Doctor Who season 14 is still edging closer to revealing the truth of Ruby Sunday’s past, but episode 7 does drop one significant clue that begins unlocking the mystery. “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” lives up to the lore-heavy promise of its name, revolving entirely around the Doctor’s efforts to find out where Ruby comes from, who left her at the church on Christmas Eve 2004, why she was abandoned, and why she seems to possess inner cosmic power. Ultimately, those answers are saved for Doctor Who season 14’s finale, but the penultimate episode doesn’t leave its audience empty-handed.
As the super-top-secret Time Window that no one should know about is viewed by the Doctor, Ruby, Carla, Mel, and half of UNIT headquarters, that fateful Christmas Eve is played in real-time. Even though Doctor Who has not yet lowered the hood of the mysterious woman who dropped Ruby off – almost certainly her mother – the cloaked character’s actions are enough to lead the audience toward some canon-shaking conclusions about the most elusive member of Doctor Who’s cast.
Ruby’s Mother Was Likely Warning The Doctor About Sutekh
Is Sutekh Why Ruby’s Mother Was Pointing At The Doctor?
The Fifteenth Doctor first encountered Ruby’s biological mother when saving baby Ruby from goblins in 2023’s Christmas special. He later remembered the shadowy figure in “Space Babies,” but noted how his memory had morphed – the woman was now pointing at the Doctor. UNIT’s best brains ponder this in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” but answers evade them. Doctor Who season 14’s second-to-last episode then reveals Sutekh as the One Who Waits, lurking inside the Doctor’s TARDIS. In hindsight, it appears that Ruby’s mother was pointing not at the Doctor himself, and not strictly at the TARDIS, but at Sutekh.
It appears that Ruby’s birth mother was, for some unknown reason, forced to abandon her child, and did so with an extremely heavy heart.
The obvious next question is what possible reason Ruby’s mother could have for pointing out Sutekh. The most plausible answer is that she was desperately trying to warn the Doctor about the darkness hiding inside his ship, which, if true, would make Ruby’s absentee parent a friend rather than a foe. This assumption is cosigned by Ruby’s adoptive mother, Carla Sunday, who claims during Doctor Who’s Time Window sequence that the ghostly silhouette is crying, devastated at leaving Ruby behind.
Putting the pieces together, it appears that Ruby’s birth mother was, for some unknown reason, forced to abandon her child, and did so with an extremely heavy heart. Then, after the Fifteenth Doctor appeared behind her on Christmas Eve, she wanted Ruby’s future traveling companion to know his TARDIS was carrying a great, dark evil.
Ruby’s Mother Must Be A Time-Sensitive Individual
Ruby’s Mother Is Clearly No Ordinary Woman
The second big conclusion that can now be made about Ruby’s mother is that she possesses powerful, time-related capabilities. Sutekh’s presence inside the TARDIS was a secret not even the Doctor had figured out. The only Doctor Who characters aware of the One Who Waits prior to his return were the Toymaker, Maestro, and Mrs. Flood. One possibility is that Ruby’s mother is a powerful god, similar to the Toymaker and Maestro, who transcends time and can sense Sutekh’s aura when even a Time Lord cannot.
Another potential explanation is that Ruby’s mother traveled back from the future, and knows about Sutekh being inside the Doctor’s TARDIS because she already witnessed it during her own past. In either scenario, Ruby’s mother is a special brand of time-traveler, but Doctor Who’s “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” leans more toward the former explanation: Ruby’s mother is a cosmic temporal being.
When UNIT views her through the Time Window, Ruby’s mother seems to obscure her face by moving around, manipulating the image despite not being physically present. Such a feat echoes how the Doctor’s memory of the woman changed between “The Church of Ruby Road” and “Space Babies.” Additionally, Maestro claimed in “The Devil’s Chord” that they felt a power similar to Sutekh resonating within Ruby Sunday. If Ruby has a hidden connection to the mightiest god in Doctor Who’s Pantheon, that link would inevitably also apply to her biological mother.
Ruby’s Mother Could Be The Key To Sutekh’s Defeat In Doctor Who Season 14
The Fifteenth Doctor Needs All The Allies He Can Get
Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor is in a bad place when “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” rolls its final credits. Between Sutekh invading UNIT and Susan Twist offering her “gift of death,” the Doctor is without a plan, without hope, and without his TARDIS. The Time Lord muddled his way past the Toymaker twice, got lucky against Maestro, and sort-of-beat the Mara, but Sutekh sits atop Doctor Who’s Pantheon as its most powerful god. The Doctor may have believed he defeated Sutekh back when he looked like Tom Baker, but was evidently very wrong, and the villain’s return poses a challenge like no other.
The Doctor potentially figured out what Ruby’s enigmatic parent was really pointing at as soon as he learned Sutekh was hiding in the TARDIS.
Fifteen desperately needs help, and might find exactly that from Ruby Sunday’s mother. If pointing at the TARDIS suggests the woman is wary of Sutekh, her tears confirm how much she cares for Ruby, and her manipulation of time indicates she’s a figure of great power, then Ruby’s mom has three big reasons to help the Doctor fight Sutekh. Curiously, the Doctor may have already worked this out when “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” ends.
Much to Ruby’s confusion, the Doctor demands his companion return to the Time Window shortly before Sutekh emerges from the TARDIS, and the episode ends with Ruby yelling at UNIT’s contraption for answers. The Doctor potentially figures out what Ruby’s enigmatic parent was really pointing at as soon as he learns Sutekh is hiding in the TARDIS, identifying her as a potential ally who was trying to warn him. Sending Ruby to the Time Window to solicit help from her missing mother is perhaps the Doctor’s desperate final move before darkness falls in Doctor Who season 14’s finale.