Doctor Who’s season 9 is the last one for Jenna Coleman’s character Clara. The thing of it is, she might be dead already.
It’s not that we are all on Team Let’s Kill A Companion, but death is a real possibility that hasn’t been explored with companions in the reboot era in Doctor Who. In the reboot era, the Doctor’s companions have respectively been trapped in an alternative universe, have voluntarily left the TARDIS, have had all memory of the Doctor wiped, and have been transported back in time to New York where the Doctor can’t get to them because…because…yes, we know, we struggle with the Amy and Rory logic too. Bottomline, in the high stakes game that travelling with the Doctor is, it’s a wonder that a companion hasn’t died yet.
Even though Doctor Who is very much pitched as a tea time, family show in the U.K., that doesn’t mean a death can’t happen. Plenty of people associated with the Doctor, who we would not consider to be companions, have been killed in the reboot era. Just a few of these are Gwen in season 1 in “The Unquiet Dead,” multiple villagers in season 3 in “The Family of Blood,” and too many people to name in just about every episode in season 4. Last year we lost Danny Pink, who was a major recurring character.
In classic Doctor Who, one of the most profound moments was when the Doctor’s companion, Adric, died. In a battle with the Cybermen that went horribly wrong, Adric almost manages to save himself, the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa. Unfortunately, due to one last Cyberman firing a shot into the control panel of his spaceship, Adric ends up going down with his spaceship uncertain if he has done enough. Adric, in short, sacrificed himself for the greater good.
We could easily see Clara’s death being similar to Adric’s. Clara would absolutely sacrifice herself to save the Doctor and the human race. In fact, we think there is strong evidence to suggest that she’s actually dead already, and the Doctor is just having trouble letting go. He’s having adventures with her along her timeline pre-death, but walking a tightrope of not changing her history to create a paradox.
Death in a Dalek
In season 9, episode 1 Clara taps into a Dalek in a move that had us all screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” What if she never really got out? What if she only temporarily escaped, and died later that day. Perhaps she’s not dead, but in a vegetative state? Can anyone really be a Dalek/Human and live? Did the Doctor really go back to kill Davros because Clara was actually dead, and instead instilled mercy to give her a merciful death?
Underwater mystery
Source
The Doctor leaves Clara to go back and research the history of the underwater town. In the process, he almost creates a huge paradox by meeting himself. He usually doesn’t take such risks. On top of that, he is also quite clear on Clara having to stay alive. He is doing all this for Clara to survive. Is she on life support in the future? What’s going on?
The Ashildr factor
"Premonition…it's just remembering in the wrong direction." #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/48UcxCnc6e
— Doctor Who BBCA (@DoctorWho_BBCA) October 18, 2015
In “The Girl Who Died,” Ashildr first looks at Clara and the Doctor oddly. Lots of people thought it was some connection to the Doctor, but what if it’s Clara. What if in some way Ashildr knew Clara being with the Doctor then was inherently wrong; Clara was already dead in another timeline. Later that episode, the Doctor then saves Ashildr and makes her immortal–not something he is usually prone to doing. Could his recently dead companion have influenced this?
"I've missed you, Clara Oswald." "Well don't worry, daft old man, I'm not going anywhere!" #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/3d9eh6ya7G
— Doctor Who BBCA (@DoctorWho_BBCA) October 25, 2015
In “The Woman Who Lived,” the Doctor goes most of the episode without Clara. Again there is lots of talk on life, death, and loss. At the end of the episode the Doctor reunites with Clara and sentimentally talks about missing her. He’s not normally like that. We see Ashildr stalking Clara. Is she the cause of Clara’s death, or a witness to the Doctor’s sadness?
Zygons and time gaps
At one point during “The Zygon Inversion,” Osgood asks the Doctor if he thinks Clara’s dead. She obviously means it in regards to their present timeline, but is that how he takes it? Later on, Clara, who we are led to believe is a punctual control freak, seems unaware of how much time has elapsed during the Zygon pod period. She says three days, the Doctor says five months.
Something is going on.
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