Theory talk:Timeline - The Master's incarnations

Fifteenth Master

We know from Girl Power! that Missy is the Nineteenth Master. If you accept the Doorway to Hell sequence of events that state that all bodyswap Masters are the Thirteenth (meaning that Delgado is therefore the Twelfth), then that leaves us with the problem of who is the Fifteenth Master. It's heavily insinuated by the "Hello you!" line in Day of the Master that Bruce (the last bodyswap Master, and therefore the final Thirteenth Master), regenerates into the Macqueen Master (who we conclude must be the Fourteenth Master). Counting back from Missy, who we know from Girl Power! is the Nineteenth, that leaves a gap. The War Child is the Sixteenth. Any ideas?

Is it stated anywhere that Delgado was the Thirteenth Master, as was stated in the Eighth Doctor range when shot by Susan? If so, could we argue that the bodyswap Masters 'extended' their lives into a Fourteenth life... as suggested in Dust Breeding? Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but this will annoy me until I solve it in my head haha. TheFartyDoctor ^Talk 16:00, October 25, 2020 (UTC)

After research, it seems The Doctor vs the Master and Meet Missy! both agree that Delgado was indeed the Thirteenth Master, and that Missy herself states that the bodyswap Masters (or the Yucky One, as Missy refers to them), is in fact a succeeded yet failed attempt at a further incarnation past the twelve regeneration limit. The Yucky Master would be a fourteenth body that simply can't survive. That would make Macqueen the Fifteenth and the War Child the Sixteenth. Furthmore, this would reconcile the debate created by Doorway to Hell, which stated Delgado regenerated... despite being the Thirteenth and final Master of that cycle.

Both stories can co-exist rather nicely if we accecpt this ever-so-slight alteration to this timeline - the bodyswap Masters are in fact the Fourteenth (and failed) Master(s), as stated by Missy and also theorised by the Thirteenth Doctor. Then we can shuffle Macqueen into Fifteenth position and the War Child's being the Sixteenth would remain intact. No unexplained gap between them. TheFartyDoctor ^Talk 16:08, October 25, 2020 (UTC)

I don't think there's any evidence for Beevers being the fourteenth body. As far as I can see it, there are two contradictory accounts.

1. Delgado's (13) failed attempt to regenerate led to him becoming Beevers (also 13) (PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks).

2. Delgado is any of the first 12 incarnations (AUDIO: Master Thief) and regenerated after an incarnation with the Twelfth Doctor. (COMIC: Doorway to Hell). Beevers (13) was originally a normal Master before he was attacked by his future self (AUDIO: The Two Masters).

Furthermore, I checked Meet Missy! and all it says is that Beevers is 13 and tried to regenerated and was stuck all crispy. It says nothing about which incarnation Delgado is. I don't have Doctor Who The Official Annual 2021, though, so can't comment on The Doctor vs the Master. Could you provide a quote? Currently the Delgado = 13 take is covered at the very start of Theory:Timeline - Thirteenth Master.

In terms of the unknown 15th Master, I'm just gonna assume it's an as yet unknown incarnation, just like the majority of the first 12. Although, that will probably be doubly contradicted at some point, if Big Finish decide to regenerated Macqueen into Jacobi. Danochy ☎ 07:37, October 26, 2020 (UTC)

Girl Power doesn’t indicate incarnations at all. The Master can die without regenerating, therefore that passage is flawed. Also Bruce doesn’t regenerate into Macqueen, Beevers does. All “The Doctor Vs The Master” says is “This is what happened when the Master tried to regenerate one too many times”. That in no way indicates that he’s a failed Fourteenth Master, it doesn’t even necessarily indicate that he’s the Thirteenth either. But yes, it’s not consistent with BF’s conclusion that he’s a disfigured Thirteenth. Likewise "Meet Missy” doesn’t imply he’s the Fourteenth either. It just says that he tried to regenerate one too many times and his face fell off. So no, Beevers definitely isn’t the Fourteenth Master. We can quite safely agree that the Crispy Master is the Thirteenth, but either he’s Delgado being shot by the TCE, Delgado trying to regenerate even though he’s out of regenerations, or a separate Beevers incarnation who gets burned.

And if we were to consider Girl Power! a legitimate source for incarnations, it posits that the Master dies five times after “stealing some blokes body” (which could be either Ainley or Roberts), therefore it would look something like:

Died (Beevers - Day of the Master) Died (Macqueen - unknown) Died (Child Master - Titan Comics) Became a Human, Died (War Master - Utopia) Died (Simm - The Doctor Falls) Became a woman, ruled! (Missy)

SarahJaneFan ☎ 10:16, October 26, 2020 (UTC)