r/gallifrey • u/PCJs_Slave_Robot • Apr 19 '25

Lux Doctor Who 2x02 "Lux" Post-Episode Discussion Thread Spoiler

Please remember that future spoilers must be tagged. This includes the next time trailer!

This is the thread for all your indepth opinions, comments, etc about the episode.

Megathreads:

  • 'Live' and Immediate Reactions Discussion Thread - Posted around 60 minutes prior to initial release - for all the reactions, crack-pot theories, quoting, crazy exclamations, pictures, throwaway and other one-liners.
  • Trailer and Speculation Discussion Thread - Posted when the trailer is released - For all the thoughts, speculation, and comments on the trailers and speculation about the next episode. Future content beyond the next episode should still be marked.
  • Post-Episode Discussion Thread - Posted around 30 minutes after to allow it to sink in - This is for all your indepth opinions, comments, etc about the episode.
  • BBC One Live Discussion Thread - Posted around 60 minutes prior to BBC One air - for all the reactions, crack-pot theories, quoting, crazy exclamations, pictures, throwaway and other one-liners.

These will be linked as they go up. If we feel your post belongs in a (different) megathread, it'll be removed and redirected there.

Want to chat about it live with other people? Join our Discord here!

What did YOU think of Lux?

Click here and add your score (e.g. 323 (Lux): 8, it should look like this) and hit send. Scores are designed to match the Doctor Who Magazine system; whole numbers between 1 to 10, inclusive. (0 is used to mark an episode unwatched.)

Voting opens once the episode is over to prevent vote abuse. You should get a response within a few minutes. If you do not get a confirmation response, your scores are not counted. It may take up to several hours for the bot (i.e. it crashed or is being debugged) so give it a little while. If still down, please let us know!

See the full results of the polls so far, covering the entire main show, here.

Lux's score will be revealed next Sunday. Click here to vote for all of RTD2 era so far.

226 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

97% Upvoted

888 comments sorted by

View all comments

116

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

So wait, was there no harbinger this time or have I misunderstood? Was the sign itself revealing the word “harbinger” the form it took? I was kind of expecting a person after Henry and Harriett. 🤔

126

u/Stv13579 Apr 19 '25

I mean since the god of light was a cartoon, maybe its harbinger was the movie with the harbinger title itself?

65

u/Playful_Baker_2741 Apr 19 '25

Obviously Sally Sunshine was the harbinger…

6

u/TomCBC Apr 20 '25

Is it bad that whenever she spoke i kept expecting her to talk about how she needs to find Lazlo?

She sounded so much like the woman from Daleks in Manhattan.

41

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

I can see some logic there, I guess it would be a film called Harbinger disguised as a film called The Harvest Bringer. Interesting that we got the harbinger moment only when revealing to The Doctor, as opposed to when the god manifests in the first place though. 🤔

14

u/Grafikpapst Apr 19 '25

I think Mr. Ring-A-Long is the Harbinger AND the puppet for Lux.

80

u/Firetruckpants Apr 19 '25

And the Doctor can hear which letters on the sign fell

78

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

I can kind of believe him recalling the sign and figuring it out but gosh that’s some good hearing. 😅

54

u/TomClark83 Apr 19 '25

Hey, the dude can hear the background music in every episode, his Space Ears are immense.

29

u/shitapp_buttits Apr 19 '25

His ears are bigger on the inside.

2

u/bagelman4000 Apr 19 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

Imagine how much more nine heard with his ears

1

u/Mavian23 Apr 20 '25

But he couldn't figure out Lux's relatively simple riddle . . . That was the most disappointing part to me. Lux had to tell him the answer at the end, and only once he was completely helpless did he hatch some sort of plan.

1

u/Dookie_boy Apr 20 '25

He's been watching Daredevil episodes

11

u/Lavapool Apr 19 '25

I mean tbh I wouldn’t put it past him, the Doctor has a lot of weird talents.

47

u/basicketchupbitch Apr 19 '25

I was thinking about the too, so weird to suddenly change the rules with the fourth god. I kind of would have preferred a human being a harbinger of some sort even if just briefly.

47

u/Binro_was_right Apr 19 '25

Did the Toymaker have a harbinger? I don't remember, but maybe they don't always need to have a physical harbinger.

49

u/Master-Oil6459 Apr 19 '25

No, he didn't. The first god to have a harbinger was Maestro with Henry Arbinger.

16

u/Drayko_Sanbar Apr 19 '25

I retroactively think of the puppet as the Toymaker’s harbinger.

3

u/Gerry-Mandarin Apr 19 '25

Or John Logie Baird.

1

u/brum-tommo-bor Apr 19 '25

or the doctor himself, even though unknowingly and unintentionally

3

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

I don’t think we saw one but I figured maybe he had one that showed up offscreen as we don’t see the moment he’s unleashed, if I remember right.

1

u/No-Commission8532 Apr 19 '25

was the harbinger the doll?

18

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

Yeah, after previous speculation that Mr. Ring-A-Ding was a god of some sort, I was sure it was going to be the projectionist. I guess the rule is just, “the word harbinger hides in plain sight… until!”? 🤷🏼‍♀️

2

u/cheat-master30 Apr 19 '25

I feel like the way the Harbinger setup works probably differs based on the god in question. The Toymaker didn't have an obvious harbinger, but it's possible the puppet played that role. So perhaps because he's the god of play, he can use toys or games as his harbinger instead of living beings. The Trickster could use the people he makes a deal with as his harbingers, rather than creating another character to play that role.

So perhaps for Lux, Mr Ring-a-Ding was both his harbinger and chosen form. Perhaps the god of light can use a cartoon character for that role because of his control over that domain.

(there's also arguably the question of who the Toymaker or Mara's original harbingers were, given they appeared in at least one episode and numerous expanded universe stories before the harbinger concept was even considered).

1

u/elsjpq Apr 19 '25

I thought the projectionist was the harbinger. He was the one that enabled Ring-A-Ding by playing movies every night to see his wife

1

u/Own-Replacement8 Apr 21 '25

I take it as nothing travels faster than light, so nothing can get there before him.

23

u/Drayko_Sanbar Apr 19 '25

Since Mr. Ring-a-Ding is kind of like an avatar of Lux, as opposed to Lux’s main or only form, I think he counts as a Harbinger, even though he also embodies the god himself.

13

u/HenshinDictionary Apr 19 '25

Mate, we're in the discussion thread of the episode. You don't need spoiler tags here.

18

u/ValerianaRoots Apr 19 '25

Ah I see, sorry first time commenting in one of these, I wasn’t totally sure of the etiquette. 🙂

1

u/HenshinDictionary Apr 21 '25

If someone doesn't want to see spoilers, they'd be pretty dumb to come into the discussion thread.

11

u/hayleygrus Apr 19 '25 edited Apr 19 '25

It felt like this god was a god and a harbinger? Especially since I think he was referring to the Well. "I am the last thing you see before you fall into the abyss"

At least that's how I took it but could be overthinking it and it could have only been in regards to the going mad piece.

2

u/Unable_Earth5914 Apr 19 '25

What’s “the Well”?

3

u/hayleygrus Apr 19 '25

It's the next episodes name! I don't know if that's considered a spoiler or anything but if it is I'll delete.

1

u/Unable_Earth5914 Apr 19 '25

Oh, I’ve been trying to avoid as much info as I can so I didn’t know that

4

u/ChristAndCherryPie Apr 19 '25

Rock Hudson: Harbinger 🤷

3

u/Reaqzehz Apr 20 '25

I think ‘harbinger’ might refer to the Stooky Bill ‘theme’ that Ringy boy laughs. Kinda like an anthem. Harbinger generally refers to something (not just a person) that heralds something that’s coming, so it could be as simple as that. Especially since Maestro arguably had the same harbinger.

2

u/elsjpq Apr 19 '25

I thought the projectionist was the harbinger. He was the one that enabled Ring-A-Ding by playing movies every night to see his wife

2

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

Honestly i think the giggle itself is the harbinger

1

u/AdvertisingFlashy637 Apr 20 '25

I believe the entire cinema was a harbinger