3. Working The Puppets
The cybermen are a puppet race though it is unclear who is ultimately pulling the strings. After the Doctor rescues the children from the cybermens clutches he tells Clara they are walking comas. Their self-awareness has been turned off. They are easily manipulated and controlled. Webley first appears as a kind of puppet master, pulling the strings of the chess playing cyberman. Yet the tables are turned fairly quickly as he is converted and soon under the control of the cyberiad. His identity is stripped and he becomes like one of his wax creations. What if the Time Lords tried to use the Doctor as a puppet? They certainly manipulated him in the past, even stranding him on earth for a time. In Hide Clara was warned not to trust the Doctor that he had a sliver of ice in his heart. Could the Time Lords have left something within the Doctor that is waiting to be activated? Or conversely could they have removed something? Could he still be in danger of becoming a puppet?