That's not how time fixing works
That was stupid.
By the logic of the episode, there was another paradox that never got mentioned. The book said the Doctor had to break River's wrist. But he didn't break it - she did.
That's because the fact that had to happen wasn't him breaking her wrist. It was the conversation. The conversation that did, in fact, happen. After the conversation anything could have happened - he could have changed his mind and broken the angel's wrist and it wouldn't have mattered at all. (For that matter, technically the conversation didn't even have to happen - River just had to write that it did.) Equally, just because they saw Rory's gravestone didn't mean that he had to stay back in time and die there. There are two very easy solutions: 1) they go back and get him and continue doing their thing, and when he's aged 82 they take him back to Manhattan for him to die. 2) they go back and get him, and then go to the time when the gravestone was put up and put up a freaking gravestone. There is absolutely no problem here.
In fact, it's possible that this episode causes a paradox by its own logic. Amy and Rory get married in July 2010. In 2020, Amy stands on a hill and waves to herself. (Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.) Obviously this depends exactly how long they spend in the "present" time, altogether, after they get married - there's quite a few jumps ahead, but when they get married Amy and Rory are both 21 (as they seem to have been in the same class at school and in The Eleventh Hour Amy is 7, then 19, then 21 the night before her wedding) and while Rory is 31 in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, in The Power of Three Amy says that it hasn't been 10 years on Earth, and there are multiple implications that they are aging faster than they would have if they didn't travel with the Doctor at all. Which means that The Power of Three is probably set in 2018 or so, possibly even earlier. The Power of Three ends with Christmas lights, meaning it's around December, and speculation is that The Angels Take Manhattan is a couple of months later - Amy's newspaper mentions the Superbowl (Jan/Feb) but there are leaves on trees (maybe late March?). So unless the Doctor specifically took Amy to 2020 so that she could stand on the hill and wave, or unless we stretch the timeline out almost to the point where it has been only just less than 10 years on Earth, she won't be around to look at the date and go "Hey, I need to go to Wales and wave at myself!" I'll forgive the fact that time did in fact change despite what ought have been a fixed future in Hungry Earth/Cold Blood by assuming that the crack that ate Rory resulting in him not being there to wave just plain takes precedence over the timeline. The other way around this is to assume that when Rory says he's 31 he hasn't been counting his age in subjective time, only in their linear timeline on Earth, which would mean he'd say 31 even if he was actually more like 34, but at a certain point I can't help but look at Amy and Rory and say "I'm sorry, I just cannot suspend my disbelief enough to pretend they're that old." I was already mocking them in this ep for talking about lines round Amy's eyes when she still looks about 25.
All of which isn't, of course, even getting into my annoyance with the inconsistent Angel mythos. While they at least brought back the time zapping, they still had angels blatantly staring at each other and how could the statue of liberty ever move? it has freaking tourists staring at it constantly! as well as being in the skyline where people are just naturally going to see it even if they're not specifically looking at it.
At any rate, now the Ponds are gone I give this show two more episodes. If it can't improve by then, I give up.
This entry was originally posted at http://keieeeye.dreamwidth.org/203188.html. Feel free to comment there instead because LJ is a poo.
By the logic of the episode, there was another paradox that never got mentioned. The book said the Doctor had to break River's wrist. But he didn't break it - she did.
That's because the fact that had to happen wasn't him breaking her wrist. It was the conversation. The conversation that did, in fact, happen. After the conversation anything could have happened - he could have changed his mind and broken the angel's wrist and it wouldn't have mattered at all. (For that matter, technically the conversation didn't even have to happen - River just had to write that it did.) Equally, just because they saw Rory's gravestone didn't mean that he had to stay back in time and die there. There are two very easy solutions: 1) they go back and get him and continue doing their thing, and when he's aged 82 they take him back to Manhattan for him to die. 2) they go back and get him, and then go to the time when the gravestone was put up and put up a freaking gravestone. There is absolutely no problem here.
In fact, it's possible that this episode causes a paradox by its own logic. Amy and Rory get married in July 2010. In 2020, Amy stands on a hill and waves to herself. (Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.) Obviously this depends exactly how long they spend in the "present" time, altogether, after they get married - there's quite a few jumps ahead, but when they get married Amy and Rory are both 21 (as they seem to have been in the same class at school and in The Eleventh Hour Amy is 7, then 19, then 21 the night before her wedding) and while Rory is 31 in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, in The Power of Three Amy says that it hasn't been 10 years on Earth, and there are multiple implications that they are aging faster than they would have if they didn't travel with the Doctor at all. Which means that The Power of Three is probably set in 2018 or so, possibly even earlier. The Power of Three ends with Christmas lights, meaning it's around December, and speculation is that The Angels Take Manhattan is a couple of months later - Amy's newspaper mentions the Superbowl (Jan/Feb) but there are leaves on trees (maybe late March?). So unless the Doctor specifically took Amy to 2020 so that she could stand on the hill and wave, or unless we stretch the timeline out almost to the point where it has been only just less than 10 years on Earth, she won't be around to look at the date and go "Hey, I need to go to Wales and wave at myself!" I'll forgive the fact that time did in fact change despite what ought have been a fixed future in Hungry Earth/Cold Blood by assuming that the crack that ate Rory resulting in him not being there to wave just plain takes precedence over the timeline. The other way around this is to assume that when Rory says he's 31 he hasn't been counting his age in subjective time, only in their linear timeline on Earth, which would mean he'd say 31 even if he was actually more like 34, but at a certain point I can't help but look at Amy and Rory and say "I'm sorry, I just cannot suspend my disbelief enough to pretend they're that old." I was already mocking them in this ep for talking about lines round Amy's eyes when she still looks about 25.
All of which isn't, of course, even getting into my annoyance with the inconsistent Angel mythos. While they at least brought back the time zapping, they still had angels blatantly staring at each other and how could the statue of liberty ever move? it has freaking tourists staring at it constantly! as well as being in the skyline where people are just naturally going to see it even if they're not specifically looking at it.
At any rate, now the Ponds are gone I give this show two more episodes. If it can't improve by then, I give up.
This entry was originally posted at http://keieeeye.dreamwidth.org/203188.html. Feel free to comment there instead because LJ is a poo.