I am also increasingly struck by the mirroring between the Moment and the TARDIS. Both of them Time Lord boxes which grew to self-awareness and developed opinions, both temporally transcendent individuals who get "past" and "future" mixed up. And, of course, the Doctor keeps the TARDIS on the sidelines of any fight because she's the most powerful ship in the universe; the Moment is a good candidate for most powerful weapon in the universe, as the one thing in the Vault of Rassilon Forbidden Weapons that wasn't used-
Except that what makes her so dangerous isn't her sheer destructive capacity, but the fact that she'll get into your head. A little bit like the TARDIS, which takes you where you need to go whether than where you think you're headed. Or like the Doctor, who flips your world upside down whether you like it or not. I get the feeling that nobody comes away from an encounter with the Moment with their self-deception intact. (Maybe that's why it isn't a "of Rassilon;" maybe Rassilon didn't want to look himself in the eye
Retrospectively, I am very amused by the Time Lord general's observation that only one person would be mad enough to try to use a sentient weapon that will sit in judgment over you. I feel like this both says some rather profound things about the Doctor's conscience and is nicely echo-y of the TARDIS's assertion that he was the only one mad enough to try to steal her.
Talking of mirroring, it's fascinating that River and the Moment are both weapons designed to wreck the Doctor and yet they both end up redeeming him. It's so clever the way the show sets up things so that our minds are prepared for them when they come up "for real" at a later date.
Yes, I think it was possibly intentional to make her dialogue at the beginning very reminiscent of Idris, and it makes perfect sense to me. Although I have my own views I also think it's probably a mistake to be too dogmatic about the Moment's precise nature. As with the White Lady in the End of Time.
I thought the fact that the Doctor wanted to get as far from the TARDIS as possible to do the act spoke volumes. If one was being Christian about it, one could describe the Moment as "The Hound of Heaven" - the small voice of conscience that will not let you go. And I recall George Herbert's wonderful poem "The Collar", describing his struggle with conscience, particularly its first line:
I am also increasingly struck by the mirroring between the Moment and the TARDIS. Oh totally. I might have to write a seperate post about all the 'women'. (All the women are one woman...)
I get the feeling that nobody comes away from an encounter with the Moment with their self-deception intact. I don't think many people have interacted with it at all. (Poor lonely Moment.)
Except that what makes her so dangerous isn't her sheer destructive capacity, but the fact that she'll get into your head. A little bit like the TARDIS, which takes you where you need to go whether than where you think you're headed. Or like the Doctor, who flips your world upside down whether you like it or not. I get the feeling that nobody comes away from an encounter with the Moment with their self-deception intact. (Maybe that's why it isn't a "of Rassilon;" maybe Rassilon didn't want to look himself in the eye
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I thought the fact that the Doctor wanted to get as far from the TARDIS as possible to do the act spoke volumes. If one was being Christian about it, one could describe the Moment as "The Hound of Heaven" - the small voice of conscience that will not let you go. And I recall George Herbert's wonderful poem "The Collar", describing his struggle with conscience, particularly its first line:
"I struck the board and cried 'No More!'"
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Oh totally. I might have to write a seperate post about all the 'women'. (All the women are one woman...)
I get the feeling that nobody comes away from an encounter with the Moment with their self-deception intact.
I don't think many people have interacted with it at all. (Poor lonely Moment.)
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