"Windmills do not work that way!"

[mrv3000]

I've had this random question going through my head since Last of the Time Lords aired, but keep forgetting to ask about it. 1) There probably have been discussions about it, possibly ones I've read (drink once if I even commented on it, drink twice if I had an entire comment thread going on it, drink the whole bottle if I wrote a 10 page meta on it) or 2) it possibly was answered in the episode itself, but just a whole lot blurred out for me when hitting a certain point in the episode.



All right, so why did the Toclafane kill off a tenth of the Earth's population? I mean, it seemed like it was to even things out - after killing the people there'd be 6 billion people left on Earth and 6 billion Toclafane.

WHY??

Or was the number thing just a red herring? The Master and the Toclafane were just showing who was in charge.

Did they say in the episode?

Comments

[katesutton.livejournal.com]

I think it was just an intimidation thing. Particularly given the use of the word 'decimation,' which I seem to remember originated with the Roman legions. The nine soldiers who DIDN'T die had to stone the tenth to death. Which is interesting considering that the Toclafane were, in fact, killing their fellow humans.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

So nothing to do with the paradox or anything, right? And the Toclafane weren't planning on replacing the humans in their lives or something.

Oh, interesting little tidbit about decimation.

[principia-coh.livejournal.com]

I also thought that the evening out of the numbers might have something to do with, well, anything, but nope. I guess they wanted to kill off just enough people to show they meant business, but not enough to eliminate too much of their slave labor force.

Not that they dealt with it explicitly in the show, but I don't recall seeing any children in LotTL. I can't imagine they'd be very efficient workers.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I also thought that the evening out of the numbers might have something to do with, well, anything, but nope. I guess they wanted to kill off just enough people to show they meant business, but not enough to eliminate too much of their slave labor force.

Gotcha. I didn't *remember* anything being said in the episode, but thinking back on it, I'd recalled speculation about the numbers.

Not that they dealt with it explicitly in the show, but I don't recall seeing any children in LotTL. I can't imagine they'd be very efficient workers.

Yikes. There's a dark thought.

[principia-coh.livejournal.com]

*attempts to lighten the mood with another facetious icon*

Yikes. There's a dark thought.

Well, as soon as they started talking about the labor needed to build the shipyards, and the extent of the shipyards in Eastern Europe, my mind immediately went to think of things like 'Hey, if everyone's been dragged off to build ships, what's happening to agriculture?' and 'So if basically the entirety of Russia is covered in ships and shipyards, then that would mean there are little to no humans left there either.'

I guess they could have kids working the fields, but it would make more sense that they might be using up existing food stores to feed the workers, since there were no plans for the long-term survival of humanity.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Although this was a year down the road, and so there can't be *that* much food stored up on the planet, can there? There has to be some sort of sustained food source.

Hmm. Wonder what Toclafane eat. They were organic, so they had to have some sort of energy consumption/output...or something. Right?

HEY! What the hell do Daleks eat??

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

HEY! What the hell do Daleks eat??

They're supposedly superior and super-efficient, right? So what if they're designed not to eat? Or at least to, er, recycle. Ew.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Ew, indeed.

[amarettolime25.livejournal.com]

Oh, Morbo.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I will destroy you!! :D

[solielle.livejournal.com]

Totally different voice from Lir!

[biases.livejournal.com]

Morbo congratulates our gargantuan cyborg president. May death come quickly to his enemies.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

...and that's why the third graders at PS139 are Morbo's "Vermin Of The Week."

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Totally!

[splash-the-cat.livejournal.com]

I am vastly amused at the notion of a Michelle Drinking Game. :)

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking the Doctor Who LJ posting one would be bad, as people would be hammered all the day long...

[queenrikki-hp.livejournal.com]

I never thought too deeply about that so I always thought that the number just came from the fact that the Master said "decimate" and then decided to make be literal.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

That's probably it.

[queenrikki-hp.livejournal.com]

Eep.

I just reread this comment and wish to state that I usually have a better command of the English language.