A River Runs Through It, Pt 3
At the core of River Song is a mystery; the sum total of those things we know, or think we know about her adds up to very little, and there are questions, lots of questions, par for the course in a Moffat production, where there are bound to be twisty turny surprises.
I think we're headed for a huge one in series 6 .
So what do we know? Working backwards from 'Silence in the Library', we know that River sacrificed herself for the Doctor, because she didn't want to lose even a moment of their timeline together. I think it's safe to assume she does this out of love, just as the Doctor, when he meets her in a future timeline, gives her his sonic screwdriver which will eventually hold her memory information, making it possible for him to 'save' her in the nerdiest pun, but possibly most romantic development in Nu Who. I think it's also safe to say he does this out of love and, furthermore, it dispels any notion that she is a villain, because if she was, he would not have saved her, nor taken her to the singing towers and cried because he knew she would die. So, yes, as Moffat said in his interview, there is a romance but this being Doctor Who, and Moffat being all timey whimey, it's not going to be as cut and dry as they are married - cue the romantic music - The End. They are going to have to get to that point, if indeed they are married, and again from Moffat's interview, we will see the very beginning of their complicated relationship River's story in series 6.
And, for the upteenth time, I have to say it was genius on Moffat's part, giving us the end of the story first, like a first rate mystery-novel, making us put together the clues and work backwards to that moment when she sacrifices herself.
But there's more to ponder. In 'Silence', River drops the ultimate bombshell: she knows the Doctor's name. To heighten the mystery even more, she only whispers his name in his ear after apologizing, an intriguing clue. Is his name feared and unspoken, or is it Gallifreyan custom not to reveal, and in doing so, she breached a rule of etiquette. Either way, River shows a knowledge that is above and beyond any previously shown by his human companions, and that is, assuming River even is human, which we do not know. To many, the fact that the Doctor looks shocked and tells her there is only one way she could know his name implies they are married, and well it might, because in 'The Pandorica Opens', she carves his academy name, Theta Sigma, into the oldest cliff face in the universe. So River knows both his secret, real name, as well as his Academy name which, interestingly can be shortened to Theos, or 'God', which plays into the ancient belief that whoever knew the unknowable name of God, had power over him. What or whoever River is, she is the real deal when it comes to knowing about the Doctor. The mystery is what this means in terms of their relationship - Moffat speaks of 'managing the Doctor' and, certainly, the profound intimacy that comes from knowing and speaking his name is pointing to a most powerful character, perhaps the most powerful character, outside the Doctor, to appear in the Whoniverse for years.
And that leads to one last mystery for today: what is River. We know she's a woman, and a powerful one, but we have no way of knowing if she's human, or if not, what race she is or even how old she is, or which century is 'hers'. But we do know she is a fellow timetraveller who, in series 4 and 5, knows more about the Doctor than he knows about her, barring her death. Her notebook holds his various regenerations, how many are unclear, pictures of his various faces, and 'spoilers' about the future, while she also hints, darkly, that things will change when next they meet. We know she kills a man, the best she ever knew, but the circumstances remain a mystery as does her apparent compliance with her stormcage incarceration, since we've seen how easy it was for her to get out in TPO.
I don't know where it all is heading, but I'm so on board for the ride!
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.
I think we're headed for a huge one in series 6 .
So what do we know? Working backwards from 'Silence in the Library', we know that River sacrificed herself for the Doctor, because she didn't want to lose even a moment of their timeline together. I think it's safe to assume she does this out of love, just as the Doctor, when he meets her in a future timeline, gives her his sonic screwdriver which will eventually hold her memory information, making it possible for him to 'save' her in the nerdiest pun, but possibly most romantic development in Nu Who. I think it's also safe to say he does this out of love and, furthermore, it dispels any notion that she is a villain, because if she was, he would not have saved her, nor taken her to the singing towers and cried because he knew she would die. So, yes, as Moffat said in his interview, there is a romance but this being Doctor Who, and Moffat being all timey whimey, it's not going to be as cut and dry as they are married - cue the romantic music - The End. They are going to have to get to that point, if indeed they are married, and again from Moffat's interview, we will see the very beginning of their complicated relationship River's story in series 6.
And, for the upteenth time, I have to say it was genius on Moffat's part, giving us the end of the story first, like a first rate mystery-novel, making us put together the clues and work backwards to that moment when she sacrifices herself.
But there's more to ponder. In 'Silence', River drops the ultimate bombshell: she knows the Doctor's name. To heighten the mystery even more, she only whispers his name in his ear after apologizing, an intriguing clue. Is his name feared and unspoken, or is it Gallifreyan custom not to reveal, and in doing so, she breached a rule of etiquette. Either way, River shows a knowledge that is above and beyond any previously shown by his human companions, and that is, assuming River even is human, which we do not know. To many, the fact that the Doctor looks shocked and tells her there is only one way she could know his name implies they are married, and well it might, because in 'The Pandorica Opens', she carves his academy name, Theta Sigma, into the oldest cliff face in the universe. So River knows both his secret, real name, as well as his Academy name which, interestingly can be shortened to Theos, or 'God', which plays into the ancient belief that whoever knew the unknowable name of God, had power over him. What or whoever River is, she is the real deal when it comes to knowing about the Doctor. The mystery is what this means in terms of their relationship - Moffat speaks of 'managing the Doctor' and, certainly, the profound intimacy that comes from knowing and speaking his name is pointing to a most powerful character, perhaps the most powerful character, outside the Doctor, to appear in the Whoniverse for years.
And that leads to one last mystery for today: what is River. We know she's a woman, and a powerful one, but we have no way of knowing if she's human, or if not, what race she is or even how old she is, or which century is 'hers'. But we do know she is a fellow timetraveller who, in series 4 and 5, knows more about the Doctor than he knows about her, barring her death. Her notebook holds his various regenerations, how many are unclear, pictures of his various faces, and 'spoilers' about the future, while she also hints, darkly, that things will change when next they meet. We know she kills a man, the best she ever knew, but the circumstances remain a mystery as does her apparent compliance with her stormcage incarceration, since we've seen how easy it was for her to get out in TPO.
I don't know where it all is heading, but I'm so on board for the ride!
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.