The Timeless Child twist can give Doctor Who season 13 the emotional arc it needs. Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall had promised season 12 would redefine the series, and he wasn't exaggerating. The final episode of season 12 ended with the Doctor learning she is in fact the Timeless Child, an ancient being who predates Time Lord society and who became the base genetic code for the entire Time Lord race. Everything she knew about her own origin was revealed to be a lie.
Continuity has never exactly been Doctor Who's strong suit, but this is easily the biggest change in the show's status quo since the Time Lords were introduced in 1969. Oddly enough, it fits rather better with classic Doctor Who than with the modern relaunch, blunting the thematic edge of the rediscovery of Gallifrey in the Matt Smith era. The worst problem is with Matt Smith's regeneration story, "The Name of the Doctor," which saw him come to the end of his regeneration cycle and require a boost from the Time Lords; suffice to say this makes absolutely no sense. Many viewers have consequently rejected the Timeless Child, hoping it will all be revealed to be a lie.
That would be an utterly unsatisfactory approach. Rather than abandon the Timeless Child, Doctor Who season 13 needs to build upon this retcon in order to give Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor the character arc she so desperately needs.
The Thirteenth Doctor Doesn't Have A Character Arc
The classic series of Doctor Who often treated its enigmatic time traveler more as a force of nature than as a character in his own right. The various incarnations of the Doctor blundered into crisis after crisis, but they were typically left unchanged by what they had experienced; only a few stories really affected them on an emotional level and resulted in a sense of character arc. But when Russell T. Davies relaunched Doctor Who in 2005, he treated the Doctor as a character, and he insisted on giving each one of his Doctors their own distinct arc. Take Christopher Eccleston, struggling to deal with survivor's guilt and carrying the weight of double genocide upon his shoulders; or David Tennant, whose Doctor ultimately came to consider himself the "Time Lord Victorious," and was forced to confront his own monumental ego. When Steven Moffat took over as showrunner, he continued the same approach with Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi's incarnations of the Doctor; both have strong emotional journeys, changing as characters over the course of their runs.
Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor fundamentally lacks this sense of narrative arc. It's impossible to say what the Whittaker era is actually about, because this Doctor still doesn't feel like a character in her own right, and there's been no real sense of personal growth to her. Chibnall seems to have tried to set an arc up in Doctor Who season 12, with the Doctor learning Gallifrey had been destroyed by the Master and trying to investigate, but it was sabotaged by inconsistent writing and poor signposting. Sadly, this means Whittaker - a top-rate actor in her own right - still hasn't really had the chance to show audiences what she brings to Doctor Who.
The Timeless Child Can Give Whittaker's Doctor A Character Arc
The best plot twists aren't about rewriting continuity and overturning decades of canon, but rather are character-focused. So far, the Timeless Child retcon has changed everything and nothing. The lore has been changed, but the Doctor escaped the Matrix in a scene that seemed designed to reassure viewers the Doctor herself was unchanged; she received a vision of Jo Martin's mysterious Forgotten Doctor in which she was encouraged to just shrug her shoulders and move on from the Master's revelation. "Have you ever been limited by who you were before," Martin's Doctor challenged Whittaker's, who concluded she was right. In other words, the Doctor Who season 12 finale actually ended in a scene that told viewers it doesn't matter where the Doctor has come from, all that matters is who she chooses to be now. It's rather odd to essentially tell everyone your entire season's major twist is irrelevant.
The Timeless Child retcon can be redeemed not by ignoring it, or erasing it, but rather by building upon it. It's easy to see the story potential; if the Doctor is not a Time Lord, then what is she? This quest of personal discovery should be one that becomes almost an obsession for her, generating conflict between the Doctor and her companions. There were actually positive signs of this in the Doctor Who Holiday Special, "Revolution of the Daleks," in which Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor seemed shaken to the core by the Timeless Child revelation, and it's notable she told Ryan a little about it - but not Yaz, the one companion who stayed with her in the TARDIS. That sets up the potential for such conflict, if the episodes are written well.
There have been reports Jodie Whittaker is leaving Doctor Who after season 13, and the BBC is refusing to comment on them. Assuming this is indeed the case, season 13 is literally the last chance showrunner Chris Chibnall has to give Whittaker a character arc. He can do so only by building on the foundation he has established in season 12. The Timeless Child has rewritten the Doctor's origin story, and it's time for the Doctor - and viewers - to learn what she truly is, and where she really comes from. Unfortunately, this will be a difficult task, because season 13 is a short one as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning Chibnall will need to work closely with all his writers to ensure the overarching narrative is tight and consistent, much more so than season 12's. But if he has the right team on board, the task is not an impossible one.
This does, however, mean a lot is riding on Doctor Who season 13. The Timeless Child retcon has divided the fanbase, and season 13 must convince wary and skeptical viewers that this twist is worth it. What's more, it must also give Jodie Whittaker the emotional send-off she actually deserves. It sadly remains to be seen, however, whether Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who can pull this off.