The Hybrid: Something We’ve Missed?

Guest contributor Thomas Jaffray explores another possible theory.

After being teased for almost a quarter of the year, the question on our lips is: what could the Hybrid be? Whilst Steven Moffat’s had fans distracted as to whether the Doctor was referring to himself or Ashildr at the end of Heaven Sent, perhaps he’s played the old Wibbly Wobbly on us? People like to think in binaries; man or woman, gay or straight, comedy or tragedy. So there idea of a further option is almost always in people’s blind spot. It’s classic twist writing which is why I can see my theory being something that tickles Moff’s fancies.

Let’s do a little analysis of what we know though before diving into my theory. Don’t want to reveal it too quickly!

From ‘Heaven Sent’ we know that The Doctor has to speak confessions to halt the creature. Let’s take it for granted that lying is not allowed so his confessions have to be true.

“Long before the Time War, the Time Lords knew it was coming, like a storm on the wind. There were many prophecies and stories, legends before the fact. One of them was about a creature called the Hybrid. Half Dalek, half Time Lord – the ultimate warrior. But whose side would it be on? Would it bring peace or destruction? Was it real, or a fantasy? I confess, I know the hybrid is real. I know where it is, and what it is. I confess, I’m afraid.”

Later on The Doctor talks more of the hybrid, but doesn’t confess. So although he tells us he’s speaking the truth… Always go in with some trepidation.

“The Hybrid is a very dangerous secret. A very, very dangerous secret and it needs to be kept!”

And finally, we learn from The Doctor that the hybrid… “Is me!”. I wager it’s not Ashildr, but in fact the Doctor.

“But it can’t be the Doctor!” I hear you say “Not unless we go with that silly plot twist from the TV movie!!”

Ah, but here me out, my friends. We know the Doctor is the Hybrid, but does that mean he’s ‘a hybrid’? What if it’s not just the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor, but in fact…

A HYBRID!

A mixture of the Doctor’s twelfth and final incarnations, the Valeyard, technically, is a hybrid creature. This would be a massive (and might I say satisfying!) twist to pull on us for the finale. Maybe this is what Steven Moffat said we’d never see coming? Gallifrey was a red herring and THIS is the “whopper” we get to see.

But who would be the other half, the final incarnation? Well this also could be accidental sleight of hand writing. Think about where we get this information from – The Time Lords. Perhaps they view the War Doctor as the final incarnation of the Doctor as that is where he lost his morals and ‘died’. He was the final incarnation because he was the last Doctor before his moral compass became skewed.

“But what about all the other Doctors that came after War? WHAT ABOUT THEM, HUH?”

Good point. Good, annoying point. This is a doozy to get over, but I argue this. The last the Time Lords saw of the Doctor (the evil ones that gave us exposition about the Valeyard being part final incarnation of the Doctor) might only know of the War Doctor. For them, he is the final incarnation as they knew nothing of him after the Time War. It’s a slippery technicality, but it works so I’m keeping it in!

So we’ve got our hybrid and we’ve got his two halves. Now, imagine this – The Doctor arrives to Gallifrey to wreak havoc on them. Repay the Time Lords for all the torment that he can remember, because he can remember it despite popular consensus on him forgetting completely each time he resets. Imagine the Doctor looking for a way to punish them beyond all else, he is hell bent. What if the Doctor helps, possibly by accident, create the Valeyard? We see a regeneration in the next time trailer for Hell Bent. We also see the Doctor being scalded for how he has broken all his rules and is ‘only starting’ his reign of terror. The Doctor finds a machine, something that channels regeneration energy, possibly a Hybrid machine the Time Lords created to cheat the prophecy and have the creature on their side. The Doctor goes to it and channels all the hate he harboured for over two billion years into the machine. It festers and finds all the blackness between his Time War days and his Confession Dial imprisonment. A whirring goes on, a few bells ting, and a Gallifreyan guard reports to the high council there is a “regeneration in progress”. And out pops the Valeyard!

So what do you think? Possible? Kind of there? Baloney?! Post your opinions in the comments below, I’d love to hear your theories and especially ones that respond to this!

Still not convinced? Want a final teasing piece of evidence? In the introduction to Hell Bent by Peter Capaldi, he states the Doctor has to ‘face himself and face his own actions’. Very ominous indeed!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, have a wonderful day.