Doctor Who's Penultimate Episode Introduced Another Pantheon God, And It's A Deep Cut To The Classic Era
Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Doctor Who episode "The Legend Of Ruby Sunday." Watch the episode with a Disney+ subscription and read at your own risk!
Doctor Who's first season on Disney+ is nearly over, but it doesn't appear as though we'll be having a light and jolly adventure before the show closes out its run on the 2024 TV schedule. Instead, showrunner Russell T. Davies raised the stakes drastically in "The Legend Of Ruby Sunday" by bringing back a classic villain for the first time since "The Giggle." That's right, a new Pantheon god is here, and surprise, it's a deep cut to the classic run of the series.
Russell T. Davies confirmed to CinemaBlend that after Maestro's debut, we'd see three more Pantheon gods, and one of those three just made its big debut. For those bewildered or confused by what they just saw with the latest god, here's a rundown of what happened and where we know this villain from:
Sutekh The Destroyer Is The Newest Pantheon God
With the coincidences in Doctor Who's latest season piling up, The Doctor and Ruby enlisted UNIT to figure out the identity of the woman they kept spotting throughout time. It turns out Kate Stewart and the crew already had a lead, and she was the CEO of Triad Technologies, Susan Triad. The group assumed it wasn't a coincidence that S. Triad spelled TARDIS when swapped around and thought it might be The Doctor's granddaughter Susan.
As The Doctor tried to get to Susan before "The One Who Waits" arrived, the TARDIS was groaning again, similar to how it had in several previous episodes. Finally, the shoe dropped when The Doctor confronted Susan, who turned out to be a servant of Sutekh The Destroyer. Back at UNIT headquarters, Sutekh emerged from the TARDIS, and we were left hanging with our minds blown on what could possibly be coming in the season finale.
Sutekh Is A Classic Villain From Tom Baker's Era
If Sutekh isn't a name viewers are familiar with, they shouldn't feel bad. He was the main villain of the Fourth Doctor's arc "Pyramids Of Mars" (which is available to watch for free on Tubi, I might add). The Doctor encountered a villain with similar origins to the Egyptian god of legend, who believed destroying all living things freed them from the burdens of hope and choice. His destruction knows no bounds, and some believed him to be Satan himself. He was so destructive and so deadly he was sealed away within a forcefield that left him paralyzed using ancient technology.
Sutekh's servant and mummies gave The Doctor and Sarah Jane a run for their money and nearly made The Doctor free the god. Fortunately, the Time Lord was able to trap Sutekh in a time corridor for 7,000 years, halting his reign of terror for a time.
While Sutekh only had one television adventure across four episodes, Doctor Who has brought the character back many times over the years with various audio dramas and comics. Other adventures have highlighted his brilliance, especially when it comes to technology too. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense he was the person behind Triad Technologies.
What Does This Have To Do With Ruby Sunday?
Sutekh's arrival is interesting and kind of detracts from all the Ruby Sunday developments we learned in the penultimate episode. Perhaps the wildest one was that we were unable to see Ruby's mother in the time window and what she was pointing to in an effort to potentially alert The Doctor decades later. Oh, and it was snowing again, which Russell T. Davies told us would be explained eventually.
For now, it seems like Sutekh's arrival answers some of the questions we have, but there are still many unanswered ones concerning Ruby Sunday. We don't know why we couldn't see her mother's face despite having a clear view in the Time Window, and clearly, her neighbor Mrs. Flood is just as much of a mystery as we originally assumed.
Perhaps we'll get some answers in the season finale, though I wouldn't be surprised if some of this carries into the next season considering we know Millie Gibson will return to Doctor Who. I can't wait to find out!
Unfortunately, I'll have to do exactly that as Doctor Who will stream the heart-pounding season finale on Disney+ on Friday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Now would be a great time to watch that Fourth Doctor adventure on Tubi, and speculate on how The Fifteenth Doctor might get himself out of this jam.
