I agree. The castle may be resetting itself, but time keeps moving ever forward. This is a textbook Cloning Gambit, maybe with a dash of We Have Reserves.
Usually, the viewpoint character(s) in a "Groundhog Day" Loop don't repeat their every action. They either have full memory, or at least deja vu that starts causing some drift. Would there be any ambiguity if he skipped all the stuff in the middle and just ran over to punch the wall some more each incarnation? Sounds like the premise of Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?...
I think it fits the Groundhog Day trope in a "plays with" sense. He is reliving the same timeframe over and over, and he remembers past loops during at least part of that loop, yet still makes the choice whether to fight on or give up every time.
I've just removed some very slanted language. Whether the Doctor and Clara's relationship was romantic or platonic is debated all over the place, and it being *physical* is *definitely* not proven onscreen. This page should not be used to try to make one side or the other "official" or force an opinion into others' observations. Could we please keep things that are a subject of debate to YMMV, WMG, or fanfics?
On "Groundhog Day" Loop: it's one of my very favorite tropes but it's shoehorning to fit it in here. There are similarities, but differences too. I don't want an edit war, so I figured I'd bring it up here in discussion.
"Freedom is not a license for chaos" -Norton Juster's The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics Hide / Show Replies