Spyfall meta

[elisi]

The meta café is BACK!

It’s not as shiny as it used to be (this ain’t Moffat), but (insert relieved sigh) it turns out that the dullness of S11 was a deliberate choice and Chibnall CAN write interesting stuff. It’s very RTD-like, but I like the RTD era (it was what first hooked me), so here I am.

(This is basically a combination of raw meta and flaily capslock.)


So, overall Spyfall (both parts) was fun and fast-paced, with great guest stars, the regulars got stuff to do, and there was even TIME TRAVEL (!!! It was like finally breathing after being oxygen starved for a year). I don’t have the time/energy to go into any detail, because that’s not really where my interest lies.


However, a small note before we start:

The ~problematic~ aspects
As others have remarked, it’s interesting how the Chibb’s era manages to piss off two opposing groups at the same time:

- The rightwing nutjobs are unhappy with the diverse cast & writers, and think it’s all pandering & ‘being too PC’
- The leftwing side are unhappy with how badly the writing treats said characters of colour/women etc.

Now Chibnall isn’t forever, which is nice to remember when it feels particularly exhausting to constantly navigate a minefield.

Right now I am here for the meta, but that doesn’t mean I don’t notice or care… So, if you want The Angry Take (and I mean ANGRY), make your way to DoWntime (all their points are good and worth your time):

BIT OF ADRENALINE, DASH OF OUTRAGE – Our Thoughts on "Spyfall: Part Two”

My post will be dealing with three things: Gallifrey, the Doctor and the Master. In that order.



1. The Fridging of Gallifrey
I am deliberately using the word ‘fridging’ because that’s what it is. The place has been destroyed simply to cause angst for our hero(s). Now I like the effects (well, I like what it’s done to the Master — see below. Am not really bothered about Doctor angst at this stage, although the mirroring is nice — again, see below), but I dislike the thing in and of itself.

It’s a bit like the attempted rape on Buffy? The outcome (Spike going to get his soul) was A Good Thing, something that I wholeheartedly supported, a story I love; but the thing itself was hugely problematic and dodgy storytelling.

I have similar issues here.

A reveal like that shouldn’t make you go ‘Again?’, like Forrest Gump going to the White House.

The weight of Gallifrey in New Who — the Doctor’s guilt, his reasons for destroying it, the monumental effort in first saving it and then finding it — it felt earned. It took years, and pain, and endeavours worthy of heroes, near-impossible feats of daring and determination.

And then poof, it’s gone again.

(Caveat: The whole Timeless Child may yet be a genius thing, who knows. I am willing to redact anything said here pending future developments, but as of right now it feels cheap.)

Perfect Tumblr illustration. ;)

What bothers me most (and why I refer to it as fridging) is because it removes Gallifrey’s agency. It turns the planet/the Time Lords into a singular thing, a tragic (or evil, blah blah Timeless Child) issue for the Doctor (and Master) to be upset about.

(Dear Master — the Time Lords were dicks? Where have you BEEN for the past… forever? It was the first thing we ever learned about them.)

The destruction removes the nuance of the place, the fact that it’s living, breathing world, with a history and a complex structure and different factions and groups. It is a player, something for the Doctor (and the Master) to push against. Something with god-like powers, and incredibly human flaws. Watching Classic Who is DELIGHTFUL (have watched all of Five, Six & Seven, and am 4/7 through Four), because Gallifrey is such a morass of political factions and idiocy and pointless rules and terrible sets (this, basically), and when the Doctor says the Time War changed them, he was more right than you can imagine. In short, it’s rich in every way, an untapped potential in New Who (the S9 finale apart) and something I guess I was looking forward to, the Doctor’s childhood and history and background and so on…

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
(x)

All that potential, just gone.

Well, for now. Because all you can do, is bring it back. And every time you destroy/re-create, it becomes less impactful. (See this sketch.)

So yeah, colour me unimpressed.

(Although I am amusing myself imagining the Sisterhood of Karn just sighing deeply when they hear the news. ‘The Enmity of Ages’ are clearly up to their old tricks once more…)

Disclaimer/other point of view: We don’t know what The Timeless Child is all about, and (if I were to hazard a guess) it’ll be something hugely problematic about Gallifrey’s past, which will obviously serve as a neat metaphor for Britain’s past history of colonisation and so on (Gallifrey being a very thinly veiled metaphor for Great Britain), and that’s all nice and good, and much as nuking the entirety of the UK would show up Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage and all the rest, I can’t help but think it’s a little… blunt. And does very little for all their previous colonies that they exploited.

All that said, if Chibnall is actually going to attempt some sort of reckoning with Britain’s colonial past (especially in this era of Brexit) then all the best to him. I will admire and cheer on the effort, even if it’s likely to be flawed.

~~

Sidebar: I am trying very hard not to mention the fact that apparently Chibnall didn’t watch the S9 finale, since Gallifrey is no longer in a pocket universe but right on the very edge of the universe. I am judging him SO HARD.

This would be a good point to bring up this brilliant Tumblr post:

Levels of Doctor Who Fan

I am somewhere along 5 or 6. And those further down the abyss the tell me that, actually, destroying Gallifrey is just one of those things and bring up references that I know the sound of, but have not yet become familiar with.

So maybe this is just Chibnall dragging us down into the wilds of the Whoniverse.



2. The Doctor
Twelve was complicated, introspective and over the years worked through all the issues. His dying words of advice to his next self are a thing of beauty. And… Thirteen didn’t listen.

Despite the daftness, the silly-ness, the Tigger-like bounciness, and all the other Eleven-y attributes, underneath the surface the previous Doctor she reminds me of the most is… Ten.

A different take, yes, no endless guilt chipping away, but oh, the issues. The unfounded belief that you are right. The breathtaking hypocrisy.

Now, I don’t mind as such, but it needs laying out.

A lot of people have complained that the Master seems to have gone straight back to his evil ways, as if Missy never was, which I will deal with below, because I think it all works rather beautifully if you just bother to look. It’s all in the performance and the final reveal. No, the Master is fine. More than fine.

But the Doctor?

After Twelve, after stripping back all the layers, after dealing with the pain, the lies, the loss, the anger, the everything — how is she this?

- Hiding the truth about herself from her friends, only telling them the very basics when forced to, through clenched teeth. And this after they have apparently been asking her for a long time. Why so secretive?

- Mindwiping people, as if Clara and Bill had never existed. Without even explaining. I can understand having to remove their memories, since she revealed FAR too much. But doing it without consent… bad look. Even Twelve at least explained to Bill when she questioned him.

- Jamming the perception filter. Now this is not about whether or not the Master deserves it (he probably does), it’s about what the act says about the Doctor — it’s a calculated act of cruelty. (‘Never cruel or cowardly.’ Really Doctor? Really? And you’re keeping the name? Mind you, it’s along the lines ‘Don’t you think she looks tired’ wrt. Harriet Jones. Hi Ten! I liiiiked you. I’m happy to see you again, despite all the griping.)

ETA: I have zero problems with the Doctor messing around and turning the Master over to the Nazis as a double agent. That's par for the course. (Ditto using his own words to get the Kasaavin to turn on him.) But using his skin colour against him? That's low. What it says is 'Not only will I make sure you fall into your own trap (you deserve that), but I will make sure they hurt you more than they otherwise would. It's the opposite of kindness. What happened to Twelve's 'I'm not sure that any of that matters, friends, enemies. So long as there's mercy. Always mercy.'

I guess she is feeling betrayed and angry, but the wording is awful. 'Now they'll see the real you. Good luck.' What does 'the real you' mean in this context? The immediate answer is simply 'a man of colour'. Not 'an evil master-mind who kills people for fun'. (I have also just realised that she says 'good luck' to both the POCs in the story who will end up in concentration camps ('The places I've escaped from' <- it's subtext, but I'll take it.) It's hella ugly.) (I DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS. But if the Doctor is written as problematic, that does factor into my analysis.)

The point is - it's unnecessary. Being a double agent is plenty to get him into trouble.

- Declaring herself a pacifist! This is up there with ‘the man who never would’. I am SPEECHLESS. Pacifist? Pacifist???

GLASS WOMAN: The Doctor has walked in blood through all of time and space. The Doctor has many names. The Destroyer of Worlds. The Imp of the Pandorica. The Shadow of the Valeyard. The Beast of Trenzalore. The Butcher of Skull Moon. The Last Tree of Garsennon. The Destroyer of Skaro. He is the Doctor of War.
Twice Upon a Time

As I have said before, it’s PERFECTLY understandable that Thirteen wants to leave all that baggage behind. Who wouldn’t? New face, new life, new start, erase the past. I’m also happy to have this theory confirmed. (Also, it means that Kerblam! is kinda redeemed...) I mean, it was the only thing that made sense, but I was wondering where the Doctor had, well, disappeared off to. She looked like the Doctor, but there was something missing. As Promethia said during S11:

’Back during Season Five I remember an old-timer saying that watch enough Who and inevitably your favorite character become the Doctor and your favorite Doctor becomes the Doctor. Which made enough intellectual sense to me to take note of, but man, I am feeling it this season. I get it now. Like, yes, your new friends seem lovely, but slightly in the middle of a 55-year old character arc here. Bit keen to get back.’

So, this is possibly my favourite thing Tumblr brought us from Episode 1:

I can literally see my carefully cultivated persona falling down around me in the space of one single minute, a Thirteenth Doctor Moodboard

There is also: This observation *g*

Now, I like myself a problematic doctor (and oh, it’s absolutely perfect for my fic, I am rather thrilled to have the show confirm my characterisation 100%) but some tiny indication of what’s going on in her head would be nice.

And that’s where I’ll leave it. I hope it’s correct. Either way, I shall take Thirteen as opaque, complex, problematic & better at lying (to everyone, including herself) than Ten. And minus the man!pain.



3. The Master
(This is only the first layer. Don’t you want to see how deep I go?)
My central idea is that the Master is acting throughout, and — as we progress through the episodes — layer after layer is peeled away, leaving something like the truth in the final scene.

So I shall try to go through the episodes and unravel what ‘O’/the Master is actually doing, and why he’s behaving the way he does, and will be going through the episodes, pulling out lines that stood out. :)


Top Layer: ‘O’
‘O’ is a fairly traditional Master trope. He’s disguised himself as someone the Doctor trusts, befriends her and plays her beautifully. He’s just the right amount of clever and friendly. The Master is a great actor and doesn’t mind waiting for years, building up his story. This layer is mostly lies, since he stole someone else’s face & life, but it can still tell us a lot.


O: Every time I came into a room C would go ‘Oh, god’.

This is hilarious. I’m sure part of him went ‘Feel free to worship me’.

~~

I love the Master’s organised chaos — we saw it when he was Razor, hiding out on Floor 1056 — and it’s deceptively cosy. And there’s an interesting contrast between the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Master’s.

O: Shut up! [Re. TARDIS, and then] Ridiculous.

Ridiculous is about right. I do not like Thirteen’s TARDIS. Sorry, but just no. And I say that as someone who likes Timelash (!) and the idea of time crystals. But they’re enormous, look like they’re made of plastic, and also vaguely phallic. The roundels & the blue/yellow is fine.

But generally — the interior of the Master’s TARDIS is interesting. When going undercover the Master goes for messy and comfortable. (Compare & contrast to the clinical look to his previous TARDISes. I rather wish we could have seen what Missy’s looked like.)

That said, the Doctor’s TARDIS is a nice reflection of who she is — there is the big central showpiece, surrounded by darkness. It’s not enough to make me like it (aesthetically I just can’t), but at least it’s metaphorically appropriate.

~~

O: Look at all the evidence I gathered. And they just mocked me.

He looks so genuinely sad/upset. I wondered at this, figuring that he was just really in character, even if surely he’d be angry, not sad. BUT. If this is coded, if this is actually him talking about what he uncovered wrt The Timeless Child…. If he’s momentarily losing sight of his role and just falling into the grief that he carries with him, it makes perfect sense. (Such big sad eyes. Ugh, I just want to hug him.)

~~

13: It’s like I can sense them.
O: I know what you mean.

SUBTLE!

And then he has a plan. The Master ALWAYS has a plan, and a back-up plan. And a back-up plan to the back-up plan. I LOVE HIM. And he & the Dr work so well together. <3

And asking Graham if he wants a look at his fanboy collection… Very nice touch. He’s being an absolute troll, but it’s adorable.

~~

O: No, it can't be. I've been through Barton's records. There are thousands of photos of him online at all ages. If he's not human, that's one very impressive legend he's put together.

Yeah, like you did as Saxon… (This was SO rewarding on re-watch.)

~~

Yas suggests steganography and O appreciates her being clever. There is definitely an undertone of O simply liking Yas. The flirting in the casino and then (at the end, after the reveal):

Master: Stick with me, Yas, cos I control... everything. Even these guys.

Who knows what his reasons are. Maybe he just likes her. Maybe he’s trying to distract himself with someone smart & pretty (I mean, that’s what the Doctor does…) It almost hearkens back to Delgado!Master & Jo — he was always flirting with her and half stealing her.

~~

DOCTOR: Oh. Why's it doing that? I don't understand. Multiple Earths? what does that even mean?
O (hand to forehead, obviously deciding that he needs to give her a push in the right direction): Okay, okay. If you really think they're spies, we should be asking who's the spymaster? Who's running the alien spies? Because that's the person who holds the answers.

You can SEE O sighing internally and deciding to throw the Doctor a bone. ‘Stop being so slow, look it’s quite simple really…’


2nd Layer: Classic Master
O: Mmm. Got me. Well done.

He twirls just like Eleven <3

Now it seemed strange, how nice O was, and then the burst of manic OTTness as he revealed who he was. But I think the Master persona — the whole cackling super villain shtick — is as much of an act as ‘O’ was.

MASTER: Yeah. A man very close to my heart. Well, in my pocket, actually. Do you want to see him? It's always good to keep a backup of one's work. Tissue compression, it's a classic. Oh.
(He slowly pushes open a matchbox to reveal a tiny figure. That's a lot smaller than they used to be.)

As Promethia put it ‘It’s like he backslid so far he lost five regenerations.’ This is his early 80s’ behaviour, completely classic Ainley!Master (I love Ainley to PIECES, I might have actually clapped for joy at this point).

It’s a role he can play in his sleep though: Laugh like a maniac, throw out threats, have a perfect plan to destroy the Doctor. And there is an extent to which he buys into it himself:

MASTER: Yah! One last thing. Something you should know in the seconds before you die. Everything that you think you know... is a lie. Got you, finally.

Because it’s a much, much easier thing to do, than to face up to the truth and reveal himself.

I think my favourite thing is the WAY the Master appeared? As in, the fact that this is how the Master ALWAYS operates. Hiding, making plans, turning up and no one knowing who he is, then going 'AHA! It is ME!' Because for a while fans of New Who had the idea that the Master Had To Be Insane or whatever, but by now we're on New Who Master #3, and we can see the pattern of behaviour much more clearly. (And despite the early cackling, Dhawan!Master is not insane or ‘bananas’.)

This — this — is what the Master always does:

DOCTOR: You, Barton, and a race you barely know? That's one uneasy alliance. Trust each other, do you?

It’s so textbook that the Doctor doesn’t even blink. They’ve danced this dance a thousand times over.

And there is this sense that the Master is doing all these things [building alliances with random aliens wanting to take over the world] because what else is he going to do? He wraps murder and Master Plans around himself like an old coat, but it doesn't keep out the cold. The despair is there, so near the surface that he can't contain it.

~~

DOCTOR: Let them go, and you can have me.
MASTER: I've got you anyway.

This is… a fascinating line. Sure on a surface level it’s about the Master thinking he has the upper hand, but below that. Below that is Twelve begging Simm!Master and Missy to stay with him. Ten begging Simm!Master to travel the stars together. The Master knows that the Doctor is his, that he can dictate how things develop. (Well, to a certain extent.) But they both know that there is nothing the Master can do that will stop the Doctor caring about him.

The Doctor’s love is unconditional (and vice versa). It’s the fact of stating it outright that’s so delicious.

~~

MASTER: When I kill them, Doctor, it gives me a little buzz, right here, in the hearts. It's like... How, how would I describe it... It's like... It's like knowing I'm in the right place, doing what I was made for.

Since when has the Master needed to justify himself in that way? He is claiming that being evil is ‘what he was made for’, that he is quite simply following his nature. It’s a far cry from:

MISSY: You know, back in the day, I'd burn an entire city to the ground just to see the pretty shapes the smoke made.

Evil as a casual, careless choice, as an end in itself. But now Missy’s self-assurance is completely gone, replaced by defensive statements.

~~

DOCTOR: What do you want?
[The Master looks completely lost — as if he’s forgotten the script and who he’s supposed to be. Then, eventually]
MASTER: Kneel
[Beat]
MASTER: Kneel! Or they all die!
[The Doctor rolls her eyes, and kneels]
MASTER: Call me by my name!
[At this point he is almost crying]
DOCTOR: Master.

And so it goes, three times (very Biblical, that).

What this does, I think, is something akin to Eleven and the Daleks:

DOCTOR: You are my enemy! And I am yours. You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks.
DALEK: Correct. Review testimony.

The Master wants the Doctor to name him, to acknowledge him, to put him back in the place where he feels he belongs; good and bad, light and dark, Doctor and Master. He wants the universe to make sense again. And being bad is the place he is familiar with.


3rd Layer: Look I’m a Nazi now! I’m evil, see? TOTALLY EVIL.
DOCTOR: He's masquerading as a German soldier. That's a low, even for him.

I am, somewhat, reminded of Faith (from S1 of Angel, ‘Five by Five’):

Faith keeps hitting and kicking Angel, but he’s not fighting back.
Faith: "You hear me? - You don't know what evil is! - I'm bad! - Fight back!"

The Master has always revelled in his badness, laughed and grinned and seen it all as a joke. After that initial confrontation in the plane Dhawan!Master is painfully subdued. He poses, but there’s very little energy.

There is also this…


(Quote from Angel. WW2 ep and Spike is wearing a Nazi coat. With many thanks to Promethia for the image.)

Admittedly very different political climate on the Doylist level, but the last person who dressed up as a Nazi for you, you married, Doctor. (Although River, at that point, was quite Missy-like? If you want a contrast. Happily blasting her way through whoever was in her way, she didn't much care.) Also, the Master has teamed up with Daleks (metaphorical Nazis) on several occasions, so why would actual Nazis be a surprise?

~~

(The Doctor is repeatedly tapping four dots on Noor's morse key.)
NOOR: That's not a code.
DOCTOR: Not to you. If this works, I'm going to need you to find something for me. This is a very personal code. The rhythm of two hearts.

I love EVERYTHING about this. The telepathy. The four beats. EVERYTHING.

~~

MASTER: And, I mean, you know me. I can't help myself. I have to stick my oar in.

MASTER: And of course, the best thing is everyone loses except me. Barton and those creatures do the dirty work, and once they're done, I get rid of them, having destroyed your precious human race in the process. Win-win-win.

Look, I haven’t changed! (He says, having changed.) Which I think ties in with this:

MASTER: Tiny Teutonic psychic perception filter. Learned it at school. Lets people see what they want to see.

Not the perception filter as such, but this:

‘Lets people see what they want to see.’

He’s doing it throughout (he’s been doing it his whole lives). He’s brilliant at playing people, whatever part he’s currently inhabiting. What’s changed is the truth beneath the surface. Yes, he used to be that maniac who was only in it for power, but that has now simply become another persona that he can project back at people. It’s a persona he’s very comfortable with, having been that person for so long, but…


4th Layer: Cracks appear, truth peeks out
DOCTOR: When does all this stop? The games. The betrayal. The killing.
MASTER: Why would it stop? I mean, how else would I get your attention?

I can’t even. *hands* Just stating his millennia MO up front, no holds barred: ‘I do evil shit & hack elaborate plans try to destroy the world just so you’ll pay attention to me.’

Because right now he NEEDS the Doctor’s attention:

MASTER: When did you last go home?
DOCTOR: What do you mean?
MASTER: I took a trip home, to Gallifrey, hiding in its little bubble universe. Not sure how to describe what I found. Pulverised? Burned? Nuked? All of the above. Someone destroyed it. Our home, razed to the ground. Everyone killed. Everything burned.
DOCTOR: You're lying.
MASTER: You should really take a look. Oh, wait, you won't be able to. I just thought I'd let you know before I...

He’s on the edge of confessing, giving the Doctor breadcrumbs to follow, because it’s a painful, difficult process. He’s stripping away layers, baring himself to the only person who understands, and yet, at the same time, angry with her.

Because — as people have said (I think I first came across this on Nostalgia’s DW) the Master blames the Doctor for caring. He can’t turn it off. He feels things now:

MISSY: I don't even know why I'm crying. Why? Why do I keep doing that now?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Maybe you're trying to impress me.
MISSY: Yes. Probably some devious plan. That sounds about right.
DOCTOR: The alternative would be much worse.
MISSY: Really?
DOCTOR: The alternative is that this is for real, and it's time for us to become friends again.
(S10.10 The Eaters of Light)

Pain and guilt and empathy are horrible things to be burdened with. And (as the Master probably sees it) the Doctor was the one who made him feel things. Locked him up for years, forced the shell open, dug around inside for emotions that should have been dead millennia ago and brought them back to life… And now he can’t turn them off!



5th Layer: Ruins (of a good man)
And finally we get to the truth:

MASTER: If you’re seeing this, you’ve been to Gallifrey. When I say someone did that, obviously I meant... I did it. I had to make them pay for what I discovered. They lied to us. The Founding Father of Gallifrey… Everything we were told was a lie. We’re not who we think. You or I. The whole existence of our species. Built on the lie of the Timeless Child. It’s buried deep in all our memories. In our identity. I’d tell you more, but… [stands, sneers] But why would I make it easy for you? It wasn’t for me.

We know how destroying Gallifrey affected the Doctor, but [s]he is (after all) used to guilt. The Master… isn’t. Is it any wonder that he reacts badly, retreating to the one thing he knows? He is angry and hurting and lashing out at the Doctor, and there is an implicit ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’

Because oh, look at all the mirroring we can now do! *claps* I guess it makes sense that Thirteen in Ten-like, since we are RIGHT back into Lonely God/Last of the Time Lords territory, just flipped:

MASTER: What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?
DOCTOR: Stop it!
MASTER: You must have been like God.
DOCTOR: I've been alone ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see? All we've got is each other.

AND NOW THE MASTER KNOOOOOOOOWS. (And all they have is each other.)

Sidebar: Much as I hate the destruction of Gallifrey — props to the Master for being a one-man atom bomb. He does have that destructive streak down to perfection (hence, I guess, the shout-out to Logopolis, even if there was a bit of a continuity error).

Now, it’s not like the Master hasn’t destroyed planets (or chunks of the universe) previously, and he even tried to destroy Gallifrey before...

I’m going to pull out a few quotes from The Deadly Assassin (Fourth Doctor — Classic Who S14, 3rd story, from 1976 — the year I was born!), and yes, this does spoil the plot somewhat, but all the same you should still watch it, it’s a hoot! You get to see Gallifreyan TV for one thing. :D

First a nice little intro to the (Classic) Master:

DOCTOR: The Master's consumed with hatred. It's his one great weakness.
MASTER: Ha. Weakness, Doctor? Hate is strength.
DOCTOR: Not in your case. You'd delay an execution to pull the wings off a fly.

And then the Doctor (ah, he was SO YOUNG and innocent. I mean, he was Four, so he was sort of ageless, but he dashes about and saves the day and has very few hang-ups and gets bossed around by the Time Lords and (later) the White Guardian etc.) as seen through the Master’s eyes:

DOCTOR: Why have you brought me here?
MASTER: As a scapegoat for the killing of the President. Who else but you, Doctor? So despicably good, so insufferably compassionate. I wanted you to die in ignominious shame and disgrace.

And then, the Master doing his best Evil Overlord cackle as he is about to destroy Gallifrey and steal all their power:

MASTER: They're not dead. Stunned. They'll live long enough to see the end of this accursed planet, and for the Doctor to taste the full bitterness of his defeat!
[…]
MASTER: Rassilon's discovery, all mine. I shall have supreme power over the universe. Master of all matter! Bwhahahaha!

Come New Who, the characters have become more-or-less god-like in their powers, and the Master envies the Doctor his feats of destruction.

But no longer.

Because — and this is something that didn’t strike me until I began to delve deeper and thinking it all over, and then struck me so forcefully (one night, when falling asleep) that I literally had to sit up, turn on the light, and make a note of it:

The Master made a moral decision!

He destroyed Gallifrey because what they had done was wrong.

Let that sit for a bit.

The character who has for the entirety of their lives been motivated by nothing except survival and dominance and attaining power did something for moral reasons.

Remember the S8 finale?

DOCTOR: All of this. All of it, just to give me an army?
MISSY: Well, I don't need one, do I? Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you. Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill.

The Master is now… that ‘good man’.

Missy made a choice. A choice to stand with the Doctor, to stand up for good. To do what’s right.

But I don’t know that she ever quite understood how it works.

The Master has a moral framework of sorts now. He cares (and can’t stop), but all he knows how to do is be… is destructive. (If Missy was on a 12 Step Programme, she was only half way through.)

The Master in his actions sought no power, no glory, no alliance, no throne. Did not swan about in the Sash of Rassilon, crowing over the foolishness of his fellow Time Lords.

No. The Time Lords did something wrong, and lied about it; the Master judged them and dispensed justice. Made them pay for their lies.

The result is their home, razed to the ground, and a Master who doesn’t know how to live with himself.



Conclusion
So.

My final thought.

We have the Doctor, who declares herself The Hero, the good guy, the one with the (very changeable) morals (that you can’t argue with, or you get booted out of the TARDIS), even as she lies and does incredibly questionable things like letting Bad Guys go, and leaving harmful structures intact and mind wiping people ‘for their own good’ and only tells her friends the bare minimum about herself when forced.

And we have the Master, who declares himself The Villain, who kills people ‘because that’s what he does, that’s what he’s meant to do’, but who is unravelling before our eyes, unable to live with himself or his conscience. Who dispenses justice now, a judge between right and wrong.

To summarise, what does Chibnall Who bring us?

A Doctor who is pretending to be uncomplicated/straightforward Good and a Master who is pretending to be uncomplicated/straightforward Bad.

Both are lying.

The Master cares far more than he lets on, he's broken, but does his best to keep the mask in place.

The Doctor cares far less than she should, and lives behind a happy-go-lucky carefree facade.

And that? Is interesting.

(And the Master whispers: Everything that you think you know... is a lie.)

Comments

[juliet]

Oooh that is really interesting. I shall have to chew on it for a while, but *sparkles in brain*.

I really didn't like the mindwiping :( but at least if there's something More going on there then it becomes more interesting and less just idk thoughtless. Or something.

I am somewhere along 5 or 6.

I am merely 3 or 4, except that I've had several stories published in Faction Paradox spin-off-of-spin-off anthologies :D

[elisi]

Oooh that is really interesting. I shall have to chew on it for a while, but *sparkles in brain*.
I cannot explain how good it is to be back. This is what I do.

I really didn't like the mindwiping :( but at least if there's something More going on there then it becomes more interesting and less just idk thoughtless. Or something.
It's a fine line they're walking, where the DOCTOR thinks she's fine, but she's really not. I can only presume it's deliberate. (I mean, if we're supposed to accept her as unproblematic Good then this is the stupidest show in existence.)

I am merely 3 or 4, except that I've had several stories published in Faction Paradox spin-off-of-spin-off anthologies :D
Go you! I wrote an essay for 'Chicks Unravel Time' and contributed... um, four mini-metas to '101 Claras to See'. But I've only been to one con, and am very much not following All The Actors. However I have the 'weird crossovers' and the 'multiple novel-length fanfics'. Not good with anything extended universe, but own a few books and have listened to a handful of Big Finish (I am really not good at audios. I find them very hard to follow... /visual person)

[laurashapiro]

So the show is Good Omens now, is what you're saying.

[elisi]

No.

More genocides. Fewer miracles.

[enevarim]

YAY FOR META CAFÉ!!!

Ahem. Sorry. It's been a while.

I'm going to throw in some things which I gathered in preparation for doing my own meta on this, which I kind of got distracted from because I hadn't read N. K. Jemisin short stories before and they were really really good.

From Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”:

Sometimes also a man or woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home. These people go out into the street, and walk down the street alone. They keep walking, and walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates. They keep walking across the farmlands of Omelas. Each one goes alone, youth or girl, man or woman. Night falls; the traveler must pass down village streets, between the houses with yellow-lit windows, and on out into the darkness of the fields. Each alone, they go west or north, towards the mountains. They go on. They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

From N. K. Jemisin, “The Ones Who Stay and Fight”:

So don't walk away. The child needs you too, don't you see? You also have to fight for her, now that you know she exists, or walking away is meaningless. Here, here is my hand. Take it. Please.

Digression because that in combination with The Doctor Falls just hurts too much:

DOCTOR: Missy. Missy. You've changed. I know you have. And I know what you're capable of. Stand with me. It's all I've ever wanted.
MISSY: Me too. But no. Sorry. Just, no. (she takes his hand) But thanks for trying.

So much of the trouble and the tragedy here is precisely that the Master tries to be Doctor-ish and gets it wrong.

From The Beast Below:

Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government.

From The Pandorica Opens:

A nameless terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.

From The Zygon Inversion:

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!

From Spyfall II:

When I said someone did that, obviously I meant I did. I had to make them pay for what I discovered. They lied to us.

From The City of Death:

DOCTOR: I can't let you fool about with time.
SCAROTH: What else do you ever do?
DOCTOR: Ah well, that's different. I'm a professional. I know what I'm doing.

Because … we don't know what the Timeless Child is yet, but if it's an Omelas “all Time Lord power and prosperity is based on torturing a small child” proposition, of course the Doctor would have stepped in and stopped it. (“Not on my watch!”) And, if it had been Ten, or if he'd otherwise got carried away and been temporarily Time Lord Victorious, he might actually have burned the world down in the process. And then felt terrible about it afterwards when the Doctor-ish-ness reasserted itself. But … getting that angry about the torture of a small child (if that's what it is) and needing to do something about it right there to stop the torture is entirely Doctor-ish. (“What else do you ever do?”) It's … just that the Master got carried away in the wrong direction.

This doesn't even address the brilliant extra things you saw in it, which I'll probably return to enthuse more about later.

[elisi]

YAY FOR META CAFÉ!!!
It's so WEIRD to be back. I feel like Sleeping Beauty must have done after waking up and trying to realign her brain.

which I kind of got distracted from because I hadn't read N. K. Jemisin short stories before and they were really really good.
She is on my to-read list, once I have time again.

From Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”:
This reminded me of Snake Dance? Unsure what the relevance is to Spyfall, but am sure you can tell me. :)

Digression because that in combination with The Doctor Falls just hurts too much:
Mmmm hm. 'Right now I'm in two minds...' Missy is constantly hovering on that edge.

So much of the trouble and the tragedy here is precisely that the Master tries to be Doctor-ish and gets it wrong.
If I were very cynical I'd say that the Doctor is getting being Doctor-ish wrong too...

But … getting that angry about the torture of a small child (if that's what it is) and needing to do something about it right there to stop the torture is entirely Doctor-ish. (“What else do you ever do?”) It's … just that the Master got carried away in the wrong direction.
Loving all your quotes, because yes, the parallels are there for the taking. (Mmmm, you will LOVE the next chapter of the fic, oh yes. I am still thrilled at how well my characterisation matches up to what we now see. I got her issues exactly right!)

[astrogirl]

I wish I had more to say about this right now, because it's fascinating, especially the thought that trashing Gallifrey was moral choice from the Master, however twisted that morality may be. But I think I'm gonna have to let most of this sit in my head for a while, and maybe think about it some more once the rest of the season plays out.

I will say that I seem to have a very different take on the Doctor jamming the Master's perception filter than a lot of people. I've seen various sorts of outrage about it, which I get, but... I don't think it's cruel? It seemed a pretty appropriate response to me, really, after a little bit of reflection.

I mean, first of all, let's be real, there's no question but that the Master will get out of it, and probably fairly quickly. You know it, I know it, the Doctor knows it. It's a given. Putting a human, even a terrible one, at the mercy of the Nazis would be unconscionable. Doing it to the Master? It's a mild problem for him.

Second, the way I see it, what she's actually doing is saying to him: You're willing to ally yourself with people this awful and destructive, this irrationally hateful, and you're arrogant enough to think you can just shield yourself from the consequences of that? You think what they do to anyone else doesn't matter, because you can keep them from doing it to you? You can't. You're not going to escape those consequences, that reality of who you're dealing with, and I'm not going to let you.

Which is a) not a bad message, and b) an absolutely classic example of both the dynamic between the Doctor and the Master, and the one between the Master and his allies-of-the-episode.

That's my own take on it, anyway.

Plus, trying to kill each other is their texting. :)

[promethia_tenk]

Oh, I'm totally with you on this and am a bit surprised at the fandom response.

Not about the issue of a writer in 2020 having a man of color dress up as a Nazi and then having Nazis turn against him for his skin tone. That I'm pretty confident was just a terrible idea.

But entirely in-world? Would the Master work with Nazis? OF COURSE HE WOULD. The Doctor saying 'this is low even for you' is just a straight lie. And then the Doctor fighting back against the Master by turning his own scheme against him? Come on. That is both eminently fair and basically Doctoring 101: let them hang themselves on their own devious plans.

[elisi]

Quick reply (and I have edited the post, because obviously I wasn't clear enough):

Letting the Nazis think he's a double-agent and leaving him at their mercy is fine and par for the course. You reap what you sow and all that.

But using his race against him? No. It's awful on both Watsonian and Doylist levels. ('The places I have escaped from...')

However it neatly illustrates her how her moral compass is not really functioning very well, so that part is nice.

(Also if you go read the DoWntime post I link to, you will see my reaction is very mild, comparatively.)

[elisi]

I wish I had more to say about this right now, because it's fascinating, especially the thought that trashing Gallifrey was moral choice from the Master, however twisted that morality may be. But I think I'm gonna have to let most of this sit in my head for a while, and maybe think about it some more once the rest of the season plays out.
Hey, there is no rush! Mostly what I wanted was just to get my take 'out there', to be able to point and say 'this is what I think', because it literally wouldn't leave me alone.

Think I have replied to the rest already. :)

[ginger_rude]

I'm still very bummed that we can't have Missy and Thirteen simultaneously. One, I miss Missy's evil Mary Poppins dementedness. Two, femslash finally? c'mon...

[elisi]

No reason they can't meet, and I'm sure Big Finish will get there eventually. Give it a few years... :)

[enevarim]

Er, this is mostly going to be flaily caps-locking, I think.

And does very little for all their previous colonies that they exploited.
– This. Also, if there is a Timeless Child who was still being tortured, Omelas-style, it would be embarrassing to discover that the Master razed Gallifrey but didn't actually free the Timeless Child.

His dying words of advice to his next self are a thing of beauty. And… Thirteen didn’t listen.
– So much this. And, look, I get it, most Doctors are a reaction against the previous one. But it's almost as though Twelve, unlike his predecessors, figured out his flaws and provided, in his dying speech, a good template for what his successor could be. And … was ignored.

Mindwiping people, as if Clara and Bill had never existed. Without even explaining. I can understand having to remove their memories, since she revealed FAR too much. But doing it without consent… bad look.
– Doing it to Ada even as she protested… really bad look. Can the Doctor not hear Donna screaming in her brain at that point? Because the rest of us sure can.

In the novelization of Remembrance of the Daleks, Seven sees Professor Rachel Jensen working out fibre-optics after watching him use the fibre-optic cable in his improvised set-up in the basement to talk with the Dalek mothership, and he says, staring into her eyes, “No. Not for twenty years.” But he doesn't take the whole story away, doesn't even take away that there are aliens with the power to crack open the earth like an egg, just the this-would-change-the-course-of-human-technological-development-if-I-left-it-in-here. Mind-wiping Ada of everything is cruel, and, as someone pointed out, not also mind-wiping Babbage is stupid, or (more likely) lazy writing.

O: Every time I came into a room C would go ‘Oh, god’.
This is hilarious. I’m sure part of him went ‘Feel free to worship me’.
– He must, at least once, have answered “Yes?”, and then just mind-wiped C because it was simpler than explaining.

That said, the Doctor’s TARDIS is a nice reflection of who she is — there is the big central showpiece, surrounded by darkness. … at least it’s metaphorically appropriate.
– YES. I hadn't seen this, and, yes. Brilliant.

BUT. If this is coded, if this is actually him talking about what he uncovered wrt The Timeless Child…. If he’s momentarily losing sight of his role and just falling into the grief that he carries with him,
– OH. Also YES.

You can SEE O sighing internally and deciding to throw the Doctor a bone. ‘Stop being so slow, look it’s quite simple really…’
– DOCTOR: Who's Missy?
MISSY: Please, try to keep up. Short for Mistress. Well, I couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?

MASTER: Why would it stop? I mean, how else would I get your attention?
I can’t even. *hands* Just stating his millennia MO up front, no holds barred: ‘I do evil shit & hack elaborate plans try to destroy the world just so you’ll pay attention to me.’
– So very much this. So text it hurts.

Is it any wonder that he reacts badly, retreating to the one thing he knows? He is angry and hurting and lashing out at the Doctor, and there is an implicit ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’
– I wasn't okay with the Master – I mean, dazzled with him, obviously, in moments, but not seeing him as consistent, and logically following from Missy, until about here.

The Master made a moral decision!
He destroyed Gallifrey because what they had done was wrong.
– Yes. And so the Doctor calls, kind of. Or what the rest of the universe that was scared of the Doctor thinks of as the Doctor. “And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.”

The Master in his actions sought no power, no glory, no alliance, no throne. Did not swan about in the Sash of Rassilon, crowing over the foolishness of his fellow Time Lords.
No. The Time Lords did something wrong, and lied about it; the Master judged them and dispensed justice. Made them pay for their lies.
The result is their home, razed to the ground, and a Master who doesn’t know how to live with himself.
– “Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis.” Except, as you say, the Master doesn't quite understand how it works.

Both are lying.
– Wow. Thank you. I so want to believe that there's a deep plan for this and that they stick the landing. Chibnall whispering Ranskoor av Kolos is not helping my hope of that. But wouldn't it be nice if I were wrong, and they do do something amazing with it!

[elisi]

Er, this is mostly going to be flaily caps-locking, I think.
Not a problem!

– This. Also, if there is a Timeless Child who was still being tortured, Omelas-style, it would be embarrassing to discover that the Master razed Gallifrey but didn't actually free the Timeless Child.
LOL!

– So much this. And, look, I get it, most Doctors are a reaction against the previous one. But it's almost as though Twelve, unlike his predecessors, figured out his flaws and provided, in his dying speech, a good template for what his successor could be. And … was ignored.
I have thoughts on this. I think she is deliberately trying to cut out her past.

– Doing it to Ada even as she protested… really bad look. Can the Doctor not hear Donna screaming in her brain at that point? Because the rest of us sure can.
Apparently not. Or she doesn't care. Or she thinks the end justifies the means.

But he doesn't take the whole story away, doesn't even take away that there are aliens with the power to crack open the earth like an egg, just the this-would-change-the-course-of-human-technological-development-if-I-left-it-in-here. Mind-wiping Ada of everything is cruel, and, as someone pointed out, not also mind-wiping Babbage is stupid, or (more likely) lazy writing.
Yup, and even the show NOW is very inconsistent.

– He must, at least once, have answered “Yes?”, and then just mind-wiped C because it was simpler than explaining.
!!! Love it, yes absolutely he did.

– YES. I hadn't seen this, and, yes. Brilliant.
I get to feel clever then. Thank you. :)

MISSY: Please, try to keep up. Short for Mistress. Well, I couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?
EXACTLY. His face. It's a thing of beauty.

– I wasn't okay with the Master – I mean, dazzled with him, obviously, in moments, but not seeing him as consistent, and logically following from Missy, until about here.
Yay, it worked! :D

– Yes. And so the Doctor calls, kind of. Or what the rest of the universe that was scared of the Doctor thinks of as the Doctor. “And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.”
Ooooh. I always loved that quote, and the Doctor as the Dark Dangerous Unknowable. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere.

– “Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis.” Except, as you say, the Master doesn't quite understand how it works.
As Harmony once put it on Buffy: 'I tried! It was all hard and stuff.'

– Wow. Thank you. I so want to believe that there's a deep plan for this and that they stick the landing. Chibnall whispering Ranskoor av Kolos is not helping my hope of that. But wouldn't it be nice if I were wrong, and they do do something amazing with it!
I really, really hope the revelation holds up to the suspense they're building. But going by the Doctor in the episodes so far... I am hopeful!

[schrodingers_time_lady]

[waves] Hello! the_redjay/luckweaver here. Sent you a friend request, I don’t know if you remember me but we had some lovely chats on LJ way back when.
Hope you’re doing well!

[c_carol]

I can’t help but think it’s a little… blunt.
Unsubtle is kind of one of Chibnall's defining _things_, isn't it?

[elisi]

Yes, rather. All I can hope is that it'll end up worthwhile...

[mengu]

Well, that would be interesting. It'd hurt, though, to see the pattern blow away like smoke, and I have no trust in Chibnall, so. I'll be happy for you if any evidence of thought emerges. (or, I guess, if it ends up being "the thing was wrong" as opposed to "the thing hurt me and/or the Doctor". "hurt the Doctor" might count as "wrong", will think further as appropriate.)

[elisi]

Well, that would be interesting. It'd hurt, though, to see the pattern blow away like smoke, and I have no trust in Chibnall, so. I'll be happy for you if any evidence of thought emerges.
I don't really need evidence, just as long as there's no evidence to the contrary. (/is very very good at fanwanking)

I don't particularly trust Chibnall either, hence taking what I can get.

[schrodingers_time_lady]

First of all... [gestures madly at the icon I made because of how excited I was last night]

(Caveat: The whole Timeless Child may yet be a genius thing, who knows. I am willing to redact anything said here pending future developments, but as of right now it feels cheap.)
This is about where I am. Very intrigued. Has a nice 'Gallifreyan fairy tale' ring to it which as you know, is up my alley.

(Dear Master — the Time Lords were dicks? Where have you BEEN for the past… forever? It was the first thing we ever learned about them.)
Yes, I watched this whole scene with my inner Roda just sort of staring at him going "..........THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING. Oh Rassilon's balls, I agree with the Master."

It is a player, something for the Doctor (and the Master) to push against.
This is the crux of what's still bothering me about how it returned, but I'm holding out hope.

because Gallifrey is such a morass of political factions and idiocy and pointless rules and terrible sets
Flashback to us bonding because you sent me Kim to read...

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
This is one of my favourite poems. Another good quote for this situation would've DEFINITELY been "Man hands on mystery to man / it deepens like a coastal shelf".

(Although I am amusing myself imagining the Sisterhood of Karn just sighing deeply when they hear the news. ‘The Enmity of Ages’ are clearly up to their old tricks once more…)
I just sort of imagined them watching and going "oh, they're doing it themselves this time, ok".

as a neat metaphor for Britain’s past history of colonisation and so on (Gallifrey being a very thinly veiled metaphor for Great Britain),
Kim. Also see: Big Finish Omega's representation of Rassilon.

since Gallifrey is no longer in a pocket universe but right on the very edge of the universe. I am judging him SO HARD.
Discontinuity Guide. Required reading ;)

Levels of Doctor Who Fan
I don't know what level I'm on but I went to look up a potential class in the Academy the other day, and in the process learned about a virus created by the Daleks, the length of the Academy in miles, and the name of both of Gallifrey's moons.

So maybe this is just Chibnall dragging us down into the wilds of the Whoniverse.
[sighs wistfully at the possibility of Zagreus/Valeyard/Dark Ages etc stuff coming back]

Despite the daftness, the silly-ness, the Tigger-like bounciness, and all the other Eleven-y attributes, underneath the surface the previous Doctor she reminds me of the most is… Ten.
Yes!! I couldn't put a finger on it but you're so right.

No, the Master is fine. More than fine.
Heart eyes.

And this after they have apparently been asking her for a long time. Why so secretive?
Intrigued myself.

What it says is 'Not only will I make sure you fall into your own trap (you deserve that), but I will make sure they hurt you more than they otherwise would.
It had elements of 'The Family' for sure and I took it to be her reacting for a place of... hurt? They really do wind each other up, and they don't often highlight their best features in one another.

Pacifist? Pacifist???
Ah, since when is the Doctor not a little bit... hypocrite.

Also, it means that Kerblam! is kinda redeemed...
No.

inevitably your favorite character become the Doctor and your favorite Doctor becomes the Doctor.
Yeah, I no longer have 'a' Doctor. But they're still not my favourites. [clutches The Master and Jack to my heart]

https://ssaalexblake.tumblr.com/post/190015799001/i-can-literally-see-my-carefully-cultivated
Yeah I was sat there going - out loud - "No. No. No. YES. YES!!! AHAHAHAHA OH GOD."

‘O’ is a fairly traditional Master trope. He’s disguised himself as someone the Doctor trusts, befriends her and plays her beautifully.
Hence the faces on the plane.

This is hilarious. I’m sure part of him went ‘Feel free to worship me’.
Oh yes, it was definitely 'Say my name'.

I love the Master’s organised chaos — we saw it when he was Razor, hiding out on Floor 1056 — and it’s deceptively cosy. And there’s an interesting contrast between the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Master’s.
Why does it look like it could be Roda's?

BUT. If this is coded, if this is actually him talking about what he uncovered wrt The Timeless Child….
Directed anger.

And asking Graham if he wants a look at his fanboy collection… Very nice touch. He’s being an absolute troll, but it’s adorable.
[giggles in hindsight]

Yas suggests steganography and O appreciates her being clever. There is definitely an undertone of O simply liking Yas. The flirting in the casino and then (at the end, after the reveal):
I did sort of genuinely love that? Just 'huh, I think I like this companion'.

‘Stop being so slow, look it’s quite simple really…’
So true. Very him.

He twirls just like Eleven <3
I was clapping my hand with glee. Also like him, think 'Iiiiiiiii can't decide' after 'playing track three'.

As Promethia put it ‘It’s like he backslid so far he lost five regenerations.’ This is his early 80s’ behaviour, completely classic Ainley!Master (I love Ainley to PIECES, I might have actually clapped for joy at this point).
One mind.

Hiding, making plans, turning up and no one knowing who he is, then going 'AHA! It is ME!'
You so know he wouldn't have pulled the plane trick if she hadn't worked it out. He, like the Doctor, needs people to know he's been clever. Two sides of the same coin.

This is… a fascinating line. Sure on a surface level it’s about the Master thinking he has the upper hand, but below that. Below that is Twelve begging Simm!Master and Missy to stay with him.
They can't escape each other. It's a two-way system.

Since when has the Master needed to justify himself in that way? He is claiming that being evil is ‘what he was made for’
I'm taking it to have something to do with the Timeless Child identity crisis.

replaced by defensive statements.
You could tell in his eyes in that scene that something had him spooked.

The Master wants the Doctor to name him, to acknowledge him, to put him back in the place where he feels he belongs; good and bad, light and dark, Doctor and Master. He wants the universe to make sense again.
YES YES YES YES YES.

(Part 1 of 'I'm not sure the character limit on DW'.)

[elisi]

First of all... [gestures madly at the icon I made because of how excited I was last night]
<3 <3 <3

This is about where I am. Very intrigued. Has a nice 'Gallifreyan fairy tale' ring to it which as you know, is up my alley.
I'm basically going to say NOTHING.

Yes, I watched this whole scene with my inner Roda just sort of staring at him going "..........THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING. Oh Rassilon's balls, I agree with the Master."
LOL. Also... [forces self to be silent]

This is the crux of what's still bothering me about how it returned, but I'm holding out hope.
And people further down the cliff face/in the deeper layers tell me that this is all fine & dandy. Also (and I'm not sure I mention this specifically?) but there is a symmetry to the fact that because the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey the Master must do so also.

Flashback to us bonding because you sent me Kim to read...
*twirls you* I LOVE YOU FOREVER BECAUSE YOU DID! And yeah, if you did into the British Empire and what they did... it ain't pretty.

This is one of my favourite poems. Another good quote for this situation would've DEFINITELY been "Man hands on mystery to man / it deepens like a coastal shelf".
Oooh, now I wish I'd added that one too.

I just sort of imagined them watching and going "oh, they're doing it themselves this time, ok".
Again with the Brexit vibes... :(

Kim. Also see: Big Finish Omega's representation of Rassilon.
Was it you who got me that? Because I own it and have listened to it, and remember precisely nothing. :( I'll have to look it up again. (I am terrible at audios.)

Discontinuity Guide. Required reading ;)
Well I am well aware that Doctor Who has no canon and that in a show with timetravel it's impossible to continuity errors, BUT I AM STILL JUDGING HIM.

I don't know what level I'm on but I went to look up a potential class in the Academy the other day, and in the process learned about a virus created by the Daleks, the length of the Academy in miles, and the name of both of Gallifrey's moons.
Yeah, the levels are rather imprecise...

[sighs wistfully at the possibility of Zagreus/Valeyard/Dark Ages etc stuff coming back]
The Valeyard is my favourite and my best. The Ultimate Foe is one of my alltime favourite episodes, hands down. I have SO MANY THOUGHTS and THEORIES, but... no time.

Yes!! I couldn't put a finger on it but you're so right.
Glad you agree. :)

Yeah, I no longer have 'a' Doctor. But they're still not my favourites. [clutches The Master and Jack to my heart]
I love Jack, but Doctor/Master is my thing above all else. (And as I say elsewhere, every. single. time the villain of the week [during Five & Six' eras] and reveals himself to be Ainley!Master I'd almsot fall out of my chair in delight.) <3

Yeah I was sat there going - out loud - "No. No. No. YES. YES!!! AHAHAHAHA OH GOD."
Perfect gif set is perfect.

Hence the faces on the plane.
And you fall for it EVERY TIME!

Why does it look like it could be Roda's?
It's red & cosy? Honestly, I am FASCINATED at what Roda would/will make of Dhawan!Master.

I did sort of genuinely love that? Just 'huh, I think I like this companion'.
There is alllll the Thirteen/Yas, which is nice except for Thirteen being breezy & oblivious. If I had to choose a ship, Master/Yas has far more potential. (I mean, I don't think she'd go for it what with him being all evil, but.)

I was clapping my hand with glee. Also like him, think 'Iiiiiiiii can't decide' after 'playing track three'.
!! Yes, the beautiful overly dramatic bastard. <3

You so know he wouldn't have pulled the plane trick if she hadn't worked it out. He, like the Doctor, needs people to know he's been clever. Two sides of the same coin.
Mmm, yes. And he loved stringing her along.

They can't escape each other. It's a two-way system.
Very true.

I'm taking it to have something to do with the Timeless Child identity crisis.
Yesssss, it's ... *waves hands* complicated.

You could tell in his eyes in that scene that something had him spooked.
Almost going through the motions and momentarily forgetting the script.

YES YES YES YES YES.
<3

[schrodingers_time_lady]

"No, I ate one."
I think we showed that even he wouldn't stop quite so low as being a nazi when we learn he was feeding something to the Brits. Which definitely makes how 13 tricks him there considerably worse.

Did sort of make me think 'now you know how Jack feels' when he said he had to live 77 years, though.

I love EVERYTHING about this. The telepathy. The four beats. EVERYTHING.
The telepathy was so perfect. Loved it to bits.

Tiny Teutonic psychic perception filter.
[steals technobabble for fic purposes]

He’s on the edge of confessing, giving the Doctor breadcrumbs to follow, because it’s a painful, difficult process. He’s stripping away layers, baring himself to the only person who understands, and yet, at the same time, angry with her.
You could really feel that his heart wasn't quite in the evil plan because something was eating him alive.

the Master blames the Doctor for caring.
"I win."

I meant... I did it.
Saw it coming, still very dramatic.

Is it any wonder that he reacts badly, retreating to the one thing he knows? He is angry and hurting and lashing out at the Doctor, and there is an implicit ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’
My entire mind was reeling at this point. Even if I'm still not yet sure how I feel about the revelation there's something poetic, in the Doctor/Master field, about why it happened. And again, Roda going "no no la la la la not listening not agreeing with him."

since we are RIGHT back into Lonely God/Last of the Time Lords territory,
His 'Moment'.

props to the Master for being a one-man atom bomb.
It really makes me kind of hope for and be scared for the possibility of seeing what he did.

So despicably good, so insufferably compassionate. I wanted you to die in ignominious shame and disgrace.
This was the scene on the plane ;)

Rassilon's discovery, all mine.
You know when he said they lied to us, before he went on to elaborate my first thought was 'oh ho, did he find out about Rassilon's bullshittery?'

The Master made a moral decision!

He destroyed Gallifrey because what they had done was wrong.

Let that sit for a bit.
Oh, it's sitting. It's sitting like a ton of bricks. In a good way. Like... holy crap. It wasn't just destruction for the sake of it, it was moral obligation. Definitely loops back around to 'where I'm meant to be' and what not.

And we have the Master, who declares himself The Villain, who kills people ‘because that’s what he does, that’s what he’s meant to do’, but who is unravelling before our eyes, unable to live with himself or his conscience. Who dispenses justice now, a judge between right and wrong.
Can definitely see this tying into old episodes...

Both are lying.
First rule.

[elisi]

I think we showed that even he wouldn't stop quite so low as being a nazi when we learn he was feeding something to the Brits. Which definitely makes how 13 tricks him there considerably worse.
No, the 'feeding stuff to the Brits' was the Doctor's lie that she got Noor to pass on (and be intercepted), in order to frame him.

Did sort of make me think 'now you know how Jack feels' when he said he had to live 77 years, though.
You are forgetting all the centuries he spent in the sewers of Terserus. ;)

The telepathy was so perfect. Loved it to bits.
This episode was composed ENTIRELY of hardcore shipping. (OK, the fam were in it too now & again, and lots of great Bechdel test passing, but MOSTLY shipping.)

You could really feel that his heart wasn't quite in the evil plan because something was eating him alive.
Mmmm.

"I win."
*flail*

Saw it coming, still very dramatic.
It's SO GOOD. Ye gods, he's such a great actor.

My entire mind was reeling at this point. Even if I'm still not yet sure how I feel about the revelation there's something poetic, in the Doctor/Master field, about why it happened. And again, Roda going "no no la la la la not listening not agreeing with him."
Again, REALLY looking forward to what Roda will make of it all.

His 'Moment'.
Less Rose-y. Ahem.

It really makes me kind of hope for and be scared for the possibility of seeing what he did.
*lips sealed*

This was the scene on the plane ;)
:)

You know when he said they lied to us, before he went on to elaborate my first thought was 'oh ho, did he find out about Rassilon's bullshittery?'
Which part?

Oh, it's sitting. It's sitting like a ton of bricks. In a good way. Like... holy crap. It wasn't just destruction for the sake of it, it was moral obligation. Definitely loops back around to 'where I'm meant to be' and what not.
I am SO CURIOUS as to what you'll make of it. I've been sitting with it for months and... done nothing. Also there is a global pandemic and fic has been eating me alive. Mostly I'm thinking 'Five Year Plan' and that we are only seeing a few pieces.

OK, DONE. *collapses again*

[sea_thoughts]

Oof, formatting needs some work.

Yeah, my reaction was very much "again?" when they revealed Gallifrey as a smoking ruin, like really? I hope this is worth it. I did appreciate the Master ripping down the whole "I'm a lovely Good Person with no baggage" façade that Thirteen was happily flaunting during all of S11 and I really really appreciated it happening in front of the companions, who clearly all had a moment of "oh my God, we should have been asking a LOT more questions". Yes, my dears, you really should, because if you don't know what's going on, you end up in a plane hurtling towards the ground and not just literally.

I like the idea of mirroring the Master and the Doctor, putting the Master in the Doctor's place circa Ten in The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Timelords. I'm always going to believe O would have been more interesting as a human enemy because the reveal as the Master kind of overshadows a lot of the stuff he said before and he made several good points. But then of course, O never really existed, the Master burrowed into his life like a parasite and lived in his skin.

Involving Ada and Noor would have been better if they hadn't just been... tools for the Doctor to use? They are literally like computers, she uses them and then mindwipes them, like she's erasing her search history. The Doctor being played by a woman doesn't suddenly make mindwipes okay, Chibnall! Thirteen could have saved Noor from her fate, there was nothing stopping her.

River did dress up in a Nazi uniform, but that was about mocking them, she was perfectly happy to mow them down and also try and kill Hitler, whereas the Master is working with them. I don't appreciate the first POC to play a Master being put in a Nazi uniform. You can't try and be non-political and involve the Nazis, that's what the Daleks are for (I do agree that Thirteen's shock at the Master working with the Nazis was a bit disingenuous given his history). And clearly nobody was around to point out to Chibnall that the last thing we need is our first POC Master throttling our first female Doctor, I winced and actually looked away (what IS it with Chibnall!Who and Thirteen being throttled? Is this a kink??). And Thirteen weaponising the Master's race was very Harriet Jones but even worse than what happened to Harriet.

A lot of people seem to think Dhawan!Master is in between Simm!Master and Missy, or even in between Ainsley!Master and Simm!Master, but if what you're writing about his emotions is true, then he is clearly coming after Missy, especially seeking reassurance about how EVIL he is and how he is in opposition to the Doctor. The Doctor gave him all these EMOTIONS and just ABANDONED HIM, HOW DARE THEY? (He walked away but he won't remember that and anyway, that's not THE POINT.)

"You're all the same, you screaming kids. 'Look at me, I'm unforgiveable!' Well, here's the unforseeable: I forgive you. After all you've done. I forgive you."

So can Thirteen do it? After what the Master's done? Can she forgive him AGAIN?

[elisi]

Oof, formatting needs some work.
Fixed, thank you! No idea why it came up like that - or rather, no idea why DreamWidth looked fine and LJ was a mess.

Yeah, my reaction was very much "again?" when they revealed Gallifrey as a smoking ruin, like really? I hope this is worth it.
I feel like I should go read up on obscure Virgin New Adventures and all that jazz. There was a post (which I have lost) about how it all all fits when you are deep in the Extended Universe.

I did appreciate the Master ripping down the whole "I'm a lovely Good Person with no baggage" façade that Thirteen was happily flaunting during all of S11 and I really really appreciated it happening in front of the companions, who clearly all had a moment of "oh my God, we should have been asking a LOT more questions". Yes, my dears, you really should, because if you don't know what's going on, you end up in a plane hurtling towards the ground and not just literally.
Thisssss. They were SO PASSIVE during S11 it was painful.

I like the idea of mirroring the Master and the Doctor, putting the Master in the Doctor's place circa Ten in The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Timelords.
ALL THE MIRRORS. Yes. Good. Now I really hope they do something with it. And Chibnall is capable, I know, from his Torchwood work. I just hope he can bring it now.

I'm always going to believe O would have been more interesting as a human enemy
I... had literally not thought of that. And he was her friend, not her enemy so IDK. Maybe one of the companions will eventually step up and call her out. WHERE IS CLARA WHEN YOU NEED HER? (That reminds me that I do have a 'Clara meets the Fam' draft somewhere...)

But then of course, O never really existed, the Master burrowed into his life like a parasite and lived in his skin.
Yeah, we don't know what the real O was like.

The Doctor being played by a woman doesn't suddenly make mindwipes okay, Chibnall! Thirteen could have saved Noor from her fate, there was nothing stopping her.
On the plus side: I had not heard of her before, and am glad to now know of her. Downside: Damn, the Doctor is heartless. (And the show doesn't address it at all.) It's a bit Demons of Punjab, except would any timelines have been broken? And where is the Doctor's guilt? (Bonne chance doesn't count.)

River did dress up in a Nazi uniform, but that was about mocking them, she was perfectly happy to mow them down and also try and kill Hitler, whereas the Master is working with them.
River plain didn't care at that point. Bit like Missy, she'd get rid of whoever was in her way. The Master is painfully, angrily trying to make a point. All that said, the optics are still terrible. There is this list of bad choices, and did no one care? (The actors might have, but it's not really their job, and at that point it's too late anyway.) WHY does no one think of getting a sensitivity reader or two?? They're not expensive.

but if what you're writing about his emotions is true, then he is clearly coming after Missy, especially seeking reassurance about how EVIL he is and how he is in opposition to the Doctor. The Doctor gave him all these EMOTIONS and just ABANDONED HIM, HOW DARE THEY?
It's very chewy, and it's what makes the most sense. There's no point in making Simm -> Missy more complicated.

So can Thirteen do it? After what the Master's done? Can she forgive him AGAIN?
Of course she can, but it's more complicated. What did The Founding Fathers do that the Master couldn't forgive? That's the crux of it.

(waves wildly from Limbo, Purgatory, or somewhere)

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, things are better, see above. But, I was exhausted, I needed a couple of days; I will get back to you.

Patience, there will be rambling and comments.

Re: (waves wildly from Limbo, Purgatory, or somewhere)

[elisi]

I am expecting you to return from your Hero's Journey a stronger and wiser man.

Looking forward to ramblings. :)

And here we go

[(Anonymous)]

1. General Reactions/Commentary

Dear Master — the Time Lords were dicks? Where have you BEEN for the past… forever?
Yeah… But now I have this cracky vision of the Master just being in his own little world, cheerfully traipsing about… And then he’s suddenly like “Wait a minute! We’re fucking wankers!”

the weirdest thing abt classic who is that the timelords are like. there. they’re all there. on gallifrey. on earth. on random planets that look exactly like earth. they wear funny hats. they teleport. the doctor yells at them. new who is like “the time war… they’re all gone… this beautiful intelligent species…” and classic who is like “lmao y’all see these idiots?” the master’s tardis is a truck. a TRUCK
LOL, seriously.

the doctor really has been going “due to various traumatic events, including the betrayal of my entire species followed up by that of my oldest friend, i will from now on refuse to acknowledge anything about my past beyond surface details” only for the master to come in like “NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT” out of what i can only assume was sheer childish outrage at the doctor’s belief that she could actually move on from him
(claps)


I wanted to mention: Love how, by necessity, the longer the show goes on, the more insanely ridiculous and convoluted Earth’s history becomes. Like, I had this idea for a crack-fic:
A poor, beleaguered Monk from series 10, named Steve, is just trying to run the simulation. And apart from the fact that sim!Twelve is tapping on the glass and going “Hey, arsehole! I figured it out; you’re fucked!” (throws Baudrillard book at aliens) every five minutes, he has to contend with the fact that for example, in an average day in the late 20th/early 21st century:
there’s a bajillion different versions of said Time Lord running around, several different incarnations of the Master going simultaneously undercover at different points of the timeline, Silents playing the long game, undercover Zygons, numerous undercover robots, secret Trap Street aliens, Silurians, giant spiders, like three different virtual realities uploading minds for various purposes, random invading Daleks and Cybermen, random Time Lords arriving, Suddenly The Earth Is Gone, Suddenly the Trees Take Over, Suddenly a Flying Titanic, Suddenly Dinosaurs… etc. And he’s all “AAAHGHXFUIDFHS, I’M NOT PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS, FUCK’S SAKE” (breaks down sobbing). I mean, sufficiently advanced aliens or not, damn, come on ;D

That said, the Doctor’s TARDIS is a nice reflection of who she is — there is the big central showpiece, surrounded by darkness. It’s not enough to make me like it, but at least it’s metaphorically appropriate.
Ooooh, I like that, hadn’t thought of that. Kudos.

There is definitely an undertone of O simply liking Yaz... It almost hearkens back to Delgado!Master & Jo — he was always flirting with her and half stealing her.
Yes, Master, please like her! That will give her something to do!
(Side note, good news, the University of Central Lancashire is offering me a place. But, it’s so funny, cause when I was researching their website last year, they were like: “AAH! Notable alumni! Mandip Gill! A companion! dOCtor WhO MaINstrEam BBC sHOW, we are very impressive!”
And I was just “…and this is something to brag about, because she has done so much, such nuance, much complex character, acting for the ages, wow, omg!”
Poor Yaz, it’s not her fault there was a 55-year-old character arc going on :p )

River, at that point, was quite Missy-like?
There was this great quote somewhere that went something like “look, between River and Missy, you can’t convince me the Doctor ISN’T into erotic murder.”


(Wait for the rest of it)

Re: And here we go

[(Anonymous)]

2. Nazis, fiction, and the ethics thereof

Also, the Master has teamed up with Daleks (metaphorical Nazis) on several occasions, so why would actual Nazis be a surprise?
“Iz it truu zhat zhe Daleks are based on de Nazis?''' :DD


Of course I get why the Nazi thing is uncomfortable for some people, and probably an objectively not very good, tone-deaf idea. But. I will offer a defence because I can:

A) To quote my review of the Star Trek episode Patterns of Force:
“Some find this episode insensitive, due to its choice of villains. I don’t; in fact, I believe it’s surprisingly refreshing. The trope of “A Nazi by Any Other Name” is good and useful, and I get why it exists; fascist iconography, we need some convenient and very efficient bad guys that are almost instinctively hated, and nobody feels guilty if they die, etcetera. But it is used ALL THE TIME BY EVERYONE: Hydra, the Empire, the Death Eaters (and Grindelwald), the Daleks, you name it. Well, this episode is honest. “They. Are. Nazis . End of story. Swastikas, there you go. We are not going to look for an excuse or cover it up. I want X vs Nazis, and it’s gonna happen, because I’m the writer, dammit! Enjoy, guilty pleasures, come on.”
B) Thirteen is basically like: Evil Is Not A Toy. Hey, you wanna play with Nazis? Okay, you get Nazi-ed, see how you like it! You see what happens? See? Yes, it’s dark if you think about it –and yeah, kudos, about time– but I think it’s a fairly valid perspective in these circumstances.


3rd Layer: Look I’m a Nazi now! I’m evil, see? TOTALLY EVIL.
I’m hesitant to give Chibnall this much credit, I don’t think he thought about this that deeply; he was probably like “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool? I’M DOING SYMBOLISM.” But I am usually Watsonian and I will take it, it makes sense, yes, thank you.


Something Not Really Related From The Comments, Because Why Not, And I Couldn’t Fit It Anywhere Else:

And clearly nobody was around to point out to Chibnall that the last thing we need is our first POC Master throttling our first female Doctor, I winced and actually looked away (what IS it with Chibnall!Who and Thirteen being throttled? Is this a kink??)
Okay, now maybe it’s just my *own* personal issues and history talking, but I do think it’s also good TV:
I totally get where you’re coming from, but LET THRITEEN GET WHUMPED! Let female characters get whumped! When she’s the hero, the main character, when it’s well-written and not just victimisation/sexualisation/whatever, it’s different, it’s okay! I think it’s a big part of being the Doctor –and being a cool hero in general. Also, I think in a way it’s more sexist to *not* do it? Like, hey, this is a dangerous lifestyle, shit’s gonna happen, let’s be realistic, she's supposed to be a strong, independent woman, she can take it. If, say, Captain Jack was female –what, you’d suddenly stop killing her? It’s part of the job description, get in there!


(t.b.c)