Untitled

{"id":97752,"date":"2024-06-22T19:12:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T23:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=97752"},"modified":"2024-06-22T19:21:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T23:21:46","slug":"doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: Life Wins, Clever Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My own speculation as I was watching \u201cEmpire of Death\u201d was that Susan Twist, brought into existence time and again by the TARDIS, would turn out in one iteration to be Ruby\u2019s mother, so that in essence she was the daughter of the TARDIS, or perhaps (if the TARDIS used the Doctor\u2019s DNA, not having any of its own), the Doctor\u2019s daughter. I don\u2019t mind having been proven wrong. The story that Doctor Who gave us was much more powerful, meaningful, insightful, and relevant.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s back up. Hopefully you\u2019ve watched the episode \u201cEmpire of Death\u201d and know that, while sometimes we use the phrase \u201ceveryone dies\u201d in this case that is literally the case on a universal scale. Kate Stewart, before she turns to dust, asks the Doctor to send this monster back into hell. She adds that she hopes that birds will sing again.<\/p>\n

We learn that in the episode \u201cPyramids of Death\u201d in which Sutekh first appeared Sutekh hid around the TARDIS<\/a> and essentially clung to it, as a means of escaping the fate to which the Doctor tried to condemn him in the time corridor. Sutekh says that as a result he \u201cevolved into his true godhood\u201d and the TARDIS will be the temple of his \u201cempire of death\u201d (the title of this episode). Sutekh says that \u201cEvery living thing is an abomination\u201d while the Doctor says to Sutekh, \u201cI damn you in the name of life itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those of us who\u2019ve watched Tales from the TARDIS <\/em>and seen the intros to classic episodes featuring classic Doctors and characters in a TARDIS of memory<\/a>, having that TARDIS feature in this episode was really cool. Time is memory and memory is time.<\/p>\n

Connecting with the episode earlier this season by the same name, we learn that the perception filter of TARDIS extends 73 yards<\/a>. The TARDIS created versions of Susan Triad everywhere. The Doctor says that \u201cStrange things happen at 73 yards.\u201d Although there are connections with the episode \u201c73 Yards\u201d Ruby never remembers that parallel timeline, although clearly the time window does.<\/p>\n

The Doctor realizes that, in traveling with Sutekh as his unknown companion, he brought death to all those worlds. He says, \u201cI thought it was fun\u201d and then screams in anguish.<\/p>\n

It was fun that in the glimpses of the episode \u201cPyramids of Mars,\u201d when Ruby asks \u201cWhat was all that Egyptian stuff?\u201d the Doctor offers the casual reply, \u201cCultural appropriation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out that Sutekh is frustrated because he cannot see Ruby\u2019s mother. Not knowing something is intolerable to a deity. While the resolution of this narrative twist (he he) may not satisfy everyone, I\u2019ll explain in a moment why I think it was more than fitting, indeed insightful and profound. But first, the notion that deities (not in the omniscient sense but in the sense of gods and angels as understood through most of history) might find aspects of human life and behavior inscrutable is a recurring motif throughout human religious literature down the ages. Doctor Who may perhaps help those of us who teach religion to convey what gods were thought to be like (as opposed to the God with a capital \u2018G\u2019 that is for many the dominant concept if not indeed the only one they are familiar with.)<\/p>\n

Ruby asks herself, \u201cIf gods are scared of him then what am I?\u201d Yet when they go to 2046, a time of mandatory DNA testing, to track down Ruby\u2019s mother, the result puzzles her, and Ruby keeps asking, \u201cBut what does it mean?\u201d It is such a poignant moment when Sutekh seizes control of Mel after a significant struggle to resist, and the Doctor says that he loved her. She asks, speaking from the perspective of Sutekh, \u201cAnd what good did love do, Doctor? When did it ever help?\u201d<\/p>\n

When Sutekh insists that the information in the time window about Ruby\u2019s mother be handed over, Ruby smashes it, calling him \u201cYou great big god of nothing.\u201d We then learn that they realized Sutekh was working on trapping them, and they prepared to turn the tables on him. They drag him into the time vortex with the TARDIS \u2013 which in theory should not have been such a big deal, if Sutekh managed to hitchhike along with the TARDIS for such a long time. But presumably being in the vortex without a vehicle is not manageable even for this sort of powerful being.<\/p>\n

The Doctor asks, \u201cWhat happens if you bring death to death? You bring life!\u201d He says to Ruby, \u201cWe fought a monster. And now, I must become a monster.\u201d The Doctor then says to Sutekh that he prides himself on being better than Sutekh, and therefore he tells Sutekh \u201cyou win, because you turned me into this. I am the one that brings death.\u201d The Doctor then closes the TARDIS door, severing cable that held Sutekh and dragged him along, so that his existence is extinguished within the time vortex. Unless, of course, some future writer decides to bring him back.<\/p>\n

When we finally get the revelation about the identity of Ruby Sunday\u2019s mother, it is that she is\u2026ordinary. When Ruby struggles to understand how that can be true given the seemingly cosmic and universal significance that the identity of her mother had, the Doctor explains that that\u2019s how wars and religions and love stories happen. We investing things and people with significance. For a moment, all of creation was turning around her. There is something more wonderful in that than if Ruby had turned out to be a literal miracle child or the child of some other character we\u2019ve grown to love.<\/p>\n

Although the Doctor advises against it, Ruby goes and talks to her mother in a coffee shop and the reunion is a joyful one. By the end of the episode, Ruby and the Doctor part ways. For perhaps the first time in the show\u2019s history, the Doctor literally sheds tears over the departure. The Doctor really has changed, and as the Doctor says during the episode, Ruby played a key part in that transformation.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the episode \u201cEmpire of Death,\u201d the mysterious Mrs. Flood asks Ruby\u2019s grandmother if she believes in the power of prayer. When she says that she most certainly does, Mrs. Flood says<\/a>, \u201cThen tell your maker, I will come to storm down his gates of\u00a0 gold and seize his kingdom by my true name.\u201d It is a strange prayer to utter in any context but perhaps especially in response to Sutekh\u2019s spreading \u201cgift of death.\u201d At the end of the episode, Mrs. Flood reappears to draw the story to a close and tell us that the Doctor\u2019s story ends in \u201cabsolute terror,\u201d only to then bid us adieu by saying, \u201cNight night.\u201d While not only the major season arc but lots of individual details reach a natural conclusion. Yet one major mystery, rather than being resolved, has become if anything even more tantalizing.<\/p>\n

It seems as though it is all but certain that Mrs. Flood\u2019s use of the phrase \u201cclever boy<\/a>\u201d is a misdirection<\/a> since there is no way that she can be Clara Oswald, is there? Of course, the \u201cimpossible girl\u201d showed up in so many places that we\u2019d expect that in one she might have a chance to live into old age. On the other hand, the connection of Ruby Sunday with Christmas day<\/a> is intriguing, as it one of her outfits<\/a>. Despite the water motif (pond and flood) there\u2019s no way that she could be an older Amy Pond.<\/p>\n

Her seeming nonchalance about telling us that the Doctor\u2019s story ends in absolute terror makes her seem unlikely to be a former companion. Some have noticed her costume<\/a> and suggested Romana but that seems a poor fit. Who would talk this way, and think that seeing a TARDIS is an unsurprising event<\/a>? Perhaps another time lord<\/a>, maybe even the Doctor\u2019s mother? At the moment another of the gods (such as the White Guardian<\/a>) seems the most likely answer, but I am sure we have not yet been given enough clues (and it is also likely that Russell T. Davies isn\u2019t yet sure which way he will go with this either).<\/p>\n

This was a fitting conclusion to the season\u2019s arc and to the finale begun in \u201cThe Legend of Ruby Sunday.\u201d<\/a> What did you think about \u201cEmpire of Death\u201d? Any speculation on the identity of the mysterious Mrs. Flood?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In \u201cEmpire of Death\u201d the Doctor and a host of others take on Sutekh. Yet before long there\u2019s almost no one else left alive in the universe, just the Doctor, Ruby Sunday, and Mel. The obvious question is one that the Doctor poses to Sutekh. Why? Why is the Doctor allowed to continue living, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":97758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1918,2765,3485,4029,17568,12111],"class_list":["post-97752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-clara-oswald","tag-doctor-who","tag-flood","tag-gods","tag-ruby-sunday","tag-sutekh"],"yoast_head":"\nEmpire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale "Empire of Death" as well as clues to how they may be.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale "Empire of Death" as well as clues to how they may be.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-22T23:12:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-22T23:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2024\/06\/empire-of-death-d2aa85c-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html\",\"name\":\"Empire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-22T23:12:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-22T23:21:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale \\\"Empire of Death\\\" as well as clues to how they may be.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Life Wins, Clever Boy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Empire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale","description":"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale \"Empire of Death\" as well as clues to how they may be.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Empire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale","og_description":"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale \"Empire of Death\" as well as clues to how they may be.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2024-06-22T23:12:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-22T23:21:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":513,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2024\/06\/empire-of-death-d2aa85c-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html","name":"Empire of Death: Doctor Who Season Finale","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-06-22T23:12:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-22T23:21:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Find out which mysteries were resolved and which weren't in Doctor Who's season finale \"Empire of Death\" as well as clues to how they may be.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2024\/06\/doctor-who-empire-of-death-life-wins-clever-boy.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor Who: Life Wins, Clever Boy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}