I agree the leaf thing is iffy and open to interpretation. Another possibility I've considered is that it relates to Clara apparently being a stable in space time, but that contains a bit more conjecture than what I consider the more straight forward case.Robot Number V said:OK, that makes a bit more sense. I still think the leaf bit is iffy at best, and I'm still pretty confused about the role of the Cube Monster. I gather that the cube was put there to keep it from sending some kind of signal to the parasite to wake it up but...Why? How? What IS the monster? How does it wake up the parasite? WHY does it wake up the parasite? Sorry, but this episode still had some pretty obvious holes in the story.Navvan said:You've seem to have missed a few things that may clear up some the confusion.Robot Number V said:*sigh*
It started out good, but then (much like the first episode, actually) it devolved into poorly explained nonsense and the Doctor did something that SHOULD have had enormous ramifications but inexplicably didn't. (If you're curious, I'm referring to the fact that in the first episode, the Doctor murders literally hundreds of people and doesn't even feel bad about it, and then allows the thing that forced him to murder hundreds of people to escape without even making the slightest attempt to find out what it was)
Look, I'm willing to overlook the absolute pointlessness of the monster in the glass cube. I'm willing to overlook a random song somehow keeping a giant psychic parasite asleep. I'm even OK with the song inexplicably ceasing to work for no apparent reason. But some things about this episode reeeeeally stretch my tolerance for bullshit.
In this case, Clara defeating the Psychic Vampire with some multiverse-style nonsense. If the leaf represents not only her memories of what happened, but also every possibility that didn't happen (no idea how that works, by the way) then doesn't the same principle apply to literally every other memory the thing has absorbed? What makes the leaf so special?
And also, why is it not a big deal that seven planets no longer have a sun? It even shows that everything has gone dark. Seriously, that is fucking GAPING plot hole.
I was a lot happier when it looked like the Doctor would defeat it just by letting it read his mind knowing it would explode from too much unadulterated Badass. THAT makes enough sense to me for me to accept it.
I know Dr. Who has always been ridiculous, but it's always had some kind of internal consistency. If they were going to have a platoon of space rhinos raiding a hospital on the moon, the actually took the time to explain how that happens. Nowadays, it seems like the writers just say "It's Doctor Who, it's never made any sense! Just throw in a speech about the HUMAN SPIRIT and we're good!"
1. It wasn't a sun and it was never referred to as the sun within that system. The Doctor explicitly states that it is a planet, and that the religion says it is the planet from which all life in the universe originates.
2. The Doctor also implicitly states that the song doesn't actually do anything. Hence why the girl was not at fault for getting the song "wrong". It just so happened to be the time in that beings life cycle to feed.
3. The leaf thing can be interpreted several ways. The most straightforward way is that the leaf had the psychic imprint from her and her father about both the memories of Clara's mother, but also the possible life her mother could have lead. Clara and her father obsessed over the leaf and that possible life in their grief, and thus there was an infinite amount of "stories" stored in it. Memories don't have a psychic imprint, and the creature never tried to absorb an object with that type of psychic imprint before.
The Cube Monster was as The Doctor put it "The Alarm Clock". It was meant to consume the young girl in the ritual to and presumably transfer that energy to the Planet-being. Analogous to hitting the snooze button. If that ritual was not performed its purpose then turned to waking the planet-being so it could start sucking memories by force. It was in the cube because it made thematic sense in accordance to the religion. That is the Cube monster was supposed to be a ancestor deity, and you generally put protective casing around stuff that is sacred. In additional to the reasons that come with encasing something you are afraid of waking up and destroying your civilization. The monster itself was likely created by, or is an extension of the planet-being and has a psychic connection to it which is also how it would transfer the energy it would drain from the queen.
Doctor Who is never very clear on explanations, and rightfully so as that would take a lot of the fun out of it. You can easily start poking holes into the entire continuity if you so desire, and I can attempt rationalize many of them. However to me that isn't really what DW is about and it never has been. It's all about the ride; not the nuts and bolts. Some continuity and explanation is certainly necessary, but the degree of explanation you seem to want this episode to provide is rather inconsistent with what most DW episodes are like.