Saturday, July 12, 2008

Time-Lords

The Time Lords were the rulers of Gallifrey. All Time Lords were from Gallifrey, but not all Gallifreyans were Time Lords. The Time Lords were divided into various colleges, such as Arcalians, Patrexes and Prydonians, each headed by Cardinals. The Time Lords were ruled by a High Council, which was comprised of a President, a Chancellor, the Cardinals, and various high-ranking officials. The Castellan was in charge of security, and commanded the Chancellery Guards. The Celestial Intelligence Agency (CIA) was the covert arm of the High Council, created to secretly safeguard the Time Lords' interests. The Time Lords' prison planet was Shada. Those Time Lords who turned their backs on the benefits of Gallifreyan society were known as Renegades. The most famous Renegade Time Lords were the Doctor, the Master, the Rani, the Monk, the War Chief, K'Anpo, Morbius, Drax, Salyavin and Azmael. The Shobogans (or Outsiders) were Time Lords who had voluntarily renunced their position on Gallifrey to live outside the Capitol. The Time Lords' physiology included two hearts, a respiratory bypass system, the ability to withstand a greater range of temperature and radiation than men, telepathic powers and, finally, the ability to regenerate their bodies at least twelve times. On certain occasions, the Time Lords could create a projection of their future selves to help them through their impending regeneration: Cho-Je, the Watcher and possibly the Valeyard were such projections. At the dawn of a history which spanned millions of years, Omega used his stellar manipulator to create a super-nova which collapsed into a black hole. Rassilon brought that black hole back to Gallifrey and locked it beneath the Panopticon, where it became known as the Eye of Harmony. Its virtually inexhaustible supply of energy gave the Time Lords their mastery over time travel. Early Time Lord history is shrouded in secrecy. The Time Lords played irresponsibly with their powers when they created the Death Zone, where creatures scooped from various places in time and space were forced to fight for their amusement. Eventually, Rassilon closed the Death Zone and banned the Time Scoop. Still in their active phase, the Time Lords destroyed the Fendahl (4X) and the Great Vampires, after a war so bloody that they forswore violence. The Time Lords also gave the Minyans more technology than they were able to handle, and were ultimately responsible for the destruction of Minyos. This led to the creation of a policy of strict non interference in other races' affairs, except where Time Lord security was involved. For example, the Time Lords (or the CIA) banded together against the renegade Morbius and attempted to curtail dangerous time experiments on Space Station J7. They warned the Third Doctor of the Master's arrival on Earth, and sent him after the Master when it was found that the evil Time Lord had acquired knowledge of the Doomsday Weapon. They also used him to secure Peladon's entry in the Federation, and to help the Solonians achieve their super-human form, possibily in an effort to bring down Earth's Empire. The Time Lords sent the Fourth Doctor back in time to prevent the creation of the Daleks, which may have been only one of the many steps it took to ensure their final destruction. They also sent him to Karn to deal with the Brain of Morbius. The early Time Lords created the Matrix, which became the repository of all their knowledge. Eventually, Rassilon passed away and his body was locked inside the Tomb of Rassilon, in the Death Zone, even though his intelligence lived on. With the passage of time came maturity, then senility and decadence. Science was replaced by ritual, knowledge by dogma. In more recent history, the Time Lords were alerted by the Second Doctor to the War Lords' plans. They destroyed the War Lord and time looped his planet. They judged the Second Doctor, exiled him to Earth and forced him to regenerate. They later pardoned him when he and his two previous incarnations defeated Omega and saved Gallifrey. The Fourth Doctor again saved Gallifrey, first from a plot by the Master and Chancellor Goth, then from invasions by the Vardans and the Sontarans. The Time Lords threatened to execute the Fifth Doctor when Omega tried to return to our universe by taking over his body. President Borusa later used the Five Doctors to try to discover the secret of immortality. Afterwards, a new and corrupt High Council initiated the Ravolox Stratagem, but was exposed by the Sixth Doctor during his Trial, and then deposed. The nature of the relationship between the Time Lords and the Guardians of Time is unknown, even though the High Council is obviously aware of the existence of the Guardians. Source: the universal databank

No comments: