Something I’ve been thinking about but hey since s9 has now started I’m going to think about it more! ...Hey this turned kinda long wtf self.
Spoilers for The Magician’s Apprentice and (up through) issue 4 of The Four Doctors comic under the cut.
This actually is a theme for the whole season, but just with the trailer for The Witch’s Familiar, and also with how we don’t quite know how the season is going to wrap up...
I do kind of worry about 12 because he is dependent on Clara. And I don't mean that I worry about him being dependent, because when you look at people who are in significant relationships you often find they are dependent on the other person (married couples is what I’m getting at here).
What I do worry about is that 12 is perhaps devastatingly devoted enough to Clara to do anything he can to save her. (I’m just rolling with this base relationship idea that the two are essentially married, you gotta deal with it.) Imagine you do have a significant other who would do anything they could for you. Then imagine that person is an alien demi-god who can do incredible, unimaginable things - and imagine all that power focused into one person who loves you. (This is partly why I find immortal/mortal relationships so interesting to think about.) And not a sort of “tee hee this is cute” but some seriously deep soul bonding shit going on.
That sorta seems to be the case with the end of the episode. He kinda was like “aw no” when Missy got buzapped, but then when Clara was threatened, he lost his shit and was on his knees, pleading. And you don’t even have to exaggerate for that point. He physically did that. Then she got buzapped, and oh shit we have child murder on the gauntlet (which, of note, is not going to happen, I promise you this).
Regardless of how things work out next week, how the story goes, how our intrepid characters get out of their fix, we’ve revealed right here that 12 is so utterly in deep that he’s pleading with his arch-enemy to stop that shit right now and then he is so devastated he actually goes I am going to stop this now and murder a child.
So how this relates to the comics.
IN THE COMICS at the least The Four Doctors, we see that, as all part of a nefarious trap set up by AU hobo 12, that in an AU, 12 turns away Clara in Dark Water, she dies as a result of trying to go ahead with her plan anyway or what not, and he is consumed by grief and guilt and wanders the universe. His grief and guilt lead him to an alien race who do a thing and he’s now the leader of their hivemind, and he is so far gone that he is essentially ready to go Valeyard on the universe and use this hivemind race to wreck some shit.
All ‘cause he turned Clara away and caused her death as a result.
This hasn’t been resolved since issue 5 isn’t out yet, but I find it interesting that this is a pretty obvious example of how Clara is important to 12 - not just as a sort of moral compass, but just in keeping him together. And you can see this coming off the episode, where he wanders away and gets a little nuts.
But really, I think their relationship goes a little bit beyond and in different directions than others have done before. Because Clara is so important to him, I’m hesitant to call the finale for the season because we already have a few examples of what her dying does to him, regardless of if it’s a heroic sacrifice or whatever. And I really really do not want a repeat of mopey 10, nor do I think having a repeat of what happened to 11 post-Ponds - being depressed, shutting himself off, brought out of it by a plucky girl - is going to sit well either.
I’m aware that Clara is not going to leave unless forced, but I think there are more ways to handle this that also will not have 12 be a withered husk of depression. Because nobody wants a sad 12. Sad 12 is sad. :(
