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)