A kaleidoscope look at the TARDIS in space

The final episode of Doctor Who's season nine was called Hell Bent. It had a very angry Doctor, Gallifrey, and the end of time. What more could you want? Well, I, for one, would like to know what Clara told the Doctor while they were talking in the cloisters.

SPOILER ALERT! - Stop reading now if you haven't finished watching all of season eight. I will be discussing major plot spoilers. Okay, now that the spoiler alert is over with I can get down to business.

I have a theory and I want to share it with you. Before I share my theory, though, I need to give you a bit of background that is also a disclaimer of sorts. You see, I've been rooting for Clara to spend the rest of her days with Danny Pink. I really liked Danny and thought he was good for Clara. Yes, I know, he died, but death isn't the end when it comes to the Doctor. There is no better example of that than what happened to Clara in Hell Bent.

So, on to my theory.

It looked to me like Clara confided something to the Doctor about herself. I think she told the Doctor that she had a child and gave him up for adoption. I admit that I could be grasping at straws, but there were too many things that happened in season 7 that are seemingly unresolved, and Moffat hasn't been the kind of writer who leaves things unknown <*cough>Lost<cough*>.

Here is why I think this:

1. The most obvious reason is the existence of Orson Pink. He looked exactly like Danny (was played by the same actor) and was clearly a descendant of Danny's. I don't think writer Stevan Moffat introduced us to Orson only to leave him hanging story-wise. How long did it take Moffat to finally tell us who River Song was from the first time we met her with the 10th Doctor? Two years?

2. Orson said that there were stories about his great-grandparents time traveling. We are led to believe this was Clara and Danny.

3. Clara was looking at several Post-It notes as she spoke to Danny on the phone just before he was hit and killed by a car. One of the notes said, "Three months," and I thought then, and still do, that Clara was going to tell Danny that she was three months pregnant.

4. In "Hell Bent" the Doctor and Clara spoke about how memories turn to stories when they are forgotten.

5. Stories. Remember what Orson said? He grew up listening to stories about his time-traveling great-grandparents.

6. The Doctor forgot about Clara because of the device that wiped his memory. Let's assume for a moment that I'm right, that Clara had a baby. If she told the Doctor about her child, he had knowledge. But as soon as his memory was wiped clean, he forgot and the child. His memories about Clara (i.e. her very existence or that she time-traveled) became a story the moment he forgot them.

My theory isn't perfect because there was no hint after Danny died that there was a child somewhere. I also don't know if the timeline fits for a pregnancy. I've tried to figure this out, but I have no idea how much time passed after Danny died and when Clara next saw the Doctor. Could it have been more than nine months? Maybe, but the show is rather ambiguous about time.

Also, Clara is a teacher who has dedicated herself to being with children (when she’s not off wandering the universe in the TARDIS). Could she give up a baby and never look back? It seems out of character for her, but it is also possible that she was so broken over Danny’s death that she couldn’t face raising their child. Or, I think it is entirely possible that she was so addicted to time travel at that point that she couldn't give it up to care for her baby.

That bring sup the point of, how did Orson know about the stories of his great-grandparents the child of Danny and Clara was adopted and raised by someone else? My guess is that Clara wrote down her adventures, both with Danny and with the Doctor, to be given to the baby so that he would have knowledge about his parents and what they did. The writings were meant for her child to read as he got older. Hmm. More stories...

So, there it is, my theory on what Clara told the Doctor. Do you have a different theory? If so, please share it in the comments below.

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