The Dragon Lord (comic story)

 was a comic story published in Doctor Who Magazine.

Part one
The Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald land on an alien world, specifically on a deserted trail. Using his sonic screwdriver the Doctor picks up a power source. However, what appears to be a dragon suddenly swoops down, grabbing hold of the TARDIS.

The Doctor insists that dragons are fictional creatures, so this one cannot be real. Heading towards civilisation while chased by several dragons, they meet a force field which the Doctor bypasses with his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor and Clara find themselves in a mostly Medieval village which nevertheless contains heavily advanced technology.

The town's residents are angry at the Doctor, who "cast a spell with his magic wand" and arrived unannounced. Met by Lord Mortigan, the Doctor holds out his psychic paper, which holds the seal of the Hanging Towers and allows the Doctor and Clara "freedom of the fourteen realms." They follow Lord Mortigan to his keep, where the forcefield generator is held.

Mortigan explains that their kingdom was created for those desiring a simpler age of chivalry, heraldry, pageantry and pomp. The dragons are actually genetically modified versions of native life forms. Unfortunately, the Doctor classifies the force field generator as impossible to repair — and if it remains broken, the dragons are likely to take all of the planet's human life.

Weezie explains that the dragons were initially given inhibitor chips which stopped them from harming humans — "until the Dragon Lord came along..." This being was angry at the humans' torture and slaying of innocent dragons for no reason other than entertainment. He freed the dragons from the humans' tyranny, reversing the roles of hunters and hunted.

The Doctor considers leaving the planet, but Clara points out it is not his responsibility to choose which lives are worth saving. Realising she is correct, the Doctor formulates a plan to reason with the Dragon Lord, though Lord Mortigan and Sir Edryc Dragonsbane are sceptical of this idea. Mortigan is in actuality planning on murdering the Dragon Lord instead.

The group meets a baby dragon, which Mortigan slays; unfortunately for the group, the baby's parents chase them in response. Sir Edryc leads the group to a cave, but the Doctor and Weezie are missing. While the dragon cannot enter the cave, it uses its fire breath to attack. Edryc manages to block the flames using his shield, but the heat still poses as a threat for the three humans.

Meanwhile, Weezie climbs up a tree to give herself and the Doctor a better idea of their location. A spear rises from the ground, just barely missing the Doctor. This allows Weezie to identify their location as once-popular hunting grounds which the Dragon Lord mined with spear traps. The Doctor sets off his sonic screwdriver to avert any other spears from rising: they are "shielded against sonics." Unfortunately, though, the Doctor and Weezie are "sitting ducks for any dragon that happens to come across us and fancies a snack..." and, as luck would have it, a dragon arrives at that very moment.

Part two
Weezie notices that the dragon appears to be hurt, presumably as a result of a spear trap. The Doctor realises that the Dragon Lord would not let a dragon blunder into his own minefield, meaning he can't be controlling the dragon. In fact, even with the help of his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor is unable to find a micro-chip, suggesting the dragon is not controlled by anyone.

Meanwhile, Sir Edryc initially elects to fight the dragon breathing fire, before deciding to instead lure it with his shiny armour. Thanks to Edryc's self-sacrifice, Mortigan and Clara are able to escape.

The Doctor tries to revive the wounded dragon using Weezie's tissue regenerator, but as the spear went right into its heart, it remains dead. Weezie displays surprising knowledge about tissue regenerators. she explains that she was once Lady Lousia of the Giants' Vale, who won the hunting tournament every year; one year she was poisoned by a rival team and revived using a tissue regenerator. Hearing that she managed to come back from the dead, the Doctor shuns Weezie, saying she doesn't even have the right to pick her way through spear traps anymore.

Mortigan and Clara reach the Red Castle, where the Dragon Lord resides. Clara notices that the drawbridge is down and the portcullis is open. But the castle is far from unguarded: an excess amount of oil falls down, and Mortigan only narrowly manages to move Clara out of the way. The oil does not seem to be boiling, however, since Mortigan manages to survive. But a far worse menace soon greets them: another dragon.

Thankfully, Weezie and the Doctor arrive on the scene, the latter using his sonic screwdriver to activate a gate and traps the dragon. Reaching the throne room, they find a copious amount of treasure: shiny objects stolen by the dragons. The Dragon Lord himself, who is also present, is nothing more than a dead body. Presumably he was killed by dragons, despite his belief that they were his friends.

The Doctor and Clara manage to contact the others' home world, which has sent rescue ships to bring the residents back. They all agree that the planet should be left to the dragons from now on: as Weezie points out, "It's their world, after all. It always has been..."

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * Lord Mortigan
 * Sir Edryc Dragonsbane
 * Weezie
 * Dragon Lord

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor has the psychic paper show Sir Edryc that he has the blessing of Prince Karnak of the Hanging Tower.
 * Clara compares Mortigan's village to Game of Thrones.
 * Weezie studied at Lunar University.

Original print details

 * (Publication with page count and closing captions)


 * 1) DWM 494 (12 pages) Next: Dragon Attack!
 * 2) DWM 495 (12 pages) The End

Continuity

 * The Doctor is more willing to hugs Clara when they are reunited. (TV: The Girl Who Died)
 * Trying unsuccessfully to explain his actions to a dragon, the Doctor hopes that he does not to have to resort to a Venusian lullaby. The Third Doctor previously used a Venusian lullaby to hypnotise Bok (TV: The Dæmons) and Aggedor. (TV: The Curse of Peladon, The Monster of Peladon)