Gallifrey 2.03 Pandora (Spoilers)

At one point I attempted to unpack that Gordian Knot -- I don't think it was after this story, but another story (in this range) where Brax "departs forever." My recollection is being told, in no uncertain terms, that the Knot cannot be untangled and Brad's continuity with Benny is even messier.

Which tracks.

Anyway, if this is the "Pandora arc," then Pandora is the story when everything--or most everything--finally becomes clear and the main conflict becomes apparent. Or in this case, most,y clear--there's still some ambiguity.

The big revelation is that Inquisitor Darkel has be behind all of the troubles Romana has dealt with since the beginning of the series. Or, at least, most of them. Darkel somehow knew about Pandora lurking in the Matrix long before anyone else (though who discovered who is an open question) except maybe Brax (good luck discerning what he knows at any given point in time). Darkel employed Andred in her schemes and, it seems, Darkel was the mysterious Time Lord backing the Free Time terrorists--meaning that Darkel was behind the attempted mass-poisoning at the Academy.

Hand-in-hand with that revelation, we very nearly get the reveal that the Broken Man was Andred all along -- though granted it would have been an obvious twist: he's the most important character in the cast who we, with the benefit of hindsight, know won't be staying around long. I think there could've been a version of this script, after a revision or two, where Andred becomes the Broken Man in an act of sacrifice, or duty, that redeems him. The point is (as inarticulate as I am) that I think this could have been an opportunity to rehabilitate Andred in the listeners' eyes (ears?) and transform him into a more likable, or at least more tolerable character. Alas.

Instead the big twist is that the Broken Man was actually Winters!

Who?

I kid, I kid. But honestly, Winters is just about the least-interesting possible answer to that question. It makes that whole subplot feel ultimately rather hollow and inconsequential. All it accomplishes,really, is inform us of the Regenerative Virus, which we could just as easily have learned from another, less convoluted source (like, say, an attempted mass-poisoning).

But enough of that. This episode is great, and a lot of that is down to Brax, so let's talk about Mr. Irving Braxiatel.

Brax, at least, does get to fully pull off a big act of self-sacrifice here, and it all plays out very dramatically, even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why are there three discrete incarnations of Pandora in the first place? It's weird. Thematically appropriate for a story about the Time Lords of Gallifrey, but weird. Might've been interesting if there'd been some foreshadowing of this--like three whispering specters in the Matrix, not one, each with certain idiosyncrasies revealing their nature, evocative of MacBeth's prophetic witches.

But it works because -- and this is something I harp on a lot -- Brax's actions have emotional resonance. Then real reveal of this episode is that Brax was, in fact, conniving his way into position and authority and power, not for its own sake (as seems to be the case with Darkel) but in order to place himself in a position where he could protect Romana. Or at least that's the implication I read from the events of the story.

Quote of the story: "I am leaving Gallifrey--because I choose to."

And with those words, powerfully delivered, Brax ends the episode, his TARDIS dematerializing as he exits the stage, presumably forever. (But for a being like Braxiatel, "forever" is, as ever, a far shorter span than one might expect.)

All-in-all there are aspects of this story that don't quite work for me, and areas where I think it could've been better. But I like the ending. A lot. It really Ramos up the stakes in a fun way, leaves with a rocky cliffhanger, and most importantly grants us insight into one of Doctor Who's most secretive characters. For the most part, I think it's a 4/5 story, but I enjoy that ending so much I'm gonna bring it up to a 5/5. This was the story that, in retrospect, really helped cement Braxiatel in my mind as one of my favorite characters in the franchise.