In Doctor Who, the Master is an evil Time Lord and longtime enemy of the Doctor. They’re easily one of the series’ biggest villains. However, there was a point in the show when the Master actually had a bit of a redemption arc.

During one of the Master’s regenerations, he became a woman and went by the name of Missy (short for ‘Mistress”). During their time as Missy, they grew as a character. They learned to care. They became friends with the Doctor, and the two enemies actually began to trust each other. Missy even went so far as to sacrifice herself to defeat her past regeneration.

However, after Missy perished and the Master took on a new regeneration, he was back to his evil ways as if nothing ever happened. The next time the Master appeared in the series, he was just a villain again, and their friendship with the Doctor wasn’t really acknowledged. It was all just sort of thrown out the window.

There was a bit of a wishy-washy answer as to why this was the case, with the character talking about being angry that the Doctor always acted like they were different. The fans, however, have come up with plenty of their own thoughts and theories on the matter.

One idea is that with a new regeneration, new thoughts and behaviors came along with it. Looking at each incarnation of the Doctor definitely proves this could be the case. Each actor who has played the Doctor has put their own spin on it and each regeneration absolutely acts differently. However, when the Doctor regenerates, it hasn’t negated character development. If anything, it’s always represented the character’s development to an extent, always going forward rather than backward.

Another popular theory, and one that I personally like a lot, is that Missy is actually the final regeneration of the Master, and what we’ve seen more recently is a regeneration from before they became Missy. This is made possible by the wibbly-wobbly time traveling nature of the show. It also indicates that the character development that Missy went through sticks, and that the character has a satisfactory ending while still serving as an antagonist for later incarnations of the Doctor. It’s honestly a perfect win/win. However, this hasn’t been confirmed by the series whatsoever.

One other potential reason for the Master returning to his evil ways is that Missy’s development was embellished by the fans, and that she was still evil all along. I keep seeing online conversations saying this, and it doesn’t seem correct. She still definitely had a twisted sense of humor and was willing to do things the Doctor isn’t, like kill people, but she definitely grew to be more of the Doctor’s ally. It’s not clear we’re folks who say this got the idea, but I’d love to know the thought behind it.

What are your thoughts on the matter, cherished reader? Hopefully the series addresses it soon, because the reasons as to why the Master seemed to flip-flop are unclear, and fans are clearly clambering for an answer. There are plenty of threads online discussing it, and the writers shouldn’t leave them all hanging.

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