Hell Bent (TV story): Difference between revisions

After being tortured for billions of years within his own [[confession dial]], [[the Doctor]] has been pushed to the brink of madness. Returning to [[Gallifrey]], he must face his own people, the [[Time Lord]]s, but how far will he go in his quest for vengeance? Does he have another confession?

Walking through the desert-like plains of [[Gallifrey]], the Doctor arrives at [[Barn (The Day of the Doctor)|the old barn]] where he slept in as a child and [[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|worked out how to save his home]]. He climbs up into its loft, seeming nostalgic as he overlooks his old bed. To his surprise, the very same woman who had cared for his [[First Doctor|original self]] enters the barn; with the Doctor's face blocked by a beam, she cannot tell who it is, so she asks him to leave. Walking closer, she meets his gaze, immediately realizing his identity; she warns the Doctor that "they" will kill him. In the chamber of the High Council, the Cloister Bells are ringing, warning of great danger. Rassilon wonders why the Doctor hasn't arrived yet. To Rassilon's annoyance, [[Ohila]] and some of the Sisterhood of Karn arrive and advise to try appealing to the Doctor to get his attention. Rassilon sends a soldier named [[Gastron]] to retrieve him.

In the meantime, the Doctor is trying to enjoy a bowl of soup, with a small crowd of Gallifreyans watching him in awe. Gastron arrives in a military craft, asking that the Doctor drop his weapons. Instead of going with Gastron, the Doctor walks up and drags his heel through the sand, drawing a line; he then resumes eating his meal, unconcerned. Gastron reports this to Rassilon, who tries numerous different approaches to get the Doctor's attention - he sends respectful soldiers, the High Council, and even the War Council. Finally, Rassilon himself arrives with his personal guard; the Doctor only responds with a simple "Get off my planet". Rassilon does not take kindly to the Doctor's words, demanding he be brought with them. He orders his men to execute the Doctor. However, to Rassilon's anger, they all miss. Rassilon demands an explanation from Gastron. He states that in the Time War, the "Doctor of War" did not use weapons. Gastron throws his weapon and joins the Doctor. The rest of the firing squad follow suit.

Rassilon furiously raises his Gauntlet, demanding to know how many regenerations were [[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|granted to the Doctor back on Trenzalore]], saying he's "got all night" in which to kill the Doctor as many times as it takes to exhaust his remaining lives. However, to Rassilon's surprise, reinforcements arrive, backing up the Doctor. The General repeats the Doctor's order to leave the planet, throws down his gun and joins the Doctor. Rassilon is then banished, with the Doctor stating that the High Council that served him will soon be following. The General then explains that Gallifrey came back into the universe several billion years later, give or take a star system or two; thus anyone banished from the planet has little choice in where to go. The General asks if he's gone too far with Rassilon's exile, the Doctor grimly warns that he's barely started.

Now once more the Lord President of Gallifrey, the Doctor demands to know why he was imprisoned within his own confession dial. The General explains that all Matrix predictions foresaw the birth of a Hybrid of both Time Lord and Dalek races. The Doctor tells them that he cannot talk to them; he needs Clara. They take him to the extraction room, where they pull Clara out of her timeline one second right before her death; she arrives on Gallifrey, confused. The Doctor explains that she's been frozen in that one moment of time they took her from, so that she doesn't have a pulse or need to breathe. Once the General explains why they saved her, the Doctor reveals it was all a ruse to save Clara and disarms the General. After asking what regeneration the General is on (his tenth), the Doctor wishes him luck before shooting him with his own gun. As the Doctor and Clara flee, Gastron checks on the General, who has regenerated into a female; she is quite glad to have returned to her original gender, which is free of male ego.

The Doctor takes Clara to the [[Cloisters]], an area located below Gallifrey's capital; it is guarded by [[Cloister Wraith|Wraith]]s, which only attack if they attempt to leave. Many enemies attempted to steal information from Gallifrey during the [[Cloister Wars]], and were imprisoned within the vines. There is a secret door they can use to escape; the wraiths use projections of enemies who attacked to attempt scaring them into retreating, to no avail. The General and Ohila arrive via the elevator, but don't stray more than three feet from it as any further in would cause the Wraiths to attack them as well. They attempt reasoning with the Doctor, revealing that he refused to answer about the Hybrid for four and a half billion years, something that shocks Clara as he has gone so far just for her. She distracts the General and Ohila with a furious tirade, calling them "monsters" while the Doctor escapes through a secret tunnel; he proceeds to steal another TARDIS and flees Gallifrey with Clara. Ohila isn't that surprised; she explains to the General that running away is what the Doctor does best.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor asks Clara what she thinks of the original design for the control rooms; she's not too fond of it. The Doctor takes them to the end of the universe, hoping that Clara's biology will restart now that there's nothing that can be damaged by his actions. However, nothing happens. Hearing four knock, the Doctor tells Clara that Me is out there; he leaves the TARDIS to find Me sitting in a chair next to a fireplace. The Doctor reminds Me that he told her the universe would be small when he's angry at her;  he tells her to "go to Hell, which is about five minutes away." Me then asks about the Hybrid, which the Doctor thought was her, human with Mire medical technology inside; Me speculates it might refer to the Doctor and theorizes that the Doctor might be half-human. However, the Doctor brushes her off, asking if it matters. Following this, Me wonders if it's the relationship between the Doctor and Missy - order and chaos side by side, traveling the universe; the Doctor finds the idea more believable. Me then reveals her true theory: she thinks it's the Doctor and Clara - true companions who will go to extremes for the sake of each other. The Doctor takes out a device which will wipe Clara's memories of him, but promises to tell her before he does it.

Back in the present, the Doctor continues talking to Clara; he doesn't remember what she looked like, but remembers their adventures. Looking around the diner, he suddenly recalls having been to it with [[River Song|River]], [[Amy Pond|Amy]] and [[Rory Williams|Rory]] when he faked his death in his previous incarnation. Clara smiles and walks into the back room, which is revealed to the console room for the TARDIS she stole from him. The diner vanishes, leaving the Doctor astounded as he realizes he was talking to Clara; he sees she left his own TARDIS, which still has Rigsy's graffiti memorial for her. The Doctor boards his TARDIS and takes off, watching a new sonic screwdriver emerge from the console and launch into the air and catching it. As the TARDIS dematerialises the memorial on the front door flakes off piece by piece-any trace of Clara having been with the Doctor now gone.