The Day of the Doctor: Gallifrey Falls No More

WELL...this changes everything.

Or does it?

Ley here, fresh off watching "The Day of the Doctor." I'm still trying to process most of it, but since I process things by writing it, here goes.

First off, the big (and easily missable) detail I want to say is how important it is that David was with Queen Elizabeth I. At the very beginning of "End of Time pt. 1," when 10 comes out and talks to Ood Sigma, he says, "Got married. That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess." That he is with her places us in 10's timeline.

Now, on to the more interesting stuff...

How'd they get out of the Doctor's timestream at Trenzalore? Did they get out of the Doctor's timestream? That could be an interesting twist I could totally see Moffat doing.

Okay, even just writing that has given me some more time to digest.

What Changes?

Nothing. At all. And everything, at the same time.
At the end, when 8.5 (is that who he's going to be? Because I'm sorry but he is not Nine), and 10 step in to their TARDISes, they forget. The timestreams were disrupted by the Doctors being together. So, the Doctor only finds out that Gallifrey did not, in fact, burn when we see 11 figure it out.

What will it change for the Christmas special and beyond? I'm just begenning to have ideas on that. The very last bit:

I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going. Where I've always been going--home, the long way 'round.

Does he really mean that? I don't know. What I do know is that many people who worked in the 50th, such as David and Moffat have said that it is going to change the future of the show. So, yeah, maybe what Moff's got in store for us is a lesson in Gallifreyan culture. I, for one, think that that'd be pretty cool.

In terms of change, here is one thing I fear. So much of the show's appeal to me has been that the Doctor has that baggage from thinking that he destroyed Gallifrey. That darkness, I think is such a nice reflection of what we all, as humans experience with ourselves. I'm a bit apprehensive of a Doctor that doesn't have that emotional weight on him. One thing that I think was a huge difference between the Classic series and the Reboot is that the Doctor has that depressive quality to him. What is he going to be with out it?
Or, will he not loose it? After all, he went for about half a millennium thinking that he killed 2.47 million Gallifreyan children, and that's not exactly the sort of thing that you can just brush off your shoulder in an instant.
More interestingly, will there be some new thing that gives the Doctor guilt? Will he somehow be responsible for a companion's death (Clara?), or something even worse that only could be bred in the Mind of Moffat?

Oh Hey, Tom!

^Click on the heading to see an expansion post on this section.

The next bit I want to talk about is the end with Tom Baker. What was that? My mind isn't quite sure yet. What it may mean is that the Doctor regenerates back into Tom Baker. But, that doesn't sound quite right. I mean, with all the respect in the world, Mr. Baker, you're not young anymore. The Doctor's a pretty active guy-an awful lot of running to do, you know, and I don't quite think he could play the part from a real-world perspective.

11 says that he never forgets a face, and let's face it (ha, face...), I can't quite see a way that that could not be a reference to his fourth regeneration. And then 11 and the Curator have the discussion about the title of the painting...if the Curator is just a normal guy, he'd probably be a bit irked by that dialogue. 

Don't Hurt Us Again

Next will be something a bit stranger, if that's possible. 

We don't completely see who 8.5 regenerates into. Sure, it could be that it's just because Chris didn't return, but what if Moffat's going to pull another Hurt on us? I sure hope his does not. But, there is a tad  bit of foreshadowing--8.5 says that he hopes the ears aren't as strange (yes, I know, it's a paraphrase), and Nine himself, in Rose, comments on the state of his ears when he goes in to the Tylers' flat. I'll just let you meditate on that for a bit.

~

This Whovian needs to get some sleep. I'll post more thoughts on The Day of the Doctor tomorrow, including Rose/the Moment and analysis of the Doctor's Promise.

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