⭐9/10

😍Great! → Strong recommendation!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

PRIMARY NOTES:

The concluding part of the first Dark Gallifrey story picks up where the second part left off: Rassilon returns to combat Morbius' return, but we realize this is actually a hologram of the 4th Doctor, joining the two main characters from the previous chapters.

John Dorney largely sticks the landing with this one. He maintains the tense and dark atmosphere from the previous parts and seamlessly integrates the story with established lore from The Brain of Morbius. Additionally, he enhances our comprehension of the intended role of the titular Dark Gallifrey.

I don’t know whether the Doctor’s involvement is needed here, as the story has worked very well so far without him. Tom Baker doesn’t seem to put in his best effort and uses a lot of time to recount his earlier encounters with Morbius.

Gilda and Argento continue to be interesting characters, and both are given great scenes with the Doctor.

Samuel West's portrayal of Morbius is truly captivating. His back-and-forth with Baker is quite magnetic.

There's positive tension in the lengthy battle between Morbius and the Doctor towards the end. The epic nature of this battle surpasses that of The Brain of Morbius.

I'm somewhat bummed that this one is tightly linked to Brain. Feels forced.

The story concludes satisfactorily for Argento, Gilda, and Proteus. I love how the narration bookends the entire story at the end and how it is revealed that the narrator is an old Gilda (which I guessed early on), who was sent back in time to look after her younger self.