Balance between order and chaos
The balance between order and chaos, (TV: The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"]) known to the White Guardian as part of the universal balance (TV: The Ribos Operation [+]Loading...["The Ribos Operation (TV story)"]) and in a multiversal context as the Cosmic Balance or the Balance of Chaos and Law, (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Loading...["The Coming of the Terraphiles (novel)"]) was a central structure of reality. (TV: The Ribos Operation [+]Loading...["The Ribos Operation (TV story)"], The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"], PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Loading...["The Coming of the Terraphiles (novel)"]) It was embodied by the Cosmic Balance, a form of the Roogalator. (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Loading...["The Coming of the Terraphiles (novel)"])
The Archangels of Law and the Archangels of Chaos engaged in the Battle of the Balance. The Eleventh Doctor believed himself to be an example of a recurring multiversal archetype who kept the Balance. (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Loading...["The Coming of the Terraphiles (novel)"])
In the Cathedral, the base of the Grey Man used to counteract the concept of black-and-white duality in the universe, the Mandelbrot Set processed Chaos and Order and blurred the distinction between them. (PROSE: Falls the Shadow [+]Loading...["Falls the Shadow (novel)"])
The Sidhe considered Chaos and Order to be the two great forces of the universe. They paid homage to the duality by having one of their rulers personify Order and the other personify Chaos. (PROSE: Autumn Mist [+]Loading...["Autumn Mist (novel)"])
The duality of Law and Chaos was discussed by John Fowles in The Aristos. (PROSE: The Fall of Yquatine [+]Loading...["The Fall of Yquatine (novel)"])
While in the Enclave, the Eighth Doctor reflected that in his lifetime he seemed caught in an "endless round of bartering between chaos and order", with it often being hard to discern the larger picture of events. (PROSE: The Blue Angel [+]Loading...["The Blue Angel (novel)"])
The Fourteenth Doctor told UNIT's human retainers that they probably "thought" was a "balance between order and chaos". However, he admonished them for this, stating that the universe was not actually "binary", with the Toymaker's rules of play being outside the supposed binary of order and chaos. (TV: The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"])
Behind the scenes
- The Cosmic Balance was a central part of the cosmology of the Michael Moorcock Multiverse, having been introduced in the 1963 Elric of Melniboné story Black Sword's Brothers. This Cosmic Balance was officially integrated into the Doctor Who universe with The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Loading...["The Coming of the Terraphiles (novel)"], but Doctor Who essayists such as Elizabeth Sandifer in TARDIS Eruditorum have argued for it being a key inspiration for the duality of the White and Black Guardians in Season 16.
