I wonder if Clara is an Artificial Intelligence, a monster designed to trap the Doctor. Not a monster. Possibly/probably a thing. (Maybe a TARDIS. I keep meaning to write up that theory.)
But in the interim, is she trying to become A Real Girl? Of course she is. And that's how she's ultimately going to save the day! :)
The big problem with this theory is Clara growing up. Born to Ellie and Dave, met as a child several times by the Doctor, she is historically an ordinary person.
That doesn't, however, preclude her becoming TARDISy. :)
I had a hard time with this one... usually the meta springs from my head like a fully formed goddess, but this one took labor. And looking at the lack of response it's gotten (both the episode and my meta) I suspect it's true for a lot of people, that it's just not as rich or blatant as it is in other stories.
Or maybe it's the kind of story we got this time -- base under siege, classic series monster, oriented towards suspense rather than emotion and connection.
This was gorgeous! I went wild when I read the part about Clara under water. I thought that part was extremely odd in term of realisation and your explanation made it clearer
( ... )
The sonic especially after the red settings apparition is associated with death... but also because we know a similarly equiped sonic will 'bear' River Song's mind and permit her to access the afterlife; she is locked away but saved.
Oooh, this is good. And notice how the Sub is also positioned as a vehicle of "ascension" insofar as it's "raised from the dead" by the Ice Warriors. So in both cases we've got a wonderfully alchemical juxtaposition of Life and Death, ascension imagery -- yes, I like this, Clara as a vehicle of Ascension.
And given that we've seen Clara grow up as an Ordinary Girl, I think this serves as foreshadowing for what's to come, the Fate in store for our intrepid Woman Twice Dead.
Yes yes yes, to all of it. As ever. (Sorry for delayed response - this one took a lot of processing!)
I loved all the small details you pick up, that I would NEVER notice in a million years, but that make the ep so much richer - the 'Nix Tharsis' bit left me reeling.
It really was delightful to see so much of the stuff I was *expecting* to see actually HAPPEN in this ep - the rebirths! The whale! I squee'd hard at the mention of Pinnochio in the ep, and love what you've done with the Blue Fairy here. That really raised some questions for me...I've thought since Xmas that Clara might be a 'thing' trying (consciously or not) to become a 'real girl' by integrating all her timesplit selves - but thus far I'd assumed that she had been created by another force, a higher power, and was *already* split. The Bad Wolf thing in this ep (and your Firebird symbolism) now have me questioning whether she has yet to split, and whether she is the one to split herself.....mmmmmm speculation.
It sure is looking to me like Clara's selves in Asylum and Snowmen are future echoes of who she is now. In Asylum she's already taken the name Oswin and already possesses mad hacking skillz (an entailment of Bells) but she lacks her "Clara" aspect. Victorian Clara, on the other hand, is all nanny and clever, but being in Victorian times doesn't have any computers to hack in the first place; however, she's got Oswin as a middle name. So she too has to be in Now!Clara's future.
On the subject of splitting, did you know that mirrors are used to "split" light beams for experiments in quantum physics? The principle of "superposition" is a very important concept in that field.
And I couldn't help but see Clara and the Doctor acting as two mirrors to Skaldak, the Doctor reflecting the warrior state, and Clara reflecting the song -- the spirit, I think, given the spiritual connotations of Song established in Rings of Akhaten.
So, what kind of "mirror event" will split Clara in two?
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I wonder if Clara is an Artificial Intelligence, a monster designed to trap the Doctor.
Not a monster. Possibly/probably a thing. (Maybe a TARDIS. I keep meaning to write up that theory.)
But in the interim, is she trying to become A Real Girl?
Of course she is. And that's how she's ultimately going to save the day! :)
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That doesn't, however, preclude her becoming TARDISy. :)
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Or maybe it's the kind of story we got this time -- base under siege, classic series monster, oriented towards suspense rather than emotion and connection.
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The sonic especially after the red settings apparition is associated with death... but also because we know a similarly equiped sonic will 'bear' River Song's mind and permit her to access the afterlife; she is locked away but saved.
Oooh, this is good. And notice how the Sub is also positioned as a vehicle of "ascension" insofar as it's "raised from the dead" by the Ice Warriors. So in both cases we've got a wonderfully alchemical juxtaposition of Life and Death, ascension imagery -- yes, I like this, Clara as a vehicle of Ascension.
And given that we've seen Clara grow up as an Ordinary Girl, I think this serves as foreshadowing for what's to come, the Fate in store for our intrepid Woman Twice Dead.
Reply
I loved all the small details you pick up, that I would NEVER notice in a million years, but that make the ep so much richer - the 'Nix Tharsis' bit left me reeling.
It really was delightful to see so much of the stuff I was *expecting* to see actually HAPPEN in this ep - the rebirths! The whale! I squee'd hard at the mention of Pinnochio in the ep, and love what you've done with the Blue Fairy here. That really raised some questions for me...I've thought since Xmas that Clara might be a 'thing' trying (consciously or not) to become a 'real girl' by integrating all her timesplit selves - but thus far I'd assumed that she had been created by another force, a higher power, and was *already* split. The Bad Wolf thing in this ep (and your Firebird symbolism) now have me questioning whether she has yet to split, and whether she is the one to split herself.....mmmmmm speculation.
Reply
On the subject of splitting, did you know that mirrors are used to "split" light beams for experiments in quantum physics? The principle of "superposition" is a very important concept in that field.
And I couldn't help but see Clara and the Doctor acting as two mirrors to Skaldak, the Doctor reflecting the warrior state, and Clara reflecting the song -- the spirit, I think, given the spiritual connotations of Song established in Rings of Akhaten.
So, what kind of "mirror event" will split Clara in two?
Reply
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