Barbara and Susan exit the TARDIS by themselves, and Barbara immediately recognizes Aztek iconography on the corpse they come across in the tomb they've landed in. She admires the jewelry and even puts one piece on. Apparently the Aztecs were a specialty of Barbara's, so she knows quite a bit about their culture. Susan, meanwhile, doesn't, or at least isn't that impressed: "Hey, look! Cartoons!" she exclaims, pointing at a wall. Barbara leaves the room in a door on a pivot (this is actually an important fact). Someone dressed in Aztek priest clothing sees her and initially claims that she must be arrested and punished for trespassing at the temple of Yetaxa.
The Doctor and Ian follow Susan out of the TARDIS, who told them she can't find Barbara. The Doctor is not happy she went off on her own. They find the door on a pivot and go out, looking for Barbara. It closes behind them and they realize they've just locked themselves outside the tomb where the TARDIS is. The man who caught Barbara before, Autloc, enters and greets the three of them as servants of Yetaxa. He explains that Barbara was wearing a bracelet that indicates she's the reincarnation of Yetaxa, apparently a wise high priest. They are taken to Barbara, but as they are, Susan is scared of someone as soon as she sees him - a man called Tlotoxl, who is the man who performs the human sacrifices. I realize the scream is functional - make us suspicious of Tlotoxl as soon as we see him - but it strikes me as though Susan, in character at least, is a little racist (she sees an unfriendly brown person and screams, while earlier in the season she decided a tall, blonde haired, blue eyed Thal was "perfect," which is... something). We discover he and Autloc disagree on whether human sacrifices be performed, though Autloc will not prevent the tradition on his own.
The TARDIS group meet up with Barbara, who is in a gorgeous feather getup that makes her look like some sort of god, like the Aztecs think she is. We find out, through Susan, that Yetaxa used to be a man, so why would the Aztecs worship Barbara as the same person? Barbara replies: "The form the spirit takes is unimportant." Who knew Barbara Wright, in the very first season, would make the first argument for a female Doctor?
The Doctor tells her that if the Aztecs realize she is not Yetaxa, they'll kill them all. When Autloc asks if he can let her servants wonder among the people freely, she lets the Doctor and Ian go, while Susan is to remain with her. The Doctor makes a big show of wanting to be the eyes and ears of Yetaxa among the people, so he and Ian can go learn more about the tomb the TARDIS is locked in, so they may be able to find their way back in.
Barbara is to be used to bring forth the rain, and to do so will require a sacrifice be made to Tlaloc, the rain god. Ian, who, at Tlotoxl's urging, will train to lead the army, is supposed to hold the sacrifice down, and he is not looking forward to it.
The Doctor, doing some in-person research, travels to the garden where "retired" Aztecs live. This is remarkable - people at age 52 get to "live free from responsibility and care," a setup I hope I get to see in real life someday (and preferably at that age, too. I can dream, I guess, because it will never happen, at least not in the US). The Doctor immediately takes an interest in a woman named Cameca, who he is clearly attracted to . He sets about flirting with her, likely for pleasure just as much as it is for learning about the temple. Cameca knows the son of the dead man who designed the temple, so she is to arrange a meeting between the Doctor and this unnamed warrior.
The Doctor goes back to speak to "Yetaxa." He warns her that she musn't interfere with the coming sacrifice. Barbara flat out refuses. She claims she'll be able to save Aztek civilization - her reasoning being that if the human sacrifices are done away with, when Cortez arrives, he won't slaughter them all. I, uh... still think he will. Dang, Barbara, I thought you were an expert? The Doctor reacts with that famous line: "But you can't rewrite history! Not one line! What you are trying to do is utterly impossible. I know. Believe me, I know!" It's interesting, because I usually hear only the first two sentences of this - not the bit about the Doctor "knowing" that rewriting history is supposedly impossible. It takes a different meaning with the added context - it implies the Doctor has tried to change history before, but was unable to. I wonder to what he's referring to? It's odd, too, because we've already seen him change history - he arrived and, with Ian's help, taught cavemen how to make fire, and traveled with Marco Polo and, though it's minor, Polo saw him dematerialize. All of that counts as rewriting "one line" of history, no? Anyway, Barbara responds to him with. "Not Barbara. ...Yetaxa," meaning she is about to do what she damn well pleases.
The sacrificial ritual begins. Just before Tlotoxl is about to kill the man, Barbara stops him and proclaims all sacrifices are to stop. The man to be sacrificed accuses her of denying him honor - so Tlotoxl tells him to "honor us with your death," as he runs and jumps off the pyramid, ostensibly kill him. As soon as he does this, it starts raining, and Tlotoxl is convinced this is why. Anyway when the sacrifice still looked like it was going to still happen, Susan screamed, which Tlotoxl asserts is a crime. Barbara decides Susan should learn more about the Azteks so rather than kill her, sends her off to study. Tlotoxl is upset about this, and claims Barbara is a false goddess, and he'll prove it, as the episode cuts to credits.
Lots of great bits in this episode. The famous line "But you can't rewrite history, not one line" happens here, and Barbara is clearly enjoying herself as Yetaxa (it's pretty clear Jacqueline Hill is enjoying herself, too, lending her performance with a gravitas Barbara doesn't usually have. Autloc is kind of not acting very well, but the other guest actors are well done. And this is only a four part serial, so that should mean there's not much padding, right! That's true so far, at least...
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