'Doctor Who' Season 12 Episode 9: Who is Brendan? Fan theories span everything from Cyberman to Timeless Child
Spoiler alert for 'Doctor Who' Season 12 Episode 9 'Ascension of the Cybermen'
This week's episode of 'Doctor Who' had high expectations thrust upon it after last week's impressive 'The Haunting of Villa Diodati'.
With the lone Cyberman in possession of the cyberium, the stakes were high as the Doctor and her companions traveled to the far future to save humanity from the cybermen.
However, the most confusing and so far pointless aspect of the episode was the story of Brennan. Apart from the magnificent and scary opening featuring the cyber-head, the episode opened in what seems to be 20th Century Ireland as a man comes across a baby abandoned in the middle of the road.
The man and his wife inform the police but they seem all too happy to take him in. With time, the boy, named Brendan, officially becomes their son.
The episode is littered with events from Brendan's life. There is the moment when his father takes him to the police chief to get him a job on the force. Then there is the key scene where Brendan confronts a criminal, only to be shot and fall off a cliff.
Brendan is seemingly dead but as the police chief comes running to his body, he comes back to life. As the doctor checks him, the police chief and Brendan's father exchange looks in shock, wondering what's going on.
Later, we see a shot of Brendan at his retirement. Curiously, his father and the police chief are present too, however, they haven't aged from the last time we saw them. They then take Brendan to the "back office" and erase his memories.
Fans are just as confused as Brendan's story bears no meaning to this week's episode. However, theories abound and we hope that the mystery is solved in the season finale, titled 'The Timeless Children'.
One fan asked, "So did the orphan story mean anything?" as another tweeted, "Ok, what the heck is going on? Brendan's old and retired, but his dad and mentor policeman haven't aged a day."
One fan wrote, "Theorizing about how Brendan fits into this whole thing and my current thought is that Brendan = Ko Sharmus."
A fan tweeted, "Wait. Brendan died and came back. He was shot and fell from a cliff. Is he like Captain Jack Harkness? Or is it something more? Is he a Timeless Child or the Lone Cyber Man? Both? I have questions."
So, who is Brendan, or rather, what is Brendan?
One of the prevailing theories — since the episode revolved around the Cybermen — is that Brendan is a Cyberman himself. He could either be Ashad himself (the lone Cyberman) or even related to Ashad.
Another theory is that Brendan is Ko Sharmus — the guardian of the boundary point. Since Brendan's memories were erased, it could explain why he seemed like a different person.
The most curious theory is that Brendan could be the Timeless Child. The Timeless Child was teased in the last season and in the season's second episode, the Master told the Doctor that everything she knew about the Time Lords was based on a lie.
The Master comes back in the episode and it is possible that he will make the Doctor forcefully look upon the truth. Now, that truth could hold the key to the mystery of Brendan.
Here's why the last theory holds more weight than the others — we see that the police chief and Brendan's father stop aging after the incident where Brendan comes back to life. In fact, rather than being humans in 20th Century Ireland, these people could very well be Gallifreyans.
We just have to wait for one more week for answers. The season finale is titled 'The Timeless Children', implying that the mystery is bigger than we thought it might be.
'Doctor Who' airs on Sunday nights on BBC America at 8/7c. The Season 12 finale will air on March 1.