ow, my brain.
Jun. 24th, 2007 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
holliSo, I think I figured out how time travel works in Doctor Who, although I seem to have given myself a headache in doing so.
But okay. It's like this: from the point of view of the future, the past has already happened. So anything that's known to have happened, from the point of view of the future, has to stay happened; changing it will break the universe.
That's why Rose, who knew her father died, nearly destroyed the world by saving him. That's why Billy Shipton had to carry his message to Sally or risk destroying two-thirds of the universe: Billy's message was in the folder Sally gave the Doctor. From the point of view of the future, he'd already given it to her. Failing to do so would break the loop, and everything else with it.
However, that also means the Doctor can muck about in time as much as he likes, as long as he doesn't keep anything from happening that he knows ought to happen. And, most importantly, it means that the Master has to build a paradox machine before he can destroy the Earth, because he knows the Earth doesn't get destroyed. We *know* what humanity's future is; it's not this. We've seen it. It's a fact. From the point of view of the future, it's already happened, right up to the end of space and time.
The paradox machine, then, is kind of an awesome skiffy concept, isn't it? Something that allows you to change the facts, make something happen that you know didn't happen, without taking out two-thirds of the universe.
That's... kind of neat! Also, holy crap, John Simm is *amazing.*
But okay. It's like this: from the point of view of the future, the past has already happened. So anything that's known to have happened, from the point of view of the future, has to stay happened; changing it will break the universe.
That's why Rose, who knew her father died, nearly destroyed the world by saving him. That's why Billy Shipton had to carry his message to Sally or risk destroying two-thirds of the universe: Billy's message was in the folder Sally gave the Doctor. From the point of view of the future, he'd already given it to her. Failing to do so would break the loop, and everything else with it.
However, that also means the Doctor can muck about in time as much as he likes, as long as he doesn't keep anything from happening that he knows ought to happen. And, most importantly, it means that the Master has to build a paradox machine before he can destroy the Earth, because he knows the Earth doesn't get destroyed. We *know* what humanity's future is; it's not this. We've seen it. It's a fact. From the point of view of the future, it's already happened, right up to the end of space and time.
The paradox machine, then, is kind of an awesome skiffy concept, isn't it? Something that allows you to change the facts, make something happen that you know didn't happen, without taking out two-thirds of the universe.
That's... kind of neat! Also, holy crap, John Simm is *amazing.*
