The return of Sutekh in this year’s two-part season finale was a major shock for Doctor Who fans. While there were certainly rumors of the villain’s return, it was still hard to believe they’d bring Sutekh back after nearly fifty years. Especially since he seemed to be killed off in his original appearance in Pyramids of Mars, apparently aged to death in the time vortex. So, the big question fans asked at the end of The Legend of Ruby Sunday: how did he survive?
Empire of Death answered this with the reveal that Sutekh had managed to escape by hiding on the TARDIS. Since his first appearance, Sutekh had been a hidden companion to the Doctor, growing more powerful and waiting for the opportunity for revenge. Fortunately, at the end of Empire, the Doctor was able to send Sutekh into the vortex, destroying him for good this time. Right?
From one TARDIS to another
Upon rewatching the 60th anniversary specials, a key moment raised an important question. After the Doctor’s bi-generation, essentially splitting into two separate incarnations, the Fifteenth Doctor grabbed a great big mallet and - thanks to the rules of reality still being flexible after winning against the Toymaker - split the TARDIS into two. So each Doctor received their own TARDIS, with Fifteen traveling onto new adventures and Fourteen staying on Earth.
This begs a key question: what exactly happened to Sutekh when the TARDISes split?
To answer that question, we have to look at what happened to the TARDIS. Initially, they seemed to be identical, but there were subtle differences. Along with different lighting, Fifteen’s TARDIS also had its own jukebox. So perhaps Sutekh simply transferred from one TARDIS to another. There is another possibility, though.
Two TARDISes, two Sutekhs
We theorized that the bi-generation was more than just a simple split and that the Fifteenth Doctor has all of the Fourteenth Doctor’s future experiences. It’s possible that, rather than being a clone of Fourteen’s TARDIS, Fifteen’s is the exact same TARDIS that was brought from the future. Meaning that an earlier version of Sutekh was still hiding on Fourteen's TARDIS.
This leads to another question: what was Sutekh doing inside Fourteen’s TARDIS during the events of Empire of Death? When the Sutekh seen with Fifteen’s TARDIS was spreading death across the universe, what was the other Sutekh doing?
Perhaps he was simply hiding and letting his future self take charge in destroying the whole of time and space. Perhaps ironically, the earlier self was wiped out by his own future. One thing that Empire of Death made clear was that causality was thrown out the window - everyone in the present day was turned to dust, and yet at the same time, a future where a very dangerous man became Prime Minister still existed. There’s a delicious irony in the idea of Sutekh being destroyed by his own future self, before being brought back to life…by the death of his own future self.
Other ways to return
When looking at all possible explanations for Sutekh and the Fourteenth Doctor’s TARDIS, two of them provide a possible resolution. Either both TARDISes are of the same timeline and Sutekh continues to hide until he travels with Fifteen, or Sutekh was simply transferred from one TARDIS to another. Of course, the latter explanation raises an important question: if the TARDIS can be duplicated, could the same have happened to Sutekh himself?
The idea of two Sutekhs is certainly an intriguing one and definitely provides an easy way for the villain to come back once again. In fact, one Sutekh being wiped out may even have helped the other. After all, if you were the God of Death, why would you want another in the universe, even if that other god was you?
Whether or not Sutekh survived this way would really depend on the writers. To be honest, they may not even need to use Fourteen’s TARDIS to do it. After all, the Fourth Doctor seemed to destroy the Osiran in his very first appearance, and it was made clear that he was far less powerful then than in Empire of Death. And of course, the character has come back in other creative ways in both comics and audio stories. So if current or future writers ever did want to bring Sutekh back - even after he was destroyed in the time vortex - then they will find a way. Even if it takes another fifty years to do it.