So. Why was it a "time" war?

[Mitty]

I'm pretty sure that this question has never been answered directly, though we've had hints. What made it a "time" war, as opposed to just a "war"?

Was it because any war in which the Time Lords participate is automatically a Time War?

Was it because different parts were fought in different time periods, out of sequence with each other or something?

Was it because special "temporal" weapons were used (eg "The Moment" which the Doctor apparently possessed?)

Was it because each battle had to happen on "time" or else someone would get into trouble?

Any other outrageous theories?

 

[Sindatur]

Very Mind Boggling Question.

At times, I've viewed it like a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" game, like Destiny of the Daleks. Mostly locked in matching counter manuevers, but, every once in a while, you make a right move, and they make a wrong move, and all of a sudden History is changed 500 years ago (or even tomorrow, for that matter) or Visa Versa, with strategic Stealth missions.

Other times, I viewed it as taking potshots at each other with "Reality Time Bombs", some kind of pulse or something that shreds history

 

[RoJoHen]

I picture it being something like "Year of Hell" from ST Voyager, but on a much larger scale. The "temporal incursions" would have the ability to completely alter history across the entire universe.

 

[Mitty]

^Nice answers.

I'm guessing that The 8th Doctor used "The Moment" at some pivotal location or point in history. Somehow it "time locked" the major parties involved in The War (though not everyone... eg he mentions it to the Nestene Consciousness who obviously was aware of the war and maybe even fought in it but somehow managed to survive like The Doctor). In the process of Time Locking the War he was injured and forced to regenerate. Perhaps the TARDIS was also effected which made the change to the "coral" necessary as well.

 

[od0_ital]

Goin' by my own, limited, viewin' of the franchise (all of the new & Torchwood, some of the classic & Sarah Jane), I figured it went something like this...

The Time Lords control the vortex. The Daleks, oldest enemy of the Time Lords, finally figured out how to access the vortex. War ensued, with the Time Lords tryin' to defend the vortex and the ability/technology to travel through time & space against the Daleks.

The 8th Doctor stopped the war - he destroyed the Dalek fleet & timelocked the Time Lords, and wound up regeneratin' over it, too.

The actions the Doctor took were felt by others, as mentioned several times in the new series, but I figured it was straight up conflict between the Time Lords & Daleks.

 

[Saul]

The Doctor didn't just timelock the timelords, he killed them too with the Daleks and timelocked the events.

 

[Silent_Bob]

I thought 'End of Time' made it pretty clear why it was called a Time War.

Going by the description of entire armies dying horribly only to be brought back into existence to die again, i would imagine the Time aspect came into things as each side tried to get an advantage - Daleks win on Alpha Proxima thanks to a Fascist Government, so Timelords travel back and ensure theres a rebellion two hundred years prior that topples said government.

Or Timelord allied army gets wiped out on Beta Faraway, so they travel back and make sure said army never goes there, so the Daleks then travel back a bit further and arrive at the new destination of the army and so on.

Eventually it would reach the point where the horrors the Doctor describes come into existence, armies of the never alive battling forces that shouldnt exist.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I thought 'End of Time' made it pretty clear why it was called a Time War.

Going by the description of entire armies dying horribly only to be brought back into existence to die again, i would imagine the Time aspect came into things as each side tried to get an advantage - Daleks win on Alpha Proxima thanks to a Fascist Government, so Timelords travel back and ensure theres a rebellion two hundred years prior that topples said government.

Or Timelord allied army gets wiped out on Beta Faraway, so they travel back and make sure said army never goes there, so the Daleks then travel back a bit further and arrive at the new destination of the army and so on.

Eventually it would reach the point where the horrors the Doctor describes come into existence, armies of the never alive battling forces that shouldnt exist.

That's how I look at it as well.

Remember, Davies said in an interview that he considers Genesis of the Daleks to be the first incursion (or a precursor or something along those lines) in the Time War, which makes sense considering the Time Lords deliberately sent The Doctor back in time to destroy the Daleks from existing in the first place.

I think situations like Genesis of the Daleks and the ideas Silent_Bob mentions is what the Time War was like.

 

[Cyke101]

Remember, Davies said in an interview that he considers Genesis of the Daleks to be the first incursion (or a precursor or something along those lines) in the Time War, which makes sense considering the Time Lords deliberately sent The Doctor back in time to destroy the Daleks from existing in the first place.

...why am I not surprised that Harry Sullivan was involved in the first salvo of the universe's most devastating war?

 

[Australis]

I know time loops were one of the minor weapons. There was also the Nightmare Child and a bunch of others 10 mentioned.

 

[Stevil2001]

Remember, Davies said in an interview that he considers Genesis of the Daleks to be the first incursion (or a precursor or something along those lines) in the Time War, which makes sense considering the Time Lords deliberately sent The Doctor back in time to destroy the Daleks from existing in the first place.

...why am I not surprised that Harry Sullivan was involved in the first salvo of the universe's most devastating war?

Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!

People interested in how a Time War might be fought ought to pick up The Book of the War, which isn't about the "Last Great Time War" between the Time Lords and the Daleks, but rather the one between the Time Lords and "the Enemy" that preceded it (the Second-Last Great Time War? the Last Mediocre Time War?) but still has a ton of neat ideas about how such a battle could be fought.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I think it was the 9th Doctor. But hey...

 

[The Wormhole]

I think it was the 9th Doctor. But hey...

Although RTD stated in an earlier interview that he intended the Time War to have been fought by the Ninth Doctor, fandom has decided to assume it was the Eighth. An assumption which has actually been adopted by the BBC who speculate in the TARDIS Handbook that the Eighth Doctor's regeneration was caused by the Time War. Likewise, the Eighth Doctor portion of IDW's The Forgotten takes place during the Time War.

Really, I doubt we're ever going to get any kind of official word on the matter, unless they decide to address it in the 50th anniversary special.

 

[Guartho]

Although RTD stated in an earlier interview that he intended the Time War to have been fought by the Ninth Doctor...

He probably shouldn't have depicted a post-Time War 9th Doctor acting like he's just seeing his face for the first time then.

 

[PorthosShadow]

Although RTD stated in an earlier interview that he intended the Time War to have been fought by the Ninth Doctor...

He probably shouldn't have depicted a post-Time War 9th Doctor acting like he's just seeing his face for the first time then.

Yeah, that little on screen bit is more canon than anything RTD "intended".

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm guessing that it was a time war because it encompassed all of time and the effects of it we're still really feeling.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Although RTD stated in an earlier interview that he intended the Time War to have been fought by the Ninth Doctor, fandom has decided to assume it was the Eighth.

Fortunately, this nebulous entity fandom doesn't make my decisions for me.

An assumption which has actually been adopted by the BBC who speculate in the TARDIS Handbook that the Eighth Doctor's regeneration was caused by the Time War.

"Speculate" could be the key word there...

Likewise, the Eighth Doctor portion of IDW's The Forgotten takes place during the Time War.

A part of it maybe, its early stages - one of its changing iterations. It reads to me like the Doctor looking ahead to the possible Time War in the future and the need for weapons like the Demat Gun. That said, I actually think that the Time War (or a series of Time Wars perhaps) have been going on for a very long time, possibly throughout the entire history of the series, but largely invisible to the viewer, and that at various times, all the Doctors have been involved in one way or another.

 

[Sindatur]

Although RTD stated in an earlier interview that he intended the Time War to have been fought by the Ninth Doctor, fandom has decided to assume it was the Eighth.

Fortunately, this nebulous entity fandom doesn't make my decisions for me.

An assumption which has actually been adopted by the BBC who speculate in the TARDIS Handbook that the Eighth Doctor's regeneration was caused by the Time War.

"Speculate" could be the key word there...

Likewise, the Eighth Doctor portion of IDW's The Forgotten takes place during the Time War.

A part of it maybe, its early stages - one of its changing iterations. It reads to me like the Doctor looking ahead to the possible Time War in the future and the need for weapons like the Demat Gun. That said, I actually think that the Time War (or a series of Time Wars perhaps) have been going on for a very long time, possibly throughout the entire history of the series, but largely invisible to the viewer, and that at various times, all the Doctors have been involved in one way or another.

Well as stated, Genesis of the Daleks makes perfect sense as a First Strike, and that involved Tom Baker. Hartnell, was bound and determined to explore Skaro in his Second Story, and the Novelization, apparently makes it his first Televised Adventure, and he apparently deliberately broke the Chameleon Circuit in his aim towards that exploration (in some interpretation, since someone recently declared that, I assume the Daleks/Mutants Novelization?). Could be the first Mission the CIA sent him on, to allow his continued Exile/Renegade-ness (Seriously, no one really thinks the t-Lords couldn't've gotten him sooner than The War Games if they were actually motivated? I figure Troughton pissed them off with non-cooperation and that's why they treated him so harshly in The War Games after allowing him to run loose with a stolen TARDIS for so long).