The War Master: Solitary Confinement

#9.01. The Walls of Absence ~ 10/10

◆ An Introduction

Summer has come well-and-truly early this year, which would usually be my cue to review something uncomplicated and easy to understand. Stuff that for a game of soldiers, let’s catch-up on the exploits of the War Master!

I remember discussing this set with one of my good friends on Twitter: she found it was the most boring release in the whole range, and told me that one of the episodes is a blatant rip-off of ‘White Bear’ (Black Mirror).

I somehow doubt anything could fail harder than ‘Rage of the Time Lords’ did, but let’s not tempt fate.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The Code Purgers of Chift have made a fortune cleaning up the galaxy’s code: subroutines assessed, and errors repaired. So when the Master loses his mind, quite literally, there is only one place he can turn.

◆ The War Master

The Master spent the majority of this episode wandering around like some poor amnesiac, but of course, that turned out to be an incredible act of deception: he played Mendrix like a fiddle, getting her to do exactly what he needed. James Goss once more demonstrates a perfect understanding of this character.

If you need any indication of how long it’s been since I last talked about the impeccable Sir Derek, I was still writing reviews for the other site back then. Jacobi understands that his incarnation is a smooth operator; someone who can wrap people around his little finger and have them dancing to his tune. He clearly enjoyed getting the chance to play a more reflective and thoughtful version of the Master… before taking off the mask and revealing – ta-dah – that the character is still rotten to the core!

Once a line is crossed, once beauty is destroyed, it cannot be repaired. What is the point of art? To capture and preserve a perfect moment for all eternity: a moment that becomes, simply through being observed, beautiful. The Master believes one must be dignified at all times, especially when performing a daring rescue at sea. He’s a stranger, and an idiot, according to Mendrix. He has never been able to resist an SOS. You have to understand: as an alien, he can’t necessarily translate all of Mendrix’s experiences at once. The Master was in a war, but can’t be sure if he was fighting in it, or just caught up in the conflict. He has cunning: Mendrix wonders if he could be a general! He cannot remember his name, so his new friend decides to call him “General”. Why wouldn’t he be alright with dying? All things die, even him. But he then retracts that statement and admits he is afraid of dying. The Master likes being himself; he can’t imagine not being himself. He is intelligent. He’s still in reasonable command of his faculties, and he’s worried as this progresses, he will lose all of what makes him, him – except the terrible awareness that he’s losing it! He will end up as just the walls of his absence. As a child, the Master could look out at the sky, at the endlessness of it, and he could somehow want all of it; every bright spot of beautiful light, every world that circled that star, every cloud that drifted between the galaxies. He wanted them all. Does that make him mad? The Master claims that you can fight nobly, you can fight dirty, but the only thing you have to do is win! Once the unfortunate amnesic guise has slipped away, the Master tells Mendrix that love is just another virus: so easily caught, and so easily cured.

◆ Dissociative Fugue

I’ve always spoken pretty openly about my personal mental health issues in reviews, but this episode actually reminded me of a series of counselling appointments I had in 2021. I suppose I should give some context by telling you all that I suffer with PTSD, and I wont go any further into it than that: don’t think anyone wants me having a mental breakdown whilst discussing an audio adventure!

Over the past eight years, I have engaged in several forms of counselling, but lockdown completely shattered my support network. I made a self-referral to my local branch of Talking Therapies and quickly began a course of telephone appointments; the pandemic was still pretty bad back then, so face-to-face was completely off the table.

The counsellor I was buddied up with suggested using something called cognitive behavioural therapy, which I initially thought was absolute nonsense: he had me engaging in mindfulness meditation, where I would tap my shoulders in a steady beat and tune into the thoughts coming into my mind, whilst letting them pass without judgement. Surprisingly, it actually helped me process a great deal of my past trauma.

Mendrix appears to be utilising a form of cognitive behavioural therapy to aid the Master, who seems to be suffering a dissociative fugue: where you temporarily lose all sense of personal identity and impulsively wander or travel away from your home. People in a fugue state often become confused about who they are and might even create new identities, like how the Master takes on the guise of “General”.

◆ Music

‘The Walls of Absence’ opens with this stunning piano piece that wouldn’t look out of place in a love story: considering Mendrix takes an instant shine to the Master, it seems rather fitting.

Robert Harvey makes gorgeous use of the piano throughout this score. There is one specific moment at 10:32 where the motif carries such foreboding and sadness. It’s beautifully done.

◆ Conclusion

“For some reason, my eyes stopped seeing puce the other day. I don’t really miss it.”

Imagine watching the ‘Human Nature’ two-parter, but the Doctor confesses to Joan Redfern that he only romanced her because she was the means to an end. That’s basically what this story boils down to, which is probably me underselling it a bit.

Jacobi was excellent in this episode, clearly enjoying the opportunity to play a more reflective and thoughtful version of the Master… before taking off the mask and revealing – ta-dah – that the character is still rotten to the core! Easily one of my favourite performances from him.

Sir Derek also happened to be reunited with one of his I, Claudius castmates for this exceptionally written two-hander. Siân Phillips was genuinely charming in her role: Mendrix might be retired, but she’s still a talented code purger. She unfortunately made the worst mistake of her life, and fell in love with the Master!

An incredible act of deception which leads to the Code Purgers of Chift becoming a part of the Time War, and completely losing their neutrality. James Goss has kicked things off very nicely with ‘The Walls of Absence’.