even that corner is important. :)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful...thank you...

[elisi]

My pleasure! Glad you liked it! :)

[hawkmoth.livejournal.com]

Good thoughts!

My daughter is convinced the "Clara on Gallifrey" (pictured in your essay) will turn out to be very important in the episodes to come. We shall see.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Thanks for an excellent post.

There was one tiny point that I loved that has nothing to do with any overall arc.

Katie and 'five rounds rapid'. I do love it when they remember the Brigadier. One of his classic lines "Chap with the wings, five rounds rapid"

[elisi]

Thank you!

(And it's good to see you - it feels like forever since we talked.)

Re. Gallifreyan Clara... I wonder too.

[elisi]

Thank you. <3

And oh yes, Five Rounds Rapid. I think I cheered out loud! (I adore the Brig.)

[sea_thoughts]

Ah, these episodes were so goooooood! <3333

Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive

Yes, look at Nine nearly shooting a Dalek in the face. Look at Amy putting the eyedrive back on Madam Kovarian and I agree that Twelve's forgiveness felt a lot different from Ten's. Ten had no right to forgive the Doctor on behalf of the Jones family or Jack or Martha, really. He'd already defeated the Master, the forgiveness was just the cherry on the top (the salt in the wound?). Twelve's forgiveness is a masterstroke, he completely disarms Bonnie when he says it (Bonnie means 'goodness' so I always had hope she'd come around).

The unpopularity of forgiveness also makes me think of how people hate Albus Severus's name even though that's what it symbolises.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

Everything is beautiful. Especially this post.

I gasped out loud when Twelve mentioned the other button!!!! Will never comprehend fandom's beef with that retcon and how it supposedly made the Doctor """"less heroic"""" -- just goes to show how people glorify square-jawed ~pragmatism~ and MANLIEST OF PAIN over ethics of care. Thank god canon gets it.

Be doctors, not warriors.
Preach it.

But her ultimate fate, I think, will be to be Clara Oswin Oswald. The way the Osgoods are Osgood, and the Doctor is the Doctor.
I WILL CLING TO THIS. Btw, interesting to note that the ~evil~ version of Clara redeemed herself and then transformed into Osgood's twin... perhaps a sign that if the worst comes to pass, Clara will still live on somehow?? I might be reaching, though.

[elisi]

Ah, these episodes were so goooooood! <3333
Sometimes Santa Moff spoils us... :)

Yes, look at Nine nearly shooting a Dalek in the face. Look at Amy putting the eyedrive back on Madam Kovarian
Excellent examples.

He'd already defeated the Master, the forgiveness was just the cherry on the top (the salt in the wound?).
Forgiving the Master was... In one way point-scoring, as the Master did NOT want to be forgiven. He's the odd one out. So it was a very uncomfortable thing. It reduced the whole horrible year to just their personal feud (which, in many ways it was).

Twelve's forgiveness is a masterstroke, he completely disarms Bonnie when he says it
Perfectly put! :)

(Bonnie means 'goodness' so I always had hope she'd come around).
I can't believe I hadn't thought of that.

The unpopularity of forgiveness also makes me think of how people hate Albus Severus's name even though that's what it symbolises.
Hmmm. You may have a point - and *I* like the name. :)

[elisi]

Everything is beautiful. Especially this post.
♥ ♥ ♥

I gasped out loud when Twelve mentioned the other button!!!! Will never comprehend fandom's beef with that retcon and how it supposedly made the Doctor """"less heroic"""" -- just goes to show how people glorify square-jawed ~pragmatism~ and MANLIEST OF PAIN over ethics of care. Thank god canon gets it.
I should hope canon gets it! ;) (And fandom is so often... illogical.) Loved how these episodes expanded on DotD and put it in a wider context.

Preach it.
:)

I WILL CLING TO THIS. Btw, interesting to note that the ~evil~ version of Clara redeemed herself and then transformed into Osgood's twin... perhaps a sign that if the worst comes to pass, Clara will still live on somehow?? I might be reaching, though.
Well, she won't die surrounded by fat grandchildren. But because I don't know what'll happen, I feel like I'm flying blind. She will get a good ending, I'm sure of it.

Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

ALL THE CLARAS
“CLARA, WILL YOU STOP TURNING INTO HYBRIDS, YOU ARE MAKING ME NERVOUS, GOD”
(Clara proceeds to merge with a Silurian)
(12 runs away screaming)


DOCTOR: There was another box. I was going to press another button. I was going to wipe out all of my own kind, man, woman and child. I was so sure I was right.
War Doctor. No other option. We saw how this mindset affected later incarnations. Nine refused to duplicate his actions. Ten in contrast became very rigid, and dangerously self-assured. (No second chances.) His way, or nothing. (He had to be right. About everything. Because if he was wrong, maybe he had been wrong about the Time War too…? And he couldn’t have been, because that would mean he murdered his own kind in error.)


Well since you bring it up…On TDOTD and forgiveness:

Here, I think, all the post-Time War and pre-12 incarnations display an interesting contradiction. They *do* think that killing the Time Lords was the right thing to do. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean it was a *good* thing to do. So they disown the War Doctor, because HOW COULD YOU. You *should* have acted differently, found a better way. You didn’t, therefore this wasn’t me, (“the Doctor”).

And the thing is, they *are* right about the first part. If it’s Gallifrey or the universe, well, shit, what can he do?

But they are wrong about the second, and that is what TDOTD rectifies –certainly helped by the Doctor’s 7-series long character growth: They are confronted with and forced to relive the brutal reality of the Time War and they realise that he never had a choice and did the best he could under the circumstances. Now, they are like: Wow. Now *I* am here. What would I do? Could I, could just one man do anything else? No. They realise that though understandable, -in order to *survive* the guilt, they had to somehow distance, detach themselves from it- it was wrong to treat him like an Unperson for all these years. I cannot stress enough how important it is that they accept and forgive the War Doctor *before* finding a way to save Gallifrey. They acknowledge that it is horrible, terrible, that they would all die rather than do it. But this doesn't mean that it isn't the right thing to do.

And it is that *forgiveness* that saves Gallifrey. They pity him and they go back to help him, to share the burden.


(“This time you don’t have to do it alone”. There had been, they *remember* a time when he *had* to do it alone. To quote a random person on the Internet who put it perfectly:
“It’s not until the Doctor accomplishes this - until he actually finds a better way - that he gets absolution. This is, in fact, entirely fitting. Eccleston, Tennant, and, until this story, Smith all thought they made the best choice available to them, and so lived with the consequences of that belief. It’s not that the Doctor was wrong about Gallifrey being destroyed in the Davies era - it’s that he hadn’t saved it yet”. Gallifrey *was* destroyed until the Day of the Doctor. And then it wasn't destroyed anymore. Timey Wimey. Only the Doctor with the character development of having killed all the Time Lords was able to go back and not kill all the Time Lords".)

And lo, as soon as they choose to do so, a third, better option presents itself.




(tbc. I am BasiliskRules, and I ramble! And if you stupid Livejournal character limit system have got any kind of a problem with that, then to HELL with you!)

Re: Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

Because the Whoniverse is very moral and karma and crap when it comes to these things. What many people don’t realise, is that the concept of choice is inextricably tied to most fixed points, the closest thing to a manifestation of fate; and the result is tied to the characters’ actions and morality:

In the “Fires of Pompei” they *choose* to blow up Vesuvius, to do something unbelievably horrifying, because it will save billions, and they survive against all odds and manage to save a family too. Adelaide Brooke *chooses* to kill herself and correct the timeline, and 10 who acted immorally is punished. 11 says fuck this, I’ll go to die at Lake Silencio and he immediately finds a way out. Amy *chooses* to go with Rory in “The Angels Take Manhattan” –and knowingly creates a fixed point in the process. Clara *chooses* to dive into the Doctor’s time-stream, creates a stable time loop and they are both saved. What 10 and 11 *choose* to do here. The Doctor could leave, but he *chooses* to stay and defend Christmas for 900 years, fully expecting to die, and the Time Lords help him in the end, altering the dooming fixed point. Clara *chooses* to show trust instead of fear and to not destroy the Moon Egg –which the Doctor *heavily* hinted was the right thing before leaving- and bam, they get a new moon and not even environmental problems on Earth, not the attack they were anticipating. The Doctor abandons young!Davros and everything goes to shit until he goes back and saves him –possibly averting the “Create Your Own Villain” scenario he was also blaming himself for in the process too.

To quote Dumbledore, because of course I will, “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”. And in the Whoniverse good choices are rewarded.


So, to my mind, choosing to destroy Gallifrey was never the wrong decision for the Doctor, nor does he really think that it was given the circumstances; it’s just that he manages to find an even “more right” one –which is why TDOTD is fucking awesome:

At first, he made the “lesser of two evils” decision, which was horrible and soul-destroying, but right. The whole point is that in TDOTD he understands and accepts that, with the acceptance and the forgiveness of the War Doctor (“You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right”) even before they save Gallifrey, and with the War Doctor’s trust in 10 and 11 that despite what he did, even because he did it, his successors are good, better people (“Those men. Extraordinary").
But they are also more *unhappy* people, and so this time the Doctor makes the *right* choice, and at least 11 remains a good person, but also has the chance to be happy. All out of reconciliation and forgiveness. (So really, is it any wonder that he values it so much, even more than before, after that day?)
TDOTD says: They would still be alright if it was destroyed, they *were* alright; but goddamn it, let’s give poor 11 a gift, he is trying so hard. Basically: It is good, it is at it should be. BUT WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, BECAUSE DOCTOR WHO IS ABOUT HOPE.

(I liken it to the Doctor suddenly turning up at your doorstep and being like: “I’ve come to clean and redecorate all your furniture! You just sit on the sofa, relax, I got this, don’t do a thing!” But you are like “aawww, he’s so nice” and you go and bake him cookies. Because we all need more cookies. Cookies are cool).


He suffered and suffered and saw and caused unimaginable suffering. And he was given a second chance through constantly trying, doing good, being the Doctor ("never cruel, nor cowardly etc"), and forgiveness. So now, he *will* make sure that such pain will neither be endured, nor inflicted -because as this episode reminds us THE TIME WAR STILL HAPPENED, DUH- , he will do anything in his power to find or to ensure that third, better alternative, and he will forgive the unforgivable if he needs to, because he knows how much a person might need it, and what it can achieve. And because it's his duty since *he* was forgiven.

Re: Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

(SPAM! SPAM! etc. It's for a good cause)


On another note, this episode (and the first two-parter too) caused fic which might really interest you. However, since I plan to eventually intergrate them into the larger epic which I'm writing, "_ _ _ Ex Machina", I'll leave it to you: Preview or not? You know, since it's recent, and the preview will be short (the fic won't be).
Since it's relevant though, I *am* offering "Forgiven" (gallery, Other Arty Who Stuff), which is basically a good part of the above ramble and an analysis of the Doctor's guilt and the various impossible choices and moral dilemmas he is constantly faced with; but as a fic (meta! with an interesting format! (lots of) horribleness! heartwarmingness! quotes! intertextuality!). For your consideration, if you want and/or have a few minutes to spare ;)

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

I'm not ignoring you, life is just very busy this week... Will get back to you, promise.

ETA: I'd love a preview, except I know I won't have time to read it. I still need to read stuff from WEEKS ago. /o\

*feels guilty*

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

(Clara proceeds to merge with a Silurian)
(12 runs away screaming)
"Why Madam Vastra! And you married and everything...!"

And it is that *forgiveness* that saves Gallifrey. They pity him and they go back to help him, to share the burden.
Exactly! To quote my Day of the Doctor meta (it's all about River!):

Here’s what 10littlebullets wrote about TWoRS:

"Eleven, in the very episode that's about killing off the Lonely God once and for all, meets River when she is Waters of Mars Ten. He's just decided to lay this part of himself to rest, and there's the Timelord Victorious standing right in front of him--and he doesn't run away, or shove her in a cupboard, or try to kill her, or "give her a choice" to make himself feel better about killing her... he marries her. He loves her and accepts her and that's how he gets her to stop."

This is *exactly* what Ten and Eleven do in The Day of the Doctor. They love and accept the War Doctor - stop running from what they did, stop denying it, and instead embrace it.

And then - as you quote so beautifully - once he has accepted what he's been running from, a solution is found. <3

It’s not that the Doctor was wrong about Gallifrey being destroyed in the Davies era - it’s that he hadn’t saved it yet”.
Yesssssss. :) (I love timey-wimey stuff.)

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

To quote Dumbledore, because of course I will, “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”. And in the Whoniverse good choices are rewarded.
*nods a lot* "Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose." Twelve in Mummy on the Orient Express


TDOTD says: They would still be alright if it was destroyed, they *were* alright; but goddamn it, let’s give poor 11 a gift, he is trying so hard. Basically: It is good, it is at it should be. BUT WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, BECAUSE DOCTOR WHO IS ABOUT HOPE.
Yeah, I totally called it. :)

But you are like “aawww, he’s so nice” and you go and bake him cookies. Because we all need more cookies. Cookies are cool)
Well, that's... sweet. <3

o now, he *will* make sure that such pain will neither be endured, nor inflicted -because as this episode reminds us THE TIME WAR STILL HAPPENED, DUH- , he will do anything in his power to find or to ensure that third, better alternative, and he will forgive the unforgivable if he needs to, because he knows how much a person might need it, and what it can achieve. And because it's his duty since *he* was forgiven.
Beautifully beautifully put.

Re: Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

I understand, really, it's okay :) Perhaps later, you know, it's not going anywhere, and what will you do all those months *without* Doctor Who?!

And don't feel guilty.

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

Doctor Who EATS time.

And feeling guilty is... just normal. ;)

Re: Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

*nods a lot* "Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose." Twelve in Mummy on the Orient Express
Oh for God’s sake, now you are like contractually obligated to read “Forgiven”, it literally *begins* with this exact line! ;))))
But really, in your own time. Although it’s not long (it might look a bit because of the weird format), I think you can do it.


Yeah, I totally called it :)
Of course you did and oh my God, that was a very moving video and I love Johnny Cash.
I shall have to reward you with something from my collection; not too nope, not too silly, not deleted, not famous “The First Question” style, small probability of you having watched it, which is tricky…Okay: YouTube --> “Doctor Who – Resistance” --> first video, the one by kill04er.
(If you do find it too nope by any chance, tell me, and I’ll send something happy).


Also, in a weird cosmic coincidence, when I was writing the aforementioned fic, two alternative titles were considered: “The Divine Image”, and “Redemption Day” –like the song by Johnny Cash! (Which is very fitting, and so I had already referenced and used it before elsewhere, “Oh what mercy sadness brings…” <3)

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

Oh for God’s sake, now you are like contractually obligated to read “Forgiven”, it literally *begins* with this exact line! ;))))
Heeee. It is a very good line. Just give me a link, and I'll put it in a tab for later.

Of course you did and oh my God, that was a very moving video and I love Johnny Cash.
The Doctor Who team are excellent! <3

the one by kill04er.
Love is our resistance. Yes, excellent. (And - unless it's difficult for you - links really are absolutely fine and much simpler.)

Which is very fitting, and so I had already referenced and used it before elsewhere, “Oh what mercy sadness brings…” <3)
<3

Re: Rambling

[(Anonymous)]

Heeee. It is a very good line. Just give me a link, and I'll put it in a tab for later.

Okay, bad time; like many, you are probably just sitting in the corner of a dark room by now, listening to Mozart’s Requiem and reading really depressing poetry –but you did ask, so:

The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to do links, I always get the spam treatment. Sorry for complicating things. I think the simplest route for you as it is, is to search “BasiliskRules” on deviantart, and then choose “literature” from the categories. It’ll be quite close to the top, you’ll see it easily, and you can put in a tab for later like you say (although, hey, if you suddenly want to check anything else that appears, literature or not, who am I to argue ;) ).

Re: Rambling

[elisi]

Okay, bad time; like many, you are probably just sitting in the corner of a dark room by now, listening to Mozart’s Requiem and reading really depressing poetry –but you did ask, so:
George Michael's Jesus to a Child, actually. :)

The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to do links, I always get the spam treatment.
I just meant to copy & paste the URL, rather than any fancy HTML.

But I'll try to check it out... soonish.

[sea_thoughts]

I like the name as well, actually!

[elisi]

:)