Doctor Who: Empire Of Death Ending EXPLAINED - Why It's Dividing Fans
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Ruby's mother is revealed! Empire of Death's ending provided answers to a mystery Doctor Who has teased for months. But did those answers work, and were they earned? The general response would indicate... perhaps not. Let's dig into it all!
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What’s your take on the explanations for Ruby’s mother?
What explanation?
I did not enjoy it because it was plain and I did not expect that
I want to know why they keep dressing Mrs Flood as previous companions 🤔 The Snow could be the Tardis hiding Ruby's Mum from Sutekh perhaps🤔
explaination? what explaination that she was normal and somwhow magicly made it so ruby snowed indoors yeh ok
Loved the identity of the mother, didn't love the unsatisfying explanation for the clues this show had deliberately dropped since Christmas.
With the big black cloak and dramatic pointing the explanation is clear, Ruby's mum was going through her WELL GOTH phase.
I think I saw an issue of Kerrang hanging out of her pocket.
Noice!
Emo!
And it was actually, properly snowing, so she was fucking cold so she put the hood up.
Listening to This Corrosion on her iPod 😂
Ellie, it's not a matter of hurt feelings.
Don't tell Davies that the problem is that we're offended that we were tricked into believing something else.
Or he'll do it again.
The issue is that *THE STORY DOESN'T WORK* this way.
It's a *LITERAL PLOT POINT.*
I can tolerate, and in fact I welcome, plot twists that I don't see coming.
I am disappointed at plot twist that *DON'T MAKE SENSE.* 😅
Rubys mother being a normal woman was fine but the explanation felt lazy and nonsensical. You set up all this intrigue just to be all “oh yeah. A god and most powerful tech in the universe can’t reveal her face simply due to choice of believing her existence was so important” like what? A DNA test with a future database can reveal her identity but Timeloard and all of unit can’t ?
Facts
Remember when the 10th doctor can see people's timeline? In water in Mars, one of the surviving members of the protagonist changed her fate because she didn't want the doctor to have that much power in choosing who lives or dies. This mother mystery should be an easy thing since if the doctor can see the timeline and can see who and what becomes of his/her Children and outcome then shouldn't the doctor be able to tell ruby's mother? It's super lazy like you said
Also was very hopeful that her mother was even alive or even lived in the UK in 2046 to give a DNA sample
The soldier was allowed to move in the time window .....ruby from a few steps, was stopped at looking past the hood to id her mother?!?
@@Pilaspilas911 that wasn't the doctor seeing their timelines. That was just showing the audience the changes. The doctor wasn't seeing that.
Another reason the snow confuses me is that in Boom, when Ruby nearly dies, it snows again, but as she basically flatlines, the snow just freezes in place like freezing in time. Why would that happen if there wasn't a deeper connection between Ruby and the snow.
Also, the sign not being there in the Christmas special makes me feel like either the whole reveal about Ruby's mother was changed last second or they actually did forget about the finger pointing detail and we're like "Oh crap. We didn't pay that off.. uhhhh... let's just throw a random line about a sign in." I mean, you'd think that if her pointing at the sign to name Ruby was always part of the plan, then they'd put the sign in the Christmas special.
Could it be that Sutekh created the Legend of Ruby by accident as he was manipulating space around everywhere the doctor landed? They already pointed out that 73 yards is the distance for the TARDIS' perception filter and Maestro said, "On the night of her birth, he can't have been there" when trying to understand why there was a hidden, powerful song in her soul. Now that we know Sutekh was indeed there that night on the TARDIS when Ruby was found as a baby, maybe her power to create perceived snow (kinda like Sutekh's dust, but aligned with Christmas), the hidden song, and the 73 yards incident were unintentional side effect of Sutekh's meddling.
Oh i like that idea!
How is it that a random RUclips comment wrote a better explanation that the actual show lmfao
@@PresidenteBush1337 makes you wonder why the writers didnt
Either that, or it was the Tardis (be it the 'standard' Tardis or the 'memory' Tardis) trying to fight against Sutekh and create a mystery to distract him. I like both ideas, wish RTD had actually used one of them
That was how I took it -- that through a combination of Sutekh's power and the perception filter of the TARDIS, Ruby was able to manifest snow, etc. I liked the finale and thought it was sweet that her birth mum turned out to be a regular human being, though a more clear explanation for the snow and such would have been appreciated. The ominous pointing by the cloaked figure gave a terrific creep factor during The Legend of Ruby Sunday, but I agree that pointing at the street sign was a very weak explanation in the end. In the moment, Millie's acting carried the day for me during the emotional scene in which she expressed how happy she was that her birth mother had named her. Then once out of the emotion of the moment, one realizes that the street sign explanation just makes very little sense.
Absolutely agree with everything you said, Ellie.
As for RTD - I think he has rather shot himself in the foot, with this Finale.
I think that it was the right thing, for Ruby's mother to be "ordinary"... and without all the false clues, the payoff of Ruby finally finding out who her mother (and father) was, and the emotion of Ruby meeting her mother, and the care and compassion shown by Ruby's adopted family for the mother, with no malice or retribution... that would have been powerful enough.
However, RTD built up the whole mystery of Ruby Sunday (with "important clues" that were nothing of the sort - HE put them there... we didn't), and then when he couldn't come up with a suitable payoff that fitted the clues or made sense, he didn't bother... and then said it was our (the audience) fault that we didn't get the payoff that we were expecting - and *WE* built it up too much.
Nope! That's just a lie... and the British public has had enough of lies, in recent years.
But, RTD lies... he always has, if you think about it.
If he was making adverts for products, in this way, I think he would be prosecuted for misleading the customers. He forgets that, whatever he wants to believe, he *IS* making the show to "sell" to audiences (to make money from it) - we *ARE* the customers - and anyone who creates a "product" needs to keep their customers happy.... or they will just stop buying it!
Misleading the audience, because he is too lazy to deliver what he suggests he is going to, is not the best way to keep an audience on board, especially when you are trying to rebuild a decent audience base, after the show has suffered a few years of haemorrhaging popularity.
Now we see that RTD has effectively "cried wolf" with this mystery box - so the audience is going to be less invested in any future mysteries... expecting them to have a non-existent climax, after all. Oh, RTD has a mystery box again.... YAWN!
Reset button endings, invalid build-ups to non-existent climaxes, and lacklustre/lazy writing that's full of plot holes or contrived plot points... we've been here before, with Doctor Who, and it wasn't healthy for the show. We don't need or want to go back there, again!
The thing I hate about the ending the most is that they had Ruby call her birth/bio mom her real mom instead of Carla who's been raising her for the last 20 years. Edit: RTD said Ruby saying that was a mistake and she's wrong and he doesn't believe that. It was a heat of the moment thing and she's going to spend time with her family and work through some stuff.
That was my one big gripe throught the finale. I did actually wince when I heard it.
Yes! It completely pissed me off.
I am still fuming about it
This did really irk me
Yeah I hated that. "Birth mom" would have been just as informative as to who she meant
I didn't mind the reveal. I just wanted a scene at the end where we get Carol Ann Ford and The Doctor watches Susan from afar. She's old and she survived and she's happy. He doesn't need to say hi, he just needed that moment
I would be extremely surprised if she doesn’t at least have a cameo next year.
@@michaelball93 I hope so. I know she wants one. It'd be nice for her
@@EmpireGamingWynter I hope that they don't decanonise Big Finish's To the Death. That's an important part of 8's character development into the man who would become the war doctor.
Just watching this and that hand is not a 15 yr old hand. It's definitely older.
Sutekh's Cushion Hand Returns! (In Pyramids of Mars, when Sutekh is freed from paralysis and gets up from his chair, there's a bit where the hand holding the prop together is visible, and it became an old meme) - see: "Oh Mummy - Sutekh's Post Dr Who Career"
Gotta say, I am pleasantly surprised that WhoCulture didn't get on here and talk about how wonderful this episode and reveal was like I expected from them. Thank you for a real take.
yeah that makes a change over 30-3 in favour of absolutely terrible Episodes
RTD warned us through his Greek chorus (Mrs. Flood) - "Well we'd all like a lot of things...that aren't going to happen."
And at this point I'm 98% certain Mrs. Flood is "The Oldest One" - it would explain her omniscience.
I think “who is Ruby Sunday” is supposed to be a muli-season arc, like timeless child, missy, and the silence. There’s more to Ruby’s story. Empire of Death made a point to let us know what the significance of 73 yards is: the field of a perception filter. In the episode 73 yards, Ruby was surrounded by a perception filter even when she was away from the Tardis. This means a perception filter is disguising her as a normal human. When people focused on the mystery woman in 73 yards, they saw through the filter, which in turn caused them to see what Ruby really is.
Presumably this will be addressed next season. Either the perception filter also disguised Ruby’s mother, causing her to appear as a normal human when she isn’t, or (probably more likely) Ruby’s dad is a time lord/pantheon god/osirion/weird alien/all of the above.
Also, I think it’s likely that in addition to whatever else Ruby’s dad is, he’s also gonna turn out to be Roger ap Gwilliam
Maybe they kinda messed up making it seem like it’s all resolved in this episode, but consider this: the main thing leading us to believe Ruby’s story is over is Mrs Flood at the end saying it’s over. But clearly Mrs Flood is involved somehow in whtatever is going on with Ruby. So perhaps we can’t trust what she says. Like, I can totally see some point next season she looks at the camera and says something like “Yes, I told you Ruby Sunday’s story had come to an end. I lied. Tee hee!”
I'm sorry but I don't think you are going to get the pay of you are looking for . Millie Gibson isn't going to be in the next season outside 1 or 2 episodes. I know that could be enough time to conclude it but I don't see it being a big hole season arc just more of a, her is Ruby let's tie up the losse ends episode. Hopefully I'm wrong and you are right I'd like to see more of Ruby's story but I don't have a Lote of hope.
@@alexanderrobertson9297 She's been confirmed to stay on as companion next season. Please stop spreading the fake tabloid rumour they disspelled - that shit is exactly what caused Eccleston so much grief back in 2005. Ruby is returning as the companion, and Varada Sethu is joining as a secondary companion for a 3-person Tardis team, like Rory joining alongside Amy or Capt. Jack alongside Rose.
I think Mrs Flood is the reason for the snow, like the snow connection to Ruby was through Mrs Flood. It was snowing at the end where Mrs Flood is speaking to the audience
Yes! Finally, I found someone else who has thought of that. Also, what if it was Mrs. Flood that Maestro was sensing, and not Ruby at all?
Completely agree. The few things that Mrs Flood says in the episode suggests she is playing a separate game - in particular as she and Cherry are about to be dusted.
Flood - Rain - Rani
@@leecarnwell8840 Rain - snow
In some places, it floods in the spring when the snow melts.
I think the big twist familial wise for Season 2 (if there is one) won't be of her father but that she'll have a brother and her brother is actually Roger ap Gwilliam.
Coming back to the difference between RTD and Moffat is that Moffat would leave no stone unturned when it came to tying up loose threads or plot holes. The ending of Amy Pond's first season is a great example with River Song remaining a mystery. It was a much bigger climax and the right questions were answered. I was expecting something similar here but it's almost as if Russell takes delight out of teasing fans and not going anywhere with it. I hope they come back to the 73 yards story but after this weeks episode I'm not holding my breath.. 😕
Moffat was even worse . Great set up and awful solutions and deus ex machina. Somewhere in the world there are great writers
@@yussepig6629no. I won’t allow anymore Moffat slander after this season.
The snowing following ruby was a great element of the series that should've been a bigger focal point, but i think more reveals are coming for ruby
"i think more reveals are coming". the cope is strong with this one.
I would have tied the snow in with the static on the video.
Take a look at that final scene with Mrs Flood where she’s standing in the snow - still things to explain.
fIt almost feels like the entire season was meant to go entirely a different route but they either settled or were forced to change it so they could have a very happy ending at the end.
One thing I haven't I heard people talk about is who Or what was changing the doctor's memory because he. Mentioned that his memory of events keep changing.
I mean, why the snow ??
Because the universe deemed her special so gave her & mum magical powers for no reason. Don't question it or you will be called an idiot bigot sexist racist 😂😂
Best guess, Ruby's memory/search/draw to that day is so powerful and all-consuming for her, that the TARDIS picked up on it and materialized that in the form of snow. (Follow-up, Why hasn't that happened before: None of the previous companions had that sort of all-consuming search before while in the presence of the TARDIS)
Mrs Flood. At the end of the episode she's standing in it.
Why is there a song infused to Ruby
I laugh when fans try to explain faults in writing. There is no explaining bad writing guys.
It seems to me its pretty obvious there is much more to the story of Ruby.
Do we know that the being that delivered Ruby to Ruby Road is her mother? It could be that her mother abandoned her elsewhere and some other being picked her up and brought her to the church. It would explain why the hypothetical being was dressed so strangely and why no one could see its face even with the time window. The pointing to the sign makes no sense if it to name the baby, but might make sense if the being is pointing for another reason. Is there a meaningful anagram of "Ruby Road"?
The ability to make it snow makes no sense if Ruby is normal human, but maybe something is attached to her? It also makes no sense that people are terrified of her true form in the alternate timeline of "73 Yards" if she is just a human with nothing going on around her.
My current theory is she is a regular human but there is some terrifying outside force attached to her and its somebody plan that this is so.
Try this on for size, the person who dropped Ruby off is not her mother. But someone from the past. Explains the cloak. Her mom dropped her off the first time. No pointing. But the mystery person dropped her off the gobblin time. Remember, Mrs Flood changed when the Doctor returned from saving Baby Ruby. So there could have been other butterflies' effects going on.
I thought the reason for snow and Ruby's mums significance was going to be how much the timeline was manipulated. Goblins, tardis, time window. Maybe they manufactured it into a fixed event
They leaned to hard into the mystery to then turn and say “oh, she was just an ordinary woman”. It feels kind of disrespectful to the audience imo. We’ve had plenty of just ordinary human companions, it’s fine🤷♂️. But every single detail pointed to Ruby being more than that, so that’s why people are so let down by it.
While I wouldn't mind it, what annoys me about her being normal is, shes not. Its been snowing and she has a song infused with her soul. So if those things never happened I would be okay with normal person even if I think its lazy
Agreed
The fact that the night changed should be significant also. Didnt the first time she just kept walking then the second time the doctor remembered it, she turned back?
I think they will reveal the trickster actually be Ruby's mother shooting lightning from its finger while wearing its signature black cloak after seemingly coming back from the dead.. oh, that's just reys story again. Maybe people will like it more this time
Ruby Road Sunday's normal person birth mother certainly made a theatrical costume choice to abandon her child.
THEORY: perhaps ruby's had mother had originally died and the trickster was the original person who left her for their boss (perhaps pointing to betray Sutekh to take over the pantheon), Sutekh, but now the doctor won - the trickster, now in charge, changed time by giving ruby's mum life, his gimmick, ensuring ruby and the doctor are separate because they are such a powerful duo as they killed a god.. making it easier for the weaker but more cunning trickster and it would leave ruby's mum a normal woman and why the doctors memory changed. could also explain why the point changed, originally it was the trickster giving the doctor a hint so Sutekh would loose and he can take over, then after bringing her back time changed to fit that it was now her mum, aka now the road.. This makes me feel better and would explain why it was left like this. AND it explains the cloak, but that was always the thing that made people think trickster.
5:48 wasn’t the Tardis like 20 degrees to the North or something? So in a different position to Rubes Road
I agree with you on every point here. I think there's an unwritten contract between the show's creators and audience, and that this is based on trust. I feel that this has been subverted by RTD for some reason, and that there are just too many loose ends flapping around. My initial response to the finale was, 'Wow, great!' followed by a more retrospective, 'But, wait a minute!!' phase. Red herrings are fine. Clever misdirection is fine. Completely misleading us is less so. I might struggle to suspend my disbelief in future seasons, though I still love the show: I grew up with it.
The normal parents could've
Worked if he we were given more justification/explanation
Honestly, this whole thing feels like it was meant to be something else and got hacked to pieces at some point, maybe due to scheduling things?
I have posted before that Ruby saw the name before breaking the screen so after the rebirth of life, she should have remembered the name, but she is a nonperson, all evidence says she never existed. This can have a filling ending with a mystery continuing. It would also explain why Ruby is special and snows around her, etc. since now she was a point out of time and reality.
I interpreted the snow as Ruby’s connection to the Time Window being so strong paired with that memory that it began showing up throughout her timeline. Her connection to it was strong enough to allow them to see the future PM and that wasn’t an important moment to her. The Ruby Road memory was way stronger and held that much more power.
I have a theory I've been coming to over the last few days. If Sutekh has been bound to the TARDIS all this time, but only just recently had started to have become powerful enough to try and influence events (possibly triggered by 14 and the salt incident), could the TARDIS have been trying to fight back? If it can sense Sutekh, would it have known enough about him to understand a weakness? Could it have played up the mystery of Ruby to distract Sutekh enough to give The Doctor time to fight back?
Could the TARDIS have been causing things like the snow to add to the drama, much like the Chuldur, to keep Sutekh occupied with this mystery in just the same way as RTD teased us fans with fanciful explanations? As The Doctor says, something is important because we give it the importance. The mystery of who Ruby's mother was was enough to keep Sutekh from giving everything else his full attention. The answer that she was a totally normal person doesn't need to matter.
That is a better explanation than we'll probably get from RTD
Great theory, but I if it was actually RTD's concept, I think it needed to be made explicit to be effective.
I love this.
@@binkey3374 I don't disagree. It's just my headcanon, and it still doesn't make total sense of everything to me and is a bit fudged round the edges, but it does fit enough to keep me satisfied with the story. If it was anything like what RTD was thinking himself, then he really did need to make it clearer.
That's actually a nice solution. I can imagine the Tardis feeding the notion of "Ruby's mother is the key" straight into Sutekh's mind, and even deceiving the Doctor and Ruby themselves to make the lie more credible. This could even have been a better explanation for the pointing: like I said elsewhere, the best way to explain the dramatic pointing is that it didn't actually happen, but instead was a deceptive memory: it wasn't Louise Miller who pointed, but instead a false image of her planted in key places (the Doctor's mind, UNIT's Time Window).
I’m not sure if it’s just me but Ruby family being so chill about ‘Hey this is the Dr, he a timelord.
A what?!
Oh an Alien from a different planet.
?!?
This is their time machine.’
Queue TARDIS just disappearing.
They’re all like 🙂 This is fine and normal.
Maybe it’s just me but I expect people to flip out a little when seeing TARDIS doing its thing or finding out they’re an alien that travels through time.
The origin of Ruby & her temporary departure fell completely flat in my screening.
The show expects investment into Ruby's character but it didn’t earn it. 8 episodes is not enough for me to feel anything at that end scene to feel anything for a friendship I haven't seen enough of on screen.
In the cinema myself & my party of friends felt completely cold to it when I expect RTD hoped we would be close to tears.
We really don't know Ruby enough to justify doing this sooo early in her run despite that lovely scene & it should have been saved for the S2 finale.
It really makes me think Millie & RTD fell out (or both realised it wasn't for them) now & the rumours were somewhat correct.
Think about how much real interaction Ruby has had with 15 this season..When you do, you realise how often they were apart even when they were together in an episode 🤯 & yeah they had to fit around Ncuti's other commitments but then giving Ruby a family could have been delayed.
If all was going well why is Varada Sethu suddenly coming in as a New companion??
I bet Ruby is in 3 eps & the finale in S2 & that will round off her character with her family prob Dad being significant in that finale
If it were me, and there are certain moments I wish it were- I'd make the father the reason for the snowing. That part reminds me of Men in Black 2 when the girl at the pizza place finds out that she doesn't just cry when it rains, but it rains because she's crying and turns out to be from another planet. So hopefully in addition to RTD liking Star Wars, maybe he's an MIB fan?! That kind of explanation would work for me. Either way- another great video, Ellie! I love that you can call it down the middle for us Whovians (I'm in the USA) who love your videos because you're a true fan and you always give each Who episode a clean slate and you don't jump on the "bash bandwagon" just because those get clicks. I've dropped those subscriptions because I watch with my son who is grown (the show always gets us together for a watch) and we discuss much like you do, so thank you for that! River Song rules in our minds too! I'm rambling. Geronimo!
I’ve really enjoyed this series and the increased production values really elevate DW as a whole (for me). BUT every single episode felt like there were crucial deleted scenes that contained all the explanation.
Exactly. It’s fine for Ruby’s mum to be a normal person. But if she’s normal, why couldn’t her identity be found through normal means? Why were there all the mysterious elements (cloak, pointing, hidden face, 73 yards, the snow)?
And the whole “she’s important because we thought she was important” explanation didn’t work.
🌪️ oh yeah, I think somebody else had pointed this out in another comment and I will add onto that as well. The fact that the doctor, the first time seeing Ruby‘s mom, the figure kept walking and never turned around. Something happened and the figure then actually turned around and pointed. That made no sense to me in the context of what was happening so the explanation of if she was pointing at the sign makes no sense because originally she never pointed at the sign so there was nothing supernatural or timey whimey about it why the alteration of the memory
They made her into a Disney Protagonist "im Ray nobody" (also that is not the hand of a 16 year old...).
The best explanation I've seen from a friend about the cloak and the pointing is in Ruby's mum knowing about and using the CCTV camera.
Ruby's mother pointing dramatically was another "Pyramids of Mars" Easter egg, like the Easter egg of going to a changed present after the end of the world, and the Easter egg of someone named Ibrahim.
It's the Hand of Sutekh!
I find it odd that I'm meant to believe the person in the hood and pencil skirt was a 15 year old!?!.....she looked clearly older with all the mannerisms too
Well, just as much as you can believe that Rose is 14.....
@@aeltardis waaaaaaitttt!?! She's meant to be 14!?!
@@daveyboyyeah Well if it's been 15 years since Donna lost her memories, even if she fell pregnant the next day, Rose would only be 14 years old.
@@aeltardis haha they really went all soap and aged everyone up 😆 🤣
Thank you for being so honest with all of the plot-holes! I've supported this entire season but all of the things that you brought up needs a better explaination, he can potentially add something into the Christmas special (The Trickster altering Ruby's timeline, it's not really her mum, she's a plant and part of his plot) - I hope so, but like you say, we all feel cheated and unenthusiastic to even speculate now.
The answer isn't the full answer. they will be discovering more about Ruby in the next season.
For sure, this may have been an ending but not *the* ending
It still doesn't fix many of the faults that Ellie mentioned though.
No doubt there will be other answers.....
But cmon turning to point to a sign post to name the child you've abandoned 🥴
I'm sure it snows and the song plays is because Ruby had said her and her mum watch it every Christmas Eve and a memory remembered is only you remembering the last time you remembered it. So if it snowed a few years it would be added to the memory and the same with the song if it had been played on a radio or such.
the clue in devil's cord was : how is he there?" He, we are not done and that includes the snow.
No it didn't work & has caused damage & ridicule to the show. I'm teetering between underwhelmed & absolutely hating it. The virtual silence as 100s left the cinema at 1am was incredibly telling!
There was audible anger at the Ruby ending in my screening & my friends couldn't say much positive about it afterwards, still in shock how bad a taste in the mouth the final 10 mins gave us & it broke my heart to feel this way 💔
• The snow ❄️, indoors, outdoors anywhere in time & space???
• The "Very wrong" Ruby??
• The Xmas song hidden within her soul?
• The 15yr old girl in a cloak from something out of the Traitors in 2004??
• Naming a child by spinning around in front of no one being physically there to name your child by pointing at a road sign??
• The missing 6 months of adventures mentioned in "The Devils Chord"??
• Despite 6 months of travelling the 1st planet Ruby travels to is in "Boom" to Kastarian 3??
I enjoyed "Power of The Doctor" & partly "The Vanquishers" more than that finale & it hurts!! 💔
The mother being an 'ordinary' person on its own is fine and is actually a great way of highlighting an older Doctor Who theme 'no such thing as unimportant'. However, it just doesn't work with the build up. With the snow powers and the focus on the mysterious aspects of the church scene (the cloak and the pointing) it just doesn't work.
Did I miss it or did they never tell us what was the technology Susan triad was going to release
Another thing that was never explained:
If Ruby was just an ordinary woman, why did everyone speaking to the 73 Yards woman look back at her looking terrified before running away?
And another question ; should Ruby now die of old age what will happen to her 'soul', will it be able to manifest itself and project itself through time just like in 73 yards ?
Stories always include hints. As a writer it’s important to include these because you want your audience to come to the same conclusion you came to at about the same time as you get to it in your story. Maybe a few seconds early, maybe after it’s revealed. That’s part of the fun.
For this story arch, we walked down a road and the road signs said, “going to mars”, “Jupiter next left” “entering the city of New York”.. but we end up in Canada. Someone Complained to the Mayer and he says, “ New York and Canada are on the same continent, so it’s the same thing”. This is crazy left field and doesn’t feel like a great reveal. It simply feels like rtd was so busy trying to not have his writing guessed that he spent half his time focusing on distractions instead of telling us a great story.
Snow: no normal human makes it snow when they are emotional. I noticed it was snowing for Mrs floods too.
The cloak and sign: Also, no 15 year old girl who has a baby an hour before is finding a black cloak to wear to drop off a baby at a church. I’ve had babies. I have a near 15 year old. It doesn’t work like that. Max she would wear a regular coat and her hair stuffed in a hat. Certainly not swinging around and pointing at a sign. Someone might see you and know you dropped off the baby!!!! And if they don’t see you, WHY!!!???
To share something good: I really felt like the doctor showed up to this episode. He still reacted without choices but at least he took on the baddie himself and did great. Ruby and Mel where amazing. And cherry was out of bed at the end. Not only out of bed but got up and walked to where ruby was standing. It’s the only time this season we have seen her out of her bed!! Is that the result of flood, near death, or meeting ruby’s bio mom?
Yes the cheating in this episode makes it less fun to contemplate about Mrs floods.
I just had a thought, maybe the conclusion was a Rewrite and they had to re shoot extra scenes for some reason, who knows .
Trust me - there were no Re-Writes of this awful Script.
Don’t forget Susan Triad was born to human parents, but was still created by Sutekh. Even though Ruby was born to human parents, she could still be another god’s creation. Perhaps the finale is still building up to Ruby’s true reveal, while also giving Ruby her biological family. The fact that we still don’t have an explanation for Ruby’s ability to create snow, and the Maestro sensing there’s something wrong with her, could hopefully be explained in the next season. That’s my wishful thinking.
Cloaked because she was a Harry Potter fan in her teens
Ha ! Quite funny and probably true.
I like that she turned out to be normal because I like to think it's a dig at Chibbers. When he made the doctor an immortal god, he spat on the idea of the doctor being average for his people but extraordinary because his actions. Which I think is a message the other show runners have tried to convey for decades as the central moral of the show.
But yeah, the cloak thing was weird and unnecessary. They could have just said the time window was bad and they couldn't make out her face because UNIT didn't know what they were doing.
No one was lied to! I think it was intended to be a more magical reveal until the decision was made to replace the doctor’s companion mid season. Sure they could have done something more mystical or interesting and yes it left a handful of open ended plot points. However, this is not the first time this has happened and Russel will most likely make good on the story of Ruby in Season 2 . Doctor Who is and has always been best enjoying with a touch of patience, a pinch of faith and a dash of trust. All will be fine!
The one thing that gives me hope that there's more to the story of Ruby's mom and the pointing is that the doctor's memory of the events changed. She never pointed in the original visit but his memory of the incident changed after like it was an edited version of the events.
I'll agree that the pointing bit was not explained well and we could have done without that. However!! The snow and some of the other "powerful/magical" hints we got? I think Mrs. Flood is behind that. Notice how it was snowing when Mrs. Flood appeared at the very end? What if *she* was responsible for the snow every time? What if *she* was the energy/force that Maestro was sensing? I think more mysteries about Ruby are yet to be revealed and the "ordinary mom" is a bit of a misdirect to make us think her story has resolved.
The simple explanation for why Louise pointed so dramatically at the road sign is because she knew there was CCTV and presumed someone from the church would watch it and notice the intention. It was symbolic rather than definite, in short.
I thought that too, but how did she know the church would be aware of the CCTV? And why did she think that her new adoptive family wouldn't want to give her a name they want?
@@robo3007 It was probably more of a stated desire than an actual expectation. She certainly seems surprised that her wish was carried out. I also think I'm right in saying that if a church registers a name, then it becomes set in stone, as it were. I could be wrong about that, though. In fact, if we think back to Lulubelle from The Church on Ruby Road, intended names seem to be the status quo.
Has anyone also noticed when they were in the memory tardis looking at the old scene of the 4th doctor and Susan trapping Sutekh, Ruby asked who is that referring to the Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa didn’t really respond with an answer when she asked? If they’re supposed to be “best friends” why was his regeneration never brought up to her even though that has been brought up with other doctors to their companion
Why its a summed up negative ffor me:
- Why did it snow?
- Why did the maestro say: This creature is very wrong?
- Why did the ambulance not know Ruby's mom. It was able to identify her calendar age, and the informnation was available in the future.
- How did 73 yards happen? I get that it is meant to be somewhat supernatural, but the payoff we got in the finale was pretty meager.
I in general totally love the idea, but the ton of supernatural stuff that happened that was clearly linbked to Ruby's lineage felt like a Dungeon Master didn't know how to finish his campaign and invented a plot twist on the spot. I can forgive an improvising DM, but not an author who writes the entire season before one episode is filmed.
Edit: Should have watched the video to the end first... so.. you used the better words. thank you! :D
Imagine the plot twist... Disappoint the majority of your fanbase... let them sit on it for a year or two... just to come up with a decent explanation... this will totally work... maybe... probably...
I loved the line stating that she was important because we believed she was, but intertwining the mother plot with Sutekh felt really silly when the reveal was that. Some great big scary monster that could delete all of time and space was scared by... a secret? And this was the ONLY secret that scared him? Come on now.
Outside of the mother reveal, I've seen a lot of division in the way the finale was written as a whole. He was set up as this massive villain that's been there for so long, only to be defeated immediately. Instead of having him wipe out the universe and immediately bring it back, I would have loved for him to do that over the course of a season so we felt the tension.
This kind of episode needed to be the best written, best directed episode of the season for it to really hit the way it was set up. Instead, it was kind of middle of the road, so it fell short and I think a lot of us really felt that.
I'm more disappointed at how easy it was to defeat Sutekh! WALKIES!
As much as I loved the idea of the story arc of Ruby Sunday so far (there is more to come), I do believe RTD dropped the ball on the season finale. It suffered from too many glossed over details, plot holes and poor writing. HOWEVER... People are still missing some very subtle clues throughout the series which sets up for Series 2. This doesn't involve Susan Triad directly, but does have some correlation to the theme.
Let me explain the background before my theory here: Throughout the series, we have been presented with Mysticism, Gods, The Rule Of Three (A Triad.. Also Witchcraft), The Universe, Family & humanity, Creation (Death, then Life). If we go back to Space Babies, we have had the miracle of "creation" and "birth" as in life, In Boom we have had the threat of "annihilation" and also the "resurrection" of Ruby after being shot. In The Devils Chord, we had Mysticism & Portent on an oncoming storm and trouble ahead.. including a god with a fear of what Ruby is (or is to become). In 73 Yards we had an alternative future where there was a threat to "humanity" from an antagonist and in Dot n Bubble, it was all consuming dread & death from being shut off from the "universe" in a bubble, but with someone watching over them.
The Legend Of Ruby Sunday pulled the majority of these themes together at a head. The Doctor's Pseudo Family in the form of UNIT, Ruby partially discovering her origins, mother and yet-to-be seen father. The existential threat of death, and resurrection & the mysticism of the Gods & Mrs Flood (yet to be fully disclosed).
My Theory:
Kate mentioned that Ruby's father was a wrong-un, her yet-to-be-onscreen biological father, "William Benjamin Garnett".
A Garnett is a semi-precious stone which is a deep red colour, and was originally classed as a type of Ruby in ancient times (not now however).
Throughout the series there have been a subtle theme of shades of red - "Ruby" & "Cherry" Sunday, Mrs Floods "Pink" Jumpers, "Gau-de-te" from the Heckler, "Gaudete Sunday" ("Third" Sunday in Advent which is marked with "Pink/Rose" Candles marking the rejoicing of a saviour), Mel dressed all in Red & with Red Hair, "Rose" Noble and of course "Ruby" Road.
In terms of Gemstones there are only "Three" that possess a very special quality, a Ruby, a Garnett & a Sapphire. These possess a feature called an *ASTERISM*, which is a bright star-like occlusion of the same name, when held up to the light with a brilliance like the stars in the night sky (dazzling like Sapphires).
An ASTERISM is not only confined to Gemstones, but also the Cosmos and Gods of Mysticism (also in reference to ASTERIA the daughter of the God of Witchcraft, HECATE which also means Star in Greek Mythology). In cosmology an Asterism is an observed pattern of stars in the night sky as perceived from the ground and is represented by Three Asterisks "*" in a Triangle (Triad) in written form. In 73 Yards, Roger apGwilliam (Son Of William) for a moment when he first met Ruby, looked at her strangely as if he recognised her, but not from where/when, also the realisation when he ran off. There is a possibility that (as ApGwilliam is still a fixed point in time and will occur in the 2040s), he is her Brother (Son Of William). He could have been looking for Ruby, hence the DNA Database at the time of his reign as PM to track down the Mother, potentially being guided by someone in the future to do so through manipulation.
The circumstances of why wont be yet apparent, however if we look at Mrs Flood, she appeared Ethereal & Slightly Malevolant like a God at the end of the episode, standing on the roof against the backdrop of the night sky and heavens. If we go back to the ASTERISM and HECATE, she is a God of the Night Sky and the Heavens and is also a Three Fold Diety, having Three distinct personalities (*As seen with Mrs Flood throughout the series), she is also the guardian of Doors/Portals,Crossroads of time and is said to possess the keys to creation but not able to enter heaven (So would need to tear down the gates of Heaven to get in). Mrs Flood stands guard over the goings on in Minto Road and her front door, watching and waiting... She also mentioned to Cherry if she was religious and would tear down the gates of Heaven as she had such plans.
When it comes back to the ASTERISM, I think Mrs Flood is the Three Fold Diety, and works in Three's as she needs to bring Ruby, her father & brother together for something much bigger and potentially malevolent, so is guiding and manipulating them until she gets what she want's and the Doctor is a hinderance of sorts. Even more interestingly though the term ASTERISM is also an anagram for "IS MASTER". The Master has summoned Daemons/Evil Gods before namely "Azal", so it wouldnt be past him to try this again, hiding away.
I'm desperately hoping that maybe not everything has been revealed; that maybe in the relief of defeating Sutekh and finding Ruby's mum the characters just overlooked the stuff that didn't line up. Like maybe Ruby's mum is normal but Ruby might be special somehow and no one realises it yet. I do hope the father might be able to bring some relief to this discourse. He doesn't have to be a god himself, literally just an alien that's been chilling on earth for years is all I need.
Because it feels like Russel broke our trust I can't get myself hyped for the Mrs Flood mystery, cause I'm not sure if it will lead to another underwhelming reveal or not.
I also hope that Russel is seeing peoples' critiques to the build up of the reveal and hopefully realizing where he went wrong. He seems to have a good idea on how the audience thinks (a lot of the theories were acknowledged in The Legend of Ruby Sunday) so I'm hoping he will learn from this.
I find it actually kind of funny that so far every time I heard some theories about what RTD is planning, it was always the one where I thought "surely not, that's a bit too much" that came true (like bigeneration, Suthek, Ruby's mom being normal,..) :D
Also, I saw a fan theory that most of the stuff (except for the pointing and cloak) can be explained by the TARDIS fighting against Suthek using Ruby against him. The TARDIS made it snow, made it play the song and brought Ruby on a round trip to the future using the 73 yards woman in order to give Ruby memories of the Prime Minister that could be later used in the finale.
When Sutekh was revealed to be riding the TARDIS, I thought Ruby’s mother (I can already tell no one will know that character as Louise) was pointing at Sutekh sitting on the TARDIS, trying to warn the Doctor or something. A bit of a “wtf is that?!” moment.
Personally I wasn't a fan of the ordinary ending... It felt very... Disney. I mean I get it but the whole aura surrounding the mystery of her mum just needed more because they set ruby up to be special like in episode 3 saying about her having an unknown song in her heart, or how ruby can make it snow out of nowhere, I mean wouldn't long lost family's be different if everybody who was abandoned recalled parts of the day they where abandoned... I mean I think they should have used something to explain it like "well baby's literally absorb everything" so when the doctor landed ruby absorbed apart of the tartis and could recall that day... I don't know but this season just felt so feeble and I really wanted to love this series, I was let down with Chris Chibnalls time so having RTD back I thought the story's would be upped again but I just felt so let down...
I was a teenager in 2004 and I totally had a black cloak. So that did not strike me as odd.
I think if she saw the cctv she was pointing at the sign thinking the camera would pick that up.
As for the snow what really answered that for me was 73 yards. When Ruby was away from the TARDIS she never made it snow again. So I am pretty sure Sutekh was involved and trying to trigger memories for Ruby considering he was super invested in this mystery.
I was fine with Ruby's mother being ordinary. RTD knows Doctor Who fans well. He knew we would all be theorizing who she was just like Sutekh did.
I think the main thing I took issue with was "Why does Sutekh give a shit who Ruby's mom is?" Like, he's a freaking death god. Humans are tiny little things to him. He shouldn't care at all.
More importantly either she was walking around alone in a land full of dusty dead people, or his death dust cloud got her along with everyone else anyway.
I agree, the explanation seemed like a last minute addition. But if you have seen Russel T Davis' comment about the Christmas episode, he has said there is more to the story than we were given. So maybe the Doctor or UNIT mis-read the situation and those plot holes were intended to be out of place? But even then its a final, they shouldn't feel out of place.
I think the Maestro being scared of the huge power was simply the presence of Sutekh on the TARDIS that night. After all, they said "surely he wasn't there" or something along those lines...
Also, I saw a theory (honestly can't recall where) that Sutekh was so desperate to know the Mothers identity that he used his powers to try and project himself there to find out the answer. The snow stems from how it became so cold around Mel as Sutekh possesed her. Honestly, could've been revealed/explained differently or better.
E.G. The sign felt like a bit of a weird one for me.
She was pointing for the CCTV. How was she to know that it wouldn't be captured clearly enough to read through the heavy-ish snow. Or because they've played it 10-15 times (depending on when Carla told Ruby about her adoption and started watching it together every Christmas), wearing away the tape more and more.
I think with the clues laid out to us the best solution and reveal would have been for Ruby to be the daughter of Susan Triad - hear me out as I explain below:
-firstly with the DNA screen it would have displayed several names, years, Ruby would have been confused - ultimately leading to her “I don’t understand” line. These names would be any and all Susan Twist characters on file as they share the same DNA being clone like acolytes of Sutekh.
-When showing Sutekh the screen Ruby would explain to him - the god of death brought the gift of life.
-The Doctor can then explain that every time he landed on earth it brought more truth, more LIFE to Susan Triad - so much so she birthed a child - but she gave the child away as something in her (subconsciously being an acolyte of death) made her give the child up. (this would also explain why she pointed when the Doctor turned up - she was pointing at Sutekh)
-Ruby standing with Sutekh could be the better explanation of how life is brought back - the power of a god flows through Ruby as she is the result of his powers - she can reverse the sands of death in some form of struggle with Sutekh - perhaps even involve the Ruby on Sutekhs headpiece - hell maybe even link that to why Susan Triad decided to drop her at a road called RUBY road?
-The Doctor and Ruby leashing up Sutekh can then play out as per the episode with the added connotation that they are spreading Rubies power of life via Sutekh in the vortex.
-Fun and happy reunion when Ruby and Susan Triad hug - Susan will remember having a child but the memory has only just come back to her.
The story comes full circle - Ruby is still an ordinary human at the end - The snow can be explained as a side effect of being a creation from the gods - why snow? Death is cold, death is ice - Ruby made it snow because it made those magical elements of death come to LIFE.
There is a nice parallel to the start of the two-parter thinking Susan Triad was the doctors grandaughter and actually she isn’t the doctors family - she’s Rubys family.
I dunno - my head canon just thinks this to be a far superior resolution.
Thanks WhoCulture
I actually overlooked all the valid points you made in this video,kinda feel cheated now as a fan of classic who - been watching drwho since I was two and I'm 40 now .
Even re-introduced my two kids to Matt Smith's era and got to relive my childhood vicariously through them
Keep the content coming El
Genuinely not sure of the timing but with all these disappointments and lack of reasons for clues, I wonder if perhaps the final had to be re written due to Millie not being the main companion in season 2 (conjecture I know). It seems odd for so many things to not be explained. Even when Russell is explaining the cloak, he laugh nervously, like he knows it’s wrong he hasn’t explained it. Although I think this is me just having faith in the writing.
my take on it is Ruby's mum originally wore a hoodie. when the doctor went back, him and Sutekh saw her point in the Tardis's direction. Sutekh thought she saw him, so he needed to know who this being was who could perceive what others couldn't. Every Susan carried the question in them as well, giving power to the myth of who this woman was. the memory changes as Sutekh perception of the event changed. Mystery person = cloaked person. When Ruby begins traveling with the Doctor, the knowledge of her being the daughter of the mystery woman allows Ruby to unconsciously tap into the power of the myth and create snow at emotional intense moments. So, essentially, Sutekh played himself.
The problem with Ruby's mystery was that Davies felt a need to keep up a tradition of making companions "special." The thing is, it's always been Time Lord stuff interacting with motivated companions to produce the special trait. Rose absorbed power from the TARDIS/Time Vortex. Martha carried word of the Doctor to charge up his connection to the the Master's psychic satellites. Donna's actions to help the Doctor got her involved in the Metacrisis. Amy wound up inside a reality-warping prison intended for the Doctor. It goes on, but the theme is companions using what they get from the Doctor to make things better -- right up to the most dramatic version, when Clara fractured herself across the Doctor's timeline to undo the Great Intelligence's sabotage. They each worked to get there, so they could do right with the Doctor.
It breaks with Ruby because she had no power in the situation. The power was "it snows when she thinks about the night she was abandoned." Not only does it not make sense because there's no reason why accidentally making imaginary snow is one of Sutekh's powers (and one he didn't intend to use, and one that worked when Ruby was far away from the TARDIS), but it fails because it has no meaning in the story except to guide the Doctor to wondering about Ruby's mother. Ruby's snow was just a plot point for the season's overarching plot, only affecting Ruby's journey because it made the Doctor curious.
The disappointment with the mystery of Ruby's snow isn't just that it didn't make sense. It was the lack of any meaning to Ruby's journey. She didn't change her behavior due to the snow, she didn't gain understanding because of the snow, and she certainly didn't gain control over her life from it. She was already seeking out assistance from others to solve the mystery of her parentage. The Doctor took her aboard before the snow manifested. It could have been anything -- the TARDIS groaning, the comments from the other members of the Pantheon, something peculiar about the way the TARDIS was flying, the already-there Susan Twist appearances, landing on already-dusted worlds and wondering what happened, _anything_ -- that set the Doctor on the path for this season. The snow wasn't necessary. Ruby was already searching, and the Doctor was already her friend. No, the snow was supposed to be a clue about Sutekh, not Ruby. But there were already clues pointing to strange things going on. I mean, UNIT already noticed Susan Triad and the anagram!
Nailed it in this video. Nothing wrong with her mother being a normal human being if all the other mystery prompts weren't unrealistic or resolved at the end. Great spot with the sign being missing completely in Church of Ruby Road. I didn't even notice that 😂
It feels like the solution of the mystery of Ruby’s birth wasn’t the original solution. RTD does an amazing job usually of working around logistical problems and makes them into story strengths. I’m fairly certain the concept of 14 being DT was because of Ncuti’s contract for Sex Education preventing him being available in time for the specials. The lack of 15 in the first half of this season makes sense because of the same reason, but it did leave Ruby’s relationship with the Doctor feeling underdeveloped. I wonder if Millie’s exit/return dictated what was eventually used for the finale. I’m hoping maybe there will be further developments in season 2.
Russell indicated that Millie Gibson was gonna be involved with the show for a long time. My theory is that she's gonna slightly be in season 2 but not take on a full companion rule to give some space for Verada Sethu's companion to be developed. I could see Millie returning full time again around season 3 (this time co starring with Verada as Russell said). I think Rtd wants to shake things up in a way that lets him use Ncuti and Millie for years to come. The spinoffs could play a large role in letting Ncuti rest and take on other roles so that he doesn't get Doctor Who burnout (something that I suspect happened with the great and beautiful Peter Capaldi).
I've read somewhere that Russel was inspired by The Last Jedi to make a twist like this. Except it doesn't really work. Nothing suggested that Rey's parents were special, that's just what she believed. On the other hand there were clearly supernatural occurences related to Ruby's mother
What if next season Ruby tries to ask her about that night and poor Louise starts getting confused herself like there was a perception filter and she doesn’t even completely remember that night. Could be a hidden member of the Pantheon messing around with time that night
I found it to be anticlimactic for the most part. Philosophically it is exactly in line with Doctor Who, and the story itself is emotional and can move you easily (especially at the end). I agree completely that the false flags and lack of closure on several tidbits (at least so far) really took away from the impact. I also would like to have slowed the pace a tad, stretched out an made more tension out of the story overall. Suspense never really took hold for some reason.
My personal thought was that Ruby's Mom pointing at the sign could have been better explained as the significance everyone was giving this moment allowing Ruby's unconscious to change that moment so that she could learn that her Mother had named her Ruby. Giving her a clue but not an answer. Which also explains why the Doctor saw it differently the first time.
And I don't mean to wish for things to be very different, but it would have been nice to see Sutekh cowering in terror because Donna Noble showed up at unit and wanted nothing to do with his nonsense.
The one faint hope I’m holding out for is in the podcast RTD said there’s more to ruby to discover and her family history. So while maybe the mum was normal could the father be adding towards how she was being hidden by the tardis and such?
We only saw the sign in the UNIT "Time Window" reconstruction of the scene, it was only the system trying to fill in? Perhaps that's it.
The thing we might consider about the reveal of Ruby's mother is a huge emotional everyday journey for lost children's stories the facts are probably not finished there is probably a deeper element to this story under some intriguing mysteries including her name Miller is connected to someone else who is called Tyler and mother of Rose? Jackie Tyler has a sister who is slightly younger than Sis Jackie and you said Ruby's mother did look like anyone, she does look like a young Jackie to me so might another secret be revealed. Because everyone has said Ruby sort of looked like Rose Tyler and similarities in attitude and emotions, and possibly this because their cousins? One other thing is Jackie's sister was a nurse to.
Before this reveal I kept seeing people say Ruby and The Doctor were gonna realize they're on some sort of alien 'truman show' esque type of thing and that would've made way more sense than what we got. Have a villain with powers like the toymaker who's literally "watching" our characters, along with an audience, and see if they can figure out why everything's so inconsistent when history is being changed so frequently, a "jigsaw of your history" if you will.
Completely agree with you here Elle. I would go a tad further with the criticism but you’re dead on. It felt lazy and incomplete, especially after part 1.
Ruby's mother being 'ordinary' is not an issue for me. The issue is that a - credible - explanation for Ruby's powers is lacking. Using the Star Wars metaphor: it would be like saying 'Rey's mother was ordinary' AND 'don't worry about her powers, those weren't real'. No: the explanation for Rey's powers is that she's a Jedi. So, what's the explanation for Ruby's powers? She was being set up as a counter-force to the Pantheon of Discord, a Yin to their Yang. All of that was hand waved away in the finale. It's so odd. The season finale feels like a hasty rewrite of what they actually intended...
I watched in the cinema and the silence in the audience at the end was telling. I saw the 50th Anniversary special in the cinema too and I remember everyone leaving on a high and there was a real atmosphere. This episode had a terrible payoff.
We have already met one of David Tennant Doctors' daughter, unless his Doctor(s) has another daughter. Yet in accordance to Ray’s similarities, her father would/could be the supernatural.
There was no one there when Ruby’s mother pointed to the street sign presumably to name Ruby, then who knew about it to actually call her Ruby when there was no one there?
All the power, snow and Music were part of Sutekh’s obsession giving that moment in time power. We just thought it was Ruby. Same thing with mystro they saw the connection to Sutekh. The pointing, yea it’s silly. Her being ordinary is the most Dr Who thing ever… 😂
I can give you a common sense answer to the Cloak question - It's F'n cold out when it's snowing. Bundle up or lose your bits.
The sign pointing was weird because it was added in Space Babies as a change to time. So okay, I'll grant that one as dumb.
The snowfall thing I think is wrapped up in the Mrs. Flood mystery. If she turns out to be Ruby's grandma then that's gonna make the Star Wars parallel all the weirder.
Remember that scene in Pyramids of Mars when Sutekh stood up and you saw a hand on his seat that looked like it had been tickling his balls? That's what RTD did to us.
Building up all that mystery - both in and outside the narrative - and he gave us an anticlimax.
The ending would have been great if we hadn't been teased.
It could be that somebody else was dropping Ruby off on Ruby Road. What if it was Mrs. flood? Or what if something happened and Mrs. flood made sure that she was at the church. What if she was pointing to the doctor.
Ruby can be "special" without having special parents. The snow could be something else, could be Mrs Flood (it was snowing in that last scene). For me, Ruby's mum being nothing special was the best possible outcome for me - loved it. (Sutehk getting hung up on it was another matter; but I've worked that out for myself too )
I agree with some force turning Ruby's mother from a nobody to this supernatural mystery, but not how the Doctor said. I think that Mrs. Flood in White is a member of the Pantheon who controls stories, and can change reality to make stories more compelling. She conceals the identity of the mother until the most dramatic moment, and seems to talk about the next 'season'. Let's not forget that Maestro had some control of the Tardis via music.