The Impossible Girl: Who IS Clara Oswin Oswald?!?

[sidious618]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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I don't think that's how it was meant either, but the possibility exists, and stranger things have happened on the show.

I don't think it was foreshadowing either; my guess is that Moffat didn't have time for the Doctor to go into an explanation (he didn't even have enough time to explain how the Doctor defeated the GI ).

[Iamnotspock]

Christopher wrote:

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I think that's reading too much into the Doctor's memory lapse about the GI. Remember, most viewers of the new series aren't familiar with the old series, and the new episodes have to be made to stand on their own.

In-universe, the Doctor is supposed to be over eleven hundred years old now, and was less than 450 when he encountered the Intelligence. How well do you remember things from nearly 2/3 of your lifetime ago? Even with a lifetime far shorter than the Doctor's?

I of course considered that, and it is perhaps the most obvious interpretation, but I'm just supposing that it may be something more given the theme of memory running through the whole Moffat era to date, and this episode in particular; the memory worm, "run, you clever boy... and remember," and with the 50th coming up it would make sense for them to do something that harks back to the old days. It just felt like foreshadowing to me.

Having the Doctor remember the details of his previous encounters with the Great Intelligence and explain them to somebody would've been too much of a distraction from the current story, so it had to be kept an Easter egg, a passing reference that would mean something to the old-school fans but not distract or confuse the modern viewers.

I don't think it would've been as it could have been done very quickly, as with the encounters with other classic foes. It didn't require any detailed synopsis of the GI's earlier appearances - something like "there are Cybermen in our universe" is all you'd need, like "I've fought it before... a long time ago. I didn't make the connection at first." That wouldn't distract or confuse the casual viewers (most of them are smart; they know it's a 50 year-old show - it's a mainstream British institution and the upcoming anniversary has been mentioned a fair bit in the press already - and would likely gather that it's a reference to an old story without it hampering their enjoyment) and would be a nice Easter Egg for the die-hards.

The "it rings a bell" was instead far too jarring and distracting to this long-time fan (even if the intent was to simply suggest that the Doctor's getting on a bit, it runs the risk of being misinterpreted, hence this discussion). The Doctor has often talked of events from his past - including his childhood - with a degree of clarity. The Web of Fear was the adventure that included his first meeting with a certain Col. Lethbridge-Stewart, and I'm not sure he'd just forget that, no matter how long ago it was now (if he is just forgetting these things due to old age, then he's in trouble, as a man is the sum of his memories, a Time Lord even more so...).

[Mr Pointy Ears]

I reckon she's susan.

[Iamnotspock]

Mr Pointy Ears wrote:

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I reckon she's susan.

She kissed him.

[Christopher]

Iamnotspock wrote:

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I don't think it would've been as it could have been done very quickly, as with the encounters with other classic foes. It didn't require any detailed synopsis of the GI's earlier appearances - something like "there are Cybermen in our universe" is all you'd need, like "I've fought it before... a long time ago. I didn't make the connection at first." That wouldn't distract or confuse the casual viewers (most of them are smart; they know it's a 50 year-old show - it's a mainstream British institution and the upcoming anniversary has been mentioned a fair bit in the press already - and would likely gather that it's a reference to an old story without it hampering their enjoyment) and would be a nice Easter Egg for the die-hards.

Actually, to me, that sounds rather stilted and cliched. Just from a stylistic perspective, that's not a better way of doing it.

The "it rings a bell" was instead far too jarring and distracting to this long-time fan (even if the intent was to simply suggest that the Doctor's getting on a bit, it runs the risk of being misinterpreted, hence this discussion). The Doctor has often talked of events from his past - including his childhood - with a degree of clarity. The Web of Fear was the adventure that included his first meeting with a certain Col. Lethbridge-Stewart, and I'm not sure he'd just forget that, no matter how long ago it was now (if he is just forgetting these things due to old age, then he's in trouble, as a man is the sum of his memories, a Time Lord even more so...).

Well, I didn't find it jarring. I just found it a reasonably casual way to handle a throwaway Easter-egg reference.

[Gov Kodos]

The Great Intelligence comment just sounds like some nice foreshadowing, I hope.

[Allyn Gibson]

Gov Kodos wrote:

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The Great Intelligence comment just sounds like some nice foreshadowing, I hope.

We still don't know who said "Silence will fall" and blew up the TARDIS in season five.

[Gov Kodos]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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We still don't know who said "Silence will fall" and blew up the TARDIS in season five.

Hence, the I hope. It could turn out to have been the GI. I wonder if that ice Clara landed with will turn out to figure in her having multiple lives? This Victorian Clara being a template for future Claras, somehow?

[DWF]

Whatever Clara's secret is I hope the reveal is beter than what we got with River's secret.

[Enterprise is Great]

Iamnotspock wrote:

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She kissed him.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

[Christopher]

I just don't get why so many people are assuming she's some Time Lord or other. A Time Lord's regenerations are played by different actors, not the same one.

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Jenny, different versions of the Master(s)

[Christopher]

^Rare exceptions do not override the rule.

[DWF]

Christopher wrote:

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I just don't get why so many people are assuming she's some Time Lord or other. A Time Lord's regenerations are played by different actors, not the same one.

It's as good a theory as any other, but the Doctor would've sensed it if she were a Time Lord, so it's an easy theory to shoot down.

[Alidar Jarok]

Ar-Festivus wrote:

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^ Jenny, different versions of the Master(s)

Jenny had still recently been created. The new show has suggested a certain lingering regeneration energy that heals you without transformation early on in the process. If Clara starts shooting electricity from her fingertips, the Master argument will have more merit.

Assuming she's a Time Lord regenerating would mean that we witnessed her final death, because you aren't regenerating from being turned into a Dalek. I doubt they'll do that twice. The whole arc would directly parallel River.