Of Wizards and Time-Lords

[Galadriel55]

Instead of working on my final assignments, I've been watching the Fourth Doctor. Thinking I'd extend the pleasure of procrastination, I revisited this thread and found this gem.

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Something to think about: Davros. If Gandalf is analgous with the Doctor, and Saruman with the Master, is Davros more Sauron or Melkor?

Basing my answer mostly on the Genesis of the Daleks, I'd say Davros is neither Sauron nor Melkor - perhaps a bit of a Saruman, but to me he seems more like a Boromir who did not succeed (or perhaps try) in resisting the Ring. He bites the bait of power and military victory, thinking that he can use this power to shape armies that would bring down a formidable enemy. He lives with a sense of superiority over others, and looks at strangers with arrogance and a pinch of ethnocentrism. But in the end, he ends up biting more than he can chew - his power runs away from him, he is unable to control it and limit it to his own intentions. He becomes the puppet of his own creation, his own doing. Davros, in that episode, is the picture of Boromir had he taken the Ring.

In the episodes of New Who, this analogy doesn't really fit anymore. I was somewhat confused about who he was and what he did in the Tenth Doctor's episodes, but in The Magician's Apprentice / The Witches Familiar (one of my all-time favourites), he really is more of a Saruman. He has the nominal respect of the Daleks, and they do serve him - and obey him, to an extent - but really he is the one dependent on them, while they would live on perfectly fine without their leader. He wouldn't dare command anything too preposterous because his authority is so shaky, like Saruman did not really have authority over the Ruffians. They pillaged and plundered what they would - with Saruman's name and blessing - but had Saruman told them to actually risk their lives for something, that would have been the end of his rule. And weak and powerless, he rejects help and redemption, and is finally overcome by his own servants whom he had put down for too long - Wormtongue for Saruman and the Sewer Daleks for Davros. Mind you, Davros probably still isn't dead, but definitely foiled by his discarded "children".

Maybe they are the same. Maybe Saruman is indeed a Boromir who took the Ring, and Davros in Genesis is just Saruman when he starts out while in Magician's Apprentice he's the Saruman in the Scouring of the Shire. I suppose Davros is a combination of Saruman's appreciation of lore/science, and the tendency to study things by dissection and remake them his own way, and Boromir's lust for battle glory and the greatness of Gondor.

In unrelated news, I may be needing a new scarf.