The Rhythm of Chiasm

The first episode of Sword Art Online introduced Aincrad and its rules. The second episode showed how the players defeated the first boss. In this episode, we see that the players have gotten at least as far as the forty-ninth level—forty-nine out of one hundred—and thus they have settled into what their respective roles will be in the duration of the game.

The Red-Nosed Reindeer opens with a small guild, the Black Cats, thanking Kirito for having saved them off-screen. They are thrilled with him and invite him to join their guild. Kirito has thus far fought as a solo player, and, again, they are halfway through the game at this point, so he has been doing this for a while. Nevertheless, Kirito is taken with them as well and accepts their offer.

The guild grinds on levels long since cleared out, gaining experience and coin (or Cor). This is a common thing for guilds to do, but Kirito is impressed with the attitude the Black Cats exhibit. They are all good friends and joke around with each other, and when they get in arguments over how their money should be spent, the argument is over which member needs it most. In other words, everyone in this group is an advocate for each other member before themselves. Kirito is very pleased with them, and he muses how they may change the atmosphere on the front lines when they get that far.

Crisis strikes, however, and prevents that from ever happening. The leader of the guild leaves for the day to spend their Cor on a house for the guild. The remaining members decide to grind in the local dungeon, though Kirito is not convinced this is a good idea. He also does not think that going into the trap door is a good idea, but the guild does that as well, and they do not live to regret it. They are quickly surrounded and defeated one by one. Kirito survives, but only to watch his comrades fall. Last to fall is his closest friend, Sachi. He sees her say something, but he cannot make it out before she dematerializes. The Black Cats are no more.

A rumor circulates around Aincrad that a special event will unlock for Christmas. The reward for this event is a reviving mechanism that brings back the dead. Kirito thinks he knows where it will be, and chooses to pursue this, wanting to hear Sachi’s last words no matter how condemning they might be. Arriving at the location, he finds he has been followed by Klein’s guild, which itself was followed by the Holy Dragon Alliance. The latter begin attacking the former since they want the item for themselves. Klein holds them off so that Kirito can go on ahead. Kirito finds the Christmas event and vanquishes the boss, but he discovers that the revive only works within ten seconds of the victim’s death. This item is no use to Kirito, so he gives it to Klein.

Depressed as ever, and having now lost Sachi for a second time, Kirito returns to his room. Once there, he receives a message, from Sachi of all people. She had recorded it long before and set it to arrive on Christmas, and in it she explains that she figured she would have died at this point in this fatal game, but she wanted Kirito to know how much she appreciated him and the comfort he was to her. She closes her message with the same words Kirito could not make out before: “Thank you. Goodbye.”

A full summary of the plot can be read here.

Chiastic Structure in The Red-Nosed Reindeer

a Sachi thanks Kirito for saving her   b Killer Mantis attack     c Group has substantial Cor and debates who amongst them should benefit       d Kirito goes out by himself at night and runs into Klein         e Sachi contemplates suicide; Kirito reassures her           f “I’ll protect all of you”             g Guild decides to go to a dungeon against Kirito’s wishes             g’ Guild enters a hidden door against Kirito’s wishes           f’ Kirito watches his partners die one by one         e’ Keita blames Kirito; Keita commits suicide       d’ Kirito goes out by himself at night and runs into Klein     c’ The Holy Dragon Alliance attacks fellow humans to get a rare item   b’ Nicholas the Renegade event a’ Sachi thanks Kirito

There are two things in particular that this episode accomplishes. The first is settling down Kirito’s character since everyone else’s character is being established as well. In short, this episode shows why Kirito remains as a solo player; that is, why the events at the end of the previous episode became permanent. Kirito did not necessarily need to be known as a filthy beater forever, but this episode shows how haunted he is by that term while also introducing new spirits to haunt him for the remainder of the series. Losing these people—especially Sachi—was so traumatic for Kirito that he will henceforth do everything he can to remain on his own. The Black Cats’ leader explicitly blaming him for everything (e’) because he is a beater will confirm in Kirito’s mind that it was entirely his fault as well. The story structure highlights how important this will be in Kirito’s psyche by placing it at the center of the chiasm.

The episode also develops Kirito’s character in showing us how he interacts with people. The parallel between b/b’ is especially noteworthy. In b, Kirito and the Black Cats attack a Killer Mantis, and this is immediately followed with a discussion between the guild leader and Kirito. The leader asks him what the difference is between their guild and the frontline groups. Kirito responds that they do not share up there. They take all the good experience farming for themselves. The frontline guild, the Holy Dragon Alliance, will prove this later on when they attack their fellow players to get an item for themselves (c’), which stands in contrast to the Black Cats fighting over how they can help each other (c). At the end of the episode, in b’, Kirito enters another battle in the Nicholas the Renegade event. Immediately following it, he gives the item to Klein. Kirito immediately personifies the change he knows needs to happen. Of course, this has been his modus operandi from the start, having taught Klein how to fight in the first episode and having defended his fellow warriors after Diavel made a selfish move in the second.

Klein’s response to Kirito ties both of these themes together. Kirito had hopes for the Black Cats in b that they would get to the front lines and change the selfish atmosphere there. Klein responds to Kirito’s suicidal attack on Nicholas the Renegade by pleading through tears that Kirito stay alive. The former shows Kirito’s faith in the people. The latter shows the people’s faith in Kirito. This is the dynamic on which the Aincrad arc will turn. The players need Kirito to reshape their ideas about the world and how to act in it, but Kirito needs to reach out to them in order for that to happen, and being a solo player is counterintuitive to that. Once this balance is struck, the game will fall into place.

Step Parallelism in The Red-Nosed Reindeer

a Kirito saves everyone’s lives   b Kirito asked what level he’s at     c Kirito runs into Klein at night       d Sachi acts suicidal         e Sachi sleeps in Kirito’s bed; Kirito reassures her           f Sachi says something before Kirito can reach her a’ Kirito watches everyone die   b’ Kirito told he had no right to join at his level     c’ Kirito runs into Klein at night       d’ Kirito acts suicidal         e’ Kirito returns to his bedroom; Sachi’s message reassures him           f’ “Thank you. Goodbye.”

A month has passed since Kayaba Akihiko introduced his game. In that time, a fifth of the 10,000 original participants have died, and those that remain have not yet cleared the first floor. A gamer named Diavel calls a group together to team up against the first floor dungeon and boss. Kirito meets a girl named Asuna at this meeting and teams up with her. The peaceable meeting is broken when another player, Kibaou, takes the center stage to conduct his witch hunt against SAO’s beta testers whom he blames for the death of the 2,000. Agil calms him down and restores the peace.

When the group makes their attack on the boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, things go very smoothly. However, as the boss nears death, Diavel swoops in for the kill, trying to pick up a bonus item. Illfang gathers himself and makes a counter attack, which is so powerful that it immediately drains Diavel’s health. Kirito and Asuna take the lead in a new attack, and with the help of the remaining fighters, they slay Illfang.

As the group celebrates, Kibaou again shatters the peace by denouncing Kirito as a beta tester and blaming him for Diavel’s death. Kibaou wants Kirito to pay for his unfair advantage as well as all other beta testers. Kirito perceives that this division between beta testers and other players is going to grow to a point that will cause civil war, so he draws all attention to himself, saying that he is more sinister than any beta tester and that the average player is stronger than them as well. Having attracted all hatred to himself, he walks off into level two leaving a united army behind him.

A full summary of the plot can be read here.

Battle with Illfang the Kobold Lord

The lion’s share of this episode is taken up by the boss battle, so I deem it worthwhile to look at how this section flows before looking at the episode as a whole.

a Kirito tells Asuna about switching   b Diavel’s battle speech     c Illfang leaps into battle       d Diavel commands the battle         e Kirito and Asuna take out sentinels           f Asuna attacks and impresses Kirito             g Illfang nears death           f’ Diavel attacks alone and worries Kirito         e’ Asuna continues to work on sentinels       d’ Diavel takes a mortal blow     c’ Illfang leaps back into battle   b’ Diavel: “Defeat the boss”   b’’ Kirito’s soliloquy     c’’ Illfang screams       d’’ Kirito gives Asuna directions         e’’ “just like the sentinels”           f’’ Asuna loses cloak and impresses Kirito again             g’ Kirito and Asuna take a mighty blow           f’’’ Agil saves them         e’’’ Agil and others attack Illfang, poorly       d’’’ Illfang prepares to destroy them; Kirito gets back into action     c’’’ Illfang screams   b’’’ Kirito gives one final order a’ Kirito and Asuna attack, defeat Illfang

This structure draws attention to the three events: first, Diavel’s ill-fated attack, second, Kirito’s internal monologue, and third, Kirito and Asuna’s attack. Kirito’s soliloquy will be discussed below, so this section will focus on the remaining two items, which focuses on the motif of leadership.

Diavel is an interesting character; that is, he is a complicated character. He generally seems to be a pretty good guy: he is a natural leader with innate charisma, he seems to have genuine care for the wellbeing and morale of his fellow gamers, and he has a solid sense of humor to boot. He takes charge in calling a meeting, yet immediately jokes about his meaningless, self-given title of “knight.” He is arrogant, yet at the same time does not take himself too seriously. I am not entirely sure how that gets pulled off, but Diavel does it.

In the battle, however, we see a dark streak in his character. Despite his leadership in calling together the meeting, in laying out the battle plan, and in leading the troops into battle itself, Diavel does no actual fighting when the battle begins. He stays behind the lines, safe from Illfang and safe from his sentinels, and issues orders for everyone else to engage with the enemy. He infamously does enter the fray once Illfang appears to be finished, acting on his own where the battle plan called for everyone to finish him as one. Diavel’s plan was for his first attack to the battle’s last. As capable a leader as he otherwise was in this episode, as concerned for his men as he otherwise was, the battle shows that he had selfish motivations as well.

Kirito and Asuna end up being everything that Diavel was not in the battle. They constantly throw themselves into the center of the action, but not for the reward of an item, but for the sake of their fellow warriors. When they finally do wear themselves out in the fight (g’), one of the most pregnant statements of the early episodes occur: Agil tells them “We’ll hold him off till you recover.” He does not say that they should simply rest until they can rejoin the fight. He says that the army will do their best to stall for time until these two in particular can finish the job. Agil, presumably speaking for the entire group, already sees that Kirito and Asuna are not merely two more warriors in the collective army: he intuits that the fate of this battle specifically and of SAO in general are somehow bound up with these two. Kirito and Asuna do rejoin the fight, and they do finish off Illfang, and Kirito gets the reward item. He does not, however, get it from an easy kill such as Diavel sought, but by issuing an all-out attack that almost cost his life, for the good of the army.

Kirito is Diavel’s opposite in two ways, then. First is that he leads from the front rather than from the safety of the backlines. Second is that his concern for his fellow gamers is on a deeper level than Diavel’s. Diavel does have a genuine concern for them, and he wants good things for them, but Kirito’s concern for them comes at a cost to himself. Diavel’s quick kill is offset by Kirito’s near death. Diavel’s self-seeking item grabbing is offset by Kirito’s item giving to Asuna (a theme that will be much developed in the following episode). Again, Diavel is otherwise depicted as being a decent human being, and as such the episode does not seem to want to demonize him. The point seems to be, rather than saying “Diavel: bad. Kirito: good,” “Diavel: good. Kirito: better.”

That said, this all leads into an irony in the episode’s conclusion. With the battle ended, Kibaou fumes that Diavel’s death is Kirito’s fault, for since Kirito withheld beta-tester information, Diavel needlessly died. The irony is this: Kibaou is blaming the wrong person, but he is otherwise entirely correct. Diavel did die because of withheld information: his own. Diavel played most of his cards out in the open, but he kept a few very close to his chest, and he died because of it. Had Diavel open about the last-attack bonus item, his death likely would not have occurred here. Diavel died because of withheld information, but more specifically, he died because of selfishness. In Sword Art Online, hoarders are not treated well. Kirito’s is the better way.

In the end, the Cloak of Midnight is effectively cursed. The battle’s only casualties are attached to this item. Diavel died trying to procure it, and Kirito unwantingly put it on in self sacrifice. The Cloak of Midnight became the cloak of martyrdom. In many ways, the two characters are not all that different from one another, but in the ways they are, it makes all the difference.

Asuna and Kirito’s self-introductions

a Pre-battle meeting/Kirito groups with Asuna   b Kibaou’s demagoguery     c Plan to defeat Illfang       d Dinner: Asuna’s monologue         e Battle goes well: guidebook was right         e’ Diavel strikes, dies/beta tester       d’ Kirito’s soliloquy     c’ Illfang is defeated   b’ Kibaou’s demagoguery a’ Post-battle meeting/Kirito ungroups Asuna

The battle in e/e’ is addressed above. Units a-c/c’-a’ are self-explanatory. Kirito’s pre-battle dinner with Asuna (d) does not at first appear to have a counterpart in this episode, but I think it has one in Kirito’s soliloquy after Diavel dies. Both scenes show one of the two characters giving a self-definition. They say what they see themselves to be and how they wish to act based on that. They give their worldviews of philosophies, as it were.

Asuna:

I didn't come to this town to eat good food. [I came here so] I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very end than sit and rot away at an inn, back in the first town. Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game, to this world. No matter what.

Kirito:

When this game started, the only thing I thought about was surviving. However, Diavel, you were a beta tester. But you never abandoned the other players. You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly! You tried to do what I could not.

Most interesting about these self-definitions is that they do indeed describe who these characters are now. They are also describing the faults that exist within them now, and if they are going to succeed, and if SAO is going to be cleared, they will need to overcome their faults. Kirito’s growth begins in this very episode. Asuna’s will be a long-time coming, but the emphasis she receives here foreshadows her much more important role later.

Kirito’s main failing is his leadership, which is ironic for how much I praised his style of leadership in the section above. To Kirito’s credit, he does not “abandon the other players,” and he “leads everyone,” “fighting brilliantly.” He will walk away on his own with his one thought again being about surviving. This highlights again that Diavel was not a bad guy, for Kirito is going to need to learn the diplomacy and charisma that came naturally to Diavel. Kirito leaves now as a martyr, but in a way, this was natural for him since he is already rather introverted. For SAO to be cleared, Kirito will need to take a more prominent and public leadership role; that is, Kirito will need to stop being a solo player. This will prove very difficult for him, and to the extent that he does grow here, he does so at Asuna’s aid.

Asuna’s main failing is pessimism. To her credit, she shows great determination in her monologue, and that strength will get her through every single trial she will face in the remaining twenty-three episodes, and there will be many. What she needs to overcome is not seeing the good things in her bad situation. SAO is a prison, and no one denies that, but Kirito will show her that there are many good things here as well, and her time here is not being wasted. In fact, what makes her time here worthwhile is precisely because she will change, although it will be Kirito changing her more than the game changing her.

The tangible motif here that will carry Asuna’s abstract theme is the food Kirito shared with her. She shuts down most attempts at conversation and opens her monologue with “I didn’t come to this town to eat good food.” Later episodes will show this very thing being a staple of her relationship with Kirito, and good food will be a prominent image signifying the good things about SAO.

Addendum: Other Structurings

Once again, in addition to the chiasm(s) above, this episode can be viewed as step parallelism. Once again, these structures do not hold as nicely as the chiasm above, but there does seem to be an internal logic to them and they highlight themes in a way that the chiasm does not.

a No one has moved on   b Diavel: self-proclaimed knight     c Kirito groups with Asuna       d Kibaou’s demagoguery         e Agil makes peace   b’ Diavel’s attack plan     c’ Kirito has dinner with Asuna [Battle]       d’ Kibaou’s demagoguery         e’ Agil begins to make peace   b’’ Kirito: self-proclaimed beater     c’’ Kirito ungroups with Asuna a’ Kirito moves on

This structure highlights the leadership parallel between Diavel and Kirito with Kirito stepping in to the precise role that Diavel held before, with his own particular spin on the role of course.

a Diavel’s speech: Tell everyone that it’s possible to beat the game   b Kirito parties with Asuna     c Kibaou’s demagoguery       d Agil steps in         e Diavel’s plan to defeat Illfang           f At dinner, Kirito tells Asuna not to die a’ Diavel’s speech: let’s win   b’ Kirito and Asuna attack sentinels     c’ Illfang nears death/Kibaou comments on how the guide was right       d’ Kirito realizes something is wrong         e’ Diavel receives a mortal blow a’’ Diavel’s speech: defeat the boss   b’’ Asuna stands at Kirito’s side     c’’ Illfang attacks       d’’ Agil steps in         e’’ Kirito defeats Illfang     c’’’ Kibaou’s demagoguery       d’’’ Agil begins to step in         e’’’ Kirito’s speech           f’ Kirito tells Asuna to join a group

The episode can also be seen as a cycle of panels with each panel being anchored in Diavel’s leadership. More specifically, the panels begin with Diavel giving a speech by which he shows his idealism: he wants a moral victory even more than he wants to beat the boss, although the two are the same. The fourth panel, c’’’-f’’’ lacks Diavel’s speech since Diavel has died by this time. It is not lacking a speech to take its place, however: Kirito offers one of his own. Kirito takes up Diavel’s mantle. He cannot lead the way Diavel did—he knows this and does not even attempt it—but he does take Diavel’s place. He unites the gamers and gives them their moral victory, but whereas Diavel wanted this to come at the cost of the NPC Illfang, Kirito does it at cost to himself. No matter how you look at this episode, that motif comes off strong: Kirito replaces Diavel.

Sword Art Online tells the story of Kirito and the friends he makes as they are trapped in a virtual reality game and fight for their freedom and survival. The first episode appropriately introduces Kirito and sets up his entrapment in Aincrad, the world he will call home for the next few years.

Figure 1: Chiasm in World of Swords

a Prologue: Overview of SAO and the NerveGear   b Sister leaves—Kirito is alone     c “Welcome to Sword Art Online!”       d Kirito’s avatar         e Visual of Aincrad           f Town of Beginnings             g Kirito teaches Klein how to fight               h Klein and Kirito discuss the beautiful world                 i “In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go.”                 i’ “It’s a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one.”               h’ Klein offers friendship to Kirito             g’ Kirito attempts to tell Klein how to logout           f’ Town of Beginnings         e’ Game Master explains Aincrad       d’ Mirror unavatarizes the players     c’ “This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch.”   b’ Kirito thinks of his sister as he attacks a malevolent wolf/Kirito is alone a’ Epilogue: 2,000 dead

World of Swords forms a chiasm, and it places at its center Kirito’s discussion with Klein about Aincrad and how Kirito feels about the world. His twin statements in i/i' are quite pregnant with meaning even without the place of emphasis for being at the chiasm’s center. The first statement (i) foreshadows Kirito’s coming prowess with his blade, and Kirito will learn just how true his words were. The second statement (i') introduces the theme that will be at the center of the entire story: the juxtaposition of Aincrad with reality and the desirability of either world. The show will address this question fairly; that is, it does not consider that either option is clearly better, and the show will close in Episode 25 having found a perfect balance between the two. That is a long time off from Episode 1, however.

Units g/h/h’/g’ develop the ideas in i/i'. Where i/i' had discussed what a sword can do and the benefits that Aincrad offers, g displays what swords can do, and does so while also showing friendship beginning to grow between Kirito and Klein, upon which h/h’/g’ then build. The friends that Kirito makes in Aincrad will be part of what keeps the world beautiful to him even with the torment of being trapped and surrounded by death.

It is worth pointing out that the parallel between g and g’ is strengthened by having a frenzy boar hit Klein in the crotch in the former and Kirito hitting him there again in the latter. Such slapstick will not be going away any time soon. Perhaps it shows the growing friendship between the two boys, or perhaps it shows the opposite with Kirito distancing himself from a potential friend, or perhaps Japan just loves slapstick. Whatever the reason, it happened.

The avatar of d and the revealing of true faces in d’ introduces another important theme: who we are versus the masks we wear. This is demonstrated in an amusing fashion with a side character realizing that the pretty girl he was talking to is no girl at all, but it is true for all the people: they are shocked to find themselves revealed. The way they respond makes it seem like this was the final violation. For the catalyst that unmasked them to be a mirror suggests that the masks we wear serve not only fool others, but ourselves as well, and to see ourselves as we truly are brings a shock. As Gordon Deitrich once said, “You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it.”

Units b/b’ introduce Kirito’s sister to the narrative. Other than some mentions in Episode 4, she will be both absent and unimportant in the first arc of Sword Art Online. She will take on a major role in the second arc, however, so her introduction here prepares for that.

The prologue and epilogue (a/a’) serve to reinforce everything that has taken place in the episode. a showed the great potential the game had, but a’ shows how very wrong everything has turned out to be. However, once again, the show will take great strides to prove that a’ does not negate a: Aincrad still is a great world despite its problems. The first half the chiasm showed how amazing the game is, the second half of the chiasm showed how corrupt the game is, but the center of the chiasm remains true: the world is beautiful, it has some advantages over the real world, these people control their own fates, and there is value and power in friendship.

Figure 2: Step Parallelism in World of Swords

a Newscaster explains the NerveGear and SAO   b Kirito gets a paper cut while reading about the game     c Kirito enters world/random people chitchat       d Kirito and Klein talk in an alley         e Klein kills a harmless frenzy boar           f Kirito says he feels more alive here than in the real world             g Klein invites Kirito into his group; Kirito is hesitant               h Klein is way too interested in Kirito’s sister a’ Kayaba Akihiko explains the NerveGear “features” and Aincrad   b’ Kirito’s paper cut reappears while thinking about reading     c’ World opens/random people freak out       d’ Kirito and Klein talk in an alley             g’ Klein cannot forsake his friends               h’ Klein says Kirito was cute         e’ Kirito kills a malevolent wolf           f’ Kirito insists to himself that he will survive

World of Swords displays another literary device that will be common, though not ubiquitous, in the Sword Art Online anime; that is, in addition to chiastic structure, many of the elements in an episode display step parallelism as well. Usually the chiasm is a better representation of the entire plot, but viewing an episode from both angles has benefits for understanding the themes of the story. The chiastic structure of Figure 1 places its emphasis on the more positive themes of Kirito’s skills and values. The step parallelism of Figure 2 places its emphasis on the torment that Sword Art Online will bring to Kirito and also to those with whom he builds relationships. The emphases are not opposed to each other, for it is in the blending together of each of these elements that this story will develop towards its final climax.

The paper cut motif (b/b’) builds on the theme that the mirror motif (1.d’) introduced. Not only will these characters struggle through masks versus sincerity, but the troubles that they had in the real world will follow them into this one. SAO is virtual reality, but it is by no means an escape.

As the show continues, we will find that the random people showcased in c/c’ are not so random after all.  Most every character that Kirito will befriend—Asuna, Silica, and Liz—has a cameo although they do not have speaking parts. Relationships are so important to this show that they could not be left out of the introduction. The horror they are so clearly in here will juxtapose very strongly with the calm and tranquility they will later feel after being in Kirito’s presence for even a short while. Herein also is a major theme.

The parallel between the two alley conversations (d/d’ and following) is the main contribution that Figure 2 gives for which Figure 1 does not account. The first alley is where Kirito meets Klein, and the second is where they part. The conversations serve to contrast the two characters. Klein is extroverted and kind: he chases down Kirito and offers friendship to him and friendship with all the friends he already has. Kirito is introverted and kind: he trains Klein without hesitation, but is very hesitant at the offer of friendship with Klein and is completely dismissing of Klein’s friends. The way that these three elements blend together—introversion, extroversion, and helping people—will make up a major theme of the show. Kirito will run solo for most of the arc, and the ill effects of that decision will be apparent beginning with the very next episode. Kirito’s introversion will ultimately not be vilified, for he is always generous and helpful to others despite his solo run. Nevertheless, he must learn to work with others and to trust others before Aincrad can be cleared.

Klein’s interests in h/h’ are odd. The switch from wanting to meet Kirito’s sister to telling Kirito that he was cute and “That’s my type” would seem to suggest that Klein’s sexual orientation is homosexual, but this will never again be referenced in the anime. I am at a disadvantage for having not read the other SAO media, and I have to assume that this gets developed more there. I bring it up because this will be somewhat common in the anime. Themes are introduced and sometimes seem very important, but they never get mentioned again.

A final parallel between Kirito and Klein occurs in e/e’ with Klein struggling against a basic frenzy bear and Kirito annihilating a malevolent wolf. This episode introduces Klein as an average player, so for Kirito to be so far advanced over him implies how far advanced he is over most everyone else. This advantage helps the audience to see that when he insists to himself and to us that he is going to survive, he means it.

The Central Theme: Beauty Despite Adversity

Certain genres lend themselves to developing particular themes. Sci-fi, for instance, likes to parallel different kinds of peoples—be it humans versus aliens or modern humans versus past or future humans—in order to praise certain attributes and to denounce others. Stories that are set in virtual worlds like SAO or The Matrix lend themselves to being thinly-veiled parables about the real world in which we all live. Rather than paralleling peoples with peoples, the story’s world is paralleled with the real world…to praise certain attributes and to denounce others. That remains static no matter what kind of story is told. All stories contain worldviews. There is always a moral or idea being taught.

The aptly-named episode, World of Swords, introduces us to Aincrad. It showed us how lovely the world is, but the other shoe quickly drops as it shows us how terrible it will be, and we were only given a taste. As stated above, the show will not condemn Aincrad. Instead, the characters continue to value it. In fact, it would be more correct to say that the characters usually do not value it, but Kirito does, and his ideals rub off on his friends. As terrible as the world is, there is still value and even beauty in it.

And that is where the veil between parable and reality grows most thin: The message is that as terrible as our own world is, there is still value and beauty here as well. What the Sword Art Online story will do that makes it impressive is that it actually tackles hard issues head-on. The easy route would be to set up a story that simply tries to communicate, “Ah, life isn’t so bad,” but Sword Art Online takes seriously that oppression happens, abuse happens, and needless, senseless death is commonplace. This story is not blind to the real problems that plague our world. Sword Art Online nevertheless claims that beauty persists despite blemishes and outright scars such as these. It will even suggest some of the aspects that cause such beauty as well as how the plague can be fought off, if only in an individualistic small way. It will take twenty-five episodes to tell that, but the hint is already given to us in 1.h/1.h’ where the beauty of Aincrad was paralleled with friendship.

While various knick knack souvenirs have a good time, a snowman is secluded, stuck in a snow globe. He takes measures to join the others, but winds up where he least expects. As far as I am aware, this linked video is unaltered: the audio and even the song is the original soundtrack. This is the remastered version, so there are a few images that have been altered, but that is Pixar’s doing.

Knick Knack

a Knick knacks dance; Nome snowman sits alone   b Girl waves at snowman and beckons him over     c Snowman throws igloo at wall       d Snowman hammer wall; girl watches         e Snowman uses jackhammer; girl grows bored       d’ Snowman pulls out blowtorch; all knick knacks watch     c’ Snowman uses TNT on wall     c’’ Snowman knocks snow globe off the table       d’’ Knick knacks watch him fall         e’ Snow man uses the emergency exit       d’’’ Knick knacks watch him land     c’’’ Snowman is trapped in fishbowl   b’ Girl waves at snowman a’ Snow globe falls on snowman, keeping him alone

The story consists of a double chiasm. The first chiasm details the snowman’s many attempts at escaping while the second chiasm shows his one successful attempt. The c-level units (pun?) are concerned with the escape attempts in general and their ineffectiveness in particular. The d-level units show the other knick knack’s responses, which grow progressively worse: the girl watches expectantly (d), all the knick knacks watch in confusion (d’), the knick knacks are concerned at his ill-conceived diving plan (d’’), and the knick knacks look away in horror as he hits the surface (d’’’). As the center of their chiasms, e and e’ show where the stakes are highest. e may not seem like the stakes are very high, but the girl is beginning to lose interest, and any guy knows that the stakes are never higher than at that point. e', meanwhile, is where the snowman escapes his perceived doom of the falling snow globe, but also introduces his final doom: the escape hatch falling on top of him in a’.

A tin toy named Tinny is fresh out of his box and ready to be played with, but he did not expect is that his person is still an infant, a gross, destructive infant.

Once again, please note that the audio has been altered for copyright purposes. In this case, the original audio is left intact, but an original composition has been recorded over it by Joris Hoogsteder. It has a nice affect, becoming something of a symphonic poem.

Tin Toy

a Bag, box, and toys on ground   b Tinny looks around     c Billy comes in       d Billy chews on, slobbers on, shakes, and breaks toys         e Tinny runs away and ends up in old box as Billy chases Tinny             f Tinny goes under couch where many toys are hiding a’ Billy falls on the ground and cries   b’ Tinny realizes what it must do     c’ Tinny returns to Billy       d’ Billy knocks Tinny around         e’ Billy is more impressed with bag and box than Tinny, and Tinny chases Billy             f’ Toys come out from under couch

The second panel reverses the first. Instead of unwanted toys discarded on the ground (a), the toys are leaving the unwanted baby on the ground (a’). Tinny’s high hopes and expectations in b, now dashed of course, are replaced with a feeling of fortitude and responsibility in b’. Billy’s frightening entrance in c is countered with Tinny’s heroic return in c’. d’ does not reverse d, but it does complete its motif. The shift from e to e’ is the humor of the story. Any parent knows that their child loves the wrapping and the box more than the toy itself for some reason, but this story shows what the toy thinks about that. The conclusions in f/f’ raise the question of what the other toys’ motivation is: are they coming out from the couch because it is safe to do so now or because they are impressed with Tinny’s decision and want to follow it?

This short film would seem to have some ramifications on the Toy Story series. The Pixar Theory notes how the toys get angrier over the course of the three movies. The toys are just upset at being mistreated by Sid in the first film. Jesse is furious that her human gave her up years after the fact in the second film. In the third film, Lotso the bear hates all humans because of his rejection. Tinny seems to speak to two themes. First, whereas the toys stood up to Sid for his oppression, Tinny accepts the bad that will accompany the good of being played with and of cheering up his human. The second thing is that whereas the Toy Story sequels show humans rejecting their toys and the ramifications that has on the toys, this film shows toys avoiding humans. Tin Toy seems to hit the opposite side of the themes that Toy Story does. If one accepts the Pixar Theory, this is an important fact, for it shows how toy-human relations evolved over the four films, not just the three.

A lonely unicycle dreams about success in a circus where it not only is put to use by a clown but takes the center stage itself. There are dreams that cannot be, and the unicycle returns to its lonely corner.

Red's Dream

For copyright purposes, this version of the film has had its audio redubbed. In at least one case, the redubbing is not only an unnecessary addition, but is actually quite wrong. The map below refers to the official version available on DVDs and other releases.

a Rainy night (title)   b Store front     c Rows of bikes       d Red in the corner         e Red enters dream           f Clown rides out and gets no applause             g Clown juggles; he drops a ball, but it returns to him               h Clown loses another, Red catches it                 i Clown juggles in a circle; he loses another one; Red gets it                   j Red juggles on his own while clown juggles the other two                 i’ Clown circles and realizes what’s going on; he falls down               h’ Red juggles all three balls             g’ Red’s finale           f’ Red receives cheers         e’ Red exits dream       d’ Red returns to corner     c’ Red looks around and sulks   b’ Store front a’ Rain falls while credits roll

There are several versions of Red’s Dream available on YouTube. They do the same thing that the video above does in swapping out the audio. Curiously, they also all make the same change to the original video: when the clown makes his appearance in f, they all give him applause. The original film is almost completely silent at this point as the clown looks around for approval. The faint sound of one person clapping can be heard, but nothing more.  The video I linked to gives him the smallest amount of applause, which is why I picked it. The others give the clown a full ovation. This misses the point of the film.

The chiasm centers on Red taking control of the show. After that point, Red begins doing everything the clown did but better, and the clown begins doing everything he already failed to do worse. Red succeeds at the clown’s expense. This is brought to a climax in Red’s grand finale and uproarious ovation, which stands in stark contrast to the crowd being very unimpressed with the clown earlier. Since the clown failed in f, it shows that this crowd does not give away applause for free, and it shows how amazing they think Red is. The clown must decrease so that Red may increase. The point is not simply that Red has skills, but that no one else can come close to duplicating his epicness.

Which itself is the bite to the conclusion in e’-a’. For Red to be that great in his daydreams and then to be that unimportant and unnecessary in real life is why the story stings the way it does. Mess with f, and you mess with the conclusion. Mess with the conclusion, and you take the sting out of this poignant image of a soul tormented by angst:

I have two other observations about Pixar’s short films and perhaps all short films. First, there may be a correlation between length and chiasm. Pixar’s first two films were half the size of Red’s Dream and used step parallelism rather than chiastic structuring. Once the films got longer, as will be shown, chiasms became the rule.

The Film and its Structure

Luxo, Jr.

a Ball rolls over to Luxo, Sr.   b Luxo, Sr., inspects ball     c Luxo, Sr., pushes ball away; it comes back       d Luxo, Sr., is surprised to watch Luxo, Jr., enter and chase after the ball         e Lamps pass it back and forth a’ Luxo, Jr., jumps on ball; ball deflates   b’ Lamps inspect ball, look at each other     c’ Luxo, Jr., is sad, hops away       d’ Luxo, Sr., is surprised to see Luxo, Jr., reenter chasing after a beach ball         e’ Luxo, Sr., looks at the audience

The parallelism between the two panels, especially in units d/d’, help characterize Luxo, Jr., as having the indomitable playful spirit that defines him.

Luxo, Jr.’s Legacy with Pixar

Once The Graphics Group split off from Lucasfilm and became Pixar, they took their time working their way into the film industry. Rather than making the films we know them for today, they developed computer hardware and sold their own computer system called the Pixar Image Computer. Sales were not very high, so John Lasseter—the past and present chief creative officer at Pixar—commissioned the short film Luxo, Jr. to show the world exactly what computer animation could do.

The film was an instant success. It debuted at the 1986 SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics conference, and the audience gave it a standing ovation before the film had ended. The advancements that this film shows off is the use of shadow to show movement and more believable movement for the characters overall. The Adventures of André and Wally B. showed that characters could move. Luxo, Jr. showed them moving well.

Even though the film was a success and furthered Pixar’s revolutionizing of the film industry, sales for the Pixar Image Computer continued to be less than impressive. Steve Jobs came to the rescue again, investing tens of millions more dollars into the company. Eventually the hardware production would be shut down entirely, and Pixar focused on making movies, both their own shorts and commercials for other companies.

Some of the posts on this blog are one-offs, such as the Ender’s Game posts from last week. I think I have said all I really have to say on that book and its universe, so those posts will stand alone. Other posts are part of a series, and sometimes my series will themselves have series. I intend to do this with Doctor Who. I intend to eventually blog through all of the episodes, but I do not intend to do 103 posts (and counting) in a row on the topic. I intend to tackle a season and then come back to it again later.

Similar to Doctor Who, I would like to blog through everything that Pixar has done, both its feature-length films and its short films as well. Where possible, I will link to a source for the short films for my audience’s convenience. It seems as good a method as any to do this chronologically, so this week will look at Pixar’s earliest shorts, beginning with The Adventures of André and Wally B.

a André wakes up   b Wally B. comes to André     c Wally B. messes with André       d André fools Wally B. and runs away a’ André runs   b’ Wally B. pursues André     c’ Wally B. stings André       d’ André hits Wally B. with his hat

This short film is so early in Pixar’s history that they were not even Pixar yet. They were a subdivision of Lucasfilm, and the department was about to be eliminated altogether. This film helped show off what computer animated graphics were capable of and was a part in convincing Steve Jobs to purchase and invest in the group. Thus, while this short is pre-Pixar, Pixar has always claimed it as its own. To whatever extent Pixar did not create this short, this short instead created Pixar.

One might wonder what all the fuss was about (and keep in mind that the above video is of worse quality than the original one for copyright purposes). This less-than-two-minute film could surely be made by anyone today with a decent-enough program on their home computer. True enough, but not true at all in 1984, thirty years ago. This film was truly groundbreaking at the time. In particular, the advancements seen here include the first use of motion blur and of squash-and-stretch motion in a computer animation. Previous computer animated films could use only inflexible shapes. The three-dimensional background was also cutting-edge for its time. It is still not at all impressive by today’s standards, but that is only because Pixar built those standards, and it all began here.

Before we begin, I want to make it clear that I do not think that Ender’s Game was a bad movie. It certainly was not a fantastic movie, but it was not terrible. It was okay. The book, however, is fantastic, which raises the question as to what happened to the movie to make it not-so. There are always multiple answers to such questions. The pacing of the movie was too fast for the audience to settle into its world for one, and Harrison Ford’s lifeless body has not done any real acting in years (which is a very sad crime) for another. There is one sin in particular, however, on which can hang most of the blame; namely, Ender’s nighttime conversation with Bean or the lack thereof.

In the previous article, I presented the structure of the book, which forms a chiasm. In the book, Ender’s conversation with Bean is the center of the chiasm; that is, it is literally the center of the entire story and all other plot elements revolve around this single scene. The scene deserves it too. Short of the climax of the book, this is the moment when the stakes are highest for Ender. He is butting heads with his fellow students, and the teachers seem not only unhelpful, but actually fanning the flames of rivalry amongst them. This tension is about to boil over into the final showdown between Ender and Bonzo where the loser will leave in a body bag. In the midst of such chaos lies the calm of the eye of the storm: Ender confides in Bean.

The very fact that that happens is a miracle of characterization. Ender never confides in anyone. He hardly confides even Valentine. He will not even confide in himself. In this conversation with Bean, we see Ender at his weakest as he admits his shortcomings that he never admitted to himself. He tells Bean that he is running out of ideas. He tells him that he is outright exhausted and in every possible way. We, the audience, spend the entire book behind Ender’s eyes, but he never says things like that to himself/us. He will only point out the injustice of the hours the teachers make him keep. This is the point on which the entire plot turns: Ender is tired.

That might not seem that important, but that nuance—that Ender is not just the chosen one, but that he is an exhausted messiah at that—completely changes what the final battle means. In the book, Ender is only more exhausted at that point. He was running on fumes with Bean, and now the engine has completely fallen out of the vehicle: Ender has nothing left to give, except apathy. Apathy is strong with this one. That is how he goes into the final battle. He intends to win—Ender has too much of Peter in him to accept loss—but he also intends to make himself unemployable. He wants to win, but in the worst possible way so that he will horrify the teachers and—like Peter—Ender will be removed from the program. Ender thinks that winning the battle will win his own war, and when he has done that, he turns around to Mazer Rackham and all the teachers with a proud, “I beat you.” To his horror, he finds out that he did, in fact, win a war, but he misjudged his enemy. That is where the tragedy of this story lies: Ender did not know what he was doing. He thought he was winning a small feud with a few teachers. Instead, he committed genocide.

Contrast that with the movie. Ender is never tired in the movie, and he hardly faces any conflict. His battle with Bonzo feels more like a bump in the road than a major conflict: it is just another battle that Ender wins in a long string of battles Ender wins. Promotions follow promotions like they are given away to anyone who shows up. We do not see Ender confide in Bean that he cannot go on anymore. We do not see an exhausted Ender barely able to issue commands. We do not see a sleeping Ender chew his hand to shreds. Perhaps that is understandable for a visual medium, but it could be replaced with something rather than nothing. There is no motif here of an unwilling, tortured messiah, just a kid who is good at video games.

When the final battle does occur, movie-Ender chooses to use his big guns. Why? Because he can. He sees it as the easiest way to win, so he does it. We might be tempted to assume that it was the only way he could have won, but his later outburst suggests that he knew there were other, less catastrophic ways of achieving victory. He annihilates his allegedly fictional enemy and turns around to accept his congratulations. Movie-Ender is also horrified to learn that it was never a game at all, and he begins to shout out platitudes—“How you win matters!”—but Ender, no one made you win that way. You knew (thought) this was the test run for the real war. Why did you commit fake genocide if you would not have done it for real? What you did in practice here, you would have done for real out there. You have no one to blame but yourself. Your book-self had to be tricked into killing the Formics, but your movie-self came up with the idea on your own. You chose to win this way, and this genocide hangs entirely on your shoulders. Rightly will they call you that: “The Xenocide.”

This all hangs on the missing scene. Since the audience never saw Ender falling apart, or even just admit that he was tired, we never saw what Ender had invested in the battle. It was just another game. The Ender’s Game movie ends up showing how significant chiastic structure is as a literary device, for if you tamper with the center, you end up with an entirely different story. In this case, it turned a classic book into an average film.

Chiastic Structure in Ender’s Game

a Monitor   b Fight with Stilson     c Peter vs. Ender       d Graff interviews Ender         e Ender breaks a kid’s arm           f Beating kids at their game             g Messages to peers               h Salaam                 i Petra teaches Ender                   j Bonzo hits Ender                     k Ender feels homesick                       l Fight in the battleroom                         m Valentine and Peter begin writing; Valentine talks with Graff                           n Ender promoted                             o Ender’s first battle                               p Battle with Bonzo                                 q Ender and Bean                               p’ Fight with Bonzo                             o’ Ender’s last battle                           n’ Ender promoted                         m’ Valentine and Peter continue writing; Valentine talks with Ender                       l’ Graff explains the war                     k’ Eros feels particularly alien                   j’ Mazer Rackham hits Ender                 i’ Mazer Rackham teaches Ender               h’ Salaam             g’ Messages to peers           f’ Beating Mazer Rackham         e’ Ender gnaws on his own fist       d’ The final battle; Graff thanks Ender     c’ Battle’s aftermath   b’ The giant; the egg a’ Speaker for the Dead

Ender’s Education: The Battle School (f-m) and Eros (m’-f’)

The chiasm sets up a parallel between Ender’s education and Ender’s commanding the war. The assets he picks up in Battle School are the tools he uses to defeat the Formics. The irony is that Ender’s learning in trigonometry and astrophysics is not what aids him so much as the extracurricular activities Ender chooses to do. The camaraderie Ender builds with his peers, best encapsulated in Alai’s kiss and whisper of, “Salaam” (h), prepares for the reintroduction of his peers who will fight under him and alongside him in the war (h’). His hacking into the computers to spread messages to his peers to mock Bernard (g) foreshadows his passing messages to his friends to fight the war (g’). The mixed bag of education that Ender receives in Salamander Army—that is, Bonzo abusing him but Petra helping him (i-j)—prepares for Mazer Rackham uniting both of those roles in one person: simultaneously Ender’s only friend and greatest enemy (j’-i’).

The Battleroom (n-n’)

Other than the twist ending, the battleroom is probably home to most of the scenes that people remember about this book, so it is no surprise to find it at the chiasm’s emphasized center. It is in this section of the book that stakes begin being raised. Two themes in particular are prominent and they interweave themselves as well; namely, Ender’s constant promotions and Ender’s violence against other students. As the section below will show, these two themes are not merely parallel, but come together for a singular point: Ender’s success comes at the other student’s expense. Ender succeeds because he kills Bonzo. Without attacking Bonzo, Ender would not move on.

The center of the chiasm is Ender having a heart-to-heart with Bean. This is the only time in the book that Ender admits to any weakness at all, which shows, with the above statement, that not only does Ender’s success come at the others’ expense, but that it costs him a great deal as well. This scene also has Ender and Bean talk about how they realize that the battleroom games are being broken. The station is being torn apart, which shows that something very big must be coming soon. This reminds (and prepares) the reader that the game is no game at all, but is leading somewhere particular.

The War (b-e/e’-b’)

The climactic scene when Ender fights the Formics has a parallel with Peter beating up Ender while playing “buggers and astronauts.” Peter attacks and almost kills Ender in the game, and Ender attacks and almost annihilates the Formics in his. The greatest parallel, however, is not in the battle itself, but in its aftermath. At the end of his game with Ender, Peter comes to Ender and says, in one of the most human moments Peter ever has, “Ender, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know how it feels, I’m sorry, I’m your brother, I love you.” With such words as these, we can see in Peter a tormented soul. He should not treat Ender the way he does, but there is something inside him that makes him do it (although this does not in any way excuse Peter’s actions). Seeing Peter in this light certainly colors a later conversation between Ender and Valentine. The quote is lengthy, but it is important as it summarizes the entire book:

[Ender:] “…I don’t care about how we killed them. It’s the buggers themselves. I don’t know anything about them, and yet someday I’m supposed to fight them. I’ve been through a lot of fights in my life, sometimes games, sometimes—not games. Every time, I’ve won because I could understand the way my enemy thought. From what they did. I could tell what they thought I was doing, how they wanted the battle to take shape. And I played off of that. I’m very good at that. Understanding how other people think.”

[Valentine:] “The curse of the Wiggin children….You don’t think you can beat the buggers unless you know them.”

“It goes deeper than that. Being here alone with nothing to do, I’ve been thinking about myself, too. Trying to understand why I hate myself so badly.”

“No, Ender.”

“Don’t tell me ‘No, Ender.’ It took me a long time to realize that I did, but believe me, I did. Do. And it came down to this: In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them—”

“You beat them.” …

“No, you don’t understand. I destroy them. I make it impossible for them to ever hurt me again. I grind them and grind them until they don’t exist.”

At the core of the book, the message seems to be that we cannot hate others without changing ourselves as well. We cannot turn others into monsters without becoming monsters ourselves. When we destroy our enemies, we destroy ourselves as well. The parallel between e/e’ communicates that development in the plotline. In e, Ender breaks the arm of his enemy. In e’, at the height of the war against the Formics (which Bean in a later book will point out that Ender always knew subconsciously that it was not a game), Ender starts physically harming himself, chewing his own hand in his sleep till it bled. To hate another is to hate oneself. We cannot escape that formula.

We can reverse it, however, as the parallel between b and b’ suggests. In contrast to other fights and their parallels—Bonzo’s confrontation and death (p/p’), Ender’s fight in the battleroom (l) that is explicitly paralleled with the war (l’), the aforementioned arm-breaking and fist-gnawing (e/e’), and the aforementioned sibling-fight and Formic-fight (c/c’)—in contrast to all of those, Ender’s fight with Stilson (which killed him (b)) has a sudden shift in parallel. Instead of killing his enemies, Ender resurrects them (b’). Ender finds a Formic egg and dedicates the rest of his life to finding the perfect place to let it live and develop. This shift in Ender’s modus operandi prepares for the book’s conclusion and its final message.

Speaker for the Dead (a/a’)

The opening scene in which Ender has his monitor removes tells us everything we need to know about his world. The rampant militarism is made evident as we learn that the population level is being firmly held in place and as we witness the pain that the government has inflicted on a little boy, Ender. He is emotionally abused by the simple fact that everyone knows him as a “third” and that he ought not exist in the first place: his world tells him that that fact defines him. He is physically abused in the existence of the monitor and in the excruciating pain he goes through when it is taken from him. He almost loses his life in the process as well. Ender’s world is clearly one in which the entire people have dedicated themselves to the proposition that the Formics must die. No cost is too great towards that goal.

The final paragraphs that discuss the role of the Speaker for the Dead, by contrast, show us everything we need to know about what the world(s) will be. Ender becomes the first Speaker, telling the story of the Formics and their queen since they cannot tell it themselves. This practice becomes a religion across humanity’s reach. They tell the Formics’ story, but they also have Speakers for their own kind that pass on. “There was no colony without its Speaker for the Dead.” In place of a militant people looking for its opportunity to destroy anything Other from it is a people taking every opportunity to preserve that which is other.

In the previous post, I mapped out J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit into a double chiasm. I think that there are a couple of interesting things that that map shows about Peter Jackson’s adaptation (possible spoilers to follow). First, Jackson seems to have split up the movies according to the book’s own logic. An Unexpected Journey runs from units a-f (again, see previous post for the relevant map), which runs from the book’s introduction to the center of the first chiasm. The Desolation of Smaug picks up with Beorn in g and covers the book’s material leading right up to g’. In other words, it runs from the center of the first chiasm to the center of the second chiasm. There and Back Again will cover the denouement and conclusion, finishing up the second chiasm from f’’’-a’. The movies thus pulse with the same rhythm of the book’s climaxes.

With the extra material that Jackson is pulling from The Silmarillion and the appendices to The Return of the King, it is impressive how closely he is sticking to the book. Jackson not only presents the same scenes as the book, he also presents them with the same tone as well, which seems difficult for movie adaptations to pull off.

Given that Jackson originally intended to tell this story in two movies rather than three, it makes one wonder where he had planned to make the division. If my map of a double chiasm is accurate, it would suggest that the division would come after they escape the Elves and enter Lake-town. Even with three movies, the Mirkwood scenes were considerably condensed. Trying to fit it all into a single movie would surely have been too much.

The second thing that the chiastic structure of the book shows us is an answer to a complaint some people have made about the movies. Some think that Bilbo is not important enough in Jackson’s story. The movie is called The Hobbit, after all, should he not have more screen time than he does? Did we really need a love story between Kili and newly-invented Tauriel? Did we really need a bouncing, barrel-riding Bombur berserker?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s charming classic, The Hobbit, is also set in a chiasm, which seems a most appropriate form for a book alternatively titled There and Back Again.

Chiastic Structure in The Hobbit

a An Unexpected Party   b Trolls     c Rivendell       d Escape from the Great Goblin         e Bilbo with Gollum           f Warg battle             g Beorn           f’ Spider battle         e’ Bilbo in the Elvish palace       d’ Escape from the Elvenking     c’ Lake-town       d’’ Doorstep         e’’ Bilbo with Smaug           f’’ Dwarves fortify the mountain             g’ End of Smaug           f’’’ Men and Elves besiege the mountain         e’’’ Bilbo with Bard and the Elvenking       d’’’ Battle of Five Armies     c’’ Dale   b’ The Journey Home a’ Reunion party

a: Here is the introduction and resolution or leaving home and back again. The unexpected party is explicitly referenced in a’, and it receives a nice parallel with the final scene in which Balin and Gandalf visit Bilbo. As such, the book opens and closes with unexpected company, but the Hobbit finds himself much more welcoming in the latter instance.

b: The danger of the trolls contrasts with the comforts of home in a and set the stage both for Bilbo and for the readers. Bilbo and Gandalf pass by the trolls again in b’ (now stone, of course), and they pick up the gold they had buried in their cave earlier. This too contrasts with Bilbo’s home, for waiting there is an auction for his house and possessions (a’). All told, Bilbo loses much of what he had (a’), but gained much more from his journey (b’). This seems to be a symbolic way of presenting what Gandalf says explicitly: “My dear Bilbo!...You are not the hobbit [sic.] that you were.”

c: These scenes act as solaces in the narrative; that is, places of calm for the protagonists to rest before rising action takes over again.

d: These scenes comprise narrow escapes, but more importantly, this is where the main plot line develops. Here is where the Dwarves’ quest faces the greatest obstacles. In contrast to the fighting-for-fighting’s sake in f/f’, the Great Goblin and the Elvenking are much more organized in their opposition. The near miss of the keyhole in d’’ and the Battle of Five Armies in d’’’ also almost ruins the Dwarves’ chances for success, and the latter could be said to have succeeded, depending on which Dwarf you ask.

e: These scenes showcase Bilbo’s stealth and ingenuity. The scenes are characterized by the two tactics Bilbo uses. First, these scenes, and these scenes alone, showcase his use of the ring. Secondly, they show off Bilbo’s quick wit as he riddles with Gollum, orchestrates the Dwarves’ escape from the palace of the Elvenking, riddles with Smaug, and makes deals with Bard and the Elvenking.

f: These scenes serve as build up to their respective climaxes. The Dwarves’ mission nears failure in f and f’, and they narrowly escape both times (in near-deus ex machina fashion). f’’ and f’’’ lead up to the climax of the Battle of Five Armies.

g: These two scenes may seem odd choices for chiasm centers. Beorn may not seem important enough to deserve that placement while the defeat of Smaug seems too important not to be the big climax of the story. What the structure above illuminates is that Smaug’s role in this story is the maguffin—this is not really his story—and the true conflict in this book is the relations between Dwarves, Elves, and Men. The elimination of Smaug shatters the fragile peace between them and immediately causes a war.

So what of Beorn? Why does he receive such emphasis in g? First, we must note that while the Eagles appear in f to rescue the Dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo from the Wargs, it is in g—that is, it is in Beorn’s chapter—that they receive greater treatment. Following from that, we should note that it is with the arrival of the Eagles and Beorn that the Battle of Five Armies was won. The goblins held the upper hand against the alliance of Dwarves, Elves, and Men, but the introduction of these two turned the tide and brought about the goblins’ defeat. Unit g thus introduces the two decisive elements in the Battle of Five Armies. In fact, Beorn wins the entire battle on his own. The Eagles merely stop the Elves, Dwarves, and Men from being entirely destroyed. Beorn, as a one-man army, personally demolishes the Goblins. This is not the Battle of Five Armies at all: it is either the Battle of Six Armies or the Battle Where Beorn Did Everything While Everyone Else Just Watched, although that is not as catchy. Units g and g’, then, lay the groundwork for the climax of the story in d’’’.

Beorn

The above argued that Beorn is very important to the story, but it is a different question as to why he was made so important. In a story overflowing with protagonists—Bilbo, Gandalf, the thirteen Dwarves, and Bard (to say nothing of the Master, the Elves, Dain and his Dwarves)—why introduce yet another character into the story to play such an important part?

The answer has to lie in the characterization of Beorn, so how is he described? First, he is a “skin-changer”: he shifts between the form of a man and a beast, specifically a bear. Secondly, his lodge is known for its animals. “[H]e keeps cattle and horses….He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees.” With this surplus of animals, it is also specifically pointed out that Beorn does not eat them and he does not hunt for wild animals either. Furthermore, he shows great concern for the wellbeing of the ponies he loans the Dwarves. Lastly, every time the Eagles are mentioned in this book, Beorn is soon to follow. Despite the fact that “[t]he Lord of the Eagles would not take them anywhere near where men live. ‘They would shoot at us with their great bows,’” the Eagles seem to have no fear about this man, Beorn. Beorn’s character is one with great respect for nature. However, given his characteristic of changing into a bear, we can go farther than that and should probably see him as the representation of perfect harmony between man and nature.

If that is granted, then I also suggest that Smaug is the personification of greed, not only always desiring more, but only desiring for one’s own good. The conflict of the story is which path will Elves, Dwarves, and Men pick: will they insist on serving only their own good at the expense of the others, or will they strive to find harmony amongst themselves. Read this way, the Goblins are the personification of internal strife. They are violent and chaotic, and they are the end result of Elves, Dwarves, and Men destroying each other rather than living with one another. The chiasm even sets up the Elvenking in comparison with the Great Goblin (d/d’), and the Elf does not come out looking very well. When the races take their stand against the Goblins, all hostilities amongst themselves immediately stops: the two stances are entirely exclusive of each other. Harmony and chaos do not abide one another’s company, and the one will chase the other away.

Why emphasize Beorn not merely as being harmonious but as being at harmony with nature specifically? Perhaps Tolkien, Catholic that he was, was channeling Isaiah’s passage of the wolf and lamb lying down together (vv.6f), which is imagery meant to convey a world without war between humans (vv.10f). Of course, for Tolkien this is no mere metaphor, for the wellbeing of nature was quite important to him as the Isengard/Fangorn/Ent motifs will make very clear in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s work is not heavy-handed environmentalism, but at the same time, concern for nature cannot be removed from his writings. Tolkien’s main point is not, as some other stories might imply, that if we save the environment, then we can save ourselves, but Tolkien is sure that harmony between people will have—must have—harmony with nature as well.

An entire season will have many themes, even many major themes, but most of them are specific to their respective episodes. Other themes develop over the entire arc and form the point of the metanarrative.

Folly of the Masses

Various societal structures are lampooned and critiqued in Series 1. These items define our culture and can even define our lives.

Politics

British citizens trust their elected officials who ought not in an emergency have the sort of power they do

The United Nations trusts the aforementioned unqualified government officials with nuclear weapons

Cardiff sells its soul to Margaret in allowing her to tear down Cardiff Castle to put in a very ill-advised nuclear reactor

Military

The British army trusts anyone who sounds authoritative, from the Slitheen to the Doctor

Van Statten’s guards arrogantly assume they can pacify a Dalek

The British army keeps the one person who can fix the Empty Child Plague away from the ambulance

Business

Van Statten uses his abilities and influence for his own good, for his own collection, and never for helping humanity

Adam almost ruins history by stealing future information

“Banks” sell out humanity for a profit

Modeling/Hollywood

Cassandra has destroyed her body in pursuit of her idea of beauty

Mass Media News Networks

The news networks mostly report on things that are not news

Reality Television

The shows destroy people and make the contestants destroy others

In each case, the episodes that discuss the topics do not dismiss them as if they are inherently evil or unnecessary. Instead, the show warns how excesses in these things can produce strife in society. In particular, the show describes how these things can damage human beings. Most of the above are prone to making humans use cutthroat tactics to advance in their fields, which makes promotion more important than human life and wellbeing. In the politics motif that is shown through Margaret benefiting with huge successes by using the most extreme measures to remove her opposition. The military are shown using a shoot first, ask questions later policy with the pig-alien. Van Statten sacks disappointing employees, and he does so in such a way to remove them from further career opportunities. Van Statten also throws away lives while trying to get the Dalek under control. Cassandra too sought to make a profit from the destruction of the satellite and the deaths of her guests.

Of equal concern to all of this, however, is not only what this does to fellow human beings, but what it does to the offending party as well. Cutthroat tactics not only harm other people, it corrupts a person; that is, it makes the heart wither. This results in Rodricks, Van Stattens, and Cassandras who make huge profits and become larger and larger fans of themselves while loathing others more and more. Their self-absorption grows in a vicious cycle. The likes of these are also known by another characteristic: treating themselves. Rodrick insists upon the money he “earned.” Van Statten has an ever-growing collection of amazing artifacts that no one else is allowed to see. Cassandra has a body coming ever closer to her idea of perfection. Their self-absorption reveals itself in their consumption and in their overly-developed sense of self-preservation. They all have ways of keeping themselves from harm (although each one fails when the time comes to use it). The show’s concern is that these mainstays of society can be damaging to the human spirit, but it is also concerned about the other end of things, their successes. The show is concerned that even when business, government, or the military do things right, even perfectly right, it is not effective enough; that is, they are ultimately impotent at altering the human condition in any meaningful way. The show certainly is not professing primitive anarchy, as if these things should be done away with altogether. It is saying, however, that ultimately, changing the human condition must come from another angle. The top-down approach does not work, and it usually produces even more casualties.

Related to all of this is the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. The name overflows with superlatives, but we never see this empire in the show, neither its greatness nor its bounty. Instead, through corruption or lack of vision, it keeps running off the rails, and in its place we find a ruined planet with an enslaved and dying humanity. This mythical empire is a symbol of everything above: when humans gather together in an impressive-sounding organization, the results are never as impressive as advertised.

Impressive Ordinariness

In contrast to the masses, Doctor Who presents heroes of more common stock:

Rose overcomes the Nestene Consciousness with her bronze-medal-level gymnastic skills

Jabe helps the Doctor overcome the overheating satellite despite her treeness

Gwyneth, a serving girl, saves the world from an invading army

Mickey saves the world from nuclear obliteration with his home computer

He does so under the orders of back-bencher Harriet Jones

Cathica, a common journalist, saves (for a while) humanity from the Jagrafess

Pete saves the world by sacrificing his life

Nancy saves the world through an embrace

Lynda, Davitch, Programmer, and everyone else that fights and dies in The Parting of the Ways

These are unconventional heroes, and they overcome in unconventional ways. They are also all very brave, for they all risk everything in their acts of heroism, and many of them lose all that they risk. Whereas all of the industries and organizations discussed in the previous section ultimately fail in some way or another, these individuals succeeded in setting everything to exactly what they should be. Not only do individuals succeed where organizations fail, but ordinary people succeed where the pop idols of society fail.

The show is not advocating hyper-individualism, however, as if other people do not matter at all, and that is where Bad Wolf comes in. Bad Wolf is humanity. The Bad Wolf entity represents the collective efforts of individuals living the Doctor’s way of life. That she represents the Doctor’s way of life is demonstrated in her being the audience’s view into the Doctor’s life for the whole season. She also represents the Doctor’s way of life because she represents the anti-Dalek view on life: a life of hate and anger, a life that sees compassion as weakness, a life that shapes the world as it likes through coercive force, and a life that destroys all obstacles. That she represents the collective of humanity is shown in Rose being the Doctor’s companion: Rose was being trained (simply by being with the Doctor) to be the greatest exemplar of his ideals and practices in a human. Her Bad Wolf persona was born out of her conviction of how humans ought to live (as the chiasm of that episode emphasizes). Furthermore, we should note that the heart of the TARDIS did not, perhaps could not, open until both Mickey and Jackie were agreed with Rose, for once Jackie brings her rescue truck to the party, all humans not named Rodrick in the show who have a speaking part are aligned with the Doctor to stop the Daleks. Rose is humanity. In this sense, what Bad Wolf does should be seen as something similar to what Martha will later do to overthrow the Master. Martha walks the earth to plant in everyone’s mind the idea of the Doctor so that by that thought, the evil force will be thwarted. By humanity’s collective, Doctor-guided efforts, evil was undone. Bad Wolf is the same. She is written as all-powerful to emphasize the strength of the collective effort. She is written as divine to emphasize the importance of this collective effort. This, by the way, is why Bad Wolf is not a deus ex machina. It would be easy to see her that way: all was lost, and then Bad Wolf just shows up and saves the Doctor, but there is far more to her than that. She had been prepared throughout the entire season, and not by the “Bad Wolf” signposts, but by working alongside the Doctor.

It might seem that a better representation of the collective effort of humanity would be the literal collective effort of all humans (again, not named Rodrick) that fight under Jack for the Doctor. In fact, both forces represent the collective effort. The makeshift army that was overrun so easily and Bad Wolf that overcame just as easily are both representative of the collective effort, for they are one and the same. The effort works despite and even while experiencing individual defeats. This happens literally in the show: Bad Wolf is born at the exact same time that the army of commoners dies, one after another. This is how movements work, especially movement against tyrants or oppression. Individuals suffer many tears, and sometimes they suffer blood, but the movement itself succeeds, and, again, it succeeds not only despite the great cost, but because of it and through it. The real life parallel to this is what Gandhi and Dr. King pulled off against their respective oppressors. It works. It does not seem like it should, but it works. This is likely why we did not see Bad Wolf resurrect anyone else other than Jack. Resurrecting the one was fine because it shows that she was a goddess of life as opposed to the Dalek Emperor as god of death (also because Jack was needed for Torchwood). Showing the restoration of the now molten earth and the resurrection of the rest of humanity would have made light of the sacrifice they made. That is not to say that Bad Wolf did not resurrect them. Maybe she did; maybe she did not. It was not important to the story. What was important was showing the twin themes of suffering and overcoming, and neither theme could be allowed to overpower the other.

Humble Ingenuity

What, then, ought individuals to do? How ought we organize our lives so that they are in keeping with the Doctor’s ideal of a better life? Should they be lives marked by protests, marches, sit-ins, and boycotts? There is a time and a place for these things, but the Doctor’s life is not characterized by them. It works much more quietly than that. What is the Doctor’s life? How does he change the world? What type of person does he attract to himself? His companions are those characterized by humble ingenuity: they have good minds, but they are teachable. They never assume to know everything about anything, and they find ways to use what they do know for the good of others rather than themselves. This is usually done in small ways, simply acting with whatever tools they are already familiar with: using a laptop or using their limited access as a small politician or a small journalist. Finally, while the people they serve may well be strangers, they also serve their friends and their families. Doctor Who envisions meaningful change occurring that way: we alter the faults in our lives out of concern for our loved ones near us. When we live a selfless life for them, it shifts our own character. That is how the world changes.

For all of these reasons, this is why the main theme of Series 1 is the Doctor’s relationship with Rose. Simultaneously, the Doctor is not Rose’s boyfriend, “he’s better than that: he’s much more important,” but he also woos her into seeing him as the perfect dance partner. The small-mindedness of Jackie and Mickey’s jealousy and possessiveness or of Adam and Jack’s self-preservation and self-serving actions will not do anymore. They used to be attractive to Rose—the literal becomes the metaphorical—but the Doctor becomes everything to Rose. If the Doctor represents the better life and Rose represents humanity, then Doctor Who is an invitation to its viewers to strive for such ideals as these, for as the Doctor woos Rose, he also woos his audience. His invitation stands:

Naturally, there is a good deal of character development over the course of the season. That is to be expected. What is interesting is how it happens, for it is by no means gradual. Instead, most of the development occurs in the final episode, The Parting of the Ways. That is not to say that the other twelve episodes are not important. It is as though these flawed characters (that is, human characters) slowly began to sprout over the entire arc, but then they all suddenly burst into full blossom for the finale. Boom Town does much to aid in that endeavor by presenting most of the main cast and portraying their strengths and weaknesses one last time before they are put to the true test.

The Doctor: Wrath versus Mercy

A list of antagonists and/or crisis-starters starters in Series 1, how the Doctor dealt with them, and what their final fate was:

Nestene Consciousness: The Doctor parleys with the Nestene Consciousness to give it a chance. The Nestene Consciousness dies, but not by the Doctor’s hand.

Cassandra: Despite Rose’s plea to do something, the Doctor simply watches as Cassandra dries out and dies.

The Gelth: The Doctor takes pity on the Gelth and invites them to Earth. The Gelth die, but not by the Doctor’s hand.

Slitheen: The Doctor orders the Slitheen’s destruction via missile.

Dalek: The Doctor intends to obliterate the Dalek, but Rose stops him.

From the list so far we can deduce two things. First, a surprising amount of people/aliens die in Doctor Who whether the Doctor is involved or not. Second, we can see the waffling that the Doctor does on distributing justice. When the audience gets to Boom Town, the uncertainty we have in what the Doctor will do with Margaret is the end result of an entire season of uncertainty on the issue. Some days he is merciful and gives second chances to creatures that probably did not deserve one. Other days he kills his enemies in cruel and ironic ways, and note that: this is not simply justice, but some spite as well. However, look at what happens after Rose scolds him in Dalek:

Jagrafess: The Doctor intends to parley with the Jagrafess and the Editor. Both die, but not by the Doctor’s hand.

Adam Mitchell: The Doctor is furious with Adam and sends him home.

The Reapers: The Doctor does not attempt to talk with or to attack them. When he is forced to parley with one, it takes his life rather than the other way around.

Pete Tyler: Pete ought to have died immediately, and his death would fix the completely-dead Earth, but the Doctor does everything he can to save him. The Doctor dies because of this.

The Empty Child: Everybody lives.

Margaret: The Doctor gives her a second chance.

Dalek Emperor and armada: The Doctor refuses to kill them.

It is as though Rose found a switch in the Doctor and turned it off. His mercy becomes much more consistent despite the fact that it often comes at great cost to himself. Even when he chooses to distribute justice, it is in the form of eviction rather than a death sentence. As noted in the article on Boom Town, the uncertainty of what the Doctor will do with Margaret foreshadows the uncertainty of what he will do with the Daleks, but the mercy he ultimately shows to Margaret also foreshadows the mercy he will show to the Daleks. The vengeance and wrath of the first half disappears entirely once Rose points out the Doctor’s inconsistency in his own philosophy: “What are you changing into?”

Rose Tyler: Boyfriends versus the Doctor

Over the course of the season, we see Rose set up relationships with various pretty boys that conflict with her relationship with the Doctor. With the Doctor, we see her working seamlessly side-by-side with him, and their relationship is characterized by the two of them fearlessly marching straight into the heart of the conflict with hands held. Despite the idyllic appearance of that relationship, Rose has a bit of a wandering eye. She never lost interest in Mickey, she invites Adam Mitchell onto the TARDIS without consulting the Doctor, and she tempts herself to replace the Doctor with Captain Jack.

Meanwhile, not only does Rose set up these men against the Doctor, she sets up their lifestyles next to the Doctor as well. Again, with Captain Jack, she is not merely twitterpated like she was with Adam. She begins to be so impressed with him that it becomes uncertain, for a time, where her loyalties will lie. Likewise with Mickey: Rose begins to doubt whether she should have travelled with the Doctor at all. Adam is an exception here, for she never was tempted to replace the Doctor with him. Perhaps that is due to how short a time he spent as a companion, but it also serves as foreshadowing for Rose’s final decision: the Doctor over the pretty faces.

As late as Boom Town, the eleventh episode, Rose still is unsure of what she wants, yet by the finale, she is sure. We should expect to see the difference maker in the twelfth episode, Bad Wolf. I see three things that happen there. First, while the Doctor remembers what happened just before they were all transmatted to the Game Station, we see Rose laughing in the TARDIS. Second, when Rose gets her final question wrong, she argues with the cosmos that the Doctor should be there by now: so sure is she of his faithfulness and cleverness. This trust in the Doctor is entirely rewarded in the opening to The Parting of the Ways when the Doctor rescues her. Third, before being sent back home in The Parting of the Ways, we see Rose working side by side with the Doctor on the Delta Wave, talking about how to set it up and talking about the general situation. In short, Rose enjoys the Doctor’s company, Rose learns just to what lengths the Doctor will go to ensure her safety, and Rose is empowered by the Doctor in his schemes against the Daleks. These three characteristics of the Doctor seem to be what settle the question in her mind.

Boom Town ends with the heart of the TARDIS opening and giving Margaret a second chance. Rose muses to herself that a second chance might be nice: she could stay with Mickey rather than the Doctor. In The Parting of the Ways, the heart of the TARDIS opens for Rose, and she gets that second chance, and she uses it to choose the Doctor. Bad Wolf was the final wooing to shift Rose’s affections from the various suitors to the Doctor.

Mickey Smith: Jealousy versus Usefulness

These two characteristics of Mickey appear in every episode of his. On the one hand, he is very jealous for Rose and does not care very much for the Doctor at all, but on the other hand, he fits in perfectly as a companion, both in personality and in bravery, and the only thing preventing him from joining the TARDIS crew is himself.

Mickey is at his worst in Rose, the first episode. He has the sense to check on Rose after her workplace has exploded, but abandons her immediately to watch a football match. The episode ends with him clinging to Rose like a child and screaming that they should just leave the Doctor to die and get out of there. Such is an image that could describe his actions for the rest of the season. He is somewhat useful in this episode nevertheless because Rose uses his computer to get information on the Doctor, but the fact that Mickey refuses to put himself in any danger at all by accompanying Rose into Clive’s house undoes any karma he built up there. Again, this is Mickey at his worst, but the good news is that there is nowhere for him to go but up.

Aliens of London/World War Three is much more symptomatic of how Mickey acts with the Doctor. He uses his time with Rose to belittle her into trying to make her come back to him, and he uses whatever opportunity he has to make the Doctor look bad. When the time to act came, however, Mickey rose to the occasion and followed the Doctor instructions for sending a missile into the heart of London. This is no small task—not in itself, but also because Mickey had to team up with the Doctor—but Mickey performed the task flawlessly. Even the Doctor was impressed with Mickey and invited him to join the TARDIS, but Mickey refused.

Mickey’s next appearance as a main character was in Boom Town where he tries to woo Rose back while simultaneously telling her that everything wrong in his life is her fault. Despite his anger at Rose, he is quite jovial at the lunch with her, the Doctor, and Jack. There is nothing standing in the way of him travelling with Rose, but he apparently only wants her if it is on his own terms.

The Parting of the Ways starts out as “next verse, same as the first.” On the one hand, Mickey suggests that Rose should stay with him and forget the Doctor at every opportunity he can find. On the other, Mickey proves quite useful in getting the heart of the TARDIS to open. These same two themes continue on once again. There is a difference, of course, and it is a big one, for Mickey finally gives up his design to win back Rose, and the level to which he is willing to help Rose is unparalleled. The difference is that Rose finally says once and for all that she is done with Mickey, and Mickey hears it and accepts it. He then acts in her best interests to get her back to the Doctor even when Rose’s own resolve begins to fail. Mickey apparently could not move on until Rose said he had to, and with the games she was playing—see above on her entry—she had never said so. Mickey’s complaint in Boom Town was legitimate: Rose assumed she could just come back at any time and Mickey would be there for her. Mickey was not treating Rose right, but Rose was returning the favor. Once Rose shut it down, Mickey did too.

Mickey does have another appearance: he is in Father’s Day as a young child. Despite how small a part it is and it seems to be more a joke than anything, it might explain a few things about Mickey. Rose jokes that she seems to have imprinted on him, but perhaps that is more than that. Perhaps Mickey has such a hard time moving on from Rose because he always remembered the nice pretty lady from his very young childhood. Pete’s sacrifice was supposed to undo everything that happened in that episode, so no one should remember anything, but Jackie remembers a blonde girl waiting with Pete as he died. She does not remember anything else about Rose from the episode, however, so perhaps not. Who knows? Timey wimey.

Jackie Tyler: Passive versus Active

Jackie also has two characteristics highlighted in her appearances. The first appears in the first episode, Rose. Jackie does not do very much in this episode, but that seems to be the point. She is simply vapid. Similar to Mickey, she does not show much concern for Rose after her potentially traumatic experience at her work, and she uses the opportunity to gossip on the phone with her circle. She otherwise appears in the episode telling Rose, who is trying to warn her of impending danger, to shush as she shops in a mall.

Jackie’s other characteristic is her relationship with men. She likes men, a lot. She also only likes them so far, however. She has an endless stream of men, but she does not commit to any of them, and any man with any permanence in her life is an enemy. We learn in Aliens of London that she turned in Mickey as a murderer to the police, and we watch her henpeck Pete whenever they are on screen together in Father’s Day. Much of her time in Series 1 is spent in answer to the question “Can Jackie trust the Doctor?” Most of the season implies that the answer to that question is no. Not only can she not trust the Doctor, but she wants Rose far away from him and returned back home. That is where her two characteristics meet: she does not want Rose to be with the Doctor, and she wants Rose back at home with her. She wants Rose to live Jackie’s life.

Jackie’s final appearance is in the finale. She finally praises the Doctor because he sent Rose back home, but Rose is not satisfied: she does not want Jackie’s life. Jackie continues to assert her own will until Rose throws Pete in her face, saying that she is only doing what her father would do. That makes the change in Jackie. That is what makes Jackie finally accept Rose’s life and what Rose has to do to get back to the Doctor. Jackie seems to realize that Rose is not a Jackie-clone, but has strong elements of her father in her as well. As much as Jackie struggled with Pete, she loved him, and she admires those same attributes in her daughter as well. She just had to be shown she did.

Captain Jack Harkness: Cowardice versus Heroism

Captain Jack has the same amount of episodes as Jackie and as Mickey (if Father’s Day is included), but since they all happen consecutively, he has the least amount of time to develop. The change that occurs for him between his actions in The Doctor Dances and in the finale. Before he even appears in The Empty Child, Jack characterizes himself as caring only for himself, protecting only himself. In The Doctor Dances, he teleports away from danger twice, and while he also returns to the situation with relative quickness both times, the audience is left to wonder if he will return at all, is he still only thinking about himself? In Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways, however, he leads the change in finding the Doctor and finding Rose and then in building an army to go against the Daleks. His inwardly-focused attitude has disappeared.

Jack is an exception to the other characters in that his final development is finished before the finale even begins. The Doctor is somewhat similar in that he changes after Dalek, but the audience is still led to believe that he still has a vengeful streak in him. Jack changed immediately, and he attributes this change to the Doctor. Perhaps Jack saw in the Doctor a fellow time traveler, but one who was not wrapped up in petty scams. Instead, the Doctor lives a life that is both simple and important. The Doctor’s life is not marked by its excess of assets (even the gadgets he uses number three in total: the TARDIS, his sonic screwdriver, and his psychic paper), but by its interest in people. Jack is wooed to this sort of life.

Conclusion: Man and Superman

In final analysis, every one of the main characters has some pretty serious flaws and pretty unattractive flaws at that. Each one overcomes as well, although some have more success than others or effect a more impressive change than others. Some shows create characters that are flawless, and other shows create characters that are designed just to be awful. Dramas seem prone to the former, and sitcoms seem prone to the latter. Dramas have a tendency to paint their flawless characters into perceived difficult situations, but the tension does not last for too long. Sitcoms have a tendency to make their flawed characters perform an impressive deed, but the show keeps them flawed because that is where the humor is. Finding a balance between the two and creating real, human characters is apparently not very easy, but Doctor Who pulled it off here.

Not only are the episodes of Doctor Who chiasms, but the entire season is a chiasm as well. Seeing this helps illumine what the main theme of the arc was. There were many important motifs throughout the stories—from the Bad Wolf meme to the untold story of the Last Great Time War—but more than anything, this season was about the Doctor’s relationship with Rose.

a Rose   b The End of the World     c The Unquiet Dead       d Aliens of London/World War Three         e Dalek           f The Long Game         e’ Father’s Day       d’ The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances     c’ Boom Town   b’ Bad Wolf a’ The Parting of the Ways

Rose/The Parting of the Ways

The beginning and ending of the season, but also the beginning and near-ending of the Doctor and Rose’s relationship.

Rose: the Doctor saves Rose’s life from the Autons. He then sends her home while he continues to fight them off. Rose’s interest is piqued, and she uses Mickey’s computer to track the Doctor down. Having found him, she saves him from the Nestene Consciousness and then kills everything.

The Parting of the Ways: the Doctor saves Rose’s life from the Daleks. He then sends her home while he continues to fight them off. Rose is heartbroken, and she uses Mickey’s car to get back to the Doctor. Having found him, she saves him from the Dalek Emperor and then kills everything.

There is also an amusing parallel between Clive describing the Doctor as “a legend woven throughout history” and what Rose will do for herself as the Bad Wolf.

The End of the World/Bad Wolf

It may be objected that the two-parter Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways has been split up, but as discussed in those articles, there is very little correspondence between the two episodes and even the cliffhanger is immediately resolved. Arguing the other way, Rose and The End of the World have a similar amount of correspondence, for the latter picks up right where the former left off with Rose entering the TARDIS. In other words, while these two episodes could have been combined with their counterparts above, I have separated them into their own section for convenience.

These episodes are both set in the far future (although that does not mean too much) and both have their setting on a satellite (which also does not mean much). These two episodes do much to show the growth of the Doctor and Rose’s relationship. The two get in an argument in The End of the World because Rose realizes that she cannot be sure she can trust this stranger. This is more than resolved by the time of Bad Wolf. Both episodes have climactic scenes in which Rose is separated from the Doctor and is in great peril. The difference in the situation is displayed dramatically in Rose’s being entirely unsure of what is going to happen in The End of the World as opposed to her knowing that the Doctor will save her in Bad Wolf.

The End of the World plays together the motifs of the Last Great Time War and Rose. It is one of the first mentions of the war, and with it, it is one of the first indications that things went very wrong. By the end of the episode, however, the Doctor prevails and saves the day by thinking of Rose. That is, he leaves his past behind by focusing on his future. Bad Wolf undoes this. Instead of leaving behind the Time War for Rose, the Daleks’ reappearance throws the two together: the Doctor’s past and future crash into one. 

The Unquiet Dead/Boom Town

Given that Boom Town’s antagonist is Margaret, we might have expected this story to parallel Aliens of London/World War Three. There are narrative links between Boom Town and The Unquiet Dead too, however. In particular, these are the two episodes set in Cardiff, and both stories have the occasion of the rift in space-time. Boom Town also explicitly references several scenes from The Unquiet Dead including Rose telling Mickey about Gwyneth and later having a flashback to her conversation with Gwyneth.

These are the two stories, other than Father’s Day, that most make us doubt if the Doctor and Rose will continue to travel together. In The Unquiet Dead, Rose argues with and contradicts the Doctor in a disrespectful, undermining way. They figure it out, but for a moment, Rose and the Doctor are acting against each other rather than side by side. Boom Town features Rose questioning whether she should have gone with the Doctor at all and if a second chance might not be such a bad idea.

Aliens of London-World War Three/The Empty Child-The Doctor Dances

Since these stories are the two-parters of the season (see above on Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways), it is to be expected that they would match up. There is a possible connection between the former being “World War Three” and the latter being set in World War Two.

These stories escalate the Doctor and Rose’s relationship. Aliens of London/World War Three does this by showcasing Rose’s intrinsic trust in the Doctor, telling him to do whatever he needs to do to save the world regardless of the risk to herself. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances escalates the theme—kicks it into hyperdrive, really—by having the characters begin to explicitly talk about their relationship, both what it is and what it can be. Rose begins to hone in on her dance partner.

Dalek/Father’s Day

The heart of these episodes is the Doctor and Rose dealing with their demons. The Doctor runs into an old enemy, a Dalek, and Rose wrestles over her father’s death and, as grows more concerning, her father’s life: he is not the man she thought he was. Both characters work through these issues, both characters come out of their episodes much, much stronger, and both characters move past the problem with the help of the other. In the case of the Doctor, it is Rose’s questioning that makes him put the gun down both literally and metaphorically. In the case of Rose, the argument notwithstanding, the Doctor was at her side every step of the way, both in wanting to help her move past her father’s death at the beginning of the episode and in trying to preserve his life for the remainder.

The Long Game

Narratively, this episode is the logical choice for the chiasm center since the corruption at Satellite 5 is the same crisis in the finale. More significantly, however, is the simple fact that this is a normal, simple episode. It is the eye of the storm. The Doctor and Rose do not fight each other, they do not question if their relationship should even continue, and the world is not threatened with obliteration. They just have a mystery to solve, and they solve it. It is charmingly simple. As such, it is also symptomatic of what their relationship will be in Series 2: the Doctor and Rose, side by side, flying through the universe solving mysteries.  Everything in a-e builds up to this or looks back to it.

Nevertheless, their relationship receives development in this episode as well, for Adam is here. Rose begins the episode very interested in someone who is not the Doctor, but by the end of the episode, she will dump him and travel on with the Doctor alone. It is almost a summary of the entire arc in that regard.

Chiasms in Doctor Who

Plot Summary

Picking up where Bad Wolf left off, the Doctor makes good on his promise to rescue Rose by doing precisely that, once again resolving the cliffhanger immediately, though this time waiting until after the main title. The Doctor lands the TARDIS inside the Dalek mothership, and after securing Rose, he parlays with the Daleks. Asking them how they survived the Last Great Time War, the Dalek Emperor reveals himself in answer. He escaped the destruction of his race and rebuilt it through human tissue. The Doctor leaves, externally mocking the Daleks but internally horrified.

The TARDIS returns to Satellite 5, and humanity begins its defense. The Doctor plans to build a delta wave to scramble the brains of the Daleks, killing them all, and the humans intend to stall the Dalek invasion long enough for the Doctor to complete it. The Doctor realizes that the likelihood of success is very low, and most if not all people will still die. Given that, he tricks Rose into going back to her own time, removing her from danger. When the invasion begins, the Daleks slice their way through the satellite, killing everyone they come across. The Earth comes under bombardment, and entire continents melted under their barrage. As the Doctor finishes building the delta wave, the Daleks finish their invasion of the Satellite and surround him. Although he has the ability to destroy them all, the Doctor refuses to let loose the delta wave and gives himself up to his enemies.

Rose, meanwhile, is furious at her helplessness. However, she recalls that Margaret received what she wanted most when staring into the heart of the TARDIS, so she determines to do the same. After several misfires, she rallies Mickey and Jackie around her, and their combined efforts succeed in opening the TARDIS’s console. Looking into the heart of the TARDIS, Rose becomes the Bad Wolf, a creature of godlike capabilities. She returns to Satellite 5 in the year 200,100 and stops the Daleks from attacking the Doctor and disintegrates them with her newfound powers.

Those powers come with a price, however, as they begin to tear her apart internally. The Doctor knows she will die, so he absorbs the power into himself through a kiss. Instead of Rose dying, the Doctor takes her place, and every cell in his body begins to decay. This triggers the regeneration process, and the Ninth Doctor is no more. Here begins the reign of Ten. Long live the Ten.

Story Structure

As noted in Bad Wolf, despite The Parting of the Ways being a continuation of the story, there is very little structural connection between the two episodes. In contrast to Bad Wolf, however, The Parting of the Ways forms a full chiasm as the other Doctor Who episodes do, granted, with a few improvisations.

Figure 1

a The Doctor saves Rose   b The Doctor sets up a shield     c Lynda stayed on Satellite 5 for the Doctor       d Floor 000 still has people         e Dalek Emperor: “Purify the Earth with fire.”           f The Doctor plans a delta wave             g Battle plans; Jack says goodbye               h Floor 000: Rodrick tells Jack that Daleks do not exist                 i The Doctor sends Rose home                   j The Doctor and Emperor debate for Jack                     k Rose’s soliloquy                       l Daleks’ invasion begins                         m Bad Wolf                       l’ Daleks enter satellite                     k’ The heart of the TARDIS                   j’ Lady dies                 i’ Mickey’s car               h’ Floor 000: Rodrick tells Daleks that they do not exist             g’ “Dad wouldn’t give up”           f’ The Doctor asks Lynda what is happening on Earth; Lynda describes its melting         e’ Dalek Emperor: “I have created heaven on earth.”     c’ Davitch tells Programmer he stayed for her       d’ Jackie says Rose was right about Pete   b’ Last defenses fall; Davitch, Programmer, and Lynda are exterminated a’ Bad Wolf saves the Doctor

In Father’s Day, it was noted that the TARDIS disappeared when the Doctor and Rose broke up, implying a connection between the physical vehicle and the metaphorical relationship. The connection of k/k’ may further solidify this parallel, for it sets up the ideals Rose states not merely with the TARDIS, but with “the heart” of the TARDIS specifically.

Mickey grows a lot in a short time. In m, he insists to Rose, “You've got to start living your own life, you know, a proper life, like the kind he's never had, the sort of life that you could have with me.” Alright then: when Rose is with the Doctor, she's not “living [her] own life,” but if Rose was with Mickey, then that would be “a proper life.” We again see Mickey being possessive of Rose. However, after Rose says with finality that there is nothing left for her in 2006, Mickey accepts this, and his heart grew three sizes that day. He immediately throws his efforts behind Rose, doing everything he can to help her, support her. The chiasm shows this nicely between i/i’. In i, the Doctor does what is best for Rose by sending her home. In i’, Mickey does what is best for Rose by trying to get her back to Satellite 5. Being compared with the Doctor is usually a very good thing.

The parallel of Jack (g) with Rose’s father (g’) adds credence to the idea that Rose’s chasing after boys stems from unresolved daddy issues.

The connection between d/d’ is unclear. Perhaps Rodrick is supposed to be a foil for Pete. The Pete we know is one who gave his life to save the world (which is exactly what Rose is trying to do in d’) whereas Rodrick is still trying to collect the profit he made off the lives of others.

Figure 2 (1.a/1.a’)

a Rose fears the Daleks firing on the TARDIS   b Dalek fires on Jack; Jack kills Dalek     c The Doctor talks with Daleks about the Last Great Time War—“the Oncoming Storm”       d Dalek Emperor reveals itself         e “I reached into the dark and made new life. I am the god of all Daleks.”           f “Driven mad by your own flesh, the stink of humanity. You hate your own existence, and that makes them more deadly than ever.”             g The Doctor leaves, sullenly a’ Bad Wolf entity born   b’ Jack fires on Daleks; Daleks kill Jack     c’ Doctor talks with Daleks about the Last Great Time War—“Coward any day”       d’ Bad Wolf entity enters         e’ “I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself....I want you safe, my Doctor, protected from the false god.”           f’ Daleks dematerialize             g’ Bad Wolf despairs

The episode opens and begins to close with two panels of step parallelism. The Dalek threat is introduced and defeated, and the Dalek god meets its match in a divine being on the Doctor’s side.

Figure 3

a “I think you need a Doctor”   b The Doctor kisses Rose     c The Doctor glows       d Jack inspects Dalek dust         e Rose wakes up       d’ The Doctor makes light of the Dalek defeat     c’ The Doctor still glows   b’ Ninth Doctor says goodbye a’ The Doctor regenerates

This unit could be seen as a parallel to the flashback to Bad Wolf: The Doctor telling Rose that he is coming to save her being paralleled with the Doctor rescuing Rose from the time vortex energy. The flashback seems too short to serve as a parallel though. Instead, I think this final chiasms stands outside the larger chiasm above as an epilogue to the story. It could even be seen as an epilogue, not only to Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, but to the entire Series 1 arc.

Rose’s Soliloquy: “A Better Life”

It was a better life. I don't mean all the travelling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. That don’t matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know: he showed you too. That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away, and I just can’t [go back to a pre-Doctor life].

This summarizes Doctor Who. This is the show, right here. In particular, it says two things. The more obvious point is that the show is not about the sci-fi but about the story; that is, it is about helping people, saving the world, telling ordinary people how important they are rather than about aliens.

The less obvious point is that this life is one that the Doctor shows; that is, it is not a self-evident way of living, but a life that people see the Doctor live and then desire to emulate. It certainly is not a guarantee that people will admire it, as will be seen below, but the Doctor does have a pretty decent success rate. Jack, for instance, tells the Doctor goodbye by saying, “Wish I never met you, Doctor: I was much better off as a coward.” The Doctor changed Jack just like he changed Rose, and, though it certainly took its time to hatch, the Doctor changed Mickey and Jackie as well. They find themselves speechless when Rose says these words, and Jackie in particular is not one to hold her tongue, even if she is thinking that Rose is just being excitable. Jackie does not even tell her to stop talking; she is just silent (she will need one last push, but she is almost there). They both know that Rose is right, and by the end of the episode, Jackie and Mickey are entirely on board with Rose, which pays dividends in this very episode, but will continue into Series 2.

It might appear that there is a contradiction in Rose’s defense. She knows that the Doctor is a big fan of ordinary people and ordinary things, but she despairs that she will have to return to such a life. The context of the statement resolves the problem, however. Rose knows full well that there is value in that life, but she would hate herself while living such a life knowing that she ran away from the Doctor, tricked though she was. She did not have the chance to make a stand, and it would haunt her the rest of her life. Fittingly, the rest of the episode supports the impressive ordinariness theme by having Rose save the world through a tow truck. Common people rally together with the commonplace tools they have available, and they overcome. This is the show.

The Wrath of the Doctor: “Coward or Killer?”

This theme has been developing for a while. As discussed in Dalek, Rose seems to have had a profound influence on the Doctor. Throughout that episode, he says hateful things towards the Dalek and guides a war against it. He finally takes up a most impressive looking gun to take care of his enemy himself, and he would have had Rose not stopped him. Rose asked him what he was turning into, implying that in using the Daleks’ tactics, he was becoming one himself. The difference this made in the Doctor can be seen clearly in his approach to the Daleks here: he refuses to fire on them. Perhaps the stronger parallel, however, is not between the Dalek episodes, but between The Parting of the Ways and World War Three. The Doctor had no qualms then about dropping a missile on the Slitheen, but he refuses to throw his delta wave at the Daleks now. The stakes are just as high: the obliteration of the Earth. Nevertheless, the Doctor refuses to fire.

We can go even further. The timing of the Doctor’s choice is crucial. The Daleks surround him only after the melting of the Earth. There are likely no humans left alive on the planet any longer. We know for a fact that there are no humans alive on Satellite 5 at this point. The chiasm connects these two facts to underline that the risk of the delta wave (1.f) is now zero (1.f’). No innocent lives will be lost. All that remains is the Doctor and the Daleks. Nevertheless, again, the Doctor refuses to fire. The point now is not that the Doctor simply hopes for a peaceful solution, for the situation is well beyond that. The point is that he will not become like the Daleks. He will not fire on his enemies.

Of comparable importance is what occurs at the end of Bad Wolf. The Doctor famously invades Floor 500 with a very large gun and casts it aside immediately, handing it to his presumed enemy. He never even thought about using it. We should note that this is while he still thought Rose was dead. He will not use guns: not against his greatest enemies and not even to exact revenge.

The Casualties of the Doctor: “You lied to me!”

This theme corresponds to the above, and it is a paradox that runs throughout Doctor Who. On the one hand, the Doctor refuses to be a killer, but, as Clive would say, “When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion…Death.” In this story, this is true on a large scale, for the Doctor claims responsibility for humanity’s re-enslavement after he removed the Jagrafess in The Long Game. (This seems unfair since the Controller says the Daleks have been guiding humanity for hundreds and hundreds of years, implying that they installed the Jagrafess themselves and therefore that the Doctor did not cause anything; he simply did not see the full extent of Satellite 5’s threat.)

It is also true on a small scale—and this becomes a strong motif throughout the series—for those that choose to stand up with the Doctor suffer terrible consequences, often death. In the case of this story, every single person dies. The earth melts, and the satellite is sterilized. To make sure the audience is aware of that, everyone with a speaking part in the two episodes dies on camera: Davitch, Programmer, the other nameless lady, the Controller, and Lynda Moss. Jack may resurrect, but, by definition, he died as well. Even the Doctor dies. Everyone dies. Rose is the exception, but only because she was forced to vacate, and even she almost dies as well.

The nameless lady is an interesting development of this motif. She dies with the words, “You lied to me! The bullets don’t work!” Although she is blaming Jack and not the Doctor, she is still blaming a companion, a member of Team TARDIS, as it were. Her words of blame are interesting for two reasons. First is because it implies that she regrets her decision: she would rather not have died on the field of battle. Normally, that would be an understandable desire, but in this case, again, everyone is dying. There are some who die stalling for time and some that die for no reason at all. Those are her only two options. There is no hiding place from the Daleks. The second reason her words of blame are odd is because of her profession: she was the stage manager for The Weakest Link. Her job was managing the human sacrifices, which, in addition to being obviously immoral, is the very thing causing this crisis. The humans she saw slaughtered, every single day, were the breeding grounds for this Dalek army. She made this army. She herself sowed the seeds for humanity’s ruin, and she blames Jack and the Doctor for her death.

This theme of the Doctor’s destructive wake receives its greatest development when the Dalek Emperor forces the Doctor to defend his decision to use the delta wave, which will kill all humans along with the Daleks. The Emperor acts as prosecutor against Doctor with Jack as the judge. The Emperor and the Doctor present their respective cases, and Jack accepts that the Doctor’s way makes the most sense: “Never doubted him, never will.”

Between all these characters, this theme ends up saying multiple things. The Doctor rallies several kinds of people to him. Some love the Doctor and will follow him anywhere. Others, however, are less sure of him, and they follow him begrudgingly until a better option appears. Jack’s role in this theme—since he has the benefit of having the Emperor point out everything that is wrong with the Doctor’s plan, but nevertheless trusts the Doctor—is to vindicate the Doctor. Jack shows that the Doctor is right. The nameless woman, however, shows that some people will apply blame to him regardless. (The setting up of 1.j/1.j’ suggests that this parallel was intentional.)

Clash of the Gods: “I am immortal” “You are tiny”

The Dalek Emperor and Bad Wolf are set up as rival divine beings (Figure 2). They are as opposed as two beings can get (rather similar to Zoroastrianism, actually). The Dalek Emperor is a god of hate and a god who brings death. Bad Wolf is a goddess who fights out of loyalty (if not love) for her Doctor and (annihilation of the Daleks notwithstanding), brings life, resurrecting Jack at the least (and perhaps more). Most important to interpreting the Bad Wolf, however, is to note precisely what brought her about. What caused Rose to kick back into fighting mode? The “bad wolf” message convinced her that there was a way back to the Doctor, yes, but it was realizing the truth behind the things she said in her soliloquy that reinvigorated her wanting to. As such, the Bad Wolf entity is the embodiment of that monologue: she represents the better way of living, of making a stand, of doing what is right when everyone else runs away.

Given that, Bad Wolf overcoming the Emperor is not simply the good guys beating the bad guys. They both represent something specific. The Emperor represents hate and destruction, and his army represents those qualities going unopposed. Bad Wolf represents the defiant spirit that resists those forces. How is hate overcome? Simply by saying no and taking whatever stand is necessary in keeping with saying no. This is the inverse of the classic saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” This is dramatically portrayed in Bad Wolf not even struggling against the Emperor: she has her way with the Daleks and singlehandedly annihilates an armada without any real effort.

It would be quite easy to misinterpret the message at this point. It would be easy to assume a triumphalist message that bad guys will always lose, so let’s go get ’em. This story does much to tell a fuller moral, however; we would do well to consider its nuances. First, that the Doctor refuses to attack the Daleks shows that “making a stand” does not mean resorting to violence. It probably means the opposite, for it is hard not to hate that which you harm, which increases the cycle of hate rather than combatting it.

Plot Summary

The Doctor wakes up in a daze and in a strange room. He is unaware of he got where he is, but before he can piece things together, he is welcomed into a Big Brother house. Rose and Jack also wake up to find themselves in reality television shows of their own. Rose is on The Weakest Link and Jack is on What Not to Wear. The Doctor realizes that they have been abducted from out of the TARDIS, which ought to be impossible. Meanwhile, two programmers discuss what these new contestants are doing on the Game Station as well as some odd transmissions the satellite has been sending.

(The male programmer’s name is Davitch Pavale. The female programmer was not given a name, either in Bad Wolf or in The Parting of the Ways. To compensate for this oversight, she will be referred to as Programmer.)

The Doctor quickly learns that losing these games means losing one’s life and quickly breaks out of the Big Brother house, inviting a fellow contestant, Lynda, to come with him. As Jack breaks out of his game, Rose and the Doctor learn that they are playing for the Bad Wolf Corporation. The Doctor further realizes that the Game Station is Satellite 5 from The Long Game: humanity never recovered from what the Doctor “fixed,” and they remain enslaved a century later.

Jack meets up with the Doctor and Lynda, and they make their way to Rose. However, they arrive just as Rose gets her final question wrong. The Anne Droid is surprised at the Doctor’s entry and turns to face him. Rose rushes to warn the Doctor of the Anne Droid’s weaponry, and she is disintegrated, presumed dead.

The Doctor, Jack, and Lynda are arrested, processed, and sentenced (the lack of trial showing just how enslaved humanity is). The Doctor will have none of that, however, and they break out of their cell and storm the control room. On arriving, they learn that the Controller brought them there intentionally so that they could liberate humanity from their masters: the Daleks. They also learn that the disintegration gun is merely a transmat beam: Rose was not killed, but transported. The Daleks call the Doctor and they trash talk each other for a moment before the Doctor tells Rose that he is coming for her.

A full summary of this episode may be found in the TARDIS data core.

Story Structure

The structure for Bad Wolf is peculiar for a Doctor Who episode. It is chiastic, as each other episode has been, but every other episode had a single chiasm run through the entire episode whereas Bad Wolf is made up of four separate chiasms that relate to each other loosely although still forming chiasmus.

Also strange is that, unlike Aliens of London/World War Three and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, the two other two-parters in Series 1, the connections between Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways are practically nonexistent. Bad Wolf leads right into The Parting of the Ways, of course, but most elements—the games in particular—have no relevance in the next episode. The characters introduced in Bad Wolf continue on in The Parting of the Ways, but once the Daleks are finally introduced in Bad Wolf, the rest of the episode fades away.

Figure 1 (time in minutes)

a In the games (15:11 – this includes the flashback sequence, but does not include the main title)   b Escaping the games (10:51)   b’ Running to Rose (4:44) a’ Controller reveals all (10:02 – this excludes the trailer for the final episode and credits)

Units b/b’ feature the Doctor and Jack breaking out of their games and trying to break Rose out of hers. Unit a features most of the games themselves as well as the indicators that something is “hidden” beneath the satellite’s transmission whereas a’ explains why the Controller put the protagonists in the games and reveals what the transmission was hiding. Alternatively, b/b’ show how devastating the Bad Wolf Corporation is for humanity while a/a’ show how the protagonists fit into fixing it. Unit b’ seems a bit short compared to the other units, but also seems to fit better on its own than attached to the surrounding material.

Figure 2 (1.a)

a Flashback   b The Doctor wakes     c Rose wakes       d Jack wakes         e The Doctor remembers/Davitch talks with Programmer         e’ Rose plays/Davitch talks with Programmer       d’ Jack’s clothing     c’ Rose: play or die   b’ Sophie is evicted from life a’ Davitch tells the Programmer that something is hidden in the transmission

The crucial placement of Davitch and Programmer’s conversations at the center and end of the chiasms serve to tell the audience that far, far more is going on than appears in the games. As silly as the games may appear or as deadly as they may appear, there is still more to be uncovered.

Figure 3 (1.b)

a The Doctor breaks monitor   b Jack shoots his droids     c Rose realizes she plays for the Bad Wolf Corporation       d The Doctor escapes/Davitch and Programmer watch     c’ The Doctor and Lynda discuss Satellite 5       d’ The Controller acts strangely   b’ Jack makes a bigger gun and leaves a’ The Doctor: “I made this world”

Similar to Figure 2, the center of this chiasm also heightens the tension of the situation despite the games surrounding the characters. Whereas Figure 2 simply hinted that something bigger was going on, Figure 3 begins to illuminate what that is.

Figure 4 (1.b’)

a Two contestants remain on The Weakest Link   b Jack and the Doctor meet up     c Rose gets a question wrong       d The Doctor locates Rose’s floor         e Rodrick gets a question wrong; Rose gets a question right           f The Doctor takes an elevator to Rose             g Rodrick gets a question right; Rose gets a question wrong           f’ The Doctor continues on the elevator         e’ Rodrick and Rose each get a question wrong       d’ The Doctor arrives to the floor as Rodrick gets one wrong     c’ Rose gets her last question wrong as the Doctor hacks in   b’ Rose asks where the Doctor is as the Doctor rushes to her a’ Rose gets disintegrated; the Doctor gets arrested

This chiasm turns on the one question we see Rodrick get right (he also got a question right before the audience returned to Rose’s point of view). That answer proves to be the decisive point in Rodrick and Rose’s fates.

Figure 5 (1.a’)

a The Doctor sentenced   b Protagonists escape     c Floor 500 prepares for the Doctor       d Davitch’s log         e Jack finds and enters the TARDIS           f The Doctor denies Programmer speaking privileges             g Controller explains all               h Jack transports Lynda                 i Rose wakes up               h’ Daleks transport Controller             g’ Davitch’s log           f’ Programmer asks if it has all been a disguise         e’ Jack finds coordinates       d’ Dalek armada revealed     c’ Daleks prepare for the Doctor   b’ The Doctor says he is coming for Rose a’ Daleks: “Exterminate!”

The final chiasm centers on the reveal that Rose is very much alive. The hidden transmission from before is repeated here in d, and its purpose is revealed in d’. For the Doctor to have escaped from the predicament in a foreshadows that he will overcome the Dalek stratagem in a’.

Reality Television

This episode takes off where The Long Game ended, and its themes piggyback that episode’s as well. Whereas The Long Game critiqued the mass media networks, however, this episode critiques reality television. It would be easy to see these episodes as simply condemning television and that people have better uses of their time. The stories are a bit deeper than that, however. The first clue of that is of course that Doctor Who is itself a television show and that the BBC has its own news network, and it would be unwise for these entities to so broadly condemn their own existences. A second clue is that the hosts of the reality shows in the Bad Wolf episode were voiced by their real life counterparts: Anne Robinson of The Weakest Link, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine of What Not to Wear, and Davina McCall of Big Brother. Again, it is unlikely that these people were telling viewers to stop watching their shows. A final indicator is that just when the Doctor’s condemnation of the Game Station is at its strongest, he backs off:

So the population just sits there? Half the world’s too fat; half the world’s too thin; and you lot just watch telly? …The human race: brainless sheep…have you still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?

The Doctor cuts himself off to ask if his favorite reality television show is still on the air. The episode is thus not condemning watching television, but the mass consumption thereof. This is made all the more clear by Lynda explaining how the earth got this way:

That's when it first went wrong, a hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight….There was nothing left in their place, no information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy: they collapsed. That was the start of it: one hundred years of hell.

Lynda’s words restate the point that The Long Game made: it was not wrong to have mass media. The problem was that journalists were not acting like journalists. There was no investigating going on in the media, and the masses simply consumed whatever was given them. All creativity, all curiosity, was gone, and it has happened again.

 characters of the day are praised or condemned based on what they did in that setting. The Programmer is told that she has lost the right to talk to the Doctor once she tries to excuse her involvement in the human slavery industry by saying “we were just doing our jobs.” The Doctor does not seem to have any particular ill will towards her and others who worked in the Game Station, but he will not let them pretend they are innocent either. The Programmer ends up speaking again later in the scene without the Doctor’s objection once she starts asking questions about the situation. That seems to be all it takes to get on the Doctor’s good side, from Rose to The Long Game to Bad Wolf.

Similarly, Davitch is instantly on the Doctor’s side simply because he had been investigating the hidden transmission. He was as involved in the slaughter of humanity as anyone else, but his help in the present makes him a friend to the Doctor.

The Controller makes for an interesting development in this theme. She is the heart of the mass media industry that has drained humanity of creativity, but she sets up a plan to get the Doctor to her and to speak to him without the Daleks knowing. The Controller, whom the Programmer questioned if she was even human (1.a), saved humanity (1.a’). In a world of enslaved television watchers, a blind girl saved them all.

Being Sweet

If there is one thing that this episode wants to condemn reality television for, it is what it does to people. There are certain characteristics that make for good television, but these qualities do not necessarily make for good human beings.

The Doctor points out half of the problem in his appeal to Lynda to follow him: “Lynda, you’re sweet. From what I’ve seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?” It is certainly the characteristic we would like in our friends, but it is not interesting on television. Strife and drama make for good television. The Big Brother sequence in this episode completes this theme very well, for not only does it make the point that sweet people do not succeed, it shows what happens to them: they are destroyed. They are literally disintegrated in the episode; people are figurative torn apart in real life. Their lives are put on display for us, and they are systematically destroyed for people’s entertainment.

Concerning the disintegration motif, we should note the precise reason why Rose “died” in her game. Rose did not perish because it was her turn to be zapped by the Anne Droid, having lost the game. Instead, she died because she saw the Doctor coming for her and she knew the Doctor was unaware of the Anne Droid’s weaponry. She died in her rush to warn the Doctor. She died to save him. She is punished for her good deed and kind heart. That is what the transmat beam ends up representing: sweet people do not succeed, and they pay the ultimate price for that characteristic.

Rose’s game also displays the other half of the problem; that is, not only do nice guys finish last, but that cruelty wins. She enters The Weakest Link in good faith. She meets Rodrick and attaches herself to him because she needs help and she is inherently trusting. Rodrick at first appears like a nice enough guy, but as the show progresses, his Machiavellian values become clear. He uses cutthroat tactics to manipulate the competition until he narrows the field down to Rose, his final victim. He preys on his fellow humans and profits at their expense.

And in terms of the show—that is, The Weakest Link—there is nothing wrong with that. He played the game as a pro and succeeded. This is a hero if ever society wanted one: through intelligence and cunning strategy, he prevailed, a model capitalist for us all. This is not only great television, this is great business: this is what works. But is this really the human characteristic we want to praise? Do we really want to cast aside the sweet Lyndas and the trusting Roses for the cunning Rodricks? In the show, we would of course say no, but in real life we otherwise would usually answer that question very quickly in the affirmative. We would do well to reconsider.

We should reconsider, and we should note that everyone that this episode praises—sweet Lynda, trusting Rose, courageous Jack, and self-sacrificing Controller—acts the way they do because of the Doctor. The Controller made her move because she knew the legend of the Doctor and knew he could help. Jack—as he will explicitly say in The Parting of the Ways—changed from a coward who runs away from trouble to a hero who rushes to save those in trouble because of the Doctor. Rose and Lynda were already sweet and trusting before they met the Doctor, but the Doctor empowered what was already within them.