Notes of the Cosmic Detective

So I definitely do want/need Kal drama in terms of him finding out Etain is pregnant, but I also now want Mereel to get involved as well as Omega.

What I have is Kal forcibly shipping her off to a planet to maintain her pregnancy. He keeps saying “I got it, I got it” but NOPE this bitch does not have it, because Mereel finds out exactly how backwards that planet is in terms of OB/GYN care and….medical care in general. And Kal keeps trying to defend himself, saying “Do you want her to be off the grid, or announce to the whole galaxy that she’s pregnant and a Jedi?!”

Darman is absolutely livid. Etain had no contact with anyone she knew for 3 months. She was relying on Force healing (which she did in the books) to make sure the baby was healthy. 

Mereel finds her, sends her instead to a MUCH nicer planet with better doctors and hospitals, cleaner streets, neat little convenience stores on every corner, the whole shabbang. She’s in constant contact with ALL of the clones, and there’s a Null with her at all times, 24/7 in case of an emergency. Mereel has a private doctor set up for weekly home visits. He’s planned this carefully–there is both a park and a hospital nearby. She has an already-paid-for apartment.

If Etain had a little accident during her pregnancy then it would’ve taken care of the little problem that threatened to throw off the delicate dynamic of his little “clone family.” Well, he’d have plausible deniability then. I wouldn’t be surprised that if Etain had miscarried, I bet Kal would’ve blamed it on Etain for “not being smart or responsible enough to not lose her baby” as if he hadn’t threatened to beat her half to death beforehand and then shipped her off to somewhere she was isolated from anyone else who could’ve helped her.

Plus, the fact that Etain is 100 pounds at what was essentially 6 months pregnant!? Never mind six months pregnant, unless Etain is under 5 feet tall than 100 pounds is considered anorexic. At six months pregnant where women are supposed to gain 30 pounds?? Etain is 50 pounds underweight, and probably close to death.

As much Force Healing is a neat little plot device, overly used to save the day. Etain and Kad definitely didn’t have the vitamins or calories needed to actually grow a healthy human baby, but you know, Karen Traviss isn’t exactly fond of Kal facing real consequences for his actions. I’m not sure how Ordo could’ve looked at Etain and didn’t think she badly needed a hospital considering she probably looked like a victim of famine.

I personally love the concept of the Timeless Child and I take issue with people who complain that it "broke" or "irreparably damaged" canon. Knowing the origins of the Timeless Child (tested on, tortured, manipulated, and more-or-less vivisected more times than they could count) who eventually grows to be the Fugitive Doctor (and part of Division) before having their entire mind wiped and reset by the power-hungry and overbearing Tecteun/Time Lords who decided their precious Timeless Child had worn out its welcome and now needed to exist as an ordinary Gallifreyan child and grow amongst the ranks of their peers (while somehow never being able to fully quash that tiny voice inside of them which gave rise to the feeling of being something "other" that eventually led them to take Susan and run away/exile themself with the TARDIS in the first place) does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to destroy what we had already seen and learned, especially those things that were more firmly established as part of "official canon" and not more "fringe" outliers like the concept of the looms (which is still wholly fascinating and could somehow potentially still fit in with everything—I am simply not familiar enough with that lore to know the mechanics of it).

I think it all dovetails quite nicely together and I have zero problem accepting it all as the truth of the Doctor's history, especially given how the Doctor has ALWAYS taken issue with the way the Time Lord High Council operated and was always perceived as somewhat of an outcast or troublemaker by members from myriad facets of their life. If anything, I think the concept of the Timeless Child EXPANDS the opportunity for canon exploration and ties many fragmented pieces together, and it really irks me that the consensus so many people have arrived at (seemingly based not on their own merit and viewing and interpretations but rather on consuming and regurgitating condescending "fan" statements—yes, INCLUDING the dismissive quote about "it happened" from Russell T Davies) is that it irrevocably harmed the Doctor Who legacy.

That's entirely unwarranted and unfair, and doesn't give any consideration to the richness and multiple layers of the story. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way!!!!! So it's very disheartening that any time I try to research anything about the Timeless Child storyline, I'm bombarded by "top" search results which reveal the loudest voices to still be those who deride, dismiss, and disparage the beautiful and heart-breaking storylines Chibnall's team created for Jodie Whittaker's and Jo Martin's Doctors (not to mention Sacha Dhawan's Master) with the reveal of Division/the Ravagers and the Timeless Child/Tecteun.

Again, just my opinion, but I stand behind it.

P.S. I also don't buy the argument that it's "derivative" because it magically makes the Doctor some sort of "super special savior/Christ" figure but that's a whole 'nother post.

and they're just absolutely horrified because now they know why the Blip-A never returned, they sent them all to die, now to save their sun they have to redo the entire program all over again and Adrian is devastated -