Why Clara Shouldn’t Die – Part 2: The Character Inversion
Guest contributors Sam White and Alex King state their reasoning.
Consider the Doctor. The Doctor alone. The Doctor without hope. The Doctor without Clara. How far would he go to change that?
The Doctor detests goodbyes, and he would do anything in his power to stop or avoid them, but he knows for certain however much he hates them, he’s going to have to face them eventually, and he knows it far too well. As the Doctor tragically expressed to Rose in School Reunion: “You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can’t spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That’s the curse of the Time Lords.”
The Doctor lost his previous four companions through no fault of his own. Rose (originally) and Donna went through accidental tragedies, Martha chose to leave him, and Amy bid farewell so she could reunite with her beloved husband. All four exits damaged the Doctor emotionally, with his guilt increasing rapidly each time. With every new friend the Doctor makes, comes another tragedy, another loss, almost always. And each time it happens, the depth of his sorrow increases. As the Doctor said in The Girl Who Died, “Immortality isn’t living forever. Immortality is everybody else dying”. Of course, the Doctor is not immortal. But I’d argue he might as well be. Very few have lost as many as he has.
However Clara leaves, it will most certainly break both of the Doctors hearts. Their last adieu could never be a happy occasion. But the Doctor doesn’t have to let this heartbreak be via death; in fact I’d argue that it would be a disservice to his own character if he does. It is common knowledge that the Doctor considers each life to be special and precious, and so every life that he fails to save becomes his regret, his burden to bear. My question is: if the Doctor abhors death with an absolute passion, then why should he let Clara succumb to the same? Why should he let his ‘Impossible Girl’, his equal and his best friend just simply turn to dust?
I am not saying that it can’t happen. I am saying that if it does then it’ll stand as direct betrayal of the relationship he has with Clara, and will diminish the strength of their friendship, from the perspective of the audience and the narrative that has been established. After all, to say that the Doctor just looks out for Clara would be an understatement. To understand why the Doctor must play a pivotal role in Clara’s departure, let’s take a closer look at how his character has developed with respect to Clara in Series 9.
I have a duty of care
Care has always been a prominent part of the unique relationship between the Doctor and Clara. It’s no secret they deeply respect and admire one another, and both are often willing to go the extra mile to help the other in times of need. The Doctor wants the best for Clara while simultaneously yearning for her companionship, and vice versa. At the end of the day, they’re the greatest of friends, and thoroughly relish their now simpatico relationship.
Interestingly, the Doctor describes his care for Clara as his duty. While most sets of friends would just watch out for each other, the Doctor goes one step further, effectively taking responsibility for Clara’s wellbeing. He feels it’s down to him that she stays safe on their travels, and it’s his job to protect her from any demons and monsters they may face together. Needless to say, the feeling is mutual; it always has been, especially since his regeneration. The bond Clara and the Doctor share is much more intimate when compared to his previous companions. Ever since the events of The Name of the Doctor, both of them have displayed an obligation to other. Clara, by staying by her friend even when she felt she didn’t know him anymore, though the events of Deep Breath, Kill the Moon and Mummy on the Orient Express, and the Doctor, by forgiving her and showing just how much he cares for her when she impulsively betrayed him in Dark Water. I am fairly certain that the Doctor would not have been so kind, had it not been Clara.
In fact, the Doctor may need to care for Clara more than he has done previously. Over the last few episodes, Clara’s penchant for adventure has sky-rocketed, and she is becoming more and more like the Doctor by the minute. Clara’s views on the Doctor have long passed the ‘admiration’ stage. She’s turning into him, and rapidly too. His strengths and flaws are equally hers, and she has grown to take potentially lethal situations as ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’, instead of ‘risky’ and ‘scary’. While a normal companion would be happy to just see the universe, Clara is now more inclined towards saving it.
Clara’s problem, through no fault of her own, is however much she may think she’s like the Doctor, she is not. While they both share certain characteristics and ideologies, the Doctor and Clara can never truly equate. Clara lacks the darker, more experienced, and scarred by war, side of the Doctor. That kick of pain, heartbreak, and sorrow equally defines the Doctor as much as the adventurous and curious traits. One cannot deny the losses Clara has suffered but she has an option that most people don’t have. She can run away from life in a blue box. She can escape her reality by merging hers with the Doctor’s. With Clara’s recklessness growing at an alarming rate, I think the Doctor definitely needs to act on his duty of care, now of all times.
In Under the Lake the Doctor tried his hardest to calm down Clara’s cravings for adventure, telling her not to ‘go native’, and warning her that there was room for only one Doctor on the TARDIS. However, Clara went on to evade the Doctor’s efforts entirely, making it obvious that in her pursuit of adventure she’s forgotten to care much about her own mortality. Also, in the same episode, she displayed a more detached disposition, and manipulated other people to get things done. The very thing she blamed the Doctor for in Mummy on the Orient Express.
The Doctor tried once again, to inform her on his duty of care in The Girl Who Died, to which Clara hastily replied that it was something “she never asked for”. Clara has always been a stubborn and egotistical character, and so it’s entirely possible that deep down she knows and understands his concerns, but the fact that she chooses to ignore them is indicative of a self-destructive nature, which the Doctor is most clearly aware of, at the present moment. So in her final chapter, instead of the Doctor simply notifying Clara on his duty of care, which she’ll probably refuse to genuinely acknowledge, the Doctor must show his duty of care, otherwise it’ll all feel a bit pointless.
I’m the Doctor, and I save people
Ashildr’s death in The Girl Who Died provoked the Doctor into realizing and understanding why he really chose the face of Caecilius out of endless other possibilities. The reason he chose this face was because death is not always the answer, not with a Doctor at the helm. In fact, the word ‘Doctor’ heavily connotes ‘life’ and ‘health’.
In both the episodes, the Doctor was prepared to save people he barely knew. These people had had absolutely no significance in his life up until that point. This is of course the nature of the Doctor’s character. The Doctor is kind to even his worst enemies. An excellent example of this can be witnessed in The Witch’s Familiar, when the Doctor in an act of kindness offers some of his precious regeneration energy to Davros, one of his oldest and fiercest enemies. Surely, if the Doctor is willing to show kindness and mercy to strangers and enemies alike, he would be hell bent when it comes to saving his best friend’s life.
And Clara is not just any old companion to the Doctor. She’s been there since the very beginning, when the Doctor decided to wave goodbye to Gallifrey and travel among the stars. She’s been the Doctor’s guardian angel ever since, watching out for him throughout his different incarnations. I’m not saying that the Doctor regards some lives to be more precious than, or he should, but common sense tells me that if there was one person for whom he’d even risk the face of the Gallifrey, then Clara would have a very high chance of being that person.
Take note of this line from The Name of the Doctor – “How many times have you saved me, Clara? Just this once, just for the hell of it, let me save you.” I’d argue that the Doctor letting Clara die would be disrespectful in view of what she did for him in The Name of the Doctor. After all, Clara’s voluntary decision of leaping inside the Doctor’s time stream is the sole reason he’s alive today. If Clara had never existed, the Doctor would have been long dead in his grave. Consider yourself in the Doctor’s shoes; wouldn’t you go out of your way to save the one person, who not only saved your life but is also your closest friend, and perhaps the only one alive who truly understands you? If the Doctor, in full awareness of her recklessness, lets Clara die, it will be an insult to what Clara did for him that day and a true disservice to his friend.
Of course, death is unpreventable. The one thing, that is true for all elements of this the universe is death, whether literal or metaphorical. However, the enormous difference between reality and Doctor Who is that the Doctor has the advantage and privilege of being a Time Lord. Yes, there are rules, but that hardly ever stops the Doctor. In Before the Flood, the Doctor said that he was “changing history to save Clara”. What makes that point in time different from any other point in time? We’ve already seen that the Doctor is prepared to tear each page out of the rulebook to avoid death, so why should Clara be any different?
In view of his promise as the Doctor, if the Doctor lets Clara die, he will fail her and he will fail his promise.
Earthly Ties
So far in Series 9 you might have noticed that Clara isn’t as torn between her two lives as she was in Series 8. In fact there is no effort to even hide it, much less balance it. She has completely ensconced herself in the Doctor’s life and his escapade across all of space and time, and that too with complete reckless abandon, as has been discussed earlier. Now I want you to pause and think what exactly her “Earth life” constitutes and what exactly is it that she’s giving up by being impetuous. You might ask why this is required and what does it have to do with Clara’s fate.
To understand the answer however it is essential that we go back to the start and look at this key piece of dialogue from modern Clara’s introductory episode –
“Clara: I was going to travel. I came to stay for a week before I left, and during that week…
Doctor: She died, so you’re returning the favour. You’ve got a hundred and one places to see, and you haven’t been to any of them, have you? That’s why you keep the book.
Clara: I keep the book because I’m still going.
Doctor: But you don’t run out on the people you care about. Wish I was more like that. you know, the thing about a time machine, you can run away all you like and still be home in time for tea, so what do you say? Anywhere. All of time and space, right outside those doors.”
This is the exact moment when the Doctor asks her to come along, and it is also symbolic because it provides a key contrast with the Clara we see in Series 9. Take special note of the emphasized text, because in a way it is exactly what she’s doing today. She’s running away from the people she cares about, perhaps unknowingly, but that still doesn’t make it right. She running away from her mother, who sought to protect her if she ever got lost (isn’t she now?), her father, who is very much still alive and loves her, her Gran, who perhaps understands Clara more than Clara might ever understand and most of all Danny Pink.
“Danny: You can miss me for five minutes a day. And you’d better do it properly. You’d better be sad. I expect my five. But all the rest of the time, Clara, all the rest of the time, every single second, you just get the hell on with it.”
Danny Pink always wanted a normal and happy life, and he wanted to share that life with Clara Oswald. It was not however what he got in return. He died saving her, leaving in her the best of what he could give of himself to her. In an essence he lives on in Clara Oswald, and we caught a glimpse of him in Last Christmas. What’s heart-breaking here is that Danny gave his life saving hers, so that she could live a complete and fulfilling life. However growing more detached from the world, and shutting off the pain, Clara has chosen to disregard him entirely. This is where it’s the duty of the Doctor to remind her of the burden and responsibility she’s carrying. Dying out of recklessness would not only cheapen Danny Pink’s sacrifice but also kill him all over again.
In fact, death of any nature would not only be a betrayal of Danny Pink’s trust but also of the promise of love. I say this because the Doctor loves Clara as well, and if Danny Pink can overcome an emotional inhibiter with the power of love and save Clara, then so should the Doctor, when and if such a time comes. This is important from a narrative point of view, because even with the Doctor’s duty of care and his pledge to save people, both of which have been emphasized to a great degree in the narrative, it is entirely possible that he might fail, just like he failed Brian Williams when couldn’t bring back Amy and Rory safely. This is the reason why he shouldn’t in case of Clara.
If not death, then what?
“I’ve got a hobby, thanks. It’s you, by the way.”
Before we begin, it’s imperative to understand where Clara really stands currently, her state of mind so to speak. What brought about her detached and reckless temperament? Well, life is short, and Clara has come to understand this simple philosophy though the losses she’s suffered, and so she has directed most of her focus towards the one person she believes she can never lose – the Doctor. This can be clearly witnessed when she loses her cool at the prospect of his death in Before the Flood. Additionally, she also has tremendous faith in the Doctor and his abilities, the best instance of which can be witnessed in The Girl Who Died. You may also remember our discussion about her want of feeling special and important, and how travelling with Doctor gives her just that. In the simplest of words, she has idolized him. Her becoming like the Doctor is a direct consequence of that.
“We need the mayflies. See, the mayflies, they know more than we do. They know how beautiful and precious life is because it’s fleeting.”
In fact, Clara has idolized the Doctor so much that, that she’s also internalized his lack of fear for his life. With that inherent quality that makes companions who they are gone, the current set up of the TARDIS is equivalent to two Doctors in one TARDIS. Twelve on the other hand, who was more abrasive and cantankerous in Series 8 has evolved into a more open, loving and caring person, thereby taking over the mantle that companions generally carry. He has made evident that he understands and feels just like the rest of us and behind this face is a man who has seen the worst of things and it has only made him kind. Such is their relationship that both of them have taken in a part of the other. And this where Clara leaves her legacy, because even after she’s left, she’ll remain with the Doctor. In a way she has become a part of the Doctor himself, through her kindness and through her love. In Doctor’s own words – “She doesn’t leave”. However the character still has to depart and make way for something else. Such is the nature of this show.
“And anyway, you owe me. You’ve made yourself essential to me. You’ve given me something else to, to be. And you can’t do that and then die. It’s not fair.”
The Doctor does indeed owe her, and more so as friend, which is why I think the Doctor saving Clara would be a perfect ending to her character. Just for clarification, when I say ‘save’, I certainly do not mean that Clara takes the role of damsel in distress, and the Doctor plays Superman. That would definitely be offensive to the equal relationship that the Doctor and Clara have. Instead, I think the Doctor should save Clara from herself.
Clara has always been a companion who has taken risks, and crossed the line. A good example is the infamous Volcano scene from Dark Water. Clara often ‘leaps before she looks’ and performs actions that she later regrets. However, what if she crosses the line further than she’s ever crossed before, where her actions become life threatening. She has to do something that would make the Doctor question his own influence on her and let him sacrifice their relationship because being like the Doctor is great but I think it’s a luxury not everyone can afford. It would highlight how much the Doctor loves Clara, and would allow him to fittingly fulfill his title as the man who saves. Because, the greatest repercussion of being like the Doctor is not death, no, it’s losing the people dearest to you, and so Clara must face it.
I’d argue such an end would be far more fitting than her death, because it will be a fate that’ll affect both of them equally, just like their equivalent roles. This is because it would be a choice. Her journey with the Doctor would feel more directed and purposeful, giving the center stage to their friendship while retaining the same sense of tragedy that her Last Christmas exit might have had. In fact this would set her apart from all other companions, as she would become a symbol for both the audience and the Doctor, of how companions can lose themselves in the TARDIS life in the absence of a buffer.
If Clara has ever needed a helping hand, it’s now, because her life is on the brink. To prove the Doctor cares for Clara, he must fight for her survival, as doing otherwise would be an act of neglect. If he allows Clara to self-destruct, any character development he has achieved in this series would seem futile in retrospect.
So to conclude, I’ll unashamedly plagiarize and say that we hope that we’ve been able to present out point of view in a way that has tickled your reasoning and made you see things in a new light, if not completely convinced you, and we hope Clara doesn’t die…because hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
