The Power of Kroll Part 2
The Doctor and Romana must stop the methane refinery from awakening the monstrous Kroll, an ancient sea creature, while navigating political tensions between colonists and native Swampies on a distant moon.
The Doctor and Romana escape their sacrifice to Kroll, a local deity, and discover it's a ruse by the Swampies to maintain power. They uncover a methane refinery operated by Earth colonists from Delta Magna, producing massive amounts of compressed protein. Tensions escalate as the Swampies, armed by gunrunner Rohm-Dutt, prepare to attack the refinery. The Doctor realizes the refinery's activities are disturbing Kroll, a massive dormant sea creature. Kroll awakens, attacking the colonists and validating the Swampies' beliefs. The Doctor and Romana are captured and sentenced to death by the Swampies, while Thawn, the refinery director, plans to use depth charges against Kroll. The creature begins to wreak havoc on the refinery, and the Doctor's knowledge becomes crucial to resolving the conflict.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The Doctor and Romana expose the Swampies' Kroll sacrifice as a political masquerade, revealing a costumed Swampie. They learn the Swampies use the Kroll myth to maintain power and are preparing for war against the Earth colonists from Delta Magna. Meanwhile, the colonists operate a methane refinery, producing vast quantities of compressed protein, and their radar operator, Dugeen, detects unusual, large-scale movement on the lake bed. Thawn, the refinery director, initially dismisses Dugeen's findings but grows concerned. The Doctor and Romana discover an ancient text detailing Kroll's past manifestations, realizing the creature is real, massive, and due for its fourth awakening. Concurrently, the Swampie leader Ranquin, despite gunrunner Rohm-Dutt's warnings, plans a direct ambush against the colonists, believing their new weapons and the Sons of Earth's support guarantee victory. Thawn, upon realizing the Doctor has vanished, suspects him of being a saboteur aligned with the Swampies and the Sons of Earth, escalating the human conflict. The Doctor deduces the refinery's activities, particularly the heat and noise, are disturbing the dormant Kroll, setting the stage for the creature's imminent appearance and the convergence of the political and ecological threats.
While fleeing the staged sacrifice ritual the Doctor and Romana corner the costumed Swampie impersonating Kroll and expose the sacred myth as a fabricated political tool. The Doctor rips off …
The Doctor and Romana uncover the fraud of the monstrous Kroll myth when they dismantle the Swampie’s elaborate costume, revealing a centuries-old political deception. Before they can fully process the …
Kroll makes its terrifying first appearance, emerging from the swamp to grab and kill Mensch, a colonist. Thawn witnesses this event, confirming the creature's reality and hostile nature, which significantly shifts his focus from the Doctor to the immediate threat of Kroll. Ranquin, the Swampie leader, misinterprets Kroll's attack as divine intervention protecting his people, further entrenching their belief in the creature's allegiance. Thawn, now convinced of Kroll's hostility, plans to destroy it using depth charges, despite Fenner's and Dugeen's doubts about their effectiveness and the creature's unprecedented size. Simultaneously, the Doctor connects the refinery's operations—specifically the drilling into sediment and the increased lake temperature—to Kroll's feeding and awakening process, understanding the colonists are inadvertently provoking the monster. The Swampies capture the Doctor, Romana, and Rohm-Dutt. Varlik, a Swampie, accuses Rohm-Dutt of supplying faulty weapons and betraying their cause, highlighting internal divisions. Ranquin condemns the Doctor and Romana to death by sacred ritual, believing they have angered Kroll by denying it a victim. This act culminates with Kroll's direct assault on the refinery, as a massive tentacle breaches the pump chamber, triggering alarms and confirming the creature's active threat to the colonists' operations and lives.
The Doctor and Romana discover an illustrated tribe history within the Kroll Pit, revealing the creature’s cyclical manifestations and dormant awakening pattern. While Romana dismissively notes Kroll’s third appearance had …
The Doctor and Romana realize the book is an ancient account of Kroll’s periodic awakenings and the destruction his kind wreaks on the Swampies. Moments after confirming the creature’s cyclical …
The Doctor and Romana’s sabotaged canoe is discovered on a reed bed where Swampie leader Ranquin and his warriors lie in wait. Rohm-Dutt’s explosive trap detonates on a gunrunner’s weapon …
The Swampies prepare a sacrificial trap for Romana and the Doctor but fail when their ambush detonates prematurely. As a hovercraft investigates, Kroll rises from the swamp—confirming the colonists’ fears …
The Swampies pivot from myth-making to direct action as Kroll’s unexpected arrival seems to validate their faith. Ranquin commands gratitude toward Kroll, framing the creature’s violence as divine protection while …
Thawn recounts the brutal killing of Mensch by the resurrected Kroll with visceral detail, his shock giving way to decisive determination to eradicate the threat through brute force. As his …
Thawn publicly exposes that the Swampies possess weapons from Rohm-Dutt, explicitly framing them as allied with the Sons of Earth to undermine the colonists. This revelation weaponizes fact into propaganda, …
Thawn rejects Fenner's call for police reinforcements to handle Kroll, insisting on resolving the crisis his own way. His refusal escalates tensions with Fenner and underscores his refusal to share …
Dugeen’s transverse scan pierces failing equipment to expose Kroll’s massive living form across the lake bed, confirming the colonists’ worst fears. The creature’s presence is so overwhelming it blocks sensor …
Romana and the Doctor cross the swamp while discussing the methane refinery’s impossible methane yields. The Doctor realizes drilling and heat exchangers have disturbed the lake’s temperature and noise levels, …
Romana and the Doctor realize the methane refinery’s operations have roused Kroll from its slumber as they debate the creature’s physiology. Their intellectual debate over refinery heat and methane production …
The Doctor and Romana face execution by the Swampies, who remain convinced Kroll acts as their protector, having witnessed its recent appearance driving away the 'dryfoots.' Ranquin, the Swampie leader, condemns them for denying Kroll its promised victim, reinforcing the deep-seated, politically charged religious beliefs surrounding the creature. The Doctor, despite their dire situation, attempts to reason with Ranquin, dismissing the Kroll impersonator and challenging the Swampies' adherence to myth. However, Varlik's testimony about Kroll's recent appearance solidifies the Swampies' conviction. Simultaneously, within the Control Centre, Thawn remains resolute in his plan to use depth charges against Kroll, dismissing Fenner's concerns about their limited impact and the creature's unprecedented size. Dugeen reports Kroll's continued movement, indicating it is feeding along the lake bed, but Thawn prioritizes its destruction over understanding its behavior. The Doctor, upon hearing of Kroll's latest manifestation, realizes the creature is actively on the move and that his window of opportunity to intervene is rapidly closing. The act concludes with the Doctor's urgent understanding that Kroll is not merely awakening but is now an active, mobile threat, drastically reducing the time available to prevent a full-scale catastrophe for both the colonists and the Swampies.
Ranquin abruptly orders the Doctor and Romana seized just as Romana begins to introduce them to the Swampie leader. The companions are pulled away as Rohm-Dutt is brought in, his …
Ranquin asserts his authority by declaring the Doctor and Romana must die, deferring their execution method to the judgment of Kroll himself. This act strips the Swampie leader of his …
The control centre erupts in crisis as Dugeen reports Kroll’s movement along the lake bed, reigniting Thawn’s determination to annihilate the creature with depth charges despite Fenner’s warnings that provocation …
The fragile truce between colonists and Swampies shatters under escalating panic as Dugeen reports the ancient Kroll has resumed moving toward the methane refinery. Thawn’s recklessness and Fenner’s caution collide …
Trapped by Ranquin’s sentence of death for disrupting the Kroll myth, the Doctor attempts to defuse the Swampies’ anger with dark humor while Romana quietly resents the ritualistic framing of …
Rohm-Dutt tries to salvage his reputation by confessing to Varlik, but the Swampie accuses him of treachery instead. Varlik reveals that Rohm-Dutt sold them faulty weapons meant to fail in …
Rohm-Dutt attempts to explain his dealings with the Swampies to Varlik in a desperate bid for understanding, but Varlik accuses him outright of treachery for supplying faulty weapons. The Doctor …
The Doctor and Romana fail to sway Swampie leader Ranquin by revealing the Kroll myth as a political tool. Varlik’s declaration that Kroll itself appeared that morning shifts the Swampies’ …
The Doctor and Romana face immediate execution after the Swampies condemn them under the delusion that they have angered the mythical Kroll. Romana challenges the superstition by exposing their lack …