The resolution of Doctor Who’s season finale supposedly included Sutekh’s death, but the question of whether he really expired is wide open. Sutekh is considered the most powerful and dangerous of all the gods in Doctor Who’s Pantheon of Discord. The penultimate episode of season 14 revealed that he had returned 50 years after the Fourth Doctor thought he had eliminated him by trapping him in a time tunnel, thus forcing the Doctor to battle him with Melanie and Ruby, the only other two survivors of Sutekh’s deadly attack.
Sutekh’s original appearance in “Pyramids of Mars” is widely considered to be one of the best Doctor Who stories of all time. During that story, the Doctor stopped Sutekh from escaping his prison underneath a pyramid by using the TARDIS to move a time tunnel to re-trap him, supposedly killing him after 7,000 years of being stuck. However, this turned out not to be the case, as Sutekh revealed to the Fifteenth Doctor that he had latched himself onto the TARDIS instead of dying. This first fakeout has led to widespread speculation that Sutekh escaped death a second time.
The Doctor Believes Sutekh Is Dead After Doctor Who Season 14
He Ejected Him Into the Time Vortex After Undoing His Trail of Destruction
The first half of Doctor Who’s season 14 finale featured the success of Sutekh’s deadly plan, as his deadly dust spread across the universe, killing everyone in its path, including the Doctor’s friends at UNIT and leaving the Doctor feeling equal parts guilty and determined to reverse the damage. He eventually trapped Sutekh and forced him to reverse the damage, after which he ejected him into the Time Vortex. The Doctor declared that this was the end of Sutekh, this time for good.
The Doctor’s sentiment was understandable. After Sutekh used the Doctor’s TARDIS to plant the seeds for the destruction of all life and manipulated the Doctor’s sense of isolation, loneliness, and guilt over his belief that he ruined the lives of all he loved, the Doctor would want to believe he vanquished him for once and all. However, there is no reason to believe that Sutekh is completely dead. Although Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies confirmed Sutekh’s death, that could change if the story demands it, and it’s illogical to believe Sutekh is permanently gone.
Sutekh Can Easily Return In Future Doctor Who Seasons
His Death Was Retconned Once And Could Be Again
The most compelling evidence against Sutekh’s death is the fact that he cheated it last time the Doctor tangled with him by latching onto the TARDIS instead of remaining stuck. Given this backstory, if Doctor Who wanted to bring Sutekh back, it could reveal that Sutekh attached himself to some other ship or person as he tumbled through the Time Vortex. Additionally, since Doctor Who features time travel, it’s possible that an already-aired episode was the result of Sutekh’s manipulations after being ejected from the TARDIS, which could be revealed during a later story involving Sutekh’s survival.
Getting thrown into the Time Vortex doesn’t have to be fatal, and Sutekh should be more likely to survive than others. Doctor Who has explained the Pantheon is a set of nearly indestructible gods, so it makes little sense for the god of death to be so easily destroyed. Sutekh spent 50 years carefully plotting the demise of the entire universe, and it doesn’t make sense that in the blink of an eye, he was forced to undo all his hard work and then killed. Thus, Davies or another future showrunner could easily undo Sutekh’s death in a future story.
Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary May Have Already Revealed How Sutekh Returns
The Same Irregularity That Led to The Doctor’s Bi-Generation Might Have Saved Sutekh
The Doctor’s assumption that he ejected Sutekh from the TARDIS relies on the assumption that there is only one copy of the TARDIS in the universe. However, this isn’t the case. “The Giggle” featured the unique feature of bi-generation instead of regeneration, which occurred because of the Toymaker’s manipulations. After defeating the Toymaker, the Fifteenth Doctor split the TARDIS into two copies so that the Fourteenth Doctor could park his and relax with Donna until he felt like traveling while Fifteen went on new adventures. Since Sutekh had infiltrated the TARDIS before this, the second TARDIS may have a second Sutekh attached to it.
This reappearance to wreak havoc after supposedly dying would be more worthy of the powerful god of death than the ending that was written for him (…)
The idea of Sutekh sitting in Donna’s garden waiting for the right time to strike is truly scary, which would make for a gripping third part to the Sutekh saga should it come to pass. Doctor Who has an opportunity to correct its flawed logic in killing off Sutekh by bringing him back for a third story. This type of reappearance to wreak havoc after supposedly dying would be more worthy of the powerful god of death than the ending that was written for him so far, especially since there’s little reason to believe Sutekh is dead.