The Doctor watched helplessly as Clara stepped towards the time tunnel that was his life. He tried to stop her. So did River. Clara ignored them both. The Doctor half rolled over; he was still weak from the Great Intelligence's attack on his past selves but he had to stop Clara. The Impossible Girl turned to him with a small smile. Then she said the words which had haunted him for a long time.
"Run you clever boy, and remember me!"
"Clara!" the Doctor cried in panic but she jumped into the time tunnel. Suddenly she was everywhere. Memories surfaced in the Doctor's mind and he cursed himself for spending so long not noticing her. Clara had advised him which TARDIS to steal back when he was in his First incarnation. She had thrown his Second incarnation out of the way of a Sycorax's whip. She had helped his Third incarnation defeat a group of rogue soldiers from Unit. She rescued his Fourth incarnation along with Sarah Jane Smith from some angry Kahlers. She had been accidentally knocked out by his Fifth incarnation when he was practicing cricket. She had offered him a soufflé in a café while he was in his Sixth incarnation and he had acted like the pompous jerk he was back in that life and rudely refused. She helped his Seventh incarnation defeat the Cybermen at the cost of both herself and Ace being killed. His Eighth incarnation had locked the Time War but then a surviving, albeit weakened, Dalek shot him; Clara destroyed the Dalek and helped him to the TARDIS so he could regenerate. She helped his Ninth incarnation save a family from a pack of Weevils, before he met Rose. She had reminded his Tenth incarnation that River's data ghost could still be saved in the Library. She had even watched him and Koschei playing on the fields of Gallifrey when he was a child; he had assumed she was one of the Time Ladies.
Clara had been there for him since the beginning, long before he had even thought of exploring the Universe. The Doctor now understood why the TARDIS was hostile towards her. It wasn't just because she was impossible. It was jealousy plain and simple. Clara had watched over the Doctor before he'd even laid eyes on the TARDIS. He'd always thought the time machine was his oldest and most faithful companion but she wasn't. The Impossible Girl was. She always had been.
And now she would die for him. Again.
Finding a new surge of strength the Doctor hauled himself to his feet. All those years he had taken her for granted, never even acknowledging her existence. Well no more! She had spent millions of lifetimes watching out for him; it made his mere twelve hundred and fifteen years seem insignificant by comparison. He was always complaining that he had lived too long but Clara was as close to being immortal as anyone could be without being a fixed point in time. Just this once he was going to save her. The real Clara. Not one of her echoes.
The Doctor stepped into his time tunnel. He sent Clara her leaf, plucking it from her time stream. The Impossible Girl heard him as he called out to her. She saw him. He could see doubt in her expression; she didn't know if he was real or one of the echoes. Nonetheless she stumbled towards him, tears falling down her lovely face. He caught her in his arms and held her tight almost sobbing with relief. She was real. She was alive. She was his brilliant, brave, beautiful Clara, his guardian angel, the most loyal companion he'd ever had. And he would never let her go again!
"Clara!" he cried, "My Clara!"
Then he saw him. The incarnation he'd tried so hard to forget. The one whom he tried to convince himself had never existed. Clara turned and looked at the man. She was exhausted from the fall and the memories of millions of lives, which were too much for any human mind to handle, no matter how strong. Donna Noble had almost died when she'd absorbed all the information from the Meta-crisis Doctor. The Doctor had to get Clara out of his time stream before the memories caused her mind to burn.
But he was sure that she would remember the incarnation standing with his back to them.
Clara had discovered the Doctor's greatest secret. And she wouldn't forget it. Clara was part of the Doctor now, more so than River, Amy, Rory, Susan or even the TARDIS. He literally wouldn't have survived without her. The Universe itself would have been destroyed long ago without her. It was only right that Clara should see the Doctor at his worst, to know who she had sacrificed herself for.
Clara asked who the Doctor's mysterious incarnation was. The Doctor didn't give her a straight answer, merely saying that he was him, but not the Doctor. Clara was too tired to question him further. She fainted in his arms. The Doctor was about to leave when his other self spoke.
"What I did," he said remorsefully, "I did without choice."
"I know," said the Doctor. His other self continued as though he hadn't spoken.
"In the name of peace and sanity."
"But not in the name of the Doctor," the Doctor replied. He turned and carried Clara out of his time stream.
The Name of the Doctor was incredible, easily the best episode since The Snowmen in my opinion. I felt sorry for Clara when she spent a million lifetimes looking after the Doctor and he didn't even notice her, except for when he stole the TARDIS and of course during the events of Asylum of the Daleks and The Snowmen. I personally think Clara is more like the Doctor's wife than either River or the TARDIS; if she's been with him throughout his entire lifetime then, in theory, that includes his life on Gallifrey before he started travelling. Jenna-Louise Coleman is easily the greatest and most beautiful companion the Doctor's ever had (she's the only woman I've seen in my nineteen years that is sexy enough to make me...well for the kids sakes I won't say but many of you should be able to guess what I mean...without being tied up and gagged). I hope she stays longer than Karen Gillan.
If I owned Doctor Who River Song would have learned the Doctor's name on Trenzalore, instead of being her virtual self from the Library and there would be a cameo of their trip to Darrillium to end the story properly. With River gone, the Doctor would marry Clara instead. I don't dislike River but Moffat's kept her story going for too long in my opinion and we still don't know how she discovered the Doctor's true name. Clara's more like the Doctor's wife than River is because she's been his guardian angel ever since he stole the TARDIS and probably even since the day he was born since she's supposed to be scattered across his entire timeline. This also means that Clara's the only companion apart from Jack Harkness who can return at any time. Even when the real Clara dies her echoes would still be somewhere in the Universe. The Doctor just has to look harder. For such a great detective he can be unbelievably blind.