Talk:The Master (Terror of the Autons)

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Rename proposal: Twelfth Master

In The Keeper of Traken, Geoffrey Beevers' Master says, "I am now nearing the end of my twelfth regeneration." This is the one explicit identification we've been given for the Master's incarnation count, and no later sources have contradicted this account. Unfortunately, various ambiguities mean that we cannot simply rename Decayed Master to Thirteenth Master. However, we can use this fact for the naming of this page.

When Twelfth Master was proposed in 2011–12, it was shot down because Legacy of the Daleks was taken to indicate that Delgado was the Thirteenth Master and had decayed directly into Beevers without an intervening regeneration. However, in the decade since, Big Finish Productions has released several audios featuring the Beevers Master before he was decayed (such as The Two Masters) and several which explicitly confirm that Delgado and Beevers were separate incarnations (most notably Masterful). Doctor Who Magazine's Doorway to Hell also demonstrated that Delgado's Master had the ability to regenerate. With this preponderance of sources, the obstacle to naming dissolves away: even though some accounts called her "Susan English", we named Susan Foreman's article "Susan Foreman" because that was simply the name supported by the most stories! The same applies to Twelfth Master.

But even ignoring these new stories, Legacy of the Daleks simply doesn't support the interpretation which was cited to shoot down the proposal 10 years ago. To briefly digress into analysis, when the Doctor and the Delgado Master first meet in Legacy, they talk as if the Master still has regenerations left:

‘So you’ve changed bodies again? Getting through them aren’t you?’

‘And you’re still in the same old body,’ the Doctor mused thoughtfully. ‘Quite remarkable. You’re rather well preserved.’

‘Thank you,’ said the Master with a small ironic bow. ‘Life has been rather good to me of late.’'Legacy of the Daleks

That conversation would simply make no sense if Delgado was the Thirteenth Master; it wouldn't be ‘Life has been rather good to me,’ it would be ‘Yeah, dummy, I can’t regenerate’! Later, at the end of the novel, the Doctor reflects on what he's learned:

He already knew that the Master had hidden on Tersurus when his final regeneration had been used up. Some devastating force had ravaged his body and left him a crippled wreck.'Legacy of the Daleks

In other words, Delgado's transformation into Beevers is explicitly described as using "his final regeneration". Legacy of the Daleks speaks loud and clear: Delgado is the Twelfth Master.

With Legacy addressed, the only potential remaining dissent comes from FASA's CIA File Extracts, which is famously contradictory (it also says the Monk is the Master) and dampens its own credibility by presenting itself as a speculative in-universe document. That story specifies that Delgado was indeed the Thirteenth Master – but it also says he was the Twelfth, Tenth, Ninth, Eighth, and so on for several physically identical incarnations. Even in this highly contrary account, "Twelfth Master" is still an accurate name for this page!

As I hope I've made clear, a preponderance of sources point toward a single consensus numbering for Roger Delgado's incarnation as the Twelfth Master. This seems like a gold standard for Master incarnation naming: non-speculative; already widely attested in fandom; and supported by the existing precedent of prioritising incarnation numbering when available. I hope that by making this one of the first names we adopt following the Master split, we can set a strong precedent for future incarnation naming discussions. Thanks for reading! – n8 (☎) 15:12, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

I support this proposal. It makes perfect sense. Danniesen ☎ 15:19, 10 January 2023 (UTC)