Day 599: Enlightenment Part 4

Enlightenment refers to the prize at the end of the race. It is the ability to know everything in the Universe, essentially making one all powerful. It is guarded by the two Guardians, Black and White, and is eventually won by the Doctor, with Turlough's help.

They are obliged to offer it to the Doctor, who refuses. It's a flippant monent, and one that is quickly glossed over as Davison babbles on about how he doesn't want it, and indeed feels that no-one should have it save for the Guardians. But it's a moment that speaks truly of the Doctor. A force for good in the Universe, he recognises that this power is overwhelming and will lead to all osrts of problems so he denies it. But that's what we expect from the Time Lord who we have followed for the past 599 days.

Turlough is faced with the choice as well, although slightly altered. He is given a lesser portion of Enlightenment, and the Black Guardian states that, as Turlough is in his employ, he will take it, although he would trade it in exchange for the Doctor's life. Faced with this monumental decision, Turlough, after a moment's thought, refuses violently, shoving the crystal that represents Enlightenment into the Black Guardian, causing him to burn away as the shining brightness of the crystal comes into contact with his deep and dark heart. Enlightenment, as is stated at this point in the story, is the choice, the power to choose what future you might have. Turlough is faced with a future of power, but that of evil, or a future on the side of good, but somewhat lacking on the power sense. He chooses the latter, recognising that it is not within his ability to hold that much power, even if it is just the power over one man's life. In that moment, Turlough can finally be accepted on the TARDIS crew. We can now see that he is at least trustworthy, even if it took some time for this to fully come to fruition, and we can look forward to seeing him, Tegan and the Doctor as they go on many more adventures through time and space.

Day 598: Enlightenment Part 3

Turlough's story arc is nearing its conclusion as we approach the end of this trilogy of stories that began with Mawdryn Undead. He's accepted the offer from the Black Guardian to kill the Doctor, and attempted this, but it's clear that he can't perform the deed, because he doesn't quite believe that he could kill someone. The Black Guardian is thus naturally annoyed, and is now attempting to torment Turlough for not fulfilling his part of the bargain.

The scene, then, that is most important to the story arc in this particular episode, comes near the conclusion. Turlough has been trapped in a chamber that overlooks a portion of space, and the vacuum shield that is preventing all of the air from escaping has been switched off. Running out of oxygen quickly, he calls on the Black Guardian for assistance. He refuses, and leaves Turlough to die. Turlough continues to call for help, but he changes his focus, asking for the Doctor, instead of the Black Guardian. The Doctor arrives, having been looking for Turlough anyway, and rescues him.

This scene is clearly important, as it shows a strong turning point for Turlough's opinion of the Doctor. He no longer views him as a threat or a target, instead as someone who can help, the man who saves people when they're in trouble. By choosing the Doctor over the Black Guardian, this also acts as a swapping of allegiances, showing that Turlough intends to work for the side of good instead of the side of evil, because he knows that the side of good will be there when he is in trouble and needs help. But we're yet to confirm this, and so we'll need to find out what happens as Enlightenment comes to a conclusion.

Day 597: Enlightenment Part 2

Enlightenment, as pointed out yesterday, is set on an Edwardian sailing ship in space. This sailing ship is taking part in a race, where it and other ships from different periods in Earth's history sail around space to reach the finish line first, and win Enlightenment. The people who take part in this race aren't really people at all, instead they are beings known as Eternals, who are a race of immense power, and who decide to do things only to amuse themselves. The danger, however, is that they require Ephemerals, or mortal humans, to provide solutions to problems as well as doing various bits of work.

This creates an interesting argument that the Doctor and Tegan have with the Eternals over the course of this episode. The Ephemerals don't actually do their work willingly, and have been kidnapped and brainwashed into working for the Eternals, acting as toys as they play their little racing game. This little racing game, in order to make things more interesting, occasionally reaches the point of deadliness, as seen when the Greek ship explodes, killing all Ephemerals on board, whilst the Eternals continue to live on in eternity. The Doctor and Tegan are shocked, in particular Tegan, as it represents normal human lives that have been killed in the name of a race.

But the Eternals do not see death. They do not understand the consequences of actions, for they only see life as a game, and death is just a small annoyance for beings such as them. But death is something that is pivotal to the life of the Ephemeral. It is something that reminds us of how fragile and short our existence can be, such as that which affected Tegan when she saw the death of people like her Aunt Vanessa, or Adric, and how she is now making the most out of her life because of this. Death is something that we can try and fight, like the Doctor, who potters around the Universe, saving people from a variety of fates. It can also be our objective to bring death, such as that of The Black Guardian, who orders Turlough to bring death to others, namely the Doctor. Turlough's punishment for not doing this, as shown by the cliffhanger, is to live on this ship forever, an eternal life of servitude without the sweet release of death and as we saw in Mawdryn Undead, this can be far more of a curse than a blessing.

Day 596: Enlightenment Part 1

It's sometimes really annoying to know things. I've lost count of the amount of films that I've accidentally spoiled by reading one article that will casually mention surprise plot developments in the final act, which I feel kind of ruin nice surprises. An example that comes to mind, for me, is Enlightenment.

It's a Doctor Who story that appears to be set on an Edwardian sailing ship. The sets are all accurate, as one would expect from a BBC period drama, and the sailors below decks all seem to be straight from the period, joking about as they continue on some race that they're meant to be on. But slowly, things appear to be rather odd. The men in charge all of an air of otherworldliness about them, in particular one who stares at Tegan in a slightly uncomfortable way. As the end of the episode is reached, the strangeness intensifies, with sailors screaming as they go above decks, anachronistic wetsuits are spotted and eventually we see an electronic terminal in the wheelhouse. We look outside and see that this ship, along with many others, is a sailing ship in space, a wonderful image and a great shock to the audience.

But not for me. I've already read a brief synopsis of the story which reveals the twist. If I'd missed out on that, I could have found a similar synopsis in the DVD sleeve notes, or from the DVD menu screen which plays out highlights from the story. It's annoying, as this is clearly meant to be a genuine surprise, and whilst I can still appreciate it, I can't really experience it. Still, I've found that surprises come in other forms for me with this blog, as I encounter unexpected classics throughout this fantastic voyage.