Talk:The Quantum Archangel (novel)

Dream?
I see that certain stories have been removed from the "DWU" as 'just a dream'. A throwaway remark in First Frontier has led to Dimensions in Time being "decanonised". However other stories such as Storm in a Tikka, Rescue and Search Out Space all link into Dimensions in Time, and are seemingly removed from the "DWU" by association.

Divided Loyalties has the infamous Deca seuqnce. The one that's part of the Chapter called DREAMING. The one where the Doctor as the Academy is supposedly played by Peter Davison, Mortimus is a contemporary of the Doctor's and leaves Gallifrey before the Doctor does. Where someone has to be given a Rassilon Imprimatur just to to travel in a TARDIS, where the Doctor never graduated the Academy, and never left Gallifrey. Where the Master was supposedly called "Koschei" at the Academy even though the Second Doctor had clearly never heard the name before The Dark Path. Where the Doctor and Drax where supposedly among the best and brightest of the young Gallifreyans. And where Type 30 TARDISes are brand spanking new in the Doctor's era(even though Type 35 TARDISes have been around for a while...). The only way to accept any of this nonsense is to say that it was a dream. And that's not even a stretch, as the narrative before the Deca sequence has the Doctor falling asleep, the Chapter is itself called DREAMING, and then after the Deca sequence the narrative has the Doctor waking up and talking about the ""weird nightmare" he has just had.

However, The Quantum Archangel uses large doses of Divided Loyalties' Deca sequence. It runs right through the book. And if The Deca sequence in Divided Loyalties was just a dream, then The Quantum Archangel must also be(as per Dimensions in Time and Rescue et al.) Intriguingly, one of the main topics of Divided Loyalties was the dual nature of certain characters. The Celestial Toymaker was both the Toymaker and Rallon. Adric was both the Doctor's friend, and the guy who sided with the villains in both State of Decay (TV story) and Kinda (TV story). Tegan both wants to stay with the Doctor and return to her normal life.

For Nyssa it's the duality of the Master. The Master is both her father Tremas and the Geoffrey Beevers decayed Master from The Keeper of Traken (TV story). Nyssa wonders if the two aspects can be separated. And that actually happens in The Quantum Archangel, only for the Master to restore the Tremas body. This however throws up major continuity problems, as in Dust Breeding (audio story) we learn that the Tremas body was stripped away from the master for the first time, and that he has no way of restoring it. He's still very much the Beevers Master in Master (audio story), and he needs a Deathworm Morphant just to take control of Bruce (Doctor Who)'s body, and even that is only temporary. Mastermind (audio story) establishes that he is only able to take over bodies for a short time, and only with the aid of the deathworm morphant. Otherwise he remains in the Beevers form. This is just further proof that The Quantum Archangel can not be 'real'. 41.132.178.141talk to me 15:54, September 8, 2014 (UTC)

The Rani?
This story is listed on the Rani's novel page, but not on her list of appearances. Looking at the page itself, the only reference to her is that of the Master "recall[ing]" her. Does this mean he mentions her (and therefore it's not really an appearance) or is there actually some sort of new material flashback/cameo that would constitute this page being counted as an appearance? Mewiet ☎  20:53, November 17, 2014 (UTC)

She does appear, in a very brief cameo set in an alternate universe alongside other versions of the Master, Drax and the Monk. --Revan\Talk 21:09, November 17, 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you! I'll add this to her appearances page to reflect that. Mewiet ☎  21:34, November 17, 2014 (UTC)