Also, some minor spoilers for Episode 13, The Wedding of River Song. (Highlight if you want to know the title.)
This is not my theory. I found it on Reddit, and thought it was absolutely brilliant.
Quote:
I don't normally write down my theories and share them but this time I thought I could try. It is not that long but yeah, requires some reading I suppose. Feedback would be great. Also I am not a native speaker therefore I apologise in advance for any mistake in the language.
So this my take on how the Doctor will survive his death: by not surviving it.
He is going to his death, River is going to kill him. She has to, but she still has two choices. To kill the Doctor, or not to kill him. Two choices mean two different time lines.
In time line A, River kills the Doctor and because the whole universe’s balance is conserved by the event of the Doctor’s very own death, everything stays normal. The doctor dies, the universe is safe.
In time line B, River refuses to kill the Doctor. The Doctor survives his fall at Lake Silencio, however because it is a fixed point in time and everything is tied up to that moment, time collapses. The universe becomes unstable and the whole history is squeezed into one moment. Yes, the Doctor lives, but the universe dies.
So there are two time lines, two universes but actually in time line B, the universe is torn down. So the Doctor in time line B, or in universe B, who doesn’t die, crosses to the universe A, where the Doctor died, leaving time line B on its own as it has already started to fall because of him.
In the end, everything is back on universe A where the Doctor died, and where we have seen in the past two series. River is prisoned for killing him, but the Doctor in universe B has come to this universe. So he lives at the same time.
So this my take on how the Doctor will survive his death: by not surviving it.
He is going to his death, River is going to kill him. She has to, but she still has two choices. To kill the Doctor, or not to kill him. Two choices mean two different time lines.
In time line A, River kills the Doctor and because the whole universe’s balance is conserved by the event of the Doctor’s very own death, everything stays normal. The doctor dies, the universe is safe.
In time line B, River refuses to kill the Doctor. The Doctor survives his fall at Lake Silencio, however because it is a fixed point in time and everything is tied up to that moment, time collapses. The universe becomes unstable and the whole history is squeezed into one moment. Yes, the Doctor lives, but the universe dies.
So there are two time lines, two universes but actually in time line B, the universe is torn down. So the Doctor in time line B, or in universe B, who doesn’t die, crosses to the universe A, where the Doctor died, leaving time line B on its own as it has already started to fall because of him.
In the end, everything is back on universe A where the Doctor died, and where we have seen in the past two series. River is prisoned for killing him, but the Doctor in universe B has come to this universe. So he lives at the same time.
I predicted something involving crossing timelines a while back, and I think this would be an awesome way to end the season. Like, "Big Bang" type of awesome. I never really bought into or liked the Ganger theory; it always struck me as being a red herring. But this? Yes, please! At this point, I'm going to cross my fingers, and hope Moffat doesn't ******** this up.
