I\u2019ve already seen people using the term \u201cretcon\u201d in reference to \u201cThe Timeless Children.\u201d However, those who vividly remember episodes like \u201cThe Brain of Morbius\u201d<\/a> not to mention many from the era of Sylvester McCoy will probably be thinking \u201cfinally!\u201d What is featured in this episode isn\u2019t retconning (although some of that will be needed to weave already-contradictory pieces into a coherent whole, if that is the aim). It is maximum continuity, finally exploring things that have been hinted at since the middle of the 1970s if not earlier.\u00a0 I\u2019ll say more about this in my recap and reflection, which will include spoilers, but I won\u2019t worry about that too much since the internet is awash with them. At least here you get a warning.<\/p>\n The episode begins where \u201cAscension of the Cybermen\u201d<\/a> left off, as the Master pulls the Doctor through the gateway to the devastated ruins of Gallifrey and to the Panopticon where he reminisces that they \u201cgraduates, assassinated presidents.\u201d Such things have abounded in the recent series as allusions to past classic episodes. But this one had much deeper connections in store for us. The Matrix not only gets a mention, but the Doctor\u2019s prior foray into it as well. For those who don\u2019t know the classic series and \u201cTrial of a Time Lord\u201d (among others) the Matrix (appearing on Doctor Who long before the movies by that name) is the repository of all time lord consciousnesses and memories, past and present. The\u00a0Master says he was hacking into it for fun when he discovered a history of his own people that he didn\u2019t know before. To share it with the Doctor, he sends her deep into the Matrix to see for herself. There she learns about the earliest indiginous people of Gallifrey, the Shobogans. One of them named Tecteun glimpsed the infinite wider universe through the boundary and became the first of her people to begin exploring space. Doing so she found a child, and raised the child as her own. After an accident, the child regenerated. This was the first regeneration of any person on the planet Gallifrey, and not something that the Shobogan were capable of. Tecteun studied the child, obsessed with understanding regeneration. Eventually she found a way to isolate the relevant genetic code and pass it on to the elite of her own people, who began to refer to themselves rather pompously as time lords after they also discovered the secret of time travel. They restricted the number of regenerations to 12. The foundling became the founder.<\/p>\n The Doctor asks, \u201cWhat happened to the child?\u201d The Master replies, \u201cThe child is you. You are the timeless child.\u201d<\/p>\n He says he hopes the revelation hurt her, because it hurt him.\u00a0The time lords wanted a myth of origins and invented an alternative history for themselves.<\/p>\n There are some great turns of phrase in the conversation between the Doctor and the Master, and I want to make sure I give them a mention before proceeding:<\/p>\n \u201cTruth and reconciliation time.\u201d Eventually we learn that the time lords develop a policy of non-interference. But we also see a meeting in which the Doctor is told, \u201cPolicy and reality sometimes diverge,\u201d and that\u00a0\u201cThe Division does not exist.\u201d The Division is the Gallifreyan secret ops that actually does interfere. There the Matrix has been redacted. There is a lot missing but exactly how much is impossible to say.\u00a0It was the Doctor\u2019s service to the Division that was erased. But hints of it remained, or perhaps were secretly sent to her to provide clues to her story. The story of Brendan in Ireland that we saw in \u201cAscension of the Cybermen\u201d were essentially the Doctor\u2019s own story!<\/p>\n A major question here is whether memories or lack of them determine who we are. As the Doctor wrestles with this, she sees one of her forgotten selves, the only one she has encountered to her knowledge, and she asks her,\u00a0\u201cHave you ever been limited by who you were before?\u201d Accompanied by images and even music from classic Doctor Who, the Doctor overpowers the Matrix through the strength of her much larger life and store of memories.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t remember \u201cThe Brain of Morbius\u201d<\/a> from the Tom Baker era you\u2019ll be confused by my reference. But if you watched \u201cThe Timeless Children\u201d you\u2019ll have seen a brief glimpse from the episode in this scene:<\/p>\n the doctor remembering her history is a cinematic masterpiece #doctorwho<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/a2zKKWvqhj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 mollie (@earpscorp) March 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\u201cHas it calmed all the rage?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t have a better nature.\u201d
\n\u201cOnce upon many times\u201d
\n\u201cI have a right to know my own life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n