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Throughout the 60-year history of Doctor Who, The Doctor has come up against some frightening enemies, some of which have remained constant threats. The Cybermen, The Master, and the iconic Daleks all reappear on a regular basis to up the stakes when The Doctor is in peril. Of all of these villains, the Daleks are the most famous. They are indiscriminate killing machines who can't be reasoned with, and whose sole purpose is to exterminate anything that isn't Dalek.

In the recent revival series, the nature of the Daleks has begun to change. While still intent on extermination, there have been a few more anomalous members of Dalek society over the course of the show. For example, in the recent season finale "The Power of The Doctor," a traitorous Dalek is revealed and attempts to seemingly help The Doctor. If that truly is the case and this Dalek's intentions were pure, what could this mean for the Daleks as a species?

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The History Of The Daleks

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The history of the Daleks is long and complicated, with multiple origin story retcons having taken place over the years. Their origins have a multitude of explanations, from descendants of the Dals to genetic experiments on the Kaled race, to products of an expansive war with weapons that led to mutations. Regardless of the origins of the Daleks, the result was the same: a race of frightening and destructive creatures intent on wiping out any life that isn't Dalek. Add in the fanatical, unhinged scientist Davros as the progenitor of the race, and the recipe for the fearsome villains was complete.

Even from the beginning, there were fractures in Dalek society. They broke into different factions and fought each other, one faction loyal to the now-Emperor Davros and the other loyal to the Supreme Dalek. They fought each other because the Superior Dalek and its followers didn't believe that Davros was pure enough to be part of the Dalek race, regardless of his role in their creation. Ultimately, the factions destroyed themselves and their home planet of Skaro while Davros escaped. Of course, the Daleks can utilize time travel, so it was never going to be the end for the landmark bad guys.

Daleks In New Who

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When the show returned in 2005, it wasn't long before the Daleks returned as well. The episode "Dalek" saw the return of a lone Dalek, being held prisoner by a collector of alien artifacts. In the episode, the Dalek is revived by extracting DNA from Rose. This act changed the course of the Daleks for the revival series. The introduction of human DNA into the Dalek lineage led to the corruption of "pure Dalek thinking." The lone Dalek began to feel emotions and felt a kinship for Rose. This change influenced future Dalek encounters, with later iterations having been driven mad by the human parts of their DNA makeup.

Certain Daleks have adopted names; for example, the four members of the Cult of Skaro. Names are unheard of in the Dalek race, and this all points to changes in the basic nature of the race. It wasn't until The Twelfth Doctor encountered the Daleks that a noticeable change was once again seen in the Time Lord's ancient emeny. In the episode "Into The Dalek," The Doctor comes upon a broken-down but alive Dalek whom he dubs Rusty. Rusty connects with The Doctor and takes on a mission to destroy his fellow Daleks.

The Thirteenth Doctor & The Traitorous Dalek

Jodie Whittaker played the thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who

This brings the Daleks into The Thirteenth Doctor's story. Thirteen's initial meeting with them is fairly standard as far as Daleks go. A Dalek has left its protective shell and is controlling a human in order to create a device to bring more Daleks to Earth. This Dalek is cloned in a future episode, but the new clones were destroyed by the "original" Daleks for being impure.

In the season finale "The Power of The Doctor," Thirteen once again encounters the Daleks who are helping The Master in his quest to take over The Doctor's body and the Earth. The renegade Dalek contacts The Doctor to warn her of the plan and to ask to meet. Once The Doctor does find the traitor, it becomes clear that the rest of the Daleks allowed it to contact The Doctor as a trap. The traitor assures her that it didn't know before being killed, and its shell used to imprison The Doctor and bring her to The Master.

With an apparent traitor in their midst, added to the long history of instability and dissent in the Dalek ranks, what could this mean for the Daleks going forward? There's a possibility for further fracturing within the ranks. Taking into account both Rusty and this recent traitor, it's certainly within reason to guess that there are more Daleks dealing with morality and willing to defect. Could the new series see an encounter with a sect of peaceful Daleks headed by Rusty? It would be an interesting twist to see genuinely peaceful Daleks instead of various insane factions and human hybrids.

If the Daleks do split into peaceful and violent societies, there could also be a chance for a Dalek war as there was in the original series. There could be a chance to see a Dalek Utopia of sorts or for "good" Daleks to aid The Doctor in various ways throughout the series going forward. Alternatively, it could see a new race evolve from the Daleks, something new entirely evolved from those that defy the usual Dalek doctrine.

Despite their fearsome reputation, Daleks have never been singularly focused on the same thing. The history of the species divesting and fighting among themselves has been a feature of their race almost since their inception. The emergence of "good" Daleks could be a natural way to progress the Dalek story and inject some freshness into what is becoming an overused and less threatening villain.

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