neadods | A TW vs. DW morality question (Reply)

T3, Who-Daily: lj user="neadods"> a href="http://neadods.livejournal.com/705917.html">has a TW vs. DW moral question (Spoilers for Journey's End)

A DW vs TW morality question: What is more of an assault - the Doctor wiping Donna's memories over her protests or Jack's/Torchwood's reliance on retcon?

[Poll #1218803]

Me, I think Jack is the one who is committing assault, plain and simple. Because he doesn't want to answer questions, or because of "the rules" which he cites but never explains, he whips out the retcon all the time, drugging people against their knowledge and then (in the case of Gwen) even sending in his team to erase computer records. We know retcon is considered a punishment, cleanup operation, and "retirement program" all in one - and note that the only other person who casually wiped people's memories was the villain from Dalek in Who S1.

Although Donna was protesting and definitely didn't want to lose her memories, the Doctor did not act for his own convenience or pleasure. He left Donna alone until such time as it became clear that her health/life was in question - at which point, her brains were becoming so scrambled that she was no longer capable of giving informed consent anyway.

By traveling with the Doctor, Donna had put her life in his hands. With her life in danger, he rescued her again.

And the more I talk about this online, the more confident I become that Donna can regain her awesome without either memories or Doctor. It was all *her* between Runaway Bride and Partners in Crime - all that growth, all that planning, all that accomplishment. That came from within *her,* while she lived *on Earth,* without the Doctor's input at all.

So, no... even if Donna is never un-fobwatched (because that is how I really see it), I don't feel that she is better off dead, that she is left without any hope of regaining her personal growth, or even that the Doctor did her wrong.

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