With Kurt Schalk having been captured, the Doctor, Klein and Will track him to an interstellar auction being held by the Doctor’s old ‘acquaintance’, Garundel, which is also attended by the Sontarans.
Tropes
- Absence of Evidence: The lack of detail on the persuasion machine in Schalk’s mind helps the Doctor realise that the Schalk Garudenl has captured is a fake.
- Admiring the Abomination: Will admires the science of the weapons on sale even if he acknowledges the horror of them.
- An Arm and a Leg: Marshall Sten tears off Garundel’s hand so that the Doctor can release the palm-lock Garundel used to secure the TARDIS door.
- Becoming the Mask: Schalk made himself Hinterberger.
- The Bus Came Back: Garundel returns as the man responsible for selling Schalk.
- Call-Back:
- The Doctor and Garundel recall how they last met.
- There is a box marked ‘WOTAN’ in the TARDIS.
- Dead All Along: The fake Kurt Schalk has been dead since Garundel took custody of him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Garundel thought that he could invite races such as the Sontarans to an auction and expect everyone to go along with his rules.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Will is exasperated to learn that Miss Ziv’s action’s just amount to a desire for money, as he had hoped aliens would be above something so petty.
- Enemy Mine:
- The Doctor and Garundel join forces to catch up with Garundel’s stolen ship.
- Later the Doctor convinces Marshall Sten to help him rescue Klein from Garundel.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Sontarans are practical enough to recognize that they need more weapons than their standard strategies, and intervene to save Klein from the Kraken-Mother as Klein was unprepared for the attack and the Sontarans are interested in future possible conflicts.
- Fake Memories: Schalk convinced himself and Hinterberger that they were each other.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The Doctor rejects the idea that he and Garundel are alike, but Garundel observes that they’re both basically ‘control freaks’ who can only truly rely on themselves.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Garundel realizes that the Doctor used the persuasion machine on him when Klein points out that he didn’t strike her as someone willing to go onboard an enemy ship (the Doctor later clarifies that this only worked because Garundel’s desire for profit trumped his self-preservation).
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The Doctor has Klein and Will disguise themselves as the Warlords of Zebrednik, who look human enough that minimal disguise is needed and are far enough away that nobody would have plausibly met them.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Garundel and his secretary just consider themselves facilitators, as they reason they aren’t the ones firing the weapons.
- Rock Beats Laser: The Doctor sets up a personal network for a pair of twenty-first century mobile phones so that Klein and Will can talk through the jamming devices around the auction.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Ziv mentions that she likes Will because she doesn’t get to meet many nice people in her line of work.
- Weaksauce Weakness: The Doctor is able to use Garundel’s persuasion machine to convince the Sontarans that it’s time for them to recharge.
