This overview comprises full spoilers for Doctor Who Season 1, Episode 9, “Empire of Death.”
“Empire of Death” is each a unbelievable follow-up to “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and a non secular sequel to the 1975 Doctor Who serial “The Pyramids of Mars.” It gives high-stakes sci-fi thrills, captures the exhilaration of an apocalyptic finale, and solutions each burning query arrange by the prior episode (and Season 1 as an entire). This episode retains the cataclysmic tone that raptured by way of “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and maintains its depth till it ties every little thing collectively. It even contains its personal Infinity War “Snap” second, as all life within the universe is dusted into oblivion by Sutekh.
Gabriel Woolf’s return because the voice of Sutekh is magnificent. Although I nonetheless dislike his new CGI look, he’s extremely menacing all through “Empire of Death.” Woolf’s efficiency completely captures the phobia of a presence pursuing you at each flip, and I like the idea of Sutekh’s consciousness following The Doctor, Mel, and Ruby throughout time and area. There was a quick second after I thought they may completely kill off Katherine Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), who’s been part of Doctor Who for over 10 years. They didn’t, however the mere thought impressed me, contemplating the family-friendly nature of the present. The stakes have by no means been greater, and the emotional weight of “Empire of Death” is palpable in each scene.
Ncuti Gatwa showcases his good skills in his first finale as The Doctor,. and there’s an exquisite mixture of humanity and alienness to Gatwa’s efficiency all through “Empire of Death.” At instances, he can appear slightly too emotional or human, which seems like a defining attribute of the fifteenth Doctor, who wears his coronary heart on his sleeve. However, there are moments the place he embodies the ageless Time Lord persona, shielding his emotional aspect for the good thing about others.
At the top of the episode, there’s a fantastic second the place The Doctor leaves Ruby behind to dwell her life away from the TARDIS. It feels straight out of traditional Who, because the clever and mighty Time Lord rises above human motivations. It’s blunt, unwavering, and extremely alien. But when Ruby leaves after an emotional farewell, we glimpse The Doctor’s fragile emotional state. It’s like he’s releasing a chook again into the wild after nursing it again to well being. Despite making an attempt to maneuver on from the burdens of his previous, they’re nonetheless following him, and it virtually broke the universe (once more). Gatwa reveals super vary all through “Empire of Death,” and the ultimate scenes are one other defining second for his run as The Doctor.
The episode is crammed with nods to each new and outdated Doctor Who, my favorites being the Remembered TARDIS, which pulls its energy from reminiscence, and the Time Window. It’s a treasure trove of references, jam-packed with nicknacks, and Easter eggs from each period. The set for the Remembered TARDIS seems like a time machine held collectively by a shoestring, a direct and pleasant distinction to the clinically clear TARDIS we’ve seen all through Season 1. What I didn’t take pleasure in had been the repeated makes an attempt to reference “Pyramids of Mars.” While the unfamiliar could also be within the villain’s historical past, the execution of those nods was too on the nostril for my liking.
“Empire of Death” advantages from being 10 minutes longer than the common Season 1 installment. This further time offers the episode loads of respiratory room, sufficient for Sutekh’s defeat to really feel satisfying and earned. Although resetting the universe seems like contrived, typical sci-fi fantasy nonsense, it doesn’t spoil the ending and labored simply fantastic for me. This further runtime additionally permits us to lastly meet Ruby’s mom. I cherished the grandeur given to what quantities to an atypical girl. While I initially raised an eyebrow at this unremarkable reveal, it settled nicely with me. I a lot desire Ruby coming from a unprecedented human background reasonably than being a mystical long-lost Time Lord or related. Doctor Who has completed the damp squib “Impossible Girl” arc earlier than, so it’s good that Ruby’s thriller went in a distinct route.
There are nonetheless a number of questions left unanswered, such because the identification of the unusual neighbor Mrs. Flood, and the strategy for Season 2’s TARDIS staff. The finale indicators that Ruby will return for extra adventures, probably part-time alongside Varada Sethu, who’s set to affix The Doctor quickly. In the top, it’s an emotional send-off for Ruby. While we may’ve used extra time to get to know her, her enigmatic origins are actually satisfyingly tied up, together with the remainder of Season 1.
