This has been mentioned before, but we know from Battlefield that at least one future incarnation of the Doctor will become known as Merlin in a parallel continuum. But there's one thing about this scenario that doesn't sit well with me: In the Arthurian myths, it's Merlin who disguises Uther, Arthur's father, as Igraine's husband, the Duke of Cornwall, so Uther can sleep with Igraine and sire Arthur. Would the Doctor really aid a man in exercising his lust, helping him deceive a married woman into having sex with him? I have difficulty seeing the Doctor willingly engineering such a scenario, which has its roots in violence and petty lust.
Merlin?
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
The Doctor isn't a saint. He's made some bad decisions in his life, hell he's made the decision to basically destroy his own people before during the Time War. He can also be manipulating and calculating when he wants to be. I see the events you mentioned from the Arthurian Legend as being "Fixed" time events so he would have no choice but to allow them to happen as they are supposed to, so that Arthur can be born.
brilliant...
^ Good one. Also, since this is one of at least two conflicting origins for the sword, I think that we have a solution to the apparent quandary from the original post. The Doctor-aiding-a-lech interpretation simply doesn't need to exist in the Whoniverse.
Well, in various stories, at least two other people (The Master and A.N.Other renegade Time Lord) have played the role of Merlin at various times, so one of them could have done the more unsavoury bits of the legend.
Personally, I was always fond of the idea that Merlin would turn out to be The Valeyard who had escaped into the parallel dimension.
Personally, I was always fond of the idea that Merlin would turn out to be The Valeyard who had escaped into the parallel dimension.
I've heard that the idea was that the Doctor would experience the life of Arthur in reverse, so that his first encounter with Arthur was Arthur's last encounter with Merlin, at the end of his life. The Doctor would then travel into Arthur's past and set him on the correct path. By the time the Doctor met Uther, he already knew how Arthur's life would turn out (though I still reckon he'd be less than pleased at aiding Uther in deceiving Igraine). What confuses me is at what point in the Doctor's personal timeline does he get imprisoned in the ice caverns by Morgaine for eternity. There are an awful lot of unanswered questions about the Merlin Doctor and his exploits.
Something I find interesting is a line of dialogue in a comic strip story in a recent issue of Doctor Who Adventures, where the Eleventh Doctor offers to take Amy and Rory to visit King Arthur, whom the Doctor describes as an old friend, suggesting he's already had some adventures with him at this point. Trouble is, at this point in his life, travelling sideways in time to other dimensions is extremely difficult and dangerous and nigh impossible.
Something I find interesting is a line of dialogue in a comic strip story in a recent issue of Doctor Who Adventures, where the Eleventh Doctor offers to take Amy and Rory to visit King Arthur, whom the Doctor describes as an old friend, suggesting he's already had some adventures with him at this point. Trouble is, at this point in his life, travelling sideways in time to other dimensions is extremely difficult and dangerous and nigh impossible.
Does this mean we'll get to see Keira Knightley in her Pictish bikini again? I mean, which version of King Arthur do we prefer -- shiny knights in armour overacting like they're in a school play, more realistic grimy Roman cataphracts or Samartian cavalry, or blokes banging coconuts together while enforcing the violence inherent in the system?
gotta go for the coconuts one. Monty python ftw blah blah etc
@Starkers...I'm glad I am not the only one who thought it was amusing lol.
am i the only one who's wondering why people are talking about an alternate doctor from an alternate universe?
I can't believe we're talking about an alternate Doctor in an alternate universe told in an non-canon medium!!!
There's no such thing as canon!