Monday 13 June 2011

Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War

[EXTREME SPOILERS FOR A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR FOLLOW!!! CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!]
Demons run when a good man goes to war
Night will fall and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war
Demons run, but count the cost
The battle's won, but the child is lost,
When a good man goes to war.
On Saturday, the conclusion to the spring half of series six aired. It was absolutely amazing, without a single dull moment. The official synopsis: 

Amy Pond has been kidnapped and the Doctor is raising an army to rescue her as the drama continues. Yet as he and Rory race across galaxies, calling in long-held debts and solemnly given promises, his enemies are laying a carefully concealed trap. In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demon's Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor. 

The Doctor finds out who River is
One of the most anticipated question of the series (for me, anyway) was answered in this episode. But before I tell, I'll go more in depth into the episode, answering a few other questions. The first--Madame Kovarian.

Madame Kovarian with two soldiers
 A quick review--Madame Kovarian, or the eye-patch lady, has been appearing to Amy throughout series 6, in windows that disappear. In The Almost People, she was revealed to be the architect of the operation that replaced Amy with a Ganger. She also replaced Melody Pond (Amy and Rory's daughter) with a Ganger, deactivating it at the end of the episode. As the saying that goes with Demon's Run says, The battle's won, but the child is lost. 

The second answered question--Amy's pregnancy (partially answered in the previous episode, see above link). Melody Pond is born on Demon's Run, an asteroid base where the Anglican Marines waited for the Doctor to come to rescue Amy. 

Melody Pond
On Demon's Run, Madame Kovarian and the others were running scans on Melody, and it was discovered she wasn't entirely human. There was a bit of something else in her DNA--specifically Time Lord. The Doctor revealed the Time Lords became what they were because of exposure to the time vortex. Vastra, a Silurian allied with the Doctor, Vastra deduces that Amy's kidnappers might have wanted Melody, as a part Time Lord, for a weapon.

Finally, the identity of River Song....


A young soldier, Lorna, who had met the Doctor when she was a child made Amy a prayer leaf, a cloth symbol that her child would always come home to them as is the custom of her people, the people of the Gamma Forest, from which Lorna came. On this leaf was embroidered the name of Amy's daughter in the language of the Gamma Forest. 
{EXTREME SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!!!}



Then, River Song came just after Melody was revealed to be the Flesh, and after revealing who she was without words to the Doctor, he left to search for Melody. The TARDIS translated the prayer leaf. The name of Amy's daughter is Melody Pond. But the only water in the forest is the river. The cloth read River Song. 

River's identity is revealed
River Song is Melody Pond. River is Amy and Rory's daughter. 

Doctor Who will return in Autumn with Let's Kill Hitler.

River Song [Giving Amy the prayer leaf from the cradle]: It's your daughter's name, in the language of the forest.
Amy Pond: I know my daughter's name.
River Song: Except they don’t have a word for pond, because the only water in the forest is the river. The Doctor will find your daughter, and he will care for her, whatever it takes, and I know that. [Slowly, the writing on the prayer leaf is translated into English, revealing the chlid's name: River Song.] It’s me. I’m Melody. I’m your daughter.

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