Series 7 Mysteries: The Rings Of Akhaten
Guest contributor Shay Hatchard ponders over the latest mysteries.
“Run you clever boy… and remember.”
Previously…
Last week’s episode, ‘The Bells Of Saint John,’ predictably did not answer any questions that the viewer may have conjured between the 3-month television break for the series. We, however, were thrown into another intriguing storyline that involved the Great Intelligence as the ending unveiled Dr Simeon as “the Client (unsurprisingly for fans who were keeping up with casting news). We were also teased several Oswin references – the first being her infamous recurring line, and the second being:
CLARA: I need a username. Clara Oswald for the win…Os-win!
I admit that I did not originally hear or pick up on the latter, but re-watching it a second time…it must have some importance. Or perhaps it’s another red herring. And what about the women in the shop, who just happened to have the number for the “best helpline in the universe?” Anyway, let’s move on with this week’s analysis.
The Oswald Family
“I am not a Dalek. I am human.”
It seems she was right! In the most intriguing pre-titles sequence, we saw Eleven travelling to many different times throughout Clara’s upbringing, and also unearthing the peculiar fact that she IS the impossible girl… she grew up happy in life with her parents, although she somehow got trapped in a Dalek Asylum, as well as being a Victorian governess!
As the episode continued, we explored and discovered that Clara had a very much strong connection with her mother, which was treated very beautifully when she not only was up for giving her mother’s ring up to help the Doctor, but by also sacrificing the most important leaf in human history to “Grandfather”.
The TARDIS and Clara
Interestingly, we also were shown that unlike the Doctor’s other various assistants, the TARDIS doors would just not budge for Clara. The TARDIS really does not like her for some reason, which might also explain why she seemingly gets ‘lost’ inside the TARDIS later this series in “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS”.
I think a lot of fans smiled and thought “Ah! I knew something was up with you…”. And perhaps you’re right. Theories are stretching from Clara being a Dalek spy, all the way to her being River Song, having family connections with the Doctor, or even being a link back to the Silence. Yet again, we can just hope our questions will be answered in due course and that more clues trickle in over the next few episodes…
In the meantime, what do you think is really going on? Speculate in the comments below.
