Thunderush (talk | contribs) No edit summary Tag: sourceedit |
TheDoctor145 (talk | contribs) m (Rewrote a sentence to make more sense.) Tag: Visual edit |
||
| (26 intermediate revisions by 13 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | The '''Laws of [[Time]]''', ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'') also called the '''Protocols of the [[Great House]]s''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') regulated the [[Time Lord]]s' use of their power to [[time travel|travel in]] [[time]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'', et. al.) |
||
| − | The '''Laws of Time''' regulated [[Time Lord]]s' use of their power to travel in time. Beyond the First Law, however, the exact details of these laws were not well understood, nor were the punishments for breaking the laws particularly clear. |
||
| + | These laws were hardwired into the structure of the [[Spiral Politic]]. As most were synonymous with the laws of [[physics]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') the ones usually mentioned were the ones with a [[moral]] basis. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'', ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') Unlike most [[lesser species|species]], who view preserving [[life]] as the highest moral imperative, the Great Houses considered the preservation of [[history]] of greater importance. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | ==== Meeting out of order ==== |
||
| − | Rassilon's First Law of Time stated it was forbidden, and thus generally impossible, for Time Lords to meet each other out of temporal sequence, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera]]'') and specifically prohibited a [[Time Lord]] from meeting their former selves. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors]]'') Despite this, the Doctor on numerous occasions did just that — either accidentally ([[TV]]: ''[[Time Crash]]'') or through Time Lord sanction. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'') Upon meeting the non-Time Lord [[Sebastian Grayle]] for the first time, and being told they'd meet in his future, the [[Eighth Doctor]] informed him he'd broken the First Law of Time, which Grayle denied because he was [[immortality|immortal]], implying the law could only be broken via time travel. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | [[Charlotte Pollard]] broke the First Law of Time by travelling with [[the Doctor]]'s [[sixth Doctor|sixth incarnation]] after having been the [[companion]] of his [[eighth Doctor|eighth self]], thus exposing the Doctor to his own future. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Brotherhood of the Daleks]]'') Similarly, the [[Seventh Doctor]] may be said to have broken the First Law of Time by leaving messages for himself. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[No Future]]'') The law had a moral basis as well as a legal one. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'') |
||
| + | {{main|First Law of Time}} |
||
| + | The [[First Law of Time]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'') also called Linearity, was the most important and widely-discussed of the Protocols. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') It forbade [[Gallifrey]]'s present from interacting with its own subjective past or future. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'', ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'', ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'', ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') |
||
| + | One consequence was that [[Time Lord]]s could not meet each other out of temporal sequence ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]'') or meet their former selves. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'') That restriction could even apply to non-Time-Lords: the [[Fourth Doctor]] refused to return [[Eldrad]] to her native time because that would have been a "distortion of history" that "contravened the First Law of Time". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'') |
||
| − | ==== Influencing history ==== |
||
| − | The [[Seventh Doctor]] stated that interfering in Gallifrey's past time travel experiments was against the First Law, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'') though whether or not it was first, there was a Law traditionally preventing [[Gallifrey]]'s 'present' from interacting with its own subjective past or future. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow]]'') |
||
| − | :''Depending on the interpretation, the Doctor may have been speaking about interfering in any planet's past which would affect their development.'' |
||
| + | Another consequence was that if a [[Homeworlder]] were to leave [[the Homeworld]] for five years, though they could theoretically return moments after they left, upon their return they would inevitably find that five years had passed there as well. In effect, whenever an agent entered an area of time outside the Homeworld, their relative histories would be temporarily linked so that their "present"s would be indistinguishable, despite being aeons apart. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') |
||
| − | Although he could return her to [[Kastria]] in the present, the [[Fourth Doctor]] refused to bring back [[Eldrad]] (regenerated after a gap of about 150 million years) to her native time because that would have "contravened the First Law of Time", a "distortion of history". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'') |
||
| + | This law could be bent without breaking. For instance, [[the Doctor]]'s incarnations were pulled together several times through Time Lord sanction ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[World Game (novel)|World Game]]'') or by accident. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'', ''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]'') The Time Lord [[Volnar]] noted that while technically impossible by the Laws of Time, meeting one's past selves thusly would have been somewhat less impossible with an advanced [[TARDIS]], though the fact that the Doctor could possibly do it with "an antiquated [[Type 40]]" boggled his mind. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors (novel)|The Eight Doctors]]'') |
||
| − | The [[Ninth Doctor]] once told [[Rose Tyler]] that "there used to be laws preventing this sort of thing" in reference to her interference with her own past. However, he failed to enumerate them. ([[TV]]: ''[[Father's Day (TV story)|Father's Day]]'') Likewise, [[the Brigadier]]'s encounter with his past self was described by [[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor's fifth self]] as being bad, but not as a specific violation of the First Law. ([[TV]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead]]'') |
||
| − | :''It was therefore possible that other laws of time were concerned with the [[Blinovitch Limitation Effect]], the more generalised problem of ''any'' being meeting a past version of themselves. '' |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | A Law of Time forbade the presence of objects from nonexistent [[timeline]]s in the current one. In deliberate violation of this, [[Justine (Alien Bodies)|Cousin Justine]] of the [[Faction Paradox]], a [[time-aware]] faction antithetical to Time Lord philosophy, possessed a [[mask]] from another timeline. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'') |
||
| + | The [[Seventh Doctor]] once joked that the first law of space-time travel was to "avoid voids". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Highest Science (novel)|The Highest Science]]'') |
||
| − | The [[Eleventh Doctor]], while unwilling to cross his own timeline, was more lenient with the laws as shown when he brought a young [[Kazran Sardick]] forward in time to meet his future self just to try to change the man's entire past by showing him what his future was like. ([[TV]] ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'') However, he later refused to cross his own timeline just to deliver a message to his past self and his companions, getting the ''[[Teselecta]]'' to do it instead. When asked by Captain Carter if he couldn't deliver them himself, he told the man that it would involve crossing his own timestream and that he "best not." ([[TV]]: ''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]'') However, due to the actions of [[the Moment]], the Doctor crossed his own timestream in a big way when he met the [[War Doctor]] and the Tenth Doctor and they shared an adventure together. They later broke the law in an even bigger way by calling forth every incarnation of themselves to help with their plan. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'') When going to [[Trenzalore]] for the first time, the Eleventh Doctor stated that it was the one place he must never go as it was where his grave was and a time traveller's grave was the one place in time and space they must never visit. He specifically said that he was about to cross his own timeline in "a big way," something the TARDIS didn't like and tried to prevent. The result of this crossing of his own timeline was that he believed his future was assured and unchangeable when he finally went to the version of Trenzalore where he would die as he'd seen the future version with his own grave. Whether this belief stemmed from the fact that he'd seen his own future or the hopelessness of his situation was unrevealed, but it was possible for him to change his own future with help from the Time Lords despite having seen it for himself. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'', ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | The [[Twelfth Doctor]] refused to help [[Clara Oswald]] save [[Danny Pink]] as it meant crossing her own timeline which was a bad idea. Instead, he helped her find Danny by using the TARDIS to track the moment when the two would meet again. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dark Water (TV story)|Dark Water]]'') Unknown to the Doctor, he had earlier accidentally crossed his own timeline when Clara piloted the TARDIS from the [[end of the universe]] and they landed in [[Barn (The Day of the Doctor)|a barn]] where the young [[First Doctor]] was crying. However, Clara kept the Doctor from knowing the truth and convinced him never to return to find out when and where they had travelled to. ([[TV]]: ''[[Listen (TV story)|Listen]]'') |
||
| + | Lesser Protocols of the Great Houses included bans on breed-mixing with the [[lesser species]], but those were lifted to create [[regen-inf]] soldiery. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') |
||
| − | ==== Avoiding voids ==== |
||
| − | Upon entering a [[slow time]] conversion unit, the [[Seventh Doctor]] stated that the first law of space-time travel was "avoid voids" ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Highest Science]]'') referring to the [[White Void|White]] and [[Black Void]]s outside of time and space, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mind Robber]]'', ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') [[the Gateway]] between [[N-Space]] and [[E-Space]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Warrior's Gate]]'') and [[the Void]] between all universes. ([[TV]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts]]''/''[[Doomsday]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | One Law of Time dictated that Time Lords were sworn to prevent any alien aggression that "is deemed to threaten the indigenous population. I think that's how it goes." ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'') Although, criticised for interfering in [[history]] so often, the Doctor defended himself by stating he could only prevent "outside interference." ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Dead Man's Hand (comic story)|Dead Man's Hand]]'') |
||
| − | === Other laws of time === |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | The [[Fifth Doctor]] stated that Time Lords served time and not the other way around. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Axis of Insanity (audio story)|The Axis of Insanity]]'') |
||
| − | In his [[Eighth Doctor|eighth incarnation]], the Doctor said that learning "anything about future [[Gallifreyan history]]" would seriously unbalance the concept of causality. When he proceeded to nevertheless break this law, he claimed, "I'm breaking one of the major Laws of Time...It could be the third." ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies]]'') |
||
| + | |||
| ⚫ | |||
== Other information == |
== Other information == |
||
| − | + | Prior to the time that the Laws were actually enforced, a Time Lord librarian visited the histories of planets. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'') |
|
| + | The Doctor stated that he was "Defender of the Laws of Time" in his [[Seventh Doctor|seventh]] and [[Eighth Doctor|eighth]] incarnations. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Vampire Science (novel)|Vampire Science]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | After the supposed destruction of the Time Lords in the [[Last Great Time War]], the [[Tenth Doctor]] said he was in control of the Laws of Time and claimed they were his and that they would obey him. He quickly regretted his interference with established history. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Waters of Mars (TV story)|The Waters of Mars]]'') |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | The Doctor |
+ | The [[Eleventh Doctor]] said that the Laws of Time were too powerful for anyone to control wholesale, and that repeatedly acting in disregard of them would make time "fold in on itself" and destroy all of existence. ([[GAME]]: ''[[City of the Daleks (video game)|City of the Daleks]]'') |
| − | + | After the destruction of time caused by the explosion of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], the [[Eleventh Doctor]] implied that the laws of time no longer applied. He met himself in order to buy more time. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang (TV story)|The Big Bang]]'') |
|
| ⚫ | By using an [[extraction chamber]], the [[Twelfth Doctor]] removed [[Clara Oswald]] from the moment before a [[Quantum Shade]] [[execution|executed]] her. In doing so, the Laws of Time were bent to keep her in a [[time loop]] that would allow her to continue experiencing life (of a kind). This meant her existence was now confined to a window of time between her penultimate and final heartbeats, while the Time Lords' technology allowed them to manipulate other elements of time so she would still be able to remain fully conscious and interact with other people. This effectively placed her on borrowed time. She now existed as an anomaly, but because her physical state was looped she did not breathe, have a heart beat or age. In the case of breathing, it was reduced to a peripheral habit. Clara did not need to draw breath anymore because she was perpetually stuck on one breath. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') |
||
| − | The [[Tenth Doctor]] said he was in control of the Laws of Time after the destruction of the Time Lords in the [[Last Great Time War]], claiming they were his and would obey him. However, he was in a highly irrational state at the time and regretted the interference with established history when he deliberately altered it. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Waters of Mars]]'') |
||
| + | == External links == |
||
| − | The [[Eleventh Doctor]] said that the Laws of Time were too powerful for anyone to totally control, and that repeatedly acting in disregard of them would make time "fold in on itself", threatening to destroy all of existence. ([[GAME]]: ''[[City of the Daleks (video game)|City of the Daleks]]'') |
||
| + | {{fpx|Protocols of the Great Houses|Protocols of the Great Houses}} |
||
| − | After the destruction of [[time]], caused by [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] exploding, it was implied by the [[Eleventh Doctor]] that the laws of time no longer applied and therefore used the situation to meet himself and buy more time. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang]]'') |
||
| − | |||
| ⚫ | By using an [[extraction chamber]], the [[Twelfth Doctor]] |
||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:Temporal theory]] |
[[Category:Temporal theory]] |
||
[[Category:Time Lords]] |
[[Category:Time Lords]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Gallifreyan laws]] |
||
| + | |||
| ⚫ | |||
Revision as of 08:10, 6 December 2019
The Laws of Time, (TV: The Three Doctors) also called the Protocols of the Great Houses, (PROSE: The Book of the War) regulated the Time Lords' use of their power to travel in time. (TV: The Three Doctors, et. al.)
These laws were hardwired into the structure of the Spiral Politic. As most were synonymous with the laws of physics, (PROSE: The Book of the War) the ones usually mentioned were the ones with a moral basis. (PROSE: Love and War, The Book of the War) Unlike most species, who view preserving life as the highest moral imperative, the Great Houses considered the preservation of history of greater importance. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
First Law of Time
- Main article: First Law of Time
The First Law of Time, (TV: The Three Doctors) also called Linearity, was the most important and widely-discussed of the Protocols. (PROSE: The Book of the War) It forbade Gallifrey's present from interacting with its own subjective past or future. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, Lungbarrow, Alien Bodies, The Book of the War)
One consequence was that Time Lords could not meet each other out of temporal sequence (PROSE: Goth Opera) or meet their former selves. (TV: The Three Doctors) That restriction could even apply to non-Time-Lords: the Fourth Doctor refused to return Eldrad to her native time because that would have been a "distortion of history" that "contravened the First Law of Time". (TV: The Hand of Fear)
Another consequence was that if a Homeworlder were to leave the Homeworld for five years, though they could theoretically return moments after they left, upon their return they would inevitably find that five years had passed there as well. In effect, whenever an agent entered an area of time outside the Homeworld, their relative histories would be temporarily linked so that their "present"s would be indistinguishable, despite being aeons apart. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
This law could be bent without breaking. For instance, the Doctor's incarnations were pulled together several times through Time Lord sanction (TV: The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors, PROSE: World Game) or by accident. (TV: Time Crash, Twice Upon a Time) The Time Lord Volnar noted that while technically impossible by the Laws of Time, meeting one's past selves thusly would have been somewhat less impossible with an advanced TARDIS, though the fact that the Doctor could possibly do it with "an antiquated Type 40" boggled his mind. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
Other laws of time
A Law of Time forbade the presence of objects from nonexistent timelines in the current one. In deliberate violation of this, Cousin Justine of the Faction Paradox, a time-aware faction antithetical to Time Lord philosophy, possessed a mask from another timeline. (PROSE: Alien Bodies)
The Seventh Doctor once joked that the first law of space-time travel was to "avoid voids". (PROSE: The Highest Science)
The Tenth Doctor told Martha Jones that "crossing into established events is strictly forbidden, except for cheap tricks". (TV: Smith and Jones)
Lesser Protocols of the Great Houses included bans on breed-mixing with the lesser species, but those were lifted to create regen-inf soldiery. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
One Law of Time dictated that Time Lords were sworn to prevent any alien aggression that "is deemed to threaten the indigenous population. I think that's how it goes." (TV: The Hand of Fear) Although, criticised for interfering in history so often, the Doctor defended himself by stating he could only prevent "outside interference." (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand)
The Fifth Doctor stated that Time Lords served time and not the other way around. (AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity)
The Sixth Doctor informed the Sontarans that allowing them time travel to rectify their past defeats would be against the Laws. (AUDIO: The First Sontarans)
Other information
Prior to the time that the Laws were actually enforced, a Time Lord librarian visited the histories of planets. (PROSE: Love and War)
The Doctor stated that he was "Defender of the Laws of Time" in his seventh and eighth incarnations. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks, PROSE: Vampire Science)
After the supposed destruction of the Time Lords in the Last Great Time War, the Tenth Doctor said he was in control of the Laws of Time and claimed they were his and that they would obey him. He quickly regretted his interference with established history. (TV: The Waters of Mars)
The Eleventh Doctor said that the Laws of Time were too powerful for anyone to control wholesale, and that repeatedly acting in disregard of them would make time "fold in on itself" and destroy all of existence. (GAME: City of the Daleks)
After the destruction of time caused by the explosion of the Doctor's TARDIS, the Eleventh Doctor implied that the laws of time no longer applied. He met himself in order to buy more time. (TV: The Big Bang)
By using an extraction chamber, the Twelfth Doctor removed Clara Oswald from the moment before a Quantum Shade executed her. In doing so, the Laws of Time were bent to keep her in a time loop that would allow her to continue experiencing life (of a kind). This meant her existence was now confined to a window of time between her penultimate and final heartbeats, while the Time Lords' technology allowed them to manipulate other elements of time so she would still be able to remain fully conscious and interact with other people. This effectively placed her on borrowed time. She now existed as an anomaly, but because her physical state was looped she did not breathe, have a heart beat or age. In the case of breathing, it was reduced to a peripheral habit. Clara did not need to draw breath anymore because she was perpetually stuck on one breath. (TV: Hell Bent)