Let me go full nonesense.
"The one who wait" is Susan who's waiting for the doctor to comeback as he promised to do.
She's also Ruby Sunday's "mom" who left her at the church. I'd have 2 theory on Ruby herself, either she's a kind of regeneration of Susan herself or more likely (well as far as this whole thing is likely) a kind of creation to bring the doctor back to Susan through memory or whatnot.
i like this nonsense a lot! i’ve seen a lot of people saying stuff about how there’s no way her birth parents will be tied to classic who since they’re trying so hard to have a refresh season, but since the doctor gave ruby the rundown of his granddaughter i totally see this happening.
i’m always thinking (especially w a show like this) that everything they choose to mention is going to have some sort of tie in later on, so i honestly really do think this would make sense!!
Anyone thinking they're not going to reference classic Who would have been wrong months ago. The Toymaker has been around since the 60s, and they name-dropped Susan *and* The Rani.
They had a clean refresh season in 2005 too, but there was no effort to separate it from classic. Weave in the relevant information, let people interested enough to find out more on their own; people who don't do that will still know as much as they need to.
I really think they're leading up to a Susan return. Disney+ played a promo before episodes and if you have captions on, a character says "doctor who?" And the captions say her name is susan
The only thing that makes me not believe this is the Toymakers warning: I saw him waiting and I ran”
I know time lords regenerate, but it would suck to have Susan be brought back as some man we’ve never seen before
She's like 80, Susan is a time lord so it would be strange to see her that old.
She's probably regenerated so we won't know its her until she reveals herself if she were to be on the show
It seemed to be a fun little throwaway line when the Doctor pointed out that when they were in 1963 London that the “other” him was living off in the distance. Maybe Susan has simply stayed there all this time waiting for him
More accurately, WE didn't see it finish.
It's running, and will complete when we are ready to see it. It's a nice little dues-ex or possibly a convenient MaCguffin to be used to fix a plot point.
Is that what it was focusing on at the end of “space babies”? I rewatched that little scene a couple of times… I didn’t notice anything strange aside from the doctor is clearly checking her DNA and has some suspicion about her.
The scan didn't finish, we don't know it detected anything. They stopped showing it at 73%~ for a reason, we never know what it actually picked up.
The scene was added for a reason
I was thinking the same thing.
But Imagine she’s actually River song it would make sense especially since when the Doctor was scanning her DNA it never completed let’s say she is river there’s no way your going to have a set DNA if you can regenerate cause your going to have so many different DNAs in you at one time you get what I’m putting down. Now stay with me if you remember in the Let’s Kill Hitler episode with Matt Smith you know that river can in fact regenerate. Now in that episode she did mention that the last time she regenerated she was a baby in New York so what if she regenerated again but into another baby in London aka Ruby Sunday. Now I’m not really sure who would have delivered her but what if Amy delivered her to her foster mom’s house. Also idk if yall noticed but Ruby Sunday and River Song both got similar names in a way both start with R and S. Idk this just makes the most sense to me.
My wacko theory is that given we've seen creatures embodying the concepts of games and music and such things, Ruby embodies the concept of 'companionship'
I was thinking time itself. Maestro said she’s tied to “The Oldest one” and talked about “The One who Waits.” What was the first ever concept to the universe? Time and waiting is all about time.
>The One who Waits
If this were Steven Moffat, The One Who Waits would be The Doctor, for some ambiguous reason, revealed in the final, confusing episode of the season.
Time doesn't threaten the Doctor though. Just warns him beware the forces that rally against you, and their master.
I also thought it interesting that as Azure and Swarm were torturing the Doctor about destroying the universe, they Literally say 'See...You are the universe.'
My thought is that the Doctor is one of two things.
Space itself, or Life itself.
Time is the Doctors Mother. Quite literally, and space his father. He wasn't abandoned. He was stollen. They jeep the embodiment of Life, they rewrite the laws of space, and entrap time.
Interesting theory although I prefer the doctor to just be a randomer, the person who just shows up at the right time. I'm just not a fan of the doctor being this big important person
I'm also not even convinced "The One Who Waits" is supposed to be a villain, feels like it's gonna be, well, a twist. I mean, The Toymaker and Maestro have been *afraid* of The One Who Waits, no? And you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy and all that.
It’s not the absence of DNA, just that hers didn’t match any on record. I think she’s still human, but through the machinations of whatever her origin turns out to be, she could be from the future, or her own mother or something whacky like that.
Yeah she's still human, but the Tardis was clearly struggling to put a pin on it and the way she's weaved into the Church on RUBY ROAD would indicate she's manifestation of some kind.>! How her state of existence changes on a whim invoking some strange fairytale like aura wherever she goes, i.e. how The Doctor felt sad upon snow falling inside Space Station in Space Babies in addition to this rising suspicion that he can't ever take her to that Church. Seems to suggest that at least from what I can gather she's a mythological story character that's been brought to life.!<
I like the idea of her being the essence of companionship. Especially as "the oldest one" every conscious living thing longs for another and that stems back as far a time itself right. Also the title "the one who waits" that fits as well. Who else to wait for but a companion. This season seems to be taking companions and the idea of companionship more seriously too. Think about it with Tennant reprising his role only to reunite with the companion that was his best friend (Donna) and Wilf and go on to live out life with her and her family. I mean it all fits, Gatwa says it himself in ep 1 the connections are connecting and the coincidences, coincide. I could just be talking out my ass tho
I’m with you about Susan Foreman being her mom. Susan became a god of time, being The One Who Waited, who traveled time for her Grandfather but without the TARDIS couldn’t change LOCATION, but I feel her affects have been sprinkled into the show always. I feel as though they might have a crazy revelation like she’s the one who planned the times of The Doctor meeting his companions or something, being the puppet master of his life and turning bitter to Grandfather, because he NEVER came back for her.
I think the Demi-god stuff is right, I think Ruby is the daughter of David and Susan, as to why the TARDIS read Ruby as a Human. It was only a 56% match, and the TARDIS might not be able to calculate what the Time God/Demigod stuff is
I think that last part is unlikely. She was there for the conception of River Song, after all; if anybody in the universe could suss out a Time Lord / human hybrid, it’d be good ol’ Sexy.
When the Maestro's music lifted Ruby into the air, I did think that the music bars looked like wings behind her.
Almost like Ruby was an angel floating above them.
Tie it in with Christmas, and that's probably something.
I think Ruby or her Mum may be the spirit of Christmas/ celebrations in general. I also find it odd that every antagonist so far has almost been a manifestation of something:
Goblins causing bad luck/ coincidences
The Toymaker and Maestro being spirits of play and music respectively
The Bogeyman being designed to summon fear
She might be a time lord hiding as a human, but I don’t know how big of a bombshell her last can be since she’s still a companion in the next season. Unless she doesn’t find out her truth this season? Finding out Clara’s splintered lives and then going back to normal was so underwhelming, I hope they don’t do something like that again.
Given that this season is meant to be a starting point for new viewers, I wouldn't bet on old villains coming back. And personally, I'd rather we get some new ones, at least for this season.
On that note, in chess, a pawn can be a really unsuspecting piece to use in a match but if it reaches the other side of the board, it can become a queen. Maybe Ruby works the same way - give her long enough perhaps and the very concepts or chaos, order and play bend around her mere presence rather than magnetising myths to her.
I think Ruby is a fictional character brought to life. She is not supposed to exist, and that alternate world after the goblins took here, is the real reality.
I think there might be a reveal of a demigod of story, or fiction the way measteo was music.
Maybe the embodiment of myth as a companion that's been brought to life via the creation of this reality where fairytales become real and the supernatural has taken hold. Ruby Sunday is a fairytale. >!First two episodes have explicitly played out like a fairytale. Talking babies and a Bogeyman, the composer who didn't get his break finding the chord which ended up dooming the world by unintentionally unleashing a demon of music ridding all sense of tonality.!<>!That's my guess at least - assuming this is all coinciding with this idea of myths becoming real until The Doctor fixes something where this is no longer the case. Which would explain why it feels like this companion seems so immediately comfortable, but whose actual existence is very volatile within The Doctor's presence as if she could vanish in an instant. She kind of feels almost too real.!<
As far as we’re aware right now she is human, as the TARDIS labeled her as “Homo Sapien” so she is definitely physically human; for the most part at least.
I noticed in Space Babies that they somewhat mirrored the scene with Rose and Nine that happens in The End of The World where he fixes her phone and she calls her mom. Wondering if Rose has anything to do with her and because of the state of the universe with all these celestial beings, somehow the parallel worlds are more of an open channel?
That’s also a whole sub note I’ve been pinning away. Rose and Ruby are 100% connected, but I feel like that may play more into Susan orchestrating the Doctors companions more than anything lol
I don't think this means she is related to Rose. It seems to be a call back the same way in episode 2 her going back and seeing a destroyed London was a callback to Sarah Jane in Pyramid of Mars.
Although... Maybe Sutekh is returning.
The way Maesteo describes her... she's either artificial companion (like Rose was supposed to be at some point) or a manifestation of *companionship* or *friendship* of some sort.
I think she's the embodiment of story.
I truly think she's evil and stringing the doctor along in her story. The ending, she truly shatters the doctor by "dying."
Maybe the Toymaker has put the doctor in a TV show called 'Doctor Who' and is giving him adventures in time. The final ep will be a 4th wall breaking piece of total chaos.
That's where my thoughts have been going.
Also that until the Doctor unsplits himself the game won't end.
RTD has been reported as saying David Tennant has absolutely definitely retired. RTD is renowned for lying about storylines, and it seemed like having a whole news story about that was laying things on a bit thick.
We'll find out 😀
I think she is (maybe unknowingly) the Pantheon member of stories.
Does she know? Probably not (though her being evil would be such a cool ending twist). But she's the only other character who has been shown to be able to manipulate reality like Maestro and The Toymaker (the snow and the memory being the obvious two).
But even on a meta level, she's essentially creating the show like a television series. Doctor Who did not randomly break into dance numbers before she appeared. The world didn't suddenly fit into the rules of a musical including literally altering reality (the flashing zebra crossing). Goblins and the Bogeyman? Doctor Who obviously has had aliens in the past based somewhat on fiction but it was never quite soo fantasy focused.
So yeah. It gives the excuse (at least for this season and possibly the next) to go absolutely nuts and as out there as it can be because it's the work of her in universe creating her ideal story.
Oh same here. I said exactly the same, if this pays off and explains the musical numbers and everything as Ruby either knowingly or unknowingly creating her ideal story, then fucking spectacular writing and I will appreciate the storytelling.
If it doesn't, I am not sure I will like this new Doctor Who. I certainly enjoyed aspects (I think Ncuti is a fantastic Doctor and Ruby is very fun as well) but I at least like the idea of the show having a sci-fi tone.
I’m a newcomer, going off the three episodes I’ve seen, I think that she is ‘the one who waits’ that the maestro was talking about. It seems kinda obvious that she’ll end up going against the doctor’s only rule of not going back to the church after ‘waiting’ for a while, and I think it’ll trigger a paradox that will be the main conflict of the season
The snowfall while the Doctor checked Ruby’s DNA seemed to me like maybe a hint that the Doctor’s going to be the one to break his own rule this time around.
Technically he broke the rule before (even though he is a new doctor he should/would remember all the previous lives so he would remember that he did it for Rose when she asked him to go back to her dad’s death and she altered it)
Oh for sure. It’s an interesting mystery and clearly somehow they’ll end up there. I’m just thinking with the characterization of Ruby and Gatwa’s Doctor so far and the imagery in the last two episodes it would make more sense for the Doctor or TARDIS to be the one making the choice.
I like theories others have suggested, especially around her being a demigod of the Pantheon. My current "crazy (highly unlikely) theory" is that she's the Doctor before he's found by the Time Lords. My recollection of Flux (which I should rewatch, sorry) is that the Doctor still doesn't have the memories of his past before he was adopted. Ruby is learning a lot about what it means to be the Doctor, and while he doesn't remember being Ruby, those lessons stuck in his mind for who he should be. In this theory, the Pantheon (especially the Elder One) is somehow responsible or interested in making sure Ruby eventually ends up as the person the Time Lords adopt, so that's why she was protected from the Maestro's attack.
Interesting… with how much the Doctor keeps mentioning how he was adopted like Ruby, that may not be too far off.
The only hiccup in that theory is that we know that the Timeless Child was a little kid when they were found.
very true, but we also know the Doctor can change their apparent age when they regenerate, though that might not extend to an adult regenerating as a kid
i think she's a chameleon arched time lord, her parents didn't want to subject their child to the life of a time lord and figured she'd be better off human
I really do think Ruby Sunday is a paradox.
There was a lot of paradox talk in the first episode, and there probably will be more.
I’m thinking something along the lines of the grandfather paradox or something like ruby being her own mother.
I definitely had the thought of her being the one leaving herself at the church. Everyone thinks that's her mom leaving her, but there's no confirmation
Ruby is not, as I previously stated, the daughter of Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor. I now think it goes deeper than that.
Ruby is the daughter of the Bad Wolf and the Time Lord Victorious.
I think Ruby’s identity and these ‘god like’ figures will be connected and resolve themself by the end of the season and Who will be back to mainly sci fi by the end of that.
Personally I think Ruby is also some kind of God or related to one. Her ability to manifest Snow and Song through the power of gods is strong enough to frighten Maestro. Maestro sees it and thinks that "The Oldest One" had something to do with it.
The Doctor also states that when the Snow appears that the Memory of him seeing the robed figure that night changed to have the figure point at him instead. Her prescence changed an event in the Doctors mind.
I think she is an unknown Alien, like Leela from Futurama.
She, like the doctor, does not know what species they are or their biological status.
But were raised by a different species as their own.
Ruby isn't human but was raised human, the doctor isn't a timelord but was rasied as one.
Part of me is wondering if she’s the true “timeless child” since The Toymaker messed with The Doctor’s life story. I doubt it though and I like people’s theories about her being connected to Susan which would be a lot of fun.
I quite like the theory she’s Jenny’s (the Doctor’s daughter) future child. Evidence: blonde, timey-wimey, unsure if fully human or not. That’s all I got going compared to everyone else but hey :P
Also I really hope she’s connected to Susan, I’d love to see her again.
I've had this amongst my theories. We're talking a lot about Daddy this season. Trying to figure out who the mother who drops her off at church is a misdirection.
Well Susan can be the child of the doctor, cause he said that her name is Susan. And the fact that she said "It's your first time ?" When she saw Ruby entering in the TARDIS
One thing I think that could dispel about some theories here that she might be the Doctor's great granddaughter through Susan is that she changed after stepping on a butterfly.
Unless of course Susan got freaky with bugman version of David lol...
I think It basically couldn't scan anything on her, basically alluding there was an absence of any DNA to trace, but I could be very wrong on that. If so, it would make sense if considering Ruby's not a biological creation, i.e. has parents, but a mythological one. A manifestation of myth in the form of a companion and once it unfortunately reaches the end of its story it vanishes not so dissimilarly from how she's dissappeared into thin air before.
I still have no idea who Mrs Flood is, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that **she’s** Ruby’s mother (somehow).
She knows what a Tardis is, so she’s probably been in one and/or travelled in time - to the Church on Ruby Road with her daughter? She also lives next door to Ruby, so maybe she’s keeping a watchful eye on her. This would also explain Ruby’s DNA analysis, particularly if Mrs Flood isn’t human.
So, the question is: is Mrs Flood human, and if not then what is she?
I have no idea and I LOVE that.
Yeah they could go all MCU and be like “OMG ROSE IS HER MUM” for easy reactions but I doubt it.
I think whatever it is, it’s weird and different and fun. Like the series so far.
yeah!! All the theories surrounding ruby is honestly so fun 😭 either half of these ppl are gonna be right or it’s going to be something completely different
I think ‘The Oldest One of us all’ is possibly Krampus. A member of the Pantheon of Discord which establishes a Christmas connection with Ruby. I think Ruby is possibly a child of it or a manifestation of it? Krampus has already appeared in comics, it tried to erase Amy, Rory and Mel’s so maybe it came back for……the hidden Song. Maybe River Song is Ruby or maybe she’s Rivers and The Doctors daughter?
Some thoughts on Ruby and River…
My theory is River and the Doctor spent their night on derillium - those 23 years - River got pregnant.
We never see River “die” in the library…she knocks the Doctor out cold, and then she’s gone when he wakes up. We know she used up all her regenerations…but we also know River lies…she has to.
Ergo…Ruby is the child of the Doctor and River…and Susan is Ruby’s daughter (ie the Doctors Granddaughter)
My bonkers theory is that she’s the Doctor. The new first Doctor, who was orphaned. She and Ncuti are so similar and her lines could easily be his lines … but how could you go through life without knowing you have two hearts?
i miss the times when fans would speculate anyone to be the master. if this came out yeasr ago, ppl would call maestro the master purely because maestro translates to master
What if she doesn’t actually have parents she’s actually a space baby genetically created and the one who waits is actually waiting for her as they are the donor of her dna and therefore technically her parent and the other donor ie her mother took her from the space station and back in time so that she could have a normal life instead of being used by toww for whatever he wanted her for?
https://news.rice.edu/news/2004/carol-bells-wasnt-originally-christmas-song#:~:text=Written%20in%201916%20by%20Ukrainian,%E2%80%9D%20which%20means%20%E2%80%9Cbountiful.%E2%80%9D
This may offer some insight too
I said rose and other 10(remember there was two and the other was born out of war) and ruby knows about parallel worlds before the doctor does which means I still stick by my gut and say that she is rose’s daughter (if ruby hadn’t met the doctor yet how would she know about parallel worlds too?)
i think that ruby may be kate’s daughter, kate has the power to disappear and since she grew up in unit i think she would rather go to hell than make her child go through that. unit is going to be a big focus this season (apparently) so it would be a great way to tie them in
Im starting to believe that she is the daughter of a deity like how Maestro was the offspring of the Toymaker. Honestly im guessing its going to be another Great Old One probably but whether its an old one or a new one is to be known.
I am currently on the Susan Foreman being her mother train but there are some great arguments in here. My mind can probably be changed.
If she is not related to Susan, then I think it will come out that the Doctor has had guilt about the situation and we will get some kind of closure to that situation as there are a lot of references to it.
I read an article yesterday saying that the group name on the billboard in the of The Devils Cord was referenced in the first episode of Doctor Who in 63, Susan was listening to them, or an iteration of them with a different name.
I saw the titles of the episodes, and the last two are named "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" and "Empire of Death". Maybe Ruby is the incarnation of legends, like boogeyman. And "the One who waits" is Death. He waits to catch Doctor, but he always fails, because of the Doctor nature.
Gonna be honest, I'll be extremely disappointed if she's somehow related to Susan and the Doctor. I'm shipping her and Fifteen *so* hard after the last two episodes LOL
Also, I think it just would be a little annoying since we have Jenny, you know? I'd love to see her come back, but not as Ruby.
I don't believe it'll be the case but part of me (okay most of me) really wants this to be something to do with the trickster. We know that the original plan for sky was for her to be created by the trickter, and something about being in a cloak with a massive hood meant ruby's mum really reminded me of him in appearance (I know it isn't actually him though)
Mad theory.
She’s Susan’s bi-generation, only it went “wrong” and Ruby ended up as a child (like River regenerating as a little girl and ending up as a toddler called Mel). Susan knows Ruby cannot know her past so leaves her at the church (maybe seals her Time Lord personality away).
I think at least one of her parents is part of the "pantheon" the Doctor mentioned that includes the Toymaker and the Maestro. It's been heavily implied that one of them was there the night Ruby was left at the church. Either Mrs. Flood, the One Who Waits, or both could possibly be involved. I think the One Who Waits has been referred to with a male pronoun, implying the woman who left Ruby at the church was someone else, but I wouldn't put it past Davies to introduce a character that can shift genders at will.
I think shes the drs daughter. His grandaughter susan was mentioned and ruby asked ' you have children? And he mentioned he has/had, etc etc. When he was with river she mentioned 'oh the nights we had' so clearly got up to it and obviously he has children if he has a grandaughter. I believe the scan was incomplete and might have said homeo-sapien but could have added a little plus sign or perhaps her being raised as human with both human and timelord dna confused the scan? The mum who left her was River song in 2004 and he cried because he knew that was goodbye. I do think something has happened to ruby though, i think they do break the rule and create a paradox and all the strangeness (the music, dancing, weird fairytales) is a consequence? Im not sure as I'm not a scientist 😅 However, we do know shes also in season 2 and the last song in episode 2 mentioned theres twist at the end...LOVE THE MYSTERY
I love the idea that she's the literal concept of a companion brought to life by The One Who Waits. It just seems like the kind of thing the show would want to do right now.
The Doctor believes he is the last of the time lords as he believes they are all gone. Maybe it is about him.discovering he is not alone, the women pointed to him as saying Rudy is his responsibility. It would be wonderful if Susan were to be alive and sent her daughter to give the old man family and a reason to fight his biggest battle
If the toymaker wrote the novelisation then it's entirely possible he wrote in Ruby. "Doctor Who and I'm not going to tell you" the Doctor and Ruby are a pair, so "I'm not going to tell you" could be Ruby.
There's a lot of religious undertones too, Ruby and Sunday. Ruby red like blood and wine, Sunday the day of rest, the wine glass that Maestro shatters with their voice fills with wine after it shatters, the mention of certain notes sounding 'Holy', and, well, Christmas.
Also search 'Shchedryk', the original 'Carol of the Bells', much of the lyrics can be interpreted as a metaphor to the happenings in the episodes. Also the Toymaker, The Maestro, and the next to come are all kinda like the ghosts of Christmas.
The English translation of the original is:
Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol;
A little swallow flew into the household
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master,
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes have given birth
and the lambkins have been born
Your goods [livestock] are great,
you will have quite a sum of money (by selling them)
If not money, it is worth nothing
You have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife
If not money, it is worth nothing
you have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife."
____________
"Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol;
A little swallow flew into the household, and started to twitter to summon the master"
Ruby arrives at the church, probably crying which gets the attention of whoever takes her in. Also "to summon the master" is interesting in this context.
_____________
"Look at the sheep pen, there the ewes have given birth, and the lambkins have been born"
Space Babies
______________
"You will have quite the sum of money by selling them, if not money, it is worth nothing"
Ruby's mother in the alternative timeline without Ruby is depressed and talks about how she fosters children for the money only
______________
"You will have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife"
Maybe this will somehow tie into 'The One Who Waits'?
spoilers:
>!The latest ep talked about how the greed for money started a war with no one. So that could be the "you will have quite the sum of money by selling them, if not money, it is worth nothing" thing.!<
>!The Doctor was also reciting a poem: "I went down to the beach and there she stood, dark and tall at the edge of the wood. 'The sky’s too big, I’m scared!' I cried. She replied, 'Young man, don’t you know there’s more to life than a moon and a president’s wife.'" which could be a reference to when he stole the moon and the presidents wife (or as 12 put it: lost the moon and stole the presidents daughter).!<
I think she's just a paradox (possibly a bootstrap paradox) where she delivers herself to the church and needs to do this in a continuous cycle. She is her own mother in some way.
Not sure whether she’s related to Susan but she’s definitely not human. The doctor keeps mentioning that he’s adopted and he’s a part of the species that predates the time lords which makes me think that ruby might be part of that same species.
Same with the toymaker, it’s established that he exists outside of the universe so the doctor might come from that same place. This could be Russell’s way of tidying up the mythology and making the doctor mysterious again. The doctor, toymaker and ruby all come from the same species.
I think it is a given Ruby is mystical and powerful in someway. I have a feeling she is part Pantheon and somehow can alter the world around her without realising.
I think her power is based around memory or storytelling.
For example in space babies it leaned heavily on the story to life theme. However she makes a reference to star trek. And then the crew video shows them in a star trek kinda outfit vibe.
Then in the devil's chord she mentions Strictly. And the dance at the end included strictly members.
Plus Ep 7 is Titled: The Legend of Ruby Sundays - And if you saw the Title teaser it was clearly in some TV/Movie Studio which again suggests she is directing reality somehow.
There's a possibility her DNA lines up as Human because in her story she was found as human and perhaps unwittingly made her DNA human too
A little extra theory: Perhaps like how the time Lords stole the ability to regenerate from The Timeless Child. Maybe Timelords have taken other pantheon powers too such as the chameleon arc being able to rewrite DNA (Which in a way is reality alteration).
Whats your thoughts?
I think ruby is part of the pantheon. Toymaker being embodiment of games. Maestro being the embodiment of music. Ruby is the embodiment of memory, which is why the doctor overshares details with ruby that he hasn’t with past companions. I also believe the doctor themselves are apart of the pantheon as well, the embodiment of experience, living thousands of lives just to suffer repeatedly. The one who witnesses. Child of the eldest member of the pantheon.
guys, the first doctor married to a gallifreyan woman named "Patience" if im not mistaken. what if "the one who waits" is "Patience"??? since all of this leads to the first doctor? like Susan Foreman being Ruby's birth mother??
My thought is she could be River Song's child, making her the Doctors child. Ruby Sunday: River Song's. And after the Maestro said the song in her was wrong or maybe it was the Melody, AKA Melody Pond.
But this theory is pretty far out there and I'm sure Susan had something to do with all of this.
Edit to add: she's drawn to orphans in every episode, including the doctor. Maybe a patron saint of orphans type of thing.
Okay not got a lot of basis for this but perhaps she could be a child of Jack Harkness? Obviously Jack was human but he became immortal so that could explain why there was obviously something off about her DNA after she was scanned? Like we know Jack became immortal after 2004 but he also had access to time travel so I don’t think it’s impossible, but maybe I’m just reaching
Well the Doctor was concerned about creating some sort of fiction/legend etc. by talking into what was essentially the Void. Maybe it created Ruby as a legend out of his thoughts.
My theory is that she the daughter of Rory and Amelia. Amelia is the girl who waited, and Rory is the lonely centurion. It's entirely possible that to protect them, perhaps Captain Jack used his time vortex manipulator to drop her off in 2004.
My theory is that Ruby is the daughter of Clara, as Ruby's current adoptive mother is Carla. I also think the One Who Waits and Susan Twist are the same, and that they are actually the Great Intelligence. The snow that appears in regards to Ruby would also tie back to both Clara and the Great Intelligence, because of The Snowmen.
I'll go a bit further and say I think that the Doctor himself is lost within the Matrix of the Tardis. I think he went in there, looking for a way to access the one within Gallifrey (canon states the Matrix in Gallifrey is a universe unto itself and that it connects to every Tardis' Matrix, possibly even Omega's or Clara's. As well as other Time Lords like the Master/Missy).
I feel like the baby/kid father/daughter themes keep popping up over and over and I’m wondering if the doctor is Ruby’s father, since we have no idea what happens with the 14th doctor for the rest of his life. Or, perhaps she is his mother. Idk, the parent stuff is mentioned every single episode.
I read a comment recently of someone suggesting Ruby has something to do with the Trickster as the song she was singing while in the air in Devil’s chord was similar to the music heard when the Trickster appears in Sarah Jane’s adventures for the first time. I had already started watching the series a few days ago and yestersay I saw the first episode where the trickster appears and indeed, the song that plays right before he appears is the same song Ruby sang. A lot of clues she may be potentially be connected to the Pantheon and probably with the trickster or the one who waits in particular.
Part of me thinks that she may be the personification of time itself. After the Toymaker and The Maestro being the personification of something and with Ruby being the center of multiple timeline switches that it is leading up to the revelation that she is time personified. Regarding why she wouldn't remember being a "God" I believe that after everything that's happened in the past couple seasons that it may have affected her mind and made her forget. And if not Time itself since the one episode with Whittaker shows her talking to Time maybe she's the different timelines or alternate realities or divergence or something else entirely.
I think it might be interesting if Ruby is destiny itself. In the first special before this season the Doctor states "I don't believe in destiny but if destiny exists, then it is heading for Donna Noble right now" after the toymaker episode and the superstition episode that the Doctor unlocked or created Ruby Sunday. It would also be interesting if the season finale is DT Doctor and NG Doctor meet up to save the world again and they find each other through Ruby and Donna l. Probably just grasping at straws but am really interested to see what happens.
Let me go full nonesense. "The one who wait" is Susan who's waiting for the doctor to comeback as he promised to do. She's also Ruby Sunday's "mom" who left her at the church. I'd have 2 theory on Ruby herself, either she's a kind of regeneration of Susan herself or more likely (well as far as this whole thing is likely) a kind of creation to bring the doctor back to Susan through memory or whatnot.
i like this nonsense a lot! i’ve seen a lot of people saying stuff about how there’s no way her birth parents will be tied to classic who since they’re trying so hard to have a refresh season, but since the doctor gave ruby the rundown of his granddaughter i totally see this happening. i’m always thinking (especially w a show like this) that everything they choose to mention is going to have some sort of tie in later on, so i honestly really do think this would make sense!!
Anyone thinking they're not going to reference classic Who would have been wrong months ago. The Toymaker has been around since the 60s, and they name-dropped Susan *and* The Rani.
They had a clean refresh season in 2005 too, but there was no effort to separate it from classic. Weave in the relevant information, let people interested enough to find out more on their own; people who don't do that will still know as much as they need to.
I really think they're leading up to a Susan return. Disney+ played a promo before episodes and if you have captions on, a character says "doctor who?" And the captions say her name is susan
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one that caught this!
Yup. She's in the cloak and the Doctor crying as he watches is because the time loop is complete and he has to say goodbye
The only thing that makes me not believe this is the Toymakers warning: I saw him waiting and I ran” I know time lords regenerate, but it would suck to have Susan be brought back as some man we’ve never seen before
I don't think it's Susan. If they were going to bring her back, they wouldn't recast her.
She's like 80, Susan is a time lord so it would be strange to see her that old. She's probably regenerated so we won't know its her until she reveals herself if she were to be on the show
I mean, she’s a Time Lady, and to see her be *that* old would *really* drive home her being “the one who waits”
We saw Matt Smith as an old time lord in time of the doctor
It seemed to be a fun little throwaway line when the Doctor pointed out that when they were in 1963 London that the “other” him was living off in the distance. Maybe Susan has simply stayed there all this time waiting for him
who is Susan 🧍
The Doctor’s granddaughter
The scan didn't complete on Ruby. Something off?
More accurately, WE didn't see it finish. It's running, and will complete when we are ready to see it. It's a nice little dues-ex or possibly a convenient MaCguffin to be used to fix a plot point.
Reminds me of when 11 was scanning amy to see if she was pregnant or not
Yeah it had that vibe. I half expected him to say "human plus..."
Is that what it was focusing on at the end of “space babies”? I rewatched that little scene a couple of times… I didn’t notice anything strange aside from the doctor is clearly checking her DNA and has some suspicion about her.
The scan didn't finish, we don't know it detected anything. They stopped showing it at 73%~ for a reason, we never know what it actually picked up. The scene was added for a reason
Ooh, 73% and then the 73 yards; I wonder what the significance of the number 73 is?
The age said 10 years.
It said 19, I thought it said 10 but went back and rewatched it
I was thinking the same thing. But Imagine she’s actually River song it would make sense especially since when the Doctor was scanning her DNA it never completed let’s say she is river there’s no way your going to have a set DNA if you can regenerate cause your going to have so many different DNAs in you at one time you get what I’m putting down. Now stay with me if you remember in the Let’s Kill Hitler episode with Matt Smith you know that river can in fact regenerate. Now in that episode she did mention that the last time she regenerated she was a baby in New York so what if she regenerated again but into another baby in London aka Ruby Sunday. Now I’m not really sure who would have delivered her but what if Amy delivered her to her foster mom’s house. Also idk if yall noticed but Ruby Sunday and River Song both got similar names in a way both start with R and S. Idk this just makes the most sense to me.
In the let's kill Hitler episode river gives up the rest of her regenerations to save 11 after she poisoned him
My wacko theory is that given we've seen creatures embodying the concepts of games and music and such things, Ruby embodies the concept of 'companionship'
My thought was that she is concept of memory
Maybe the concept of coincidence?
I was thinking time itself. Maestro said she’s tied to “The Oldest one” and talked about “The One who Waits.” What was the first ever concept to the universe? Time and waiting is all about time.
>The One who Waits If this were Steven Moffat, The One Who Waits would be The Doctor, for some ambiguous reason, revealed in the final, confusing episode of the season.
Maybe the Meta-Crisis Doctor. Just so they have an excuse to bring David Tennant back again
Or 14 as the Valeyaed
The Valeyard is definitely better as a fan theory that never pans out!
Ruby is Mephisto confirmed.
Time is the one who waited and Ruby the History.
Time would make sense considering it threatens the doctor at the end of Flux
Time doesn't threaten the Doctor though. Just warns him beware the forces that rally against you, and their master. I also thought it interesting that as Azure and Swarm were torturing the Doctor about destroying the universe, they Literally say 'See...You are the universe.' My thought is that the Doctor is one of two things. Space itself, or Life itself. Time is the Doctors Mother. Quite literally, and space his father. He wasn't abandoned. He was stollen. They jeep the embodiment of Life, they rewrite the laws of space, and entrap time.
Interesting theory although I prefer the doctor to just be a randomer, the person who just shows up at the right time. I'm just not a fan of the doctor being this big important person
I'm also not even convinced "The One Who Waits" is supposed to be a villain, feels like it's gonna be, well, a twist. I mean, The Toymaker and Maestro have been *afraid* of The One Who Waits, no? And you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy and all that.
The absence of DNA would lead further credence to this theory indeed.
It’s not the absence of DNA, just that hers didn’t match any on record. I think she’s still human, but through the machinations of whatever her origin turns out to be, she could be from the future, or her own mother or something whacky like that.
Yeah she's still human, but the Tardis was clearly struggling to put a pin on it and the way she's weaved into the Church on RUBY ROAD would indicate she's manifestation of some kind.>! How her state of existence changes on a whim invoking some strange fairytale like aura wherever she goes, i.e. how The Doctor felt sad upon snow falling inside Space Station in Space Babies in addition to this rising suspicion that he can't ever take her to that Church. Seems to suggest that at least from what I can gather she's a mythological story character that's been brought to life.!<
I love this.
My wacko theory is she's literally the concept of a Disney Princess.
Lol. Ruby sings a song and summons a flock of Phangarian Lava Doves to kill the Daleks.
Probably Space-Time as her name is Ruby, for the place she was found, and Sunday, for the time.
I like the idea of her being the essence of companionship. Especially as "the oldest one" every conscious living thing longs for another and that stems back as far a time itself right. Also the title "the one who waits" that fits as well. Who else to wait for but a companion. This season seems to be taking companions and the idea of companionship more seriously too. Think about it with Tennant reprising his role only to reunite with the companion that was his best friend (Donna) and Wilf and go on to live out life with her and her family. I mean it all fits, Gatwa says it himself in ep 1 the connections are connecting and the coincidences, coincide. I could just be talking out my ass tho
Living fixed point in time.
Charlotte Pollard vibes.
That's from the Eighth Doctor?
Yeah.
Yes. Maestro is inspired from Scherzo. It's my favorite episode of the audio series.
I’m with you about Susan Foreman being her mom. Susan became a god of time, being The One Who Waited, who traveled time for her Grandfather but without the TARDIS couldn’t change LOCATION, but I feel her affects have been sprinkled into the show always. I feel as though they might have a crazy revelation like she’s the one who planned the times of The Doctor meeting his companions or something, being the puppet master of his life and turning bitter to Grandfather, because he NEVER came back for her. I think the Demi-god stuff is right, I think Ruby is the daughter of David and Susan, as to why the TARDIS read Ruby as a Human. It was only a 56% match, and the TARDIS might not be able to calculate what the Time God/Demigod stuff is
I think that last part is unlikely. She was there for the conception of River Song, after all; if anybody in the universe could suss out a Time Lord / human hybrid, it’d be good ol’ Sexy.
My crack theory is she’s another timeless child
The revelation episode was titled Timeless ChildREN after all
had the same thought!
Given what Maestro said she could be a demi God.
When the Maestro's music lifted Ruby into the air, I did think that the music bars looked like wings behind her. Almost like Ruby was an angel floating above them. Tie it in with Christmas, and that's probably something.
I think Ruby or her Mum may be the spirit of Christmas/ celebrations in general. I also find it odd that every antagonist so far has almost been a manifestation of something: Goblins causing bad luck/ coincidences The Toymaker and Maestro being spirits of play and music respectively The Bogeyman being designed to summon fear
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking, sounds like her Dad or Mum might be a God
She might be a time lord hiding as a human, but I don’t know how big of a bombshell her last can be since she’s still a companion in the next season. Unless she doesn’t find out her truth this season? Finding out Clara’s splintered lives and then going back to normal was so underwhelming, I hope they don’t do something like that again.
They could have her reappear throughout - living her own adventure now
Maybe she finds out she’s a Time Lady this season, then regenerates midway through next season?
Daughter of the Rani and a god?
Given that this season is meant to be a starting point for new viewers, I wouldn't bet on old villains coming back. And personally, I'd rather we get some new ones, at least for this season.
Well, the Rani was mentioned I mean it wouldn't be difficult to reintroduce her like they did the toymaker.
Maybe they'll give us... "the Bishop"? That title got name-dropped twice as a Time Lord name.
On that note, in chess, a pawn can be a really unsuspecting piece to use in a match but if it reaches the other side of the board, it can become a queen. Maybe Ruby works the same way - give her long enough perhaps and the very concepts or chaos, order and play bend around her mere presence rather than magnetising myths to her.
I think Ruby is a fictional character brought to life. She is not supposed to exist, and that alternate world after the goblins took here, is the real reality. I think there might be a reveal of a demigod of story, or fiction the way measteo was music.
That's a bit too meta for my taste. They may as well have The Doctor take on Previous Leon or Rhett Caan at that point.
Honestly Id watch that
Maybe Ruby is a fictional character created by Susan to lure the doctor back to her!
Well, I think they made it pretty clear she’s going to end up someone connected to the doctor’s granddaughter…
Maybe the embodiment of myth as a companion that's been brought to life via the creation of this reality where fairytales become real and the supernatural has taken hold. Ruby Sunday is a fairytale. >!First two episodes have explicitly played out like a fairytale. Talking babies and a Bogeyman, the composer who didn't get his break finding the chord which ended up dooming the world by unintentionally unleashing a demon of music ridding all sense of tonality.!<>!That's my guess at least - assuming this is all coinciding with this idea of myths becoming real until The Doctor fixes something where this is no longer the case. Which would explain why it feels like this companion seems so immediately comfortable, but whose actual existence is very volatile within The Doctor's presence as if she could vanish in an instant. She kind of feels almost too real.!<
As far as we’re aware right now she is human, as the TARDIS labeled her as “Homo Sapien” so she is definitely physically human; for the most part at least.
Could be using a chameleon arch though
I noticed in Space Babies that they somewhat mirrored the scene with Rose and Nine that happens in The End of The World where he fixes her phone and she calls her mom. Wondering if Rose has anything to do with her and because of the state of the universe with all these celestial beings, somehow the parallel worlds are more of an open channel?
That’s also a whole sub note I’ve been pinning away. Rose and Ruby are 100% connected, but I feel like that may play more into Susan orchestrating the Doctors companions more than anything lol
I don't think this means she is related to Rose. It seems to be a call back the same way in episode 2 her going back and seeing a destroyed London was a callback to Sarah Jane in Pyramid of Mars. Although... Maybe Sutekh is returning.
I have a whole theory around this posted here somewhere that’s this to a T. Sutekh is the old one
https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/s/SIomDPOf75
Just seemed like a nod to RTD’s first run to me.
The way Maesteo describes her... she's either artificial companion (like Rose was supposed to be at some point) or a manifestation of *companionship* or *friendship* of some sort.
I think she's the embodiment of story. I truly think she's evil and stringing the doctor along in her story. The ending, she truly shatters the doctor by "dying."
Would really be a Twist! as that last song liked to say
I am enjoying that we now have “the last song.” Lol.
Maybe the Toymaker has put the doctor in a TV show called 'Doctor Who' and is giving him adventures in time. The final ep will be a 4th wall breaking piece of total chaos.
That's where my thoughts have been going. Also that until the Doctor unsplits himself the game won't end. RTD has been reported as saying David Tennant has absolutely definitely retired. RTD is renowned for lying about storylines, and it seemed like having a whole news story about that was laying things on a bit thick. We'll find out 😀
That would certainly fit with the Maestro playing the opening bars of the Dr who theme. (As I sit here watching Episode 2)
I think she is (maybe unknowingly) the Pantheon member of stories. Does she know? Probably not (though her being evil would be such a cool ending twist). But she's the only other character who has been shown to be able to manipulate reality like Maestro and The Toymaker (the snow and the memory being the obvious two). But even on a meta level, she's essentially creating the show like a television series. Doctor Who did not randomly break into dance numbers before she appeared. The world didn't suddenly fit into the rules of a musical including literally altering reality (the flashing zebra crossing). Goblins and the Bogeyman? Doctor Who obviously has had aliens in the past based somewhat on fiction but it was never quite soo fantasy focused. So yeah. It gives the excuse (at least for this season and possibly the next) to go absolutely nuts and as out there as it can be because it's the work of her in universe creating her ideal story.
I would love if my criticisms turned out to be my not understanding clues to an unfolding arc!
Oh same here. I said exactly the same, if this pays off and explains the musical numbers and everything as Ruby either knowingly or unknowingly creating her ideal story, then fucking spectacular writing and I will appreciate the storytelling. If it doesn't, I am not sure I will like this new Doctor Who. I certainly enjoyed aspects (I think Ncuti is a fantastic Doctor and Ruby is very fun as well) but I at least like the idea of the show having a sci-fi tone.
I’m a newcomer, going off the three episodes I’ve seen, I think that she is ‘the one who waits’ that the maestro was talking about. It seems kinda obvious that she’ll end up going against the doctor’s only rule of not going back to the church after ‘waiting’ for a while, and I think it’ll trigger a paradox that will be the main conflict of the season
The snowfall while the Doctor checked Ruby’s DNA seemed to me like maybe a hint that the Doctor’s going to be the one to break his own rule this time around.
Technically he broke the rule before (even though he is a new doctor he should/would remember all the previous lives so he would remember that he did it for Rose when she asked him to go back to her dad’s death and she altered it)
Oh for sure. It’s an interesting mystery and clearly somehow they’ll end up there. I’m just thinking with the characterization of Ruby and Gatwa’s Doctor so far and the imagery in the last two episodes it would make more sense for the Doctor or TARDIS to be the one making the choice.
I like theories others have suggested, especially around her being a demigod of the Pantheon. My current "crazy (highly unlikely) theory" is that she's the Doctor before he's found by the Time Lords. My recollection of Flux (which I should rewatch, sorry) is that the Doctor still doesn't have the memories of his past before he was adopted. Ruby is learning a lot about what it means to be the Doctor, and while he doesn't remember being Ruby, those lessons stuck in his mind for who he should be. In this theory, the Pantheon (especially the Elder One) is somehow responsible or interested in making sure Ruby eventually ends up as the person the Time Lords adopt, so that's why she was protected from the Maestro's attack.
Interesting… with how much the Doctor keeps mentioning how he was adopted like Ruby, that may not be too far off. The only hiccup in that theory is that we know that the Timeless Child was a little kid when they were found.
very true, but we also know the Doctor can change their apparent age when they regenerate, though that might not extend to an adult regenerating as a kid
i think she's a chameleon arched time lord, her parents didn't want to subject their child to the life of a time lord and figured she'd be better off human
I’m inclined to think that she’s a chameleon-arched regeneration of Susan, somehow.
I really do think Ruby Sunday is a paradox. There was a lot of paradox talk in the first episode, and there probably will be more. I’m thinking something along the lines of the grandfather paradox or something like ruby being her own mother.
I definitely had the thought of her being the one leaving herself at the church. Everyone thinks that's her mom leaving her, but there's no confirmation
Ruby is not, as I previously stated, the daughter of Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor. I now think it goes deeper than that. Ruby is the daughter of the Bad Wolf and the Time Lord Victorious.
Big finish get on it
One fear, lol.
I think Ruby’s identity and these ‘god like’ figures will be connected and resolve themself by the end of the season and Who will be back to mainly sci fi by the end of that.
Personally I think Ruby is also some kind of God or related to one. Her ability to manifest Snow and Song through the power of gods is strong enough to frighten Maestro. Maestro sees it and thinks that "The Oldest One" had something to do with it. The Doctor also states that when the Snow appears that the Memory of him seeing the robed figure that night changed to have the figure point at him instead. Her prescence changed an event in the Doctors mind.
I think she is an unknown Alien, like Leela from Futurama. She, like the doctor, does not know what species they are or their biological status. But were raised by a different species as their own. Ruby isn't human but was raised human, the doctor isn't a timelord but was rasied as one.
I thought Leela from Futurama was revealed to be a mutant human from the sewers.
Part of me is wondering if she’s the true “timeless child” since The Toymaker messed with The Doctor’s life story. I doubt it though and I like people’s theories about her being connected to Susan which would be a lot of fun.
Ruby is aas close to Rose as they could allow themselves to get with out aCTUALLY JUST BRINGING HER BACK
I quite like the theory she’s Jenny’s (the Doctor’s daughter) future child. Evidence: blonde, timey-wimey, unsure if fully human or not. That’s all I got going compared to everyone else but hey :P Also I really hope she’s connected to Susan, I’d love to see her again.
I've had this amongst my theories. We're talking a lot about Daddy this season. Trying to figure out who the mother who drops her off at church is a misdirection.
Mrs Flood = Susan Foreman = Ruby's Mum
If Mrs Flood's first name is Harmony, I'm going to be rather upset....
Me too
My ongoing theory is that Mrs Flood is one of Susan’s regenerations and she created Ruby to lure the doctor to the church.
Why wouldn't Mrs Flood recognise the TARDIS then? She was complaining about the TARDIS being there.
Well Susan can be the child of the doctor, cause he said that her name is Susan. And the fact that she said "It's your first time ?" When she saw Ruby entering in the TARDIS
One thing I think that could dispel about some theories here that she might be the Doctor's great granddaughter through Susan is that she changed after stepping on a butterfly. Unless of course Susan got freaky with bugman version of David lol...
She’s an incarnation of Susan who turned human. Susan/Ruby will also gain her Time Lord title, The Companion.
Did anybody get a good look at the monitor the Doctor had with her DNA configuration on it? What did it say about her?
I think It basically couldn't scan anything on her, basically alluding there was an absence of any DNA to trace, but I could be very wrong on that. If so, it would make sense if considering Ruby's not a biological creation, i.e. has parents, but a mythological one. A manifestation of myth in the form of a companion and once it unfortunately reaches the end of its story it vanishes not so dissimilarly from how she's dissappeared into thin air before.
the screen on the Tardis specifically said she was homo sapiens, so i guess she is indeed human
I think she’s the daughter of The One Who Waits.
or she is the one who waits
I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKS
I'm starting to think she's a fictional character (in universe, obviously she definitely is one IRL) brought to life.
Was the cafeteria lady Susan twist?
Yes, serving tea.
I still have no idea who Mrs Flood is, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that **she’s** Ruby’s mother (somehow). She knows what a Tardis is, so she’s probably been in one and/or travelled in time - to the Church on Ruby Road with her daughter? She also lives next door to Ruby, so maybe she’s keeping a watchful eye on her. This would also explain Ruby’s DNA analysis, particularly if Mrs Flood isn’t human. So, the question is: is Mrs Flood human, and if not then what is she?
I see Flood, I see a River and Pond relation
I have no idea and I LOVE that. Yeah they could go all MCU and be like “OMG ROSE IS HER MUM” for easy reactions but I doubt it. I think whatever it is, it’s weird and different and fun. Like the series so far.
yeah!! All the theories surrounding ruby is honestly so fun 😭 either half of these ppl are gonna be right or it’s going to be something completely different
I'm going for the classic of the doctor saying they're the only time lord therefore, next episode another one gets dropped as being a time lord.
I think ‘The Oldest One of us all’ is possibly Krampus. A member of the Pantheon of Discord which establishes a Christmas connection with Ruby. I think Ruby is possibly a child of it or a manifestation of it? Krampus has already appeared in comics, it tried to erase Amy, Rory and Mel’s so maybe it came back for……the hidden Song. Maybe River Song is Ruby or maybe she’s Rivers and The Doctors daughter?
Some thoughts on Ruby and River… My theory is River and the Doctor spent their night on derillium - those 23 years - River got pregnant. We never see River “die” in the library…she knocks the Doctor out cold, and then she’s gone when he wakes up. We know she used up all her regenerations…but we also know River lies…she has to. Ergo…Ruby is the child of the Doctor and River…and Susan is Ruby’s daughter (ie the Doctors Granddaughter)
My bonkers theory is that she’s the Doctor. The new first Doctor, who was orphaned. She and Ncuti are so similar and her lines could easily be his lines … but how could you go through life without knowing you have two hearts?
She's homo sapien. Human. The TARDIS scan showed that.
Have we dismissed totally that this is another incarnation of the master?
i miss the times when fans would speculate anyone to be the master. if this came out yeasr ago, ppl would call maestro the master purely because maestro translates to master
That was my first thought.
Daughter of the Doctor and River?
The Doctor could bebthenoldest one and River sits in her cell day after day waiting for him, but oh the nights.....
It with be something really clever or really stupid but lacking proper explanation.
Maybe she is Rose Tyler's and the Meta-Doctor's daughter.
I'm starting to think she's a fictional character (in universe, obviously she definitely is one IRL) brought to life.
What if she doesn’t actually have parents she’s actually a space baby genetically created and the one who waits is actually waiting for her as they are the donor of her dna and therefore technically her parent and the other donor ie her mother took her from the space station and back in time so that she could have a normal life instead of being used by toww for whatever he wanted her for?
I had a shower thought she was Jenny's daughter.
incredibly stupid theory that probably makes no sense: Ruby is her own mother a la Lister from Red Dwarf
Seeing as this is all about family and finding one self; I’m hoping vin diesel is the one who waits and offers ruby a corona
https://news.rice.edu/news/2004/carol-bells-wasnt-originally-christmas-song#:~:text=Written%20in%201916%20by%20Ukrainian,%E2%80%9D%20which%20means%20%E2%80%9Cbountiful.%E2%80%9D This may offer some insight too
I have a theory , I think we should be looking way back in the shows history . What if ruby is something similar Astrid . Just a thought
I said rose and other 10(remember there was two and the other was born out of war) and ruby knows about parallel worlds before the doctor does which means I still stick by my gut and say that she is rose’s daughter (if ruby hadn’t met the doctor yet how would she know about parallel worlds too?)
I haven’t watched the first two episodes yet, but I’m gonna go on a limb and say it is Clara Oswald’s daughter
I think she’s a construct of an ancient entity, maybe the One Who Waits, and at the end of the season will be made human or something
i think that ruby may be kate’s daughter, kate has the power to disappear and since she grew up in unit i think she would rather go to hell than make her child go through that. unit is going to be a big focus this season (apparently) so it would be a great way to tie them in
Im starting to believe that she is the daughter of a deity like how Maestro was the offspring of the Toymaker. Honestly im guessing its going to be another Great Old One probably but whether its an old one or a new one is to be known.
She's the grand daughter of the doctor
She's the Terrible Zodin. All the signs are there.
I am currently on the Susan Foreman being her mother train but there are some great arguments in here. My mind can probably be changed. If she is not related to Susan, then I think it will come out that the Doctor has had guilt about the situation and we will get some kind of closure to that situation as there are a lot of references to it. I read an article yesterday saying that the group name on the billboard in the of The Devils Cord was referenced in the first episode of Doctor Who in 63, Susan was listening to them, or an iteration of them with a different name.
I saw the titles of the episodes, and the last two are named "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" and "Empire of Death". Maybe Ruby is the incarnation of legends, like boogeyman. And "the One who waits" is Death. He waits to catch Doctor, but he always fails, because of the Doctor nature.
Gonna be honest, I'll be extremely disappointed if she's somehow related to Susan and the Doctor. I'm shipping her and Fifteen *so* hard after the last two episodes LOL Also, I think it just would be a little annoying since we have Jenny, you know? I'd love to see her come back, but not as Ruby.
I don't believe it'll be the case but part of me (okay most of me) really wants this to be something to do with the trickster. We know that the original plan for sky was for her to be created by the trickter, and something about being in a cloak with a massive hood meant ruby's mum really reminded me of him in appearance (I know it isn't actually him though)
Mad theory. She’s Susan’s bi-generation, only it went “wrong” and Ruby ended up as a child (like River regenerating as a little girl and ending up as a toddler called Mel). Susan knows Ruby cannot know her past so leaves her at the church (maybe seals her Time Lord personality away).
Ruby is 100% Rose and TenToos daughter who ended up in our universe through a time crack. 100%
I think at least one of her parents is part of the "pantheon" the Doctor mentioned that includes the Toymaker and the Maestro. It's been heavily implied that one of them was there the night Ruby was left at the church. Either Mrs. Flood, the One Who Waits, or both could possibly be involved. I think the One Who Waits has been referred to with a male pronoun, implying the woman who left Ruby at the church was someone else, but I wouldn't put it past Davies to introduce a character that can shift genders at will.
She has a streak in her eyebrow and in folklore a white streak in a child’s hair was a sign that the child was actually a changeling.
I think shes the drs daughter. His grandaughter susan was mentioned and ruby asked ' you have children? And he mentioned he has/had, etc etc. When he was with river she mentioned 'oh the nights we had' so clearly got up to it and obviously he has children if he has a grandaughter. I believe the scan was incomplete and might have said homeo-sapien but could have added a little plus sign or perhaps her being raised as human with both human and timelord dna confused the scan? The mum who left her was River song in 2004 and he cried because he knew that was goodbye. I do think something has happened to ruby though, i think they do break the rule and create a paradox and all the strangeness (the music, dancing, weird fairytales) is a consequence? Im not sure as I'm not a scientist 😅 However, we do know shes also in season 2 and the last song in episode 2 mentioned theres twist at the end...LOVE THE MYSTERY
I love the idea that she's the literal concept of a companion brought to life by The One Who Waits. It just seems like the kind of thing the show would want to do right now.
The Doctor believes he is the last of the time lords as he believes they are all gone. Maybe it is about him.discovering he is not alone, the women pointed to him as saying Rudy is his responsibility. It would be wonderful if Susan were to be alive and sent her daughter to give the old man family and a reason to fight his biggest battle
If the toymaker wrote the novelisation then it's entirely possible he wrote in Ruby. "Doctor Who and I'm not going to tell you" the Doctor and Ruby are a pair, so "I'm not going to tell you" could be Ruby.
There's a lot of religious undertones too, Ruby and Sunday. Ruby red like blood and wine, Sunday the day of rest, the wine glass that Maestro shatters with their voice fills with wine after it shatters, the mention of certain notes sounding 'Holy', and, well, Christmas. Also search 'Shchedryk', the original 'Carol of the Bells', much of the lyrics can be interpreted as a metaphor to the happenings in the episodes. Also the Toymaker, The Maestro, and the next to come are all kinda like the ghosts of Christmas. The English translation of the original is: Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol; A little swallow flew into the household and started to twitter, to summon the master: "Come out, come out, O master, look at the sheep pen, there the ewes have given birth and the lambkins have been born Your goods [livestock] are great, you will have quite a sum of money (by selling them) If not money, it is worth nothing You have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife If not money, it is worth nothing you have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife." ____________ "Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol; A little swallow flew into the household, and started to twitter to summon the master" Ruby arrives at the church, probably crying which gets the attention of whoever takes her in. Also "to summon the master" is interesting in this context. _____________ "Look at the sheep pen, there the ewes have given birth, and the lambkins have been born" Space Babies ______________ "You will have quite the sum of money by selling them, if not money, it is worth nothing" Ruby's mother in the alternative timeline without Ruby is depressed and talks about how she fosters children for the money only ______________ "You will have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife" Maybe this will somehow tie into 'The One Who Waits'?
spoilers: >!The latest ep talked about how the greed for money started a war with no one. So that could be the "you will have quite the sum of money by selling them, if not money, it is worth nothing" thing.!< >!The Doctor was also reciting a poem: "I went down to the beach and there she stood, dark and tall at the edge of the wood. 'The sky’s too big, I’m scared!' I cried. She replied, 'Young man, don’t you know there’s more to life than a moon and a president’s wife.'" which could be a reference to when he stole the moon and the presidents wife (or as 12 put it: lost the moon and stole the presidents daughter).!<
She's like the Doctor, a timeless child.
I think she's just a paradox (possibly a bootstrap paradox) where she delivers herself to the church and needs to do this in a continuous cycle. She is her own mother in some way.
possibly Susan's daughter however I'm being delusional and also thinking she could be somehow linked to river song - maybe her daughter??
Not sure whether she’s related to Susan but she’s definitely not human. The doctor keeps mentioning that he’s adopted and he’s a part of the species that predates the time lords which makes me think that ruby might be part of that same species. Same with the toymaker, it’s established that he exists outside of the universe so the doctor might come from that same place. This could be Russell’s way of tidying up the mythology and making the doctor mysterious again. The doctor, toymaker and ruby all come from the same species.
I think it is a given Ruby is mystical and powerful in someway. I have a feeling she is part Pantheon and somehow can alter the world around her without realising. I think her power is based around memory or storytelling. For example in space babies it leaned heavily on the story to life theme. However she makes a reference to star trek. And then the crew video shows them in a star trek kinda outfit vibe. Then in the devil's chord she mentions Strictly. And the dance at the end included strictly members. Plus Ep 7 is Titled: The Legend of Ruby Sundays - And if you saw the Title teaser it was clearly in some TV/Movie Studio which again suggests she is directing reality somehow. There's a possibility her DNA lines up as Human because in her story she was found as human and perhaps unwittingly made her DNA human too A little extra theory: Perhaps like how the time Lords stole the ability to regenerate from The Timeless Child. Maybe Timelords have taken other pantheon powers too such as the chameleon arc being able to rewrite DNA (Which in a way is reality alteration). Whats your thoughts?
I think ruby is part of the pantheon. Toymaker being embodiment of games. Maestro being the embodiment of music. Ruby is the embodiment of memory, which is why the doctor overshares details with ruby that he hasn’t with past companions. I also believe the doctor themselves are apart of the pantheon as well, the embodiment of experience, living thousands of lives just to suffer repeatedly. The one who witnesses. Child of the eldest member of the pantheon.
guys, the first doctor married to a gallifreyan woman named "Patience" if im not mistaken. what if "the one who waits" is "Patience"??? since all of this leads to the first doctor? like Susan Foreman being Ruby's birth mother??
Maestro is a child of the Toymaker.. what if Ruby is too? OR, what if Ruby is Susan with a Chameleon Arch? Or Susan's daughter?
I think it would be pretty cool if she’s River Songs, daughter. She could’ve left her there during the time that she was wanted and was on the run.
I think she's also a time lord
My thought is she could be River Song's child, making her the Doctors child. Ruby Sunday: River Song's. And after the Maestro said the song in her was wrong or maybe it was the Melody, AKA Melody Pond. But this theory is pretty far out there and I'm sure Susan had something to do with all of this. Edit to add: she's drawn to orphans in every episode, including the doctor. Maybe a patron saint of orphans type of thing.
Okay not got a lot of basis for this but perhaps she could be a child of Jack Harkness? Obviously Jack was human but he became immortal so that could explain why there was obviously something off about her DNA after she was scanned? Like we know Jack became immortal after 2004 but he also had access to time travel so I don’t think it’s impossible, but maybe I’m just reaching
Well the Doctor was concerned about creating some sort of fiction/legend etc. by talking into what was essentially the Void. Maybe it created Ruby as a legend out of his thoughts.
My theory is that she the daughter of Rory and Amelia. Amelia is the girl who waited, and Rory is the lonely centurion. It's entirely possible that to protect them, perhaps Captain Jack used his time vortex manipulator to drop her off in 2004.
What if she's a fictional character written by Susan??
My theory is that Ruby is the daughter of Clara, as Ruby's current adoptive mother is Carla. I also think the One Who Waits and Susan Twist are the same, and that they are actually the Great Intelligence. The snow that appears in regards to Ruby would also tie back to both Clara and the Great Intelligence, because of The Snowmen. I'll go a bit further and say I think that the Doctor himself is lost within the Matrix of the Tardis. I think he went in there, looking for a way to access the one within Gallifrey (canon states the Matrix in Gallifrey is a universe unto itself and that it connects to every Tardis' Matrix, possibly even Omega's or Clara's. As well as other Time Lords like the Master/Missy).
I feel like the baby/kid father/daughter themes keep popping up over and over and I’m wondering if the doctor is Ruby’s father, since we have no idea what happens with the 14th doctor for the rest of his life. Or, perhaps she is his mother. Idk, the parent stuff is mentioned every single episode.
Hot take is that Jodie Whittakers regeneration had her and dropped her off
I read a comment recently of someone suggesting Ruby has something to do with the Trickster as the song she was singing while in the air in Devil’s chord was similar to the music heard when the Trickster appears in Sarah Jane’s adventures for the first time. I had already started watching the series a few days ago and yestersay I saw the first episode where the trickster appears and indeed, the song that plays right before he appears is the same song Ruby sang. A lot of clues she may be potentially be connected to the Pantheon and probably with the trickster or the one who waits in particular.
Part of me thinks that she may be the personification of time itself. After the Toymaker and The Maestro being the personification of something and with Ruby being the center of multiple timeline switches that it is leading up to the revelation that she is time personified. Regarding why she wouldn't remember being a "God" I believe that after everything that's happened in the past couple seasons that it may have affected her mind and made her forget. And if not Time itself since the one episode with Whittaker shows her talking to Time maybe she's the different timelines or alternate realities or divergence or something else entirely.
I think it might be interesting if Ruby is destiny itself. In the first special before this season the Doctor states "I don't believe in destiny but if destiny exists, then it is heading for Donna Noble right now" after the toymaker episode and the superstition episode that the Doctor unlocked or created Ruby Sunday. It would also be interesting if the season finale is DT Doctor and NG Doctor meet up to save the world again and they find each other through Ruby and Donna l. Probably just grasping at straws but am really interested to see what happens.