An Autist Reviews: The Good Master (The War Master: Only The Good 2)

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

The planet Arcking has more than 50 medical stations situated on it, and on Station-12 the lone survivor of a crash landing finds himself in the care of Dr. Keller and Phisa, with the monsters that caused the crash threatening all of Arcking. They have given Arcking 1 solar cycle to locate and hand over a traitor known as the Master, but Dr. Keller isn’t as worried as he might be on any other planet, because Arcking has an interesting temporal anomaly affecting its gravitational field, keeping the wounded of the Time War alive, and keeping any and all weaponry from working. Some powerful energy must be the cause of the anomalies, and the Master wants to control it, but first, he has some lives to save.

It’s no secret that this is the weakest story of the set, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s brilliant! The story itself is easy to be invested in, the characters are all likable and well written, the Daleks are intimidating, if not a little impotent. The action is brilliant, I love the master’s humor, I love his being unfazed by just about everything, I just love him! Also, Cole Jarnish is a smol bean and I wish I could protect him. Now, there are some dumb lines, Cole and the Master get surprised by things there is zero reason to be surprised by, and one plot thread isn’t really pulled on, like, at all. The ending also has some logical inconsistencies with the Dalek’s distance from Cole. Also, I knocked a pacing point off because something that would ‘take minutes,’ took seconds and it didn’t seem like there was a transition at all. Also, the HoA is very well done and I love its taunting of the Master and his defensiveness.

The acting is, as one would expect from a War Master story, is amazing, but I have my complaints. My biggest is with Phila, who has the worst acting in the story. It never reaches truly bad territory, but it’s noticeably wrong for the situation. Cole also has some iffy lines, though far fewer than Phila. The Master is odd, as my only problems with him are the occasional line that I’m not sure was delivered properly and also the fact that he occasionally doesn’t sound like himself. The Daleks are near perfection, but as some of their writing is off a little, the acting often is too. There are two other important characters to mention, the Major and the computer, both of which I have no complaints about, they were perfect down to the last line.

The effects are odd. In my heart they’re 10/10, however, I sadly do have problems with them. The voices, as in the last story, are off, but only on the Daleks, which sound absurdly muffled, the HoA and everyone else always sounds perfect, especially in those chonky suits. Oh, also during one broadcast the Daleks fade in and out for no reason. As for the music, it’s almost flawless. The music is exactly where it needs to be, so the only problems in it are that there are a few moments when the music doesn’t quite work for what’s happening, though that’s common in this, but usually, it’s done so that it enhances the scene, but the moments when it doesn’t it’s just weird. The actions are amazing, let’s start with that. Sadly, however, I do have a problem with them, as multiple times effects happen too quickly or not at all or muffled. That being said, the suit effects, minute shufflings, scanning, pressing buttons, lasers, and more are all amazing, perfection, usually. The background effects are also amazing, from the beeping of monitors to the screams of the scared, to the winds of Arcking, they’re all amazing. However two scenes really confuse me, one being right after the Major calls herself the last man standing, but there are clear screams in the background, and the other being when a woman dies and the beeping keeps going, solidly, until she’s already been dead for a while and it finally flatlines. Now, the transitions: they’re great. The transitions are perfect, really. So, all in all, the effects are pretty damn good.

Now the replay value: It’s high, to say the least. Knowing what’s to come really makes the Master’s actions in this story take on a whole new hue, making relistening to this story after finishing the series is a must, and as far as reenjoyment goes, who wouldn’t want to relisten to this brilliant, fun, and mysterious base under siege story over and over again?

So, in conclusion, this may be the worst story in the set, but in a set of solid diamond, that isn’t saying much. Every aspect is generally good and the effects are some of the best I’ve ever heard, along with the music. The acting is brilliant, with the master actually not being the best of the bunch for once. Mystery, sadness, epic action scenes, and more fill this story to the brim with enjoyment and tension, so have a listen, get invested, and get ready… because next time… things are gonna go downhill, not in quality, but in tone. I hope you didn’t get too attached to Cole, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Total - 9

Original Guesstimate - 8

Plot - 9
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Story - 8
Pacing - 9
Dialogue - 8
Narration - NR
Exposition - 9
Enjoyment - 10
Twist/s - NR
Resolution/s - 7
Ending - 9

Acting - 9
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MC/s - 9
SC/s - 8
BG/s - 9
Narrator/s - NR

Effects - 9
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Music - 9
Voices - 7
Actions - 8
Background - 9
Transitions - 10

Replay - 9
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Re-Enjoyment - 10
New Details - 7

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