Is there a 'Hypocritical,' or 'Superficial,' Aesop Trope?
I mean, so it's okay for a previously young character to go through years of isolation, character development, hardship, and power-leveling in badass offscreen...
...As long as they stay/end up physically young and optimistic/happy enough to return to the status quo, or at least return to traveling with the Doctor?
What The Hell, Writers?
Edited by BBRain Hide / Show Replies
But there's no doubt that the dynamic of the relationships between the three has changed. Amy might not have undergone any net character development by the end of the episode, since her older self was killed and then erased from history (a little like Rory at the end of 'Cold Blood', come to think of it), but Rory is almost certainly disillusioned with the Doctor after having been forced to make such a Sadistic Choice. We all saw a much meaner, more pragmatic side to the Doctor this episode, and Rory's not the type to let that slide.
The whole point of the episode is that Older Amy might have been erased from existence, but in all the characters' (and especially Rory's) memories, she did exist. And I don't think any of them will ultimately forget that, or the circumstances surrounding both her life and death.
You could say the same thing about Rory's years of experience as lone centurion. Yes on occasion we have seen him break out the badass but mostly he acts like the same Rory he always has been.
Edited by TheKingsRaven
Given that it is not apparent that the writers wanted to teach a lesson with this episode, I don' see how this would be relevant.
Not every story has a message, the only real message that i can see in the whole thing is; dont get trapped in alien quarantine facilities because you may end up getting stuck there.
Did anyone else notice the tape player at about 7 minutes 20 seconds plays the old Doctor Who theme backwards? Would that have a trope?
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I predict that the Doctor's line "Sometimes knowing your future is what allows you to change it" will have some significance with regards to the Lake Silencio incident.
(Yeah, I can already hear everyone else saying, Duh, of course...)
Possible fridge brilliance (not my own idea but liked it and posted it here to see if there's any other thoughts on this): Rory only said "press THE button" to Amy expecting her naturally to go for the green one like he did. However what one did Amy the RE Dhead pick?
CrypticMirror
so Amy gets huffy for waiting 36 years, has she forgotten Rory waited two thousand years for her?
And for Ranma fans, do you think Tom MacRae has read "Hearts Of ice" (link on the Ranma fanfic recs page), the similarities are rather striking. In fact if you were editing Hearts of Ice into a 50 minute script this would probably be pretty much what you got.
Edited by CrypticMirror Hide / Show Replies
Rory chose to wait and knew what he was getting into.
By the way, I'm sure there's a trope that fits the fact that both Amy and Rory have waited for each other and both ended up armoured, sworded, and badass. Can anyone think of what it might be?
I found that odd too CrypticMirror.
I do think it fits Amy's personality that she'd take it a lot worse than Rory, but at least mention it. And give the Last Centurion a sword too!
Edited by TheKingsRaven
Rory was right at Amy's side guarding the Pandorica the whole time AND was an unaging Auton, so it's not really the same thing. Rory waited to avoid the risk of anyone opening the Pandorica before Amy's younger self could revive her. Amy waited because the TARDIS failed to lock onto her properly.
What I can't understand is why Amy couldn't just look at it as all the painful memories simply being erased. Sure, Old!Amy technically wouldn't exist anymore, but why does that matter if all that never happened in the first place?
Ugh, my head hurts from the Timey-Wimey Ball.
Well it's the same as dying to her. It reminded me a bit of 'Family of Blood' when John Smith has to give up his muggle life and open the fob watch. Sure, John Smith was never technically a real person with a real history, but he thought he was, and hence he was afraid to die. Same with Old!Amy- she wasn't technically going to die, but it meant the same consequences for her.
There's also the fact that she wasn't a copy of Amy, she was literally Amy who had lived in a faster timestream. Why should she be willing to sacrifice herself when the Doctor and Rory can save whichever Amy they choose, and Old!Amy has waited a lot longer for the help?
If we're going to put spoiler tags, we should have some consistency. And no Self Fulfilling Spoilers like "Old!Amy."
This was a secondary bullet under What the Hell, Hero?, and I can't tell from this who the "he" is.