DW Instant Reaction Post: 14x8 "Empire of Death"

[c_carol_again]

So. Just finished watching "Empire of Death"...


Oh, Russell.

I have been really, really tolerant about the whole "feelings over plot logic" thing, because I was happy to at least have the feelings back. But I think you just found my limit. That was _too much_.

To be fair, he did a better job than I expected of bridging the gap between Pyramids of Mars Sutekh (very powerful and scary but still basically just A Guy) and New Sutekh (ridiculously overpowered godlike being). By which I mean, at least they acknowledge that the difference exists. I still prefer guy-in-a-chair Sutekh, though.

But he wasn't even _trying_ on the link between the Sutekh-plot and the Ruby's-origins plot. Russell, I need at least the _illusion_ of plot points making some kind of sense, please.

Also, we already knew you had a cool CGI particle effect maker. It's cool but it isn't _that_ cool. Stop overdoing it, please.

Comments

[elisi]

To be fair, he did a better job than I expected of bridging the gap between Pyramids of Mars Sutekh (very powerful and scary but still basically just A Guy) and New Sutekh (ridiculously overpowered godlike being). By which I mean, at least they acknowledge that the difference exists. I still prefer guy-in-a-chair Sutekh, though.
This I will disagree with. Well not your preference, but that there is a gap. ^_^

Pyramids of Mars Sutekh was trying to get free, but never escaped, so we never saw his full power. Except in the flash-forward where Earth is dead (which again is a perfect illustration of what we got this episode). And this is the Doctor explaining Sutekh's power:

SARAH: Just how powerful is Sutekh, Doctor?
DOCTOR: He's all-powerful. If he ever gets free, there isn't a lifeform in the galaxy that could stand against him.
SARAH: What, not even your lot, the Time Lords?
DOCTOR: Not even our lot. [...] Sutekh was only defeated in the end by the combined might of seven hundred and forty of his fellow Osirans led by Horus.

And here is how Sutekh describes himself:

SUTEKH: Evil? Your evil is my good. I am Sutekh the Destroyer. Where I tread I leave nothing but dust and darkness. I find that good.

And that is exactly what happened.

Now did anything in the episode make sense? Not really. But it ably illustrated why the Doctor was so terrified of Sutekh escaping because it was indeed apocalyptic.

(I wish the resolution made sense, but at least a) the Doctor killed Sutekh and b) declared himself the god of Life, so that's nice. 😊)

[c_carol_again]

Hey, thanks for your comments. I absolutely see your point, and on reflection I think I was overstating the difference a bit. Because yeah, Classic Sutekh really is terrifyingly powerful, a credible threat to the entire universe, and the Osirans are one of the very few alien races that outclass even the Time Lords. But I still feel like there's some difference. To me, Classic Sutekh feels more like a Sufficiently Advanced Alien than a _literal_ embodiment of the concept of Death. The Osirans are an unbelievably powerful _humanoid people_. Scifi, not theology. Sutekh certainly isn't, or wasn't originally, the head god of an organized pantheon that includes every evil godlike being the show has ever created. To get him to that point, Russell had to retcon the ending of Pyramids, and also allow him to steal quite a bit of power from the Tardis. (I don't think Classic Sutekh had time-travel powers, that's why he tried to steal her in the first place). But I think the retcon _works_ pretty well, so I guess it doesn't matter much in the end?

[elisi]

To me, Classic Sutekh feels more like a Sufficiently Advanced Alien than a _literal_ embodiment of the concept of Death.
True. Maybe a bit more like Davros, wanting to kill everything than death itself.

But then RTD is clearly having fun adding gods to the overall pantheon as a specific thing rather than just have them pop up occasionally, more or less unexplained. Which is fair enough, it's nice to give the Daleks and the Cybermen a rest. And also ties in nicely with the whole Timeless Child thing (the Doctor being 'the god of life'), which I approve of greatly. If we have it, we should use it for something.