The One Who Waits In Doctor Who Explained: Origin, Powers & Ruby Connection

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of Doctor Who season 14 - "Space Babies" & "The Devil's Chord."

Summary The One Who Waits is part of Doctor Who's powerful Pantheon and is rumored to be at the top of the hierarchy with immense power.

Ruby Sunday's mysterious ties to The One Who Waits hint at a deeper connection, leading to questions about her origins.

Maestro's fear of The One Who Waits suggests a looming threat, with hints that this villain may also be known as "The Oldest One."

Doctor Who villains can often come shrouded in mystery, and The One Who Waits is no exception to that trend. The enigmatic bad guy is first mentioned in the final episode of the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials, but the solid facts that followed in later installments were few and far between. Doctor Who season 14 drip-feeds information about The One Who Waits to both the audience and the show's characters. As such, while the Doctor often knows much more than the viewers, that isn't the case when the new antagonist is introduced.

Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor is always on the lookout for new clues as to the true identity of The One Who Waits, with the connection between the unseen threat and Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday seeming to be quite strong indeed. While the Doctor isn't familiar with the villain upon first mention, it would appear that he does know about certain facets of The One Who Waits' existence - even if he only has fragments of relevant information. Regardless, the path to discovering the figure's origin and intentions is a big focus of Doctor Who season 14.

Related 10 Recurring Doctor Who Villains, Ranked By Most Appearances Doctor Who has introduced a wide variety of villains in its 60-year run, with only a few returning throughout to repeatedly challenge the Doctor.

The One Who Waits Is Part Of Doctor Who's Immortal "Pantheon"

The individual members of the Pantheon are very powerful

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The Pantheon is mentioned in Doctor Who season 14, episode 2, "The Devil's Chord," when the Doctor is speculating as to where Maestro comes from and how the eccentric villain gained their powers. Maestro isn't the first member of the Patheon shown in Doctor Who. The Toymaker, revealed to be the Maestro's father, is also a member of the immortal group of god-like beings. From Maestro's ramblings during Ruby's imprisonment, it sounds as though Jinkx Monsoon's character has a pre-existing familiarity with The One Who Waits, and that whoever owns that title is also a member of the Pantheon.

Even though the Toymaker and his child have already displayed immense power, it may pale in comparison to their superior.

The Pantheon sounds as though it has a hierarchical structure, with The One Who Waits sitting at the very top. So, even though the Toymaker and his child have already displayed immense power, it may pale in comparison to their superior. From the Toymaker's monologue in "The Giggle," it also sounds as though The One Who Waits had already crossed the universal boundary that was then crossed by the Toymaker and Maestro.

"There's only one player I didn't dare face: The One Who Waits. It saw it, hiding. And I ran. That's someone else's game."

Although the Pantheon was never mentioned in Doctor Who before "The Devil's Chord," it's quite possible that a member of the villainous group appeared in the Doctor Who spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures. In The Sarah Jane Adventures season 3, "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith," the main antagonist is a character known only as the Trickster. Interestingly, the Trickster belongs to a group known as the "Pantheon of Discord," and his character's abilities and origin mean he would slot in perfectly alongside the Toymaker and Maestro.

David Tennant's Tenth Doctor is in "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith," and therefore has a run-in with the Trickster.

The One Who Waits Is Connected To Doctor Who's Ruby Sunday

Ruby's ties to The One Who Waits are mysterious

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Although she's currently unaware of her ties to The One Who Waits, a big part of Ruby's cloudy past undoubtedly has strong connections to the biggest villain in Doctor Who season 14. Like other members of the Pantheon, The One Who Waits likely has powers that can alter reality, and Ruby unconsciously making it snow aboard the space station in Doctor Who season 1, episode 1, "Space Babies" could be a clue regarding whether Ruby is unknowingly associated with the Pantheon and The One Who Waits.

The One Who Waits could be the key to uncovering the secrets about Ruby's origin.

The nature of the connection between The One Who Waits and Ruby Sunday is kept intentionally vague during Doctor Who season 14's earlier installments. However, within just two episodes of Ncuti Gatwa's first full run as the Doctor, it becomes more and more likely that the two characters are intertwined. In other words, The One Who Waits could be the key to uncovering the secrets about Ruby's origin.

More evidence to suggest that The One Who Waits has a solid tie to Ruby Sunday is the fact that Millie Gibson's character seemingly has no trace of biological ancestry. When Ruby is introduced in "The Church on Ruby Road," all attempts to find her birth parents come up with absolutely nothing. Everyone involved is confused by this rarity, but if The One Who Waits is involved, their powers could have been involved in this cover-up - even if their motivations for doing so aren't yet clear.

Maestro Knows The One Who Waits (& Is Afraid Of Them)

A being as powerful as Maestro fearing The One Who Waits isn't good news

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Jinkx Monsoon's Maestro is an incredibly powerful being, and yet when they begin to suspect that The One Who Waits is lurking somewhere in Ruby's past, Maestro becomes visibly uneasy at the revelation. Such an imposing presence such as Maestro being afraid of someone else is a huge signifier of the threat that The One Who Waits presents. When the Christmas standard, "Carol of the Bells," is revealed to be hidden within Ruby, Maestro tells the Doctor of the song's power and likens it to that of The One Who Waits.

The Toymaker referring to The One Who Waits as an "It" in "The Giggle" suggests that the hidden villain is not a person, but rather a thing, creature, or beast. Even if this isn't true, The One Who Waits' appearance may be so far removed from that of a conventional humanoid lifeform that it becomes unrecognizable as a person. However, as there is only the Toymaker's testimony to rely on regarding what The One Who Waits looks like, this also remains a mystery.

The One Who Waits May Also Be "The Oldest One" In Doctor Who

Doctor Who's next villain could go by two titles

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The One Who Waits and "The Oldest One" are talked about with the same level of reverence and fear. So, it wouldn't be surprising to discover that the two characters are one and the same. The Toymaker's obvious discomfort when discussing The One Who Waits with the Fourteenth Doctor in "The Giggle" aligns with Maestro's terror when rambling about The Oldest One when Ruby is trapped in "The Devil's Chord."

Related Ruby Sunday's Strange Parallel To Doctor Who's First Companion Can Explain Her Identity Mystery Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday isn't the first Doctor Who character to have a clue-laden name, but her ties to a classic companion could be very strong.

If these two titles are two names for the same character, then Maestro's theory about The Oldest One being present on the night of Ruby's birth means that The One Who Waits has directly interacted with Millie Gibson's character. The church on Ruby Road and the surrounding area are very quiet during this scene in the 2023 Christmas special. As such, the only other visible character in the sequence is the hooded enigma who leaves Ruby at the church. Therefore, this mysterious Doctor Who figure is the main candidate for who Maestro is talking about in "The Devil's Chord."

Episode Disney+ Release Date "Space Babies" & "The Devil's Chord" May 10 "Boom" May 17 "73 Yards" May 24 "Dot & Bubble" May 31 "Rogue" June 7 "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" June 14 "Empire of Death" June 21

A new episode of Doctor Who is available on Disney+ every Friday.