THE solution to the paradox in Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens

; Date: Thu Dec 23 2010

Tags: Doctor Who »»»» Doctor Who Paradox

Okay, it's Doctor Who, and maybe I shouldn't quibble over a paradox or two, right? It's nearly time for the Doctor Who Christmas Special, so I'm rewatching last seasons episodes. Ever since the original showing of The Pandorica Opens a question has raged on - just how did the Doctor get out of the Pandorica in order to free himself from the Pandorica.

My earlier take on this, Doctor Who - Big Bang and paradox's and a reboot in the behind, left me more than puzzled, but now I have the solution. And I'm willing to share it with you all.

Consider the obvious - that the Daleks and everyone were a little confused thinking that only The Doctor could fly the TARDIS. At that moment the TARDIS was being flown by someone else. Under that delusion they captured him entrapping him into the Pandorica, trying to prevent the Doctor from blowing up the Universe. At the same time the TARDIS was in the process of blowing up while being piloted by River Song.

First thing to dispense with is, did River Song cause the explosion? Nope, obviously. She reported that an external force was piloting the TARDIS and making it explode. That external force seems to be the voice that declared "Silence Will Fall".

Silly Daleks.

Who or what is that external force? The characteristics of this external force requires an entity that can sneak into anywhere, because it has infiltrated the TARDIS. The entity would also be rather powerful? Or maybe not. I thought "powerful" because it was causing the explosion of the Universe and caused all these Enemies of the Doctor to gang together and create that trap. But maybe this entity is simply wise in using leverage. By sneaking into and infiltrating the TARDIS controls, it can use the TARDIS to blow up the Universe and all those Enemies of the Doctor are smart enough to take the line of reasoning they described, and maybe even smart enough to construct the Pandorica.

At the start of this I had a theory in mind as THE solution but am not now entirely certain. That theory said there were two entities involved. One that infiltrated the TARDIS to cause the explosion, the other to set the Doctor free.

Those two entities seem to plausibly be the Black and White Guardians.

They are Classic Who creatures that put the Doctor through Job-like scenarios a couple times. They were presented as god-like beings of Good and Evil (rather- Light and Dark) where one could not exist without the other but they were in continual conflict. It would be just like the Black Guardian to set up this plot, and just like the White Guardian to act to undo it.

The key paradox in The Pandorica Opens is - just how did the Doctor get out so he could free himself. The White Guardian would be able to arrange this.

Hence - The Black Guardian creates the plot - the White Guardian acts to undermine it.

Maybe.

About the Author(s)

(davidherron.com) David Herron : David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.