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Recap / Doctor Who S35 E8 "The Zygon Inversion"

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The Zygon Inversion

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_99_the_zygon_inversion_part_2.jpg
"When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO'S GOING TO DIE!"
Click here to see the Radio Times magazine poster for this episode:
Written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat
Directed by Daniel Nettheim
Air date: 7 November 2015
Part 2 of 2

"I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know! I did worse things than you could ever imagine! And when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight, till it burns your hand! And you say this: No one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch!"
The Doctor, explaining what makes him tick since the Time War.

The one where we learn the Doctor's true name is... Basil!

Sigh... Shall we quote Rule #1?note 

Also the one where Kate Stewart shows she is definitely her father's child... by shooting stuff. With "Five Rounds Rapid". Twice.

Also the one where the Doctor gives a blistering speech on how War Is Hell, that has to be seen to be believed.


Clara has been replaced by the leader of the Zygon rebels, Bonnie, who's just fired a rocket at the Doctor's plane. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart was attacked by another Zygon in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Things look dire.

Clara wakes up in her flat. She goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth, but the toothpaste has turned into disgusting black goo. She goes to her living room and turns on the TV, and sees through Bonnie's eyes. She checks the doors and windows, only to discover they're missing. She checks the newspaper, and finds it reads absolute gibberish, the classic sign of a dream. She sees Bonnie preparing to launch a rocket at the Doctor's plane. Clara jolts the TV to one side, causing Bonnie to miss. Bonnie prepares to fire another rocket. This time Clara manages to delay her from firing. After the plane has been destroyed by the second rocket, Clara rewinds and pauses the "footage", and sees two parachutes among the debris. She smiles.

Bonnie is back in London, and she's after someone. She follows a terrified Zygon, who just wants to live in peace, into his apartment, and does something to him that prevents him from maintaining control over his form. He flees in terror, and is recorded on camera running into a shopping mall in his true form. Bonnie posts this video to the Internet. Clara, dreaming in her pod, manages to covertly text the Doctor a message without Bonnie's knowledge: DOCTOR, I'M AWAKE.

The Doctor and Osgood parachuted out of the plane to safety. The Doctor's parachute has a Union Jack printed on it, which he justifies as camouflage because "We're in Britain!" Osgood broke her glasses on landing, so the Doctor lends her his sonic sunglasses while he jury-rigs a repair. They walk into town. The Doctor checks his messages, and discovers Clara's text. He's somewhat mystified as to why Bonnie would send him something like this, as he believes Clara to be dead. Osgood guesses the truth — that Clara sent it, and Bonnie is unaware. The Doctor and Osgood wind up stealing a van and taking off for London after a run-in with some suspicious police officers.

Bonnie goes to the UNIT safehouse where she knows information on the Osgood Box can be found. She finds a laptop, with the message from the Osgoods seen at the beginning of the last episode, in a safe behind a portrait of the First Doctor. She does not find the box itself, and destroys the laptop in a rage.

So, what is the Osgood Box? What is its role in the peace between humans and Zygons? And what will happen when Bonnie finds it?


Tropes:

  • All There in the Script:
    • The Zygon who Bonnie turns back is not named in the episode, but in the credits is named as Etoine.
    • The Doctor's speech actually contains more dialogue, but was trimmed for the episode. During a later appearance in New Zealand, Capaldi read parts of the speech that were omitted. (Note: does not count as a deleted scene as there's no indication the longer version was actually filmed; certainly no footage was included on the DVD release.)
  • And Then What?: Asked by the Doctor to Bonnie about her plans for war and the Zygon society she plans to build afterwards. It turns out she hasn't thought that far ahead.
    The Doctor: And when this war is over, when you have a homeland free from humans, what do you think it's gonna to be like? Do you know? Have you thought about it? Have you given any consideration because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it gonna be like? Paint me a picture. Are you gonna be living in houses? Do you want people to go to work? Will there be holidays? Oh, will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who's going to make the violins? Well? Oh, you don't actually know, do you? Because like every other tantruming child in history, Bonnie, you don't know what you want. So let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours: When you've killed all the bad guys, and it's all perfect, and just, and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?
  • Arc Words:
    • "Truth or Consequences" for this two-parter. "Win" also turns up again (last brought up in "The Girl Who Died") when the Doctor asks what Bonnie and her allies will do if those they subjugate rise up against them: "We'll win." He warns her that "nobody wins for long".
    • Although not actually uttered, the series arc word "hybrid" is reflected in the nature of the Zygons and how Clara and Bonnie were able to interact.
  • The Atoner: In the end, Bonnie becomes the second Osgood in order to maintain the peace that she tried to ruin and perhaps make amends for the deaths she caused.
    • The Doctor as well. As he lays out, the whole Zygon-Human clash is a friendly snowball fight compared to some of the things he's seen and done. "And you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight, till it burns your hand! And you say this: No one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch!"
  • Awesome, but Impractical: The Doctor claims he once invented an invisible watch.
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind: Bonnie and Clara go through one, with Clara causing Bonnie to miss shooting the Doctor's plane and then briefly turn back into a Zygon.
  • Big Bad: Bonnie. Unusually, she gets redeemed.
  • Big Red Button: The Osgood boxes have two buttons each and could wipe out either the humans or the Zygons with just one push.
  • Blasphemous Boast: "I'm old enough to be your Messiah!" — The Doctor
  • Blatant Lies: When the Doctor asks her her forename, Osgood throws the question back at him; he claims his first name is "Basil". (Of course, there are those who think that it's so blatant it just might be true…)
  • Breaking Speech: The Doctor delivers his most impassioned and desperate plea to stop a Zygon-human war, and it is incredible, and likely the hardest and most powerful speech this incarnation gives onscreen.
  • Brief Accent Imitation: The Doctor takes on an American Game Show Host's accent while explaining the actions of the Osgood Boxes as a game rather than war.
  • Call-Back:
    • The events that led to saving Gallifrey in "The Day of the Doctor" inspired the creation of the Osgood Box.
    • And where are the Osgood Boxes kept? Fittingly, in the Black Archive.
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Invoked by Clara, who notes that Bonnie won't kill her as long as she wants information. Bonnie points out that Clara won't be of any use if she says nothing at all, so Clara has to play along.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Kate uses her father's famous "Five Rounds Rapid" line (from "The Dæmons") to describe how she stopped the Zygon disguised as a sheriff.
    • The Doctor invites Osgood to join him, just like he did the other one just before Missy killed her in "Death in Heaven".
    • There's a damaged Mire helmet in a display case near the Osgood Box.
    • When Clara finds herself in her flat but the doors and windows are missing, she immediately grabs a newspaper to check if she's in a dream, referencing "Last Christmas". Then she responds to Bonnie's threat to trigger her death within her pod with "Go on then."
    • The anti-Zygon Z-67 gas that's inside the Osgood Box was created by a man named "Sullivan". Evidently, creating the gas still hasn't improved the Doctor's attitude towards him, as he indirectly calls Harry an "imbecile" in this story.
    • The invisible watch the Doctor mentions might have been the one he used in "The Caretaker".
    • Kate isn't the first member of her family to lose a chunk of memory.
    • This is the second time the Twelfth Doctor's had his plane blown up.
    • A subtle one: Back in "The Beast Below," Amy talked about how the Doctor took all of his pain and and misery and loneliness, and it made him kind.
    "And you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight, till it burns your hand! And you say this: No one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch!"''
  • Cross-Referenced Titles: With its first part, "The Zygon Invasion".
  • Culture Police: Alluded to by the Doctor, when he asks if Bonnie's Zygon Utopia will allow things such as holidays, music, and violins.
  • Cycle of Revenge: Discussed by the Doctor, who points out that conflict is cyclical unless someone chooses to break the cycle. Revolutionaries, when they are finished, are revolted against in their turn.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: The Osgoods' videos regarding the Osgood Box. It's deliberate so that viewers (in- and out- of universe) don't learn what colour the Osgood Box is.
  • Didn't Think This Through:
    • Pointed out when the Doctor says he once invented an invisible watch.
    • The Doctor convinces Bonnie to stand down, in part, by pointing out that she has no plan beyond "break the ceasefire".
    • In retrospect, it could also be applied to the entire ceasefire scenario, as transplanting 20 million aliens amongst the human population was never going to go completely according to plan.
  • The Dividual: Bonnie becomes an Osgood at the end of the episode, making there two again. We still can't tell which is which.note 
  • Do Not Adjust Your Set: Played with. Bonnie shows up on the television in Clara's Mental World. Clara attempts to change the channel, but Bonnie's on every one.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Kate pretends to be a Zygon to infiltrate Bonnie's ranks and learn her plan.
  • Driven to Suicide: The Zygon civilian whom Bonnie robs of his mimicry power kills himself rather than risk trusting the Doctor or being found by either the rebels or a human lynch mob.
  • Driving Question: What's in that Osgood Box, and how can it help save the Earth once the Godzilla Threshold has been crossed? Does it contain the nerve gas UNIT developed to kill off Zygons, mentioned as having been stolen by "someone with a TARDIS" in the previous episode? Or something else?
  • Easily Forgiven: Invoked by Bonnie herself when she asks who would forgive her... the Doctor is the answer! "I forgive you!" Just like that. And clearly Petronella has forgiven Bonnie, as she allows her to become the second Osgood.
  • Embarrassing Browser History: When the Doctor hands Osgood his sonic sunglasses, he warns her not to check his browser history. She does just that, and is quite surprised by what she finds ("Whoa!").
  • Embarrassing First Name: Petronella Osgood. She insists on Last-Name Basis.
  • Emo Teen: The Doctor calls Bonnie a "screaming kid throwing a tantrum" because she thinks she's so horribly oppressed, and no one can understand her and how it's not fair.
  • Evil Gloating:
    • It's revealed that Kate survived the cliffhanger because the Zygon that was about to kill her stopped to indulge in a bit of gloating laughter, giving her time to shoot it.
    • Bonnie gets in a few licks at Clara's expense when she reveals that Clara's major ability in this situation — the ability to lie — won't work this time.
  • Exact Words: Unable to lie to Bonnie, Clara instead attempts this. Bonnie catches on, though, so she asks questions to get around it. Still, she can't kill Clara as long as Clara has something to tell, so it keeps Clara alive.
  • Expo Label: In Clara's mental world, the toothpaste has a label on saying "This is Toothpaste".
  • Fighting from the Inside: Clara uses the psychic link with Bonnie to control her actions to an extent such as sending the Doctor a message to confirm that she's still alive. She also, rather unexpectedly, is able to force Bonnie to momentarily revert to her Zygon form.
  • Five Rounds Rapid: How Kate killed the Zygon who was impersonating the sheriff. She even mentions the trope by name — like father, like daughter.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: Osgood, who is a fan of the Doctor, asks him what TARDIS stands for. A few moments later it turns out that there are two Osgoods, and one of them is brand new. (It may also be a Mythology Gag referring to the fact that the D has stood for both Dimension and Dimensions at various points.)
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Bonnie the Zygon. Even the Doctor can't take that seriously and bestows upon her the more appropriate appellation of Zygella, though she refuses to answer to it. (Hilariously, Clara has a more sinister-sounding name than her impostor, while Osgood's first name likewise would have been better suited for the villain.)
  • Forgiveness: A major theme. Etoine fears he won't be forgiven and be able to return to his life, so kills himself. Bonnie thinks she's come too far to be forgiven, but the Doctor forgives her. He says, "The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive."
  • Foreshadowing:
    • The earliest hint that Clara is in a dream is when the time on the digital clock changes each time she looks at it. Checking a clock repeatedly is a common way for lucid dreamers to train themselves to realise they're dreaming, as writing changes every time it is looked at in a dream, a fact referenced in the earlier episode "Last Christmas".
    • The Doctor's nickname for Bonnie actually foreshadows her eventual fate: "Zygella" becomes the new second Petronella Osgood.
    • Clara's apparent death, and the Doctor's reaction, foreshadow events coming later in the season.
  • Full-Circle Revolution: The Doctor asks Bonnie, even if the Zygons succeed what will they do against another revolution?
  • Heel–Face Turn: After learning about the Time War, Bonnie gives up trying to start another war and instead works to maintain the ceasefire, ultimately saying goodbye to the Doctor on good terms.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: The Doctor claims that if the Zygons are cruel to the people who they think have oppressed them, then this will lead to more people being cruel to them because they themselves were cruel.
  • Hypocrite: Bonnie tries to blame the Doctor for the impending human-Zygon war while simultaneously hand-waving her own responsibility for events by claiming that I Did What I Had to Do. The Doctor throws it back in her face by pointing out that, well, he did what he had to do at the time as well; she doesn't get to weasel out of her own responsibility so easily.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Bonnie claims this for her actions while spitefully trying to blame the Doctor for the human-Zygon war. The Doctor just points out that he did what he had to do at the time as well.
  • I Lied:
    • The message from Osgood about the location of the Osgood Box. It's a decoy for anyone trying to break the ceasefire.
    • Averted with Clara, who is forced to rein in her lying abilities with Bonnie and only tell truths.
  • I've Come Too Far: Bonnie believes this and it is part of why she won't stand down. If she does, she will be punished severely but the Doctor says he is willing to forgive her.
  • Karma Houdini: Despite Bonnie being directly responsible for many deaths (including of Jac, an individual with authority within UNIT), she suffers no punishment other than a verbal dressing down from the Doctor, after which he forgives her. UNIT even lets her become the second Osgood. (However, it should be noted that at the end of the speech Kate Stewart's memories of the discussion are erased; we don't know that, as far as she's concerned, the new Osgood could be a different Zygon entirely and Bonnie escaped or was killed.) This, it should also be noted, is also part of the theme of the episode: while karma/retribution may be viscerally satisfying it ultimately just makes things worse and perpetuates misery. Forgiveness may be less immediately satisfying and simple, but it's the healthier option, and breaking the chain of resentment and violence has to start somewhere.
  • Kirk Summation: The Doctor spends the climax telling Bonnie that her Evil Plan doesn't make sense and she should stand down. She hasn't thought it through, she'll eventually be in Kate's shoes facing new revolutionaries, and despite all she's done, she isn't unforgivable. He eventually brings her around to his way of thinking.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: The Black Archive and its memory-wiping technology are featured again. The Doctor uses it to erase the memories of Kate and Bonnie's Zygon guards, but not Bonnie herself. Clara and Osgood are also spared.
  • Legacy Character: There are once again two Osgoods. It's entirely possible that neither of them is the original Osgood. "It doesn't matter which is which. All that matters is that Osgood lives."
  • Life Isn't Fair: Bonnie justifies that she did what she had to do on the grounds that what's happened to the Zygons isn't fair. The Doctor points out that just because it isn't fair doesn't make them any better than humans; they just want the chance to be cruel to the ones who've been cruel to them.
  • Living Lie Detector: Bonnie is able to tell when Clara's lying because their heartbeats are in sync.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: Clara's consciousness, while she is impersonated by Bonnie, inhabits a nearly accurate replica of her apartment, except for odd details such as gibberish printed in newspapers and generic (and gross) toothpaste. Nonetheless, she is able to communicate with the outside world and, somehow, can even replay some of Bonnie's memories on her head!TV, PVR-style.
  • MacGuffin: The Osgood Box is deliberately created as a lure for people (human or Zygon) who want to end the peace treaty. It's what drives the search of this episode and forms the climax.
  • Malicious Misnaming: The Doctor keeps calling Bonnie "Zygella", just to annoy her.
  • Mental World: Clara's mindscape is represented as her apartment with all the doors and windows sealed. The TV serves as a link to Bonnie's eyes (and, apparently, memories, as Clara is able to play back Bonnie's view of the explosion, PVR-style).
  • The Mirror Shows Your True Self: The first time Bonnie passes a mirror, the reflection is of the real Clara, who is just beginning to become aware of her situation. She notices this but when she looks back it is a normal reflection.
  • Multitasked Conversation: At one point, the Doctor is speaking to Bonnie, but he knows that thanks to their mental link, Clara can hear him. He warns Clara not to reveal the location of the Osgood Box, knowing that this will actually spur Bonnie to attempt to mind-probe Clara for the information. His plan actually hinged on Bonnie finding it.
  • Never My Fault: Bonnie, the rebel Zygon commander, whose Evil Plan has driven this two-parter, blames the Doctor for the Osgood Box situation. The Doctor throws it back in her face; if she's going to throw blame at him while simultaneously claiming that I Did What I Had to Do for herself, well then he can do the same.
    Bonnie: You are responsible for all of the violence. All of the suffering.
    The Doctor: No, I'm not.
    Bonnie: Yes!
    The Doctor: No.
    Bonnie: Yes! You engineered this situation, Doctor; this is your fault!
    The Doctor: No, it's not; it's your fault.
    Bonnie: I had to do what I've done.
    The Doctor: [shrugs] So did I.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: As a further sign of Clara becoming the Doctor's Distaff Counterpart, Clara exhibits extraordinary mental abilities, being able to physically manipulate Bonnie remotely (remember, Bonnie is not using Clara's body), at one point even forcing Bonnie to revert to Zygon form. She's also able to shield some of her memories from Bonnie. No character has ever been shown before having this level of control over a Zygon.
  • "No More Holding Back" Speech: The War Is Hell speech the Doctor gives Bonnie perfectly sums up everything that's driven him since the Time War.
  • No-Sell: Having been exposed as a Zygon by Bonnie, the Zygon civilian refuses to trust the Doctor when the Time Lord attempts to approach him, and promptly uses his Disintegrator Ray on the Doctor. The Doctor is slightly phased, but otherwise suffers no ill effects.
  • Noodle Incident: The final situation has happened fifteen times before. At least, Kate has learned the secret of the Osgood Box that many times. The episode leaves it ambiguous as to whether this means the Doctor was forced to make his speech 16 times in a row or if there have been 15 separate prior incidents of this nature (or a combination of both).
  • Not a Game: How the Doctor describes war, emphatically; he even compares the Osgood Boxes to a game show to show them how ridiculous they're being. He has seen war and never wants to see it again.
  • Nothing Is the Same Anymore: We now know that every modern-day episode set on Earth since "The Day of the Doctor" takes place with tens of millions of Zygons pretending to be human. Statistically speaking, this means any number of human characters seen in contemporary episodes could be Zygons.
  • Not So Stoic:
    • Noted by Osgood when the Doctor, after determining that not only is Clara still alive, but she's effectively engaging Bonnie from within, can't stop grinning.
    • The Doctor comes close to breaking down in tears several times during his speech. So does Bonnie.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Clara, in her "mental world", fighting to make Bonnie wink a message to the Doctor.
  • Pragmatic Hero: When a Zygon was about to attack her, Kate simply shot it.
  • Real Fake Door: When Clara is in her "dream" flat, the door opens to a wall, and the windows are just missing, so that the curtains cover up more of the wall.
  • Refusal of the Call: At the end, the Doctor asks Osgood if she wants to come with him in the TARDIS; she replies that she does, more than anything, but that her duty lies on Earth. It's not so much refusing the call as acknowledging that she's already answered a different one.
  • Reverse Psychology: The Doctor tells Clara not to let Bonnie into her memories, and not to tell her where or what the Osgood Box is. Bonnie uses this to find out where the Osgood Box is, though she is unable to find out what it is till she gets there. This enables the Doctor to stop Bonnie.
  • Sadistic Choice: Invoked by the Doctor concerning the Osgood box. There are two of them, with one of them acting in favor of the humans, and one for the Zygons. However, opening either box reveals there are two additional choices: "Truth" or "Consequences". On the human side, the box will either kill every Zygon on the planet via toxic nerve gas released into the atmosphere, or kill everyone in London (including all the commanders present) via the nuke placed under the Black Archive. On the Zygon side, one option reveals the identity of every Zygon on the planet, inducing mass panic in the population and igniting war, while the other locks the Zygons into one form — their natural form or their human form (whichever they happen to be in at the moment), and they can never change it. Then Bonnie figures out that the whole thing is a bluff — the boxes are empty — but the choice they represent is still real.
  • Shapeshifter Mode Lock: The Doctor warns Bonnie that the Osgood box can either reveal every Zygon on Earth, or lock them in their human forms.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The Doctor's brief imitation of a game show host is a subtle nod to an old American game show titled, aptly enough, Truth or Consequences. (Which the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, deliberately renamed itself after; its previous moniker was the decidedly less melodramatic Hot Springs.)
    • The Doctor escapes the plane by using a parachute with a Union Jack pattern. Given the "espionage thriller" undertones of the two-parter, it's a pretty fitting reference.
    • The Doctor's part-mocking, part-affectionate nickname for Bonnie, "Zygella", seems to be a nod at Nigella Lawson.
    • The Doctor tells Bonnie "That would be telling."
  • Talking the Monster to Death: The Doctor "defeats" Bonnie by talking her into to a Heel–Face Turn, via a combination of And Then What? and War Is Hell.
  • Tantrum Throwing: Bonnie smashes the laptop on hearing from the two Osgoods recording it that the Osgood Box isn't there.
  • Time Dissonance: The Doctor claims that when he thought Clara was dead it was the longest month of his life. When Clara says it could only have been five minutes, he says "I'll be the judge of time."
  • Tom the Dark Lord: Nope, your ears weren't deceiving you in Part 1. The supposedly evil and cruel commander of the rebel Zygon faction does, indeed, choose to call herself Bonnie. Even the Doctor is having none of that by bestowing upon her the nickname Zygella instead. It's possibly a meta in-joke, as in the Classic Era a character like this would most certainly have had a name like Zygella. It's also possible that she calls herself "Bonnie" because all the Earth-hatched Zygons were given human names only. It also illustrates how little she actually knows about Zygons' native culture, for all her professed commitment to racial identity. Finally, it's possible the name was chosen by the writers to illustrate the point made in the Doctor's war speech that the Zygons are no different than the humans in most respects. Possibly lampshaded by the fact Osgood's first name is the exotic-sounding Petronella — again, a name that might have been more appropriate than Bonnie.
  • Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Bonnie proves incapable of probing Clara's memories, and their link allows Clara to momentarily revert Bonnie to Zygon form once she gets the hang of it — she is even able to physically manipulate Bonnie into missing with the RPG, texting the Doctor and winking. The only advantage Bonnie has is that she's the one who's conscious, so she could kill Clara if she wanted. It's invoked by the Doctor when he effectively tells Bonnie that Clara's mind contains the intel she seeks.
    The Doctor: The mind of Clara Oswald... she'll never find her way back out.
  • The Unmasqued World: Bonnie and her fellow rebel Zygons intend to create this by forcing every Zygon in the world to revert back to their Zygon form. This will freak out the humans and drive the Zygons into the radicals camp.
  • The Un-Reveal: Osgood is Osgood. Whether there are now two Zygons sharing the original Osgood's body print or one new Zygon replacing a Zygon Osgood that Missy killed, the nature of the surviving Osgood is up for grabs. (However, at one point, the non-Bonnie Osgood tells the Doctor she never really met Clara... yet Clara and Osgood did meet in "The Day of the Doctor", hinting that the Osgood who died in "Death in Heaven" may well have been the original human Osgood after all, or it could be another red herring like "Zygons don't need to keep the original body alive anymore". Also, both Osgoods met Clara in "The Day of the Doctor", so the comment clearly refers to the fact that they only met in passing and never really spoke.)
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The teenagers at the mall don't react to the Zygon civilian's gradual demorphing, because they're Zygon rebels.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Bonnie has two; first when she discovers that Osgood lied about the Osgood Box location, and again after she learns that there are two Osgood Boxes.
  • War Is Hell:
    • When Bonnie insists she wants war, as she feels she's crossed the Moral Event Horizon, the Doctor makes it clear the things she's done are nothing compared to the horrors he's committed and seen. Quoted above.
    • The Doctor's response when he's confronted by Kate and Bonnie regarding the Osgood boxes.
      The Doctor: Because it's not a game, Kate! This is a scale model of war! Every war ever fought right there in front of you! Because it's always the same! When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: SIT DOWN AND TALK!
  • We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future: Apparently, the Zygon rebels think that no one is going to question a grainy cell-phone video of a guy looking like he's wearing a rubber suit uploaded on YouTube. Too bad they didn't show the comments section of the video post. Probably would've been filled with replies like "Lame!" and "Obviously fake!"
  • Wham Line: The revelation that this isn't the first time Kate's found her way to the Osgood Box.
    Kate: This is all very well, but we know the boxes are empty now. We can't forget that.
    The Doctor: No, well, er, you've said that the last fifteen times.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We never learn what ultimately became of little Sandeep from Part 1.
  • When He Smiles: When he realizes that Clara is not only still alive but fighting back against Bonnie, the Doctor can't stop himself from grinning, which makes Osgood remark that she'd never seen him smile like that before.
  • You Are a Credit to Your Race: The Doctor says this to Osgood. Both Osgoods reply that they are credits to both species.

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