Morbius Part Two

"You had to die before they valued your life."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: May 2024

Series: Dark Gallifrey 1.02

Featuring: Morbius

Synopsis

When disaster strikes the Proteus, Captain Argento and her crew must fight for their lives and the fate of all Time Lords. 

What is out there on the ice? Who hides in the impossible temple?

As loyalties shift and secrets emerge, the cult of Morbius lies in wait to bring about the General's return...

Verdict

Morbius continued in strong style with this second part follow up to the excellent opener for the entire Dark Gallifrey range last month. I'm still not a big fan of the three episodes all being under an umbrella title as they do feel a little distinctive, but this was good stuff. The three chapter format worked well again and the follow on from finding an isle of the dead within the Vortex was excellent. There were a lot of deaths from the crash which was great and I loved the idea of the island containing the Temple of Morbius. Captain Argento was another stellar character to carry things through and I'm a big fan of hers. It was fun to tackle her continued getting to grips with no longer being a man and her look of horror at the Morbius projection when she believed it was the real article alive again was tremendous. The projection quickly pounced on her there as she proudly confirmed he was dead. That was a strong moment and really highlighted the doubt she had. Even on this lengthy and arduous journey back to Gallifrey, did Argento really believe that Morbius was dead? Learning a little more of the history of Gallifrey and the Time Lords was fantastic and I loved how her beliefs were questioned. Was it not Morbius that showcased equality amongst Gallifreyans instead of Rassilon? The founding father took from all and redistributed to those he deemed worthy whereas Morbius wanted everyone to be equal and for the Time Lords to rule across time. Two very different manifestos that I loved exploring. The pull of Rassilon even at this early point in Time Lord history is intriguing as Argento claimed to be honoured to have once been in his presence. He seems to already have become the stuff of legend. I thought the way things led into the next episode were strong as Argento realised the situation was perilous and used the Horn of Rassilon to call upon the great Time Lord. The message went across time and whilst I doubt we will actually hear from him, I suspect a certain other Time Lord on the cover art of the final part will pick up the call. That's an exciting prospect for the story's conclusion and I will be intrigued to hear how the Doctor reacts to being this deep in Gallifreyan history's affairs. The constant talk of the General's return worked well and I liked the anticipation with each chapter giving us some cliffhangers but also some story points. It breaks things up nicely. It's good that they all have a little name too and honestly I could probably have done a blog entry for each one! I liked hearing how Middlewitch talked privately with Argento and didn't want to publicly call for her stand down as he respected her too much to make a scene. But in all areas he would assume command without the need for titles and trinkets. That was nicely done, but in the second chapter he would lose his soldiers and not be captain at all. It was a shame that Rolko's role in this part seemed a little reduced as I was a big fan of her in the first part, but there were still moments to shine for Veritas and especially Gilda. Her relationship with Argento was really nice and I liked how she was on hand for support. Overall, this was another strong part of what is shaping to be a superb story as a whole exploring a period of Time Lord history I didn't think we would ever really explore! 

Rating: 8/10