The introduction of the Timeless Child backstory at the end of the most recent season of Doctor Who was, to put it lightly, a controversial move. Retconning much of what we know about the Doctor and the history of Time Lords, the decision means that the lead character is something very different to what we first thought. A new theory, however, is now suggesting that the Master could also be a Timeless Child.
According to ScreenRant, the revamped origin story for the Doctor had the consequence of making the Master less of their equal, in that they’re now just another Time Lord, albeit a powerful one who’s managed to cheat their typical regeneration cycle. When Tecteun discovered the Timeless Child at the border to another universe, we see these events take place in the third-person, raising the possibility that someone had to be watching the scene for it to appear in the Gallifreyan Matrix.
The theory, then, goes that the Master is a second Timeless Child, and was also adopted by Tecteun for the purposes of experimenting with their regenerative abilities, something that would later be added to the genetic code of the Time Lords. Of course, there are some hints of how there were two children, notably in the Child’s first regeneration after being pushed off a clifftop. However, one flaw with this idea is that the Master took revenge on Gallifrey after discovering the hidden truth of their origins, which wouldn’t necessarily make sense if they were also from the same species.
The Master’s memories might also be redacted, as much of the Matrix is reported to be, but it does seem to be a stretch to consider that there are Timeless Children. For one thing, this reveal takes away from the uniqueness of the Doctor, and why this is shown to be so important to the character at the end of season 12. Whether offspring of the Doctor are also of the same race is another question, though. Anyway, like other Doctor Who theories, it’s fun to think about, but probably doesn’t hold up to closer scrutiny.
In the meantime, we don’t have long to wait for the next festive special of Doctor Who, which was filmed at the same time as season 12, and therefore not affected by the same COVID-19-related delays as the upcoming thirteenth run of episodes.
