Series 9 - Coming September 19! (And a trailer!)

[kirk55555]

The "grave" on Trenzalore was the Doctor's entire timeline, from birth to death. Though history was changed and he didn't actually die on Trenzalore (so far, anyway), Clara still splintered all throughout his timeline.

Anything's possible, really. For all we know the Doctor will still eventually return to Trenzalore at some point in his life, and that's where he will die. He spent, what, 900 years there? Maybe he will eventually decide that that's where he wants to be buried.

Eh, I'm thinking that the timeline has changed, and Trenzalore isn't anything to The Doctor anymore. If that was the case, then Clara wouldn't splinter into the future. If nothing else, having Clara splinter into the future could theoretically justify bringing the character back at basically any time until either the show is cancelled or the actress dies of old age. The fact that they would have an in canon reason to bring Clara back for any Doctor at any time is too frightening to contemplate. Also, its a very depressing idea. Companions like Donna and Amy can basically never come back, but you can never get rid of Clara

 

[RoJoHen]

The "grave" on Trenzalore was the Doctor's entire timeline, from birth to death. Though history was changed and he didn't actually die on Trenzalore (so far, anyway), Clara still splintered all throughout his timeline.

Anything's possible, really. For all we know the Doctor will still eventually return to Trenzalore at some point in his life, and that's where he will die. He spent, what, 900 years there? Maybe he will eventually decide that that's where he wants to be buried.

Eh, I'm thinking that the timeline has changed, and Trenzalore isn't anything to The Doctor anymore. If that was the case, then Clara wouldn't splinter into the future. If nothing else, having Clara splinter into the future could theoretically justify bringing the character back at basically any time until either the show is cancelled or the actress dies of old age. The fact that they would have an in canon reason to bring Clara back for any Doctor at any time is too frightening to contemplate. Also, its a very depressing idea. Companions like Donna and Amy can basically never come back, but you can never get rid of Clara

Characters only "can't come back" until some writer decides to make them come back. Especially in a series like this, rules can be changed.

 

[Skellington]

Why would a splinter Clara be going to save the 13th Doctor? I thought that she just splintered to save The Doctors who existed in the 11th Doctor's timeline, so that would be the incarnations before the 11th (and obviously the 11th Doctor himself). I don't think she splintered to include the Doctors after 11.

That was certainly the narrative as presented. She saw the faces of only eleven Doctors (but not, for some reason, the War Doctor until right at the end). Presumably, something changed his destiny so that the time scar never existed. Hence, no grave to visit and no splinter-GIs to mess with the Doctor's timeline or splinter-Claras to stop them.

But then, neither the splinter plot nor the siege plot made much sense to start with, so who knows?

 

[RoJoHen]

Most time travel stories don't make much sense if you think about them too hard.

 

[Skellington]

^ That is very true. Exceptions would include the movies Twelve Monkeys and Predestination, imho.

And I do think that the time-travel in A Christmas Carol makes a certain kind of sense in the context of season five.

 

[DWF]

What if she died? What if, after all this time, it turns out she was a Splinter Clara all along, and once again the Doctor fails to save her.

I have to admit, I've toyed with the idea, given the way "Last Christmas" ends, that the Clara the Doctor takes away with him is not the "original" Clara but rather one of the splinters.

The thing is, as interesting as that idea is, I just can't see Moffat doing anything like that.

We have no way of knowing if that Clara is the original one. Or if there is an original Clara anymore.

 

[Csalem]

Why would a splinter Clara be going to save the 13th Doctor? I thought that she just splintered to save The Doctors who existed in the 11th Doctor's timeline, so that would be the incarnations before the 11th (and obviously the 11th Doctor himself). I don't think she splintered to include the Doctors after 11.

That was certainly the narrative as presented. She saw the faces of only eleven Doctors (but not, for some reason, the War Doctor until right at the end). Presumably, something changed his destiny so that the time scar never existed. Hence, no grave to visit and no splinter-GIs to mess with the Doctor's timeline or splinter-Claras to stop them.

But then, neither the splinter plot nor the siege plot made much sense to start with, so who knows?

I presume she did not see the War Doctor because the Time War was time-locked, whatever that means. Also it is said in the episode the Doctor has had many names. I wonder if she encountered those aliases too, or only when he called himself the Doctor?

 

[Samurai8472]

Eh, I'm thinking that the timeline has changed, and Trenzalore isn't anything to The Doctor anymore. If that was the case, then Clara wouldn't splinter into the future. If nothing else, having Clara splinter into the future could theoretically justify bringing the character back at basically any time until either the show is cancelled or the actress dies of old age. The fact that they would have an in canon reason to bring Clara back for any Doctor at any time is too frightening to contemplate. Also, its a very depressing idea. Companions like Donna and Amy can basically never come back, but you can never get rid of Clara

Same thing with the eleventh doctor and trenzelore.

between those 900 years Matt Smith can come back at anytime he wants then return to trenzelore.

 

[Ithekro]

I find it clever, and in a way where I think they missed the boat with the likes of Romana and River Song. Bot of whom they could use continually with different actresses, much as they renew the Doctor every several years.

They could now a days get away with this with Susan, just at the time she left the show was long before they decided the Doctor could renew himself and that it was just something Time Lords did.

 

[kirk55555]

Eh, I'm thinking that the timeline has changed, and Trenzalore isn't anything to The Doctor anymore. If that was the case, then Clara wouldn't splinter into the future. If nothing else, having Clara splinter into the future could theoretically justify bringing the character back at basically any time until either the show is cancelled or the actress dies of old age. The fact that they would have an in canon reason to bring Clara back for any Doctor at any time is too frightening to contemplate. Also, its a very depressing idea. Companions like Donna and Amy can basically never come back, but you can never get rid of Clara

Same thing with the eleventh doctor and trenzelore.

between those 900 years Matt Smith can come back at anytime he wants then return to trenzelore.

That scenario is awesome, because Matt Smith/the 11th Doctor is awesome.I only dislike it for Clara because she's, you know, Clara. I'd be excited to see Matt Smith again, whatever his age is.

Although, didn't the 11th Doctor have to spend every second of the 900 years on Trenzalore, or the bad guys would land? Wasn't that the whole point of staying there?

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Eh, I'm thinking that the timeline has changed, and Trenzalore isn't anything to The Doctor anymore. If that was the case, then Clara wouldn't splinter into the future. If nothing else, having Clara splinter into the future could theoretically justify bringing the character back at basically any time until either the show is cancelled or the actress dies of old age. The fact that they would have an in canon reason to bring Clara back for any Doctor at any time is too frightening to contemplate. Also, its a very depressing idea. Companions like Donna and Amy can basically never come back, but you can never get rid of Clara

Same thing with the eleventh doctor and trenzelore.

between those 900 years Matt Smith can come back at anytime he wants then return to trenzelore.

That scenario is awesome, because Matt Smith/the 11th Doctor is awesome.I only dislike it for Clara because she's, you know, Clara. I'd be excited to see Matt Smith again, whatever his age is.

Although, didn't the 11th Doctor have to spend every second of the 900 years on Trenzalore, or the bad guys would land? Wasn't that the whole point of staying there?

he has a Time Machine, he can leave for decades and then return the next second.

 

[RoJoHen]

For at least the first 300 years, he didn't have a time machine.

 

[Skellington]

^ In my fan canon, the TARDIS then went 300 years back and he just kept it hidden. He may have needed to lie about it, but frankly there's no way he went very long without surmounting the "no lies" obstacle.

Alternatively, he may have used another time machine such as a vortex manipulator or another TARDIS (being perhaps the Silents' makeshift one and/or one that River kept hinting at when she used phrases like "his TARDIS" or "only one psychopath per TARDIS").

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Alternatively, he may have used another time machine such as a vortex manipulator or another TARDIS (being perhaps the Silents' makeshift one and/or one that River kept hinting at when she used phrases like "his TARDIS" or "only one psychopath per TARDIS").

There are a couple of Trenzalore story ideas that I know I'll never, ever get to use. One involves the War Doctor. The other involves River and the nature of her relationship with the Doctor during those 900 years. (And I mean the Alex Kingston River, not the Tasha Lem River.) I don't want to say more than this, but I would completely buy the idea that, at least once the TARDIS was back on Trenzalore, River came and snatched him away from the planet for a time.

 

[The Wormhole]

Although, didn't the 11th Doctor have to spend every second of the 900 years on Trenzalore, or the bad guys would land? Wasn't that the whole point of staying there?

He doesn't even do that in the episode, as he does leave briefly to transport Clara back home.

 

[Ithekro]

Perhaps the Silence made him a crude TARDIS-like time machine just so he could fight like he fights, and later they used that technology to try and take over Earth...just so they could kill him.

 

[Skellington]

Alternatively, he may have used another time machine such as a vortex manipulator or another TARDIS (being perhaps the Silents' makeshift one and/or one that River kept hinting at when she used phrases like "his TARDIS" or "only one psychopath per TARDIS").

There are a couple of Trenzalore story ideas that I know I'll never, ever get to use. One involves the War Doctor. The other involves River and the nature of her relationship with the Doctor during those 900 years. (And I mean the Alex Kingston River, not the Tasha Lem River.) I don't want to say more than this, but I would completely buy the idea that, at least once the TARDIS was back on Trenzalore, River came and snatched him away from the planet for a time.

I've thought that maybe she visited him a little in his prison the way he had in hers. Probably not as often, though.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I've thought that maybe she visited him a little in his prison the way he had in hers. Probably not as often, though.

Totally agreed. I think River saw the eleventh Doctor a number of times across the 900 years he spent on Trenzalore. A little more often than once a century. A day or two every decade.

I'd like to think she left him the last time the day before Clara arrived for the final battle.

 

[StCoop]

A subtle hint

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COECFMSVEAEuG8j.jpg

 

[The Wormhole]

Oh, yeah. Very subtle.