The Night of the Doctor

[tardis_stowaway]

Almost all of y'all have probably seen this, but if you haven't, you should REALLY watch "The Night of the Doctor," the mini-episode prequel to the 50th anniversary special.  (If you are working phenomenally hard to avoid spoilers and haven't watched the trailer or anything, save this mini-episode until just before you watch the main episode.

Comments

[joking]

I both agree and disagree with your thoughts on it.

I actually really like the way they're handling regenerations and the Time War. I only know Eight from the movie, but even so I could never picture him as a soldier in the war. I think this decision to regenerate into a warrior is a powerful metaphor for what everyone who fights in a war must do: choose to become a new person, a person you don't want to be and wish you could later forget. I don't think later Doctors are absolving themselves of guilt by disavowing this incarnation; clearly they do feel guilty about the Time War, and clearly they believe they're the same person across incarnations. I think they're making a sort of statement to themselves that they're never going to become that person again. In summary:

"Coward or killer?"
"Coward, any day."

I agree entirely, though, with your feelings on Bad Wolf Rose. I think it would be SO COOL if she was involved with the war and she made him/he made himself forget. If that's true I will write ALL THE FIC about Bad Wolf Rose and do a happy dance. But it would undermine the power of Season 1 if the Doctor purposely sought her out.