Therefore she must have fallen in the ravine in the first main timeline, giving her name and the local story to that rift. It is also apparently not the second timeline: had Clara fallen into the ravine in the second timeline, she would not have been able to erect a tombstone for Doc. It is patently not the third timeline, because we see Doc rescue her. We know that in some timeline, Clara Clayton falls into Clayton Ravine. The only piece of the first main timeline which is important to us involves Clara Clayton. The third main timeline diverges from the second in September 1885, when Marty McFly returns. Once Doc Brown returns to January 1885, he creates an anomaly, a second main timeline, which is intrinsically altered by his presence in ways which are discoverable. Of this timeline we know very little, but the little we know will be helpful.

Therefore we must have a history in which Clara Clayton and Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen and Shamus and Maggie McFly all lived their lives without any interference from Doctor Emmett L. It is unarguable that before Doc Brown could go back in time, history had to progress to the time from which he begins. The first of these is the unaltered original history. Thus, it will help us to keep in mind the structure of the story based on the information established in the first two.įirst, let us get it clear that the third movie presents us with three distinct main time lines. The third movie is particularly convoluted not in itself, but in its position in the timeline, for it both follows and precedes the other two.

Clara from back to the future 3