The Doctor, The Master and Death
Ok but can we talk about how The Valeyard and The Lumiat are like representations of what should’ve been. That the tides of fate were only turned by the choice of an innocent but selfish child, a deal with Death that only came to pass from a series of unfortunate circumstances.
That The Doctor is The Doctor and The Master is The Master because a child murdered another child and was given an impossible choice by Death; you, or him.
And that child chose him. As any child would have done. Out of fear, that child gave their closest friend to Death and irrevocably altered the flow of time. The truth was no more. The Doctor and The Master took its place, and the rest is bitter, bloodsoaked history.
Ngl this bit of lore that I recently learned (through my own lore-related mistakes) COMPLETELY changes my outlook on the entire franchise. I cannot look at The Doctor now without subconsciously going ‘I know what you did’, even if they don’t remember, even if they were just a kid. And now I can’t look at The Master either without subconsciously going ‘I know what you could have done’.
This also completely changes their emotional conversation in End of Time. When The Doctor says ‘I don’t know what I’d be without you’. When The Doctor says ‘you could be beautiful’.
And then? The Master screaming ‘you did this to me!’ at Rassilon. Not knowing that another perpetrator of his eternal suffering stood to the side, watching him do this, equally ignorant to the truth of their respective positions.
I am losing my SHIT. I’m so glad I rectified my misconceptions (please let me know if I’m still misconceiving… that sounds wrong) about this because oh my god the truth is better/worse. What an absolutely heartbreaking origin story for the both of them. Seriously, more fans need to know this shit because holy fuck. At least for me, it changes everything.
Anyway this was a pretty heavy post so here’s a meme because I can’t angst and not soften the blow a bit
