Irving Braxiatel
Irving Braxiatel or simply Braxiatel was a Time Lord and maintainer of the Braxiatel Collection. At one stage of his life he held the office of Lord Cardinal in the High Council on Gallifrey.
History
Braxiatel Collection
The Braxiatel Collection (renowned for being one of the greatest art galleries in the galaxy) was founded by Irving Braxiatel and located on an asteroid which Braxiatel was rumoured to have won by playing cards. It had extensive archaeological libraries which could be used by Braxiatel's permission. Braxiatel's collection of books contained every book banned by the Catholic Church. (BNA: Tears of the Oracle, NA: Theatre of War)
- He may have acquired these from the Library of St John the Beheaded or he may have founded the Library himself.
The reason for the creation of the Braxiatel Collection was revealed that the disastrous test of a timeonic fusion device which destroyed the planet Minyos prompted Braxiatel to begin collecting and preserving historical artefacts in case such widespread destruction ever happened. He also admitted that he had transgressed the Laws of Time by being in contact with his future regenerations. (BFG: The Inquiry)
At some point, Braxiatel became the head of the Department of Theatrology at St. Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. After Benny obtained a post at the archaeology department in 2593, the pair of them became entangled in many adventures. After the destruction of the planet Dellah, Braxiatel invited Benny to accept a post with him at the Collection. (BNA: Dragons' Wrath, Where Angels Fear, BFBS: The Doomsday Manuscript)
While Bernice Summerfield was working at the Braxiatel Collection, a conspiracy started to develop around Braxiatel. While all the characters were shown dark, twisted mirror images of themselves, Braxiatel was unaffected and when Jason Kane wondered if the real Braxiatel was the mirror version, Jason was brainwashed into being unable to be suspicious of Braxiatel. (The Mirror Effect) Further incidents showed the Time Lord to be secretly more dangerous and manipulative than he was letting on — he was shown using a brainwashed Jason for his own ends as well as having murder done in his name and causing a civil war in the Domus system. (BFBS: A Life In Pieces)
Braxiatel was finally caught out when, following the Collection's occupation by the Fifth Axis and their Dalek masters, he decided to ensure the Collection would survive by finding an army to defend it. He turned to the colony of Cantus, which had been taken over long ago by the Cybermen, and had a member of the Collection, Ronan McGinley, turned into a Cyber-Controller subordinate to Braxiatel's will. Using a mysterious Gallifreyan crystal, Ronan was able to make all the Cybermen follow Braxiatel's orders. It was later revealed that the crystal was slowly killing Ronan, so Braxiatel arranged for Jason to arrive on Cantus to become the new Controller. Thanks to Benny, this plan backfired and Jason remembered everything that Braxiatel had done to him. Braxiatel then left the Collection, his current whereabouts unknown. (BFBS: The Crystal of Cantus)
Politics
Braxiatel became involved with galactic politics, generally on Gallifrey. He organised the Armageddon Convention, which he tried to get the Doctor to chair, but by mistake his agents brought a physically similar man. The Convention was not particularly successful, although we know that it did outlaw the use of Cyberbombs. Braxiatel decided to go back to collecting. (MA: The Empire of Glass) He is also member of the High Council of Time Lords and a confidante of President Romana. (BFA: Zagreus)
Braxiatel later became Chancellor, but mere hours later had to use his mind to contain the past and present forms of an ancient Gallifreyan evil known as Pandora. As Pandora would be able to escape if he ever connected to the Matrix or telepathically communicated with another Time Lord mind, Braxiatel exiled himself from Gallifrey. (BFG: Pandora)
When Romana destroyed the future form of Pandora (as well as its intelligence), it was at the cost of also destroying the Matrix. (BFG: Warfare) When Romana was removed from office, Braxiatel returned briefly to Gallifrey and assumed the post of Lord President, since there was no longer anywhere for the Pandora entity to escape to. (BFG: Mindbomb)
However, the ambitious Inquisitor Darkel goaded Braxiatel into losing control of Pandora, believing that it would destroy itself and Braxiatel's mind in the process. Braxiatel then revealed that only a remnant of the entity had ever been in his mind; the bulk of it had sought refuge in Darkel and Braxiatel had merely been the key that kept it restrained. So freed, Pandora consumed both Darkel and itself. Braxiatel returned to his exile, retaining the last fragments of Pandora within him. (BFG: Mindbomb)
- The last words Ronan McGinley spoke after succumbing to the Gallifreyan Crystal were, "The thing in your head... it's still there...", hinting that Pandora is still active.
However, Braxiatel was not done: hearing rumours of an impending threat against Gallifrey and deciding that in its weakened state the planet was doomed, he hatched a scheme to preserve the Time Lord biodata archive, containing the genetic patterns of all Time Lords, past and present, in the hopes of reconstructing Gallifrey after its inevitable fall. (BFG: Panacea)
- This fall may be related to the Last Great Time War.
Other Information
- One account suggests that Braxiatel is the Doctor's brother. (BNA: Tears of the Oracle) The Doctor left Braxiatel a Christmas present of a pair of socks, signed 'Theet', indicating that at least their relationship goes back to the days on Gallifrey when the Doctor was called Theta Sigma. (BFBS: Be Forgot)
- In the Tenth Doctor episode, DW: Smith and Jones, when Martha Jones asks the Doctor; "Do you have a brother?", he replies "Not anymore". Whether this proves a link to Braxiatel is debatable, though it does confirm the existence of both 'a' brother and this brother's death, perhaps during the Last Great Time War.
