Bye-Bye Ponds?

[Trubinator]

Actually, I take that back; I think I have an even better ending! You know how the Doctor always seems to have a knack for misjudging time? Well, wouldn't it be interesting if he said a temporary goodbye to the Ponds but arrived decades too late. That would leave us with three curious possibilities for their goodbye. 1: Amy is still alive, but Rory has passed due to old age. 2. Rory is still alive, but Amy has died of old age. 3. They're both dead and somebody close to them leads the Doctor to where they are buried.

My thinking here is that this would be tragic AND play on the Doctor's guilt. In a subtle way, this would also be him breaking his promise to Amy to keep her "still breathing" under his watch. So what do y'all think?

 

[RoJoHen]

^I think it would be completely appropriate for Amy's arc to end that way, especially if we're going for something heartbreaking. She is, after all, "the girl who waited." And as much as she might look to him, this Doctor has let her down on multiple occasions.

 

[Photoman15]

And the Doctor (except under Moffat) is supposed to be the story's hero. These little "let downs" are okay while they travel, but when they are ready to part, she should not be let down.

 

[RoJoHen]

Heroes make mistakes. Hell, just ask Donna (or wait, you can't; her head will explode).

 

[Samurai8472]

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

 

[RoJoHen]

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

No, because he would be interfering with his own timeline. It's the same reason he couldn't go back in time to say goodbye to the Brigadier when he found out that he had died.

 

[Samurai8472]

That just seems weird


Doctor- Well i'm going to say goodbye to Amy and Rory

*It's the year 2060 and he sees their graves*

Doctor- Whoops I went too far.

*goes back into TARDIS*



So just because he went forward by mistake he can't go backwards?

 

[RoJoHen]

Only if he always did. But if Amy and Rory died without saying goodbye to the Doctor, he can't go back in time and say goodbye to them.

Although the whole "time can be re-written" nonsense with Amy probably changes that.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

No, because he would be interfering with his own timeline. It's the same reason he couldn't go back in time to say goodbye to the Brigadier when he found out that he had died.

The 7th Doctor had clearly already seen the Brigadier's death by the time of Battlefield.

 

[RoJoHen]

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

No, because he would be interfering with his own timeline. It's the same reason he couldn't go back in time to say goodbye to the Brigadier when he found out that he had died.

The 7th Doctor had clearly already seen the Brigadier's death by the time of Battlefield.

The Doctor can do whatever he wants, but since the Brigadier died without saying goodbye to the Doctor, the Doctor can't suddenly arrange to have the Brigadier say goodbye to him.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Actually, I take that back; I think I have an even better ending! You know how the Doctor always seems to have a knack for misjudging time? Well, wouldn't it be interesting if he said a temporary goodbye to the Ponds but arrived decades too late. That would leave us with three curious possibilities for their goodbye. 1: Amy is still alive, but Rory has passed due to old age. 2. Rory is still alive, but Amy has died of old age. 3. They're both dead and somebody close to them leads the Doctor to where they are buried.

My thinking here is that this would be tragic AND play on the Doctor's guilt. In a subtle way, this would also be him breaking his promise to Amy to keep her "still breathing" under his watch. So what do y'all think?

Sounds pretty damn good. Hopefully this is more or less what Moffat goes with.

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

No, because he would be interfering with his own timeline. It's the same reason he couldn't go back in time to say goodbye to the Brigadier when he found out that he had died.

Which is also the same reason why The Tenth Doctor couldn't go back for Reinette.

 

[Starkers]

And why Five couldn't go back and save Adric...

At least that's his excuse...

 

[Photoman15]

Heroes make mistakes. Hell, just ask Donna (or wait, you can't; her head will explode).

You mean Donna, who after a real big headache (when everyone was The Master) got married and won a triple roll over lottery? Oh yeah, he left her shattered.


Added:
I haven't seen anyone point this out yet, but he left Donna EXACTLY as he found her. He first saw her in a wedding dress ready to get married and he last saw her in a wedding dress getting married. (I wonder if it was the same dress?)

 

[Admiral_Young]

Never mind going back to save old companions...how about saving his own people from his actions in the Time War? As mentioned above he can't interfere in his own timeline.

 

[Photoman15]

Why would he save the Timelords? They were as corrupt as the Daleks and had no problem with destroying Earth to bring back Gallifrey. Let alone they would resurrect Rassilon because they're not doing so well in a war.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Perhaps not the Time Lords then but his family whom he obviously misses very much, and the Time Lord Council doesn't include the rest of his people. It was still a huge personal sacrifice.

 

[The Wormhole]

Wouldn't he just pop back into the tardis and go back to before they died?

The doctor would still be sad since he saw when they would die

Since he apparentally can't do that with the Brigadier, I don't see why he could with Amy or Rory.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Actually he did go back to New Year's Day 2005 so he could see Rose again so it's not entirely out of the question. He can go back in time. He just can't alter events, I'm assuming because massive paradox's would be created all over the time stream.

 

[RoJoHen]

Actually he did go back to New Year's Day 2001 so he could see Rose again so it's not entirely out of the question. He can go back in time. He just can't alter events, I'm assuming because massive paradox's would be created all over the time stream.

Yes, exactly. He can go back in time and look around as long as he doesn't change the original course of events. Going back to see Rose didn't change anything because she didn't know him yet.

 

[The Wormhole]

It's not like he had any knd of serious interaction with Rose. She just saw a guy in the shadows who she thought was drunk wishing her a happy New Year's.