Doctor Who’s Division Explained: How Flux Builds On Timeless Child Twist

Doctor Who season 13, episode 1 opened with the Doctor hunting down secrets of the Timeless Child – proving the show is going to build on the retcon.

You Are Reading :Doctor Whos Division Explained How Flux Builds On Timeless Child Twist

This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who season 13, episode 1.

Doctor Who season 13 is building on the Timeless Child retcon, with the Doctor attempting to learn the truth behind a secretive Time Lord group known as the Division. As promised by showrunner Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who: Flux episode 1 kicked off with the Doctor and Yaz already partway through an adventure. The Doctor had tracked down an alien named Karvanista, only to discover his race the Lupari were apparently about to invade Earth in the episode kicking off Doctor Who season 13.

Although Yaz and the Doctor had been traveling together adventuring for quite some time since the Doctor Who Holiday Special when Ryan and Graham left the Doctor’s TARDIS, apparently the Doctor has been keeping secrets. She hadn’t confided her reason for wanting to confront Karvanista, even when her first attempt to do so led to them almost being killed in an insane trap and when the two time travelers arrived on Karvanista’s ship, she sent Yaz to free Dan while she spoke to Karvanista alone. It turned out the Doctor is on the trail of the Division, a secretive Time Lord group introduced in Doctor Who season 12, and she believes Karvanista to be their last surviving agent.

Doctor Who season 12’s Timeless Child twist proved pretty divisive among audiences. Since then, there’s been intense speculation about whether Chibnall would build upon it in season 13 or simply avoid referencing it at all. With the Division in play, it’s clear the show intends to do the former. Here’s all that’s known about the Division to date.

The Division’s Connection To The Timeless Child Explained

The Time Lords are traditionally shown pursuing a strict policy of non-intervention, monitoring the universe as impassive observers. That was not always the case, however. In the early days of Time Lord civilization, Rassilon led them on wars across the cosmos, and they were responsible for bringing races such as the Great Vampires and the Racnoss to the brink of extinction. But the Time Lords learned a harsh lesson when their gift of scientific advancement led to the destruction of an entire world, and they swore to retreat from the rest of the cosmos, lest their technology be abused again.

Doctor Who season 12, episode 10 features flashbacks that revealed the Time Lords secretly established the Division, a group whose existence was kept from the public and whose history was redacted from the Matrix. The Division was created because the Time Lords understood that, although officially they would hold to a policy of non-intervention, there would be occasions when Gallifrey’s interests would be threatened. The Timeless Child retcon means at least one pre-William Hartnell incarnation of the Doctor worked for the Division; indeed, it’s possible the Division continued to use the Doctor in classic Doctor Who as well, because the Division is very similar to the classic series’ Celestial Intervention Agency, a shadowy cabal who had the same philosophy and forced the Doctor to work for them time and again.

The Doctor’s time travel adventures meant she’d encountered the Division once before. In Doctor Who season 12, episode 5, the Doctor met another mysterious incarnation of herself, played by Jo Martin, who was referred to by the production crew as Doctor Who’s Forgotten Doctor. This Forgotten Doctor worked for the Division, but chose to leave them and hid on Earth for a time, using a Chameleon Arch to disguise her identity. She was pursued by the Division, who employed Judoon to hunt her down. Ironically, the Judoon would ultimately recognize the Forgotten Doctor and Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor were one and the same person, and they imprisoned the Thirteenth Doctor for “crimes against the Division” instead.

Why Russell T. Davies Needs To Abandon Doctor Who’s Timeless Child Story

Why The Doctor Is Pursuing The Division

The Doctor clearly believes Division agents may retain the knowledge of her Timeless Child origins. Unfortunately, the Master’s destruction of Gallifrey means all Time Lords involved with the Division are probably dead. Still, she’s been able to identify several past Division operatives all the same – but most of them are indeed now dead. Karvanista is the last surviving Division agent the Doctor has identified, and she hopes he can tell her enough to figure out some of the Division’s secrets. After all, if their records weren’t kept in the Matrix, they were presumably kept elsewhere, which means there may be a secret Division base hidden somewhere in time and space.

Doctor Who season 13, episode 1 suggests the Doctor is wrong to believe Karvanista the last of the Division, however. The villain of Doctor Who: Flux appears to be a creature named Swarm, who battled the Doctor across time and space but was defeated and imprisoned at the dawn of the universe itself. Agents of the Division continue to monitor Swarm, secured at “remnants of the Burnished Rage battleground,” but he has been waiting for the moment to free himself and consume their life essences. With Swarm freed, a mysterious phenomenon called the Flux begins to tear across time and space and threatens Jacob Anderson’s Vinder, who is assigned to the space station Operation Outpost Rose. Vinder’s clothing features markings similar to the Judoon, suggesting he too may be a Division agent.

Doctor Who Season 13 Is The Legacy Of The Timeless Child

Far from ignoring the Timeless Child retcon, then, Doctor Who season 13 is indeed building upon it. The Doctor is seeking out the one group who may know more about the Timeless Child and the Doctor’s pre-William Hartnell history. She’s discovered enough traces of the Division to identify a number of their operatives, even one who is still alive, but she remains unaware their operations continue even now Gallifrey has been destroyed. Swarm’s escape from his prison means the Division has ultimately failed, however, because the Flux he has released is threatening the entire universe – and potentially all of space and time as well. Division operatives like Karvanista and (possibly) Vinder will need to work with the Doctor if they are to stop Swarm, and that means answering her questions and giving her more clues about the Timeless Child. Meanwhile, it’s possible Jo Martin’s Forgotten Doctor could return – and she could well have memories of Swarm, helping the Thirteenth Doctor to defeat him.

Doctor Who: Flux is only six episodes long, so it’s doubtful it will complete the story Chris Chibnall began when he revealed the Doctor is the Timeless Child. Rather, it is instead likely this will serve to set up Doctor Who’s three 2022 specials, which will bring this ongoing narrative to a head. It remains to be seen what role the Division will play in this: will they be allies, a means to an end, or an obstacle the Doctor must overcome?

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-flux-division-explained-timeless-child-connection/