Doctor Who
Warning : spoilers ahead for Doctor Who time of year 14 ’s finale , " Empire of Death . "
Summary
Doctor Whoseason 14 ’s finale adopt a controversial theme fromStar war : The Last Jedi , but one enfranchisement carry out the gimmick far better than the other . Of the many running mysteries woven throughoutDoctor Whoseason 14 , the secret of Ruby Sunday ’s parentage was arguably the most seismal . That storyline finish in lurid fashion when " Empire of last " unveiled Ruby ’s supposedly - mystic mother as a steady cleaning woman , proving Ruby never held any cosmic significance , despite what the Doctor - andDoctor Who ’s audience - had come to believe .
TheRuby Sunday twist inDoctor Whoseason 14 ’s finalefeels spookily like to a famous - or notorious , from a certain point of survey - revelation inThe Last Jedi . The idea that Daisy Ridley ’s Rey was special , and that her parents were figures of great import , was seed inThe Force Awakens , but Kylo Ren step up inThe Last Jedito reveal Rey was " no one . " Her parent were ordinary , and Rey was never some fated sprocket in the universe ’s ever - turning mechanism . Doctor WhoshowrunnerRussell T Davies has confirmedThe Last Jediinspired Ruby ’s story , but only one franchise in reality attract it off .
With Sutekh , Ruby ’s female parent , and Mrs. Flood , Doctor Who season 14 ’s finale is packed with major reveals and lurid moments worthy of a closer look .
Why The Last Jedi’s “Rey Is No One” Twist Worked
Star Wars Didn’t Need Another Chosen One
Between 2015 and 2017 , there was far-flung expectation among theStar Warsfaithful that Rey would ultimately be bring out as the descendant of a famous character . This notion was motor partly by online theories and partially byStar war ' expanded universe , which heavily featured the materialisation of Luke , Leia , and Han . The intense hypothesis over Rey ’s hidden backstory was fuel further by clean overt hints spit throughout 2015’sThe Force Awakens , which seemed to be laying the foundations for a major twist regarding Rey ’s parents .
It is easy to understand , then , whyThe Last Jediconfirming Rey as a random supporter with no prior connection to theStar Warsuniverse could be deem anticlimactic and disappointing . At the very least , backtracking afterThe Force Awakenswas always going to essay divisive . On the other hand , The Last Jedi ’s Rey twistworked on both a logical and thematic level .
The Last Jedimade a worthy statement that the Force is about more than just a prize handful of characters and their nipper .
Custom image by Debanjana Chowdhury
In consistent terms , Rey being " no one " made perfect mother wit , slot into theStar Warsnarrative far intimately than Daisy Ridley ’s fiber being outed as some classic fighter ’s long - lose daughter . Most crucially , The Force Awakensprovided no concrete sign that Rey ’s past hide a wider association toStar war ' story . The only detail supply by the sequel trilogy ’s opening installment were that Rey ’s parents abandoned her on Jakku , and that Rey have surprising potency with the Force . Nothing aboutThe Last Jedi ’s Rey solution contradicted or rubbed awkwardly against anything found byThe Force Awakens .
Thematically , Rian Johnson ’s conclusion to make Rey a nobody served a purpose beyond merely subverting viewer expectations . Rey ’s disconnectedness fromStar war ' history served as a seasonable and much - want reminder that Jedi need n’t carry the surname " Skywalker " to be destined for greatness . Star Warsis litter with legendary Jedi whose backstories and parentage bear no importance , and by cement Rey as a torpedo in her own right , free from lineage or name , The Last Jedimade a worthy argument that the Force is about more than just a select handful of reference and their kid .
Star Wars : The Last Jedi has only got better since it first free , but the same can not be said for The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker .
The latest Doctor Who series introduces the Fifteenth Doctor, joined by new companion Ruby Sunday.
The Last Jedi ’s big Rey whirl made her immeasurably more interesting too , as the orphan scramble to comprehend Kylo Ren ’s claim that her parents were no - good Hugo Junkers who sell their own child . With this , The Last Jediimplied that Rey clung to the theme of her parents having a mysterious , meaningful reason to empty her because it was preferred to the choice . Learning to accept the verity would have represented huge growth for the continuation trilogy ’s protagonist .
Why Doctor Who Season 14’s Ruby Sunday Twist Doesn’t Work
Doctor Who Season 14 Fumbles Its Most Anticipated Reveal
By understanding whyThe Last Jedi ’s Rey twist was a clever spell of storytelling , one can dissect whyDoctor Whoseason 14 ’s attempt to emulate it gather with less success . The most notable dispute between the two lies in the logic behind each twist . WhileThe Last Jediavoided lineal conflicts withThe Force Awakens , Doctor Who ’s version fails to hold up anywhere near as well to scrutiny .
Doctor Whoteased Ruby ’s scope in various ways beforehand of the crowing reveal , and not all of these details bestow up after " Empire of Death . “Doctor Whodid not , for object lesson , provide a unmortgaged account for how Ruby , an average human , kept making snow fall throughout season 14 . too , there is no obvious way to cover the Doctor ’s memory of Christmas Eve change in " Space Babies , " nor why the Time Window could n’t see Louise ’s face .
Ruby redeem the day not because she ’s a timeless TARDIS creature from Trenzalore and Clara Oswald ’s cousin ’s roommate twice - removed , but because she has courage and meat .
Doctor Whoresorted to a stop - all account based around the universe bestowing an average woman with great importance because everyone think she was greatly important , butthe power of belief does too much grueling lifting for the twist to feel earned . Then there are the more fundamental flaws in how the conclusion ofDoctor Who ’s Ruby story compares to the breadcrumbs drop beforehand .
The mystery womanDoctor Whohad been following since 2023 ’s Christmas special was a 15 - class - old trying to hold in her identity while render away her baby . Quite why a teen girl in 2000s Britain would get into a prospicient black cloak alternatively of a normal hooded coat is hard to fathom . Such a garment would soak up attention on any grant UK street . It also feel odd that Ruby ’s biologic mother , a registered nurse with her holiday photos upload to the internet , was n’t found in the first place . Genuine episodes ofLong Lost Families- the real - life show Ruby contacted inDoctor Who ’s Christmas special - have unearthed estranged congenator with less .
Ruby Sunday’sDoctor Whostory transportation well from a thematic point of view , but still settle short ofThe Last Jedi . Just like theStar Warsmovie , Doctor Whoseason 14 ’s finish peddles the notion that anyone can be a hero , redact aside the " opt one " narration in favor of a more found , ordinary truth . Ruby saves the 24-hour interval not because she ’s a timeless TARDIS beast from Trenzalore and Clara Oswald ’s cousin ’s roommate twice - removed , but because she has courage and affection . By itself , that is a worthwhile moral .
Millie Gibson ’s future as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who time of year 15 was already confusing , but becomes even more so after season 14 ’s final episode .
Ruby ’s normal - cape did not , however , ring quite as nicely asThe Last Jedirevealing Rey as " no one . " The rudimentary use of Rey ’s parents being insignificant was to spotlight how Ridley ’s character could still be the galaxy ’s hero without it being written in the sensation or dictated by her inheritance .
Dr. Whomuddies its narrative weewee by making the underwhelming nature of Ruby ’s secret a key plot point , as the Doctor and Ruby exploit the allure of unmask Ruby ’s mother to lead Sutekh into a trap . Ruby may be a steady human being , but she necessitate to pretend otherwise to save the universe . The Doctor could not have killed Sutekhif the villain had n’t assumed Ruby ’s female parent was cosmically significant , drastically counteract the message that average tribe can be fighter .
Doctor Who Can’t Retcon Ruby’s Parentage Like Star Wars Did In The Rise Of Skywalker
Don’t Expect “Ruby Palpatine” In Doctor Who Season 15
The neat irony , of course , is thatThe Last Jedi ’s Rey reveal did n’t hold , as JJ Abrams returned forThe Rise of Skywalkerand retconned Rian Johnson ’s tale by discover Rey as a Palpatine - a development even more controversial than hold her " no one . “Doctor Whoseason 15will not have the choice to do something similar , as " Empire of Death " fully introduces Ruby ’s nascence mother , testify the pair reuniting , and even teases Ruby ’s father . That leavesDoctor Whono way to wind back and reveal Ruby is a timeless TARDIS creature from Trenzalore and Clara Oswald ’s full cousin ’s roommate twice - removed after all .
If the backlashThe Rise of Skywalkerreceived is anything to go by , Doctor Whoisn’t miss out there . Regardless , theStar Warssequel trilogy ’s finale further highlights whereDoctor Whowent awry . The Last Jedi ’s Rey tress , while still controversial , made sense . WhenThe boost of Skywalkerlater commute focussing , it need to scramble over itself to explain - or , indeed , not explain - howRey was a Palpatine , take audiences to take a Brobdingnagian leap of logical system .
In the same room , Doctor Whoseason 14 ’s ending scrambled over itself to excuse how Ruby Sunday was a normal human , glossing over the falling snow , the bootleg cloak , and various other detail that no longer sit quite right . Despite attempt to emulateThe Last Jedi , therefore , the resolution toDoctor Who ’s Ruby Sunday secret perhaps had more in coarse withThe Rise of Skywalker ’s doubly unpopular Rey Palpatine retcon .
The latest Doctor Who series preface the Fifteenth Doctor , joined by new companion Ruby Sunday .
