***The following contains major spoilers for 208, “The Reality War.” A review is also available***

The balcony containing the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) continues to fall as the buildings and reality itself crumbles around him. Suddenly a door appears behind him which reveals Anita (Steph De Whalley) from the Time Hotel. She pulls him inside.

Meanwhile, the Rani (Archie Panjabi) and Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) question that he’s used a magic door, but it’s too late for them to get him back, as it turns midnight and time resets. Ruby (Millie Gibson) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) wake up at the beginning of the 23rd.

The Doctor remembers Anita and thanks her. She explains that the world hasn’t been destroyed and opens a door midair above the city. It’s May the 23rd again; time keeps resetting after it gets to midnight as it’s done hundreds of times. The Doctor notices that Anita is pregnant and hugs her. She tells him about the baby boy’s father, Ricardo. The building shakes and a warning goes up around the building to abandon the hotel. She explains its in spasm, because they are in 4202, but the world keeps ending in 2025. Anita questions that the Rani is a Time Lord and starts to tell the Doctor that she looked for his TARDIS. She says that her time on the job taught her so much, and she would go looking for him on her days off.

There’s a flashback where Anita visits other doors and sees other incarnations of the Doctor. On the last one, she sees the current Doctor dancing with Rogue (Jonathan Groff) and realizes he cares for him. She says in the present that after that, she ran straight to Ricardo. She asks about the Rani and why the day keeps resetting. The Doctor says that she needs it to keep repeating so that it gets thinner and thinner until it snaps. Once it’s broken, she can see underneath the skin of reality to find Omega, the fiercest Time Lord in existence. He wants Anita to take him to her, but they can’t use a door to get in the Bone Palace because of the Threshold protecting it.

Meanwhile, the Rani has figured out where the Doctor is and is angry at Mrs. Flood, saying she was supposed to follow him everywhere. However, she took off Christmas. The Rani says that he will try to stop them, and they can’t wait for another midnight. Mrs. Flood says they don’t have to, because the Seekers have a fix on the location of Omega, hidden beneath reality, deep in the Underverse. She calls him the creator of the Time Lords and their Lord and Master, but Rani says that no one is Lord and Master of her. Now they need to figure out how to bring him home.

The Doctor and Anita arrive in Poppy (Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps)’s bedroom. She tells him Belinda woke up without him. Every time it resets things fall through the gaps. Everyone compensates, making it work. The Doctor says it’s a world built on a wish, willed into existence by the Rani’s pet human, Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King), who continues his stories on the television. When he tells Anita that he has a daughter, she says that she isn’t real, and he gets upset and says that what happened there is bigger than any of the adventures he’s been on.

The Doctor takes off his jacket as he comes down the stairs. When he walks into the kitchen to see Belinda and Poppy, he is in his “Doctor” clothes.

They all exit one of the doors in the hotel. Belinda suddenly remembers who they are, but she does say that Poppy is real. The Doctor agrees that some how they have had a baby in a single day. Belinda asks him if Poppy is safe. He tells her that she is in danger, but they will fight to save her.

A door appears at UNIT. Everyone looks confused as the Doctor comes in, and Kate (Jemma Redgrave) asks him what he thinks he’s wearing. He says, “the future.” Anita opens more doorways into real time, which enables them to start seeing the truth. A crate explodes, and the Vlinx is revealed, who says that reality levels are converging. Reality reasserts itself and Rose (Yasmin Finney) appears. The Doctor says that Conrad couldn’t imagine her, so she didn’t exist, but now she’s back. He tells Anita to keep the door open and real time flowing.

They ask about the Doctor about Conrad and the creatures outside, which he explains are Bone Beasts, because when two realities combine, it creates friction, and the friction creates these excitated atoms, and that summons the Bone Beasts. They’re like antibodies; they sort of graze on the atoms, cleaning up the world. The Doctor then brings out Belinda and Poppy for everyone to meet.

Kate tells the Doctor that they had all personnel biochipped. They can use the chips to signal them and wake them up, which includes Shirley (Ruth Madeley), Mel (Bonnie Langford), and Ruby. Shirley tells Winnie (Sam Lawton) that she’s going to save the world and blasts off in her wheelchair. Meanwhile, Mel comes get on an orange motorbike and Ruby tells her family goodbye and leaves.

The Rani tells Conrad that they need to move a little faster. She says that if Desidirium was older, he could imagine such complicated things instead of her having to use Conrad. He says he’ll do anything for her. She says that he holds all the wish in his head and asks him if he can find the Doctor, who is out there somewhere.

The Doctor shows Susan Triad (Susan Twist) some blueprints of a big box and tells her he needs her to build the device in record time.

Ruby, Shirley, and Mel come in, and the Doctor greets them. The Doctor addresses everyone and says that they are facing the Unholy Trinity: the God of Wishes, the crazy Time Lady, and Conrad. He says that the Rani is still alive and that it should be the best day of his life knowing that another Time Lord is alive, but Mel, who battled her in the past, explains to the others that she is ruthless, indifferent to morality, and the whole universe is an experiment to her. The Doctor goes on to explain that Conrad couldn’t imagine everything, so he used them, and they half-remembered themselves, living his version of an ordinary life. Ruby says if things are half-remembered, then what does it mean that they met a girl exactly like Poppy before. The Doctor says that it just makes it more amazing. Scraps of their memories have come to life in a child of their own.

The Rani, having found the Doctor, teleports in. He asks her how she survived when the Time Lords were slaughtered, and she tells him that she saw the genetic explosion coming. She had a split second where she flipped her DNA, made a biological sidestep, and survived. He asks how she got to Earth when he has the only TARDIS in existence, and she shows him that she has a bracelet: a Time Ring. It led her to him, although she says that wasn’t difficult. She just had to find a stupid blonde Earth girl to find him. Ruby says she never met her before, but the Rani brings in Mrs. Flood, who spied on both Ruby and Belinda. The Doctor questions that the plan is to find Omega, and the Rani says that she has to split open the world to reach him in the Underverse beneath. The Doctor says that every civilization has legends about the world below: the Upside Down or Narnia or Hell. That is the Underverse to which Omega was banished. Kate mentions her father fighting Omega in the 1970s and that he said he was a Titan and called him the “Mad God.” The Doctor says that Omega was the first, the one who discovered time travel. Some call him the Original Sin of the Time Lords, cast out from Gallifrey, and the legend says that they bound and banished him because he is insane. The Doctor tells the Rani that she can’t know he survived. She says that alive or dead, he will work as a gene bank. With his body she can resurrect the Time Lords and construct a new Gallifrey.

Mel asks if they need the DNA of a Time Lord why they don’t just use their own. The Doctor explains that that is why Poppy is special, because she is impossible, the child of a Time Lord. They were sterilized by the genetic explosion, infertile; there can never be another Gallifreyan child. The Doctor tells the Rani that sometimes he thinks that’s what bi-generation is, a life force trying to survive. Poppy came out of the wish. The Doctor says that she is a beautiful accident, because that is what life does, it just happens. Rose questions that Poppy doesn’t solve everything, because she has Time Lord’s DNA, but the Rani says that she is contaminated by human DNA. She says they are cattle to them, insects to even the Doctor, and deep down they know it. She tells them to just shut up and step aside and let her build a new Gallifrey and that she will leave their world untouched. But the Doctor says that then the wish would end, and he admits Poppy would cease to exist. Belinda says she doesn’t care what anyone thinks. She remembers her being her daughter, and if she remembers it, then it’s true and that not one of them is taking her out of existence. The Rani tells the Doctor that she only came to make an offer. She says he can stand with her and create a new race or stay down there with the beasts below. He tells her he will stop her and then aims his sonic at her. She zaps it with hers and says the battle is on and then disappears.

The Rani returns to the Bone Palace, and Mrs. Flood says that they have a fix on the Omega, which the Chronon Beam will pull out of the Underverse. The Rani says that the UNIT tower is a tinderbox of weapons, but if they fake an excitation of its atoms, the Bone Beasts will see the tower as an enemy and attack.

UNIT prepares for battling the Bone Beasts as the Doctor takes Belinda and Poppy to level -10 to the box he had Susan make, what he calls a Zero Room. It’s a half mile underground and shielded from all the signals, beyond time and space and will exist outside of reality. They can put Poppy in, and if the wish comes to an end, she will still exist, probably. Belinda says that she won’t let Poppy stay in there alone. He explains that if they lose and they are destroyed she will be locked in there for all of eternity, but she is adamant she will stay with her.

Meanwhile, UNIT continues to shoot at the Bone Beasts as the Doctor tells Belinda and Poppy goodbye. He tells Belinda that if it doesn’t work, he thinks they just won’t remember Poppy, like she never existed, but they both agree it will never happen. He tells her that it now makes sense. He was meant to meet her; it was so Poppy could live.

The door is shut as the battle continues in the tower.

Mel explains to Ruby she’s wearing an Indigo Device, a transmat, which is a matter transporter. She starts to tell her she will be fine as long as she doesn’t press the yellow button, but Ruby does and teleports a few feet away. The Doctor comes in telling her to press the blue button, which will get her to Conrad so she can’t stop him and bring the wish to an end. Ruby questions they can’t use the hotel doors, but the Doctor tells her that Anita has to keep it open to keep people grounded in their reality. Also, the Bone Palace is protected with a Threshold, which she can’t transmat in and survive. He needs to get in and lower it for her to get to Conrad while he stops the Rani. He also mentions he tricked the Rani, because he had her zap his sonic on purpose so he could copy her coding. He uses the sonic to call her flying scooter.

The fight continues, and Kate turns the top of the building around with a ship wheel to continue shooting with the galvanic beam in the other direction.

The scooter arrives at the tower. He tells Ruby to activate the device as soon as the Threshold falls. He tells them all he loves them and then flies off towards the Bone Palace. He crashes in, breaking the Threshold, and Ruby teleports to Conrad, however, he is waiting for her with a gun.

The Rani tells the Doctor that he is too late, and they are locked onto their target, and also that he is obvious. She knows he hasn’t brought a weapon either, only a speech. She questions  he isn’t tempted to start again with the Time Lords reborn. He says that the Time Lords of Omega were tyrants and murderers. She says then to help them to rebuild them. She asks if he wants to see Omega, and he admits that he does. The seal of Rassilon changes to the Omega’s symbol, and she uses her sonic on it.

Meanwhile, Ruby thanks Conrad. She says that his world could have been so much worse but was actually nice. He tells her that he did what the Doctor said, which is that people just want to be safe and fed and warm, so that’s what he did. She says he tried to give everyone a family. All the time they spent together he never mentioned his father. He starts to get angry and says she doesn’t know him.

In the Bone Palace, they hear a double heartbeat. Omega lives. The door to his prison opens.

Ruby says that some of what happened was real between the two of them, like in the dark when she made him smile. He starts to lower the gun.

Omega pulls himself through the door, but it is not human, but rather what the Doctor calls the Beast of Omega, and it’s huge. The Doctor tells the Rani that the Underverse is a world of legends, so Omega has become his own legend. He is the Mad God, the Titan, the Original Sin. Omega says that he will become the God of Time with Time Lords to feast upon. The Rani goes to use her sonic on him, but it eats her. Her bracelet falls to the ground. Omega roars, and the drone guards’ heads explode, and the seekers scream. Mrs. Flood puts on the bracelet, teleporting out, leaving him to fend for himself. The Doctor asks Omega’s intent, and he says he is free to feast upon the world and none shall stop him. The Doctor says there is nothing he can do since he stands there without hope or help or a weapon, but then he realizes he has one hiding in plain sight: the Vindicator, which he pulls down from the clock. It has the power of one billion supernovas.  He shoots the Beast of Omega with its beam.

Ruby uses the yellow button to teleport behind Conrad. Holding the baby, the God of Wishes, she kisses him on the forehead and says, “I wish you to be happy,” and blows the wish at Conrad.

The Doctor continues to shoot Omega. He pushes it back through the portal and the door closes.

Ruby kisses the baby again and says, “end the wish.” Everything everywhere starts to go back to reality. Ruby appears in the TARDIS. The Bone Palace starts to disintegrate, and the Doctor runs through the halls, the TARDIS appearing. He runs in and takes it to Floor -10 where Belinda is. Ruby questions they can’t just wish for Poppy, but he says that she might vanish as he does what he’s about to, because he must. He kisses the baby and blows the wish and says, “no more wishes.”

When the Doctor opens the box, Belinda is standing there, Poppy beside her. Everyone at UNIT cheers, and the Doctor picks up his daughter.

The Doctor and Ruby deliver Desiderium to Ruby’s mother, Carla (Michelle Greenidge), to adopt, saying that the baby is human, they just don’t know where in time or space he’s from. Ruby says he’s a founding just like her. Cherry (Angela Wynter) suggests they name the baby Joseph after her late husband. Carla asks him what he will do now that he is a father; he can’t run around like a nutcase anymore; things will have to change. He says he knows.

They return to the TARDIS, and the Doctor and Belinda talk about fixing it to be safe for Poppy. Ruby asks if they are going to settle down, and Belinda says absolutely not; her daughter isn’t going to have a boring life. Belinda takes off Poppy’s coat, as the TARDIS is warm now, accommodating for Poppy. Ruby asks why her memory was different and she could remember things when no one else could. The Doctor doesn’t know; it’s a skill. Belinda and the Doctor continue talking about changing the TARDIS and what they will take Poppy to see, as Belinda now wants to stay. They pass her coat back and forth folding it. It gets smaller and smaller as Ruby watches. Eventually it disappears, as does Poppy. Ruby asks where she’s gone, but they don’t know who she is talking about.

The Doctor says that he has to take the Star Register where the Belinda Chandra robots can find it so history remains intact. He throws it into space.

Ruby asks again about Poppy. She says they have a daughter together and they both laugh. The crib has disappeared as well. The Doctor mentions the Space Baby they met named Poppy and says that her memory got a little bit scrambled.

They return to UNIT as the clock strikes midnight. The world has officially made it to May the 24th. Everyone celebrates. Anita and the Doctor say goodbye. Kate offers to let her stay and work for UNIT, her key would be useful, but Anita says that it’s far too powerful for the 21st century, and she was only given one day to be away. Anita tells the Doctor that her “boss” says hello but doesn’t tell him who that is.

Ruby questions the world is back to normal, but Susan admits to her there are tiny changes, which the Doctor says was bound to happen, as reality shifted on a massive scale. Mel also found something and says that Conrad had posted online. He’s a chief cook now somewhere. The old Conrad has been forgotten, even by himself. She says that Ruby did a very kind thing. Ruby says that the gods are full of tricks. One wish survived and it turns out to be him instead of Poppy. The Doctor tells her there is no one called Poppy. Ruby asks everyone there, but no one remembers her. Ruby says that Susan built a Zero Room to save her, and Susan says she did build it, but it was an escape pod for all of them. Ruby says that Poppy went in there and they watched her come out.  Ruby questions then they are saying her memory is one of the glitches. She says the glitches were real before they changed, because she was right in the Wish World and she’s right now. There’s another world, a slightly different reality, and it may just be a tiny little change, but she’s a child lost somewhere out there. She begs the Doctor, saying that one life has disappeared and he knows it can happen. It happened before with her, that Christmas she ceased to exist, and he did everything to bring her back, because he couldn’t bear a world with one person missing. Belinda says he did that for her too when she was trapped in the time explosion: he went through her life and saved her from being hit by a car when she was seven. Susan says she’s barely a year old, born out of the TARDIS. He set her free and saved her life. Kate says he saves all of them and sometimes she thinks they are all his children. Belinda says if Poppy is real that means she’s hers. The Doctor tells her he will do anything to find her. Kate and Ibrahim tell him that they can help with UNIT’s tech, but he says that time has shifted by a tiny little degree, and there is no technology in the universe that can fix it. There is only one thing that’s strong enough to change reality by a tiny degree: the last of the Time Lords. He rushes into the TARDIS and closes the door.

Inside the TARDIS, the screen shows him his different incarnations of himself, and questions asks why. Suddenly the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) comes down to him from the floor above in the TARDIS. She says she shouldn’t be there; cause and effect is getting a little bit out of order. He says he’s surprised she’s not “the other guy”; he’s always turning up. She explains she was popped out of her timeline, because there’s a big time schism on the way, caused by him. He says that time needs to be shifted. He’s going to punch a ton of regeneration energy into the vortex to jolt it one degree. She questions he will give his life, and he says it’s a life for a life, because he saved the world at the expense of one person, and that is no world at all. She tells him there won’t be any worlds. If he ruptures the Time Vortex, he could damage the whole of creation. He asks if she’s there to stop him, but she admits she knew she couldn’t convince him. He mentions there’s no chance of bi-generation, which of course she hasn’t heard of. Not wanting to give her spoilers for the future, he just says that it’s going to hurt.

She gives him some tech advice, and he questions that he didn’t know it already since he’s older than her. It’s timey-wimey, which he admits is still a thing. She says all their faces, and they never change.

He admits he is scared, but she tells him not to go in fear but with his lovely smile. He says he just wishes he had longer, and she says they always wish that. She says they’re stretching the timeline too far, and she’s got to go. He tells her he loves her, and she says she never says things like that. He says that’s why she has him. She says she should say that to Yaz (Mandip Gill), and he tells her that she never does, but she knows it. She fades away.

He pushes his fists together to get the regeneration energy going and flings it at the console. He powers it up, and time fractures like a mirror.

The Doctor wakes up lying in the grass. The regeneration energy is still flowing, but he stops it from reaching completion. Belinda comes out of her house and tells him Poppy is waiting, and he follows her in the house.

The Doctor asks what happened. She says they stopped the Rani, all of UNIT got busy, and she turned around, and he had gone. She had to get back home, and that was the point. She had to be there for Poppy, which she kept telling him every time they landed. The Doctor has new, different memories now of Belinda talking about her daughter. She was always coming home for her. She says that she got taken away by robots on the 23rd, and for her timeline to get back to normal, she had to be there for Poppy on May 24th at 7:30 am, which he realizes is because her mother (Nila Aalia), who was watching Poppy, was leaving at that time. The Doctor asks about Poppy’s father, and she tells him it’s Richie Akingbola. They aren’t still together, but he comes to see Poppy all the time. The Doctor scans Poppy with his sonic: she is completely human.

When Belinda’s mother asks for her help and she leaves the room, the Doctor tells Poppy that he can’t have children, but if he did, he’d wish that she was exactly like her, except he brought all the wishes to an end.

When Belinda comes back, he tells her that the gods play tricks, but he beat them; he always wins. She tells him that he’s driven her mad, but he’s amazing. He says that sounds like a goodbye. She says she wishes they could come with him, and she could show Poppy the stars, but she’d end up in danger, and she can’t do that to her, but maybe when she is grown up, he can come back. They both say they’d love that. She questions if he will actually come back or if she will never see him again. He hopes they will see each other again, but says he won’t be like he is now, pointing to his face, not giving an explanation. She asks why it feels like there is something she’s forgotten. He says that that’s their lives. They travel in and out of the slipstreams of time. Beautiful things can be forgotten and gone, but they still happened somewhere. He tells her that he loves both of them and that won’t change.

Back in the TARDIS, as he starts to regenerate, he says he doesn’t want to do it alone, but he goes outside and says he is never alone because of Joy. He then lets himself regenerate, the light exploding form him, and he changes into…Rose?