Timeless Child

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Revision as of 03:18, 2 March 2020 by 68.133.77.108 (talk)

According to the Spy Master, the Founding Fathers of Gallifrey built Time Lord society on a lie regarding the Timeless Child. This was buried deep within all Time Lords, in the form of repressed thoughts and memories: hidden, but integral to their identities. (TV: Spyfall)

While taunting the Thirteenth Doctor about her fears, Remnants on the planet Desolation looked "further back" into her past and referred to the Timeless Child.

"We see what's hidden even from yourself, the outcast, abandoned and unknown."Remnants [src]

When they made the reference, the Doctor was confused and asked them what they were talking about, then angrily told the Remnants to "get out of [her] head". (TV: The Ghost Monument)

Once the Master learned the truth about the Timeless Child, he ravaged Gallifrey to "make them pay" for what he discovered. He told the Thirteenth Doctor that learning the truth had not been easy for him. When the Master first mentioned the Timeless Child mystery to the Doctor, she got a massive headache and a flashback to when the Remnants approached her, as well as a glimpse of a dark-skinned child wearing yellow robes and standing outside a tall building under a purple sky. (TV: Spyfall)

While aboard a space platform in the far future owned by Zellin, the Doctor, after having fallen unconscious due to Zellin's powers, dreamed about the vision of the Timeless Child while the Master's message to her echoed in her mind. In this scenario she was actively present in the vision. (TV: Can You Hear Me?)

The Timeless Child was eventually revealed by the Master to be a child discovered on another planet who had the power to regenerate infinitely. By bringing the child to Gallifrey and studying its power, the race that would become the Time Lords gained the ability for themselves, though they limited it to twelve regenerations per Time Lord.

According to The Master, The Timeless Child was in fact the Doctor, whose memories of their early history had been redacted. (TV: The Timeless Children) However, the accuracy of this is put into question by earlier canon, especially if the "Ruth" incarnation (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon) is considered to be a pre-First Doctor incarnation of the character. Her incarnation was shown to have the police box TARDIS, which was presented to have occurred when the Chameleon Circuit broke when the First Doctor left London in 1963. (TV: An Unearthly Child) Moreover, we know that the TARDIS was not originally a police box, as we witnessed the actual theft when Clara entered the Doctor's timeline. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)

Moreover, the Doctor was shown on-screen to have been granted a second regeneration cycle by the Time Lords. (TV: The Time of the Doctor) This would be unnecessary if the character had the ability to regenerate infinitely.

These contradictions have left some fans to speculate that The Timeless Child may actually in fact be The Master, due to the character's apparent ability to revive themself after seeming to be killed. (TV: The End of Time, et al.) This theory goes on to speculate that he is in denial about his aspect of his past, and that this injustice against him is the real reason that he destroyed Gallifrey.