Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Who season 14’s finale.
Summary
Doctor Whoseason 14 explores the mystery of Ruby Sunday’s mother, providing an explanation for her background and motivations at the last moment. The debut season of Ncuti Gatwa took the Doctor and Ruby Sunday on thrilling adventures through time and space. During their escapades, many mysteries came up, like The One Who Waits, the reason Susan Twist’s character kept appearing, and the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother.
While all these mysteries were important, the narrative and the advertising for the show promoted the mystery of Ruby Sunday’s biological mother as central to the entire season. Theending ofDoctor Whoseason 14finally provided the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother in a lackluster and divisive reveal that left many fans on social media underwhelmed and annoyed. The finale episode explored the character’s identity, motivations, and what exactly makes her special.
Doctor Who Season 14’s Finale Will Make No Sense If You Haven’t Watched This Spinoff First
One of Doctor Who’s spinoff shows provides context for the Doctor Who season 14 finale, making it a must-watch for viewers.
Ruby’s Mother In Doctor Who Was An Ordinary Person
Ruby And The Doctor Found Ruby’s Mother In The Doctor Who Season 14 Finale
Although the whole season built up to a major reveal about Ruby’s mother,Doctor Whoseason 14’s ending revealed thatRuby’s mother was simply a normal human woman named Louise Alison Miller.She has no remarkable supernatural powers that explain the odd things about Ruby. Louise Miller worked as a nurse – an admirable profession. After she and Ruby had an emotional reunion, Louise told her biological daughter that every Christmas she thought about going to see her. The two seemed to have a positive connection in the last scene when Louise came over to look at photos of Ruby.
Russell T. Davies admitted that he took inspiration for Ruby’s mombeing ordinary when watching Rey’s controversial story inStar Wars. He disliked it when they changed Rey’s story so that she was the granddaughter of Palpatine. Unfortunately, RTD seemed to miss the fact that the Rey reveal wasn’t well-received because there was too much build-up and significance related to the identity of Rey’s parents. As such, he built up the mystery of Ruby’s biological mother in the same exact way,promising “shocking answers” for Ruby Sunday’s parents.
Louise Miller still could’ve been Ruby’s mother, and it would have worked well if it weren’t the central mystery in the season.
Unfortunately, this leftDoctor Whofans feeling underwhelmedand believing the finale didn’t live up to the promises made.Doctor Whowould’ve been better off making this mystery less of a focus. Louise Miller still could’ve been Ruby’s mother, and it would have worked well if it weren’t the central mystery in the season.
Why Ruby’s Mother Left Her Baby & What Really Happened On Christmas Eve 2004
In addition to the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother, another big question throughoutDoctor Whoseason 14 is why she left Ruby on the steps of the church. This choice caused abandonment trauma for Ruby but also allowed her to find her beautiful family with her mom, Carla Sunday, and her gran, Cherry Sunday. During theDoctor Whofinale, Ruby finally learned that her biological mother gave her away for a very normal reason. Louise believed that she couldn’t give Ruby the life that she deserved, and she wanted better for her child.
Louise Miller and William Benjamin Garnet were both 15 years old when they conceived Ruby, making them unequipped to raise a child. Ruby’s biological mother had a dangerous home life where she was abused by her stepfather. To keep Ruby safe, she kept her pregnancy secret from everybody, including William Garnet. Then, she left Ruby on the steps of the church, pointing to the street sign to give the baby her name. The knowledge that her biological mother wanted the best for her seems to bring Ruby peace at the end ofDoctor Whoseason 14.
Why Everyone In Doctor Who Season 14 Thought Ruby’s Mother Was Important
Within the narrative ofDoctor Who, Ruby’s biological mother is important to Ruby, Ruby’s mom, The Doctor, UNIT, and Sutekh. However, she ended up just being an ordinary human woman. This means her importance and influence came not from some supernatural power but due to mass belief. History has already proven that people will go to great lengths due to human-created ideas like religion, borders, money, and nationality. This is exactly what happened with Ruby’s biological mother.
Sutekh took over Mel’s mind and used his harbingers to bring the Doctor and Ruby back to him just so he could know the identity of Ruby’s mom.
The Doctor did tests on Ruby’s DNA without her knowledge because of her missing lineage. UNIT and the Doctor used the time window even though there were major risks involved. Sutekh took over Mel’s mind and used his harbingers to bring the Doctor and Ruby back to him just so he could know the identity of Ruby’s mom.She was important because everyone said and believed to their core that she was important.
In the real world, both Russell T Davies and theDoctor Whomarketing made Ruby Sunday out to be extremely narratively important in Doctor Who season 14, much more so than past companions. Based on interviews with RTD,Ruby Sunday’s lineage was supposed to beinspired by the Timeless Child storylineand would be a “shocking reveal.”This led fans to createtheories about the identity of Ruby’s mom inDoctor Whovigorously. While theories would have naturally come up, either way, the team behindDoctor Whointentionally created the hype that unfortunately resulted in a letdown.
Why Ruby’s Memories Kept Making It Snow In Doctor Who
Doctor Who Never Directly Explained Ruby’s Snow
The reveal of Ruby Sunday’s mom raises many questions that don’t have clear answers. One of the biggest examples is how Ruby’s memory kept making it snow inDoctor Who. Based onDoctor Whoseason 14’s focus on the power of belief, the show would likely say Ruby’s ability comes from the people who believe the memory of that night is important. They could also point to the strength of Ruby’s memory. A more probable explanation forRuby making it snow inDoctor Whowould be a strong psychic connection to the TARDIS, which is hinted at in “73 Yards.”
The box has multiple abilities that occur outside the actual machine. The TARDIS can translate languages, make invisible air bubbles, create bridge tunnels, sense danger, change shape and size (when the chameleon circuit isn’t broken), and make itself unnoticeable to everyone. Inside the time and space machine, a passenger could likely make it snow. PerhapsRuby’s psychic connection with the TARDIS in Doctor Who was strong enough to extend the matter-changing abilitiesto the outside of the box.
How Was Ruby’s Mother Manipulating Time Before Doctor Who’s Big Reveal?
Doctor Who Doesn’t Explain The Time Manipulation
In “Space Babies,” the Doctor’s memory of Ruby’s mother changed, seemingly by supernatural means. Then, in the Time Window, the projection was able to avoid being identified despite having multiple people watching from different angles. Unfortunately, while there is a semi-probable answer to the snowDoctor Who,the show doesn’t offer hints at a good explanation for Ruby’s biological mother manipulating time.She was a human with no powers and no connection to the TARDIS. Instead,Doctor Whoalways has the deus ex machina of time on the show being “a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.”
