Thoughts on River's fate. (Spoilers for AGMGTW.)
I have recently tried to gather all my thoughts together for some kind of meta before the show starts up again, only my thoughts are all scattered, so instead off one mammoth post I'm going to try to post things subject by subject. Starting with this, which is very short and straightforward.
First of all, I should probably begin by saying that I never had a problem with River's fate. I could see why it bothered other people (and even wrote fic in order to try to fix the problematic consent issues), but personally I always liked it because of the symbolism. And wondered now and again what I'd think when we found out who (what) she was...
Well now, the thing about Big Reveals That Change Everything, is that - they change things. And River’s fate? River’s much-disputed fate... Ah. It's... changed.
I owe this insight to promethia_tenk, who stumbled across it somewhere, so I can't claim any kind of personal cleverness, just delight in the perfection.
What I did do, was run off to Wikipedia and look up information on the Matrix:
'The Matrix is a massive computer system on the planet Gallifrey that acts as the repository of the combined knowledge of the Time Lords.'
~~~
'The Matrix is part of the Amplified Panatropic Computer Network, or APC Net, which contains the biological imprints (or bio-data extracts) of all Time Lords as well as the memories of dead Time Lords, storing them in an extradimensional framework of trillions of electrochemical cells.'
~~~
'In the Doctor Who comic strip published in Doctor Who Magazine, the Matrix is depicted as being inhabited by the minds of dead Time Lords - including Rassilon - who have a sort of quasi-existence within its confines.'
To which I say... Now, isn’t that interesting. It would seem that the Doctor gave his Lady as close to a true Time Lord death/afterlife as he could in the circumstances. A few choice quotes from the Library episodes for anyone who might not know them off by heart like me:
THE DOCTOR: It's a world. Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written.
~~~
MR LUX: She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL.
DOCTOR: CAL is a child! A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!
MR LUX: Because she's family! CAL... Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library, and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time, any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything. He gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show.
DOCTOR: So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her.
MR LUX: This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever.
Dear Mr Moffat, you are too clever by half. And also your planning and scheming is downright phenomenal. Plus, this of course confirms my theory that EVERYTHING ties back to the Library...
♥
ETA: Have since learned that Time Lords who were banished from Gallifrey would also have their mental link to the Matrix broken. Which meant that even in death they would be cut off.
First of all, I should probably begin by saying that I never had a problem with River's fate. I could see why it bothered other people (and even wrote fic in order to try to fix the problematic consent issues), but personally I always liked it because of the symbolism. And wondered now and again what I'd think when we found out who (what) she was...
Well now, the thing about Big Reveals That Change Everything, is that - they change things. And River’s fate? River’s much-disputed fate... Ah. It's... changed.
I owe this insight to promethia_tenk, who stumbled across it somewhere, so I can't claim any kind of personal cleverness, just delight in the perfection.
What I did do, was run off to Wikipedia and look up information on the Matrix:
'The Matrix is a massive computer system on the planet Gallifrey that acts as the repository of the combined knowledge of the Time Lords.'
~~~
'The Matrix is part of the Amplified Panatropic Computer Network, or APC Net, which contains the biological imprints (or bio-data extracts) of all Time Lords as well as the memories of dead Time Lords, storing them in an extradimensional framework of trillions of electrochemical cells.'
~~~
'In the Doctor Who comic strip published in Doctor Who Magazine, the Matrix is depicted as being inhabited by the minds of dead Time Lords - including Rassilon - who have a sort of quasi-existence within its confines.'
To which I say... Now, isn’t that interesting. It would seem that the Doctor gave his Lady as close to a true Time Lord death/afterlife as he could in the circumstances. A few choice quotes from the Library episodes for anyone who might not know them off by heart like me:
THE DOCTOR: It's a world. Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written.
~~~
MR LUX: She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL.
DOCTOR: CAL is a child! A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!
MR LUX: Because she's family! CAL... Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library, and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time, any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything. He gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show.
DOCTOR: So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her.
MR LUX: This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever.
Dear Mr Moffat, you are too clever by half. And also your planning and scheming is downright phenomenal. Plus, this of course confirms my theory that EVERYTHING ties back to the Library...
♥
ETA: Have since learned that Time Lords who were banished from Gallifrey would also have their mental link to the Matrix broken. Which meant that even in death they would be cut off.