So last time I teased a theory about who the Valeyard might
be. In order to really get into that
theory we need to explore some assumptions the Doctor made in “Journey’s End.” Namely that the “Other Doctor” couldn’t
regenerate because he was human.
But fundamentally, he’s not.
He’s part Time Lord, literally grown from the severed hand of a Time
Lord. Sci-fi genetic mumbo jumbo aside
this implies that he is a kind of hybrid creature, something new, unique and
different…unless this has happened before.
Remember he pumped that energy into the hand, he aimed it,
and chose to do that, but we don’t know if that was a kind of reflex or if that
was a cognitive decision on his part.
Its implied in “Time of the Doctor” that 10 chose to keep his form
rather than take on a new face, which could very well be, but also contradicts
everything we’ve ever seen from regenerations prior to this event.
The Doctor also lies.
He actually lies quite a lot throughout the series; even River Song
points it out as a cautionary piece of advice to Amy Pond. When he said he “chose” not to change, he
could have been lying to make himself look cleverer than he actually is, and
that some kind of genetic instinct directed him to shoot that energy into the
severed hand because the regenerative energy sought out “dead Doctor” cells to
revive.
Speaking of River Song, she might actually help us unpack
this quandary. In “Journey’s End” the
Doctor explicitly states that the Other Doctor has one heart, one life
span. That he will grow old and die with
Rose Tyler, “give her the life” he never could.
But two hearts do not a regeneration require. We know this because of Melody Pond, aka
River Song, who somehow gained the powers of a Time Lord because she was
conceived while the TARDIS was going through the time vortex. I cannot make that up, but if that’s all it
takes to give someone a set of regenerations, doesn’t that mean that someone
actually grown FROM a Time Lord should have their own set of regenerations?
So you have this Other Doctor in an alternate dimension with
Rose Tyler, promised that he’s going to grow old and die with the woman he
loves. But you also have this strong
case built from circumstantial evidence that he’s probably going to regenerate
once he dies of “old age” or what have you.
Now what do we know about the Doctor’s personality when he loses the
people he loves or discovers he’s been conned into a losing position?
We know he doesn’t handle loss well. 10th will destroy and entire
species, 9th will willingly gun down a dalek, 11 wiped out space
ships with ease and toppled a government.
12 hijacked Gallifrey itself.
He has a dark side, to be sure of. The only thing that pulls him back from the
brink are his companions, but if he’s living with Rose Tyler and loses her
because she’s still just a human being, he doesn’t have the means or the
inclination to recruit more companions.
Remember we talked about how 10 pushed away companionship in lieu of
running solo.
Because he was grieving.
He tried to re-write time, because he was grieving.
He does not handle grief well.
Now let’s say you were shunted to an alternate universe,
told you would get to live out your life with Rose Tyler, and that you were
getting a story book ending while the other version of you sauntered away in
the TARDIS to go have adventures. Then
Rose dies, as humans are want to do.
Maybe it’s within the year, maybe its ten years, twenty years, or even sixty
years, regardless she dies. Then you
die, thinking you’ll get to see Rose in the afterlife and…you regenerate. Nope, sorry, you don’t get to go anywhere,
the Doctor lied to you…or to himself.
Either way, you are kind of screwed, because now you don’t know if you
have 12 regenerations because you are technically a brand new Time Lord, or if
you’ve just got the one, but you are piiiiiiissssed.
Breaching the dimensional barrier, if you are motivated
enough, isn’t that hard for the Doctor.
I cite a different but similar issue that 11 dealt with: When Amy Pond was kidnapped by the Silence,
the Doctor and Rory tore their way across the universe to find her. Remember all those times he struggled against
the Cybermen, how they seemed like this massive, all imposing threat? Yeah he blows up ships from their fleet with
easy as a means of questioning them about Amy’s whereabouts. The Doctor can do anything with the proper
motivation, including using whatever scraps of tech he can find in some
alternate universe to punch a hole in between dimensions.
Now there is a problem here.
The Doctor, 10, our Doctor, explains that crossing dimensions was easier
before the Time War, now they’re all pretty much separated from each
other. So you are an angry version of
the Doctor, pissed that you’ve been screwed really really hard, and you know
that you can’t just kick down the interdimensional door to get back. What do you do? You go back in time of course. Chances are their version of Torchwood has at
least one version of a vortex manipulator. Or, being that you are the Doctor,
you can cobble together your own. Either
way, you go back in time to a point where the walls between universes are thin
enough to cross. Vortex manipulators
aren’t terribly accurate, but they work well enough so you can get where you
need to go, back to the time of the 6th Doctor, some 20 or 30 years
before the Time War.
This would be a logical point for him to shoot for since,
being that he’s the angry Doctor, the sum of all rage and hurt, he knows he’s
been here before, as the Valeyard menacing the Doctor.
This sets up the Valeyard’s motivation as well, since he
wanted to claim the Doctor’s remaining regenerations for himself, he wants to
end his pain before it begins. It also
explains why the 10th Doctor would have been so willing to send him
away, hoping that Rose’s love would keep him from turning, or if he did turn,
he’d be trapped in an alternate dimension.
Ironically it’s one of the least complicated ways you can
have a villain who is a true match for the Doctor. The Doctor is sincerely his own worst enemy.
But that’s just a theory.
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