Doctor Who

Warning : Spoilers ahead forDoctor Whoseason 14 , episode 4 , " 73 Yards . "

Summary

Doctor Whoseason 14 , sequence 4 , " 73 Yards , " ends with several interpretation perhaps ringing on-key , with the story conclude in a fashion that ’s intentionally equivocal . " 73 Yards " give Millie Gibson the hazard to be the sole leader of theDoctor Whoseason 14 mould , with Ncuti Gatwa mistreat away for an enormous portion of the episode . This compelling change to the show ’s formula render one potential timeline for Ruby Sundayright up until the moment of her death , but the installment ’s ending powerfully implies almost every effect shown will now never pass off .

Disney ’s earned run average ofDoctor Whohas focused more and more on the supernatural , with the show fold huge parts of the fantasy musical style into its traditional scientific discipline - fabrication approach to storytelling . For example , Doctor Who ’s Pantheonmembers such asJinkx Monsoon ’s Maestroare essentially gods whose inexplicable powers cause a literal threat to the Doctor . “73 M " takesDoctor Who ’s new fantastical approach and double down on specific elements , creating a tale that becomes as difficult to measure as it is to brush aside .

MD Who has been a fixture on TV silver screen for 60 years , signify there are mass of stories to prefer from when picking out the Time Lord ’s salutary .

Doctor Who Season 14 Poster

How Old Ruby Traveled Back To Her Past In Doctor Who Season 14, Episode 4’s Ending

“73 Yards” shows one possible future for Ruby Sunday

The big reveal in " 73 Yards " is that the woman who stay on the titular distance off from Ruby Sunday at all metre is actually an elderly version of Millie Gibson ’s case . At the end of the episode , Old Ruby is shown on her deathbed , moment before somehow traveling back to the here and now on the Welsh coastline when the Doctor pace on the poof set , and preventing it from ever happening . While the installment does n’t include an account of how Ruby was able to do this , there are two primary hypothesis .

foremost , it ’s clear thatthere ’s something special about Ruby Sunday . The fact thatDoctor Who ’s Goblinsare so hypnotised by her is a immense signifier of this . The ongoing recurrence ofRuby ’s nose candy flashbacksis another cue , as well as the sodding lack of selective information regarding her origin . Her melodious connection to The One Who Waits that Maestro uncovers in " The Devil ’s Chord " compounds Ruby ’s importance and her likely secret power . So , it ’s imaginable that Ruby ’s ability to move back in fourth dimension and end the Doctor breaking the circle was unconsciously activate as she neared the end of her life .

Old Ruby has a perception filter too , as no one can ab initio notice her with any ease .

Millie Gibson looking scared as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who.

Does The Ending Mean Doctor Who’s “73 Yards” Never Happened?

Ruby’s future may never have unfolded in the way that’s shown

As far as the show is concerned , the rendering of Ruby ’s future demonstrate in " 73 Yards " is essentially scrubbed from existence whenOld Ruby successfully prevents the Doctor from stepping into the fairy band . Having allege that , a comment from Kate suggests that both timelines are just as relevant , with the UNIT leader telling Ruby , " I think this timeline might be suspend along your outcome . " If so , there ’s now a timeline where the Fifteenth Doctor vanish and never returned , with the TARDIS sitting forever as a testimonial to his memory .

doc Who ’s Disney geological era has made a wont of toying with the timelinemuch more than common , so " 73 Yards " aligns with this report . For example , David Tennant ’s Fourteenth Doctor accidentally caused graveness to be rename as " mavity"in " Wild Blue Yonder . " InDoctor Whoseason 14 , instalment 1 , " Space Babies , " Ruby changes the evolutionary line of humanity by standing on a butterfly , and Maestro succeeds in making the world go to war in 2024 during the event of " The Devil ’s Chord . "

However , many of these revision to the timeline snapped back after the Doctor interfere , with the mavity change being the outlier . So , it becomes especially difficult to definitively answer whether the consequence of " 73 Yards " remain canon in some corner of theDoctor Whouniverse . Although , interestingly , the mavity situation and Ruby ’s alternate timeline of being haunted by her future ego were both have by the Doctor making mistakes that he was then unable to amend .

All of the main Doctors in Doctor Who

The latest Doctor Who series introduces the Fifteenth Doctor, joined by new companion Ruby Sunday.

At the beginning of " 73 Yards " , Ruby says she has been to Wales double , whereas she enunciate she ’s been three times at the remnant . Although she ca n’t call back the particular of her third Welsh slip when pushed by the Doctor , it ’s a clue that some store of her erased timeline remains .

Ruby’s Timeline In Doctor Who Season 14, Episode 4 Explained (Chronologically)

The course of Millie Gibson’s charcter’s life creates a broken time loop

" 73 Yards " start in present - day Wales . From Ruby ’s initial perspective , she learn the Doctor bump the fairy circle , and then Ruby take some of the scrolls it bear . What follows is a decades - retentive tale constrict into the runtime of a single episode . By the end of " 73 Yards , " Ruby Sunday is much one-time , and even dies . However , while most of the level is elongate , it encircle back and erases most of the instalment ’s event .

Ruby lives an intact life history that is then suggested to be reset to the point where she first spotted her older ego on the hillside . Therefore , the Doctor never fly , and he ’s unaware of his near - miss with being efface from reality for goodness . Despite the Welsh locals near the beginning of the installment teasing Ruby for believe the fairy circle held real superpower , the episode all but confirms that the circle does indeed harbour something that very closely resembles magic .

Why Ruby Sunday Saw Her Future Self For Over 60 Years

Ruby’s motives were always to save the Doctor

" Space Babies " proves that Ruby Sunday can - inadvertently or otherwise - add element of her past through to the present . The omnipresence of fall Charles Percy Snow from the night of her birth is evidence of this . So , she may boast a like power that enable her to force her future into the present too . If so , this would explain why the older variation of herself is in the distance throughout " 73 Yards . "

The Doctor Who season 14 premiere sport a second that reinforces the similarities between Steven Moffat ’s era and the early Disney episodes .

However , this theory ignores the presence of the fairy circle altogether . What ’s perhaps more potential is that some word form of magical force is at play throughout the installment due to the Doctor crossing the traffic circle ’s perimeter . So , Ruby ’s time grommet may not have a sci - fi explanation as is so traditionally the compositor’s case . Instead , " 73 railway yard " could just be the latest example ofDoctor Who ’s late direction on all things magical . This is supported by Kate Lethbridge - Stewart telling Ruby that UNIT ’s workload is becoming more about supernatural effect than it is extraterrestrial : " thing seem to be turning that way these daylight . "

Millie Gibson smiling as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who.

Why Old Ruby Always Stood 73 Yards Away From Her Younger Self

The older Ruby never approaches or increases the distance between them

73 Yards may seem like an arbitrary distance for the two edition of Ruby to stay apart , but it makes sense give the circumstance of their first clash . At the beginning ( and the ending ) of the episode , the older Ruby is standing 73 yards away from the younger Ruby , and this is how the younger counterpart remembers the encounter . The succeeding rendering of the character looks to be make believe the same handful of gesture over and over again , so she is belike living out the same second as Young Ruby remember from the Welsh cliff .

Ifthe older Ruby is an echo of the episode ’s opening scene , it would make horse sense why her younger ego ca n’t approach her . To Millie Gibson ’s Ruby , the cryptic cleaning lady is nothing more than a memory , and she never saw what the design looked like up nigh . So , even if those nearby ( such as Ruby ’s female parent ) can see her , then they ’d initially only see her from 73 K away .

What ’s slightly more confusing is the fact that others can and do come on Old Ruby throughout the episode - once they ’ve been appreciate of her mien , which means it must be potential to see what she seem like up close .

And old woman in the distance under a small tree in Doctor Who.

What ’s slightly more puzzling is the fact that others can and do approach Old Ruby throughout the instalment - once they ’ve been give notice of her bearing , which means it must be potential to see what she looks like up close . However , there ’s no evidence to suggest that Old Ruby can ever be visualise clearly , even from a few foot away . UNIT even tries top - of - the - kitchen stove applied science to take photos , but they ’re never completely successful .

What Was Old Ruby Saying That Made Everyone Run Away?

The older woman terrified various Doctor Who characters

Once Ruby dies and becomes the woman on the hill , the only words that her youthful self hears her speak are , " Do n’t step . " However , this is still from 73 yards away , and it does n’t cause Ruby to be terrified as it does others who mouth directly with the older cleaning woman . Whileseveral characters are shown to straightaway interact with Old Ruby , it ’s impossible to hear what she order to them that instills such fear and causes them to flee .

The One Who Waits is one of Doctor Who ’s most mysterious villain , but the show does leave sure clues about the enigmatic adversary .

The reaction to the mysterious content ( if it ’s the same one each time ) changes depending on who hears it . For example , Susan Twist ’s " 73 Yards " character - the walker - guide away from Old Ruby after approach , as does the Welsh local who entrust the pub . On the other deal , Ruby ’s mother and Kate Lethbridge - Stewart both now leaveand turn inhuman toward Ruby . It ’s unreadable what define how each person will interpret the wrangle of the enigmatic lady in black .

A custom image of Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday

Doctor Who Season 14, Episode 4’s “Mad Jack” Connection Explained

Old Ruby’s solution could mean Roger ap Gwilliam never becomes a villain

Mad Jack is a name that ’s cite too soon into in the effect of " 73 Yards , " with the genuineness of a world existing by that name ebb off and fall throughout the installment . However , Ruby in conclusion hears the name being uttered by the aim British Prime Minister , Roger ap Gwilliam . Speaking on tv set in 2046,Gwilliam declare Mad Jack to be his cognomen . Ruby immediately make the connection to the name she scan in the fairy R-2 in 2024 , and assumes the fair sex who ’s been following her wants Ruby to check the pol .

The Doctor mentions Gwilliam in the episode ’s opening mo , describing him as a , " sorry lesson of the Welsh , " and " The most dangerous Prime Minister in story . "

As it turns out , all the older Ruby is trying to do is turn back the Doctor from standing in the fairy roofy - which she reach . However , the joining between the name " Mad Jack " from the circle also being apply to a figure in one of Ruby ’s futures can not be ignored . With the timeline reset , it ’s indecipherable whether Gwilliam will now follow a standardized course , or if the Mad Jack persona is lead confined to the traffic circle . One thing is obvious : Doctor Whoseason 14 just added yet another secret .

Ruby looking through the old woman through a phone screen in Doctor Who

Episode

Disney+ Release Date

" Space Babies " & " The Devil ’s Chord "

Ruby’s mother and the old woman at the end of a street in Doctor Who

May 10

" Boom "

May 17

A custom image of Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who against a backdrop of Jinkx Monsoon’s Maestro and Neil Patrick Harris' Toymaker

" 73 Yards "

May 24

" Dot & Bubble "

Headshot Of Ncuti Gatwa In The US premiere of the new season of the Disney+ series Doctor Who

May 31

" Rogue "

June 7

Headshot Of Millie Gibson In The US Premiere Of The New Season Of The Disney+ Series Doctor Who

" The Legend of Ruby Sunday "

June 14

" Empire of Death "

Doctor Who

June 21

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Cast

The previous Doctor Who serial publication enter the Fifteenth Doctor , joined by novel companion Ruby Sunday .