I agree that Gallifrey’s history must be “time locked” - I take that to mean set in stone, so free of both intervention, visitation and random fluxes in time. After all, how many times has Earth’s history been on the brink of a complete and total rewrite?
But this doesn’t explain why timelords from different parts of Gallifrey time (G-time? Can I patent that?) can’t meet up in normal time (N-time? No, that sounds too much like N-space. Real time, then?). In fact, I’m pretty sure this happens. Correct me if I’m wrong, but WAAY back, during the 1st Doctor’s years, didn’t he meet that timelord from his future with a better TARDIS who wanted to rewrite England’s history (Meddling Monk???). Either way, even with a time lock, the G-past could be changed by meeting someone from the G-past in real time.
Also, with the Time War, the fact that there are NO timelords in real time anymore is interesting. For one example, Romana was strutting all over real time with the Doctor. But take any timelord who visited real time and then died in the Time War - couldn’t the Doctor go back to when they were alive in real time and say hi? Retroactive destruction seems the only way out of it - except people remember the timelords.
Ooh, ooh, but many species were aware of the Time War - so some of them could no doubt “remember” history before it was changed. There is precident for this sort of thing - timelords, at least, show greater resistance and awareness of temporal disturbances eg slowing of time, temporal loops, etc, so perhaps other species are this astute?
Okay, I’ll stop debating with myself.
It seems the whole universe ticks to G-time sometimes. After all, whenever any two timelords meet they remember all previous encounters, no River Song I-will-meet-your-future-incarnation paradoxes. Ever.
By the way, I like your fankwank there, daygecko. I would be happy if that became official canon… except if it did, I already know what happened, so it is not a surprise… AHHH! Is this what it feels like to be a timelord? freaking out
Damn, there I go again. Okay this time I’ll stop.