Doctor Who: 10 Times The Doctor Faced Consequences For Their Actions
6. Making Ashildr Immortal - The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived
We are first introduced to Maisie Williams’ Ashildr in The Girl Who Died, a very middling story which sees the Doctor training a village of Vikings to do battle with a group of technologically superior alien warlords - The Mire. Spoilers: Ashildr is, to nobody’s surprise, the girl who died referred to in the title. After she is killed during the final confrontation with the Mire, The Doctor and Clara mourn her loss. The Doctor takes this particularly hard, with Ashildr serving as the straw that broke the camel’s back - he is tired of losing people.
In this moment, Twelve sees his face in a reflection and suddenly realises where he has seen it before: Pompeii, where he meddled with time to save just a single family from a fiery fate. He realises what he is trying to tell himself with this face: to hell with the rules, just save people. This is a beautiful and creative retcon that utilises Capaldi’s prior appearance on the show - but in universe, for the character, boy is this a historically bad decision. Why? Because not only does The Doctor save Ashildr, he does so by making her immortal.
Yes, that’s right, the near-immortal Time Lord, who sees his own extended lifespan as a curse (having had to watch everyone he ever cares about die), inflicts this life on somebody else, without consent and seemingly on a whim. The show does go on to acknowledge that this was a terrible mistake on Twelve’s part though, having Ashildr lose everything that once made her herself, becoming hardened and cold due to her trauma by the time The Doctor meets her again (now under the name of Me) in The Woman Who Lived.
Of course, it isn’t until Face The Raven that The Doctor personally pays the price for this. Still harbouring some resentment toward The Doctor, Me makes a pact with The Time Lords to trick The Doctor into his confession dial to save the inhabitants of Trap Street. Whilst the plan is successful, it results in the death of the thing that Twelve cares about most: Clara. That’ll teach him.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Don’t subject other people to an eternity of suffering just to make yourself feel better.