Tecteun

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According to secret information found by the Spy Master in the depths of the Matrix, Tecteun was a Shobogan and one of the first inhabitants of Gallifrey to explore other planets. After becoming the adoptive parent of the Timeless Child, a mysterious being who eventually became the Doctor, she extracted the regeneration code from her child, splicing it into her own body and into other Shobogans'. In the process, Tecteun regenerated into a male incarnation and became one of the Founding Fathers of Gallifrey.

Biography[[edit]]

Tecteun's incarnations[[edit]]

Tecteun believed that their eyes remained similar across regenerations. (TV: Survivors of the Flux)

In their original incarnation, the First Tecteun became the first of her kind — the Shobogans — to explore outer space. Finding and adopting the Timeless Child, she experimented on them until she cracked the regeneration code and regenerated into a new incarnation. As the Shobogans grew in power and technology, the Second Tecteun became one of the leading figures of the new society, based in the newly-built Capitol. (TV: The Timeless Children)

Another incarnation of Tecteun led the Division from their Control ship in the Void after the destruction of Gallifrey by the Spy Master. She was involved in the creation of the Flux and was the one to release Swarm from imprisonment as part of the Division's plan to destroy the universe. She was disintegrated by Swarm shortly after reuniting with the Thirteenth Doctor. (TV: Survivors of the Flux)

Behind the scenes[[edit]]

Relationship with other Founders[[edit]]

Tecteun bears resemblance to Thremix, who was a Gallifreyan biologist behind regeneration in The Scrolls of Rassilon. However, she also becomes the first Gallifreyan to regenerate, an honour that was Rassilon's in The Legacy of Gallifrey.

In the scene corresponding to the point in The Timeless Children where Tecteun's second incarnation stands alongside two other Time Lords in full high-collared regalia, The Timeless Children script release mentions that "we can assume [the other two] are Rassilon and Omega".[1] This confirms that, as far as Chris Chibnall's authorial intent was concerned, Tecteun is not an alternative name of Rassilon or Omega as had been proposed by fans following the broadcast of Series 12[2][3], but rather a third member of a triumvirate of Gallifreyan founders. The "third founder" alongside Rassilon and Omega was already a highly mythologised figure in Doctor Who lore, with many stories referencing a mysterious third founder known as "the Other".

Jody Houser confirmed that the unidentified Division Leader that appeared in Origins was Tecteun.

The Cartmel Masterplan was predicated on the idea that the Doctor was the Other, or a reincarnation thereof, an idea later confirmed in the novel Lungbarrow; in some way, the story introduced in The Timeless Children splits this conception of the Other in twain, having the Timeless Child be the forgotten earlier self of the Doctor who existed in the days of Time Lord society's genesis, but having the third forgotten founder be their adoptive parent.

An unidentified individual appeared in Origins acting as a Division leader, Jody Houser confirmed that this was intended to be Tecteun.

Footnotes[[edit]]