Series 1 Episode 29: The Bride of Sacrifice

Serial: The Aztecs
Episode: 3 (The Bride of Sacrifice)
Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Barbara, Ian, and Susan

Writer: John Lucarotti
Director: John Crockett
Producer: Verity Lambert
Original Air Date: 06/06/1964

NOT KNOWING THE PRICE OF A PINT OF COCOA (and other stories)

In which the Doctor plays with hearts, Susan takes on the patriarchy again, Ian shows off his photobombing skills, and Barbara doesn't know the price of a pint of milk (metaphorically speaking).

So Ian’s life is on the line thanks to having been drugged during a fight with his (fr)enemy Ixta, and now Tlotoxl (this serial’s chief pain in the arse) is telling Barbara that if she’s really Yetaxa she should save him. There are many divine things about our Babs (her gravity-defying bouffant for instance), but she’s not a miracle worker, so this puts her in something of a pickle. What she is, however, is a quick-thinking badass: in the blink of an eye, she’s grabbed a dagger from one of the guards and put it against Tlotoxl’s throat.

Bloody Nora, this new, violent Barbara doesn’t fuck about. There’s a pleasing symmetry between the Barbara in John Lucarotti’s previous serial Marco Polo, who found herself in a cave full of bandits with a knife to her throat (after they drew lots to see who got to murder her…I just want everyone to remember how messed up that was), and the Barbara who I truly believe would actually cut Tlotoxl’s neck open Caitlyn Stark style if Ian were killed. You could say that this is a standard example of Barbara and Ian being entirely prepared to go to new, dark places to ensure one another’s safety, but I prefer to think of it as an example – and a slightly sad example at that – of how having been on the receiving end of that kind of violence has changed our Babs. It’s great to see her being a badass, and I love seeing what these characters are capable of when push comes to shove, but it’s part of a low-key character development arc that arguably reaches its climax in The Rescue where Babs realises she has become the kind of person who shoots first and asks questions later when she thinks her friends are in danger (R.I.P. Sandy).

Anyway, neither Tlotoxl nor Ixta feels like calling her bluff, and just like that the authority of ‘Yetaxa’ is reasserted. She demands that Tlotoxl obey her and her servants not be punished. If this is what she’s like in the classroom, I imagine she has very few discipline problems.

Once everyone but Tlotoxl, Ixta, and the semi-comatose Ian has processed out, Tlotoxl wastes no time in examining the drugged needle the Doctor gave to Ixta. He immediately calls bullshit on it having been ‘magic’; he knows it’s just horticulture and plans to get Tonila to confirm it. On learning that the Doctor wanted the plans to the tomb, Tlotoxl plans to question him, too. Ixta is sulky and aggressive about having had Ian at his mercy and wants him at his mercy again; Tlotoxl promises to make it happen.

Meanwhile, Autloc is telling Babs how much she humiliated Tlotoxl and wants to know why she went for the stabby option. Then this happens:

Well, yeah. Because you're supposed to be a god, remember? Apart from the fact that this really isn’t the time for sass, it’s odd that Babs is trying to put forward a vaguely secularist argument ('why should I use divine powers when human ability will suffice?') based on some sort of divine mandate. Autloc swallows it, however, and she goes on to ask him whether he’s thought any more on her ‘prophecy’. She proceeds to draw a firm line between the will of the gods and Tlotoxl’s way, which is ‘evil’ and ‘must be destroyed’. STOP USING THAT WORD, BABS. She asks when the next sacrifice is, and it turns out – cliché alert – that it’s due to coincide with an imminent solar eclipse. Babs tries to appeal to Autloc’s knowledgeableness but is immediately hoist with her own petard of slippery religious logic when this happens:

BARBARA: But it's a trick! As the High Priest of Knowledge, you know the sun will shine again.
AUTLOC: Unless the gods withdraw their favour from us.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc much.

Babs changes tack, pointing out that he believes her to be a god, and telling him that if he supports her, Tlotoxl won’t dare defy the two of them together. What follows is a really poignant moment when it becomes apparent that what Barbara is in fact asking of him is an enormous leap of faith: ‘If I take that course, there is no way back for me. In all humility, I beg you, do not deceive me or prove false to me.’

Erk. It’s no surprise that Barbara looks very uncomfortable at the end of this scene. She must know that she is out-and-out manipulating a man of faith by doing precisely what he has begged her not to do, i.e. deceiving him and proving false to him. He’s willing to risk everything by endorsing what would have been some seriously radical reforms based solely on the fact that he believes her to be a god; he’s not going along with her outlawing of sacrifice because he thinks sacrifice is inherently wrong but because he believes Barbara has divine authority. In a way, Autloc is a lot more dangerous than Tlotoxl, because Autloc doesn’t question authority and Tlotoxl very much does, which makes Autloc much easier to manipulate by horribly misguided time travellers who are lying through their teeth in order to pursue their own agenda.

Meanwhile, Tlotoxl and the Doctor are still trying to out-sass one another in the garden. There’s a rather lovely moment when Tlotox insinuates that the Doctor is a tricksy blighter because he gave Ixta the means of defeating Ian, and the Doctor coolly replies by saying ‘I am faithful to my friends’. (I’m taking a moment to relish Barbara and Ian’s upgrade to friendship status.) Then the Doctor decides to play on Tlotoxl’s curiosity by implying that he may not in fact be entirely Team Yetaxa in order to manipulate Tlotoxl into getting the tomb open so they can all go home:

TLOTOXL: I want but one thing. Proof that she is a false goddess.
DOCTOR: Then open the tomb.
TLOTOXL: That cannot be achieved.
DOCTOR: Then talk to Ixta. He has some drawings.
TLOTOXL: In whose service are you?
DOCTOR: I serve the truth. Help me, Tlotoxl, and I promise you, you will find it.

What’s lovely here is that a few serials earlier we’d be seriously doubting the Doctor’s motives and worrying that he might leave his fellow travellers in the lurch (the way he was willing to leave Barbara to die of radiation poisoning on Skaro) and just escape with Susan at the earliest opportunity. However, now we are confident enough in the strength of the bond between the four members of Team Tardis to sit back and enjoy the Doctor’s duplicity.

Back in the barracks, Ian wakes up to find Ixta standing over him rubbing a dagger disconcertingly. However, Ixta tells Ian not to be afraid: 'Now that I can defeat you openly, I have no need to destroy you in secret.’ I’m sure he’s enormously reassured, Ixta.

Ixta proceeds to gloat about how it was the Doctor wot dunnit. Again, there’s proof of how much the relationships within Team Tardis have flourished: Ian asks, without a trace of alarm, whether the Doctor knew it was he who would be fighting Ixta, and when Ixta confirms the Doctor’s ignorance, Ian simply pulls a ‘lol classic Doctor’ face and moves on. Trust is gorgeous. Ixta decides that seeing as how he’s going to kill Ian next time they fight, the two of them can now be bros. Ian is...whelmed. Before they can consummate their bromance, however, enter Tlotoxl, who snarks Ian about being fully recovered. Ian continues to be the sass king of the barracks:

Never change. Also Tlotoxl's face is something else.

Anyway, Tlotoxl wants to know about the drawings; Ixta, gleefully, informs him that none exist. Ian realises this must have been why the Doctor drugged him, and Ixta takes the opportunity to throw Ian’s quip about ‘stealth and cunning’ from the last episode back in his face before steering him outside. Ian, however, gives Ixta the slip for a few seconds, and eavesdrops a bit as Tlotoxl tells Tonila he wants him to help destroy the false Yetaxa the same way the Doctor helped Ixta defeat Ian…but then Ian has to leave because Ixta is calling him.

Anyway, Tonila refuses to destroy Yetaxa because ‘destroy the gods and we destroy ourselves’. Tltotoxl, however, assures him that far from going full Nietzsche, he just wants to prove Barbara false: if she lives, she’s innocent, but if she dies, she’s mortal and therefore guilty. Which is much fairer than, say, a witch trial, but still not good news for Team Tardis’s resident god-impersonator.

Back in the gardens, Cameca is telling Autloc how happy she is now she’s got a new suitor (i.e. the Doctor). Autloc tells her to make him a love potion from cocoa beans; Cameca says she’d rather the Doctor made it; Autloc wishes her luck. Poor Cameca. She goes over to the Doctor, who continues to be charming in exchange for information, in this case regarding a sign carved on the wall. Cameca, blinded by love, tells him it’s Yetaxa’s sign, which surely ought to raise alarm bells as he’s meant to be the servant of Yetaxa and should know what her sign looks like. The Doctor spots the cocoa beans and offers to fix them both up a hot chocolate, unaware of the deeper significance of this action. Poor, poor, poor Cameca.

Back in the temple, Ian has taken an enormous risk (apparently) to come and see Babs to warn her about Tonila being in league with Tlotoxl. What Ian has also come to tell her is, apparently, a truckload of harsh truths:

BARBARA: Tlotoxl's dangerous. He seems able to bring people around to his way of thinking.
IAN: You've got it all wrong, Barbara. All the people here share Tlotoxl's views.
BARBARA: What about Autloc? I'm sick and tired of all this arguing and quarrelling. First the Doctor and now you. Why can't you see what I'm trying to do?
IAN: I can.
BARBARA: Well you're not helping. Tlotoxl's evil and he'll make everyone else the same.
IAN: They are the same, Barbara. That's the whole point. You keep on insisting that Tlotoxl's the odd man out, but he isn't.

THANK YOU, IAN. I mean I positively loathe that it’s Barbara WHO IS AN HISTORIAN – and who, let’s not forget, is the one who a few serials ago was lecturing Ian about the futility of applying Earth standards to extra-terrestrial worlds – can’t seem to grasp the fact that she’s applying the moral standards of her own time and place to fifteenth-century Mexico. I mean, you can just about explain her actions if you think of her as a product of the dying days of top-down historiography, but it’s still pretty inexcusable and actually pretty out of character when you consider her moral relativism over the past few serials in contrast with Ian’s often inflexible views. However, I’m glad somebody is pointing out to her how ludicrously out of touch she is with the people, and it may as well be Ian, who, as I keep saying, is the more left-leaning of the two humans.

Ian sciencesplains historiography. And close-ups.

But oh dear, it seems Ian’s not immune to problematic language use: as he tries to persuade her that ‘Autloc’s the extraordinary man here’, he goes on to refer to Autloc as ‘the reasonable one’ and ‘the civilised one’. ARGH. Yes, Ian, the guy who is prepared to start a religious schism on the basis of faith alone is the clearly the reasonable one. Ugh. Anyway, it seems that a stern talking-to from Ian has made Babs see the error of her ways (which is confusing as I thought she’d already come round to the Doctor’s way of thinking and was just trying to play Autloc and Tlotoxl off against one another):

BARBARA: Then everything I've tried to do…oh, I thought I could alter them.
IAN: You can't fight a whole way of life, Barbara.
BARBARA: I suppose not. I've just been fooling myself. Ian, what can we do?
IAN: We can get into that tomb and leave them alone.

Though I agree entirely with Ian’s sentiments here (and am delighted that he’s speaking to her with the honesty of a friend and keeping the mansplainy vibes down to a minimum), I’m infuriated beyond belief that Barbara coming down from her power trip involves reverting back to looking to Ian for answers. Power-crazed Babs was hideously misguided and I’m glad she’s come to her senses, but she was also a quick-thinking, kick-ass, initiative-taking Queen, and it’s annoying that Sensible Barbara now looks to a man to take the lead and get them out of this mess. A mess which, lest we forget, she got them into because she displayed the enthusiasm and curiosity appropriate to a time-travelling history teacher who finds herself in the exact time and place in which she has displayed the most scholarly interest over the course of her academic career; women who wander off must be punished at all costs.

Anyway, someone’s coming, so Ian has to hide. Enter Tonila and Tlotoxl, the latter of whom is all humility and reconciliation and wants Yetaxa to drink the cup of Definitely Not Poison that Tonila is holding as a sign of their now being cool with each other or something. Barbara, who has literally just been warned that these two are up to no good, accepts without batting an eyelid. Because Ian has to have something to do this episode. And that something is WAVE HIS ARMS LIKE A MADMAN behind Tlotoxl’s back to alert Babs to the danger.

She’s quick on the uptake and tells Tlotoxl that if she’s going to prove her faith in him, he has to prove his in her first and take the first drink. When he very obviously doesn’t want to, Babs flips her shit, smashes the cup, and tells them they’ve defiled the temple and to get the fuck out. GO BABS.

But WAIT WHAT she follows this up by TELLING TLOTOXL SHE’S NOT ACTUALLY YETAXA! BECAUSE FOR WHY!? There is literally nothing she could gain by admitting she’s a fake…well, except maybe a respite from constant lying. And she goes further, telling Tlotoxl that nobody would believe him if he speaks against her, and that if she does, she’ll have the people DESTROY HIM. Bloody hell, Babs.

After symbolically removing her headdress, a weary and defeated-looking Barbara shuffles back inside and adopts her standard at-the-end-of-her-tether pose, which is crying (albeit silently) on Ian.

In the garden, the Doctor and Cameca are drinking cocoa. The Doctor thinks Cameca’s weirdly poetic pronouncements about love and such are just womanly pretty talk and is alarmed to discover that in making cocoa for Cameca he’s just made a proposal of marriage which she has now accepted. His face is priceless.

Meanwhile, Tlotoxl is quietly seething while Autloc chats to Tonila about Susan’s studies. Tlotoxl learns about Susan’s fuck the patriarchy moment from last episode and plans to use this against Yetaxa, whose ‘weakness lies not in herself but in her servants’. Basically he’s going to force Susan into an arranged marriage to piss Barbara off. POOR, POOR SUSAN. Also, John Lucarotti, what is it with you and forced marriages?

Back in the seminary, Susan is still acing her lessons and providing much educational content for young viewers. Enter the Perfect Victim, who is being a Perfect Creep. When Susan learns who he is, she thinks the whole thing is ‘horrible’, which apparently is all the Perfect Victim needs to convince him that he must have Susan as his bride. Susan is, understandably, shocked and outraged, and is gloriously scornful of the whole affair. (I’m also having Ping-Cho-related feelings.) She refuses outright to be numbered among the things he wants and can therefore have, and condemns the whole thing as barbaric. Tonila goes off to report Susan’s refusal to Tlotoxl, saying she’ll be punished. Autloc tells Susan he’ll do what he can, but Susan says they’re all monsters and quietly sobs for her grandfather. It’s enormously fucked up on many levels, and while I appreciate how brilliant Susan is at sticking it to The Man (despite managing to be really rather racist in the process), I do not in any way appreciate her being put in this situation just to rack up the peril.

Meanwhile in the garden, the Doctor is making precisely no effort to liberate his granddaughter from brainwashing school but is busy planning a future he has no intention of spending with Cameca.

In the temple, Tonila is placing a matter before Yetaxa, who is very much back in charge. She forgives Tonila for his sins, but can’t agree to the proposed punishment (the tongue and ears pierced with thorns) of the as yet unnamed speaker-out against Aztec teachings. There’s a throwaway bit of dialogue in which Tonila speculates that a life without discipline leads to purposelessness and weakness, which gives me renewed appreciation for Barbara’s rehabilitation over punishment attitude. When Babs learns that the punishment is to take place on the day of the eclipse and that she must be there, she pauses for thought. I’m assuming she sees this as an opportunity to reunite Team Tardis, because even though she doesn’t agree to the punishment, she doesn’t disagree, and requests only that her servants and handmaiden be there too. A smug Tlotoxl agrees. Because Susan’s the one being punished. Obv.

Back in the garden, the Space Bros are catching up. The Doctor tells Ian he reckons there’s a tunnel leading from the garden into the tomb. Then this happens:

Gifs by cleowho

These are vintage Billy Lols, but I do feel like Cameca is getting the shit end of the stick here, because he goes on to describe his having become the intended of a woman who clearly has genuine feelings for him as ‘neither here nor there’. I would also pay good money for someone to make an overly-dramatic Doctor/Cameca video set to ‘Jar of Hearts’, purely for my own amusement. Anyway, the Space Bros agree to meet in the garden at night after Ian’s snuck out leaving Ixta asleep.

Back in the temple, Autloc agrees to match Yetaxa’s courage when she intervenes in the sacrifice. And I’m going to take a moment to note how much actual bravery that would take on Autloc’s part, seeing as he can’t fuck off in a time machine once he’s stuck his neck out. But OH CRUMBS Autloc has spilled the beans about Susan, and Babs immediately starts planning how to get Susan off the hook. The only trouble is, her initial plan of ordering Tlotoxl to release Susan after she’s stopped the sacrifice won’t work, because Susan is to be punished first. Which puts Barbara in yet another pickle: as Autloc puts it, will she sacrifice her people to save her handmaiden pain? Which I think makes this the first choice between a companion’s (yes I know Susan's not technically a companion) welfare and the greater good (well, what passes for the greater good in this serial) of the show, and it’s Barbara facing the dilemma not the Doctor.

In the barracks, Ian sneaks out leaving Ixta asleep…for about five seconds. Ixta is immediately up and following Ian. Outside, the Doctor is having trouble shifting the stone with the carving on it. Ian tries, and William Russell has a hilarious time of it pretending a polystyrene slab is very heavy. The Doctor wants to go into the tunnel with his Space Bro, but Ian insists on going it alone, because it’s too dangerous. The Doctor tells him to ‘take this’, which alas is not the kitten from the meme but a torch. Ian goes into the tunnel.

Enter Ixta, who is a little shit and, after engaging the Doctor in awkward conversation, moves the stone back into place (less convincingly than Ian). He says he has to replace the stone or the garden will be ruined, because the tunnel fills with water. The Doctor is antsy as hell but is trying to stay calm because he can’t fight Ixta and he can’t give Ian away, even though Ixta clearly knows Ian is in there and is relishing the fact that he’s messing up their plans. Inside the tunnel, there is the sound of rushing water. Ian’s face lights up with horror.

GORDON BENNETT HE’LL BE DROWNDED FOR SURE AND THE DOCTOR WILL HAVE TO TELL BABS THAT HER BFF IS DEAD AND SUSAN’S GOING TO BE MUTILATED AND FORCED INTO A CREEPY MARRIAGE AND OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS HOW WILL THEY EVER GET OUT OF THIS ALMIGHTY PICKLE?

Summary (as applicable to this episode)

Does it pass the Bechdel test? Nope. The women get good dialogue, but they still don't get any of it together.

Is the gaze problematic? Nope.

Is/are the woman companion(s) dressed 'for the Dads'? No.

Does a woman fall over/twist her ankle (whilst running from peril)? No.

Does a woman wander off alone for the sole dramatic purpose of getting into trouble so she can be rescued later? No.

Is/are the woman companion(s) captured? Susan is in a seminary and Barbara is pretty much under Temple Arrest, but not as such, no.

Does the Doctor/a man companion/any other man have to rescue the woman companion(s) from peril? No.

Is a woman placed under threat of actual bodily harm? Yup. Barbara is nearly poisoned and Susan is due to have her tongue pierced with thorns.

Is/are the woman companion's/s' first/only reaction(s) to peril gratuitous screaming? No.

Does a woman companion go into hysterics over something reasonably minor? No.

Is a woman 'spared' the ordeal of having to do/witness something unpleasant by a man who makes a decision on her behalf/keeps her deliberately ignorant? No.

Does a man automatically disbelieve or belittle something a woman (companion) says happened to her? No.

Does a man talk over a woman or talk about a woman as though she isn't there? There are probably some obnoxious asides from Tlotoxl but nothing sticks out.

Does the woman companion have to be calmed/comforted by the Doctor/a man companion/a man? Babs has to cuddle Ian after he sciencesplains history to her.

Is a woman the first/only person to be (most gratuitously) menaced by the episode's antagonist(s)? Barbara, Ian, and Susan in peril this week.

Is a man shamed into doing/not doing something because the alternative is a woman doing/not doing something? No.

Does the woman companion come up with a plan? Nope.

Does the woman companion do something stupid/banal/weird which inspires a man to be a Man with a Plan? No.

Does a woman come up with a theory and is it ridiculed by the Doctor/a man? Barbara gets some harsh truths from Ian when she's way out of touch with the reality of Aztec life, but it's not undeserved.

Does a woman call the Doctor out on his bullshit? Nope. But pretty much everyone calls Barbara out on hers.

Does a woman get to be a badass? A problematic badass. But oh what a badass.

Is the young, strong, straight, white male lead the person most often in control of the situation? Barbara is the one with the most actual power in this episode, but the Doctor is still calling the shots and Tlotoxl is outplaying all of them. Plus Ian reasserts his dominance once Barbara comes down from her power trip.

Is there past/future/alien sexism? Yup. Arranged marriage klaxon. 

Does a 'present'-day character call anybody out on past/future/alien sexism? SUSAN!

Does an past/future/alien person have the hots for a woman companion and is it reciprocated? The Perfect Victim has a perfectly horrible thing for Susan, who categorically does not reciprocate.

Did a woman write/direct/produce this episode? No/No/Yes.

Verdict

Jacqueline Hill continues to act her socks off, and Barbara gets to be as complex as she'll ever be this week. We get to see her dealing with power, thinking on her feet, dealing with the full fucked-up reality of what she's trying to do, and being faced with some pretty major moral dilemmas. I continue to be infuriated by the fact that a history teacher who specialises in Aztec history can be this dense about Aztec culture to the extent that Ian has to sciencesplain, but at least his views are in keeping with his characterisation. Susan has a pretty shitty week, but she does continue to get some excellent fuck the patriarchy moments. Tlotoxl's face continues to be an inspiration, and the Doctor continues to develop. Another meaty outing for Team One.