ANALYTICAL
THE QUALITY OF MERCY
An honest look at the Doctor's sense of compassion
EPISODE 2: A New Man
It seems the Pacifist has been laid to rest once
and for all….
….In
truth, however, the Doctor tries one more time to be Him.
Although we see little of Doctor
Eight, he does seem to have re-adopted many of the policies and mannerisms of
his Fifth Self. He is, once more, intensely sensitive and vulnerable. The scale
of his mercy seems to have reached another peak, too. He does wield a gun briefly. But rather than
threaten someone with it, he points the gun at himself to get the results he
wants. Near the end of the story, we see that ethos even more blatantly. The
Master seems to whip him about like a ragdoll during their battle at the edge
of the Eye Of Harmony. He is capable of laying such an easy beating on him because
it looks like the Doctor is refusing to fight back. In the end, it's a deft
twist of a mirror rather than a punch or a kick that saves the Doctor’s
life.
More
significantly, as the Master plunges into the Eye of Harmony, the Doctor offers
his hand to pull him back out. Such a gesture would've probably never happened
with his last two bodies - they would just watched him sink to his doom. Not so
for Doctor Eight, though. He has
returned to the morals he is most famous for and is attempting, one last time,
to get them to work. From the brief glimpses we get in The 96 Telemovie, it does almost seem like he is trying to renounce
his ways and become that pacifist, again. That, perhaps, the darkness of his
last incarnation has legitimately scared him and he is actively trying to get
back to the man he once was. But this will only last so much longer.
While we don't actually witness much
of this particular era of his life, we did get a regeneration sequence as a nice gift during the 50th
anniversary. That strong sense of mercy that we
saw in his first tale seems to have persisted. The Doctor is refusing to
participate in the Time Wars. He remains at its fringes, helping those
who are being impacted by it. This definitely seems to be the same
sort of ethos we saw from a man who once attempted to save the life of an arch
rival who was trying kill him. No matter what, this
version of the Doctor will not stoop to the level of his foes. His abstaining
from the Time Wars is a great example of this. He is a man of peace who will
never try to take another’s life. He clings to this ideology for the entire
incarnation.
But then, he regenerates into the
War Doctor.
“Doctor no more...” are the War
Doctor’s first ominous words. The very pronouncing of them seems to indicate
that whatever ideologies the Doctor held about preserving life at any cost have
been chucked out the window. He has actively chosen to become a Warrior in
order to solve the huge problem that is currently affecting the Universe. He
seems more than ready to meet violence with violence.
But does he? Take a good look at that bandolier of his. It should be loaded with ammo clips, right? The only thing he ever seems to carry in it is the sonic screwdriver. And this is a war against the Daleks (for the most part, at least). As was mentioned in Episode One of this essay: acts of violence against them don't really count. You're killing the walking dead when you destroy one of them. So, maybe, a lot of his core values still remain. There might still be a lot of the Doctor in there.
And yet, there's a considerable amount of evidence that suggests otherwise. The most disturbing being that moment early on in Day of the Doctor where he asks for the Gallifreyan soldier's rifle. It's a simple gesture - but it says so much. The Doctor does not seem at all uncomfortable with taking the gun. Nor does the soldier seem reluctant to give it to him. This all seems to insinuate that the Doctor has been using weapons a lot, lately. Which very much goes against his usual ethics. It's not that the Doctor has never used a gun before, but it's certainly not something he's done frequently. This little moment seems to indicate a huge change in his values. Being a man who is now comfortable with a gun says a lot about what he may have become.
And what about the other creatures that fought in the Time Wars that weren't Daleks? We hear about a few of them in various snippets of dialogue. The Nightmare Child and The-Could-Have-Been-King and other beings like them. How did the Doctor treat them in battle? We can only assume he was equally violent. We don't know. In Stolen Earth, we learn the Doctor may still have been retaining some sense of mercy, though. He did try to save Davros from certain death during the Time Wars. That desire to preserve the life of an enemy who has tried to kill you is one of the most impressive feats of compassion. The Eighth Doctor, a far more benevolent incarnation, was seen to commit a similar act with the Master. So, again, we can speculate that the Doctor's love for life wasn't completely eradicated during this era.
Ultimately, though, the War Doctor did use the Moment to wipe out Gallifreyans and Daleks, alike. Yes, we would learn later that things didn't quite play out the way he thought they did. But the fact that the Doctor believed for multiple incarnations that he did commit double-genocide speaks volumes about the depths he reached as the War Doctor. We can see why he tries to hide that incarnation from himself and everyone else. This version of him went as far away from his code of honor as he possibly could. It does seem like he didn't abandon all vestiges of his pacifist nature - but he came pretty close.
But the eighth incarnation is still the last time the Doctor truly tries to adhere to his "all life is sacred" philosophy. When he crashlands on Karn, that sense of extreme pacifism seems to die with him. Perhaps the resurrection that the Sisterhood performs on him does something to his very soul. From that point onward, he is a colder man who re-adopts the ideologies of Doctors Six and Seven and even takes them one step further.
While the War Doctor is the Time Lord at his absolute darkest point, the Ninth Doctor only warms up, marginally. You would think that the remorse he feels over what he did in the Time Wars would've tempered him to crave peace. But that's not the case. As wounded as he is by his survivor guilt, he still sees moments where the monsters must die. Where violence is necessary.
Right in his very first story, he does attempt diplomacy with the Nestene Consciousness as it attempts to invade Earth again - but he's also not afraid to bring some anti-plastic along with him should that fail. In the end, it's not the Doctor who tips the anti-plastic into the vat, but he did attempt to before the Autons grab him. Which means he is more-than-ready to kill when the Nestene refuses to "shunt off".
This seems to be the core philosophy of the Doctor throughout the early days of New Who. He still believes in giving the baddie one last chance to repent. He often does it in the cockiest of manners - almost as if he's hoping his arrogance will spur on his opponent to fight him. But the option is still given. When the monster/villain chooses to still pursue its evil aims, only then does he let loose the hounds of hell. We see this scenario with the Nestene over and over throughout the first few seasons. The Tenth Doctor presents similar utlimatums to the Krillitanes, the Rachnos and the Sontarons (to name a few). Somehow, he feels vindicated about wiping them all out if he offers them one last chance, first.
But it is in the Ninth Doctor's second adventure that we truly see just how cold he has become. The Lady Cassandra is in much the same situation as the Master was during the battle at the edge of the Eye of Harmony. She's perishing, but the Doctor could easily rescue her. This time, however, the Time Lord simply stands there and does nothing. "Everything has it's time and place" he pronounces and lets Cassandra die in a most excruciating manner. Would even Doctors Six and Seven be this cruel? Probably not. But in New Who, the Doctor is a much harsher man.
We do see something significant occur towards the end of the Ninth Doctor's reign that shows he has some sense of mercy to him in regards to how he deals with his enemies. In Parting of the Ways, he is given the same choice he just had to face at the end of the Time Wars. He can save the Universe from a terrible evil - but he must kill innocents at the same time. This time, he makes the better choice. "Coward. Every time." he declares. And, in so doing, he shows that he's gotten his soul back. He can still be a cold man - but he'll never be the man he was during the Time Wars. Those days are behind him, now. He is the Doctor again.
The Tenth Doctor seems a much "lighter" character than his predecessor. Nine was brooding and full of angst with only the occasional dose of humor. Ten is a chatterbox and a bit of a fanboy who will only indulge in his "lonely god" personality now and again. But the mean streak that is openly displayed right in the first few stories of Series One still persists in this new incarnation.
It seems that the first story for every new incarnation must have a moment where we see just how harsh of a man this latest Doctor can be when pushed to his absolute limits. In The Christmas Invasion, it's the "No second chances" sequence. The Sycorax Leader, after being defeated, attempts to sneak up on the Doctor and cut him down. The Time Lord could've easily stopped him in his charge with another sword fight. He could've even called on the Sycoraxan's own warriors to restrain him since he was acting in a dishonorable manner. And incarnations from earlier days might have done something like that. But that's not how the Doctor acts now. One chance is all the bad guy gets. After that, he's treated with same brutality he is trying to administer. The Sycorax Leader is killed outright. And we see only a cold, regret-free look on the Doctor's face as he does so.
The "no second chances" mentality continues to be the crux of this Doctor's whole outlook on dealing with his foes. Everyone gets one warning and then our hero feels no need to show any further mercy for his adversary. We can see that he's not accustomed to being so ruthless, though. It's still difficult for him to indulge in bloodbaths. They tend to consume him when he does throw away his pacifist tactics. Again, he needs humans to tame him. Just as he did way back in the earliest stories of his first incarnation. Humans may not stop him, anymore, from plunging the knife into the caveman. But they do stop him from stabbing the corpse over and over.
The Runaway Bride and Turn Left exemplify this idea quite clearly. Donna states in her first story that the Doctor "needs someone to tell him when to stop". The alternative reality presented in Turn Left re-enforces this concept. Without Donna underneath the Thames with him while he's delivering the Rachnos Queen the fate she deserves, the Doctor ends up drowning. Amy Pond echoes a similar sentiment in A Town Called Mercy. We can even see why Ace was so precious to the Seventh Doctor during Seasons 25 and 26. The stories during the last two seasons of the Classic Series featured a hero who was at his all-time cruelest. His need for human companionship was probably crucial to keeping him from diving completely off the deep end.
Just a few stories into Doctor Ten's era, we witness a beautiful summary of his attitude towards violence that truly encompasses the journey our protagonist has taken throughout the course of the whole show's history. "I used to have so much mercy." he proclaims as he faces down the leader of the Krillitanes during School Reunion. The general gist of the speech explains how much time has hardened him. That he can no longer tolerate the villains the way he did in his earlier days. If they cross a line with him and refuse to turn back - he loses all patience with them. He'll take their lives if he needs to. He'll try to go about it in the most antiseptic way possible. If he can avoid pulling triggers or directly spilling blood, he'll use that method. But he'll do what needs to be done.
And that's what we continue to see throughout the Tenth Doctor's period of existence. While not quite as devious as the Seventh - it's still his methodology we see at the core of his actions. Oftentimes tricking the alien menace into destroying itself with its own power. Or, more often, getting others to do the darker deeds for him. In many ways, Davros is right when he claims that the Doctor fashions people as weapons. Since the days of the Doctor and Ace, he's found people to commit violence on his behalf. Doctor Eight may have gone back to a softer approach and the War Doctor may have actually gotten real blood on his hands. But, otherwise, the Doctor has been using people to perform the tasks that he hasn't the heart(s) to do, himself. Which is why so many companions come forward in Journey's End to try and destroy the Dalek Crucible for him. It's as Rory claims in Vampires of Venice - he makes people want to do these sort of things.
The Eleventh Doctor maintains this tradition. Which only makes sense as the two characters are quite similar to each other. He, too, is a chatterbox and a fanboy but with his own unique brand of over-enthusiasm. And, he too, has his darker side and acts along the same guidelines first laid down by his Seventh Self. Only he seems to be even more merciless than he was in his tenth body.
Once again, the first story of the new incarnation has a specific moment that shows just how dangerous this version of the Doctor can be. While the Tenth Doctor employs a "no second chances" policy, this new version goes even more aggressive. "I'm the Doctor. Basically, run." This is the new level of viciousness that he's reached. Chances at redemption are no longer given. If you're up to no good and the Doctor crosses your path - expect to be taken down with maximum prejudice.
His confrontation with the Silence at the end of Day of the Moon is an excellent example of how he works in this incarnation. Out from the TARDIS he strides with a television in hand - full of confidence and bluster. River Song is with him, armed and ready (she will be the one who does the dirty work he doesn't want to do - and plays that role on several occasions). As he stares down these strange memory-altering creatures, is there any sort of ultimatum being offered? Any sort of: "Get off my planet, now, or there will be trouble?" No. The Doctor just assumes they won't take the offer and goes ahead with dealing the punishment. The way he uses the Silence's own powers of post-hypnotic suggestion against them is brilliant, of course. And the slaughter that ensues as they retreat back to the TARDIS is a very fun action sequence to watch. But it only manages to distract us so much from the fundamental truths being presented in the whole sequence. The Doctor doesn't even offer a first chance, anymore. If you're doing something he deems wrong - you're toast.
More and more, the Doctor finds himself questioning whether what he does is even good. It's been quite some time since those sort of questions have started getting asked. Even way back in Boomtown, Margeret Slitheen is pointing out his character defects to him and he can't really argue with her. But in A Good Man Goes To War, the Doctor makes some pretty heavy insinuations to Madame Kovarian that he is far from being good, anymore. This idea would tug at him even more after his next regeneration.
The main arc of the Eleventh Doctor's character is the avoidance of a fate that awaits him at the end of his life. A battle on Trenzalore that will, apparently, send him even deeper into a state mercilessness. Both Lorna from Demon's Run and the Great Intelligence talk of the man the Doctor will become. A warrior among warriors. A military leader who will send thousands to their deaths. This doesn't sound like the Doctor at all. Even the Doctor, himself, is disturbed by this. The faking of his death and the erasing of all information about him seem like steps he's taking to avoid this fate. He could, of course, just try to make better choices when he arrives on Trenzalore - but he doesn't seem to have the confidence that he can do this. He knows he's not the man he once was.
This seems to get affirmed as we watch the Doctor transition from Amy and Rory to Clara. His desire to preserve life at any cost seems to become weaker and weaker. Amy must even confront him on it as he is prepared to simply sacrifice Kahler Jex to the monster he has created in the ironically-named Town Called Mercy. The impassioned speech the Time Lord delivers about showing "mercy to the victims" seems to indicate that he is rationalizing his darker motives more and more.
It is also at this point that we see the Doctor commit his most merciless act in the New Series. Seething with venom, the Doctor sends Solomon to his death at the end of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. This isn't the Doctor tricking the villain into undoing himself like he does in stories like Remembrance of the Daleks or Day of the Moon (a ruse that, somehow, makes him seem less cruel since the enemy is still bringing his doom upon himself). This is the Doctor very intentionally setting up the destruction of his enemy with murderous precision. He has never seemed more cold-blooded.
Actions and attitudes like these make us truly start to believe that the predictions we are hearing about him once he reaches Trenzalore might actually be true.
It is relieving to see, however, that as Time of the Doctor does finally roll around, the descriptions of what the Doctor becomes during the siege seem to be exaggerated. Yes, he leads a massive war effort against the various invaders of Trenzalore, but he doesn't seem half as bloodthirsty as the legends were saying. Especially when you consider that the whole war is waged to protect a small village of innocent people who have become caught in the cross-fire. The Time Lord at the end of his regeneration cycle speaks of the importance of saving lives and the difference he can make by standing as the village of Christmas' protector (and toy repairer!). This hardly seems the attitude of the warmonger the Great Intelligence tries to make him out to be only a few episodes earlier in Name of the Doctor. Just like the War Doctor, signs of a merciful hero still remain - even when he must fight a protracted battle that he can't run away from. We are, for the most part, impressed with how the Doctor handles things on Trenzalore rather than dismayed. There still seems hope for the pacifist he has buried.
As the Twelfth Doctor arrives, however, we must become even more concerned. Those endless debates he's had throughout the New Series regarding the true nature of his morality seem to have definitely taken their toll. He's no longer certain if he even is a good man. It doesn't help that Clara isn't so sure, either. By this point, she's gone up and down his timeline quite a bit. Her memories of what he was like in his earlier days might be sketchy, at best. But is it possible that she has watched the gradual withering of his sense of compassion and can no longer be certain about the character of the man she travels with? She might know better than most that the Doctor's ethics have become murky. The season ending with Doctor finally coming to terms with who he is does not seem too encouraging, either. He doesn't proclaim: "Yes! I am good! Look at what I do to combat the evil of the Universe" or something to that effect. Nor does anyone else deliver a speech of that nature about him (which would seem a bit more humble). Instead, the Doctor happily realizes that he's an idiot with a box who makes a difference now and again. A more honest appraisal of what he does, perhaps. But it also seems to indicate that his morals are sliding more and more. He no longer seems to acknowledge that he champions causes or fights for certain truths as he did in his earlier days. Could this change in personal ethics affect what kind of mercy he shows?
There are some things that we see this latest Doctor doing that certainly seem to support this. Right in his very first story, some very heavy aspersions are cast on the quality of his mercy. Does the cyborg jump from the "escape pod" at the end of the story or does the Doctor push him out? We'll never know, of course. But the fact that we no longer see the Doctor as not being capable of such an act speaks volumes about how far the character has gone from the pacifist he once was.
An even more disturbing example of his even-deeper ruthlessness occurs during the season finale. Clara has Missy (and/or the Master) at point-blank range and is ready to exact vengeance upon her for what she has done to Danny Pink and humanity, in general. The Doctor takes the weapon from her and is willing to save her from becoming a murderer by killing Missy, himself. But for the intervention of the Cyber-Brigadier, the Doctor seems ready to pull the trigger. We can't say for sure, of course. He may have stopped himself. But it really does seem like the Doctor was more-than-ready to directly kill someone in cold blood.
We should also point out, however, how he handles the Boneless in Flatline. He does give them every opportunity to prove that the deaths they are causing are accidents. The result of misunderstanding how three-dimensional beings work. Only when he definitely sees that the Two-D creatures are up to no good does he really take measures to beat them back and cause them genuine harm. Again, we still see vestiges of the more gentle and understanding man that he once was. He's not quite as vicious as he may seem.
Like the First and Sixth Doctors, the Twelfth Doctor seems to be softening as he progresses. He doesn't even seem to mind hugging anymore! From what we've seen of the latest season (and, perhaps, I should be waiting until the season is done to be writing this but that's just the sort of spur-of-the-moment guy that I am!), a stronger sense of mercy seems to be prevailing as he becomes a warmer personality. He embarrasses the Mire rather than just wiping them out. He's refusing to let UNIT use the Zygon virus even though they pose such a serious threat to humanity. This really does feel like the Sixth Doctor going from Season 22 to Trial of a Time Lord all over again: a more approachable personality who commits less violence.
Is Doctor Twelve taking a similar course? After multiple incarnations of feeling too old to have any mercy left, could the Pacifist Within be re-awakening?
We'll have to wait and see....
Missed the first part? Here it is:
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/10/analytical-quality-of-mercy.html
But does he? Take a good look at that bandolier of his. It should be loaded with ammo clips, right? The only thing he ever seems to carry in it is the sonic screwdriver. And this is a war against the Daleks (for the most part, at least). As was mentioned in Episode One of this essay: acts of violence against them don't really count. You're killing the walking dead when you destroy one of them. So, maybe, a lot of his core values still remain. There might still be a lot of the Doctor in there.
And yet, there's a considerable amount of evidence that suggests otherwise. The most disturbing being that moment early on in Day of the Doctor where he asks for the Gallifreyan soldier's rifle. It's a simple gesture - but it says so much. The Doctor does not seem at all uncomfortable with taking the gun. Nor does the soldier seem reluctant to give it to him. This all seems to insinuate that the Doctor has been using weapons a lot, lately. Which very much goes against his usual ethics. It's not that the Doctor has never used a gun before, but it's certainly not something he's done frequently. This little moment seems to indicate a huge change in his values. Being a man who is now comfortable with a gun says a lot about what he may have become.
And what about the other creatures that fought in the Time Wars that weren't Daleks? We hear about a few of them in various snippets of dialogue. The Nightmare Child and The-Could-Have-Been-King and other beings like them. How did the Doctor treat them in battle? We can only assume he was equally violent. We don't know. In Stolen Earth, we learn the Doctor may still have been retaining some sense of mercy, though. He did try to save Davros from certain death during the Time Wars. That desire to preserve the life of an enemy who has tried to kill you is one of the most impressive feats of compassion. The Eighth Doctor, a far more benevolent incarnation, was seen to commit a similar act with the Master. So, again, we can speculate that the Doctor's love for life wasn't completely eradicated during this era.
Ultimately, though, the War Doctor did use the Moment to wipe out Gallifreyans and Daleks, alike. Yes, we would learn later that things didn't quite play out the way he thought they did. But the fact that the Doctor believed for multiple incarnations that he did commit double-genocide speaks volumes about the depths he reached as the War Doctor. We can see why he tries to hide that incarnation from himself and everyone else. This version of him went as far away from his code of honor as he possibly could. It does seem like he didn't abandon all vestiges of his pacifist nature - but he came pretty close.
But the eighth incarnation is still the last time the Doctor truly tries to adhere to his "all life is sacred" philosophy. When he crashlands on Karn, that sense of extreme pacifism seems to die with him. Perhaps the resurrection that the Sisterhood performs on him does something to his very soul. From that point onward, he is a colder man who re-adopts the ideologies of Doctors Six and Seven and even takes them one step further.
While the War Doctor is the Time Lord at his absolute darkest point, the Ninth Doctor only warms up, marginally. You would think that the remorse he feels over what he did in the Time Wars would've tempered him to crave peace. But that's not the case. As wounded as he is by his survivor guilt, he still sees moments where the monsters must die. Where violence is necessary.
Right in his very first story, he does attempt diplomacy with the Nestene Consciousness as it attempts to invade Earth again - but he's also not afraid to bring some anti-plastic along with him should that fail. In the end, it's not the Doctor who tips the anti-plastic into the vat, but he did attempt to before the Autons grab him. Which means he is more-than-ready to kill when the Nestene refuses to "shunt off".
This seems to be the core philosophy of the Doctor throughout the early days of New Who. He still believes in giving the baddie one last chance to repent. He often does it in the cockiest of manners - almost as if he's hoping his arrogance will spur on his opponent to fight him. But the option is still given. When the monster/villain chooses to still pursue its evil aims, only then does he let loose the hounds of hell. We see this scenario with the Nestene over and over throughout the first few seasons. The Tenth Doctor presents similar utlimatums to the Krillitanes, the Rachnos and the Sontarons (to name a few). Somehow, he feels vindicated about wiping them all out if he offers them one last chance, first.
But it is in the Ninth Doctor's second adventure that we truly see just how cold he has become. The Lady Cassandra is in much the same situation as the Master was during the battle at the edge of the Eye of Harmony. She's perishing, but the Doctor could easily rescue her. This time, however, the Time Lord simply stands there and does nothing. "Everything has it's time and place" he pronounces and lets Cassandra die in a most excruciating manner. Would even Doctors Six and Seven be this cruel? Probably not. But in New Who, the Doctor is a much harsher man.
We do see something significant occur towards the end of the Ninth Doctor's reign that shows he has some sense of mercy to him in regards to how he deals with his enemies. In Parting of the Ways, he is given the same choice he just had to face at the end of the Time Wars. He can save the Universe from a terrible evil - but he must kill innocents at the same time. This time, he makes the better choice. "Coward. Every time." he declares. And, in so doing, he shows that he's gotten his soul back. He can still be a cold man - but he'll never be the man he was during the Time Wars. Those days are behind him, now. He is the Doctor again.
The Tenth Doctor seems a much "lighter" character than his predecessor. Nine was brooding and full of angst with only the occasional dose of humor. Ten is a chatterbox and a bit of a fanboy who will only indulge in his "lonely god" personality now and again. But the mean streak that is openly displayed right in the first few stories of Series One still persists in this new incarnation.
It seems that the first story for every new incarnation must have a moment where we see just how harsh of a man this latest Doctor can be when pushed to his absolute limits. In The Christmas Invasion, it's the "No second chances" sequence. The Sycorax Leader, after being defeated, attempts to sneak up on the Doctor and cut him down. The Time Lord could've easily stopped him in his charge with another sword fight. He could've even called on the Sycoraxan's own warriors to restrain him since he was acting in a dishonorable manner. And incarnations from earlier days might have done something like that. But that's not how the Doctor acts now. One chance is all the bad guy gets. After that, he's treated with same brutality he is trying to administer. The Sycorax Leader is killed outright. And we see only a cold, regret-free look on the Doctor's face as he does so.
The "no second chances" mentality continues to be the crux of this Doctor's whole outlook on dealing with his foes. Everyone gets one warning and then our hero feels no need to show any further mercy for his adversary. We can see that he's not accustomed to being so ruthless, though. It's still difficult for him to indulge in bloodbaths. They tend to consume him when he does throw away his pacifist tactics. Again, he needs humans to tame him. Just as he did way back in the earliest stories of his first incarnation. Humans may not stop him, anymore, from plunging the knife into the caveman. But they do stop him from stabbing the corpse over and over.
The Runaway Bride and Turn Left exemplify this idea quite clearly. Donna states in her first story that the Doctor "needs someone to tell him when to stop". The alternative reality presented in Turn Left re-enforces this concept. Without Donna underneath the Thames with him while he's delivering the Rachnos Queen the fate she deserves, the Doctor ends up drowning. Amy Pond echoes a similar sentiment in A Town Called Mercy. We can even see why Ace was so precious to the Seventh Doctor during Seasons 25 and 26. The stories during the last two seasons of the Classic Series featured a hero who was at his all-time cruelest. His need for human companionship was probably crucial to keeping him from diving completely off the deep end.
Just a few stories into Doctor Ten's era, we witness a beautiful summary of his attitude towards violence that truly encompasses the journey our protagonist has taken throughout the course of the whole show's history. "I used to have so much mercy." he proclaims as he faces down the leader of the Krillitanes during School Reunion. The general gist of the speech explains how much time has hardened him. That he can no longer tolerate the villains the way he did in his earlier days. If they cross a line with him and refuse to turn back - he loses all patience with them. He'll take their lives if he needs to. He'll try to go about it in the most antiseptic way possible. If he can avoid pulling triggers or directly spilling blood, he'll use that method. But he'll do what needs to be done.
And that's what we continue to see throughout the Tenth Doctor's period of existence. While not quite as devious as the Seventh - it's still his methodology we see at the core of his actions. Oftentimes tricking the alien menace into destroying itself with its own power. Or, more often, getting others to do the darker deeds for him. In many ways, Davros is right when he claims that the Doctor fashions people as weapons. Since the days of the Doctor and Ace, he's found people to commit violence on his behalf. Doctor Eight may have gone back to a softer approach and the War Doctor may have actually gotten real blood on his hands. But, otherwise, the Doctor has been using people to perform the tasks that he hasn't the heart(s) to do, himself. Which is why so many companions come forward in Journey's End to try and destroy the Dalek Crucible for him. It's as Rory claims in Vampires of Venice - he makes people want to do these sort of things.
The Eleventh Doctor maintains this tradition. Which only makes sense as the two characters are quite similar to each other. He, too, is a chatterbox and a fanboy but with his own unique brand of over-enthusiasm. And, he too, has his darker side and acts along the same guidelines first laid down by his Seventh Self. Only he seems to be even more merciless than he was in his tenth body.
Once again, the first story of the new incarnation has a specific moment that shows just how dangerous this version of the Doctor can be. While the Tenth Doctor employs a "no second chances" policy, this new version goes even more aggressive. "I'm the Doctor. Basically, run." This is the new level of viciousness that he's reached. Chances at redemption are no longer given. If you're up to no good and the Doctor crosses your path - expect to be taken down with maximum prejudice.
His confrontation with the Silence at the end of Day of the Moon is an excellent example of how he works in this incarnation. Out from the TARDIS he strides with a television in hand - full of confidence and bluster. River Song is with him, armed and ready (she will be the one who does the dirty work he doesn't want to do - and plays that role on several occasions). As he stares down these strange memory-altering creatures, is there any sort of ultimatum being offered? Any sort of: "Get off my planet, now, or there will be trouble?" No. The Doctor just assumes they won't take the offer and goes ahead with dealing the punishment. The way he uses the Silence's own powers of post-hypnotic suggestion against them is brilliant, of course. And the slaughter that ensues as they retreat back to the TARDIS is a very fun action sequence to watch. But it only manages to distract us so much from the fundamental truths being presented in the whole sequence. The Doctor doesn't even offer a first chance, anymore. If you're doing something he deems wrong - you're toast.
More and more, the Doctor finds himself questioning whether what he does is even good. It's been quite some time since those sort of questions have started getting asked. Even way back in Boomtown, Margeret Slitheen is pointing out his character defects to him and he can't really argue with her. But in A Good Man Goes To War, the Doctor makes some pretty heavy insinuations to Madame Kovarian that he is far from being good, anymore. This idea would tug at him even more after his next regeneration.
The main arc of the Eleventh Doctor's character is the avoidance of a fate that awaits him at the end of his life. A battle on Trenzalore that will, apparently, send him even deeper into a state mercilessness. Both Lorna from Demon's Run and the Great Intelligence talk of the man the Doctor will become. A warrior among warriors. A military leader who will send thousands to their deaths. This doesn't sound like the Doctor at all. Even the Doctor, himself, is disturbed by this. The faking of his death and the erasing of all information about him seem like steps he's taking to avoid this fate. He could, of course, just try to make better choices when he arrives on Trenzalore - but he doesn't seem to have the confidence that he can do this. He knows he's not the man he once was.
This seems to get affirmed as we watch the Doctor transition from Amy and Rory to Clara. His desire to preserve life at any cost seems to become weaker and weaker. Amy must even confront him on it as he is prepared to simply sacrifice Kahler Jex to the monster he has created in the ironically-named Town Called Mercy. The impassioned speech the Time Lord delivers about showing "mercy to the victims" seems to indicate that he is rationalizing his darker motives more and more.
It is also at this point that we see the Doctor commit his most merciless act in the New Series. Seething with venom, the Doctor sends Solomon to his death at the end of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. This isn't the Doctor tricking the villain into undoing himself like he does in stories like Remembrance of the Daleks or Day of the Moon (a ruse that, somehow, makes him seem less cruel since the enemy is still bringing his doom upon himself). This is the Doctor very intentionally setting up the destruction of his enemy with murderous precision. He has never seemed more cold-blooded.
Actions and attitudes like these make us truly start to believe that the predictions we are hearing about him once he reaches Trenzalore might actually be true.
It is relieving to see, however, that as Time of the Doctor does finally roll around, the descriptions of what the Doctor becomes during the siege seem to be exaggerated. Yes, he leads a massive war effort against the various invaders of Trenzalore, but he doesn't seem half as bloodthirsty as the legends were saying. Especially when you consider that the whole war is waged to protect a small village of innocent people who have become caught in the cross-fire. The Time Lord at the end of his regeneration cycle speaks of the importance of saving lives and the difference he can make by standing as the village of Christmas' protector (and toy repairer!). This hardly seems the attitude of the warmonger the Great Intelligence tries to make him out to be only a few episodes earlier in Name of the Doctor. Just like the War Doctor, signs of a merciful hero still remain - even when he must fight a protracted battle that he can't run away from. We are, for the most part, impressed with how the Doctor handles things on Trenzalore rather than dismayed. There still seems hope for the pacifist he has buried.
As the Twelfth Doctor arrives, however, we must become even more concerned. Those endless debates he's had throughout the New Series regarding the true nature of his morality seem to have definitely taken their toll. He's no longer certain if he even is a good man. It doesn't help that Clara isn't so sure, either. By this point, she's gone up and down his timeline quite a bit. Her memories of what he was like in his earlier days might be sketchy, at best. But is it possible that she has watched the gradual withering of his sense of compassion and can no longer be certain about the character of the man she travels with? She might know better than most that the Doctor's ethics have become murky. The season ending with Doctor finally coming to terms with who he is does not seem too encouraging, either. He doesn't proclaim: "Yes! I am good! Look at what I do to combat the evil of the Universe" or something to that effect. Nor does anyone else deliver a speech of that nature about him (which would seem a bit more humble). Instead, the Doctor happily realizes that he's an idiot with a box who makes a difference now and again. A more honest appraisal of what he does, perhaps. But it also seems to indicate that his morals are sliding more and more. He no longer seems to acknowledge that he champions causes or fights for certain truths as he did in his earlier days. Could this change in personal ethics affect what kind of mercy he shows?
There are some things that we see this latest Doctor doing that certainly seem to support this. Right in his very first story, some very heavy aspersions are cast on the quality of his mercy. Does the cyborg jump from the "escape pod" at the end of the story or does the Doctor push him out? We'll never know, of course. But the fact that we no longer see the Doctor as not being capable of such an act speaks volumes about how far the character has gone from the pacifist he once was.
An even more disturbing example of his even-deeper ruthlessness occurs during the season finale. Clara has Missy (and/or the Master) at point-blank range and is ready to exact vengeance upon her for what she has done to Danny Pink and humanity, in general. The Doctor takes the weapon from her and is willing to save her from becoming a murderer by killing Missy, himself. But for the intervention of the Cyber-Brigadier, the Doctor seems ready to pull the trigger. We can't say for sure, of course. He may have stopped himself. But it really does seem like the Doctor was more-than-ready to directly kill someone in cold blood.
We should also point out, however, how he handles the Boneless in Flatline. He does give them every opportunity to prove that the deaths they are causing are accidents. The result of misunderstanding how three-dimensional beings work. Only when he definitely sees that the Two-D creatures are up to no good does he really take measures to beat them back and cause them genuine harm. Again, we still see vestiges of the more gentle and understanding man that he once was. He's not quite as vicious as he may seem.
Like the First and Sixth Doctors, the Twelfth Doctor seems to be softening as he progresses. He doesn't even seem to mind hugging anymore! From what we've seen of the latest season (and, perhaps, I should be waiting until the season is done to be writing this but that's just the sort of spur-of-the-moment guy that I am!), a stronger sense of mercy seems to be prevailing as he becomes a warmer personality. He embarrasses the Mire rather than just wiping them out. He's refusing to let UNIT use the Zygon virus even though they pose such a serious threat to humanity. This really does feel like the Sixth Doctor going from Season 22 to Trial of a Time Lord all over again: a more approachable personality who commits less violence.
Is Doctor Twelve taking a similar course? After multiple incarnations of feeling too old to have any mercy left, could the Pacifist Within be re-awakening?
We'll have to wait and see....
Missed the first part? Here it is:
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/10/analytical-quality-of-mercy.html
Its evident that the Doctor has changed since his first incarnation. But, there are some things that he still needs to deal with. The question is, when.
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