Film Theory: Does Marty McFly Actually DIE In Back To The Future?

Again, Doc using the 1885 experience to educate Marty and make him a better person was no more than him saving his life again. Sure, he wouldn’t have died in that race accident, but he would have been on the same track to a ruined life in 2015 if it had happened. It was just another example of the great timeline meddler meddling for Marty’s benefit.

That also explains why the Doc is so casual in leaving Jennifer to see what will happen to hers and Marty’s future if things don’t change. There’s no way he doesn’t allow her to be taken by the police in that alleyway - why else would a man so meticulous in his planning just leave her on some crates. He needs Marty’s future to work out well, so he allows her a glimpse of what could be to stop it from happening.

And what if Doc used the time machine to make sure Clara fell in love with him? What if he essentially Groundhog Dayed her? After all, isn’t it a bit of a coincidence that he made sure that the man sitting on the train directly behind Clara heard his story about being heartbroken? What are the odds of that happening? But that’s a question for another time.

But why is Doc Brown so willing to break his cardinal rule and mess with the timeline to save Marty multiple times? Well, quite apart from being Marty’s guardian angel, it’s because Doc needs Marty too. McFly is basically Doc’s personal messiah: every major event that happens in his life - his discovery of time travel, his life being saved not only from the Libyan terrorists but also Maddog Tannen in 1885, his meeting his wife Clara… All of it in some way involves Marty’s interference. He’s basically Doc’s totem, without him, Doc is nothing.