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'''The Hybrid''' was a Gallifreyan legend telling of a creature thought to be crossbred from two warrior races - the [[Time Lords]] and the [[Daleks]] - according to prophecies from [[the Matrix]]. Rassilon was searching for information about the Hybrid as according to the legend it would stand over the ruins of Gallifrey. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')
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{{video|The Hybrid Confession - Heaven Sent - Doctor Who - BBC|thumb|The [[Twelfth Doctor]] confesses about his knowledge of the Hybrid. ([[TV]]: ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'')}}
The '''Prophecy of the Hybrid''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)|Dalek Combat Training Manual]]'') otherwise shortened to simply '''the Hybrid''', was a [[Gallifreyan]] legend that said all [[the Matrix|Matrix]] [[prophecy|prophecies]] [[War prediction|predicted]] that a [[hybrid]] creature, thought to be crossbred from two [[warrior race]]s, would stand over the ruins of [[Gallifrey]] and unravel the [[Web of Time]], breaking a billion billion [[heart]]s to heal its own.  ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') According to the ''[[Dalek Combat Training Manual]]'', the text of the legend dated back to the [[Cloister Wars]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)|Dalek Combat Training Manual]]'') while [[A Brief History of Time Lords|another account]] claimed it was the first prophecy that was made by the Matrix, but it was ignored at the time given that it was forecasted to occur billions of years in the future. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') Nonetheless, the Time Lords were certain it would come eventually. ([[TV]]: ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'')
 
The ''Dalek Combat Manual'', even despite being part of a confidential chapter intended only for [[section leader]]s, blanked out what the text of the legend actually entailed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)|Dalek Combat Training Manual]]'') During the [[Last Great Time War]], [[Davros (Palindrome)|an alternate Davros]] separately proposed to both the [[Eleventh General]] and a [[Supreme Dalek]] that he could create the Hybrid to win the conflict. When he attempted to create the creature based on a mixture of his and the Doctor's genetics, the [[retro-regeneration]] the Doctor was affected by caused the specimen to collapse. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[A Genius for War (audio story)|A Genius for War]]'')
 
On the last day of the conflict, [[the Visionary]] had predicted Gallifrey would fall. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') When the planet survived the Time War, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'') {{Sumpter}} began to fear that the Hybrid would bring about the prophesied fall. Convinced by [[Missy]] that the Twelfth Doctor knew about the creature, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') he trapped and imprisoned the Doctor in his [[confession dial]] for information about the Hybrid. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')


== References ==
== References ==
[[Davros]] attempted to transform some of his Daleks into Time Lord [[hybrid]]s, intending to fulfil an ancient Gallifreyan prophecy which warned of a Dalek-Time Lord Hybrid that would conquer [[Gallifrey]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Witch's Familiar]]'') However, the [[Twelfth Doctor]] later claimed the Daleks would never allow anything to be half-Dalek and that the hybrid of Time Lord prophecy was "Me". ([[TV]]: ''[[Heaven Sent]]'') He later shared this theory with [[Ashildr]], at which point she countered with the theory that either he singly was the Hybrid. Alternatively, she suggested that if the Hybrid could be interpreted as being more than one being, then the Hybrid could refer to the pair of the Doctor and his companion [[Clara Oswald]]. Another theory was that the hybrid might be the Doctor and the Master's relationship. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent]]'', ''[[Face the Raven]]'')
[[File:The Daleks Regenerate.jpg|thumb|left|The Daleks receive the Doctor's regeneration energy from [[Colony Sarff]] on [[Skaro]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Witch's Familiar (TV story)|The Witch's Familiar]]'')]]
It was popularly supposed that the two warrior races would be the [[Time Lord]]s and the [[Dalek]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') [[Davros]] attempted to fulfil the prophecy by giving some of his Daleks [[regeneration energy]] taken from the [[Twelfth Doctor]], transforming them into Time Lord hybrids. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Witch's Familiar (TV story)|The Witch's Familiar]]'') However, the Doctor later believed that the Daleks would never allow anything to be half-Dalek. ([[TV]]: ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'') Davros was left to imagine the hybrid creature that could have been made if he and the Doctor worked together. However, now that he had access to [[regeneration energy]], Davros believed he had great possibilities for future experiments. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Secrets of the Dalek Laboratory (short story)|Secrets of the Dalek Laboratory]]'')
 
The Twelfth Doctor claimed at various points to possess special knowledge about the Hybrid, going so far as to one point stating that the Hybrid was "me". ([[TV]]: ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'', ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') It was suggested that knowledge of the Hybrid prophecies from the [[Cloisters]] originally drove the Doctor from Gallifrey, and [[Ashildr]] proposed that the Doctor himself was a half-human half-Time Lord hybrid. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') However, [[Boy (Heaven Sent)|the author]] of the [[Time Lord Academy]] [[A Brief History of Time Lords|textbook]] on [[Gallifreyan history]] believed that the Doctor was bluffing when he said that he was the Hybrid and went on to further theorise that the Doctor had no idea what the Hybrid was, merely using the Time Lords' fear of it against them as [[revenge]] for killing Clara Oswald. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'')
 
Other possible candidates for the hybrid included the part-[[human]] part-[[Mire]] [[Ashildr]] (at one point proposed by the Doctor) ([[TV]]: ''[[The Girl Who Died (TV story)|The Girl Who Died]]'', ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]''); the simultaneously-human-and-[[Zygon]] [[Petronella Osgood|Osgood]]; ([[TV]]: ''[[The Zygon Invasion (TV story)|The Zygon Invasion]]'') the part-[[organic]] part-[[sleep dust]] [[Sandman (Sleep No More)|Sandmen]]; ([[TV]]: ''[[Sleep No More (TV story)|Sleep No More]]'') the "part-human part-[[Bad Wolf (entity)|wolf]]" [[Rose Tyler]]; the post-[[Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis|metacrisis]] [[Donna Noble|Doctor Donna]]; and the half-Time Lord [[River Song]]. However, none of these quite fit the prophecy. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') [[Dalek Caan]] stated that even he did not know who the Hybrid really was. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Dalek Caan (short story)|Dalek Caan]]'')
 
In the Cloisters at the [[end of the universe]], Ashildr posited to the Twelfth Doctor that the Hybrid could be interpreted as referring to more than one being: specifically, the pairing of the Doctor and his companion [[Clara Oswald]]. Just prior to losing his memories of Clara, the Doctor indicated that his reckless actions in trying to prevent her death made him the Hybrid. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'') A Time Lord author agreed with this theory, noting it was the only one that truly fit the prophecy. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'')
 
In [[2002]], [[Sam Jones]] told [[Griffin (Unnatural History)|Griffin]] about a Gallifreyan prophecy concerning a hybrid. She said the Doctor was a hybrid, [[the Doctor's father|his father]] a Time Lord and [[the Doctor's mother|his mother]] a human, and that he was destined to unite the two races and "bring good old human niceness into their alien society". Though she thought she was bluffing to stall Griffin, the [[Eighth Doctor]] later asked her who had told her about the prophecy. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Unnatural History (novel)|Unnatural History]]'') {{Simm|n=The Master}}, who intended for the human-turned [[Toclafane]] to establish his [[New Time Lord Empire]], suggested in conversation with the [[Tenth Doctor]] that the Doctor had always dreamt of "Time Lords and humans combined". ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'')


== Possible Interpretations of the Hybrid ==
The Thirteenth Doctor later speculated that the Hybrid could refer to the [[Spy Master|Master]] after he had merged with the [[Cyberium]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Short History of Everyone (novel)|A Short History of Everyone]]'')
In all possible theories of its identity, the Hybrid refers to itself as "Me." This leads to several possible interpretations as to who it is based on the theories mentioned above. The three most prominent candidates for being the Hybrid are the Doctor, Ashildr, and the Doctor and Clara put together.


=== Ashildr ===
== Behind the scenes ==
When Ashildr died after helping him and her village fend off [[Mire|the Mire]], the Doctor resurrected her using a Mire medical kit. The result was Ashildr becoming immortal and losing the "ability" to die. (TV: ''[[The Girl Who Died (TV story)|The Girl Who Died]]'') The next time the Doctor encountered her, Ashildr was calling herself "me", after living through centuries of losing everyone she ever loved. From lovers to children, she continually lost people she cared about until she became callous and uncaring towards others and bitter towards the Doctor for condemning her to such a lonely existence. She told the Doctor that the name she called herself now was "Me", since there was no one else to call her "Ashildr", and that because she would be the only constant in her life. (TV: ''[[The Woman Who Lived (TV story)|The Woman Who Lived]]'') When the Doctor met her again, Ashildr was standing in the ruins of the Cloisters, a chamber underneath Gallifrey - fulfilling that part of the legend. The Doctor likened her to a hybrid, explaining that she was a result of two warrior races - human and Mire - although the apter description was the former with a bit of the latter. (TV: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')
* The Hybrid prophecy is played out throughout ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'' and ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]''. Then [[the Doctor]] and [[Clara Oswald|Clara]], of two warrior races, stand in the ruins of [[Gallifrey]] at the end of the story, we also see the Doctor unravel the [[Web of Time]] saving Clara from death and the Doctor also kills a billion billion hearts to heal his own when the Doctor kept burning himself up to restore his own body in the Dial.
* Although ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'', among other [[series 9 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 9]] episodes, offered multiple possibilities as to the identity/nature of the Hybrid, showrunner [[Steven Moffat]], in an interview for [[DWM 504|''Doctor Who Magazine'' #504]], confirmed that he intended that the Hybrid was the pairing of the Doctor and Clara. He retroactively linked this fact to the reason why [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] exhibited some hostility towards Clara in [[Series 7 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 7]].


=== The Doctor ===
While the death of his companion Clara Oswald was still impending, the Doctor threatened Ashildr with exposure to the world if she did not do anything to save her. When Ashildr pointed out that the Doctor would never do such a thing, the Doctor's chilling reply was "The Doctor is no longer here, you are stuck with ''me ''now!" It's possible that the moment Clara died was the moment the Doctor became the Hybrid. (TV: ''[[Face the Raven (TV story)|Face the Raven]]'') As stated above, when the Doctor emerged from his confession dial onto Gallifrey, he explained that the Hybrid couldn't be half-Time Lord-half-Dalek as the Daleks would never allow a half-Dalek being to exist given their ideas on racial purity. In keeping with the theory, the Doctor - donning his sonic sunglasses - disclosed that the Hybrid was "Me." (TV: ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]]'') The Doctor did indeed end up standing over the ruins of Gallifrey when he met Ashildr again at the end of time. (TV:'' [[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')


=== The Doctor and Another Person ===
{{TitleSort}}
When the Doctor met Ashildr again at the end of the universe in the ruins of the [[Cloisters]], she told him her theory that the Hybrid was not one person but two, the second being either Clara or [[the Master]]. The Doctor dismissed this theory along with another theory she had where the Doctor ran away from Gallifrey because he was afraid of himself. (TV: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')[[Category:Myths and legends]]
[[Category:Myths and legends]]
[[Category:Secrets]]
[[Category:Prophecy]]

Latest revision as of 20:17, 25 April 2024

The Twelfth Doctor confesses about his knowledge of the Hybrid. (TV: Heaven Sent)

The Prophecy of the Hybrid, (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) otherwise shortened to simply the Hybrid, was a Gallifreyan legend that said all Matrix prophecies predicted that a hybrid creature, thought to be crossbred from two warrior races, would stand over the ruins of Gallifrey and unravel the Web of Time, breaking a billion billion hearts to heal its own. (TV: Hell Bent) According to the Dalek Combat Training Manual, the text of the legend dated back to the Cloister Wars, (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) while another account claimed it was the first prophecy that was made by the Matrix, but it was ignored at the time given that it was forecasted to occur billions of years in the future. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) Nonetheless, the Time Lords were certain it would come eventually. (TV: Heaven Sent)

The Dalek Combat Manual, even despite being part of a confidential chapter intended only for section leaders, blanked out what the text of the legend actually entailed. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) During the Last Great Time War, an alternate Davros separately proposed to both the Eleventh General and a Supreme Dalek that he could create the Hybrid to win the conflict. When he attempted to create the creature based on a mixture of his and the Doctor's genetics, the retro-regeneration the Doctor was affected by caused the specimen to collapse. (AUDIO: A Genius for War)

On the last day of the conflict, the Visionary had predicted Gallifrey would fall. (TV: The End of Time) When the planet survived the Time War, (TV: The Day of the Doctor) Rassilon began to fear that the Hybrid would bring about the prophesied fall. Convinced by Missy that the Twelfth Doctor knew about the creature, (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) he trapped and imprisoned the Doctor in his confession dial for information about the Hybrid. (TV: Hell Bent)

References[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Daleks receive the Doctor's regeneration energy from Colony Sarff on Skaro. (TV: The Witch's Familiar)

It was popularly supposed that the two warrior races would be the Time Lords and the Daleks. (TV: Hell Bent) Davros attempted to fulfil the prophecy by giving some of his Daleks regeneration energy taken from the Twelfth Doctor, transforming them into Time Lord hybrids. (TV: The Witch's Familiar) However, the Doctor later believed that the Daleks would never allow anything to be half-Dalek. (TV: Heaven Sent) Davros was left to imagine the hybrid creature that could have been made if he and the Doctor worked together. However, now that he had access to regeneration energy, Davros believed he had great possibilities for future experiments. (PROSE: Secrets of the Dalek Laboratory)

The Twelfth Doctor claimed at various points to possess special knowledge about the Hybrid, going so far as to one point stating that the Hybrid was "me". (TV: Heaven Sent, Hell Bent) It was suggested that knowledge of the Hybrid prophecies from the Cloisters originally drove the Doctor from Gallifrey, and Ashildr proposed that the Doctor himself was a half-human half-Time Lord hybrid. (TV: Hell Bent) However, the author of the Time Lord Academy textbook on Gallifreyan history believed that the Doctor was bluffing when he said that he was the Hybrid and went on to further theorise that the Doctor had no idea what the Hybrid was, merely using the Time Lords' fear of it against them as revenge for killing Clara Oswald. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)

Other possible candidates for the hybrid included the part-human part-Mire Ashildr (at one point proposed by the Doctor) (TV: The Girl Who Died, Hell Bent); the simultaneously-human-and-Zygon Osgood; (TV: The Zygon Invasion) the part-organic part-sleep dust Sandmen; (TV: Sleep No More) the "part-human part-wolf" Rose Tyler; the post-metacrisis Doctor Donna; and the half-Time Lord River Song. However, none of these quite fit the prophecy. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) Dalek Caan stated that even he did not know who the Hybrid really was. (PROSE: Dalek Caan)

In the Cloisters at the end of the universe, Ashildr posited to the Twelfth Doctor that the Hybrid could be interpreted as referring to more than one being: specifically, the pairing of the Doctor and his companion Clara Oswald. Just prior to losing his memories of Clara, the Doctor indicated that his reckless actions in trying to prevent her death made him the Hybrid. (TV: Hell Bent) A Time Lord author agreed with this theory, noting it was the only one that truly fit the prophecy. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)

In 2002, Sam Jones told Griffin about a Gallifreyan prophecy concerning a hybrid. She said the Doctor was a hybrid, his father a Time Lord and his mother a human, and that he was destined to unite the two races and "bring good old human niceness into their alien society". Though she thought she was bluffing to stall Griffin, the Eighth Doctor later asked her who had told her about the prophecy. (PROSE: Unnatural History) The Master, who intended for the human-turned Toclafane to establish his New Time Lord Empire, suggested in conversation with the Tenth Doctor that the Doctor had always dreamt of "Time Lords and humans combined". (TV: Last of the Time Lords)

The Thirteenth Doctor later speculated that the Hybrid could refer to the Master after he had merged with the Cyberium. (PROSE: A Short History of Everyone)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Hybrid prophecy is played out throughout Heaven Sent and Hell Bent. Then the Doctor and Clara, of two warrior races, stand in the ruins of Gallifrey at the end of the story, we also see the Doctor unravel the Web of Time saving Clara from death and the Doctor also kills a billion billion hearts to heal his own when the Doctor kept burning himself up to restore his own body in the Dial.
  • Although Hell Bent, among other series 9 episodes, offered multiple possibilities as to the identity/nature of the Hybrid, showrunner Steven Moffat, in an interview for Doctor Who Magazine #504, confirmed that he intended that the Hybrid was the pairing of the Doctor and Clara. He retroactively linked this fact to the reason why the Doctor's TARDIS exhibited some hostility towards Clara in series 7.