Well, the Doctor sure is in a bind. Then he gets help from about the last person he would have expected it from.
Yeah, the Master shows up. Granted, he shows up on a screen, claiming he’s in the Matrix, and for some reason the other TIme Lords don’t know who he is, but he’s here, speaking loud and clear, so get used to it. See, the Master has some vital information, and he went so far as to provide the Doctor with something the Doctor needed for his trial but neglected to call before: friendly witnesses.
Yes, Sabalom Glitz and Mel show up in some kind of personalized flying space coffins.
Plus, the Master addresses the Valeyard by a different name: “Doctor”.
Oh. That was unexpected.
See, the Valeyard is actually a future incarnation of the Doctor with all of the Doctor’s evil inside of him. And since Time Lord lore states a fellow cannot be both the accused and the prosecutor, and the Master’s presence within the Matrix proves the Matrix isn’t as secure as everyone thought, then it looks like the Doctor may be off the hook.
Yeah, apparently, there was some Matrix tech on Earth, and that was what Glitz, hired by the Master, was sent to retrieve in the first serial, and when the Time Lords found out, they moved the planet (hence why it was way off-course) and nearly destroyed all life on Earth. The Doctor sees fit to suggest the Time Lords might be the worst evils he’s ever encountered because everyone else doesn’t quite measure up to that level of corruption.
Ouch. Worse than Daleks!
Of course, then the Valeyard makes a run for it and enters the Matrix…wait, you can do that? Never mind, the Doctor follows, dragging Glitz along as back-up while Mel stays behind to do whatever the rest of the Time Lords in the courtroom are going to do.
And inside the Matrix is a subuniverse of back alleys with rats, weird factories, and beaches where the Doctor, once alone, finds himself being dragged under ground by a bunch of grasping hands. Some days, you really should stay out of weird fantasy zones.
Anyway, next episode was the unexpected final episode for the Sixth Doctor. Can he get out of this? I mean, yeah, there are other Doctors already…
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