The God Complex ( TV story ) Synopsis . The Eleventh Doctor , Amy , and Rory investigate a hotel of horror where repeat business is low but the body count is high , where a mighty monster stalks the corridors and the rooms hold visions of angels , apes , and creepy clowns . Who — or what — has brought them to this place ? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the residents check out in grisly style ? Plot . A young police woman , Lucy Hayward , roams the corridors of what appears to be a 1980s Earth hotel . Each room in the hotel possesses the manifestation of a fear , and each person who comes to the hotel must find his room — after which , he begins to " praise him " . Lucy is the last of her companions . Lucy ' s room contains a giant gorilla that she once saw in a book when she was younger ; screaming , she backs out of the room . Somewhere in the hotel , a creature awakens . As Lucy continues to write about her fear , she begins to " praise him " , and stands in peace as she welcomes the creature to kill her . Sometime later , the TARDIS lands in the same hotel . Once more , the TARDIS hasn ' t taken the Doctor where he wants to go , which in this case is the planet Ravenscala . The Eleventh Doctor is fascinated by their surroundings since , as he informs Amy and Rory , the hotel is not really a hotel at all , but something that someone has made to look like a hotel . There are pictures on the walls of various humans and aliens , each bearing their names and fears . They are suddenly confronted by two Earth humans — Rita , a nurse , Howie , a computer geek — and Gibbis , a cowardly , mole - like alien from the planet Tivoli . Rita carefully inspects the TARDIS trio , deducing that because their pupils are dilated , they have no idea what is going on either . The Doctor is immediately impressed by her cleverness and jokes to Amy that Rita will be replacing her as his companion . Rita explains to the Doctor and his companions that each room in the hotel contains " bad dreams " , with Howie adding that the walls twist and move so that you never know where you ' re going or where you ' ll end up . This is confirmed when the Doctor tries to take everyone back to the TARDIS only to find that it has disappeared . When the Doctor asks Rita if there are any more people inside the hotel , Rita mentions Joe , who ' s a bit " tied up " . When the Doctor asks what is keeping Joe occupied , Rita retorts , " No , I mean he ' s tied up . " Rita , Howie , and Gibbis bring the Doctor and his companions to Joe ' s room , which is full of ventriloquist dummies . Joe has been tied up by the others inside the room because of his mental instability . Joe informs the Doctor that he is going to die in the hotel ; the Doctor jokes , " They certainly didn ' t mention " that " in the brochure ! " Trying to get through to Joe , believing him to be possessed by an external force , the Doctor learns that " he " is going to feast . He also warns the Doctor that the same thing will happen to him , but that he must first find his room — because there is a room in the hotel for everyone . Rather than leave Joe behind , the Doctor has his chair tied up to a cart so they can wheel him around the hotel while they search for the TARDIS or an exit . He warns the entire group to stay with someone else at all times , and avoid being drawn to a particular room . As the group begins searching the hotel , each person begins throwing out his own theories as to what is happening and how they should act on it . Rory is powerless to keep Howie from finding his room , which contains a group of twenty - something girls who mock him for being nerdy and for his stutter . Howie begins to " praise him " . Further up the hallway , Amy discovers pages of Lucy Hayward ' s diary , which the young woman dropped as the beast killed her . She doesn ' t have time to show the Doctor , however , as the beast can be heard approaching to kill Joe . Rory locates a fire exit , but it goes unseen by everyone else as they scatter into various rooms to hide from the predator . Rita inadvertently enters her own room with Joe to find her father lecturing her about her grades . She also begins to " praise him " . Rory , Amy , Gibbis , Howie , and the Doctor enter another room containing two Weeping Angel s . Amy warns the others not to blink , but the Doctor quickly ascertains that the Angels are not real . He encourages her to set aside her fear , but Rory notes Gibbis ' reaction — he hides in a closet — and suggests that maybe the Weeping Angels are not for any of them . The Doctor checks the corridor through the peephole , and finally gets a good view of their enemy : it ' s a Minotaur . In Rita ' s room , the rope that is binding Joe to his chair comes loose and untied on its own , possibly through some sort of telekinetic energy . Joe runs into the corridor , smiling madly as he asks the Minotaur to come to him . It overpowers him and drags him away , though they are both chased by the Doctor . The Doctor is separated from Joe and the Minotaur in the winding labyrinth of corridors , but later stumbles across Joe ' s body . The Doctor tries to revive him , but finds that it ' s no use . The group returns to the hotel banquet hall with Joe ' s body , which the Doctor examines . Amy tries to comfort Gibbis by mentioning that she ' s met the Weeping Angels and thought the room was for her ; however , she knows that the Doctor will find a way out of the mess they ' re in because he ' s never let her down , not even when she was a child and she thought he ' d left her behind . Gibbis smugly mentions that since the Weeping Angels were for him , her room must still be somewhere in the hotel . The thought unnerves her . The Doctor tells Rita that there is no medical explanation for Joe ' s death — his organs simply stopped , as though all of his faiths and fears were taken from him . Rita confesses that she believes the hotel is Jahannam , the Muslim s ' idea of hell . She is , however , completely unfazed by this and by the revelation that Gibbis is an alien . The Doctor tries to assure Rita that her theory is incorrect and that she is still alive , but to no avail . Amy recalls Lucy ' s diary pages and presents them to the Doctor , who reads them as Howie begins to praise the Minotaur . " Praise him . " The Minotaur in question awakens at the words . The Doctor promises not to leave Howie , who is afraid of being eaten , though Gibbis angers him by suggesting that perhaps the Minotaur would leave the rest of the group alone if they were to sacrifice Howie to him . Rita nobly offers to stay with Howie , but the Doctor rejects this and berates Gibbis , insisting that " no one else will die today . " Theorising that the beast feeds on fear , the Doctor tells the others that they must do whatever they can to fight the fear off , and to dig deep , to find and embrace their faith . As Amy wonders what their next move is , the Doctor slyly explains that they ' re going to catch the monster . Using a speaker through which Howie ' s voice is projected , the Doctor lures the Minotaur into the hotel spa , as Amy , Rita , and Rory lock the doors from the outside to trap it . The Doctor begins speaking to the Minotaur , who claims that the " warden " takes people and places them in the hotel , which houses " tailored - made hell " for each of its victims . Once confronted by their fear , the victims begin worshipping it . The Minotaur explains that it has lived for so long that it has forgotten its own name . As victims just keep on showing up and its instincts are too hard to resist , the creature has lived a long , miserable life , now consisting purely of instinct and routine . He wishes to end it , and at last get some peace . Meanwhile , Gibbis keeps watch over Howie in the reception area , but Howie taunts Gibbis into releasing him . He freely roams the hotel , drawing the Minotaur — which escapes the spa by knocking Rory out — to him . The Doctor goes off in pursuit . Amy and Rita stay behind to look after Rory , but Amy finds herself drawn to Room 7 and opens the door . Rita is not quick enough to stop her from seeing what lies inside . Meanwhile , the Doctor locates Howie ' s body ; the others arrive shortly after , with Gibbis claiming that Howie got free and overpowered him . The Doctor gives him an angered look of disapproval . Gibbis , guilty , chases after the group in hopes of forgiveness . Later , Rory finds the Doctor admiring Howie ' s picture , which has been added to the wall alongside the others . Rory admits that he hasn ' t found his door yet , which the Doctor takes to mean that Rory isn ' t afraid of anything — something that Rory confirms , saying , " After all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS , what was left to be scared of ? " The Doctor sadly notes that Rory spoke in the past tense . Later , they lay Howie ' s body out in the banquet hall next to Joe ' s . The Doctor meets Rita on the stairwell and informs her that he is close to getting them out of the hotel . When Rita wonders why the Doctor has made it his responsibility to save them — noting that he has quite a " God complex " — the Doctor sadly looks down to Amy , obviously guilty for bring her and Rory to a place where they are in danger . He invites Rita to travel with him once they escape the hotel and leaves her , but after he departs , she begins to " praise him " and goes off on her own . While the Doctor searches for the hotel security room , he stumbles across his own door , Room 11 , and is hardly surprised by what he sees inside . Although it is not directly shown , its reflection glints in the corners of his eyes : a familiar white light . Unlike the others , who heard voices telling them to praise the Minotaur , the Doctor ' s will proves stronger , allowing him to not fall victim . He appears well aware that this was going to be the fear inside his room all along , and maintains his composure . The Doctor stares at it hauntingly - this fear has troubled him for so long he knows he will confront it again once and for all . He addresses it grimly , " Of course . Who else ? " The Doctor quietly shuts the door to his room and tacks a " DO NOT DISTURB " sign on the knob . Rita continues wandering the hotel ; when the Doctor finally locates the security room , he spots her on the footage and questions what she ' s doing . He uses one of the room phones to contact her , realising that she has begun to " praise him " and is now trying to keep everyone safe . Knowing that the Doctor cannot rescue her no matter what , she asks to die in private because she wants him to remember her the way she was — before she was robbed of her faith . As the Minotaur rounds the corner towards her , she hangs up on the Doctor , who heeds her last request and shuts off the security camera just as she is about to be killed . The Doctor , devastated by Rita ' s death , destroys the hotel lobby in anger while the others listen . He begins to revise his theory , knowing that Rita wasn ' t afraid of her death and therefore the beast could not possibly feed on fear . Gibbis berates the Doctor for continuing to promise action without result ; when Amy jumps to his defence , the Doctor realises the truth . The Minotaur feeds on faith , not fear . Howie believed in conspiracies , Rita was a devout Muslim , Joe was a gambler who believed in luck , and Gibbis believes in the continued presence of invaders who will tell him what to do . The Doctor has inadvertently helped the Minotaur to thrive by insisting that his companions reject their fear and fall back on their faith , which the Minotaur then takes and converts into a consumable form . He tells a confused Rory that the TARDIS was pulled to the hotel — which is , in fact , an alien prison — because of Amy ' s faith in the Doctor . Amy suddenly begins to " praise him " . The group flees through the hotel as the Minotaur approaches to take Amy , and find themselves hiding in her room . The Doctor is astonished to see that Amy ' s fear is a vision of her seven - year - old self waiting for a Doctor that she believes will never return for her . Amy begins to feel the Minotaur changing her , and the Doctor suddenly insists that he can ' t save her . He laments having stolen her childhood and leading her to her death , which he claims to have always known would happen because it always does . Requesting that she forget her faith in him , he insists that he really is " just a madman with a box " as he ' d told her all those years before , and that it ' s time to see each other as they really are . Calling her Amy Williams , he tells her that it ' s time for her to stop waiting and grow up . Though the Minotaur has broken into the room , it weakens as Amy ' s faith in the Doctor is dismantled . The hotel disguise dissolves around them , revealing an automated alien prison cell . The prison floats through space , kidnapping people with belief systems so that their faith may be converted into food for the creature . Amy reminds the Doctor that because the hotel showed him a door , he must believe in something , though he neglects to tell her what this is . The dying Minotaur passes a message to the Doctor , expressing his pity for " an ancient creature drenched in the blood of the innocent " , because " for such a creature , death would be a gift . " The Doctor believes the Minotaur is referring to itself , but with its dying breath , the Minotaur suggests that it was referring to the Doctor . It subsequently dies , and the group prepares to leave in the TARDIS . After dropping Gibbis off , the TARDIS materialises in a neighbourhood in 21st century London . Stepping outside , the Doctor presents Amy and Rory with keys to one of the houses in the row . While Rory steps inside to fetch champagne , Amy speaks to the Doctor privately , as she knows that he is leaving them behind . When she questions why , the Doctor explains that it ' s because she ' s still breathing ; he doesn ' t want to wait until she ' s dead and he ' s left standing over their graves . After a tearful goodbye , the Doctor departs . Rory returns in time to see the TARDIS dematerialising , and wonders where the Doctor ' s gone . Amy merely replies that he is saving them . Amy looks out of her bedroom window at the sky . At the same time , an equally sad Doctor looks around his now vacant time machine as he heads off to travel alone . Home video releases . This episode , along with the rest of the second half of series 6 , was released on DVD and Blu Ray on the 10 October 2011 . The episode was later released in the complete series 6 , which included the first and second half of the series , was released on DVD and Blu Ray on the 21 November 2011 .