Rassilon was the founder of Time Lord civilisation and perhaps the single greatest figure in Gallifreyan history. He was generally considered the first Time Lord, though some believed that distinction belonged to his compatriot Omega. Most of Time Lord society hailed him as a hero. However, some contended that Rassilon was a corrupt megalomaniac who tried to murder his friend Omega, and stole his invention to build Time Lord society. During the Last Great Time War, he returned to lead the Time Lords, ultimately, to defeat.
Biography
Early achievements
Before the creation of the Time Lords, Rassilon headed the Prydonian Chapter. With Omega, he planned to make the star Qqaba go supernova. The energy released would enable the Gallifreyan race to travel through time, to become Time Lords. A saboteur from the future, known as Fenris, hired by the alien Order of the Black Sun, interfered and caused the "death" of Omega. (DWM: Star Death) In actuality, Omega survived, (DW: The Three Doctors) and the temporal technology of time controller on Fenris' belt would prove useful to him. (DWM: Star Death)
Rassilon ended the Dark Time and the matriarchal society of the Pythia. In retaliation, the wrathful Pythia cursed her enemies and made Gallifreyans sterile. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible)
Rassilon brought the Eye of Harmony, actually the singularity of a black hole, to Gallifrey. There it lay beneath the Panopticon (DW: The Deadly Assassin). He invented TARDISes, (REF: The Gallifrey Chronicles) He is implied to have created the transduction barrier that protected Gallifrey (DW: The Invasion of Time) and the Looms that birthed new Time Lords and Ladies artificially (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) and the De-mat Gun.
Time Lord history stated the traditions of Time Lord society began with Rassilon, including the principles of non-intervention (which may be the same as the policy of non-interference) after he had a nightmarish vision of a dictatorial, imperialistic Gallifrey. (DWM: The Final Chapter)
The Time Lords themselves may have been created by Rassilon: the genetic link that enabled Time Lords to travel through time without ill effects was known as the Rassilon Imprimatur, and it is implied that many physiological traits of Time Lords, including the ability to regenerate, were his creations. (BFA: Zagreus)
Rassilon in the Matrix. (DWM: The Tides of Time)
Rassilon created a living weapon known as the Pariah which he used for missions throughout time and space. Rassilon gave the Pariah independent thought. This later proved to be a mistake; the Pariah developed a mind of its own and rebelled against him. Rassilon banished the Pariah from Gallifrey, then created Shayde, a more evolved version of the Pariah which was incapable of independent thought. The Pariah would cause the creation of the Threshold. (DWM: Wormwood)
Using temporal technology, Rassilon studied the future. He learned of the Divergence, a race that would eclipse his own within ten thousand millennia. Fearing this potential future, he created a self-replicating, biogenic molecule which he sent back in time to seed all habitable planets in Gallifrey's galaxy. This ensured that all intelligent life evolved in the form of the Gallifreyans, who trapped the Divergence in their own timeline, which Rassilon sealed into a time loop.
He despised the existence of the Vampires and began a purge to wipe them out of existence. (BFA: Zagreus) This took the form of the war against the Great Vampires. After the war, he wrote the Record of Rassilon, giving a history of the war and instructions to all Time Lords to kill the King Vampire if ever they came across him. (DW: State of Decay) According to the Cult of the Vampire Rassilon on Gallifrey, however, Rassilon eventually became a vampire himself; this would lead to Time Lords and vampires sharing genetic material and similar abilities. (MA: Goth Opera)
Artefacts
A great many important Gallifreyan artefacts bore his name. These included Sash of Rassilon, the Rod of Rassilon (DW: The Deadly Assassin), the Coronet of Rassilon (DW: The Five Doctors), the Harp of Rassilon (DW: The Five Doctors), the Crown of Rassilon (DW: The Invasion of Time]) and the Seal of Rassilon, a symbol used as a mark of Time Lord authority which appeared as a motif in many Time Lord designs (first seen in DW: The Deadly Assassin, named in DW: The Five Doctors)
These were stored in the Capitol and, save for the supremely powerful Great Key, which at one stage found its way into the hand of Cardinal Borusa, were made available to the Lord President of the Time Lords. (DW: The Invasion of Time). The Black Scrolls of Rassilon, also later obtained by Borusa, contained forbidden, arcane secrets (DW: The Five Doctors). The fabled Ring of Rassilon, however, capable of conferring immortality upon the wearer, resided in the Tomb of Rassilon in the Dark Tower located in the Death Zone (DW: The Five Doctors).
Supposed death and survival
Many rumours surrounded Rassilon's death (or lack thereof). One stated that the Time Lords had revolted and imprisoned him in the Dark Tower in the Death Zone. Borusa, Lord President and the Doctor's former mentor, believed that Rassilon had discovered a form of true immortality beyond the regenerations known to Time Lords. Borusa uncovered and used several artefacts from the Dark Times, including the Coronet of Rassilon (a mind control device) and the Game of Rassilon. The Doctor discovered the truth when Borusa used him to try to discover Rassilon's secret; Rassilon had indeed discovered immortality, but realised it was too dangerous a secret to share. Borusa was condemned to immortality as a living statue, imprisoned immobile in Rassilon's tomb. (DW: The Five Doctors)
Within the Matrix
Before he died, Rassilon copied his mind into his creation, the Matrix. (BFA: Neverland) Within the Matrix he sat with other advanced beings who collectively called themselves High Evolutionaries and had some involvement in the affairs of the universe. The High Evolutionaries used the Gallifreyan construct known as Shayde on their behalf. (DWM: The Tides of Time) Rassilon and the other Evolutionaries once hired the Threshold to stop a Dalek attempt to invade other realities. (DWM: Fire and Brimstone) They sent Shayde to help the Doctor destroy the Threshold base at Wormwood located on Earths Moon. (DWM: The Final Chapter)
Banishment
Still within the Matrix, Rassilon began to manipulate the Doctor into destroying the Divergence. Rassilon possessed the body of Leela to obtain the Ring of Rassilon. The Doctor refused to be Rassilon's puppet and cast him out into the Divergent Universe to end his actions. (BFA: Neverland, Zagreus)
In the Divergent universe, Rassilon planned to steal the Doctor's TARDIS and escape. The Doctor stopped Rassilon and left him behind, while the Doctor and his companions returned to the main universe. (BFA: The Next Life)
Return
Rassilon during the Last Great Time War. (DW: The End of Time)
During the Last Great Time War, Rassilon was again the Lord President of the Time Lords. Now completely amoral and determined to avoid death at any cost, he intended to spare Gallifrey from destruction on the last day of the Last Great Time War by using the Ultimate Sanction to turn the Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness at the cost of the rest of all of creation.
His plan was defeated by the Doctor, who destroyed Gallifrey by using the Moment. Before the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey, however, Rassilon contrived to break Gallifrey out of the time-lock that blocked the Last Great Time War from temporal manipulation. Rassilon succeeded, and, for a brief time, Gallifrey broke free of the time lock and appeared in the skies above Earth. But Rassilon was opposed by the Tenth Doctor, one of only two Time Lord survivors of the war. Rassilon was badly hurt by a last attack from a vengeful Master, the other survivor, who realised that Rassilon had deliberately driven him mad and destroyed his life. The time-lock resumed and Rassilon, the Time Lords, the Master and Gallifrey itself, were all flung back to the Time War to face their destruction. (DW: The End of Time)
Personality
At first Rassilon was a man who hated corruption and was good at detecting it. He was intimidating and unforgiving but was a hero to many Gallifreyans. Indeed, he may have even created the Time Lords in the first place, and therefore was a considered a deity among the Time Lords. (BFA: Zagreus) Rassilon was a charismatic leader who was capable of inspiring his people. However he was also a hypocrite, becoming corrupted by power and his fear of death despite his hatred of corruption. (DW: The End of Time)
After the death of Omega, Rassilon wept for him. The Other mused that Rassilon's actions were born out of love; albeit short-sighted love. (NA: Lungbarrow)
Rassilon became ruthless, power hungry and also appeared to be a madman. He was willing to destroy the whole of creation. He dreamed of becoming a being of consciousness rather than a physical being. Rassilon was also frightened of death and was willing to destroy the whole universe to survive. (DW: The End of Time) Rassilon had discovered how to become immortal without having to use regenerations to survive. However he believed that the secret was too dangerous to share. (DW: The Five Doctors)
Rassilon was also manipulative, using the Master as a link between Gallifrey and the rest of the Universe which allowed him to temporarily free Gallifrey from the Time Lock. (DW: The End of Time) He tried to manipulate the Doctor into destroying the Divergence. (BFA: Neverland, Zagreus) Just before his return to the Time War, he taunted the Doctor, saying that the final act of his life would be murder, after a failed attempt to fool the Doctor into an alliance with him, and into killing the Master. (DW: The End of Time)
Behind the scenes
- Rassilon was first mentioned in DW: The Deadly Assassin. Prior to this, evidence pointed to Omega (who had appeared in DW: The Three Doctors) as the founder of Time Lord society. A Doctor Who Weekly comics story, Star Death attempted to reconcile this by having Rassilon and Omega working together. A few subsequent televised Doctor Who stories, such as Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis, also took this approach. Remembrance's novelisation by Ben Aaronovitch, dipping into the "Cartmel Masterplan", explained that Omega, Rassilon and a third historical figure, the Other worked together in enabling the Gallifreyans to have time travel. The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin, which features Omega, states that the Time Lords had not three but six important central figures. These include Rassilon, Omega, the Other, Apeiron, and two others whose names remain unknown.
- Though his Doctor Who Monthly appearances show him as a rather foreboding character and The End of Time painted him as a villain, the much earlier The Five Doctors stated that Rassilon might have had a sinister agenda. Possibly, once he knew the secret of immortality, he grew power-hungry and became something of a hypocrite when it came to his "Watch, and Not Interfere" policy, corrupting the High Council of Time Lords.
- Rassilon actor Timothy Dalton was credited in The End of Time Part One as "the Narrator," as the character's true identity would not be revealed until Part Two. The Character Options action figure of Rassilon was also packaged and marketed as "the Narrator."
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