As the longest-running sci-fi show in history, Doctor Who has always placed a tremendous responsibility on whoever takes on the role of the Doctor. For Jodie Whittaker, who debuted as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2017, that responsibility carried extra weight: she was the first woman to play the Doctor, a milestone that immediately stirred up the internet’s worst grifters.

With so much at stake for Doctor Who’s creatives, including showrunner Chris Chibnall, the pressure to deliver makes Whittaker’s final episode feel like an even greater betrayal — not just of the show’s future, but of Whittaker herself and her time as the Time Lord.

“The Power of the Doctor” is the finale of a multi-episode arc that follows the Doctor as she fights the Daleks, Cybermen, and the Master — all of whom want to destroy humanity. The Master disguises himself as the historical Russian figure Rasputin and places himself in Russia in 1916. From there, the Master plots with the Daleks and the CyberMasters (a new race of Cybermen who constantly regenerates) to trigger volcanic eruptions worldwide. However, the Master has a clever twist: he plans a body-swapping regeneration to forcibly turn himself into the Doctor.

As expected, the Doctor foils the Master, Daleks, and Cybermen — but not before a defiant, defeated Master mortally wounds her with a laser beam, forcing her to leave her old companion, Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), and regenerate into David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. This transformation signaled the return not only of a familiar face but also of familiar showrunner Russell T.

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