Coup against Rassilon The Coup against Rassilon was a bloodless coup led by the Twelfth Doctor against the Lord President Rassilon . History . Background . Following the end of the Last Great Time War , the Time Lord s eventually unfroze Gallifrey and moved it from the pocket universe it was located in to " the end of the universe , give or take a star system " . As Lord President , Rassilon worried about the Hybrid that was prophesied to conquer Gallifrey and stand in its ruins . Believing the Twelfth Doctor knew who the Hybrid was , Rassilon set up a deal with Ashildr to capture the Doctor and trap him in his confession dial . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) This led to the death of the Doctor ' s companion Clara Oswald . ( TV : " Face the Raven " ) The Doctor spent four and a half billion years trapped in the confession dial , ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) eventually escaping and arriving on Gallifrey . Enraged by Clara ' s death and determined to save her , the Doctor had a young boy inform " someone in charge " that the Doctor had arrived and knew what they did ( TV : " Heaven Sent " ) before making his way to the barn he slept in often in his youth . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) Standoff . After learning of the Doctor ' s arrival , Rassilon sent a gunship to arrest the Doctor , but the Doctor ignored the soldier ' s commands to surrender , drew a line in the sand between them and returned to his soup . Rassilon then sent a squad of soldiers led by the General and the High Council to speak with the Doctor , but he just went back into the barn without a word each time . After Ohila informed Rassilon that the Doctor didn ' t blame Gallifrey for the horrors of the Time War , but rather Rassilon himself , Rassilon travelled to the barn where the Doctor finally came out to greet him . When Rassilon tried to shake his hand , the Doctor dropped his confession dial at his feet and ordered him to " get off my planet " despite Rassilon insisting that his actions were necessary due to the threat of the Hybrid . When the Doctor refused to relent , Rassilon ordered his firing squad to kill him despite the General ' s protests as many of the soldiers had served with the Doctor in the Time War and respected him greatly . Rassilon still ordered the Doctor ' s execution , but while the squad fired , they purposefully missed . Confronted by Rassilon over their failure to kill an unarmed man , Gastron told him a saying regarding the " Doctor of War " during the Time War , that the first and last thing people saw was usually that he was unarmed . Gastron then dropped his weapon and stood with the Doctor , having fought at his side before . One by one , the firing squad dropped their weapons and join the Doctor while Rassilon berated them and the General watched , seemingly not choosing sides . Finally , Rassilon decided to use his gauntlet against the Doctor , to force him to regenerate until his final death , but stopped when four gunships arrived . Rassilon was pleased , believing the General called for backup , but the Doctor revealed that he used his sonic sunglasses to call the ships who also stood with the Doctor . Rassilon was unable to believe that everyone turned against him due to his high position in Time Lord society . Rassilon tried once more to kill the Doctor himself , but the General finally sided with the Doctor , telling Rassilon " Lord President , with respect , get off his planet . " The General then dropped his own gun and stood beside the Doctor along with all of the other military present . Rassilon , now with no allies , surrendered and was exiled from Gallifrey by the Doctor , now Lord President after deposing Rassilon . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) Aftermath . With Rassilon banished , the Doctor became the Lord President of Gallifrey . The Doctor also banished the High Council as well for their role in his imprisonment . The Doctor offered his help in finding the Hybrid to the General and Ohila ; however , this was a trick so the Doctor could save Clara Oswald . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) Rassilon later encountered the Cybermen . Agreeing upon an alliance , Rassilon joined the Cyberiad and launched an invasion of time to retake Gallifrey . ( COMIC : " Supremacy of the Cybermen " )