WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #2 by James Goss, Jody Houser, Roberta Ingranata, Enrica Eren Angiolini, Shari Chankhamma and Richard Starkings of Comicraft, on sale now.
In Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1, the Tenth Doctor was approached by the Daleks because they uncharacteristically needed his help. It turns out the classic villains faced a threat to their existence in the form of the Hond, mysterious monsters from the Dark Times, the era that preceded time itself. Of course, the Doctor hesitated to form an alliance at first, but he understood the severity of the situation, not to mention that he was wholly intrigued by how the Hond were able to reach the present and create an alternate timeline.
Now, in the concluding Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #2, the Daleks and the Doctor properly join forces, but it isn't long before the Daleks return to their old ways. Thankfully, the Doctor gets some help from a surprise friend: the Thirteenth Doctor.
Time Lord Victorious is a massive, multi-platform crossover for the Doctor Who franchise. The overarching story is told across multiple mediums, such as novels, comics and audiobooks. When it was first announced, Time Lord Victorious was billed as an epic adventure that would involve three fan-favorite Doctors: the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors. So far, we've had both Nine and Ten in action in the crossover, and the Eighth is bound to join soon in an audiobook.
And this is why the arrival of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor comes as such as surprise in Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #2.
In the issue, the Doctor is true to his word: he is able to stop the Hond from attacking the Daleks, saving his sworn enemies from a frightening threat. But as soon as the Hond are dealt with, the Daleks break their alliance with the Doctor, and they seek to exterminate him once more.
The Doctor turns the Daleks' weapons system against them, which creates a distraction that allows him to run away. However, he doesn't get out of the woods that quickly. There are still plenty of Daleks left for him to navigate and, without his TARDIS, he's a bit of a sitting duck aboard their spaceship.
Luckily, he gets a helping hand from an unexpected visitor: the Thirteenth Doctor. This is not the first time that Ten and Thirteen have met. In fact, the two have recently had their own adventures in the Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor comic series. However, because of the paradox created by the Hond, the Tenth Doctor has no memory of ever meeting his female doppelganger.
With the help of Thirteen, the Tenth Doctor is able to recover his TARDIS, and the two then promptly get away from the Daleks. It's a brief team-up, but it's still great to see the current Doctor get in on the action and involved in the franchise's biggest crossover yet. Hopefully, the Thirteenth Doctor will have a few more surprise appearances before Time Lord Victorious comes to an end.