It’s time to place your bets for what’s going to happen in the finale! Here are the ten elements and revelations I think “The Name of the Doctor” is going to contain. I haven’t heard any true spoilers for any of these, though in some cases I have heard rumors and speculations that I do believe will come true.
- The Doctor will meet River prior to the events of “Silence in the Library.” At this point he’ll give her the sonic screwdriver she’s carrying in that story.
- He’ll whisper his name to River, but we (the audience) won’t hear it.
- The Great Intelligence will play some role in the story (not a big shock, that).
- This will be when the Doctor meets Lorna Bucket (from “A Good Man Goes to War”), in the forests that are the Vashta Nerada’s hunting grounds.
- The Vashta Nerada will therefore reappear, and will be the reason for Clara saying “run, you clever boy.”
- Clara will die again in this story (“and remember”), but be brought back to life.
- Clara will be revealed to be CAL in some sense — perhaps a reincarnation or avatar of sorts, perhaps aided by River in exiting the Library and finding the Doctor.
- Clara will not be a construct of the TARDIS, or an aspect of River, or Romana, or the Rani, etc.
- If she’s a trap laid by the Great Intelligence, she’s probably a sort of Trojan horse, and will be cleansed of it by the end of the story (perhaps this is why/because she dies and is reborn). I find this theory a little obvious, but it would at least explain why the TARDIS seems to mistrust her.
- The episode will be so jam-packed with all this stuff that there’s no possible way it will be truly satisfying.
So there you go! Which of these are you betting on? Which are you betting against?