hadn't watched any s11 in a long while and i'd forgotten how stark it was that the fam Clearly think 13 has major self esteem issues. It seems unlikely, because this is the doctor and their ego is the size of the andromeda galaxy and 13 Does act wildly egotistical all the time (she Is wildly egotistical) but she's deeply, Deeply insecure about her ability to keep her companions safe and alive.
It's the chink in the armour of her ego, she is genuinely wrecked and ironically, considering her shtick, immediately loses hope of saving them in the ghost monument once they reach the end and the tardis isn't there (because she didn't Remember why she had all these issues in twwfte, not until Grace ended up a brutal reminder that she cannot guarantee humans' safety) and loses all energy. She's like a dramatic plant that droops like it's dying if you forget to water it one day. She visibly Wilts. She's wallowing in having killed them and they're not even dead yet.
And Graham picks up on this exceptionally quickly and offers support and confidence and Ryan and Yaz follow his lead, they're being kind, they don't know that she can save them at this point, but she's done some wild things already having known her a couple of weeks, so why not be optimistic? Why not be kind to her like she's been to them?
The casual support around the idea of her pulling through in tough situations continues, subtly, through the next couple of episodes (and will carry on, it's just i quit after tsuranga conundrum tonight). They bolster her in situations where she has to save people because nobody else can. They're being kind friends.
(I also think that Graham, prize winner for most emotionally intelligent companion, has probably realised just how guilty 13 feels for Grace's death. She haunts this narrative.)
These are the seeds that are watered through S11 and will continue to be in S12 until they reach a crescendo towards the end of 12. The fam Genuinely, by the point they hit ascension of the cybermen, have total confidence in 13 to save their lives and the day and seem to take it for granted that they can jump headfirst into extreme danger and that 13 may just be overplaying her warnings.
But come aotc she is fearful and like a trapped animal from stress about Their survival because she keeps Telling them over and over how much danger they're in and they don't get it! Because she's always been absolutely dirt terrified that she can't keep them alive and they noticed it right away and after two seasons of this they don't take it seriously anymore! Because it's never actually been as bad as she makes it out to be! She dug the grave of their own confidence in her literally Because she was so scared she's not fast and smart enough to keep them alive.
It gets Horrifyingly serious in ascension of the cybermen and the fam learn a brutal lesson that she was not just being unsure of her own abilities. Some things out there she can't stop or save them from.
I'd just forgotten how early those seeds were sown.
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