Arbitan
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Arbitan was a scientist, the Keeper of the Conscience of Marinus and the father of Sabetha.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Early life[[edit] | [edit source]]
Arbitan guarded the Conscience of Marinus and was unable to ever leave the island on which the supercomputer was housed. After the rise of Yartek and the Voords, the five key microcircuits were removed and hidden to keep the Conscience from them, with Arbitan retaining one and being the only one to know where the other four were placed.
On the island, Arbitan worked on the Conscience so that it would be irresistible and thus capable of taming the Voord, who made repeated attempts to claim the machine. Arbitan sent his followers, including Eprin and Altos, after the keys but they never returned. Some years after the Voords' last attack, he sent his daughter, Sabetha, who also failed to return.
Without hope, Arbitan remained with the Conscience comforted only by his memory of Sabetha. (TV: The Keys of Marinus [+]Loading...["The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"])
Renewed hope and death[[edit] | [edit source]]
A year after Sabetha's departure, Arbitan saw the TARDIS materialise on the island. He watched the First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright and treated them as potential enemies until Ian saved him from a Voord, after which he was filled with renewed hope. He also saved Susan by stabbing and killing a Voord.
He told them about the keys, but they refused, prompting him to place a force field around their ship until they agreed. Arbitan gave the strangers travel dials and asked them to attempt to gain news of Sabetha. Shortly after they left, Arbitan was stabbed and killed by a Voord who had been hiding nearby. (TV: "The Sea of Death" [+]Part of The Keys of Marinus, Loading...{"namedep":"The Sea of Death (1)","1":"The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"})
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
Yartek, the leader of the Voords, pretended to be Arbitan by dressing in the Keeper's robe, keeping in the shadows and hiding his features beneath the garment's hood. (TV: "The Keys of Marinus" [+]Part of The Keys of Marinus, Loading...{"namedep":"The Keys of Marinus (6)","1":"The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"})
When the Doctor visited Kandalinga, he learned from the Voord that Arbitan's people had adopted his name as that of their species. (PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga [+]Loading...["The Fishmen of Kandalinga (short story)"])
Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]
Arbitan had a sombre, regal face with a straight nose, clear eyes, a sloping forehead and sparse grey hair. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus (novelisation)"])
