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[The Kings Daughter]

*Missy 'dies'*
Me: Hah, that was cute.
*Clara 'dies'*
Me: Ah. I wonder how long she's gone for.
*TARDIS 'destroyed'*
Me: ALRIGHT that's too far.

Although really, with all the shields....that TARDIS isn't just getting destroyed. But Moffat did get me caught up in the moment well enough that time that I gave the reaction he wanted.

So good. It's interesting how it really wasn't like other first episodes of the season. It was just 'bang' into the plot and life of the Doctor like we had never left. Which was actually kind of nice...just different.
Very good writing. Very good plot. Very pleased. ^_^

In universe: Missy loves faking her own death. And perhaps she wants the Doctor to believe they're dead, so he'll commit the unthinkable deed that would save them both. Remember, Missy's mission is to prove that she and the Doctor are no different. If the Doctor kills a child, her point is strengthened.

I like this theory.

[Woody]

Okay, did that just happen?

[The Kings Daughter]

Okay, did that just happen?

Absolutely.

(To what are we referring?)

[Pengwin]

(To what are we referring?)

I think he means to what happened with the Doctor at the end of the latest episode with the Doctor's ghost floating out in the water. I have no idea on how that happened. :#

[The Kings Daughter]

Ahhhh!

I wonder if that means the other two 'ghosts' are still alive somewhere. There wasn't a body left behind, after all. Then again, there was an explosion which is good at destroying. Tomorrow will be interesting!

And on a side note, Twelve's cue cards amused me so much.

[Woody]

But Pritchard's body was left behind... Remember, they saw him floating outside when his ghost showed up?

Honestly, I don't know how the Doctor's going to get out of this one. Especially since the trailers seem to indicate he's not trying to.

But, did you notice that the Doctor's ghost is saying something different from the other ghosts? I've no idea what it is, but it's different.

So, maybe he'll use the hologram trick again, like he did with Clara to trap the ghosts?

Ah yes, the cue cards. I hope we see more of them throughout the series.

[The Kings Daughter]

Oh you're right! I forgot about that. This should be pretty good. *pulls up chair*

---

Okay, well, that was amazing. See this is who Twelve is suppose to be. He wasn't himself last season. And Clara had some kinda weird stuff going on. (Still some good eps, it just felt a bit off.) This...this is Doctor Who.

[Woody]

I loved this episode. I called nearly every twist, but it was so perfectly executed that I still fanboyed at all of them.

[SirWhit]

Electric eels are only found native in south america...
Also I kinda want to see Jack and Ashildir meet each other xD maybe they can start an immortality support group.

[Shennifer]

this whole episode was great, I really loved how it all came together.

also,

I did not expect the end, and I LOVED seeing the explanation and flashbacks to season 4, of why the twelfth doctor chose the face he chose. And of course, any flashback to the Tenth Doctor makes me happy. I was fangirling so much because I've been waiting for this day since we found out Peter Capaldi was going to be the Doctor

[SirWhit]

Agreed. My only complaints are
1) Viking horns...bit of an oopsie on the part of the costumes department.
2) Electric eels....like seriously.

[Woody]

So, this is an episode that answers some questions, and presents even more questions, and I think it is a pivotal point in the overall series arc. Thus, I've decided to write a more in-depth review of it.

To simplify things, I'll sort everything into five categories: The Doctor, The Companion(s), The Monster, The Plot, and The Series Arc.

The Doctor:

Peter Capaldi is stunning as always in this episode, and the script gives us a lot of really great dialogue and monologue from the Doctor. The obvious standout moment is the revelation of Twelve's face, and why he chose it. I've been waiting for this revelation since "Deep Breath", and I'm glad it's finally come to fruition.

The reveal itself is something less monumental than I expected, but not in a disappointing sense. I almost didn't want Capaldi's face to be a huge, story-arc type thing, so I felt this was a very fitting answer to the question: “Who frowned me this face?” It seemed very appropriate that this Doctor, being the grumpy, pessimistic fellow that he is, would need a reminder of who he is, and what he does.

Speaking of Twelve's pessimism, it was very well displayed in this episode, leading very naturally into the face reveal. Capaldi is really just an amazing actor, and Doctor Who is lucky to have him.

The Companion(s):

I cannot say enough good things about the current TARDIS team. I do believe we have never had such an incredible duo of actors, with such a genuine, unique, and believable dynamic. Jenna Coleman was fantastic, and although one of Clara's conversations with the Doctor was slightly repetitive of the one in Under the Lake, I felt they brought a fresh perspective and urgency to the question of Clara's departure(which I'll discuss in the Series Arc section). Most of their conversations, however, were new, unexplored territory, such as their conversation regarding the baby's crying. Clara's path of becoming more and more like the Doctor, explored in Series 8, is obviously complete, as her confrontation with 'Odin' proves. She even told Ashildr to shut up.

For all intents and purposes, Maisie Williams' Ashildr acts as a secondary companion in this episode, both to Clara in the first half on board the Mire's spaceship and to the Doctor in the final confrontation with the Mire. Perhaps it was just me, but I found Ashildr to be slightly underdeveloped. So much could have been done with the material presented in that her impulsiveness was going to be the cause of her own destruction and the destruction of her entire village. However, I will hold out judgment on her character until next week.

The Monster:

Ah, yes, the Mire. I read a pre-air review that said the Mire were a rather silly monster, and certainly not 'the deadliest warrior race in the galaxy'. Which I certainly agree with. The 'deadliest race' is often used as a hook to keep viewers watching or attract viewers. Which is fine, I suppose, but I'd like to see it be true for once. In fact, the Mire may well have been a great warrior race in an actual battle, but the final confrontation was less a battle than a trick.

However, this doesn't mean I dislike the monster. Indeed, I found them a threatening force and so did the Doctor, apparently. Heck, they ground up an army for an energy drink(Which, by the way, did anyone else find that incredibly awkward and creepy?)

Their humiliation was slightly contrived(they should have been able to kill at least one person), but I suppose it's forgivable, as the Doctor's plan was to humiliate them.

The Plot:

I've covered most of this with the previous section, but there are a few things I want to say.

I really enjoyed the tension of the 20 minutes between Ashildr's declaration of war and the final battle, but wish a little bit of the humour there had been cut out to preserve the feeling of tension.

As far as pacing, the episode seemed fairly consistent, if a bit rushed. I had gotten so used to two-parters that I missed the slow, tense, development of Under the Lake/Before the Flood.

As far as humour, this episode is, admittedly, pretty darn funny. I especially like the pre-title scenes.

The Series Arc:

Ah, this is where the fun begins. You all know how I love to theorize, and this episode gives ground for a lot of quite intriguing theories.

We'll start with Ashildr. I must say, I'm quite excited for next week. I can't wait to see what scars immortality has inflicted on the innocent dreamer we saw this week. It'll be heartbreaking, but oh so intriguing. It almost seems as though she may be something of a villain.

However, I do not think she is the hybrid that Davros spoke of in “The Magician's Apprentice”. No, that's just too simple. Allow me to present a different theory as to the hybrid. I present, Clara Oswald.

“Oh, really?”, you say? Yes, really. Consider for a moment what the Doctor has said about Clara this season. She's “Someone he can't bear to lose”. Someday the very thought of her will hurt. He's scared something might happen to her. A lot of people point to these lines as evidence that Clara will die. And I won't disagree, it does seem the obvious implication. But is it, perhaps, a bit too obvious?

C'mon, we know Moffat. Foreshadowing is very like him, but not like this. This foreshadowing is far too overt. It just screams “Look, Clara's going to die!”. I don't buy it. Yes, perhaps Clara will die, but if she does, I'd bet money the Doctor brings her back. The Doctor's despair at her apparent death in “The Magician's Apprentice” shows just how much he cares about Clara. His claim that he's “changing time to save Clara” in “Before the Flood” shows how far he's willing to go to keep her alive. If the Doctor was willing to create a so-called “tidal wave” to save a Viking girl he's known for a day, how much do you think it would take for him to resurrect his beloved companion? Could the Doctor potentially make Clara immortal?

The answer is absolutely yes. But we have confirmation that Jenna Coleman is leaving Doctor Who this season( ). This leaves us with only one form of immortality: regeneration. “But Clara isn't a Time Lady!”, you protest. While I maintain she could very well be, she may not have to be a Time Lady to regenerate. You may remember that I commented that since “The Magician's Apprentice” revealed that the Doctor can use regeneration energy on demand, he may one day use it to resurrect a companion. We know a Time Lord can gift their regenerations, and use them to resurrect a dead Time Lord(“Let's Kill Hitler”). Thus, the only question is, is regeneration energy compatible with human anatomy? Considering the only known difference between Time Lords and humans is that they have two hearts, we can assume that any issues would lie there. My guess is that regeneration works because when one heart stops, the other can remain beating long enough to begin the process of regeneration. Thus, someone who was already dead wouldn't need two hearts. So, in theory, Clara's regeneration is completely feasible.

Clara's regeneration would make her a hybrid, and one of great enough importance to be the one Davros spoke of, because she would be half Time Lord, half human. “But humans are not a great warrior race!”, you argue. No, but Clara Oswald is a great warrior, almost of the Doctor's own caliber. A combination of the Doctor and Clara would be just the thing to fulfill that prophecy.

But what ramifications could Doctor Oswald(as I dub this hybrid) have? Some would argue she would end up like Donna, being forced to have her memory wiped to save her life. But there's a subtle difference here. Donna became a literal Time Lord/Human. Clara's regeneration would leave her fully human, not changing her physical anatomy, only resurrecting her from death, and just possibly giving her the ability to regenerate in the future(as the Doctor probably doesn't know exactly the amount of regeneration energy required to regenerate, he would probably use an excess amount like River did).

But what would Doctor Oswald become? With Clara's recent developments, she has become the Doctor's equal on all counts except her mortality. If she gained immortality and regenerated into a completely new person with a new personality, might she just become the greatest villain in Doctor Who history? Just some food for thought.

But that's not my only theory, of course. The other one is much simpler and perhaps more poignant. If the Doctor simply cannot bear to lose Clara, might he abandon her on Earth to keep her safe from the dangers of traveling with him? Some filming pictures and a small piece of dialogue revealed from the finale episode may indicate that the Doctor meets a Clara that doesn't know him. Could the Doctor have wiped her memory and left her on Earth to protect her?

Only time will tell if my theories are correct, but I'm fairly certain I'm close to the mark. If all this foreshadowing is simply pointing to Clara's death, I have to say I'll be disappointed. Making everyone think Clara is about to meet her doom, then springing a different ending on them would be a marvelous bit of trickery.

Anywho, those are my theories for the Series Arc. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, point out holes in my reasoning, or remind me of clues I may have forgotten!

Yes, it's incredibly long. Sorry, I got carried away.

[The Kings Daughter]

So, this is an episode that answers some questions, and presents even more questions, and I think it is a pivotal point in the overall series arc. Thus, I've decided to write a more in-depth review of it.

To simplify things, I'll sort everything into five categories: The Doctor, The Companion(s), The Monster, The Plot, and The Series Arc.

The Doctor:

Peter Capaldi is stunning as always in this episode, and the script gives us a lot of really great dialogue and monologue from the Doctor. The obvious standout moment is the revelation of Twelve's face, and why he chose it. I've been waiting for this revelation since "Deep Breath", and I'm glad it's finally come to fruition.

The reveal itself is something less monumental than I expected, but not in a disappointing sense. I almost didn't want Capaldi's face to be a huge, story-arc type thing, so I felt this was a very fitting answer to the question: “Who frowned me this face?” It seemed very appropriate that this Doctor, being the grumpy, pessimistic fellow that he is, would need a reminder of who he is, and what he does.

Speaking of Twelve's pessimism, it was very well displayed in this episode, leading very naturally into the face reveal. Capaldi is really just an amazing actor, and Doctor Who is lucky to have him.

The Companion(s):

I cannot say enough good things about the current TARDIS team. I do believe we have never had such an incredible duo of actors, with such a genuine, unique, and believable dynamic. Jenna Coleman was fantastic, and although one of Clara's conversations with the Doctor was slightly repetitive of the one in Under the Lake, I felt they brought a fresh perspective and urgency to the question of Clara's departure(which I'll discuss in the Series Arc section). Most of their conversations, however, were new, unexplored territory, such as their conversation regarding the baby's crying. Clara's path of becoming more and more like the Doctor, explored in Series 8, is obviously complete, as her confrontation with 'Odin' proves. She even told Ashildr to shut up.

For all intents and purposes, Maisie Williams' Ashildr acts as a secondary companion in this episode, both to Clara in the first half on board the Mire's spaceship and to the Doctor in the final confrontation with the Mire. Perhaps it was just me, but I found Ashildr to be slightly underdeveloped. So much could have been done with the material presented in that her impulsiveness was going to be the cause of her own destruction and the destruction of her entire village. However, I will hold out judgment on her character until next week.

The Monster:

Ah, yes, the Mire. I read a pre-air review that said the Mire were a rather silly monster, and certainly not 'the deadliest warrior race in the galaxy'. Which I certainly agree with. The 'deadliest race' is often used as a hook to keep viewers watching or attract viewers. Which is fine, I suppose, but I'd like to see it be true for once. In fact, the Mire may well have been a great warrior race in an actual battle, but the final confrontation was less a battle than a trick.

However, this doesn't mean I dislike the monster. Indeed, I found them a threatening force and so did the Doctor, apparently. Heck, they ground up an army for an energy drink(Which, by the way, did anyone else find that incredibly awkward and creepy?)

Their humiliation was slightly contrived(they should have been able to kill at least one person), but I suppose it's forgivable, as the Doctor's plan was to humiliate them.

The Plot:

I've covered most of this with the previous section, but there are a few things I want to say.

I really enjoyed the tension of the 20 minutes between Ashildr's declaration of war and the final battle, but wish a little bit of the humour there had been cut out to preserve the feeling of tension.

As far as pacing, the episode seemed fairly consistent, if a bit rushed. I had gotten so used to two-parters that I missed the slow, tense, development of Under the Lake/Before the Flood.

As far as humour, this episode is, admittedly, pretty darn funny. I especially like the pre-title scenes.

The Series Arc:

Ah, this is where the fun begins. You all know how I love to theorize, and this episode gives ground for a lot of quite intriguing theories.

We'll start with Ashildr. I must say, I'm quite excited for next week. I can't wait to see what scars immortality has inflicted on the innocent dreamer we saw this week. It'll be heartbreaking, but oh so intriguing. It almost seems as though she may be something of a villain.

However, I do not think she is the hybrid that Davros spoke of in “The Magician's Apprentice”. No, that's just too simple. Allow me to present a different theory as to the hybrid. I present, Clara Oswald.

“Oh, really?”, you say? Yes, really. Consider for a moment what the Doctor has said about Clara this season. She's “Someone he can't bear to lose”. Someday the very thought of her will hurt. He's scared something might happen to her. A lot of people point to these lines as evidence that Clara will die. And I won't disagree, it does seem the obvious implication. But is it, perhaps, a bit too obvious?

C'mon, we know Moffat. Foreshadowing is very like him, but not like this. This foreshadowing is far too overt. It just screams “Look, Clara's going to die!”. I don't buy it. Yes, perhaps Clara will die, but if she does, I'd bet money the Doctor brings her back. The Doctor's despair at her apparent death in “The Magician's Apprentice” shows just how much he cares about Clara. His claim that he's “changing time to save Clara” in “Before the Flood” shows how far he's willing to go to keep her alive. If the Doctor was willing to create a so-called “tidal wave” to save a Viking girl he's known for a day, how much do you think it would take for him to resurrect his beloved companion? Could the Doctor potentially make Clara immortal?

The answer is absolutely yes. But we have confirmation that Jenna Coleman is leaving Doctor Who this season( ). This leaves us with only one form of immortality: regeneration. “But Clara isn't a Time Lady!”, you protest. While I maintain she could very well be, she may not have to be a Time Lady to regenerate. You may remember that I commented that since “The Magician's Apprentice” revealed that the Doctor can use regeneration energy on demand, he may one day use it to resurrect a companion. We know a Time Lord can gift their regenerations, and use them to resurrect a dead Time Lord(“Let's Kill Hitler”). Thus, the only question is, is regeneration energy compatible with human anatomy? Considering the only known difference between Time Lords and humans is that they have two hearts, we can assume that any issues would lie there. My guess is that regeneration works because when one heart stops, the other can remain beating long enough to begin the process of regeneration. Thus, someone who was already dead wouldn't need two hearts. So, in theory, Clara's regeneration is completely feasible.

Clara's regeneration would make her a hybrid, and one of great enough importance to be the one Davros spoke of, because she would be half Time Lord, half human. “But humans are not a great warrior race!”, you argue. No, but Clara Oswald is a great warrior, almost of the Doctor's own caliber. A combination of the Doctor and Clara would be just the thing to fulfill that prophecy.

But what ramifications could Doctor Oswald(as I dub this hybrid) have? Some would argue she would end up like Donna, being forced to have her memory wiped to save her life. But there's a subtle difference here. Donna became a literal Time Lord/Human. Clara's regeneration would leave her fully human, not changing her physical anatomy, only resurrecting her from death, and just possibly giving her the ability to regenerate in the future(as the Doctor probably doesn't know exactly the amount of regeneration energy required to regenerate, he would probably use an excess amount like River did).

But what would Doctor Oswald become? With Clara's recent developments, she has become the Doctor's equal on all counts except her mortality. If she gained immortality and regenerated into a completely new person with a new personality, might she just become the greatest villain in Doctor Who history? Just some food for thought.

But that's not my only theory, of course. The other one is much simpler and perhaps more poignant. If the Doctor simply cannot bear to lose Clara, might he abandon her on Earth to keep her safe from the dangers of traveling with him? Some filming pictures and a small piece of dialogue revealed from the finale episode may indicate that the Doctor meets a Clara that doesn't know him. Could the Doctor have wiped her memory and left her on Earth to protect her?

Only time will tell if my theories are correct, but I'm fairly certain I'm close to the mark. If all this foreshadowing is simply pointing to Clara's death, I have to say I'll be disappointed. Making everyone think Clara is about to meet her doom, then springing a different ending on them would be a marvelous bit of trickery.

Anywho, those are my theories for the Series Arc. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, point out holes in my reasoning, or remind me of clues I may have forgotten!

Yes, it's incredibly long. Sorry, I got carried away.

....woah.

I like your idea of Clara being the hybrid. Seeing those pictures from the finale filming...I kind of feel like maybe they are going to figure out a way so that the Clara the Doctor stops traveling with eventually is more like herself. Less Doctor-ish again. Like she finds her character again, or Clara dies and he meets another variation/clone of her that isn't hardened by all that's happened. I don't know;)

[KODY 105]

Greetings and salutations, all! I might be making a comeback to this forum to discuss the shows of which I am a current audience member. My Doctor Who group meets on Wednesday nights to watch the latest episode.

Doctor Who - s09e04 - Before the Flood discussion below:

I loved the cue cards (someone had to explain to me what he was doing; maybe I'm slow) from the first half (technically episode 3, Under the Lake). Nice hologram trick (I had forgotten they had done earlier in this two-parter). I liked the time-twisty parts and the doctor's hiding in the sarcophagus (sorry; what did they call it here? Sarcogphagus comes from my Stargate days). That very much reminds me of Amy's being in the Pandorica earlier this show.

[The Kings Daughter]

. . .
o.o merp.

Scattered thoughts:
Well that was very emotional and hit close to home because I've thought about life a lot of the way Ashildr has as some point or another. I have a philosopher personality. It'll be interesting to see her again...I'm glad she's coming back in the Raven episode. I hope that she doesn't become a villain like Missy or whats-her-name in Merlin. It was a good episode and I love how they explained Clara's not being there. It made total sense.
I was kind of thinking that opening the rift would be a way to bring Danny back. I'm glad they didn't for the story though. Although I didn't understand all the implications of the rift.
I find it really weird that Ashildr didn't save any of her children. Unless she couldn't choose between them all? Or she couldn't bear for them to live like her.
I appreciate the nod to Captain Harkness, even if I don't like him all that much. But did the Doctor say he made Jack immortal? Because that was rather Rose...just saying.

Looking at the next trailer intrigues me. I'm so pleased that Osgood is coming back. I'm guessing that the Osgood Missy killed was Zygon-Osgood. I love how they are building this story off of the last Zygon story. It was rather bad of the Doctors (in the 50th) to leave the Zygon copies on earth. *cough*
Since this last episode Clara said she wasn't going anywhere (which is of course a death sentence in Doctor Who and many another show) I expect she'll be leaving very soon. I almost expect her to die in the Zygon episode. Since it's confirmed that she is in the Raven episode and we saw the pictures of her at the diner...Jenna will be in these episodes. But will it be Clara, or a Zygon-Clara? Jenna said about filming her last scene with Capaldi that it was hard not to be emotional, but the scene wasn't suppose to be sad. Then again, it could be that they were filming scenes out of order as happened with Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill's last scene.
All that being said, I try to anticipate and figure out anything I feel unprepared for, but all this is just a really long way of saying anything could happen and I hate waiting.

All I ask is that Clara leave in a beautiful closing way (aka not just killing her off/sending her somewhere) and that she thinks of Danny once more.

But I don't trust Moffat. Then again, I trust him with companions more than Davies.
___

Oh! And I rewatched 'The Girl Who Died' and I feel that it was a big thing that Ashildr apologized for eavesdropping on 12 and Clara. How much of their conversation did she hear? How did it effect her?

___

Interesting. I didn't know that Rigsy was coming back. Clara could become her own Doctor person and Rigsy her companion! Although thankfully Clara is becoming less like the Doctor again.

I need to stop getting distracted with Doctor Who articles and theories.

Quote from the second Zygon episode "Humans cannot accept us the way we really are. If we cannot hide, we must fight. You’re going to be the first. You’re going to be the first to make the humans see."
Oh dear. Are they talking to Osgood or Clara?

Summary of the Raven episode: " The Doctor and Clara, with their old friend Rigsy, find themselves in a secret alien world, folded away among the streets of London. Not all of them will get out alive. One of the three intruders must face the raven..." Well dash it all, is this when Clara leaves?

__

"When asked at San Diego Comic-con earlier this month if series nine would explain how the Twelfth Doctor came to Gallifrey’s aid in the anniversary special (see video below), Capaldi replied emphatically “Yes,” though he went on to explain that he couldn’t say much more about exactly how that would play out." (url)
Well good! I wondered how that worked. That should have a lot to do with the series finale, I should think. I wonder what comes up that he realizes he needs to go back and give them extra help.

November is going to be long. And here I am talking to myself and hating waiting.

I think I'm done.

[SirWhit]

Far fetched theory: The portal thingy comes back in the finale, and Clara ends up using it for one reason or another. Maybe to open a portal to Gallifrey, I dunno.

[Knight Fisher]

I thought these were the best Moffat era episodes.

[SirWhit]

Below are my immediate thoughts on the episode that I *cough* used Hola to watch. Nifty thing, isn't it?

O_o

[Woody]

Hey everyone, I wrote a couple articles for Doctor Who TV this week, outlining my theories for the Series 9 arc and Clara's departure. You should go read them!

Halfway Out of the Dark: The Series 9 Arc (Part 1)
Halfway Out of the Dark: Clara's Departure (Part 2)

[Knight Fisher]

Anyone know why they chose to go with the all two parter season?