CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES: THE JOURNEY OF THE TIMELESS CHILD - PART ONE

And... we're back! Time to just start writing normal Blogs again. No more seasons to review. 

No doubt, some of you saw this title and already want to skip over it! The Timeless Child has caused endless controversy within Fandom. Some of you just-plain hate it. Which is too bad, really. I quite enjoy the whole concept. It certainly broadens the scope of the show and adds something new and interesting to a Lore that, after fifty or so years, was getting a bit stale!  

Here's the thing: If you just hate the whole concept of the Timeless Child then, yeah, maybe this isn't for you. If you dislike the Timeless Child because she doesn't seem to make sense to you then you may actually want to take a look at this. Basically, I've put a whole timeline together for her and tried to offer a clearer explanation on certain aspects of her past that are harder to understand. If I can help you to see that there is some actual solid logic to her storyline, you could legitimately re-evaluate her. You may even become a member of the The Timeless Child is Actually Okay Club! 

It should be noted that I have written a few entries on this character over the years. Chibnall decided to tell us her story in a very jumbled manner. Which I think made the whole thing more fun. I enjoyed how it took us a while to truly figure out who she was. As more pieces of her puzzle came into place, I needed to keep expanding on the ideas I was exploring about her in this Blog. Since, for the most part, the whole arc has now been laid to rest - I thought it was time to try to really encapsulate everything we've learnt about the Timeless Child. 

This means that some of what you'll see in this entry has been discussed elsewhere. At the same time, however, you'll also read some new notions that I've only come up with recently. I just thought it would be nice to put all of my ideas into one single piece. A sort of "final word" on how I think her timeline functions. 

It should also be noted that, like the Fourteenth Doctor, I'm going to choose my pronouns carefully. I tend to identify my regenerating species according to their pre-dominant gender. More times than others, the Timeless Child appears to be female. So I will use terms like "she" or "her" during that period of the character's timeline. Once the Timeless Child is transformed into a mere Time Lord known as "the Doctor" that was originally portrayed by William Hartnell, I will start using pronouns like "he" or "him". This will make that moment where the Timeless Child is transformed into the Doctor we've known since 1963 all-the-more succinct. 

Yet one more note! I will be borrowing just a bit from Expanded Universe Stuff to help flesh out some of her background. I'll mainly be using some of the ideas that were meant to be explored had there been a twenty-seventh and/or twenty-eighth season and the Cartmel Masterplan had been fully developed. Since the show had been cancelled, the arc was actually finished in the New Adventure novels that came out in the early 90s. Which means, of course, that they're not "truly canon" (by my definition, at least) since they are mere books and not broadcast episodes. 

STARTING AT THE VERY BEGINNING 

It begins on that fateful day during the Ancient Times. When the Universe was still young and the Time Lords were not even a notion the Shobogans had imagined yet. 

The Great Gallifreyan Explorer Tecteun lands on a nameless planet and discovers a young child at the end of a strange dimensional rift. She has no idea what the child is doing there. As the Doctor would later point out, there could have been multiple reasons for her being left in that spot. Other beings could have been coming through that rift any moment to accompany her. Or she could have been meant to be meeting a species from our own Universe. Or any number of other reasons. We'll never know, of course. 

I have my own goofy little theory about what the Timeless Child was doing there that I will actually post at the bottom of this entry. Scroll down now if you want to look at it right away. Or wait 'til you've seen the rest of this piece and then take it in. Or don't read it at all! It's up to you, of course. But I think it's quite clever. 

Tecteun had a decision to make when she found the child. She could leave her there and hope she would, somehow, be okay. Or she could adopt her. Unable to abandon the youngster, Tecteun brought her aboard her ship. They continued to explore the Universe for a time but did, eventually, find their way back to Gallifrey. 

FIRST REGENERATION

While I'm sure Tecteun and her new ward had many great adventures as they wandered the cosmos, nothing truly noteworthy happens until, at last, they're back on Gallifrey. 

As great of an explorer as she might be, the Gallifreyan pioneer doesn't seem to have the best of parenting skills. She allows the child to play near a cliff and a terrible accident happens. But from that tragedy, however, a miracle occurs. The Timeless Child regenerates in front of her adopted mother's eyes. Tecteun is fascinated by the whole process and must learn more. 

Taking the child into her lab, Tecteun very quickly discovers something about the girl's physiology. It almost seems to defy being analyzed or tampered with in any way.  This makes finding out how she regenerates nearly impossible. For what seems like ages, Tecteun struggles to find the specific strand of DNA that triggers this unique ability . Her experiments even cause the child to regenerate several more times. This "resiliency" that the Timeless Child's genetic code has will continue to have a strong role to play in her destiny.

After near-endless study, Tecteun manages to isolate the gene that causes regeneration and injects it into herself. The bold risk is a success. Gallifreyans can now regenerate. 

EARLY DAYS OF THE TIME LORDS

As Tecteun slaved away, Shobogan society evolved. Two figures rose to prominence: Rassilon and Omega. They began a series of experiments that helped them to understand the Nature of Time and, more importantly, how to control it. They also dabbled in politics. After a while, they created a ruling class on Gallifrey and housed them in a massive Citadel.  Since they seemed to be gaining a certain level of mastery over time, they christened themselves Time Lords. 

I should emphasize that, even though he is not truly a part of "canon" (at this point, at least), many fans like to believe in "The Other". He is meant to be a third Gallifreyan from the Ancient Times that stepped up and helped Rassilon and Omega build the foundations of Time Lord society. Had the Cartmel Masterplan been completed, it would have been revealed that the Doctor had lived a previous life as The Other but that he no longer remembers it (sound familiar?!). But the show went off the air and that arc, of course, was never fulfilled. 

Or was it? We now know that the Doctor was wandering around on Ancient Gallifrey as the Timeless Child. Did she assume the mantle of the Other for a time?    

I'm more inclined to believe that Tecteun, herself, became the Other. Her gift of regeneration earns her a place on Rassilon and Omega's High Council. Together, the three of them created a society that the Time Lords prospered in. But, while the other two took a much greater interest in science,  Tecteun leaned more heavily into politics. Once in power, she became instrumental in helping to form the Division: a special secret organization that began running the Citadel from behind-the-scenes. Doing the dirty work that the Time Lords didn't want to have to deal with that would ensure that their world continued to run smoothly.  They would eventually develop a more "public" sect known as the Celestial Intervention Agency. 

Shortly after Division was created, the Timeless Child was recruited into it. She proved to be an excellent agent. Accomplishing her missions with maximum efficiency. It would not take long for her to rise through the ranks. 

While a limit of twelve regenerations was imposed on all Time Lords, the Timeless Child seemed to be able to accomplish the feat infinitely. Provided, of course, that she's not too severely injured. Just like Time Lords, it is possible for her to die rather than regenerate. But, because she can regenerate as much as she wants, she started doing it quite frequently. Almost every time Division gave her a new mission, she took on a new form. 

I estimate that it was sometime around here that the various faces we see during the mind-bending battle with Morbius would exist. Note that several of these incarnations are wearing clothes from different periods of Earth's history. It's my guess that the Timeless Child was sent by Division to Earth on various missions. She even developed a certain fondness for the planet. Which enabled her to specialize in doing tasks for the Division on that world. Basically, if they needed something "fixed" on Earth, they sent the Timeless Child to do it. 

MORE EARLY DAYS OF THE TIME LORDS

While the Timeless Child was doing great work for Division, by no means did that job completely consume all her time. Thanks to her association with Tecteun, she started becoming embroiled with the Holy Trinity of Ancient Gallifrey. As her adopted mother has pointed out, she's a quick learner. So Tecteun set up a meeting with her ward and the temporal engineers working beneath Omega. The Timeless Child started helping with the various experiments in time that were going on. 

At this point, several forms of time travel had been perfected. Time Lords could use time rings, time scoops, primitive time capsules and, quite possibly, time scaphs (something that only ever gets seen in a New Adventure novel). They're adequate forms of travel, but the temporal engineers know there's something better out there - waiting to be created. With their latest addition to the team, they're certain they'll find it. 

The Timeless Child also has a healthy personal life. She meets someone that she falls in love with. They get married and have children. Those children grow up and, eventually, have children of their own. The first grandchild to be born is a girl. In tribute to the Timeless Child's love of Earth, she's given a human name. They call her Susan. 

Susan shows aptitudes of her own for learning quickly and understanding temporal physics. She's brought on to Omega's team of scientists just as they are reaching a zenith in their studies. They are close to creating a new trans-dimensional time ship. Susan comes up with the name for it by abbreviating the term Time And Relative Dimensions In Space to TARDIS. 

But this new type of time capsule needs a tremendous energy source. The Timeless Child and Susan assist in the creation of the Hand of Omega. A stellar manipulator that can induce a super nova and provide the Time Lords with the power they need.  Omega appears to perish within the creation of the exploding star but Rassilon still harnesses the Black Hole that comes of it and places it in stasis. Thus creating the Eye of Harmony. The Time Lords now have everything they truly require to secure greatness. It's a pity about Omega, of course, but they have still achieved enormous success. 

Which makes them of interest to the many other races now developing in the cosmos that want a quick leg up in their evolution. Gallifrey is relatively unprotected. Making them an easy target for invasion and exploitation. Because of this, the Timeless Child becomes involved in a side project. She helps in securing and domesticating Vallidium. A substance that can be employed to protect the planet from potential attackers. 

Because the Hand of Omega and the Silver Nemesis are both quasi-sentient, they actually form a bond with the Timeless Child. To the point where they can recognize her telepathically. 

Beyond the death of Omega, more tragedy actually strikes. During the various testing that was going on with the prototype TARDISes, a freak time storm is created. It sweeps up poor Susan and she appears to be erased from the timelines. Though they can no longer find her, it is believed she has been transported somewhere into Gallifrey's future. Since the concept of Mean Time is already being enforced, no one is allowed to go looking for her. 

DIVISON DRAMA 

Wracked with guilt over what happened to her grandchild (she was, after all, the person that introduced her to Omega's team), the Timeless Child retreats from Time Lord society. She immerses herself more deeply into the affairs of the Division. She takes on all sorts of extra missions to keep her occupied. She, eventually, reaches the point where she is heading up her own elite team. On it is Karvanista: a highly-skilled Lupar who becomes a faithful companion. Another member of her team also becomes her lover. I doubt that this is the same person she married and had children with. It's my belief that, by this point, they have separated. She has immersed herself so deeply into Division that she became estranged with her spouse and they broke up. Only another agent could understand her life enough to become intimate with her. This eventually happens with this team member.

As all this is going on, the Timeless Child also starts staying more stable in her incarnations. Resisting the urge to regenerate so frequently. 

At about this same time, Tecteun also fades from public view. With Omega presumed dead and Rassilon retired to his "tomb", she sees that the Time Lords no longer require a Holy Trinity to keep them going. They can govern themselves. Like her adopted daughter, she hides herself within the affairs of Division. Although she works more with its administrative structure rather than doing field work.  However, to the Gallifreyan public, her disappearance becomes mysterious. Legends of the Other begin to grow. No one is truly sure what actually became of her. Tecteun takes advantage of this and fades more and more away from the public consciousness. Her earliest explorations into the Universe are, more or less, forgotten. People don't even remember her proper name. 

Eventually, however, the Timeless Child comes to realize that throwing herself into Division missions was not the proper way to deal with her grief over her granddaughter. More and more, she grows disillusioned with the organization's views. Especially as their sphere of influence is now growing beyond the Glory of Gallifrey and into a system of government that will control the entire Universe. Not pleased with their tyrannical attitude, the Timeless Child decides she wants out. After some negotiations, a deadline is set for when she can retire from the organization. 

It is around this time that Swarm and Azure emerge onto the Universe. They are beings of immense power that revel in destruction. They decide the best way to see their desire realized is to allow Time to flow unchecked within Space. They attempt to overthrow the Temple of Atropos on the Planet of Time. They take out the Mouri who are holding Time in its proper place so that it flows through the Universe in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, the Timeless Child has struck a deal with Division. She is sent to regain the Temple of Atropos and put the Mouri back in power. In so doing, she will also take down Swarm and Azure. Once she accomplishes that, the Division will allow her to retire from its ranks. 

She accomplishes the mission with relative ease. Although, there is a certain level of temporal distortion that occurs that is misinterpreted as mere hazing. During a brief glance into a mirror, she actually gets a glimpse of her own future! 

THINGS GO SOUR WITH DIVISION 

Once Swarm and Azure are brought to justice, the Timeless Child insists that Division deliver on their promise of allowing her to retire. Naturally enough, the organization never had any intention of letting her go. Intensely important missions that only she is capable of handling keep coming up at regular intervals. The stalling tactics are endless. 

It doesn't take long for the Timeless Child to see through their ploy and take matters into her own hands. It's been quite some time, now, that TARDISes have been perfected. New and improved models come out on a regular basis. The Timeless Child decides to steal a Mark One Type Forty TARDIS. It's on the verge of becoming out-of-date so she figures no one will miss it much. Her lover actually fakes his death on a mission and the two of them run off together. They travel through Time and Space and cause whatever sort of mischief they so desire!

Sickened of all the violence that Division made her commit, the Timeless Child wishes to be viewed more as a Healer. So she decides to change her name to "the Doctor". She still tries to make a difference in the Universe. But now it's on her own terms rather than allowing an organization to dictate her moral code for her. 

She still has a certain affection for Earth. So she visits it quite often. Once more, she adopts a style of dress that enables her to blend in a bit better with the locals. 

Something peculiar happens on one of her visits to the planet. The Chameleon Circuit had started playing up over the last few trips prior to her arrival in 1950s London. The TARDIS exterior took on odd shapes that didn't really suit the environment it was materializing in. In the British Capitol, however, it becomes a Police Box. Which makes sense for the location and period. However, when they move on to their next destination, the TARDIS does not change its form. It's still stuck as a Police Box. The Doctor tries for a bit to fix it but has no real success. Ultimately, she decides that she likes it that way!

For a while, the Doctor and her companion fly about through the Universe. Righting wrongs where they can and just, generally, having fun. 

But, eventually, trouble arises. 

The Division has been looking for the Doctor. They have sent out Gath - one of their best operatives - to find her. 

She manages to intercept the Doctor while she is actually alone. The renegade and her companion decided to take separate holidays. The companion wanted to go somewhere that, quite frankly, she wasn't interested in. So she drops him off there and goes to a time and place that doesn't appeal much to him. She'll be back for him in a few days. Or, at least, she hopes she will. The TARDIS' navigational system is starting to make trouble too. Without the resources of Gallifrey, it's difficult to repair these sort of problems. 

It is while she's taking her little rest on her own that the Doctor has a run-in with Gath. She manages, however, to evade capture. She does leave Gath in a bit of a predicament with the locals, though. To ensure that she doesn't hurt anyone, she steals Gath's rifle. 

Eluding her captor, the Doctor hops back aboard her TARDIS and retrieves her companion. They have a discussion about what happened with Gath. Now aware that Division is after them, they decide they're going to need to lie low for a bit. 

HIDING ON EARTH 

One of the biggest problems with hiding from Gath is that both she and the Doctor are low-level telepaths. Now that she "has her psychic scent", it will be easier to find her again. Something must be done to mask her brain patterns. 

But, as pointed out earlier, altering the Doctor's physiology in any way is a difficult thing. A Chameleon Arch is employed, but not in the usual manner. Normally, such a device re-writes someone's biology entirely. But it's not capable of doing that to the Doctor. So, instead, they make some modifications. A highly-encrypted shield is erected around her that makes her appear human. They are still able to tamper with her memories a bit, but it's fairly superficial. Even a simple series of code words can start re-awakening her past. Which, in some ways, is useful. The Doctor may need to change back in a hurry. 

Her companion, of course, is not so worried. It seems as though he is an alien, but not a native of Gallifrey. So he's not telepathic. He still creates a false I.D. for himself (but keeps all his memories intact) and they decide to hide out on Earth. The companion calls himself "Lee" and the Doctor mentally transforms into "Ruth". They are safe for a while living in Contemporary Gloucester.

Gath, meanwhile, is forced to work with extra assistance. Division hires a platoon of Judoon (who seem to like runes) to back her up. She's not thrilled about it but employs them, nonetheless. She gets a vague bead on where the Doctor is hiding and sends the Judoon in before her to do the heavy lifting in the search. 

Lee is killed in the hunt and the Doctor is re-awakened. Once more, she gets a look into her future. This experience, however, is not as jumbled as the last one. From this point onward, she will recognize Thirteen if she meets her again. However, she fails to recall how she saw her briefly as a reflection in the mirror during her final conflict with Swarm and Azure. There was a lot going on at the time. It could even be that the Chameleon Arch and other such factors have made some of her memories a bit hazy. 

While the Doctor does take out Gath by the end of their conflict, her continued journeys in her TARDIS will only last so much longer. Division is still hot on her heels. Before they can capture her, however, she encounters Thirteen two more times. Both under somewhat bizarre circumstances. On both occasions, her consciousness is briefly extracted. First by the Matrix and then by an AI Hologram program. Both of her mental excursions into the future are very short. But she is quite effective during those occasions. She gives her future self great advice when they meet in the Matrix. And, as an AI hologram, she actually saves Thirteen's life. 

CAPTURED, AT LAST

Still broken over the loss of "Lee", the Doctor chooses to travel alone. When her mind isn't being temporarily hi-jacked into the future, she has many more great adventures. Her TARDIS, however, is becoming more and more unreliable. It's now quite difficult to steer. And, of course, it's stuck in the Police Box shape. Making it quite incongruous in most places that it lands.     

In the end, the game can only go on so long. The Doctor got too deeply involved with Division and knows too much about how they operate. There's a strong chance she might even start to actively fight against them. Which would make her a formidable thorn in the organization's side. She's too great of a risk to be allowed to roam free through the Universe. She must be brought back to Gallifrey where she can be properly secured. 

After Gath's failure, other operatives are sent out to retrieve her. They eventually succeed in her capture and bring the renegade back to Gallifrey. Once returned, Division decides that just retrieving her was not enough. She has disobeyed them. Something must be done about that or she will rebel again and, quite possibly, escape a second time. 

Quite simply, the Doctor must be punished.   

This seems a good place to end Part One. Part Two will handle the transformation of the Timeless Child into the Doctor we've known since the show first started. We'll also look at some of the "echoes" of the Timeless Child that we've seen in the Doctor's life since the transformation.  

As a special bonus: here is my goofy theory on who I think the Timeless Child really is. 

Rob's Goofy Theory About Who the Timeless Child Really is: 

In the Reality next to ours lives a race quite similar to - but not quite like - the Time Lords. They, too, are ancient beings of immense power. But they rose to supremacy even sooner than the Time Lords of our Universe did. 

This mighty race were infinitely paranoid. They not only watched over their entire cosmos for aliens that could, potentially, dethrone them, but they also looked into other dimensions to see what threats might come from there. 

They gazed into our reality and saw the Shobogans of Gallifrey in their earliest stages of development and recognized their potential. They knew they must do something about it. If allowed to grow unchecked, these creatures could one day cross the dimensional threshold and supplant them. While this race of beings from another dimension possessed great powers, they still did not have enough resources to launch a direct attack into our Universe and wipe out the evolving Gallifreyans. They would need to use stealth to keep their potential foe down. 

Genetics, of course, had been a science they had mastered ages ago. So they engineered a sort of Trojan Horse. With their Looms, they created a small child who was quick of wit and eager to learn. They also bestowed upon her an ability to regenerate herself so that she could live a long life. They knew someone with these sort of gifts would be welcomed into Gallifreyan culture. 

They mapped out the trajectory of Gallifrey's first Great Explorer. Extrapolating a future destination, they opened a dimensional rift and placed the Child along her path. Tecteun found her and, just as they planned, brought her back home. 

But there were subtler traits that they had also engineered into the Child. Characteristics that would not evolve until later. The child would have ambition. This would enable her to gain a place of high status in Gallifreyan politics. Once amongst the Elite, her final attribute would emerge. She would suddenly have a great need to create subversion. In her position of influence, she would slowly start to erode away all that made the Gallifreyans strong. She would dismantle their culture from within. 

Much of their strategy succeeded. The Child made a decent mess of Gallifreyan society. But creating a being that is intentionally chaotic can cause things to go awry. While the Child did cause a raucous, she decided to eventually just leave Gallifrey and travel amongst the stars. 

Ultimately, she did enough damage before going. These Galliferyans would never quite achieve the power to make them a genuine threat to these beings from another universe. The Child had accomplished the task she'd been created for. Having gotten what they wanted, they cared not what would become of her