The Wolves of Winter (comic story)

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The Wolves of Winter was the sixteenth story of the Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor comic series, published in 2017. The story featured Bill Potts' first appearance in the ongoing Twelfth Doctor comic series, even though it was published only a few days after she left the Doctor in The Doctor Falls. It featured the return of two Martian species from Doctor Who - the Ice Warriors and the Flood.

Summary

In Bill's first comic adventure, the TARDIS crashes into the heart of a Viking camp! But this is no interactive history lesson, and it seems that a terrifying alien force has taken hold over the icy kingdom. As the snow melts, the Doctor realises that he is about to face an unwelcome face from the past...

Plot

Part 1

In the North Atlantic in the 9th century, a Viking ship sails the ocean. Sundvik, Grimvald and other Vikings sail in the ocean after a deadly battle until Sundvik orders everything to be thrown overboard so the enemy will think they have crashed into rocks and died. He questions if he should throw away “the treasure”, but ultimately refuses to give it up as they fought for it in the battle. When they reach land, they soon begin to carry out supplies, but Grimvald is uncertain about resting on the land. They soon try to seek warmth in a cave but inspect it to see if it’s safe.

Meanwhile in the TARDIS, Bill and the Doctor are going to see polar bears but the TARDIS has gone out of control. Bill and the Doctor are confused as they have gone off course and are landing.

Back on Earth, two objects appear; one object crashes into the mountain while the other one crashes into a different spot. As they settle down, the TARDIS lands and the Vikings capture them. In the cave, as Halfdan inspects the crashed object, the shadow of something stands behind him. He tries to touch the object but it shines in a bright white light, blinding him. He looks around as the shadowy creature appears closer behind him.

Outside, the Vikings are shocked by the interior of TARDIS and try to determine what god the Doctor might be. After Torkal starts to complain about her husband, Halfdan, who has not come out of the cave, the Vikings tell the Doctor about the objects that fell into the mountain, and the Doctor suggests finding Halfdan as he could possibly be in danger. The Doctor, Sundvik, Bill, Torkal, and Grimvald along with other Vikings go to find Halfdan, and Sundvik orders Asmund to split up the group and examine the other objects that crashed. The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to scan the area and it picks up an entity, but it is confused on whether it’s human or not. In the cave, the group light up their torches and the Doctor suggest they split up.

On the other side of the mountain, Bill and Grimvald examine the other object that crashed and see a spaceship. Grimvald tries to attack but Bill stops him and drags him away. The Doctor on the other side examines markings and symbols on the walls and has a bad feeling about the situation. He walks forward and stands in shock to see three Ice Warriors coming toward them. One of the Ice Warriors explains that they are on a dangerous mission.

Meanwhile, Bill and Grimvald explore the cave pathway but they find water everywhere and avoid it to not get wet. Bill stops and sees Halfdan pouring water out of his hands in a pool of water. Suddenly two Ice Warriors appear, water streaming from their hands and mouths, and surround Bill and Grimvald. They are infected by the Flood.

Part 2

Grimvald uses his torch to force the infected Ice warrior away from them. The Doctor and the ice warrior hear them and go to check out what is happening. Grimvald and Bill run away from the flood and run to the Doctor but an infected warrior and the infected Halfdan find them. The infected begin to spray water at them but before they can infect anyone the ice warriors use their sonic weapons on the flood. Grimvald then comforts Torkal of her loss. We get names as the main Ice warrior or commander is Marshall Skoll.

Back at the camp Skoll explains how during the pandemic of the flood on Mars, the only way they stopped it was by freezing the flood in a glacier. But before putting the contaminated sand in the glacier Haathi became infected and stole a ship to earth and the ice warriors followed him to earth. The Doctor proposes that it is Ragnarok and we see the flood begin to write the symbols on the wall. Meanwhile Asmund has discovered the Ice Warriors and plans to attack them. In the cave, a shadow appears behind the flood of an alien and it is revealed to be Ingiger and the flood turn around shocked. Because of the temperature of the cave, the ice warriors cannot go in it for sometime and freezing the flood will be impossible as the ice will melt.

Asmund attacks but the ice warrior uses a radio so Sundivik can tell him they are allies but he doesn’t listen. The Doctor tells Bill to bring a bag from the Tardis. On the other side of the mountain, a viking and the two ice warriors see the infected ice warrior and Halfdan come out of the cave but it’s too late for them to do anything as the two spray water on them, infecting them.

The Doctor tries to comfort Torkol but she is angry about his decision to try to make peace with the flood instead of destroying them. Bill brings the Doctor his bag. Asmund and his warriors take over the ship and take weapons, the ice warriors then begin to block and guard the exits so the flood can’t escape and enter the ocean while Ingiga and Sundvik try to translate the writing on the wall of the cave. The Doctor and Bill put on space suits that sealed shut and the Doctor plans to communicate with the flood. Asmund and his friend Wulfstan test their weapons and shoot at the boat but a shadow stands behind them revealing a monster that attacks them before biting into Asmund and Ingiger commands it to come back to the ship.

The Doctor and Bill approach the infected ice warriors in their suits and try to convince them that the Doctor will take them to a planet that has more water than earth, but when the Doctor mentions that the planet won’t have hosts that are sentient, the flood refuses the offer. The Infected Warrior tries to infect Bill and The Doctor by spraying water on them but the suit protects them and they run away. They run to Asmund and Wulfstan who are now mind controlled and run away from them, they then run into Sundvik and Ingiga and take their helmets off and tell them to see their treasure. On a viking ship the same creature attacks a viking on a viking ship. The Doctor and others find a man alive but without his mind and The Doctor regonizes the names and knows who behind it and Ingiger arrives.

Characters

Main story

Flashback

References

Notes

  • This story is a rare example of using the dating system of CE (Common Era) over AD (anno domini or "In the year of our Lord"). Although becoming more commonplace in academic circles, CE and its counterpart, "BCE" are uncommon in fiction.
  • Bill remarks how the Vikings do not have horns. This is an in-joke reference to criticism levelled at The Girl Who Died, which featured stereotypical (and historically inaccurate) horn-wearing Vikings. The Vikings seen in this story are depicted closer to how they appear in the popular TV series Vikings.
  • Bill and the Doctor previously encountered the Ice Warriors in the TV episode, Empress of Mars, which was clearly the former's first encounter with them. Her recognition of them in the second issue places this story some point after that episode.
  • This story acts as a prequel to both The Curse of Fenric and The Waters of Mars though both occur in the Doctor's personal past.

Continuity

External links

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