Assorted Meta.
Meta cafe time again... Dealing with Doctor Who?, themes in S7 and why Clara is a penguin. (Bet you didn’t see that last one coming! Heee!) ETA: OK, also speculation on finale. (Some of this might be more shorthand than proper indepth meta, because... well, life.)
Spoilers up to, and including, Nightmare in Silver + finale trailers. Please DO NOT post any unofficial spoilers!
Doctor Who?
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Why do I have a feeling that The Name of the Doctor will run along these lines, with minor modifications?
Now the thing is that Doctor Who?’ was also at the heart of the 25th Anniversary. The writers had deliberately been making the Doctor more mysterious, as it was felt he was too well-known after having been around for so long, and the anniversary episode (The Silver Nemesis - a delight of timey-wimey-ness, dark magic, Cybermen and a fabulous villain (Lady Peinforte), as well as Ace blowing stuff up & the Doctor being out-and-out Trickster-y) dealt with this in a very interesting way (italics mine):
RICHARD: Yes, my lady. What will my lady do when you possess the Nemesis?
PEINFORTE: Why, first have revenge on that predictable little man. He will soon arrive, Richard. Oh yes, I expect him. This time there'll be a reckoning with the nameless Doctor whose power is so secret, for I have found his secret out. In good time, I will speak it. I shall be his downfall.
The fall of the Eleventh... Despite my fondness for the Doctor sealing the Time War using his name (and it therefore being v. dangerous), I have a feeling that the danger inherent in his name is... inherent. Oldest question in the universe indicates something older than the Time War, although there is no reason to think the danger is limited to one thing. (After all, his name is the book about the Time War...)
Anyway - Lady Peinforte knows his name and intends to use it against him... Which leads to the end of the episode (spoilers for The Silver Nemesis, btw, as well Remembrance of the Daleks):
(The Doctor and Ace are playing chess in the garden in 1638. The whole episode is interspersed with the Doctor playing a chess game in timey-wimey fashion against an unseen opponent, possibly his past self. Now, however, he’s playing against Ace.)
ACE: So you sent the Nemesis off into space to draw the Cybermen so you could finish them off.
DOCTOR: I suppose I did. How clever of me.
ACE: Just like you nailed the Daleks.
DOCTOR: As I said, Ace. Unfinished business.
(The Doctor tips over his king.)
ACE: There's still one question you haven't answered.
(Richard and a lady lute player approach.)
RICHARD: We have none of this jazz whereof you speak, Doctor, but I think you will like this.
(Richard plays the flute while his companion plays the lute.)
ACE: Professor? Doctor? Who are you?
(The Doctor puts his finger to his lips.)
And my my, there are some gorgeous parallels, aren’t there?
Anyway. We end with a question (THE QUESTION)... and music.
Mmmmmmm.
My main thoughts are that this state of affairs is now reversed. Seven was mysterious and manipulative, always ten steps ahead of everyone else, and generally using people without their knowledge. And currently this is Eleven’s situation - the Silence manipulated events around him (River), so that he had to fake his own death.
But behind - or above - the Silence is someone else manipulating him still. Something which has now sent him Clara... Wonderful, impossible Clara. Something which is is leading him to Trenzalore. (The Somethings might very well be several different Somethings...)
Themes in S7
But before we get to Clara, I shall look at the overall themes of S7. Because it is a very coherent season... If S5 was about re-birth and S6 about death, then S7 is about survival. Not just in the sense of doing what’s necessary to survive, but also about controlling populations. Let me illustrate:
7.01 Asylum of the Daleks. The Daleks employ the ‘Predator’ of the Daleks in order to destroy the crazy, dangerous Daleks which threaten the rest of them.
7.02 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. The Silurians are trying to escape and build a new life, bringing along everything they need (including animals).
7.03 A Town Called Mercy. Jex created his super soldiers in order to win a war and save his people. A few sacrificed for the sake of the many.
7.04 The Power of Three. The bad guys try to ‘cull’ a chunk of the human population, in order to keep it from doing too much damage.
7.05 The Angels Take Manhattan. The Weeping Angel literally *farm* humans to live off, in order to gain power.
7.06 The Snowmen. The Great Intelligence wants to convert people into icemen and women. And the humans are ‘food’ for the snowmen.
7.07 The Bells of St John. Miss Kizlet talks about humans being ‘cattle’.
7.08 The Rings of Akhaten. The singers pacify the god, keeping it asleep - if it begins to wake, they feed it people. (Sacrificing one, to save the many.)
7.09 Cold War. Mutually assured destruction.
7.10 Hide. Lots of talk about surviving wars and the sacrifices made (the people killed for the sake of a good cause). Is Emma worth sacrificing for the sake of Hila? Is the TARDIS for the sake of the Doctor?
7.11 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. A bit of an outlier, although we have an actual book about the story of the Time War. Plus Clara is lost in the TARDIS, and the Doctor doesn’t hesitate for a moment in forcing the van Balen brothers to help rescue her (sacrificing the many for the sake of the one). We also have the TARDIS dying (the last of her kind) - and snarling. (This episode also serves as a mirror for ‘Dinosaurs’, although the mercenaries can be redeemed, unlike Solomon.)
7.12 The Crimson Horror. Mrs Gillyflower is busy ‘recruiting’ pilgrims for her new world.
7.13 Nightmare in Silver. A whole galaxy was destroyed to get rid of the Cybermen, to ensure the survival of the rest of the universe. (If you missed all the previous hints, then this one was a large flashing neon sign.)
Now all of this, of course, points towards the Time War, and what the Doctor did...
‘Porridge’ feels sorry for the poor guy who had to press the button, as he finds it difficult to feel sorry for the abstract trillions. But as a mirror to this we have Ada - the daughter sacrificed so her mother could find the perfect solution to ‘save’ others. Of course Mrs Gillyflower was batshit crazy, but Ada was obviously a River-mirror, and possibly also a Clara mirror... A girl sacrificed ‘for the greater good’. (Hands up everyone who has seen Hot Fuzz and can never hear that phrase without chuckling...)
All of which leads us to Clara.
Why Clara is a Penguin (as well as other things)
First off, then no one can have missed all the egg/bird imagery surrounding Clara. However, it is thanks to the delightful moffat_rocks and her brilliant Tumblr (there is intelligent life on Tumblr! Who knew!) Moffat Rocks that it suddenly clicked together (am so SLOW sometimes, dear god): Clara is a bird! (Link goes to relevant post. And re. that final edit - of course that’s the message!)
Now people are fish, as long established - Victorian!Clara even claims to have invented them, because she disliked swimming alone... Because this bird lives in water (=time), dipping in and out.
And which birds are famous for being able to swim? Penguins!
Ergo, Clara is a penguin. :)
(This was actually Promethia’s insight, it made me laugh for at least a minute solid, so I HAD to share...)
Seriously though, Clara = bird.
And that necklace she wears in ‘The Bells of St John’ is a symbol of Horus, an Egyptian god (with thanks to lonewytch):
From wiki (italics mine):
'Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history, and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists. These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.
[...]
Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the sun, war and protection.'
Because Clara is most certainly dangerous... (Who killed all the Daleks? Oswin!) And - again thanks to moffat_rocks (post here Idris and Clara (OMFG) - I am now 99% certain that Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS was foreshadowing and Clara will blow up the TARDIS. Because would you look at this (paraphrased from wiki!):
Idris was a giant and is thought to have been killed during a battle with Oswald of Northumbria near the River Severn around 632. The River Severn goes up past Gloucester, which was the closest city to Leadworth.
I just.
(No wonder the TARDIS doesn’t like her... The River is obviously River, and we even have her parents thanks to Leadworth. Good grief. Mostly I'm throwing this out there to see what you make of it. Although it all seems pretty straightforward.)
But - one more thing for now! We know that Clara is being manipulated somehow, but have not been able to figure out how...
I totally owe the following to me_llamo_nic ( Crackpot Theory #4815162342 ), even going so far as plain stealing this image:
Was going to leave it there, but had another look at moffat_rocks's Tumblr and... *flails*
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THIS IS EVERYTHING I LOVE!
So go read [what she re-blogged]: tempus-aeterna: Queens and Chess.
Obviously it's not Rassilon, but Omega, and it's all backwards... ♥ (The killer has become protector and the protector becomes downfall. Eeeep. Queeeeeeeens.)
I LIKE THIS VERY MUCH!
Spoilers up to, and including, Nightmare in Silver + finale trailers. Please DO NOT post any unofficial spoilers!
Doctor Who?
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Why do I have a feeling that The Name of the Doctor will run along these lines, with minor modifications?
Now the thing is that Doctor Who?’ was also at the heart of the 25th Anniversary. The writers had deliberately been making the Doctor more mysterious, as it was felt he was too well-known after having been around for so long, and the anniversary episode (The Silver Nemesis - a delight of timey-wimey-ness, dark magic, Cybermen and a fabulous villain (Lady Peinforte), as well as Ace blowing stuff up & the Doctor being out-and-out Trickster-y) dealt with this in a very interesting way (italics mine):
RICHARD: Yes, my lady. What will my lady do when you possess the Nemesis?
PEINFORTE: Why, first have revenge on that predictable little man. He will soon arrive, Richard. Oh yes, I expect him. This time there'll be a reckoning with the nameless Doctor whose power is so secret, for I have found his secret out. In good time, I will speak it. I shall be his downfall.
The fall of the Eleventh... Despite my fondness for the Doctor sealing the Time War using his name (and it therefore being v. dangerous), I have a feeling that the danger inherent in his name is... inherent. Oldest question in the universe indicates something older than the Time War, although there is no reason to think the danger is limited to one thing. (After all, his name is the book about the Time War...)
Anyway - Lady Peinforte knows his name and intends to use it against him... Which leads to the end of the episode (spoilers for The Silver Nemesis, btw, as well Remembrance of the Daleks):
(The Doctor and Ace are playing chess in the garden in 1638. The whole episode is interspersed with the Doctor playing a chess game in timey-wimey fashion against an unseen opponent, possibly his past self. Now, however, he’s playing against Ace.)
ACE: So you sent the Nemesis off into space to draw the Cybermen so you could finish them off.
DOCTOR: I suppose I did. How clever of me.
ACE: Just like you nailed the Daleks.
DOCTOR: As I said, Ace. Unfinished business.
(The Doctor tips over his king.)
ACE: There's still one question you haven't answered.
(Richard and a lady lute player approach.)
RICHARD: We have none of this jazz whereof you speak, Doctor, but I think you will like this.
(Richard plays the flute while his companion plays the lute.)
ACE: Professor? Doctor? Who are you?
(The Doctor puts his finger to his lips.)
And my my, there are some gorgeous parallels, aren’t there?
Anyway. We end with a question (THE QUESTION)... and music.
Mmmmmmm.
My main thoughts are that this state of affairs is now reversed. Seven was mysterious and manipulative, always ten steps ahead of everyone else, and generally using people without their knowledge. And currently this is Eleven’s situation - the Silence manipulated events around him (River), so that he had to fake his own death.
But behind - or above - the Silence is someone else manipulating him still. Something which has now sent him Clara... Wonderful, impossible Clara. Something which is is leading him to Trenzalore. (The Somethings might very well be several different Somethings...)
Themes in S7
But before we get to Clara, I shall look at the overall themes of S7. Because it is a very coherent season... If S5 was about re-birth and S6 about death, then S7 is about survival. Not just in the sense of doing what’s necessary to survive, but also about controlling populations. Let me illustrate:
7.01 Asylum of the Daleks. The Daleks employ the ‘Predator’ of the Daleks in order to destroy the crazy, dangerous Daleks which threaten the rest of them.
7.02 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. The Silurians are trying to escape and build a new life, bringing along everything they need (including animals).
7.03 A Town Called Mercy. Jex created his super soldiers in order to win a war and save his people. A few sacrificed for the sake of the many.
7.04 The Power of Three. The bad guys try to ‘cull’ a chunk of the human population, in order to keep it from doing too much damage.
7.05 The Angels Take Manhattan. The Weeping Angel literally *farm* humans to live off, in order to gain power.
7.06 The Snowmen. The Great Intelligence wants to convert people into icemen and women. And the humans are ‘food’ for the snowmen.
7.07 The Bells of St John. Miss Kizlet talks about humans being ‘cattle’.
7.08 The Rings of Akhaten. The singers pacify the god, keeping it asleep - if it begins to wake, they feed it people. (Sacrificing one, to save the many.)
7.09 Cold War. Mutually assured destruction.
7.10 Hide. Lots of talk about surviving wars and the sacrifices made (the people killed for the sake of a good cause). Is Emma worth sacrificing for the sake of Hila? Is the TARDIS for the sake of the Doctor?
7.11 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. A bit of an outlier, although we have an actual book about the story of the Time War. Plus Clara is lost in the TARDIS, and the Doctor doesn’t hesitate for a moment in forcing the van Balen brothers to help rescue her (sacrificing the many for the sake of the one). We also have the TARDIS dying (the last of her kind) - and snarling. (This episode also serves as a mirror for ‘Dinosaurs’, although the mercenaries can be redeemed, unlike Solomon.)
7.12 The Crimson Horror. Mrs Gillyflower is busy ‘recruiting’ pilgrims for her new world.
7.13 Nightmare in Silver. A whole galaxy was destroyed to get rid of the Cybermen, to ensure the survival of the rest of the universe. (If you missed all the previous hints, then this one was a large flashing neon sign.)
Now all of this, of course, points towards the Time War, and what the Doctor did...
‘Porridge’ feels sorry for the poor guy who had to press the button, as he finds it difficult to feel sorry for the abstract trillions. But as a mirror to this we have Ada - the daughter sacrificed so her mother could find the perfect solution to ‘save’ others. Of course Mrs Gillyflower was batshit crazy, but Ada was obviously a River-mirror, and possibly also a Clara mirror... A girl sacrificed ‘for the greater good’. (Hands up everyone who has seen Hot Fuzz and can never hear that phrase without chuckling...)
All of which leads us to Clara.
Why Clara is a Penguin (as well as other things)
First off, then no one can have missed all the egg/bird imagery surrounding Clara. However, it is thanks to the delightful moffat_rocks and her brilliant Tumblr (there is intelligent life on Tumblr! Who knew!) Moffat Rocks that it suddenly clicked together (am so SLOW sometimes, dear god): Clara is a bird! (Link goes to relevant post. And re. that final edit - of course that’s the message!)
Now people are fish, as long established - Victorian!Clara even claims to have invented them, because she disliked swimming alone... Because this bird lives in water (=time), dipping in and out.
And which birds are famous for being able to swim? Penguins!
Ergo, Clara is a penguin. :)
(This was actually Promethia’s insight, it made me laugh for at least a minute solid, so I HAD to share...)
Seriously though, Clara = bird.
And that necklace she wears in ‘The Bells of St John’ is a symbol of Horus, an Egyptian god (with thanks to lonewytch):
From wiki (italics mine):
'Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history, and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists. These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.
[...]
Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the sun, war and protection.'
Because Clara is most certainly dangerous... (Who killed all the Daleks? Oswin!) And - again thanks to moffat_rocks (post here Idris and Clara (OMFG) - I am now 99% certain that Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS was foreshadowing and Clara will blow up the TARDIS. Because would you look at this (paraphrased from wiki!):
Idris was a giant and is thought to have been killed during a battle with Oswald of Northumbria near the River Severn around 632. The River Severn goes up past Gloucester, which was the closest city to Leadworth.
I just.
(No wonder the TARDIS doesn’t like her... The River is obviously River, and we even have her parents thanks to Leadworth. Good grief. Mostly I'm throwing this out there to see what you make of it. Although it all seems pretty straightforward.)
But - one more thing for now! We know that Clara is being manipulated somehow, but have not been able to figure out how...
I totally owe the following to me_llamo_nic ( Crackpot Theory #4815162342 ), even going so far as plain stealing this image:
Was going to leave it there, but had another look at moffat_rocks's Tumblr and... *flails*
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THIS IS EVERYTHING I LOVE!
So go read [what she re-blogged]: tempus-aeterna: Queens and Chess.
Obviously it's not Rassilon, but Omega, and it's all backwards... ♥ (The killer has become protector and the protector becomes downfall. Eeeep. Queeeeeeeens.)
I LIKE THIS VERY MUCH!