The Return of the Time Lords
Speaking of the return of the Time Lords and rules, if it’s true (as the 10th Doctor claimed) that it was the Time Lords’ absence that kept the walls shut between parallel worlds, once they fully return, the doors between parallel worlds should open once again, correct? That alone could change everything! It could also create another war – which could explain the Moment’s war-torn outfit. But why would the Moment and possibly the future Curator Doctor want to bring back the Time Lords, you might ask? Well, there could be a number of reasons. While there could be a war, the ending might be worth it. Or maybe they need the Time Lords to return to defeat an even more dangerous enemy. A curator is a guardian of sorts, so what is it that the Curator is guarding? We have the painting, but could he be collecting other clues as well that he’s protecting?
On top of closed walls, before the Time Lords were brought back – yes it is clear to me that the Doctors changed time in the 50th anniversary and not that it had always happened – other problems existed. Look at “Father’s Day.” The Doctor admits that if the Time Lords were around the creatures could have been stopped. Again, reiterating that the future may need the Time Lords to return for their own gain. Perhaps to stop something or fix something only they can.
Now, think back to “Listen.” How exactly did Clara meet the Doctor as a child in the same barn mind you that the War Doctor went to in the 50th anniversary? Shouldn’t that have been time locked? Cracks in the time lock are opening with the Time Lords now hidden away in a pocket universe. Walls between worlds could be bending as well. The rules are changing once again. So the question remains, what will happen when the Time Lords are fully restored to their power? What consequences will the Doctor have to face for breaking so many rules? And what does the future hold? Are their secret soldiers in a war that Doctor isn’t privy to?
The Importance of Hybrids
On another note, this is the season of the hybrids. Just consider the prophecy of the Time Lord/Dalek hybrids (something I’m sure we will be returning to in the future). Now, we have another hybrid in Ashildr, a revelation for the Doctor:
“But Ashildr isn’t just human anymore. There’s a little piece of alien inside her, so in a way, she’s… In a way… she’s a hybrid.”
The look on his face tells me something important: The Doctor realized something; he’s just not saying it aloud. So what did he realize? One theory I couldn’t help but think (after ALL the Donna references sprinkled throughout) is that she IS the hybrid he was thinking about.
When the Doctor took away Donna’s memories to save her (else she would explode), she in a sense died; the real Donna that is, the one who did all those wonderful things with the Doctor. She couldn’t be the Doctor Donna without a physical death as well. Her human brain couldn’t handle being a Time Lord hybrid. She would just burn up (much like Rose and Bad Wolf if one wants to go down that road…)
HOWEVER, and this is very significant in my book, if Donna received the same Mire technology as Ashildr, couldn’t Donna be saved? With her body in constant repair, couldn’t the real Donna return? I’m just saying. Isn’t it possible that the Doctor realized this when he talked of Ashildr? I know there was something brewing in that mind of his.
Other hybrids include the human Doctor (a Donna/Doctor hybrid), Bad Wolf (though the 9th Doctor already healed Rose), and even the Dalek from series one that Rose touched, a hybrid changed with her compassion. I’m sure the theories here could be endless.
Personally, I think it might come back to the prophecy mentioned by Davros:
DAVROS: There was a prophecy, Doctor, on your own world.
DOCTOR: Please you must, you must stop this. You must stop this!
DAVROS: It spoke of a hybrid creature. Two great warrior races forced together to create a warrior greater than either. Is that what you ran from, Doctor? Your part in the coming of the hybrid? Half Dalek, half Time Lord? (Though it’s possible that Davros is incorrect in assuming what the two warrior races are – remember the Mire and Vikings are both warrior races as well; it could be any two races.)
Again, with the Doctor always running, but what if, for a short while, he could stop? What if there was only one person to stop the supposed Dalek/Time Lord hybrids? (Though do we even know the hybrid is bad?) What if it is the same woman who stopped Davros before? What if this all has to do with Donna being able to constantly be repaired? What if Donna is coming back? I know; sounds unlikely! But I don’t want to rule it out just yet. What if this just means the Doctor has to once again create a new hybrid? Maybe they need the Time Lords to defeat whatever’s coming. The possibilities are endless.
We can’t forget the Doctor’s confession (could he have created something horrible) or the possibility that the Daleks and Time Lords will have to work together to build a hybrid to stop something even more fearsome than the Time Lords and the Daleks. One can’t also help but think that Ashildr is somehow connected to all of this. (And on a side note, should Ashildr’s story be a spinoff series? Our new Captain Jack?)