The final episode of Doctor Who's Season 12 made a revelation that, essentially, completely shattered the mythology of the 58-year old franchise. At the end of "The Timeless Children," the Thirteenth Doctor learned that she wasn't who she thought she was. In truth, she was the one known as the Timeless Child, someone who arrived in this universe through a portal a very, very long time ago. Her power to regenerate her body would be studied and replicated by a race of humanoid beings who would eventually come to call themselves Time Lords, and she actually had countless lives prior to the thirteen regenerations she knew about.
This revelation has been controversial, to say the least, and fans are split between applauding and lambasting the series for making such a drastic departure from established canon. But perhaps the series' canon is actually safe. Because, with a simple twist, the Timeless Child reveal doesn't have to be part of the Doctor's past -- it can be part of her future.
Season 12's Timeless Child reveal was so big because it completely altered the very foundations of Doctor Who. First, it changed history, by revealing that the Doctor had an unknown number of lives prior to who fans know as William Hartnell's First Doctor. Fans already met one of these previous Doctors in the form of Jo Martin's mysterious Doctor, and it's implied that all of this secret history was kept hidden from the Doctor by a shadow organization of Time Lords known as the Division. Secondly, the reason the Timeless Child reveal was so controversial was that it also changed who the Doctor was. Suddenly, she wasn't a Time Lord anymore, but someone else entirely -- a being from another universe who served as the basis for the alien race fans thought she was a part of.
But there is something else we now need to consider. Instead of getting caught up in what happened, perhaps fans should consider what will happen. Recently, BBC released a trailer for the soon-to-premiere Season 13 of Doctor Who, a season subtitled Flux. The season will tell one overarching story of six episodes, and, considering that this is Jodie Whittaker's last go as the Thirteenth Doctor, Flux is all but assured to resolve the Timeless Child reveal. Now, while it's unclear what will happen in the season, or what the titular Flux is, there is an intriguing shot in the trailer that may be revealing.
In the trailer, there's a brief glimpse of the Doctor falling into some sort of vortex of purple energy. Of course, one can't be sure what this vortex is, but it does look similar to the portal that the Timeless Child fell through back in Season 12. Therefore, the question needs to be asked: does the Doctor not know about her time as the Timeless Child because it hasn't happened yet?
If Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor falls into whatever portal this is, she could find herself in another place entirely -- another universe, or perhaps lost in time. Perhaps this could be what the titular Flux brings about, an actual change to the fabric of time and space. This portal could then, eventually, lead the Doctor to the beginnings of time, where she would fall through. The process could cause her death and start her regeneration process. That could mean the little girl that fell through the portal isn't the Timeless Child, the very first version of the Doctor, but simply her next life.
The Doctor could then have spent her next regenerations being studied and tested on until the Time Lords would harness her powers. Her limitless regenerations could then be explained by what happened in 2013's The Time of the Doctor. In Matt Smith's farewell Christmas special, the Eleventh Doctor had reached the end of his regeneration cycle. But to save his life, the Time Lords gifted him with the energy needed to restart his regeneration cycle. The number of regenerations this energy would give the Doctor is up for debate, but it's possible this number is now limitless. Perhaps then this is why the Timeless Child has an infinite number of regenerations in its life cycle.
This twist would keep the series' mythology intact -- keeping the First Doctor as the first and not altering the character's regeneration timeline. It means Jo Martin would not be a past Doctor, but a future version that follows Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. What's more, the only way this would alter Time Lord history is by adding a chicken and the egg scenario where the Doctor is a Time Lord in the present but also the first Time Lord in the past.
To see how the Timeless Child is explained, Doctor Who Season 13 premieres Oct. 31 on BBC and BBC America.