Howling:Regeneration cube?

I remember back in March, that there was word of a "Gallifreyan Regeneration Cube" set that was going to be released around Christmas time. Speculation was at the time that the Cube was a means of resurrecting a Time Lord, and this would presumably be how the Doctor avoided the 13-regeneration limit in the season finale. Well, the season finale was come and gone, and the Regeneration Cube hasn't been heard of for a while. No word if the Cube will feature in the Christmas special. Does anyone have any idea of what this "Cube" really was? -- Bold  Clone  22:44, November 21, 2011 (UTC)

I think the point has been mooted by the events of Let's Kill Hitler. We know regenerations can be taken from one time lord and given to another, and that's what happened there -- she gave him all of hers. Making the shaky assumption that we have seen all of her regenerations (Day of the Moon and Let's Kill Hitler) and that she had the Gallifreyan twelve regenerations (another shaky assumption), knock out this one and the 10th Doctor's meta-critical non-regeneration and that gives him a total of twenty-one lives. Add in the assumption that he might have wound up with another cycle or two in the Last Great Time War and that River's irregular Time Lord status has 507 regenerations and regeneration cubes are a moot point. Where did you hear of them anyway? Boblipton talk to me 01:45, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

Where are you getting the idea that River gave the Doctor all of her regenerations? The Doctor was dying, and since she was still regenerating she was able to transfer some of that regeneration energy to the dying Doctor. It took the energy from the rest of her regenerations as well, but it was all used up healing the Doctor. Nowhere was it stated that the Doctor now has the magical ability to use up somebody else's regenerations. Besides, do you think that the Doctor could live with himself knowing that his ability to live past 13 came at the expense of the woman he loved dying after only 2 regenerations-even if he already knew that she wouldn't have a chance to regenerate again anyway? I remember hearing something about those cubes too-they were a toy that was going to be marketed around Christmas or something like that. Maybe it was just a made up name for the hypercubes, or maybe it's something from the Christmas special. Anyway, if it is actually something that has to do with regeneration, I would think that it would be more like the zero room, and not something capable of accomplishing the impossible task of regenerating more than 12 times. If they do decide to cheat this fundamental law of Time Lord biology, they probably won't deal with it until the Thirteenth Doctor decides to leave.Icecreamdif talk to me 05:11, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

Icecreamdif: Most of what you say is spot on. One point is questionable, however: "If they do decide to cheat this fundamental law of Time Lord biology": There's quite enough in the "classic" series to cast doubt on it being a fundamental law of Time Lord biology. When (in The Five Doctors) the Time Lords offered the Master a complete new cycle of regenerations, the Master showed no trace of doubt that they could do exactly that. He didn't even ask how they could do it -- he clearly knew full well that it was possible. That still does nothing to indicate how, with the rest of the Time Lords gone, the Doctor could gain further regenerations but it does show that the 12-regeneration limit isn't insuperable. --89.240.242.174 12:02, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

@Boblipton: I heard about the "Regeneration Cube" from a Doctor Who forum, and when I looked up the phrase on Google, all I was able to find was that the cube was supposed to be person-sized, and had the Seal of Rassilon on it. -- Bold  Clone  17:20, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

89, I don't know if you saw the rest of that episode, but perpetual regeneration was stated to be something known of only in legend in that very episode. The entire purpose behind everything that Borusa did was to unlock Rassilon's ancient secret to regenerate more than twelve times. The Master was a special case, because he wasn't actually a Time Lord at that point-he was a Trakenite. I always assumed that they were offering him a new Time Lord body, or the ability to transform Tremas' body into that of a Time Lord. If the president could bargain with any old criminal by simply offering to give them extra regenerations, then nothing that he did in the episode makes any sense. Being a Trakenite must have made the Master special somehow.Icecreamdif talk to me 18:37, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

I did see the rest of the episode and I do know that "perpetual bodily regeneration" was something Time Lords didn't have. For most of the episode, they were far from sure Rassilon had it. None of that, however, alters the fact that the Time Lords could offer the Master a new cycle of regenerations without him questioning their ability to deliver. (He might not have been so sure of their intention to deliver, but that's a different matter.) That means it has to have been something already known and not something untried that depended on the Master's special circumstances -- otherwise, his first question would have been "How do you propose to do that?" or words to the same effect. He knew they could do it, which means it was something that had been done before. Bear in mind, they were not offering him "perpetual bodily regeneration"; they were offering a new cycle of regenerations -- one new cycle, no more -- and a new cycle of regenerations is what he knew they could give. --89.241.66.83 03:57, November 23, 2011 (UTC)

It's been awhile since I've seen the episode but yeah from what I recall there was never any discussion about how they would do it just that they could and offered it to him. I think the most probable thing is that the time lords have laws that prevent anyone, even the President, just getting a new cycle. However in the case of the Master he was a renegade and a criminal so it sounds more like a backroom/under the table deal. The Light6 talk to me 08:58, November 23, 2011 (UTC)

That was the impression I got, too. --2.96.29.73 (formerly 89.241.66.83) 09:52, November 23, 2011 (UTC)

But if the council could appoint new regeneation cycles to anyone they chose, then wouldn't Borusa try to either manipulate the council into giving him a new cycle, or try to steal the ability for himself. Then, all he would have to do would be to grant himself a new cycle every time he reached 13. IIt wouldn't be an easy task, but it would likely be easier than his ridiculously complicated plan to bring five incarnations of the Doctor, the Master, a good chunk of the Doctor's past companions, and a lot of his enemies in order to get a technology from Rassilon that he was only rumored to posess. He's lucky his plan worked as well as it did. Well, "lucky" might not be the right word. Anyway, it's possible that the Time Lords had granted regeneration to non-Time Lords in the past. If so, then they could use the same process to give the Trakenite-Master the ability to regenerate.Icecreamdif talk to me 00:36, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Clearly you lack a degree in Galllifreyan law. So do I. Boblipton talk to me 01:01, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

What goes on in The Five Doctors suggests, without ever explaining, that there was some kind of difference between the "perpetual bodily regeneration" that Rassilon had (or was believed to have) and a succession of "normal" regenerations. Borusa, for one, obviously thought the difference was important. To speculate: It might simply be that a prolonged succession of "normal" regenerations would require the co-operation of other Time Lords (who might refuse) but Rassilon's "perpetual bodily regeneration" would be independent of such co-operation. Of course, there might have been some other difference -- we can only speculate because we weren't told. --2.101.55.167 01:29, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

But if a Time Lord had infinite regenerations, then they would still be immortal (unless they die before regeneration). What Borusa was really after was immortality. The whole purpose of Rassilon's trap in the Death Zone was to get rid of anyone who sought immortality (which makes him look like a bit of a hypocrite in The End of Time), but if all one had to do to gain immortality was to break the law, then nobody would bother with the Death Zone. From what we've seen of Gallifreyan law enforcement, breaking the law isn't exactly difficult. Icecreamdif talk to me 03:17, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Because breaking the law means you are targeted by a whole society of Timelords who know very well how to kill you regardless of the number of regenerations you get. --222.166.181.173 08:14, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Only if you get caught. He was breaking the law anyway in that episode, and after he got caught he probably wished that they had killed him. It wouldn't be easy to steal a new regeneration cycle without getting caught, but it can't be any harder than taking immortality from Rassilon.Icecreamdif talk to me 16:00, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

now you are just arguing for the sake of it, if you assume he has no fear of getting caught, then not only is there no discussion but you have also came up with a character that has some sort of unpredictable mental problem making him defies logic. We offer you a clear sensible explanation that fits well with the context, you decided to make an unreasonable assumption that would make everything inconsistent and irrational, then I afraid there's no discussion. A lot of us would fail to understand your distorted universe. --222.166.181.212 17:05, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Of course he fears getting caught, but he is obviously willing to take risks. If he felt that he could send the Doctors into the tower of Rassilon and take over the time scoop without getting caught, then he could have easily devised a way to increase his regenerative cycle by other means, if they existed, without getting caught. My assumption is not unreasonable. Their have been tons of episodes that treat the 12 regeneration cycle like a natural law, and literally one reference in one episode to grating a Time Lord, who wasn't even a Gallifreyan at the time, a new cycle of regenerations. Since the entire plot of the episode had to do with Borusa seeking infinite regenerations, it seems more likely that a normal Time Lord can't just be given a new regeneration cycle.Icecreamdif talk to me 19:59, December 2, 2011 (UTC)
 * Um, so does anyone actually know what I'm talking about? In story, we don't know if River gave the Doctor her remaining regenerations, or just expended all of her regeneration energy at once. Regardless, I'm just wondering if anyone else heard the same rumor and know what it might be. -- Bold  Clone  21:17, December 2, 2011 (UTC)


 * "In story, we don't know if River gave the Doctor her remaining regenerations, or just expended all of her regeneration energy at once": All the dialog fits the latter (expending them all); none even hints at the former. --89.241.70.10 22:39, December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah. It was never suggested that she gave the Doctor her remaining regenerations, and it wouldn't make sense if she did, given the context. I also heard the rumor about the regeneration cube, but I have no idea what it was supposed to be, or why it hasn't appeared in any episodes. The cube was just a toy, wasn't it? Maybe it just wasn't from the show and is something that they made up. It's around Christmas now, so do you know if that thing ever got released?Icecreamdif talk to me 23:13,December 2, 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. We don't know. We also don't not know. We know it is theoretically possible to transfer regenerations from one Time Lord to another. We know that River used up all her regenerations to -- rather vaguely -- counteract the effects of the Judas-Tree poison. Since we don't know how regeneration operates, don't know how a transfer of regenerations works, don't know what River did, how she did it or how accurately she did it -- as an awful analogy, was it a jump-start or a recharge? -- nor do we have any reason to believe she had any particular training in the technique... well, despite all these uncertainties, we seem to have a lot of people who seem convinced they know exactly what the effects are. We can, like the old couple who broke all the dishes arguing about what they would have named the children if they had had any, argue long and earnestly about the matter, or express our hopes and wait to see what, if anything, the show-runner does in about, oh, ten or fifteen years. Me, I hope they get around the limit of twelve regenerations, and this would be as good a gobbledegook reason as anything. We might see a regeneration cube. We might see the White Guardian or the Easter Bunny show up. I like the simplicity of River indulging in overkill -- pun intended -- and now the Doctor has 21 lives, plenty of time to figure out the next way to get around that limit. Meanwhile, we have seen nothing more substantial about a regeneration cube than someone read about it in "a Doctor Who forum" some time around March. Boblipton talk to me 00:43, December 3, 2011 (UTC)

I remember seeing it in a more substantial source somewhere, but I can't remember where. Anyway, it clearly didn't come to pass. From what we saw, there is really no reason to believe that River transferred her regenerations to the Doctor for him to use at his leisure. If for no other reason, then because they would have made it much more clear if that were the case. Leaving it ambiguous would be completely pointless. It would seem extremely random if in 20 years or so, the 13th Doctor died and said "Oh, thank God I got an extra regeration cycle from River Song back in season 6, or I'd be dead right now." None of the dialogue does anything close to suggesting that the Doctor gained all of River Song's regenerations. When the 13th Doctor is ready to leave, they'll either come up with an explanation then, ignore it(which would probably piss off a lot of fans), or end the show. It's still pretty early for Moffat to be dealing with what will likely be somebody else's problem, and if he were to deal with it he would have been much more clear about it than he was in Let's Kill Hitler.Icecreamdif talk to me 03:34, December 3, 2011 (UTC)

Could be. Or maybe he wants to get it in early for someone to use later if he so chooses. How many people here -- including me -- are dissatisfied by Mels just popping up in the show as an old friend, when she could have been mentioned in a snatch of dialogue earlier. Anyway, that's not this year's problem. Boblipton talk to me 12:42, December 3, 2011 (UTC)

I definetly agree with you about Mels. If we had already heard of her, or even seen her, at some point, then her identity wouldn't have been quite as obvious. Anyway, if he was setting it up for the future writers, he really would have had to have made it more obvious. There would have been a bit of dialogue that said that his lifespan was significantly inceased, or something like that. As it is, it would just seem completely out of the blue if they used that as an explanation. It would seem just as random as if they said that his regeneration cycle was reset by the cloning machine that made Jenny, or any of another million explanations that they can use. If they do choose to go past 13 Doctors, then the plot where 13 regenerates would probably have to focus on someghing that would allow him to live longer.Icecreamdif talk to me 07:31, December 4, 2011 (UTC)

i agree with the thing about mels. i also think that the way they should act on the final regeneration is having the doctor think he's going to die, then he regenerates, and is completely confuzzled as to why he regenerated instead of dying. then they might go on tho try and think of events that might have extended his regeneration limit, mentioning the part from let's kill hitler alsong with any other events over the course of the show they think could plausibly have contributed to his extended life. that probably wouldn't anger many "13's the limit" fans as the doctor would be as confused about it as they would be, it would mean the show wouldn't need to end and i alt least think it would be interesting to watch. Imamadmad talk to me 11:14, December 4, 2011 (UTC)