Regeneration: Difference between revisions

There was a general lack of consensus upon whether regeneration was a natural process which all [[Gallifreyan]]s possessed, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') a natural process which the Time Lords developed through exposure to the [[Time Vortex]] ([[TV]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]]'') or the [[Eye of Harmony]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') or if it was a manufactured process, created through experimentation, and possibly by being stolen from other beings predating the Time Lords. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Timeless Children (TV story)|The Timeless Children]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')

Many different explanations were given for the origins of regeneration, although most agreed that regenerations typically came in [[Regeneration cycle|cycles]] of twelve. Some of these accounts suggested that regeneration originated on [[Gallifrey]], either occurring naturally ([[TV]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') or through experimentation. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Crystal Bucephalus (novel)|The Crystal Bucephalus]]'', ''[[The Scrolls of Rassilon (short story)|The Scrolls of Rassilon]]'') Other accounts suggested that regeneration was an ability with non-Gallifreyan origins, which the [[Time Lord]]s took for themselves through experimentation. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Timeless Children (TV story)|The Timeless Children]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')

Another account found in historian [[Postar|Postar the Perfidious]]'s [[Scrolls of Gallifrey]] stated that [[Rassilon]] was the first Time Lord to gain regeneration as an unintended side-effect of his work with the [[Eye of Harmony]]. Due to the elemental forces which he had been exposed to as he worked on stabilising the Eye, his original body died and underwent the first ever regeneration. Rassilon gained a set of twelve regenerations as a result, and upon reshaping Time Lord society to his designs, Rassilon then gave a select number of Gallifreyan aristocrats the privilege of gazing upon the Eye unveiled, thus granting each of them twelve regenerations as well. [[Morbius]] would later partially base his campaign for the Presidency on the promise of extending the same generosity to all [[Gallifreyan]]s. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'')

A distinctly different account by [[Boy (Heaven Sent)|one Gallifreyan]] suggested, however, that regeneration was a process innate to all Gallifreyans, and was not exclusive to the Time Lords. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') Gallifreyans could in fact regenerate into new bodies before they had even established themselves as the Lords of Time, with [[Omega]] regenerating into a muscular form sometime before the creation of the [[Hand of Omega]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'')

Some accounts suggested that regeneration originated on Gallifrey, but came about as a result of experimentation. Several of these accounts involved the experiments of Rassilon. Indeed, by the time of Rassilon's ill-fated intervention on [[Kolstan]], [[Artron]], his contemporary, knew that Rassilon had "experimented" with a limited sort of regeneration. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Master (audio story)|Day of the Master]]'') A limit of twelve regenerations ultimately became standard among [[Time Lord]]s, with additional regeneration cycles being granted to certain Time Lords only under exceptional circumstances. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Master (audio story)|Day of the Master]]'') Among the reasons given for the limited cycles were that the mind could not handle the [[Regenerative dissonance|multiplicity of psyches]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head Games (novel)|Head Games]]'') and that Rassilon ultimately came to consider total [[immortality]] a curse. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')

One of these accounts held that [[Lord Cardinal|Cardinal]] Rassilon had been investigating a method of regenerating decayed and diseased tissue via a series of self-replicating, biogenic molecules. The [[Cell (biology)|cells]] of a Gallifreyan body would be repaired, restored and reorganised, resulting in a wholly new physical form. The [[brain]] cells would also be rearranged, though to a lesser extent; the new [[incarnation]] would retain the [[memory|memories]] of the former incarnation, though the [[personality]] of the Time Lord could change. The degree in which the personality changed during regeneration varied between [[Time Lord]]s and even between incarnations. Rassilon intended for regeneration to be reserved for only the Gallifreyan elite. According to this account, another reason that Rassilon imposed a limit of twelve regeneration was to avoid decaying biogenic molecules. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]'')

Another account suggested that regeneration was the result of Time Lords having triple-helix [[DNA]]. The third strand of DNA was added by Rassilon, which enabled regeneration. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Crystal Bucephalus (novel)|The Crystal Bucephalus]]'')

Another account suggested that the ability to regenerate was only present in [[Loom]]-born Gallifreyans, being a product of the Looming process. This account indicates that earlier womb-born generations of Gallifreyans could not regenerate. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'')

Some accounts suggested that regeneration did not originate on Gallifrey, but was rather stolen from [[species]] that predated the Time Lords through experimentation. One of these accounts, described by {{Dhawan}} to the [[Thirteenth Doctor]], suggested that regeneration on Gallifrey began with the [[Timeless Child]], who [[Tecteun]], a [[Shobogan (species)|Shobogan]] explorer and scientist from Gallifrey, had discovered on [[Planet (The Timeless Children)|another planet]], adopted, and then brought home. The child proved capable of regenerating their body an indefinite number of times, being of [[Timeless Child's species|another species]] from an unknown [[Timeless Child's realm|realm]]. The [[First Tecteun]] began experimenting upon her child, and eventually unravelled the mystery of regeneration by discovering the [[regeneration code]]. After putting this to the test on her own biology, and regenerated into a new male incarnation. The [[Second Tecteun]] gave the gift of regeneration to all other Gallifreyans within the [[Citadel]], and would go on to found Time Lord society alongside the other [[Founders of Gallifrey|Founding Fathers of Gallifrey]]. He also limited the number of regenerations each Time Lord got to twelve. The Timeless Child went on to become [[the Doctor]], but eventually had their memories erased following their service as an agent of [[the Division]]. The Doctor was transformed back into a child and grew up again with no recollection of their former life, as well as a [[First Doctor's regeneration cycle|limited regeneration cycle]]. All records in [[the Matrix]] with explicit information on the Timeless Child and the origins of regeneration were redacted as the Founding Fathers wanted a "noble creation myth" instead. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Timeless Children (TV story)|The Timeless Children]]'') What little remained being disguised with a visual filter that instead depicted the story of [[Brendan (Ascension of the Cybermen)|Brendan]], an immortal [[Ireland|Irish]] [[Police officer|policeman]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Ascension of the Cybermen]]'') The Thirteenth Doctor accepted this account, but later claimed the limited number of regenerations was a limit in the power of regeneration itself that the Shobogans discovered instead of creating. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Secrets of the Timeless Child (short story)|The Secrets of the Timeless Child]]'')