Of Wizards and Time-Lords

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

It's only in the New Series that the Doctor is shown as going "too far", which is typically the domain of villains in Professor Tolkien's work.

Hmmm, ok. When I said that, I was under the influence of a couple specific episodes (most strongly The Lost Bride and the two-episode sequence where the Doctor is an academy headmaster). The Doctor generally does not go too far, and he usually hates having to go as far as he does. For a few episodes in this series he just seemed more comfortable than usual in his "Turambar" role. I just watched the ending and the next special, though, and there he is back to the Doctor of series 1 and 2 - more like Gandalf and less like, oh, I don't know. Who would give out judgement in Eru's name?

Originally Posted by Zigur

At the most the idea of the hero going "too far" in Middle-earth might be comparable to Boromir, but unlike the Doctor (or the characters who resist the Ring's temptation) he's more of a warrior than a man of wisdom (although the New Series would often like to sell us on the idea that the Doctor is a "warrior" but personally I consider this a misinterpretation of the original character on the part of the modern writers; note that even in Series 5 of the New Series the Doctor described himself as a "space Gandalf", but the writers fell back on a more "dramatic" idea of "the Doctor as a warrior" by the end of that Series and for Series 6, parts of 7 and parts of 8).

Haven't got there yet, but if I had to pick a "category" for the Doctor, geek would come waaaaay before warrior. He doesn't travel around to save people; he travels because that's the only thing he has left to do, but then he ends up in a situation where he must save himself and everybody else. He does end up landing on doomsdays quite often. He's like Faramir in that sense: he'd give all he has when he must, and he'd bring down judgement when he must, but he doesn't love the sword for its sharpness. He likes outsmarting the problem, figuring it out, not chopping it down. I don't really see him as a warrior; he'd hate that role. He just doesn't believe in unnecessary killing.

There was one episode where they called him the rage and fire and storm... Perhaps, when he is reeeeally traumatized by something, to the point where he half loses his mind, perhaps then that could be true. But that description just doesn't fit his regular self. It's like Galadriel, when Frodo offers her the Ring - "beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth" - she certainly could be all that, but she does not, and neither does the Doctor (at least in the 3 seasons I've seen).

Maybe, in several months, when I've actually watched the entire show, my Doctor comments would be more grounded. Now, I don't have enough of an impression of him in all his incarnations, so I feel like every new episode swings my perception around.