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"I don't want to go."
The famous last words of David Tennant's Doctor. No speech, no joke, just fear. But fear of what, exactly? I've seen explanations such as Ten just being dramatic over regenerating or him fearing he'll be less caring (which, judging by Eleven's attitude, makes some sense, but more on that later). I don't buy the latter. When he met his future self, Ten didn't seem disturbed at all over the fact that he was going to change, even though after aborting his initial regeneration he said "I didn't want to change, why would I?" He even said to himself "Good to know my future is in safe hands." So changing wasn't the problem for Ten. What was? By the way, when told that he was going to Trenzalore, he said "We need a new destination, because... I don't want to go." So maybe he just feared permanently dying? After all, the Eleventh Doctor was his thirteenth incarnation. Well, I have a better explanation.
"Thanks, give me guilt! Also guilt! More guilt! Come on, there must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet!"
This is what the Eleventh Doctor said when talking to the Tardis' voice interface. The interface took the form of Rose, Martha, and Donna. In his eyes, the Doctor failed all of them. Leaving Rose in another universe, ignoring Martha, and having to erase Donna's memories of him. The Doctor is ashamed of what happened to his previous companions. free netflix tech news android 9 We saw this before in The Stolen Earth, when Davros tells the Doctor that his "children of time" were turned into killers because of him. Davros goes on, saying that many people have died for the Doctor. He's later able to redeem himself over the latter by giving his life to save Wilf, and sees that his friends all turned out okay in the end, but the point remains: When the Doctor meets someone, their life changes. Captain Jack Harkness, who said he was better off a coward. Sarah Jane Smith, who met the Doctor a long time ago, but was left behind. Yeah, they turned out better. Jack joined Torchwood and is protecting the earth, and Sarah had a son. But they went through a lot to get there. Jack dealing with his immortality, and Sarah trying to cope with never seeing her friend or the universe again after that day in Aberdeen.
So, why did the Tenth Doctor not want to go? It wasn't vanity or fear of changing, it was regret. Ten had too many regrets, even after his final reward. Were Mickey and Martha safe? Was Rose happy with the meta-crisis Doctor? Would Sarah be okay living like the Doctor? Was Jack fine with never dying (yes I know it's implied he becomes the Face of Boe but that's supposed to be left ambiguous)? He would never know. And because of that, he didn't want to go. Every other Doctor was fine with regenerating, because they had closure (except for the Second and Seventh Doctors, but Two was forced to regenerate, and Seven was too worried about the timing malfunction and the Master). One was at peace after meeting with his future self. Three was with his friends when he almost died. Four saved the universe from the Master. Five sacrificed himself to save Peri. If you listen to the Big Finish audio The Last Adventure, you'll find out that Six was already okay with permanently dying before finding out he would regenerate. Eight, while not happy with the idea of changing, knew he had to regenerate into a warrior. The War Doctor was happy that the war was over. Nine was happy that he could be merciful again. But Ten? He had too much guilt that he couldn't assuage. Think about what the Moment referred to him as: The man who regrets. So that's why he didn't want to go. He had too many regrets. At least the Eleventh Doctor moved on from his guilt. Even when he lost Amy, he was fine knowing that she lived a good life, even though he had to retire from Doctoring for a while. At the end, he was glad he could keep on being the Doctor. We see this with Twelve. Despite being grumpy, he was really caring of humans. He said as much, saying he had a "duty of care." He wanted to help them as much as possible, and was willing to break his rules of time travel to save a life. And then, when he regenerated, he (or I guess she) was able to fully move on from that trauma of their past lives. A fresh start as a happier and kinder Doctor.
The famous last words of David Tennant's Doctor. No speech, no joke, just fear. But fear of what, exactly? I've seen explanations such as Ten just being dramatic over regenerating or him fearing he'll be less caring (which, judging by Eleven's attitude, makes some sense, but more on that later). I don't buy the latter. When he met his future self, Ten didn't seem disturbed at all over the fact that he was going to change, even though after aborting his initial regeneration he said "I didn't want to change, why would I?" He even said to himself "Good to know my future is in safe hands." So changing wasn't the problem for Ten. What was? By the way, when told that he was going to Trenzalore, he said "We need a new destination, because... I don't want to go." So maybe he just feared permanently dying? After all, the Eleventh Doctor was his thirteenth incarnation. Well, I have a better explanation.
"Thanks, give me guilt! Also guilt! More guilt! Come on, there must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet!"
This is what the Eleventh Doctor said when talking to the Tardis' voice interface. The interface took the form of Rose, Martha, and Donna. In his eyes, the Doctor failed all of them. Leaving Rose in another universe, ignoring Martha, and having to erase Donna's memories of him. The Doctor is ashamed of what happened to his previous companions. free netflix tech news android 9 We saw this before in The Stolen Earth, when Davros tells the Doctor that his "children of time" were turned into killers because of him. Davros goes on, saying that many people have died for the Doctor. He's later able to redeem himself over the latter by giving his life to save Wilf, and sees that his friends all turned out okay in the end, but the point remains: When the Doctor meets someone, their life changes. Captain Jack Harkness, who said he was better off a coward. Sarah Jane Smith, who met the Doctor a long time ago, but was left behind. Yeah, they turned out better. Jack joined Torchwood and is protecting the earth, and Sarah had a son. But they went through a lot to get there. Jack dealing with his immortality, and Sarah trying to cope with never seeing her friend or the universe again after that day in Aberdeen.
So, why did the Tenth Doctor not want to go? It wasn't vanity or fear of changing, it was regret. Ten had too many regrets, even after his final reward. Were Mickey and Martha safe? Was Rose happy with the meta-crisis Doctor? Would Sarah be okay living like the Doctor? Was Jack fine with never dying (yes I know it's implied he becomes the Face of Boe but that's supposed to be left ambiguous)? He would never know. And because of that, he didn't want to go. Every other Doctor was fine with regenerating, because they had closure (except for the Second and Seventh Doctors, but Two was forced to regenerate, and Seven was too worried about the timing malfunction and the Master). One was at peace after meeting with his future self. Three was with his friends when he almost died. Four saved the universe from the Master. Five sacrificed himself to save Peri. If you listen to the Big Finish audio The Last Adventure, you'll find out that Six was already okay with permanently dying before finding out he would regenerate. Eight, while not happy with the idea of changing, knew he had to regenerate into a warrior. The War Doctor was happy that the war was over. Nine was happy that he could be merciful again. But Ten? He had too much guilt that he couldn't assuage. Think about what the Moment referred to him as: The man who regrets. So that's why he didn't want to go. He had too many regrets. At least the Eleventh Doctor moved on from his guilt. Even when he lost Amy, he was fine knowing that she lived a good life, even though he had to retire from Doctoring for a while. At the end, he was glad he could keep on being the Doctor. We see this with Twelve. Despite being grumpy, he was really caring of humans. He said as much, saying he had a "duty of care." He wanted to help them as much as possible, and was willing to break his rules of time travel to save a life. And then, when he regenerated, he (or I guess she) was able to fully move on from that trauma of their past lives. A fresh start as a happier and kinder Doctor.