Episode 11: Sic Semper Tyrannis
Paris, 1794. The Reign of
Terror has turned the idealistic dream of the French Revolution into a
totalitarian nightmare where Madame Guillotine always has the last word. As a
triumphant Robespierre prepares the grand celebration of the Supreme Being,
fifty days before his own downfall and execution, unseen forces are conspiring
in the shadows… Enter the Time Lady!
Episode 12: Synchronicity
From Carl Jung’s house in 1916
Switzerland to the gnostic theologians of Roman Alexandria, Penelope gathers
the last pieces of the Abraxas puzzle, before receiving the final (and quite
surprising) Revelation in a place beyond space-time. A decidedly metaphysical adventure,
in which the very fate of the continuum depends on the outcome of a
philosophical debate…
Episode 12 concluded (well, more or less - see below) the “Abraxas arch”, in which Penelope
chased the eponymous entity (an elusive Discordian Chronovore) across a
series of pseudo-historical adventures always involving notable or obscure
historical personages suddenly gifted (by the mysterious Abraxas) with the
power of temporal sensitivity – Nostradamus, the mad prophetess Catherine Théos
in the Robespierre adventure, the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (whom the Time
Lady had already met a few years – and quite a few incarnations – earlier, back
in season 3…) and the gnostic theologian Basilides of Alexandria.
Each of these characters was used by the (always unseen) Abraxas entity as an interface / agent / entry point into the historical continuum, apparently trying to twist history according to some mysterious agenda… Nothing Penelope hadn’t seen and handled before – except that, this time, the puppeteer entity always remained off-stage, unreachable and frustratingly unknowable, evidently taking note of Penelope’s interferences in its inscrutable agenda… but never appearing to take direct counter-measures against the interloping Time Lady herself, to her own growing astonishment.
But of course, the Truth was ultimately revealed when Penelope finally got to meet Abraxas itself (themselves?) in an impossible place outside space and time. The look on Penelope’s player’s face when the entity welcomed her (“Greetings, mother…”) was priceless.
To cut a long story short:
- The entity had (unwittingly) been created by Penelope’s restoration of the continuum after the historical havoc wreaked by Father Ernetti’s machine. Thus, Abraxas considered Penelope to be its mother – and was looking forward to her giving it advice and guidance on its course of action as a newly awakened demiurge.
- Because of the particular circumstances of its creation, Adraxas’ omnipotence was actually limited to the period of human history comprised between the Crucifixion and 1958 AD – but within these limits, the entity potentially had the power to reshape history as it wished.
- Abraxas took his demiurgic role very seriously – it wanted to Do the Right Thing for Humanity, mending its world and healing its suffering once and for all, even at the price of every human being’s free will (a concept which was somewhat alien to this quasi-divine being).
- Because of its special connection to Penelope’s timeline, Abraxas had been able to absorb many of her memories and experiences – especially those involving Humanity and the aforementioned historical period (c. 33-1958 AD). And since Penelope always seemed to save lives, help those in need and protect mankind from all kinds of perils, her semi-divine progeny wanted to do the same thing – but, of course, on a much grander and cosmic scale, revealing itself as the “new real god” of humanity and heralding a new era of pure cosmic bliss, without any form of suffering (as well as emotions, since they seem to be the cause for so much pain in the world).
So, what Penelope had anticipated as a climactic psychic battle against an all-powerful entity quickly took a very different turn – that of a fascinating debate about what made human beings what they were, power and responsibility, the meaning of existence and, of course, that pesky concept of free will…
I knew that Sylvie (who is no slouch when it comes to philosophical culture) would be able to give Penelope some pretty solid argumentative power on such subjects but, well, she (once again) amazed me, with a masterful yet improvised discourse which was simply spot on.
The strange metaphysical conversation between the Time Lady and her unlikely “time-child” was the perfect climactic scene to the entire Abraxas arc – and culminated in a very interesting (and quite wonderful, since I had NOT specifically anticipated this beforehand – but hey, going with the flow is one of the joys of GMing in general and Doctor Who GMing in particular) decision by Penelope: since the entity wanted to learn, she simply invited Abraxas to travel with her, as a way to complete its education into “the meaning of life” and “the needs of mankind”.
At the end of the episode, Penelope took Abraxas’ pure energy essence in her trusty Time Lord fob watch, parted ways with Indira (who had decided it was time for her to get back to her own time) and headed the TARDIS back to Avalon, to discuss the “What Next” with the Doctor (and see if perhaps he could rustle up a proper physical body for Abraxas)…
See you in a few weeks for the three final episodes of the season!
