Board Thread:The Panopticon/@comment-188432-20130129081336/@comment-1166667-20130402150819

The Doctor is speculating. It is clear that he himself does not understand what is going on, so his reference to her as "the same woman" is just as valid as one of us saying it. Namely, it's not valid.

We can't assume that "somehow" anything. It is not fact, it's supposition. Look at the words you're using: "somehow", "we don't know how", "probably a twist"

The narrative evidence is that the Doctor claims she is the same. I'm not saying he might be wrong. I'm saying he has been wrong. He is not an infallible source of information, and we cannot take his word as iron-clad.

"There are a billion different ways that the Claras can all exist and still be one person." Of course. And when the series shows us that one way, I will concede she is the same person. Until then, we must default to the assumption that they are separate, but somehow connected.