‘Doctor Who’ Recap: ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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Revenge. It is a word that all of us are familiar with because at some point or another, it’s been a part of our lives. Because we’ve outright pondered upon how much better we would feel if we exacted revenge upon someone who hurt us deeply. But often times, we avoid it, looking to take the high road over anything else, but here and there, we do indulge in it, as do others and while it may satisfy when we right that wrong, there can be consequences for our actions and everything that one can think of when it comes to revenge was explored in great detail in the Series 11 Finale of Doctor Who; ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’. 
 
But in addition to that exploration, this tale brought everything together that Series 11 introduced in unique and fascinating fashion and all of that happened on the planet that has its namesake featured in the title, since Team TARDIS was drawn there by no less than nine different distress calls and well, what they found on this world was downright terrifying and compelling. For on this world, were fleets of ships, abandoned and burned out and the only living element to be found in this graveyard of vessels was a solider named Paltraki, who needed a little bit of help in getting his memory going since this planet was known to mess with minds and by helping him, the Doctor and her friends discovered a terrifying secret about this place in that, the Stenza were here, Tzim-Sha specifically, the maniac we met in the series premiere, and Paltraki had something he wanted.
 
But let’s honest, the item in question was the least of our concerns. Because the look on Graham’s face when he came to learn the monster that killed his beloved Grace was on this world was one of pure fury, something we’ve never seen from him before and well, that’s when the story began its exploration of revenge. Because Graham made it very clear to both the Doctor and Ryan, that given the opportunity, he would make Tzim pay for what happened to Grace, putting his status as part of the team in jeopardy since the Doctor made it clear that such an act would put an end to his time aboard the TARDIS, but that didn’t faze him in the slightest and we spent a fair chunk of the episode, pondering as to whether or not Graham would be the better man when the time came to face off against his tormenter.
 
Yet, while this admission from Graham made it seem as though this story was going to be just about his difficult and conflicted journey, there was more to explore when it comes to revenge, and the rest of the matter was handled by way of the titular Tzim-Sha. For we came to learn that shortly after he disappeared from the Doctor’s sight the series premiere, he ventured back in time 3,407 years to this planet, where he met a pair of telekinetic beings known as the Ux, and he worked to manipulate them and their belief that he was their god to help him build a super-weapon that could contain worlds that had done Tzim and the Stenza wrong and well, he was a shell of his former self when we met him again, since he was consumed by anger and fury and his damaged state both mentally and physically gave us a fine view of how revenge can break down any being since that kind of hate consumes an individual. 

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Which brings us back to the question of the hour, would Graham succumb to the power of revenge? And thankfully, the answer ended up being a resounding no. For a beautiful moment between he and Ryan, wherein Ryan became the teacher and reminded his grandad that Grace taught them to be better than that and that he loved Graham seemed to cut through the blinding fury in Graham’s heart. Because when the opportunity arrived at last to deal with the despicable Tzim, grandad took the high road, and with his grandson’s help, they put the angry monster into a cryogenic chamber where he could spend an eternity pondering upon his actions and his cruelty and man, was it satisfying to see Graham not give in to the proverbial dark side and remind all of us, that the high road truly is the better way.
 
However, what seemed to be a dark episode ended on quite the uplifting note since hope and forgiveness became a part of this story and all of that came about in the finale as the Doctor worked with the Ux to get them to abandon the twisted ideas that Tzim put into their hearts in order to save the day, and eventually those stolen planets were returned to their rightful place in time and space and rather than find themselves chastised for following a false idol, the Doctor as always, offered up compassion and understanding, allowing for this pair of aliens to forgive themselves. But of course, with a deity these beings felt lost, prompting the Doctor to encourage them to explore the galaxy and find the meaning they so desperately sought because despite this rough experience, there were wonders untold to be found amongst the stars, the kind that outright inspire hope.
 
So, when all is said and done, this ended up being quite the beautiful episode, one that allowed for the best parts of our characters to shine as they worked to save lives and the universe, and seeing Tzim-Sha return here was a stroke of genius storytelling wise because he helped us to see just how far our characters have come since they’re now stronger thanks to their experiences and they are better people as well and that’s just beautiful and well, just like that…Series 11 has come to an end and what a ride it turned out to be. Because Jodie Whittaker was absolutely brilliant in her first run as the Thirteenth Doctor since she brought the character’s finest qualities back to the forefront of the series and held onto them tight. 
 
In fact, her interpretation of the character allowed for this season to become incredibly uplifting the more I think about it since it constantly dealt with themes and concepts that pushed toward being better people and doing the right thing and that’s precisely what science fiction needs right now, a beacon of hope and well, while I’m a touch sad the series has come to its end, there is the Who Year’s Day special to look forward to at the start of 2019 and a new series in 2020 and if this year’s adventures are any clue of what’s to come with Jodie at the helm of the TARDIS, then that long break will absolutely be worth the wait. Until next season.   

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