It feels hard to believe — mainly because we’re used to slightly longer seasons — but Doctor Who 14×08 “Empire of Death” marks the finale for Fifteen’s (Ncuti Gatwa) first season! The episode picks up right where the previous one left off. Sutekh, the god of death, returns from the Void with a seemingly-unstoppable plan. Like many Russell T Davies finales, it handwaves a plot hole or two but brings a lot of emotional satisfaction.
To Dust Ye Shall Return
The stakes are immediate upon our rejoining the Doctor and company in Doctor Who 14×08 “Empire of Death.” UNIT puts up a good fight, but their weapons fail utterly. While Mel helps the Doctor escape, Kate and the others succumb to the dust spread by Sutekh’s “angels of death.”
Upon arriving at UNIT, Sutekh greets the Doctor as an “old friend” before launching into his villain monologue. Following the events of “Pyramids of Mars,” the Doctor (then Tom Baker‘s Fourth Doctor) thought he’d trapped Sutekh in the Void. Instead, Sutekh clung to the exterior of the TARDIS. Ever since, Sutekh has gone everywhere the Doctor has landed — and he’s created his foot soldiers (like Susan Twist) every single time and place. Now, they bring death everywhere and every time.
Although we know it will all somehow work out, it’s horrifying to watch characters we love crumble to dust. Mrs. Flood gets another mysterious line, though. She sits next to Cherry as the dust approaches, and she mourns that she “had such plans.” If she’s not a Sutekh soldier… who is she?
Let the Memory Live Again
The Doctor and Mel quickly collect Ruby from the Time Window. Then, they escape into a “Memory TARDIS,” a small makeshift machine comprised of all the memories of past TARDISes. Bonnie Langford brings a lovely bit of nostalgia as Mel finds the Sixth Doctor’s coat and, later, rests on Seven’s question-mark vest. The Doctor mourns (and gets angry) over how Sutekh has used him to bring death to the whole universe. We’ve said it a lot this season, but Gatwa is so good at bringing Fifteen’s emotional range to life, and he does it again in Doctor Who 14×08.
Sutekh left them alive, though, because he can’t figure something out. Specifically, he can’t figure Ruby out. Clinging to the TARDIS, Sutekh also saw (or, rather, didn’t see) Ruby’s mother that Christmas night. Like the Doctor, he now is obsessed with figuring out what Ruby’s mother is, that a god couldn’t see her. It’s an intriguing idea, but one that doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny. You’re really telling me a god that can end all life can’t get a simple answer?
The Doctor visits a nearly-barren planet, where a random woman shows him kindness. They have a devastating conversation that reveals the few survivors are losing their memories. She, in fact, forgets that her infant daughter already died. After giving the Doctor a spoon, which he later uses to repair the Time Window screen in the TARDIS, she, too crumbles to dust.
The Doctor and companions pay a visit to 2046, where Roger ap Gwillam, the PM from “73 Yards,” implemented mandatory DNA testing. They figure, if Ruby’s mom was alive in that time, her DNA (and Ruby’s) is in the database. Unfortunately, they’ve got a bigger problem on their hands. Sutekh has remotely possessed Mel. As it begins to snow, Sutekh yanks them all back to circa-2024 UNIT.
Doctor Who 14×08 and the “Everybody Lives” Moment
With Mel destroyed and the Doctor’s pleas falling on deaf ears, all seems lost. In front of Sutekh, Ruby offers the screen with the information about her mother in exchange for Sutekh letting the Doctor go. She gets closer and closer… then smashes the screen and hooks the “intelligent rope” to Sutekh’s collar!
That’s right — it was all a plan. The Doctor realized Mel was possessed, which gave him and Ruby time to make a plan. Using the whistle he found earlier in the episode, the Doctor frees the (real) TARDIS. Then, he and Ruby blast off into the Void, dragging Sutekh behind. As Sutekh’s claws tear the fabric of time and space, it “brings death to death”, reversing those billions of deaths. Our beloved characters reappear, and the Doctor joyfully watches projections of planet after planet come back. Even the woman with the spoon reappears, playing with her happy, healthy daughter.
Not everybody lives, though. In “Rogue,” we caught a glimpse of the Doctor’s fury. Now, we see it in action. He tearfully acknowledges that Sutekh, in one way, has managed to win. He has maneuvered things so that the Doctor’s only “good” option is to cut Sutekh off in the Void and let him be destroyed. Even as the Doctor brings death, Sutekh brings life: in the aftermath, Susan Triad still exists, full of memories and personality and ready to help UNIT (although her tea-making skills are apparently not up to par).
Life, Love, and Happily-Ever-Afters (for Now)
The Sutekh storyline may have a few plot holes, but the emotional gravitas of Ruby’s story makes up for it. Finally, we learn her mother’s identity. She is Louise Miller, formerly a pregnant and scared 15-year-old, now a nurse. In other words: she is completely ordinary, and so is Ruby. The Doctor theorizes that the attention both he and Sutekh paid to Louise is what made her so powerful and “special,” in a kind of circular logic that feels good but is best not dwelled on too long. Louise also pointed at the sign on Ruby Road, naming her daughter before leaving.
Against the Doctor’s advice, Ruby finds Louise at a coffee shop and reveals herself. They share a reunion full of happy tears, and Louise joins the Sundays at their home. She admits that she’s thought about trying to find Ruby every Christmas since that fateful one. Ruby’s next step is reaching out to her birth father — also a perfectly ordinary teenager back when she was born. It highlights one of Doctor Who‘s favorite themes: no one in the universe is unimportant.
That’s when the Doctor realizes Ruby has too much to do to keep traveling with him. They share a weepy goodbye, and the Doctor promises they’ll see each other again. Ruby says “I love you,” and the Doctor doesn’t say it back, in a platonic echo of Ten and Rose’s gut-wrenching “Doomsday” farewell. Fortunately, the ache of this parting is dulled by the knowledge that Millie Gibson will, in fact, return next season. It’s set to be a two-companion season, with Varada Sethu (who made a surprise early appearance in this season’s “Boom”) also joining.
Doctor Who 14×08 “Empire of Death” has one more trick up its sleeve. Mrs. Flood appears on a rooftop, dressed all in white, narrating the end of Ruby’s story. She then creepily tells us “I’m sorry to say, [the Doctor’s] story ends in absolute terror.” With a deranged “Night night!” the episode ends, and there we leave it until the Christmas special!
TARDIS Log
- Correct me if I’m wrong, but we never actually got an answer as to why it snows around Ruby, right?
- After reviving, Kate and Colonel Ibrahim appear to be holding hands. Sure, why not!
- “What was all that Egyptian stuff?” “Cultural appropriation.”
- Anyone else get a little emotional seeing Sarah Jane Smith (the late Elisabeth Sladen) in the archival footage?
- Perhaps it’s just my American-ness, but I’m surprised the show got away with one particular visual without S&P suggesting it might unintentionally evoke real historical traumas. As Mel and the Doctor flee Sutekh’s first wave, they zip through city streets on a motorcycle. Behind them, a giant cloud of deadly dust floods between skyscrapers as people flee for their lives from a shocking attack… yeah, you get the picture.
- How many Easter eggs did you spot in the Memory TARDIS?
- Mrs. Flood’s final costume looks a lot like the one worn by classic-era companion Romana, another Time Lord. Clue, or red herring? Discuss! And if not, who is she, and what are her “plans?”
- This season really has been the kind of Who I love to see. It’s been both silly and serious; it’s added new wrinkles while paying homage to the past. Even the hand-wave-y moments in Doctor Who 14×08 “Empire of Death” feel very “classic.” I haven’t loved Who this much since Nine and Ten’s eras, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
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