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nifflering · 7 months

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THE BUMBLING FOOL - an essay/rant

(contains spoilers for The Wizard of Oz and Doctor Who episodes “Utopia”(s3/ep11) and “Sound of the drums” (s3/ep12))

To begin, I present to you some context…. So, recently I saw a post by @monica00 who posted an excerpt from the Master’s diary. The “MASTER OF ALL I SURVEY” is composed of several diary entries written by Simm!Master. In one of them, Day 42, he mentions carving the faces of several of his regenerations (Delgado, Ainley, himself and the “Wizard of Oz”) into Mount Rushmore. This led me to ponder who he’s referring to when talking about the wizard of Oz.

So, after thinking a bit, I finally figured out that he was talking about the Master as portrayed by Sir Derek Jacobi / the War Master. And that led me to composing this handy (and probably not that well written) list? Analysis? Essay? About the parallels between the character of “The Wizard of Oz” and Professor Yana/the Master.

Note: My information on the wizard of Oz is partly taken from deep crevices of my brain and the “Wizard of Oz” wiki, so I might be mixing up several portrayals of the character. Also, this is my personal interpretation, so yeah…

Enjoy, I guess…

This rant is dedicated to my current Doctor Who obsession and of course to @roxannepolice, my motivation for writing/ actually publishing this. Many thanks to you for feeding my thoschei obsession with your content and (ask game answers) and exsisting.

After Dorothy arrives in Oz via hurricane, she desperately “wishes” to get back home to Kansas. The Good Witch informs her about the approaching threat of the Wicked Witch (who is going to chase her down and try to kill her because she crushed her sister, the wicked witch of the east, with her house and stole her magical shoes. Which are all pretty valid arguments If you ask me.). Glinda says that in order to go home she should ask the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” for help. Dorothy (having just killed someone) and her dog, Toto, go on their merry way, following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City.

On the way there she meets several other characters who also have a deep wish they want fulfilled by the wizard. There is the Scarecrow who wants to have a brain, a tin man who wants a heart and a Lion who wants courage.

After some tribulations they are finally able to have an audience with the Wizard, who appears as a giant floating head – in return for fulfilling their wishes the Wizard demands the Wicked Witch`s broomstick. (Character who appears as a giant floating head - Just like, oh, I don’t know a certain other character played by Derek Jacobi, cough cough the Metatron, cough, cough)

They defeat the Wicked Witch and return with the broomstick; he tells them to come back tomorrow – but Toto pulls back a curtain and the group discover that “The Great and Powerful Wizard” is just a guy operating a projector machine. He is projecting an image of himself, the image of a giant powerful magician capable of doing almost anything. When confronted with the fact that he is a humbug, he admits that he is but says that he’s – still a good man at heart. Although he promised to grant their wishes, he merely gives them “tokens” of the things they actually wanted. For example, a heart shaped clock for the metal man and a diploma for the Scarecrow.

The wizard finally decides to go home to Kansas, the same way he got there - in a hot-air balloon. He also offers to take Dorothy with him, fulfilling her wish. This ultimately doesn’t work as Toto runs off and Dorothy goes after him. Just before departing he makes Dorothy’s companions the rulers of Oz – effectively dumping all responsibility on them. In the end Dorothy manages to get back home with her magical shoes. However (depending on the version) Dorothy has fulfilled her wish on her own, none of her other friends have actually gotten their wish granted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let’s take a look at the parallels between Yana and Oz.

“Utopia”, is the only episode Yana and Jacobi!Master appear in, it takes place on a desolate planet called Malcassario at “the end of the universe”, a time not even the timelords have reached.

Ten, Martha and Captain Jack (don’t ask me why he’s here just roll with it) go to explore and find nest-like structures carved into stone. Remnants of a civilisation that used to live here long ago. They get wrapped up in a hunt, a (human) man is being chased by the Futurekind, a tribe of savage hunters with sharp teeth. They join him in running to the only safe place around – a silo. Later a guard confirms that this is the place to go if you want to go to Utopia – the ultimate salvation from the end of the universe and the infinite darkness that surrounds them.

They later find out that a scatterbrained scientist called Professor Yana (and in extension his malmoothian assistant, Chantho) are supposed to make the rocket that’s supposed to take them to Utopia (a call which “came from across the stars over and over again. Come to Utopia.”), fly. The thing is, they have no clue how to do that – not that they are not scientists – but they do not have enough energy to lift off.

The surviving humans yearn “to preserve [themselves], to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself.” They have come so far, survived all these great hardships, lost their friends, family, lives, everything. They presumably see Yana as a saviour, the one who will lead them to Utopia “where the sky is made of diamonds”. Yana is even willing to sacrifice himself for them, staying behind as the rocket takes off.

Every single human left in existence is relying on them to survive. They all want something from him. He is their own personal version of “The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz”, able to grant their deepest wishes/ they are projecting their wishes and hopes on him. They aren’t scared that the myth of Utopia isn’t true but they fear that they won’t survive long enough to reach it.

(As I’m writing this I kind of realize that the Doctor (or the Master) can relate to all these humans, just like them they have lost everything, their home plane and their friend. But the doctor still hasn’t given up hope he’s still running away, desperately clinging to any human who wants to travel with him and secretly wishing that the last words of the Face of Boe “Know this, timelord. You Are Not Alone.”, are true.)

There are also some parallels between Martha and Chantho. In a private conversation while the doctor helps Yana power the rocket, Chantho reveals that she has known the Professor for a long time and that she adores him but does not think he notices. This kind of parallels Martha’s relationship with the doctor, she’s also in love with him but knows that this love will never be reciprocated, she’s not even sure if he’s noticed it. But, ultimately the loyal Chantho gets electrocuted by the Master after he has recovered his memories – blaming her for not noticing or asking about the watch (which contains his true identity) sooner. She falls to the floor – seemingly dead – but manages to shoot him in her last breath.

Her wish for love has not been fulfilled.

Let’s get back to the humans for a second: as soon as the Master becomes himself again, he lowers the protective measures against the Futurekind, locks the Doctor and Jack in the control room and removes a circuit board from the navigational system to Utopia. The rocket’s flight path is interrupted in the fate of the humans is left unclear. (At least until Sound of the Drums but isn’t the toclafane’s existence, bound to a singular metal dome a never-ending thirst for blood ingrained deep within you, a fate worse than death? Are they even human?)

The Doctor’s next, we will ignore Jack because he doesn’t really fit into the grand scheme and he’s literally just forcing himself into the plot.

Throughout the whole of new who up to this point it has been established that the Doctor is completely and utterly alone in the universe. In the episode “New Earth” (s2/ep1) a Novice teases the last words of the Face of Boe which will only be given to someone like him “a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely God.” In Gridlock (s3/ep3) he tells Martha about the time war, “There was a war. A Time War. The last great Time War. [..] They lost. Everyone lost. They’re all gone now, my family, my friends, even that sky.”.

Like I already mentioned, The Doctor is constantly craving companionship – he has throughout all his lives, especially in the new series he wants to alleviate the pain of the time war, the crippling loneliness that claws at him every second of every day, no matter how much he tries to escape it.

When Yana hears of a scientist, “a doctor of everything”, he is immediately overjoyed, he rushes to greet the doctor and whisks him away to his laboratory. He quickly introduces him to all his equipment but despite the doctor’s massive intellect, he can’t even think of any solution. Yana is obviously sad but apologizes, saying that there’s been “so little help”. To me this immediate joy and desire to meet the doctor is also partly the masters. He feels lonely as well – as reflected by Yana’s own feelings - “Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. […] Time and time and time again. Always running out on me. […] Oh, it's only an old relic. Like me.” Yana desires rest – eventually his own wish gets fulfilled, just like Oz escaping from Oz and going back to Kansas.

Generally, the Chameleon Arch creates a personification of some aspects of the user`s personality, for the Doctor his “worse traits” get amplified, for the Master his “better traits” are amplified, he’s willing to sacrifice himself just to save someone he doesn’t know and is kind to everyone he comes across.

When the Doctor sees Yana’s inventions, he’s starstruck. He’s finally found someone like him – an equal. “Oh, it's easy coming in at the end, but you're stellar. This is, this is magnificent. And I don't often say that because, well, because of me.” He recognizes how underappreciated Yana is in this time – “If you'd been born in a different time, you'd be revered. I mean it. Throughout the galaxies.”

They briefly take a break to talk about the constant never-ending drumming Yana hears in his head and this iconic look™ happens.

When Yana opens the watch and turns back into the Master, ten rushes to get to him, he begs him to open the door, to let him in “I'm begging you. Everything's changed! It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left! Just let me in!” But, the Master, the only other person like him in the entirety of the universe, escapes with his own Tardis.

The Face of Boe’s prophecy and the Doctor’s wish have come true. He’s not alone anymore.

But it doesn’t last as the Doctor (not even two episode later) has to watch as the Master dies in his arms refusing to regenerate because it would mean having to spend the rest of his lives imprisoned wit” him.

He’s alone again.

Professor Yana just like the Wizard has a lot of responsibility. They are both good men at heart. But are still not able to fulfil the wishes of the people relying on them.

But at the same time, they are both humbugs.

A humbug, as defined by Miriam Webster, is “a false or deceiving person or thing, a fraud”. Both Oz and Yana are humbugs in both meanings of the word. They are both “false people” with the Wizard being merely a projection controlled by Oz and Yana literally being a “false person”, a fake identity created by the Chameleon arch. They are both good men at heart – they want to or at least try to fulfil the wishes brought before them – but they both deceive their “subjects” – so they’re more morally grey. Yana tries his hardest to build a rocket and a system to power it made out of food scraps. He’s using technology the Doctor has never even heard of. Yana may be a good person, but ultimately the Master is not.

In the end, Jack, Martha and the doctor barely manage to escape with Jack’s vortex manipulator – his red sparkly shoes.

And that’s it. If you’ve managed to make it this far, you receive a “virtual” participation trophy, congrats. 😊 Have a good day and....

Until next time (maybe?)

#doctor who #Kansas = Gallifrey confirmed???#you know it's serious when i pull out the dictionary defintions #this is what you get when you have watched Utopia too many times #a win win #I would say #if someone has a better title #hit me up #Beyond excited for rogue encounters

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