Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens

[eve11]

Okay the real question is: How did all of these aliens get time travel so they could end up in 102 AD?

And, the monologue when River was in Amy's room: "Amy. Oh Doctor, why do I let you out?"

So... this is interesting. because a few things: 1) River's obviously met Amy before. And 2) What does River mean by that last bit? Is she the one who releases him from the Pandorica? Earlier on in her time stream? And if that's true then River's a lot better at bluffing and not letting spoilers on. She must know it's the Doctor in the box then, right?

So, River gets blown up, the TARDIS is destroyed, we still haven't seen who the biggest of the big bads is (the evil "Silence will fall" voiceover guy-- wth?), and I have the sinking feeling that the Doctor's going to be imprisoned in the box for like 5000 years until young River releases him and meets him for the very first time. Um, maybe.

And I think Amy isn't dead because she too is a construct. Back to the beginning: "Why did you say six months?" -- is it because she has no idea how much time has passed either? And also there was something in little Amelia's kitchen, lurking around... who or what could it be? Amy? And in Victory of the Daleks Bracewell is all "They made me!" and Amy takes his hand and says, "I understand how you feel. Believe me, I understand." Why or how would she understand that?

Oh man, this is gonna be a hella long week.

Comments

[livii.livejournal.com]

that the Doctor's going to be imprisoned in the box for like 5000 years until young River releases him

Oh GOD, I hope not. >:( >:( >:( Sorry, not mad at you, just the idea, that is AWFUL.

Otherwise, yes, good point on the time travel haha, and I do think Amy is some sort of construct. We were rewatching "The Eleventh Hour" and Billy pointed out that when Amy first got in the TARDIS she pushed some sort of lever thing. He's determined that was done on purpose and her whole time on the TARDIS has been pre-arranged/created/whatever.

[eve11]

Makes me wonder though, what that would mean for Karen Gillan's presence in season 5?

And yeah, I am good of thinking up very evil things. I had thought before that the Doctor would be in the box when it opened, and that he would have been in it for quite some time. But now maybe that bit comes at the start of the next episode?

Maybe a crack appears within the Pandorica and the Doctor escapes backward into time through it right before the universe implodes into silence and somehow little Amelia is involved as per the "remember what I told you when you were seven" line and little Amelia hearing the TARDIS.

[tripoli.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, dude.

I actually just took "why do I let you out" as a kind of in-joke for herself, like another way of saying "I can't take you anywhere", but under the circumstances, 'out' is certainly an interesting choice of words. I'm not sure how the heck she knows Amy.

I'll be really, really sad, not to mention surprised, if Amy is an Auton construct or whatever. For many reasons, but mostly because I love her and it'd be such a dick way to undermine her character, especially considering how Donna wound up. And if the point of them constructing Amy was so that her entire life was a trap for Eleven and they could lure him wherever they wanted, Roman Britain underneath Stonehenge seems like an odd choice. (Also, if you're going to go to all that trouble, why even bother with the Pandorica? Why not just take him down and shoot him till he stops regenerating?) But the inconsistencies you're talking about all make way more sense if something's up with Amy, but I'd rather it connect her to the big bad rather than just the Pandorica alliance.

Actually, the biggest headspin I had with the whole thing (having only seen it once) was that that whole alliance and all the brilliant species in it completely failed to allow for the possibility that when something goes wrong with the TARDIS, there could be anyone other than the Doctor piloting it. Like, that seems like a huge huge assumption on which to base your whole plan, not to mention the fate of the universe--even if none of them knew of any other pilots, they know he travels with people all the time who might have to fly the thing in a pinch and not necessarily know what they're doing. I dunno, it seems like a good time for an overabundance of caution.

[eve11]

Also, if you're going to go to all that trouble, why even bother with the Pandorica? Why not just take him down and shoot him till he stops regenerating?

On the other hand, if you are working under the assumption that the Doctor will never stop regenerating, then it's a plan that makes sense. Well, either that or put him in some kind of time stasis or something (and who's to say that the Pandorica doesn't have some kind of timey-wimey stasis thing going on inside it?)

Actually, the biggest headspin I had with the whole thing (having only seen it once) was that that whole alliance and all the brilliant species in it completely failed to allow for the possibility that when something goes wrong with the TARDIS, there could be anyone other than the Doctor piloting it.

At the same time though, one wonders if the Sinister Voiceover Man was perhaps playing everyone and planted the idea.

Or, and here's a guess, the Sinister Voiceover Man is the Valeyard (or a variant of the Dream Lord).

[tripoli.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with the Valeyard, but a version of the Dream Lord (or at least, some version of the Dotor working against himself) is pretty high up there on my current theories. I mean, after all this, if Davros or whatever rolls out of there for the five hundredth time, how could it not be a letdown. And narratively, I think it's been built up to pretty well that the Doctor is his own worst enemy.

[eve11]

In the original series, the Valeyard is a future incarnation of the Doctor, but twisted into an incarnation of all of his evil and dark inclinations. He puts the Sixth Doctor on trial (in the Trial of a Time Lord) in an attempt to steal the rest of the Doctor's regenerations for himself.

There is also a rather brillant Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound AU story (He Jests at Scars) with the Valeyard and Mel Bush. But if it is the Valeyard, I will be disappointed if they don't use the original actor though :(

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

I watched the entire episode hardly breathing at at the edge of the seat. Er....couch.

I may have to resort to seaching out spoilers to avoid a perpetual state of anxiety until the next episode. I have no idea how they're going to reset this, or how much of a reset it's going to be. I mean...they can't have the next ten seasons of Dr. Who take place inside the Pandora, right? Meep. I say again, meep.

So, in closing, I'll just be over here meeping. A lot.

[eve11]

Well supposedly the BBC will release a clip on Tuesday. I think that spoilers are going to be skimpy this week. We didn't even get a Next Time trailer!!!! D:

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

:::clings:::

Really, I'm not sure I can wait. I may have to try and put it all out of my brain until some time Saturday afternoon.

[eve11]

Oh I will try to put it out of my brain but I don't know how successful I will be. :(

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Ditto. *sigh*

[barbiejedi.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if River recognized Amy from a previous adventure or just her being with the Doctor-- she could just be very perceptive and more willing to believe in coincidence. And the "Why do I let you out" I think was in response to seeing Amy's little dolls, which I think River, knowing the Doctor like she did, picked up on what must've happened in The Eleventh Hour. (I wonder if the Doctor tells her later about it?)

I am sooooo hoping that the Doctor gets out so very much sooner than that, although it would be Just Like Moffat to twist up the timelines that way.

adkjahsdkahjsdkads TOO MUCH TO THINK AND FRET ABOUT IT NEEDS TO BE NEXT WEEK NOW

[eve11]

It was just a really weird scene. And it's odd too (and I'd been wondering this for quite some time since the Eleventh Hour) that all of Amy's stuff from childhood is out in her bedroom. It was an interesting way to tell the story, but why would she have it all out-- her suitcase, her old drawings and sculptures, her books-- on the night before her wedding? Was she reminiscing and trying to reconcile her feelings about getting married vs. her lifelong infatuation with the Doctor? Or had something else come in and rifled through her stuff? Meanwhile, the thing that landed and broke down her door... must have come sometime after Amy and the Doctor left post Time Of Angels? Or was it the next night?

???? TOO MANY QUESTIONS! ????

[barbiejedi.livejournal.com]

but why would she have it all out-- her suitcase, her old drawings and sculptures, her books-- on the night before her wedding? Was she reminiscing and trying to reconcile her feelings about getting married vs. her lifelong infatuation with the Doctor? Or had something else come in and rifled through her stuff?

I think you could probably say "both" at this point-- pre-Rory's wipe, I can easily see her indulging in a bit of nostalgia on the night before her wedding which is sort of the line she's going to cross into Grownup Land. And then when River shows up (I didn't see the wedding dress?) it is just as equally clear that something had invaded her house and not bothered to hide it... although you're right, the room itself did look more set-out-on-purpose and less ransacked than the front door. Hmm.

I just assumed that whichever aliens broke in, since they're all Time Travel savy enough to have turned up in Ancient Rome must have also been good enough to turn up ten minutes after the Doctor and Amy left, if they'd wanted to. I can't see the house sitting like that through the day and the next night without someone noticing and calling the police... if we want to be all crazy and start throwing logic into it. XD

... dude, speaking of time travel, were the Judoon and the Cybermen and everything even capable of that? Or did the Daleks go around recruiting everyone they could think of who might join them in caging the Doctor and provided the time science themselves?