Can you please clarify how 'deus ex machina' equates to 'et' in your clue, or am I just being dumb. I understand the rest of the clue and the phrase but just can't nail the parsing.
A deus ex machina (in the stricter sense) appears as a god from on high, hence an extraterrestrial. I just used the term because he would indeed enter thus- at the end of a rope.