Merry was a little lamb, who sang a pretty song. The Doctor tried to save her and Clara tagged along. To give a system some relief, Clara ends up sacrificing a very important leaf.
The Doctor spies on a man as he walks down a street. A leaf blows in his face, causing him to collide with a young woman. They laugh, flirt and go out on a date. And the Doctor keeps spying on them. The man gives the woman the leaf, calling it the most important leaf in human history. It’s cheesy but it works. The two get married and have a daughter. And if you haven’t guessed by now, said daughter is Clara. The Doctor runs into them into the park before heading into the TARDIS. Pictures of Victorian!Clara and Oswin are up on the screen. He stares at them, trying to figure out how Clara is possible while we see Clara and her father at her mother’s grave. She clutches the book—places to see—to her chest.
Next, we see older!Clara sitting on Angie’s stairs clutching the same book to her chest. She smiles as the sound of the TARDIS materializing reaches her ears. Running into the TARDIS, the Doctor asks her where she wants to go. And Clara freezes. She compares the situation to when someone asks you your favorite TV show and you suddenly can’t name any. So she just asks to see something amazing. And the Doctor obliges.
He takes her to the Rings of Ahkaten. It looks like one of the rings of Saturn. But on one hunk of rock sits a temple. The Doctor explains it is a sacred site for the entire planetary system. And then he takes her to the marketplace where all different kinds of aliens hung out. They come across one that barks like a dog. I guess the TARDIS can’t translate his language? Or did they just want Matt Smith to bark? Anyway, the Doctor explains that the currency in the Rings of Ahkaten were items of great personal significance.
Clara processes that as the Doctor disappears. Instead, a young girl dressed in red appears and then runs away. She is pursued by two men also dressed in red. So Clara follows to check on Little Red Riding Hood. She finds her hiding behind the TARDIS and talks to her. Turns out Little Red Riding Hood’s name is Merry and she is the Queen of Years. She was chosen when she was a baby and has all the knowledge of the system. And she has to play an important part at the ceremony later. But she’s scared she’ll mess up.
So Clara assures her she won’t by talking about a time when she got lost. But her parents, particularly her mother, found her again. I’m…not really sure what this has to do with Merry’s fear. Unless I missed something? They tend to talk really fast and low and the sound mixer doesn’t do a good job of making them audible. Anyway, Clara really loved her mother—a woman who promised to find her no matter what. Merry gets the confidence and so goes out to do her job.
Clara and the Doctor are reunited in time for the ceremony! They get good seats to watch Merry’s performance. She sings the song as a man across the way sings along. The aliens around Clara and the Doctor offer their gifts of personal significance to “Grandfather.” But something goes wrong. And Merry worries it is her fault as she gets caught in a tracker beam. The Doctor and Clara rush to save her, needing a space bike to do so. Clara pays for it with her mother’s ring.
They motor out to try and grab Merry but everyone gets sucked into the temple. Merry is pulled into another room which the Doctor and Clara try to get into, locked with the man who continues to sing. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver and they bust into the room. While he holds the door, Clara tries to convince Merry to come with her. But Merry resists. She says she has to stay to right a wrong but the Doctor insists she doesn’t have to. Especially as the righting a wrong involves a sacrifice. Merry.
Inside the room is an alien that is growling and snarling. The Doctor believes this is Grandfather. And he antagonizes the creature, who is trapped in a box. It doesn’t’ occur to the Doctor that maybe this isn’t Grandfather? Why would they put their god in a box? But he continues to talk to him as Clara and Merry watch. The guy who was singing stops but he just sits there. So, he’s useless. And won’t be seen again.
Merry insists she has to be the sacrifice. But the Doctor will have none of that. He promises her she’ll be fine. And then he realizes the creature in the box isn’t Grandfather. It seems Grandfather is
So the Doctor tries to distract Grandfather. He offers the “god” all his memories. So the god takes them. Meanwhile, Clara goes after the Doctor. Merry does her part; she starts singing again. The other aliens join in as well. Clara arrives back at the temple and gets in to speak to Grandfather. She holds up the leaf and tells him it is the most important leaf in human history. And she goes on about her mother, all she was and all she could’ve been. Grandfather absorbs it but the “could’ve beens” are too much and he overloads. He goes to sleep and everyone is saved. Yay!
The Doctor brings Clara home. And gives her back her mother’s ring. The aliens of Ahkaten got it back to her as a thank you for saving them from Grandfather. Clara thanks him and leaves the TARDIS.
Phew! Thought I’d never finish that. Time to move on to the next episode.
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