In his desperate pursuit to save Rose and halt the Daleks' control of humanity, The Doctor materialises on board the main Dalek ship. The Tardis lands in such a way that Rose - and a quickly destroyed Dalek - appear inside the ship at the point of materialisation.

The Doctor steps outside his ship to be confronted by a trigger-happy bunch of his mortal enemies, but a forcefield protects him. A booming voice comes from behind his shoulders, and he turns to discover the mighty Emperor Dalek overshadowing him. Now masquerading as a God, the Emperor reveals that he escaped death during the Time War and has been rebuilding his decimated race by harvesting humanity.

The Doctor races back to the Game Station to prepare against an oncoming Dalek attack, with Captain Jack rousing the inhabitants to form a resistance movement to slow down the enemy's advances. The Timelord soon works out that the only way to halt the Daleks is by sending an energy pulse to destroy their ships. But this comes with a vast sacrifice, as it will also kill off all nearby lifeforms, including himself and those on Earth. The Doctor weighs up the options and decides that he must prevent the Daleks from taking over the entire universe.

Rose is tricked by The Doctor into entering the Tardis and being sent back to present-day Earth and her mother Jackie and boyfriend Mickey. She is distraught at not being able to fight alongside The Doctor and eventually works out that the only way to return is by staring into the heart of the Tardis like Margaret Blaine did - a very dangerous and powerful action.

The Daleks swarm the Game Station, killing both Jack and Lynda alongside the other rebels. The Doctor is surrounded by Daleks and is faced with the dilemma of destroying his enemies, himself and humanity or allowing the Emperor Dalek to take over. But as he makes his decision, the sounds of the Tardis materialising can be heard...