The Enemy of the Good

The Enemy of the Good is the ninth serial in season 2, serving as the season finale. The title was announced by the official Game of Rassilon Twitter account on September 23rd, 2020.

Synopsis
The Doctor, Travis, and Carrie arrive on Gallifrey to begin closing the loop on a millennia-long quest to permanently redefine Time Lord society for the better.

Part 1
Rassilon has wiped out the Daleks, captured the Doctor, Reyla's TARDIS, and appointed a new Keeper of the Matrix. The new Keeper completed "the Perfector," and Rassilon "had a dreadfully predictable and selfish idea."

Travis, Carrie and the Doctor return to Gallifrey, arriving in the Capitol, with Travis and Carrie hurt, as if having hit some kind of barrier. Travis goes to give the Doctor a hug, but she is immediately defensive, not trusting him due to the vision she'd had in the Labyrinth. She scans Travis with her Sonic Screwdriver, and finds that he is human but with brainwaves that resemble a digital signal rather than standard human brainwaves. She believes him to be an impostor. She asks Carrie, who says Travis has been "kind of out of it."

Travis asks the Doctor to ask only something he would know, but the Doctor says a copy or an impostor would have that information too. She asks if he is the Keeper. Travis explains that he was inside his own mind, and learned that the consciousness of the other Travis from the parallel universe he visited in Getaway came back with him, and is now the Keeper of the Matrix on Gallifrey. The Doctor remains skeptical.

Suddenly, Gallifreyans are running in every direction, panicked, scared. There are Watchers everywhere - one for every single Time Lord in the Capitol, including the Doctor. In time, the Watchers begin to vanish, but the Time Lords are still in a panic. Carrie suggests that they run, and the Doctor says they move away from her Watcher.

Travis says that they met Roman at a point in his timeline after their encounter at Meat Base Alpha and sent them to the Matrix in order to stop Rassilon and the Keeper. Travis recounts how the TARDIS was sent to Roman using an emergency protocol, and how he used two keys to open a portal. From Travis and Carrie's perspective, they just saw him a moment ago. The Doctor deduces that they should head towards the Matrix.

The Doctor's Watcher beckons the Doctor over. The Doctor yells "NOT... YET!" and runs, Travis and Carrie following. They head to a Transit Center to get on a shuttle bus on the Prydonian Line into the heart of the Capitol. The Doctor steals a bus, taking it off the energy tram line and fly it straight up to the center of the Capitol, flying up to the level of the Matrix. The Doctor and Carrie work to kick in the window to get into the Capitol itself - Travis finds the Tyre Iron of Rassilon which he gives to Carrie to knock out the window - the circular glass pops out of the frame and lands, unbroken, in the hallway.

Carrie and Travis climb in through the window. Before she climbs out, she sees her Watcher sitting in one of the seats on the shuttle. She says it's "not time" and jumps through the hole.

The hallway ahead has a doorway - two members of the Chancellery Guard, Leeroy and Dennis, emerge from the doorway armed with stasers and yells at them to stop. Carrie readies herself into a batting stance, and the Doctor puts a hand in front to stop her. The Doctor yells at them to stop, and they ask for one good reason not to fire. Travis steps forward, hoping the Guards will mistake him for the Keeper. He's right - the Guards, panicked and scared, lower their guns. Travis demands that they escort the trio to the Matrix.

They enter the Matrix chamber - a huge chamber largely comprised of a balcony platform with a large sphere covered in Gallifreyan symbols hovering in the center of the chamber and a central console with two key slots. Travis dismisses the Guards, advising them not to let anybody in, not even himself, unless the password "Third Eye Blind" is uttered.

The Doctor pulls out her TARDIS key to see if it fits in one of the slots on the console. It does not. She searches for another key in the area, but does not find one. She hears a voice in her mind from deep within the bowels of the Capitol. Carrie finds some Carabiner clips in her fanny pack. The Doctor clips one to one of the cables going down into the pit beneath the Matrix, advises Carrie and Travis to do the same, and jumps down into the pit.

They reach the lower levels of the Capitol, where the cells are, and where the Doctor and Travis were held captive previously. The Doctor and Travis land safely. Carrie, having lost her grip, freefalls; Travis catches her in his arms.

Travis tells the Doctor that the console back above needs two keys - one from the President, Rassilon, and one from the Keeper. The Doctor, still distrustful of Travis, asks where his key is. Travis confirms that he doesn't have it, but the Other Travis does.

The Doctor continues to sense the voice deep within the lower levels, and not quite knowing what else to do the Doctor follows that feeling.

They hear more Chancellery Guards coming down the halls - they round the corner and pull Stasers on Team TARDIS. Travis steps forward and asks "Do you know who I am?" but it doesn't work. The Doctor grabs Travis and swings him out of the way so she is between him and the Staser fire. Travis is pushed up against the wall, where he pulls a wire powering the wall sconce lighting. He's not able to pull the wire free, but it does cause the lights to flicker. Carrie swings at them with the Tire Iron of Rassilon, hitting one of them and knocking them unconscious. The other member of the Chancellery Guard takes a shot at the Doctor, but misses. The Doctor then uses Venusian Aikido to knock the remaining Guard member unconscious.

Travis picks up and disassembles the Stasers. He hands the components to the Doctor and expresses that, as the Guard members did not recognize Travis as the Keeper of the Matrix, that might be proof enough for her that he is who he says he is. The Doctor says she doesn't know who she can trust - not even herself - but says she just saved his life, and he hopes she recognizes that. The Doctor throws the components against the wall, but palming one of the Stasers' power cells without anyone else seeing. The other power cell bursts upon contact with the wall, rendered useless.

The Doctor follows the voice, leading her to a hallway lined with many cells, each containing a member of the Sisterhood of Karn. She follows down, deeper into the lower levels, towards the voice.

She finds a cell containing the Great Mother, who smiles and says, "Ah, finally, Doctor. The end begins."

Part 2
The Great Mother states that the Sisterhood have been trapped in these cells for what feels like an eternity, but it has actually only been a couple of seconds. Seeing Travis, she asks if the Doctor is friends with the Keeper of the Matrix. The Doctor states she still does not trust Travis.

The Doctor asks how she can access the Matrix. The Great Mother says Travis may be the answer, and extends a hand towards Travis' head. She reaches out to open Travis' mind to connect him to Gallifrey's "wifi" (jokingly referred to as The Wifi of Rassilon), allowing him to see a three-dimensional map of the Citadel as well as markers indicating other important individuals also connected to the wifi. Travis deduces that, if what Roman told them is true, they should be able to use this information to find Rassilon and the Keeper and obtain their keys to the Matrix.

Travis offers to release the Sisterhood of Karn from their cells. The Great Mother reveals the locks are made of metal, and there is a brief debate between whether the Doctor should use her Sonic Screwdriver or whether Carrie should smash the lock with the Tyre Iron of Rassilon. They settle on having Carrie smash the lock, but she does not hit it well enough to open the door. The Doctor Sonics the locks open.

The Doctor suggests that Travis and Carrie obtain Chancellery Guard uniforms, while the Doctor gets a Sisterhood of Karn robe so they can "pull a Chewbacca". After a brief discussion of who Chewbacca is, Travis and Carrie change into the uniforms obtained from the Guards they incapacitated earlier while the Doctor dresses as a member of the Sisterhood. Travis offers to give Carrie some privacy so she can change clothes without issue, but Carrie says she'd just planned to put the uniform on top of her regular clothes.

The Sisterhood gathers around the Doctor, Carrie and Travis to perform a blessing, before stating their intent to get out into the Capitol and create distractions. The Doctor says if they find her TARDIS the Sisterhood can find there - the Great Mother says she doesn't think the TARDIS is here, but that she will look for it. Travis checks his mind-map to give the Sisterhood a save path to a key location to cause a diversion, then attempts to pinpoint the locations of Rassilon and the Keeper. Rassilon's signal is coming from the peak of the Citadel, while the Keeper's signal is coming from the Matrix itself. They head to a nearby elevator to return to the level with the Matrix.

The elevator takes them up the side of the Citadel, giving them their first full view of the Capitol. Carrie admires the view, but shoots Travis a look encouraging him to calm down.

The door slides open at the level with the Matrix, where Leeroy and Dennis stand guard outside the entrance to the Matrix. The Guard try to stop them, but Carrie says "Third Eye Blind". As one of the Guard attempts to recall the instruction, Carrie wraps her arm around his heck to strangle him and make him pass out. Surprised, Travis does the same thing to the other member of the Guard. The Guards are incapacitated.

The Doctor, Travis and Carrie drag the unconscious Guards into the Matrix chamber, where they see the Other Travis standing at the Matrix terminal. Travis grabs a Staser from one of the Guards, and the Other Travis smiles and asks Travis if he thinks that's a good idea.

Travis tells Carrie and the Doctor to go to Rassilon in the throne room, and that he will deal with the Other Travis.

The Other Travis continues to operate the Matrix terminal, and the light in the room fills with a red light. There is the sound of an energy build-up, and the Other Travis steps toward Travis, who raises his Staser. The Other Travis mocks him for needing a "security blanket." Travis is unsettled, and the Other Travis raises his arm to mock Travis' pose. He asks Travis what he hopes to achieve, and Travis mocks the Other Travis for being empty and unlike him, and reminds the Other Travis that "with great power comes great responsibility." He stands in defiance of the Other Travis, and fires his Staser at the Matrix terminal. The beam hits a barrier between the two Travises. The Other Travis says he saw this coming, and asks if Travis thought he wouldn't protect himself. Travis responds that he fully expected the Other Travis would protect himself, he just wanted to learn how.

Carrie and the Doctor, who is disguised as a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, ascend the Citadel in the elevator. Carrie asks if Travis is going to be okay, and the Doctor responds nonverbally. Carrie comments on how quiet the Doctor has been, and the Doctor responds by shushing Carrie. The door opens into a grand throne room that is largely empty - Rassilon sits casually on the throne in the center of the room, eating an orange. A metal gauntlet rests on the floor within Rassilon's reach. Rassilon notices them - does not recognize Carrie, having never met her before, but comments that there's no need to memorize her name as she won't be around long enough. He introduces himself as the "God Emperor of the Time Lords", and says he's soon to be "it", the entirety of reality. Carrie rolls his eyes, and Rassilon rolls an orange to Carrie so she would have something to eat. He offers an orange to the Doctor, but Carrie declines on her behalf and says her "car jack" is suspicious of Rassilon, raising it as a weapon. The Doctor extends a hand, encouraging her to lower the weapon.

Rassilon says he's "enjoying this," and that it's "so rare to be so far ahead of everyone." He offers Carrie and the Doctor a chair. Carrie asks what the plan is, andc Rassilon says although he's ahead, he's not stupid enough to monologue his plans. Rassilon comments that the member of the Sisterhood with Carrie is being quiet, and asks her to lift her hood. Carrie says that her tongue has been cut out so she can't talk, and sideyes the Doctor to say "Just go with it." The Doctor steps forward with a hand outward to take an orange. She asks if Rassilon knows what the Doctor does on Gallifrey - Rassilon, confused, doesn't know how to respond. She pulls her hood down to reveal she is not the Doctor but is instead a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, previously held in one of the cells in the lower levels.

Suddenly, the Doctor's hand reaches out and grabs Rassilon's hands. She says, "I. Steal. TARDISes." then pulls him into a TARDIS that she had landed behind him and had disguised itself as a chair. She pulls Rassilon off of his throne, but he struggles free and runs... straight into the Doctor, who emerges from another TARDIS in the room. Rassilon keeps running away, and bumping into another Doctor and another TARDIS - she has spent years thinking of how to do this. After multiple struggles, she drags him into a TARDIS and begins operating it to fly him away from Gallifrey.

Rassilon calls her an idiot, and says the Perfector has been activated. He describes the Perfector as his "final design," converting all of reality into energy he can consume, sustaining him as the only living thing in the universe. He says if he isn't on the throne when the Perfector is activated, "nothing" will happen - reality will collapse unless something is on the throne to absorb the energy. The Doctor then mocks Rassilon for monologuing his plan. Rassilon dives for the console to take control of the TARDIS to return to the throne room, materializing next to the throne. Rassilon emerges and reaches for the gauntlet, but it's not there - Carrie has it.

The Other Travis mocks Travis for not realizing he would have put up a forcefield, but Travis responds that he needed to know what type of forcefield, and has determined from the Staser fire that it's a neutrino shell laser grid protecting him. Travis explains that traveling with the Doctor taught him the importance of "reversing the polarity." He then uses his Game Boy to disengage the forcefield.

The Other Travis takes a step back to the console, but Travis runs towards him, tackling him to the ground and transmits Norman into the Other Travis as an antivirus. Norman washes through the Other Travis' system and Travis sees in his eyes that the Wire's influence is obliterated. The Other Travis, no longer augmented, hugs Travis. Travis asks the Other Travis for his key to the Matrix, and the Other Travis hands it over, saying that there's something inside the Matrix. He sends a message to the Doctor to say he has the key, and then checks the Matrix console.

Carrie stands, wearing Rassilon's gauntlet aimed at Rassilon. Rassilon asks for it back, and Carrie refuses. The Doctor tells her to run, and she runs out of the room. Rassilon calls for guards, who give chase. Carrie turns and points the gauntlet at them, telling them to stop. Carrie talks them into helping her instead, arguing that Rassilon doesn't provide good benefits or health coverage. One of the Guard members, Clem, agrees with Carrie, and says they know where Travis will be. Carrie offers to talk to the Chancellery Guard about unionizing later.

The Doctor, meanwhile, uses one of the stolen TARDISes to travel down to the Matrix Chamber. The two Travises tell the Doctor that the Perfector is powering up. The Doctor says a solution should be arriving soon. At that moment, the elevator door opens and Carrie runs into the room followed by four members of the Chancellery Guard.

Travis examines the Matrix console, and realizes he has access to more information concerning the Perfector now that the Other Travis is not actively blocking it - Dark Travis had lied to Rassilon when he said it would feed to his throne. It would, in fact, feed into the Matrix itself, inverting reality - everything inside the Matrix would become real, while the reality outside would become Matrix energy to feed and sustain Dark Travis as he traveled to parallel worlds, consuming them. It is presently powering up with no one inside.

To be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Riley Silverman
 * Travis, The Other Travis - Dan Peck
 * Carrie - Kate Lê
 * The Great Mother, Roman, Engineer - Michael Nixon
 * Game Master - Ben Paddon

Special guest appearances

 * Romana - Goldie Chan
 * The Previous Doctor - Joseph Scrimshaw

Crew

 * Editing and Sound Design - David King
 * Theme music arrangement - Drew Krassowski
 * Additional music - Luke Baldridge
 * Story - Michael Nixon, Ben Paddon

Major

 * The Sisterhood of Karn
 * The Great Mother
 * Sister Furiosa
 * The Doctor Impersonator

Minor

 * Chancellery Guard
 * Leeroy
 * Dennis
 * Clem
 * Norman

Continuity

 * Rassilon "wiped out" Skaro, removing the Daleks from history and leaving the planet to be colonized by humans. (Getaway)
 * Carrie and Travis were last seen with Roman, preparing to enter the Matrix. (Both Ends Burning) Although it is not outright stated in the episode, it is implied that they may have hit a barrier, and instead materialized in the Capitol alongside the Doctor.
 * The Doctor, having seen a vision of the Other Travis during her torture flashback, is initially skeptical of the real Travis. (Perfection)
 * She asks Travis if it's a "Chameleon Arch" thing, in reference to the TV story Human Nature/The Family of Blood.
 * She explicitly refers to him as "the Keeper". She also asks if he is Borusa.
 * The Doctor also cites her initial distrust of Millie on Colony 47. (Getaway)
 * Travis describes himself as "Travis Prime" and the other Travis as "Mirrorverse Travis", a reference to the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror". He also tells the Other Travis, "With great power comes great responsibility," echoing a repeated line in the Spider-Man comics and films.
 * Watchers appear to every Time Lord on Gallifrey all at the same time, a forewarning of a physically traumatic death for a Time Lord. (Active Decay)
 * Watchers first appeared in the TV story Logopolis. Within the series, their purpose and presence, particularly in relation to the process of regeneration, was never made clear.
 * The Doctor recounts running away from Gallifrey (An Unearthly Child, et al.), becoming President (The Invasion of Time, The Five Doctors) and blowing up the planet (Dalek, The Day of the Doctor, among others).
 * Carrie likens Team TARDIS to Rebels from the Star Wars franchise.
 * The Doctor uses Venusian Aikido, a preferred martial art of the Third Doctor.
 * The Great Mother says she and the rest of the Sisterhood have been imprisoned for what feels like "an eternity", but that it has actually only been a few seconds. This mirrors the months of torture the Doctor endured within the space of one week. (Active Decay, Perfection)
 * Rassilon has a metal gauntlet. (The End of Time, Hell Bent)
 * Rassilon eats oranges, describing them as "a delicacy from Sol III." (The Invasion of Time, Last of the Time Lords, Voyage of the Damned)

Production

 * The Great Mother is voiced this time by Michael Nixon. She was voiced in the previous episode by Ben Paddon.
 * Unlike the previous season finale, The Enemy of the Good is only two parts. That means that, unlike the first season, season 2 has consisted primarily of two-part stories, with only a single three-part story at the start of the season.
 * Part 1 also mirrors the first part of Getaway by featuring an exploration of a base and the distrust of an established companion.
 * Both episodes were, as with Perfection, sponsored by Encounter Party!. Both ad reads were provided by Michael Nixon, the second of which was read in-character as Roman.
 * The first episode does not feature a recap, although the cold open serves as a recap of the larger arc events from the series so far.
 * Unusually, the cold open for part 1 ends with a request for a dice roll, which leads into the opening theme.
 * The "Previously On..." theme is, once again, used as part of the score. This last happened during the season 1 finale, Getaway.

Links

 * The Enemy of the Good at TheGameOfRassilon.com