He was being kind.

[elisi]

green_maia has a very interesting post here about enjoyment of abuse of power versus abuse of power rooted in despair. This is just me turning thoughts over in my head, so lots of rambling. ETA: Or you can just read my reply to her post, since that's like the whole of this post in two lines...

Comments

[solitary_summer]

What he has to do is what he always must do - continue, carrying the burden of loss. Only this time he lets the Family share that most painful and horrific of fates. And no, it's not just in any way. But to go back to a point in a different post: It is both an act of brokenness and despair - and it is vindictive cruelty and power abuse.

*nods* Ten is complicated. It's all mixed up, always 'and' rather than 'either/or'.

And it is just; not in a modern, humanitarian sense, but in an archaic 'an eye for an eye' way. It's the kind of punishment that is common in myths and fairytales. FoB always struck me as the episode where the ancient, non-human part of the Doctor's personality comes out most clearly. 'Evil' doesn't seem an adequate word

[elisi]

Love your comment, and will get to it later - possibly tomorrow. Need to think stuff over and not be half asleep.

ETA: OK, am back.

*nods* Ten is complicated. It's all mixed up, always 'and' rather than 'either/or'.
I think this ties in with his humanity (and how Rusty writes him) - nothing is ever simple.

And it is just; not in a modern, humanitarian sense, but in an archaic 'an eye for an eye' way. It's the kind of punishment that is common in myths and fairytales. FoB always struck me as the episode where the ancient, non-human part of the Doctor's personality comes out most clearly. 'Evil' doesn't seem an adequate word.
Ooooh this. Like I wrote here: 'I think that when looking at the-Doctor-as-God it is a very old idea of Godhood we have to grapple with. The Doctor is like one of the deities from Mount Olympus, coming down ‘disguised as a human’ but with an outlook and agenda that is utterly his own.' His motivation might be informed by his humanity, but his general outlook is very Other. The Lonely God is a good moniker, but

[solitary_summer]

Lonely God is a good moniker, but he's not *the* God, just *a* God, if that makes sense...

Absolutely.

Going onto the topic of power, then the Master *is* his dark mirror - the Master is what he could become, and WoM shows the first step down that slipperly slope.

In EoT, when Ten says to the Master, 'I wonder what I'd be, without you', for the longest time I didn't really understand what he meant by that. (Slashy subtext aside, obviously.) He needs someone to show him what not to be.

[elisi]

In EoT, when Ten says to the Master, 'I wonder what I'd be, without you', for the longest time I didn't really understand what he meant by that. (Slashy subtext aside, obviously.) He needs someone to show him what not to be.
*nods a lot* I think the point is continued in this part:

Wilf: [offering gun again]: Then kill him first.

Doctor [raising eyebrows]: And that’s how the Master started.

I think Ten, in particular, is painfully aware (especially post WoM) how easy it would be to become the Master. (Have you read Things You Don't Want in the Night, btw? Truly excellent!)

[greensword]

Here via Maia.

FoB always struck me as the episode where the ancient, non-human part of the Doctor's personality comes out most clearly. 'Evil' doesn't seem an adequate word. It's interesting that this non-human part of him is so prominent immediately after spending three months as a human. I'm not quite sure how to interpret it

[solitary_summer]

I think it's that after living a purely human life for months he suddenly becomes very aware of who he really is again. A whole different way of understanding and experiencing the universe. A rush of power. The distinction between John Smith's human self and his own Time Lord nature is at this moment very clear in his mind; he sees his human part as something he killed/was forced to leave behind, and in his anger he is still pure Time Lord. I don't think he's deliberately trying to assert himself, although it's clear that he doesn't want to give up being a Time Lord again; it's just that the usual, more 'human' control mechanisms aren't back in place yet, and he doesn't see a reason to moderate himself either, since at this moment he wants to punish them.

Although on the other hand... The life he chose for himself was that of a school teacher. Maybe the idea for the punishment, giving them what they wanted, only not in the way they wanted it, came from the mythology John Smith would have been very familiar with.

[elisi]

Although on the other hand... The life he chose for himself was that of a school teacher. Maybe the idea for the punishment, giving them what they wanted, only not in the way they wanted it, came from the mythology John Smith would have been very familiar with.
Oh you're good. That's pretty twisted logic- but definitely sound.

[elisi]

Or - OR - is it rather that the doctor *is* being human, terribly human - he's still caught up in the humanity of John Smith and the loss of Joan - and the vengeance he wreaks is his human personality coming to the fore, only with the means of a Time Lord behind it?
I think you're definitely onto something there. (I don't really have anything to add to what solitary_summer said.)

I find the question of John Smith very interesting. How similar is he to 10? How does it compare to a regeneration? How is 10 remembering John Smith different than 10 remembering 9 or 11 remembering 10?
*jawdrop* OMG you just made me realise something! Everyone - well most people - are very cross about Ten's speech in EoT about how when he dies everything he is dies and a different man walks away. What if this came from his experiences of being John Smith? Because as John Smith he really *did* die, and someone else walked away... And he was obviously traumatised. Ooooh, this is brilliant! *claps* Thank you! :D

[solitary_summer]

What if this came from his experiences of being John Smith? Because as John Smith he really *did* die, and someone else walked away...

Wow, I never thought of that. Brilliant. When the Doctor regenerates, the old Doctor experiences death, but the new Doctor deals with this experience. It's sort of linear. But Ten and John Smith... that's more like a Russian doll, he goes back to being himself, but the experience of death, of a life suddenly stopping, of all the possibilities lost, that's all still within him, it's not something he can look at from the perspective of an entirely new person. Does this make sense at all?

That scene with Wilf in the cafe is one of my favourite New Who moments, I'll never understand how people can dislike it.

[elisi]

Wow, I never thought of that. Brilliant
*beams* I'm going to write a post, since I want it 'on its own' as it were, rather than buried in comments.

But Ten and John Smith... that's more like a Russian doll, he goes back to being himself, but the experience of death, of a life suddenly stopping, of all the possibilities lost, that's all still within him, it's not something he can look at from the perspective of an entirely new person. Does this make sense at all?
Hmmm, Russian doll. *ponders* Maybe regeneration is more like a Russian doll? In that he's someone new, but with all the other dolls inside. But I'm not sure what to compare the John Smith experience to then. Anyway, you're definitely onto something. With regeneration there's a continuity, a building on what came before, where John Smith led to a reset, as it were. John Smith's life didn't lead to Ten, he just stopped. And... I think this must have been a very alien experience for the Doctor (and makes one wonder how TenToo copes).

That scene with Wilf in the cafe is one of