Doctor Who: Ashildr Could be an Ongoing Problem
By David Hill
So, Ashildr, Maisie Williams’ character in Doctor Who, died during The Girl Who Died. Then, because one cannot have the second part, The Woman Who Lived, if she remained dead, the Doctor found a way to bring her back to life. This had the ‘unfortunate’ side effect of making Ashildr functionally immortal, but since the Doctor created a second chip that could grant functional immortality, she should still be able to find life long happiness and have that person she wants to remain with be by her side. Everything should be perfect then, right?
Well, let us also factor in the fact that humans are not meant to live forever. After all, the only two guarantees in life are death and taxes. Unless, of course, one is the Doctor, although even he ‘dies’ from time to time. But I digress….
In saving Ashildr, the Doctor may have caused the very thing he wished to avoid, sending ripples through time and causing future events to change. Ashildr’s life on it’s own may be rather inconsequential, but in turning her into a virtual immortal, the history of Earth, and the universe, for that matter, may be irreversibly altered. One ripple, no matter how small, changes the surface of the water. Immortality would be a tidal wave by comparison.
While saving Ashildr involved honoring a promise that he made to himself, hence the reason why we have seen the Doctor’s face before in Doctor Who, that promise could lead to major consequences. Could those beings that the Doctor fended off with Ashildr’s help return? If so, would the Doctor once again have to ‘drain her like a battery’ to fend them off and save the planet?
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Even if that threat fails to manifest, there is the possibility that Ashildr could become an ongoing thorn in the Doctor’s side. Far from being the dreamer and the storyteller that she had been during her time with the Vikings, Ashildr became The Knightmare, a highwayman whose exploits seemingly became legendary. She is no longer that person the Doctor saved, but someone else entirely. With that being the case, will she regard the life that the Doctor gave her as a gift, or a curse that she wants to be rid of?
Ashildr could end up becoming a major issue for not only the Doctor, but the universe at large. With the theme of Series Nine seemingly being about the consequences of the Doctor’s actions, this decision to save her life could become a grave mistake, and one that will haunt the Doctor for some time to come.