Day 277 — October 4th 2021
Warrior’s Gate Parts Three and Four
Warrior’s Gate — Part Three
I’ve been fairly confused by parts of the narrative here since the story began, but I think it’s safe to say that this episode has totally lost me. I can’t tell if I’m simply failing to keep up with the story or if it’s being wilfully obtuse in an attempt to seem clever. It’s the same issue I was having yesterday with Romana taking the mick — am I supposed to go along with it, or not?
There’s some areas where I think it’s easy to see where’s I’ve lost track. Take for example this line from Biroc;
Doctor Who: ‘So this is what it was all like.’
Biroc: ‘At the height of our empire, before the Tharils became slaves of men.’
It’s followed only a few sentences later by this revelation;
Doctor Who: ‘So you’re the masters the Gundan spoke of? The enslavers.’
Biroc: ‘The weak enslave themselves, Doctor.’
Now sitting back to look at it after the episode has ended I’m guessing that the Tharrils were the kings who enslaved mankind, but then the Gundan robots were built to destroy them and the tables were turned. That’s a relatively simple narrative, but it’s presented here in such an abstract way that it’s hard to keep track. It doesn’t help that the storey flits back and forth between time periods — Doctor Who is seeing the Tharills at the height of their empire during the above conversation, but for the cliffhanger he seems to shoot forward in time to many centuries later, when the same location has fallen to wrack and ruin.
Add to that the fact that the earlier time was accessed via a mirror while the later one is inside the gateway from nowhere, plus talk of other gateways all being the same place, and it’s a bit of a mess, I think.
The biggest issue is that I just don’t care about any of this. If I was engaged in the plight of anyone then I could possibly overlook the bits I don’t understand and just get on with enjoying the story. As it is, I’ve spent most of this episode vaguely pointing my face towards the screen and going ‘eh?’.
I’m afraid I’m right down to a 2/10.
Warrior’s Gate — Part Four
I was really hoping to love Warrior’s Gate this time around. I could remember being vaguely baffled and bored the last time I saw it, but the strong opening to Part One made me think this might be the time I’d reconsider and find a hidden gem. Sadly, it’s not been the case.
The biggest issue I’ve had is that I’ve reached the end of the story and I’m still baffled by almost everything that’s happened. Do the mirrors transport you back into E-Space? The implication at the end here is that yes, they do. Biroc tells Romana that together they’ll free all the imprisoned Tharills in E-Space, and the gateways will lead them to all the worlds they need to visit. It’s a nice concept, and an admirable cause, but I thought there were only three gateways, which I’d reasoned to be into E-Space, N-Space and the void. I’m guessing not. But if not, then what was all the stuff about the three gateways?
And then there’s Romana’s departure, which comes entirely out of the blue. It’s alluded to in Part One when she asks Adric what he’d do if she and Doctor Who weren’t travelling together any more, but it’s not come up since, and there’s no indication that she has any real concern for the wellbeing of the enslaved Tharills more than she would for any creature in captivity. When she announces that she’s not going back into the TARDIS Doctor Who looks completely stunned, and I can’t blame him. It’s the worst companion departure we’ve had in a long, long time. At least K9’s is set up with talk earlier in the story about him being restored only as long as he stays behind the mirrors.
Actually, that begs the question — can he travel to all these E-Space worlds with Romana or not? Surely every time he comes out from behind the mirror his memory will go again? No. Enough trying to make sense of all this — I don’t think you can.
I think I’m going for another 2/10 — I’ve not got a clue.
