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Russell T Davies' return to Doctor Who has drawn praise and criticism alike, but the first season has now concluded and its finale, "Empire of Death," answered some big questions...all while leaving us with quite a few others.
As we saw last week, Sutekh - a classic Whoniverse villain - latched himself on to the Tardis. When the episode begins, he proceeds to use the Susan Triads he's spread throughout time and space (everywhere he and the Doctor landed) to spread his Dust of Death, killing everyone.
However, Sutekh has grown obsessed with learning the secret of Ruby's mother and, rather than kill her and the Doctor, he briefly allows them to escape.
In doing so, they use a "Memory TARDIS" to travel into the future where they hope to find DNA records revealing the identity of Ruby's mother. It was all a ploy to lure Sutekh and the original TARDIS to them, and the Doctor proceeds to drag the monster through the time vortex, bringing "death to death" and restoring the people and planets he's killed.
Then, forced to betray his principals (meaning Sutekh ultimately wins), the Doctor strands him in the vortex where the villain is killed.
The day is saved, but who is Ruby's mother? Just an ordinary woman named Louise Miller. She had Ruby as a 15-year-old and left her at the church because she came from an abusive home. As the Doctor explains, the mystery of Ruby's mother only became important because, as is so often the case throughout history, importance was placed on a simple figure, creating a myth more powerful than even a God like Sutekh.
That proved the villain's undoing and, as the episode ends, Ruby is happily reunited with her birth and adoptive mothers and making plans to track down her dad. Unfortunately, she has to leave the Doctor and they bid farewell before promising to see each other again.
In a final tease, the mysterious Mrs. Flood once again breaks the fourth wall and warns the audience that the Doctor's story will still end in "absolute terror."
It looks like she's been setting up as the true big bad of Davies' latest Doctor Who run as, earlier in the episode, the mysterious neighbour declares, "Tell your maker I will come to storm down the gates of gold and seize his kingdom in my true name."
There are once again some hints about the importance of "73 Yards" and we still don't know whether there was any significance to the "Mavity" scene in the 60th Anniversary Specials starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate. And what of the Fourteenth Doctor who still resides on Earth?
With another Doctor Who Christmas Special coming later this year before season 2 launches in 2025, we may get more clues soon.