The General represents the person caught in the middle. It is evident he is not an evil or thoughtless man as he attempts to do the right thing. Yet while he aids the Doctor he is no pushover. When the General questions the Doctors motives he is met with a violent assault. That the Doctor would attack an unarmed person shows just far he has fallen. It is a shocking moment. The Doctor makes light of it but weve been told many times that regeneration is akin to dying. The Doctor robbed this person of his identity. Rassilon on the other hand is sent into exile. Is this a comment on the privileges of class? How many times have men of wealth and power gotten away with their crimes whiles those of lesser rank suffered in their stead? The Doctor uses the General like a tool, literally stripping away his personhood and while she returns to life in a new form it does not absolve the Doctor of his guilt.