Dante's Prayer:

Dante's Prayer:

A Doctor Who Music Video

Before I begin, I'd like to put forward my opinions on certain things. Now understand, these are just my opinions, which some may share and others not, so do not draw me, quarter me, and leave me for the Daleks.

I know that many people do not completely accept the NA's. I haven't read them all, but skimmed many and have read about them from other sources. Now, as far as I know, the concept of the Loom was introduced solely in the NA's. And…wait a minute…(puts on armor)…I simply don't buy into it. There seem to be certain things in the series itself that don't quite gel with it. Such as…there are at least two Gallifreyans that we've seen that have shown themselves to be capable of romantic love. And the fact that Lungbarrow said that Leela and Andred weren't officially "married", while in Arc of Infinity, we explicitly heard their wedding mentioned. And the times in the series (especially Patrick Troughton, in Tomb of the Cybermen) where the Doctor mentions his family, referring to them more emotionally than he would to some bunch of genetically engineered "cousins". And the fact that the "cross computers" is referred to as the maternity symbol (why call it that if there's really no mothers?) And the fact that there truly seems to be a grandfather-grandchild bond between Doc One and Susan, and that he does explicitly say "You are my grandchild, and always will be." Things like that.

And I think others may agree with me, writers of fanfics and web pages that refer to normal family life on Gallifrey, and a normal past love/marriage for the Doctor. (Witness Robin Carroll-Mann's quite excellent "Birthright", which also postulated a human father for Susan.) Even the writer of an article in DWM didn't really seem to buy the Loom business. And some people on the Net actually seemed pleased that the TVM seemed to deny the Loom business. They seem to believe that it was a lot of convolution for no real reason given in the series. So I, too, go with Occam's Razor, and simply choose to believe that Susan is the Doctor's natural granddaughter, and that at one time he did have a wife that he lost in some way, most likely to death. And that the reason he never again fell in love is that he doesn't want to be unfaithful to her memory…or perhaps fears another loss. (I also postulate that Gallifreyan spouses have a deep psychic bond that allows love to cross regeneration…and that the sundering of this bond by death causes extremely deep wounds.)

The "music video" concept is a second cousin to the songfic…the line in parentheses describes the action going on during the line of the song. The Doctor here is the Eighth, and also a younger version, his first incarnation in his youth. I "cast" the young actor Christian Bale as the young First Doctor.

"Dante's Prayer" is by Loreena McKennit, from the superb album "The Book of Secrets." If you have the CD, cue it up!

It's the anniversary of the day the Doctor lost someone very dear to him, and on a visit to Gallifrey, he remembers…

(Winter on Gallifrey…the moors outside the city swept with wind. The Doctor, having completed whatever business he needed to do in the city, is about to travel outside its boundaries. His old friend Drax, who's aided him during his business, comes up behind him and asks if he's sure he wants to do this. He nods, smiling a tight not-quite-sincere smile. Drax watches anxiously as he exits the city. As the somber chanting begins, we see the Doctor in the winter twilight. He walks toward a wooded area, on a high hill, from which we can see the sea far off. He kneels there to place a white rose on the ground, and sits quietly remembering…)

When the dark wood fell before me

And all the paths were overgrown

(The young Doctor, feeling alone as the "renegade" and "rebel", walks to the woods in the autumn twilight.)

When the priests of pride say there is no other way

I tilled the sorrows of stone

(A shot of one of the cardinals scolding the Doctor for his rebellious ways.)

I did not believe because I could not see

Though you came to me in the night

(And as the young Doctor comes to this wooded glen, he sees the beautiful young Time Lady he loves, his bride-to-be, smiling and reaching out to him.)

When the dawn seemed forever lost

You showed me your love in the light of the stars

(She wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him tenderly, passionately. He returns the kiss, knowing that with her, he never needs to be ashamed of being himself.)

Cast your eyes on the ocean

Cast your soul to the sea…

(They gaze out from the clearing to the distant sea, not feeling at all cold despite the autumn chill.)

When the dark night seems endless

Please remember me…

(Dissolve to the present Doctor, alone, tears slowly creeping down his cheeks in the cold winter wind, in the dark night.)

Then the mountain rose before me

By the deep well of desire

(The young Doctor and the Lady drink from a natural well in the mountains. She playfully splashes his face before kissing him.)

From the fountain of forgiveness

Beyond the ice and fire

(They watch a meteor shower, just as the Doctor and his father once did, marveling at the trails of fire on the cold night sky.)

Cast your eyes on the ocean

Cast your soul to the sea

("You're one of the only ones who believes in me as I am," he tells her—we can vaguely hear the words. "Please never leave me?")

When the dark night seems endless

Please remember me…

("I'll always be with you," she promises, "whether in body or not."

This proves to be sadly prophetic…after a brief shot of the present Doctor, gently caressing the petals of the white rose, we see what is obviously a funeral scene, with somber Time Lords in dark robes gathered around the weeping Doctor, now older. It is being held in this same grove. The priest solemnly intones as he scatters the ashes of the Doctor's wife near the well. We briefly see, near the Doctor, a young couple holding their baby daughter. Then we cut back to the Eighth Doctor…)

Though we share this humble path, alone

How fragile is the heart…

(He steps back along the path which he once walked with her, which he now travels alone, toward the place where her ashes were scattered. Tears are freezing on his face…)

Oh give these clay feet wings to fly

To touch the face of the stars…

(He looks at the stars, thinking how she would have loved to be traveling with him among them now…but in a large way, he owes what he is now to her, to her belief in him and her love for him just as he was…)

Breathe life into this feeble heart

Lift this mortal veil of fear…

(He suddenly pauses in shock. Right at the spot where the ashes were scattered all those years ago, there grows a single white rose, much like the one he carried to this area…blooming strong and healthy, despite the winter wind.)

Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears

We'll rise above these earthly cares…

(He kneels to gaze in wonder at the rose, a faint smile blossoming through his tears…)

Cast your eyes on the ocean

Cast your soul to the sea…

(He again looks out to the sea, feeling its cool breezes on his face…)

When the dark night seems endless

Please remember me…

Please remember me…

Please remember me…

(As the chanting begins again, we see Drax quietly enter the scene. He points to the rose. "They're sayin' it's bloomed there several years now…winter and all," he says quietly. "Callin' it a miracle, they are, Thete."

"A miracle…" the Doctor repeats. "Always with me, in body or not."

And the two old friends leave the grove…and we fade out on the rose gently swaying in the wind.)

Hope you like it. Again, my speculations and opinions are my own…you may or may not subscribe to them…it's a free galaxy. J That's why they make different color jelly babies.