Fourth Doctor Revisited: "The Armageddon Factor"

First off, I can never remember how many Gs and Ds are in "Armageddon"... This story rounded out the "Key to Time", which included the 500th episode of Doctor Who. After such an epic story, I figured I'd share some random musings from the finale. 

Villains of the story: The Shadow and the Black Guardian. After the Fourth Doctor and Romana diligently bounced through time and space for the White Guardian, the Shadow tried to swoop in and take the first five segments (after all that hard work). And to stop the Black Guardian from getting it... the Doctor undid the Key to Time arc, splitting the Key again. And with that the Doctor went on the run.

Regarding the actual plot of "The Armageddon Factor" itself, it's basically a fabricated war, like "Boom". Atrios vs. Zeos. The Shadow put this conflict together in service to the Black Guardian. Like the Trickster, the Black Guardian feeds on chaos. Makes me wonder if he's part of the Fifteenth Doctor's Pantheon (Toymaker, Trickster, Maestro, etc.), because he'd fit right in. I know the Black Guardian appears later on, especially during the Fifth Doctor era, so I'm looking forward to that.

This was our last appearance of the first Romana. She unceremoniously regenerated in the next episode, taking on the face of Princess Astra (from this story). Though, she had several faces during her regeneration process… do they each count as a regeneration? Also, did something trigger her regeneration? It seemed so casual.

We also met Drax (not the Destroyer), another Time Lord. He created Mentalis, the computer of K9's dreams. He was trapped on Earth for a time, but he was pulled into the Shadow's schemes. This story makes it sound like he was under duress, but pseudo-canon makes it seem like he had a more mischievous streak, like the Monk. Regardless, I wish we could have Drax back. Just one more of so many Time Lords we could have back!

Last thing: Drax called the Doctor “Thete” (Theta Sigma). It was a bit of a tease at the Doctor’s name. His real name, given so flippantly? Nope. College nickname. But I definitely remember talk of this moment when "The Name of the Doctor" was on the horizon. Personally, I hope we never get the Doctor's real name. That can stay between him, River Song, and Clara. It's not really important to the story anyway.

Alright. Now I need to get moving along through the Fourth Doctor and catch up to TJ... If only it hadn't been removed from Tubi... At least I've been able to watch the next story on Pluto TV so far. If you know it streaming somewhere else for free, let me know.