(Author’s Note: There are theories. I do not know the ending, and this post gives the six of you UPPROXIANS who watch Doctor Who a chance to speculate. Be warned, however, that the finale has been leaked, and through whatever means, some people have seen it. There are spoilers available on the Internet. If you post any of these spoilers in the comments, 1) I will kill all of your loved ones, and 2) I will wait until after you’ve finally processed all of your grief, and then I will kill you. But I won’t tell you when. Could be a day. Could be a year. Could be 20 years. But every time you get out of your car, look out your window, or go to the grocery store, you will fear for your life. If the paranoia doesn’t eventually drive you to your grave, I assure you that I will. Love, Dustin. )
The thing about Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who is that it’s hard to develop theories because Steven Moffat doesn’t always follow the rules. He comes up with an end point, but he doesn’t always lay the groundwork to get to that end point. The entire era has been a series of inexplicable twists and deux ex machinas. But many of us continue to watch, because we love Doctor Who, and we’d otherwise feel silly if we weren’t following the series despite the Doctor Who iPhone cover we own, and all the Doctor Who T-shirts we wear. It’s a sickness.
Nevertheless, Moffat has developed a compelling mystery this season, and while he has not — to my knowledge, anyway — left a lot of breadcrumbs, we know enough to develop some theories on the finale and, in particular, the mystery behind Clara Oswin. We also know there will be a HUGE surprise in this weekend’s finale.
Here are my seven theories on what that surprise could be:
1. Later this year, Steven Moffat will bring us the 50th Anniversary special, which is expected to bring back a lot of former cast members. I think it’s quite possible that, at the end of the episode. the 11th Doctor and Clara will meet the 10th Doctor and Rose, who currently live together in another dimension.
2. Along that same vein, what if Clara were the daughter of Rose and the 10th Doctor? I’m not sure how she could’ve switched dimensions, but if that were the case, she’d be half human and half Time Lord, which could explain why she existed in three different periods if time and history. She didn’t die; she simply regenerated. Apparently, there have also been several sightings of roses throughout this half season, potentially foreshadowing the return of Rose.
3. Likewise, it would be fun if Captain Jack made an appearance, and he was the bridge to the 50th Anniversary special. Moreover, Clara could be Jack’s daughter, who inherited his inability to die. It doesn’t make total sense, however, because Jack at least remembers that he died after he is resurrected. Clara has no such memory. But it would explain how she’s survived so long, and if she had a vortex manipulator, it would also explain how she’s gotten around. Or maybe she does know her identity, and she’s just keeping it a secret from the Doctor.
4. The theory developed over on Hobo Trashcan after Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS also has some validity, although it it ends up being true, it will be a disappointment. Viewers will remember that, in Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, a rip in the space time continuum allowed the past and the future to leak out, and a Clara doppleganger was created. That doppleganger was a burnt zombie, of sorts, but who is to say that other copies of Clara were not created and dumped into different points in space and time? Maybe Clara is just an ordinary girl, like the other two incarnations of Clara. They’re just copies of the same person left at different points. It would explain the mystery, but it feels too easy and not complicated enough (Moffat loves complicated).
5. This is another instance that could lead to the 50th Anniversary special, but what if Clara and The Doctor landed in the timeline in which Amy and Rory were left to live out their lives? That could be fun, in part because it would mean another adventure with those two, and because it would also necessarily need a bittersweet ending — another adventure, but another goodbye — which are always effective on Doctor Who. What if, in this instance, Clara was their daughter (and River Song’s sister?) Unfortunately, that wouldn’t explain the mystery of Clara. There is also the fact that Amy can’t have any more children.
6. She’s the daughter of the TARDIS. Don’t ask me how that works, but knowing Steven Moffat, he very well could’ve created a scenario in which this could happen. It would explain, perhaps, why there was an episode in which we saw the Center of the TARDIS, as well as all the instances in which the TARDIS has expressed emotions this year. I don’t know why the TARDIS would dislike Clara, if Clara was her daughter, but Moffat could make up something. Also, it would explain why Clara was sent to certain points of time: To save the Doctor on behalf of the TARDIS.
7. My favorite theory, and the one that I want most to happen is that Clara is the 12th Doctor. That is, the 11th Doctor dies in the finale, and is regenerated as Clara Oswin, but Clara gets lost in the 11th Doctor’s timeline on three occasions. She also doesn’t know she’s a time lord because she’s been given something similar to the fob watch that The Master was given, which as you recall is used to store the memories and biology of a Time Lord who uses the Chameleon Arch. The watch uses a perception filter, which would prevent the transformed Clara from even noticing it. Maybe her fob watch is her leaf necklace?
