Time (mythology)
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Time (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The embodiment of Time was an Eternal of the Menti Celesti, the goddesses of Gallifrey. Although worshipped on Gallifrey, where they took on a female form, Time was also worshipped by other cultures, such as the Ravagers, and was able to take on many forms.
Time, like all the Menti Celesti, acted as a living embodiment of cosmic principles. They were imprisoned by the Division in the Temple of Atropos during the final days of the Dark Times, and became limited in their capacity to manifest outside of their prison. The Ravager siblings, Swarm and Azure, saw this as heresy and sought to release Time in the Siege of Atropos, for which they were punished severely.
Despite imprisonment, Time was incarnated at least once through the Timewyrm. In this form, she chose the Seventh Doctor as her champion.
Biography
Origins
Time was younger than Death and Pain. (PROSE: Set Piece) As one of the Menti Celesti, the goddesses of Gallifrey, Death explained that she and her sisters were "the dreams of Time Lords" which "leak out across the universe", and were occasionally given physical form by beings such as the Timewyrm. (PROSE: Human Nature) They also showed the ability to manifest in different forms to different individuals and cultures, such as the Thirteenth Doctor and the Ravagers. (TV: The Vanquishers)
Imprisoned
In the Dark Times, time ran wild and the Time Force wreaked havoc across the universe. Time came to be worshipped by the Ravager siblings Swarm and Azure, and together they "reigned in hell". To counter this, a Time Lord organisation called the Division created the planet Time and the Temple of Atropos to control the flow of time through the Mouri. In an act seen as heresy by the Ravagers, the Division went a step further and imprisoned Time within Atropos, (TV: Once, Upon Time) resulting in their ability to manifest outside of their prison being limited severely. (TV: The Vanquishers; PROSE: Human Nature)
This began the Founding Conflict, which concluded with the Siege of Atropos, in which Swarm and Azure attempted to release Time via holding prisoners hostage within Passenger forms. They were, however, defeated by a Division task force, led by the Fugitive Doctor, and punished for their actions. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
Jasmine's daughter
Despite imprisonment, (TV: The Vanquishers) one incarnation of Time was born as the daughter of the psionic Ricky McIlveen (PROSE: Warchild) and his girlfriend Jasmine Surprise (herself the daughter of Chris Cwej and Ishtar Hutchings, the Timewyrm). (PROSE: Happy Endings)
The day the First Doctor was loomed, his cousin Innocet saw a strange woman by the crumbling well in the orchard, trailing her hair in the water. Innocet approached her, but she vanished; Innocet decided that she was an omen for the good of the House. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
This was the version of Time who chose the Seventh Doctor as her champion. (PROSE: Love and War)
Time, along with Death and Pain, attended Bernice Summerfield and Jason Kane's wedding in Cheldon Bonniface. She curtsied to Emily Hutchings, acknowledging her as a relative. (PROSE: Happy Endings) In a junkyard on Ha'olam, a gaunt underfed white Siamese cat and two other strays attacked Sam Jones' cat, who was Life, for invading their territory. (PROSE: Seeing I)
Time appeared to the Seventh Doctor when he returned to the House of Lungbarrow, and Innocet recognised her as the woman she had seen on his looming day. Time said that she, like most gods, regarded being worshipped as a responsibility, and tried to live up to expectations, though "there are some Gods I could mention who are not nearly so considerate." She gave the Doctor a many-coloured robe woven from all his deeds and experiences, and said the patterns had driven three of the weavers insane. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
Along with her sisters Life and Fate, Time fled the Spiral Politic the moment she foresaw the War in Heaven. Death refused to leave and watched them go. (PROSE: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)
On Atropos
In 2021, Swarm and Azure escaped their sentences. Viewing Time as their "saviour", they again sought to free Time from Atropos. After taking control of the Flux, they travelled to the planet Time with the captured Thirteenth Doctor, intending to offer her to Time as a sacrifice.
However, unbeknownst to them, the Flux was halted by another splinter of the Doctor using the Ravagers' own Passenger form. Shaping themself from the Time Force as a replica of Swarm to communicate, Time chastised the Ravagers for their failure and arrogance and rent them apart. They then adopted another form, identical to the Thirteenth Doctor but wearing a coat in reversed colours to the Doctor's own: dark blue, with grey lapels and cuff/pocket edging. To the Doctor's surprise, Time did not harm her — instead telling the Doctor that her time in her current incarnation was nearing its end, as well as giving her advice about her future concerning the Master. (TV: The Vanquishers)
Physical appearance
The incarnation of Time at Bernice Summerfield's wedding had silvery skin. (PROSE: Happy Endings) On Atropos, Time could mould their appearance using the Time Force according to who they were speaking to. Swarm first had Time appear as a copy of himself, but after his death, Time chose to adopt a form similar to the Thirteenth Doctor, but wearing a reversed-colour version of the Doctor's coat. (TV: The Vanquishers)
Behind the scenes
- The personification of Time, born from the dreams and thoughts of the Time Lords, is distinct from the Father of Time, also known as simply "Time", from The Test of Time, who described himself as older than the Time Lords, but was also, simultaneously, the Doctor's future self.
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