When River Song revealed her true identity to the Doctor, she did so by asking him to read the writing on his old cradle. Why would her own name be written on the cradle? It wasn't made for her. It would make sense for the person it was made for to have their name on it--but I don't think the Doctor and River are the same person--so what else gets written on a cradle? Nursery rhymes, maybe--and what do nursery rhymes talk about? Old stories, legends, maybe even ancient heroes and founding fathers. Like Rassilon. MAYBE DR RIVER SONG IS RASSILON.
In fact, we know Time Lords evolved by being exposed to the "untempered schism"--kind of the way River was made. We know that Rassilon was one of the first Time Lords--kind of like River is. The only obstacle to this idea that I can see is that River has given up her ability to regenerate. But we have seen how this doesn't bother Time Lords if they really don't want it to.
Therefore, according to my idea, River = Rassilon, and Rassilon is reaching out from the time bubble to get his younger self to kill the Doctor. But wait, why would Rassilon try to kill the Doctor after the Doctor imprisons him? That wouldn't make any sense. But, since we do know that the Doctor is to die in his 11th, not 8th, regeneration, we look at what else we can squeeze to make the theory fit. Well, we can--and passionately want to--squeeze the idea that the Doctor actually dies. What if the attack by the lake is not supposed to kill him, but rather to transport him to inside the time bubble, where Rassilon intends to use him as a tool for escape?
This whole idea that the Doctor's "death" is somehow wrapped up with something as powerful as a time bubble yields a link to yet another hanging thread--the unresolved ending of season 5. We know that the TARDIS was drawn to a very powerful point in spacetime, Amy's house when she was a child, and that it explodes there at every point in the universe. We also know that the explosion allows the silence to leak through, and that the silence eats Amy's life, and that Amy is somehow immune to the silence. I can't tie things together quite as neatly here, but imagine: Rassilon succeeds in bringing the Doctor to imprisoned Gallifrey by "killing" him, the escape attempt succeeds or at least partially succeeds, the awesome energy of dissolving the time bubble explodes through the TARDIS at Amy's house, and Amy herself, being at the center of everything, is somehow instrumental in reimprisoning Rassilon.
Though the arguments above are pretty specious, there is one incontrovertible piece of evidence that cannot be denied: Rassilon is JUST TOO COOL of a villain to let sit.
So, that's what all is going to happen in the next episode.
Ramblings, Pt 2
In fact, we know Time Lords evolved by being exposed to the "untempered schism"--kind of the way River was made. We know that Rassilon was one of the first Time Lords--kind of like River is. The only obstacle to this idea that I can see is that River has given up her ability to regenerate. But we have seen how this doesn't bother Time Lords if they really don't want it to.
Therefore, according to my idea, River = Rassilon, and Rassilon is reaching out from the time bubble to get his younger self to kill the Doctor. But wait, why would Rassilon try to kill the Doctor after the Doctor imprisons him? That wouldn't make any sense. But, since we do know that the Doctor is to die in his 11th, not 8th, regeneration, we look at what else we can squeeze to make the theory fit. Well, we can--and passionately want to--squeeze the idea that the Doctor actually dies. What if the attack by the lake is not supposed to kill him, but rather to transport him to inside the time bubble, where Rassilon intends to use him as a tool for escape?
This whole idea that the Doctor's "death" is somehow wrapped up with something as powerful as a time bubble yields a link to yet another hanging thread--the unresolved ending of season 5. We know that the TARDIS was drawn to a very powerful point in spacetime, Amy's house when she was a child, and that it explodes there at every point in the universe. We also know that the explosion allows the silence to leak through, and that the silence eats Amy's life, and that Amy is somehow immune to the silence. I can't tie things together quite as neatly here, but imagine: Rassilon succeeds in bringing the Doctor to imprisoned Gallifrey by "killing" him, the escape attempt succeeds or at least partially succeeds, the awesome energy of dissolving the time bubble explodes through the TARDIS at Amy's house, and Amy herself, being at the center of everything, is somehow instrumental in reimprisoning Rassilon.
Though the arguments above are pretty specious, there is one incontrovertible piece of evidence that cannot be denied: Rassilon is JUST TOO COOL of a villain to let sit.
So, that's what all is going to happen in the next episode.