“The Doctor lives his life in darker hues, day upon day, and he will have other names before the end.”
What If Uncle Ben Had Lived? What If Spider-Man Had Rescued Gwen Stacy? Honoring the Marvel Comics series which over the years has taken a look at how a small change can create ripples across the Marvel Universe, we will examine the same idea across movies, television, and more.
In Doctor Who‘s “Face the Raven” Clara Oswald bravely faces death and becomes the first companion in decades to die on-screen. Through struggle and trickery, her fate would be altered after only a couple of episodes and she would return to travel time and space, stuck in the moment prior to her death. But, was that the best option? We’d seen with the death of Adric decades before such a moment could have a profound affect on the next incarnation of The Doctor. Here we ask, what if Clara Oswald had stayed dead and that death led The Doctor down a dark road to become The Valeyard?
First off, Clara’s death in “Face the Raven” was a heart-wrenching way to end Jenna Coleman‘s tenure on the show that allowed Clara to exit like few companions ever have. She earned that moment and the lasting pain such a death should have caused. Overwriting events before the end of the season always felt like a cheap trick undermining her sacrifice. And, of course, it removes a juicy story point of how that permanent death may have affected The Doctor.
Only seen as part of “The Trial of the Time Lord,” but referenced multiple times over the course of New Who, The Valeyard is a darker version of The Doctor at the end of his regenerations far closer to that of The Master than the character who has been explored so far on Doctor Who. We’ve seen glimpses of The Doctor out of control and what he might be possible of under the right conditions in “A Good Man Goes to War” and at the end of “The Waters of Mars.” The death of his companion could have been the catalyst to explore a more angry, selfish, harsher Doctor released on the universe.
Imagine that version of The Doctor heading out into time and space, no companion to steady his hand, as he grew more bold with each adventure. Here we could see the Oncoming Storm, the Beast, the Bringer of Darkness, and ultimately the Valeyard come into shape. Think of an entire season of The Doctor run amuck until he finally realizes the only option to regenerate and begin again. In a series spanning more than half a century this would have been something new and compelling to see unfold.
