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I remember seeing the Master die in the 8th Doctor movie. I also remember him dying when he attempted to take over the whole world in the final episode of season three of the new Doctor Who. I also remember him vanishing in the final 10th Doctor episode The End of Time, where the Time Lords on Gallifrey were trying to get out of a Temporal Loop.

I know the Master was destabilizing when he was reborn for The End of Time. What's become of the Master? Is he dead? Or living on with the Time Lords on Gallifrey in the Temporal Loop?

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5  
Still living, if required in a future story (likely). – Wikis Mar 28 '12 at 6:48

4 Answers

up vote 16 down vote accepted

In the Tenth Doctor's final story,

the master did simply disappear with no explanation.

I believe this was deliberately ambiguous, to allow future writers to bring back the character without too much retconning. In the "Whoniverse" it's safe to assume that even if you see someone die, he can come back again; especially a popular recurring villain like the master.

With the Master, after Roger Delgado (the actor who played him originally) died, the writers introduced plot-lines basically saying that the Master was at the end of his 13th and final life, and was constantly seeking ways to continue his life. In the 1996 movie you reference, he did appear to die at the end. However in the new 2005 series, it was stated that during the Time War, the Time Lords brought the Master back, essentially giving him a new cycle of regenerations (although this is not explained in detail). Thus the potential life of the character is still long, and he's such a popular villain that if they were going to kill him off permanently, viewers would know about it.

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So the Master is one of those vilians, I kind of thought so. – Justin Apr 26 '11 at 13:17
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@Justin The Who writers do it a lot with popular villains, most notably the daleks. They were originally written for just the one story, then brought back with an expanded back-story. Then during a second doctor story they were intended to be written off permanently. Before being brought back in a third doctor story. And then having their origin story retconned in a fourth doctor story. Main reason for this is that in a show running for ~50 years, the writers change every few years, and new writers want to write about their favourite villains again! – Nellius Apr 26 '11 at 13:25
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So the master just disappeared at the end of the final story, but the Time Lords returned to the vortex. If I'm correct... I wonder if since the drums that drove the Master mad (and predominantly evil) were just a ploy from an evil and stark crazy mad Time Lord race, the Master might have a change of heart... just for one episode. I'd love to see the 2 Time Lords work together to fight off a more terrible enemy. – Justin Apr 26 '11 at 14:01
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I don't know, ask somebody. – Justin Dec 17 '11 at 21:36
If you look sideways at pretty much ALL of Dr Who you find narrative tricks and loopholes and trapdoors that the writers left themselves. Regeneration lets you have the show survive a particular actor. Inability cross time-streams prevents you from cheaping out and using the tardis to just go change a problem's preconditions. All those things became canon, but they started out as a setting for how to make a long-lived show with the constraints the early BBC was working under. – Dan Ray Mar 28 '12 at 14:48
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up vote 4 down vote

It depends.

How do you determine 'still' in a Universe where so much time travel happens?

The Master is alive near the very end of the Universe, and I'm sure he visited the very start of the Universe (or close to it) at some point.

Even if his last incarnation is deceased, and he will make no further actions, his past incarnations still exist at every point in time they visited.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen all the new series (didn't see the end of Tennent's run) so I can't comment on the Temporal Loop.

That said, unless this has done something to prevent the Doctor from travelling in time, he could always run into a past version of the Master, interact with him, and potentially change the Master's future...which would potentially change the Doctor's past.

And now I've gone cross-eyed.

EDIT: Now that I have watched through the end of Tennant's run, I can safely say: The Master is dead and so are all the others, including the planet of Gallifrey. They all died at the end of the Time War. The Time Lord's actions on that episode almost brought them all back from the dead, but didn't. They're dead, and never coming back.

Until another episode gives them a way back, that is.

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So Master (life 1) could come back if the Doctor traveled through time where that life of the master resided. Same with everyone including President Saxon (The most recent incarnation of the Masters.). P.S. Go Get Netflix and watch all the 4 or so seasons you missed and their specials. You won't regret it. – Justin Apr 26 '11 at 13:20
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Yes. It's entirely possible that the Doctor could encounter a previous version of the Master and foil a scheme that the earlier versions of the Doctor never knew about because their future version took care of it before it came to their attention. I think my eyes have now crossed so far they've gone back to normal. – Jeff Apr 26 '11 at 13:25
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I think it's strongly implied that Time Lords always meet each other in the same order, somehow. – Daniel Roseman Apr 26 '11 at 18:38
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@Daniel: I think it's strongly implied that the Doctor plays fast and loose with continuity whenever the mood strikes :) – Jeff Apr 26 '11 at 19:57
@Daniel - I suspect that's mainly to preserve show continuity and writer sanity. – Allen Gould Jun 20 '11 at 14:58
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up vote 1 down vote

The answer is really, unknown. In a 2008 episode of the tenth doctor david tennant, the master dies and refuses to regenerate, causing him to (supposedly) DIE, leaving the doctor as the last time lord left

(until Amy and Rory Pond conceive their child, Melody Pond (River Song) in the TARDIS when the TARDIS' time vortex was active (they were traveling through time)),

but he is apparently alive in the 2010 episode of the tenth doctor david tennant, when he dies again. SO, nobody knows. Just like nobody knows the Doctors name

except himself and his love, River Song.

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up vote 1 down vote

There's a good chance that the Master is still alive. Even stuck in the Temporal Loop, he's a crafty character, and everyone loves the archenemy. He's died permanently so many times now it isn't even funny-more than the Daleks even-and with the fiftieth anniversary showing up.... Let's just say I'm hoping for my favorite villain to come back.

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