Howling:Clara's Super Powers?

The Howling → Clara's Super Powers?

There be spoilers about un-released stories here.
Run back to the forums if you're scared.

(I'm moving this off of Clara's Talk page to The Howling, seems more appropriate)

Clara was a human woman, albeit one scattered throughout the Doctor's timeline of 900+ years. But she had no superhuman powers. She was pretty good with computers (thanks to the Great Intelligence, by the way) and pretty clever but that was about it.

Exactly how could she possibly undo all of the damage that Great Intelligence wrecked upon the Doctor's life it entered his timestream? I'm not sure if even a Time Lord could follow the tracks of the GI and undo whatever they did, much less a human being.

Any ideas? Badwolff ☎ 20:44, May 21, 2013 (UTC)

Well, it appears that Clara simply "overwrites" the Great Intelligence in all of its appearances. --Bold Clone 20:52, May 21, 2013 (UTC)

One thing that Clara managed to do that Time Lords couldn't is access Gallifrey's past. It was pretty solidly established in the classic series that time travel into Gallifrey's past was prevented, although it wasn't explained how. By going via the Doctor's timestream, Clara walked through whatever protections there were.

On a closely related point: In The End of Time, the Doctor explained that "nothing could get in or get out" of the time lock on the Time War, "except something that was already there". In that story, it was the noise in the Master's head that was "already there" & provided a way through the time lock. The Doctor's timestream was "already there", too, so Clara ought to have had a way of walking through the time lock & into the Time War. (The same, of course, applies to the GI.) --89.242.69.88^{talk to me} 01:25, May 22, 2013 (UTC)

I have a theory on Clara's "powers" but it may be too "spoilery" even for here. [Unsigned but appears to be DCT 12:14, May 22, 2013 (UTC)]

It's up to you whether you post it or not but, if you do post ir (or anything else), please sign your contributions. You can do that by typing 4 tildes (~~~~) or with the signature button on the toolbar. --2.96.29.191^{talk to me} 12:30, May 22, 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, was supposed to sign it but was distracted and rushed by technical considerations. I am actually loving the simplicity of those tildesDCT ☎ 15:55, May 22, 2013 (UTC)

Don't worry too much about it. It's just that I've run into a succession of unsigned contributions lately, in several discussions, & decided it was time someone posted a reminder. Yours just happened to be the first unsigned one I found after deciding that. Personally, I try to remember always to use the "preview" button to check I've not missed anything out, like the signature -- but I occasionally forget, too. --2.96.16.178^{talk to me} 16:41, May 22, 2013 (UTC)

Back to the topic (more or less): One thing we don't yet know is how much the original Clara will remember of her other lives. If she does remember them, there'll be another reason for her to be very special to the Doctor -- she'll be the only other person still around who remembers Gallifrey as it was. --2.96.17.223^{talk to me} 12:57, May 23, 2013 (UTC)

potenitally and technically could clara be an access to the time war and gallifrey as i assumed she could go to gallifrey because by entering the doctors timestream she was then in a timywhimy sense 'always' on galifrey rather than traveling through the time lock, like the drums in the masters head (i might have said the same thing as above)...but i digress if she was on galifrey within the time lock could she then on only remember it but act as a access point like the master and the diamond in the end of time. 87.83.10.218^{talk to me} 13:36, May 23, 2013 (UTC) ers the events of Journey

also she now remembers the events of journey to the centre of the tradis so presumably she will remember what ever it was that she read about the doctor from the History of the time war book in the library 87.83.10.218^{talk to me} 14:29, May 23, 2013 (UTC)

Yes, that seems highly likely. There's no guarantee she actually remembers everything that happened but she remembers enough to tell us that she could remember what she read, especially if something happened to trigger the memory.

On the Time War & time lock: As I said above (when I was 89, at 01:25, May 22, 2013), the Doctor's timestream ought to have given Clara a way to get through the time lock into the Time War. That probably applies only while she's in his timestream. Once the Doctor gets her back out, she'll probably not retain the ability to get through the time lock. Remember, though that he hasn't yet got her out. The episode ended before that could happen, so there might be more complications to come (in the Anniversary Special), before the Doctor & Clara finally get out.

There could be a Clara in the Time War but she'd have to be one the Doctor doesn't remember (not yet, anyway). If he had remembered her, seeing her in The Snowmen would have set all kinds of alarm bells ringing immediately. Anyone he recognised as a survivor of the Time War would have that effect!

That reminds me: When Clara spoke of her many lives, she said, "I was born, I lived and I died." The Clara who told the First Doctor which TARDIS to steal was on Gallifrey (in the Citadel of the Time Lords, no less) at a time when there were no humans there. (It was during the Fourth Doctor's time, after he'd parted from Sarah Jane, that humans were first allowed to go there.) If she was born there, that Clara was presumably a Gallifreyan, because her parents would have to be, though maybe not a Time Lord herself. --2.96.31.103^{talk to me} 15:33, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

I posted this thread with one question and, like always, I come back and find dozens of ideas I hadn't considered. It could be that the next episode features The Doctor & Clara getting out of the timestream. I'm still not sure how "our" Clara remained whole, the person we knew before, if she was torn into millions of pieces and strewn throughout the Doctor's timestream. But I think this just going to be a plot hole that doesn't get explained.

One question I have that was brought up in a review of the episode. The Doctor looked for our 21st century Clara after encountering her in the 19th century and Asylum of the Daleks (unknown time). And THEN Clara entered the timestream and went back into time to do those acts. So, like in the naming of Melody Pond, which happened first? Melody Pond was named after Mels...but Mels got her name because she was Melody. So who first came up with the name Melody? No one.

So, it's because of future Clara that The Doctor was saved (more than twice) and caused him to seek out future Clara that led to her then entering his timestream and setting this course of action in motion. But he was only saved in the past because of future actions he couldn't have known about. This show plays fast and loose with cause and effect! Badwolff ☎ 21:47, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

The Doctor & Clara roaming around the Doctor's timestream (while trying to get out) would let them visit any of the events shown over the last 50 years & as many of those events as Moffat wants them to. As I keep having to say, I don't know what Moffat has in that very strange mind of his, but exploring the Doctor's timestream seems to me like a rather neat way of having an Anniversary Special that revisits all kinds of things throughout the show's 50 years. --89.241.67.98^{talk to me} 23:02, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

That makes sense but I'm not sure whether it is possible for The Doctor and Clara to enter into The Doctor's timestream and stay who they are...remember, Clara was supposed to have fractured into hundreds (millions?) of different Claras. I still don't understand how, at the end of the episode, The Doctor was able to enter his own timestream and find HIS Clara, in tact.

I mean, if that isn't a temporal paradox, I'm not sure what is. He was warned about even coming to Trenzalore, much less walking into his past timestream. I realize that, ultimately, it's Steven Moffat who controls the laws of time, not the Time Lords so who knows what we'll see. But, I would think, being in your own timestream might allow you to watch your life pass before your eyes but I'm not sure whether you can walk back into moments earlier in your life. Badwolff ☎ 19:57, May 28, 2013 (UTC)

He was indeed warned. What's more, he seems to understand (because he's a Time Lord) why it's such a dangerous thing to do & probably didn't need to be warned. Nonetheless, he's done it.

The warnings are most likely to be for our benefit -- so the audience knows it's a really drastic situation -- & that makes me think Moffat's setting up to show us the consequences. There's something he wants to do & the paradoxical situation is how he intends to bring it about.

The presence of Clara & the Doctor in the Doctor's timestream would (for example) allow Moffat to tell a story about Gallifrey & the Time Lords without needing to undo the time lock or the Time War. Please note that that is only an example. I'm not trying to predict that that really is what he has in mind, just to say it's one of the many possibilities. I don't know what story he has in mind.

I think the Doctor was able to find "his" Clara because she's the one who is inside his timestream. The others are/were "echoes" of her (as she called them). Maybe there'll be "echoes" of Eleven before we're finished.

Anyway, it is definitely a temporal paradox -- & Moffat likes temporal paradoxes! He thinks they're great fun. I don't know if you've read "What I did on my Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow", the short story from which Blink was adapted. If you've not read it, there's a link to the online version at the bottom of the article. In "What I did...", Moffat plays with several paradoxes of varying degrees of importance. (BTW, the story's worth reading for its own sake, anyway.) Moffat isn't going to be ignoring the laws of time, he's going to be using them. --89.241.75.178^{talk to me} 23:14, May 28, 2013 (UTC)

Could Clara actually be the Doctor? In the final scenes of The Name of the Doctor (TV story), set in the apparent wasteland of the Doctor's time stream, all the Doctors are present, including John Hurt's figure; and then there's Clara. Maybe she is part of the Doctor by virtue of existing within his time stream (and being saved by the Doctor). She'd make an interesting #12 (or #13, depending on whether Hurt counts as a previous Doctor). 98.180.49.69^{talk to me} 18:12, June 4, 2013 (UTC)

Clara couldn't already be the Doctor. She will have an unusually strong connection with him now, though, & that connection may get stronger before Eleven regenerates. They're not out of his timestream yet & there are two specials still to come. (I was 89 earlier.) --2.101.62.165^{talk to me} 15:03, June 6, 2013 (UTC)

A really awful thought -- what if the 2012 April Fool's announcement was actually the plan for 2013? doctorwhotv.co.uk:"Next Doctor Will Be Female" The joke was that the Doctor would meet Omega in the Christmas special and regenerates into Jenna Louise Coleman: that could actually work out in 2013. [Unsigned but appears to be 70.168.103.253 01:57, June 7, 2013 (UTC)]

You're right. It is a really awful thought. I've no objection to a female Doctor (if they get someone good) but I don't think J-LC would be the right choice. Either we'd lose Clara after only half a series or J-LC would be horribly overworked & it'd cost a fortune to insert a 2nd copy of her into so many scenes. It'd wreck the schedule, too, taking twice as long to shoot almost everything. As an "April Fool", it might be tolerable; as an actual plan, no. The accountants would never stand for it! --89.242.71.6^{talk to me} 03:41, June 7, 2013 (UTC)

I had this thought recently when I learned Matt Smith was leaving. I would miss Clara too but her story appears to be over. The problem with these serialized dramas these days is that when you connect any of your characters to a plot mystery they can start to tread water when the mystery is solved. We've just seen it happen with Karen Gillan. I don't believe that it's likely they'll do this but at the moment there's little stopping them. Execpt sense, hopefully.DCT ☎ 14:31, June 8, 2013 (UTC)

Clara's story (rather obviously) isn't over yet. The initial mystery has been partly solved. That's all. We now know why she turns up in different times & places. We don't yet know by whom she was put in touch with the Doctor. We don't know how she & the Doctor will get out of his timestream. Much more importantly, we don't yet know the consequences for him or for her.

As you say, "they can start to tread water when the mystery is solved," but "can" doesn't mean "should" or "inevitably will". If they do "tread water", it's poor writing. It can be & ought to be much more interesting to see how a character is affected by what has happened than to see only what has happened.

Much of the revived series -- much of what's been good about the revived series -- has been exploring the consequences for a character of a climactic event. RTD began with the aftermath of the Time War & explored its consequences for the Doctor. Moffat seems to be continuing to explore those consequences.

Entering the Doctor's timestream & being "splintered" throughout time & space is a climactic event for Clara. How will she react to it? How has she been changed by it? What kind of person will she be? If Moffat wants to exploit it (& has the ability to do so), he has enough material in those questions to make Clara a fascinating character for several years yet. (I was 89 earlier.) --2.96.28.29^{talk to me} 16:17, June 8, 2013 (UTC)