Time War: Collateral

"Our only thought now must be victory."

Writer: Lisa McMulin

Format: Audio

Released: March 2019

Series: Gallifrey 10.03

Featuring: Romana II, Narvin

Synopsis

As the scavenging Sythes descend on Ysalus, Narvin discovers how far his people will go to protect their interests. 

The universe is discovering that no place is safe from the fury of battle. 

Every victory in the Time War comes at a price, and too often it is the innocent who will pay...

Verdict

Collateral was another great audio to continue my way through the tenth series of Gallifrey and the second instalment of the range's Time War saga! I'm really enjoying the intimate approach of this particular boxset and not focusing on the all out war with the Daleks that we might expect from descriptions of the conflict from other sources. This series so far has centred on Rassilon and the extent at which he will go to in order to ensure victory against the Daleks. There could be no other outcome and the means at which to achieve victory for Gallifrey were pretty horrifying. The fate of Ysalus here was extraordinary and after it being put in a time freeze at the end of Partisans, I wasn't expecting it to already be freed! I liked the continuity and the build to the revelation that it was actually the War Council that were the ones to free it from its freezing was really well done. Rassilon sounded eery and like a man out of time which I think is the point, but his devotion for Gallifrey is unquestionable. He sees the Time Lords as the epitome of existence and if they wouldn't survive, well then with the Daleks victorious there wouldn't exactly be a universe left. I kind of understood the logic, but the destruction of Ysalus from its genesis over 47 million years ago was frightening. Romana was outraged when she heard the plan and it was nice for her to still have some followers on the inside of the War Council. Dalia was not afraid to hide communications and reveal War Council communications to Romana regarding their intentions for Ysalus, and that would later come back to hit him hard as he was removed from the Capitol altogether by the episode's conclusion. He was a really good character though and I hope this isn't the last for him as he could grow into a strong character in my opinion. Knyla was a fantastic character and I loved how she hacked into top Gallifreyan communication lines with intel from five years in the past. The mission that would be had for Eris was fascinating and I liked that with there being no means of saving Ysalus, the next best thing for Romana and Narvin to try was a planetary evacuation. Livia's explanation of sending a message and not setting a prophecy for sympathy  was pretty gruesome and showed the direction of Gallifrey under Rassilon. They were not to be messed with and they did all of this to Ysalus simply to send a message to the rest of the universe. That was absolutely horrifying and I would love now to see this Rassilon in action against the Daleks. The casualties will be in their masses, but placing Romana as someone against the War Council's direction is a really good way to go with the series. The ending was really good as despite their best efforts, the plan of Romana and Narvin failed and not one person was freed from Ysalus as it was destroyed before it came to be in existence. Dalia was off the War Council, but the swagger in the voice of Mantus when he proclaimed that Rassilon wanted some CIA involvement on the Council was brilliant. He was a dastardly politician using wartime to his advantage. That sounds familiar. The threat of the Sicari coming to Gallifrey is interesting and it could be nice for the Daleks to not be the only enemies in the saga. The Sythes could have been longer lasting as there was huge potential in them feeding off war and having a collective consciousness, but they worked very well whilst they lasted. Overall, a really good audio!

Rating: 8/10