So I'm really extra confused as to what exactly The Doctor did (originally, or another way, what he thought he did) to end the Time War now. He was going to make them burn and they all died, but they came back out of timelock very much not burned in Ten's last few episodes. And the Doctor was not surprised by this. So... huh?
Well, he was going to use The Moment. We never really learn what it is, other than that it is a weapon with a conscience, which is why it shows the War Doctor the Bad Wolf and has her guide him through the situation. The thing he would have done would be to use the Moment, which we can assume - based on dialogue from 9/10, would've made everybody burn in a massive explosion, indiscriminate to side or race. Because the War Doctor (and the Tenth) both forget the events, he regenerates into Eccleston and believes the last thing he can remember prior to being put into the multi-Doctor paradox - so that he was about to press the button and wipe out all the Time Lords and Daleks in one go. From his perspective he is about to pull the trigger, then wakes up as 9. He probably thinks the regeneration was caused by the weapon, too.
In The End of Time, it's prior to that. The Time Lords know that he has possession of The Moment - we see them discover the fact in this episode - and they panic. There's two sides of Gallifrey to us at this time - the military command and the high council. We saw the military command tonight. They comment that the high council have sealed themselves away in a closed panic session. That panic session is the one seen in The End of Time, with a crazed Rassillon making his play with the Master.
I'd guess events are linear and time still passes there after the War Doctor jumps through the portal the Bad Wolf/Moment opens. In that time, Gallifrey disappears and is replaced by Earth as part of Rassilon's plan. The Master and The Doctor reverse it, and Gallifrey is put back before the War Doctor, Ten and Eleven do their thing. They go to work and Gallifrey is saved, but lost in a pocket universe that presumably will take time to find.The interesting thing, though, is this means on that Gallifrey there's a mental, revived, maniacal Rassilon and a slightly reformed Master who actually did the right thing, alive and kicking! That could be interesting. It might well be the best thing this episode has given us, in fact.
Having seen it now and heard all Hurt's lines in action - plus him saying he took the job only 4 days before filming began(!), I do think that his role was written for Eccleston. It'd be exactly the same sans the regeneration, and the cliffhanger at the end of Series 7 would've been worded differently - like there's a time I've tried very hard to forget, rather than a face, or whatever. But this sounded so very much written for Eccleston, adjusted back later. Nothing wrong with that, but it's an additional complicating wrinkle!
My bet is this is set up for whatever state of the universe Moffat's successor wants. Also my hope that there is a succession plan.
Yeah, perhaps. It depends how long Moffat is staying for, I guess. He's doing Series 8, but what about 9? If both or more, I could see him bringing back the Time Lords later on. Doubt he'll do it in Capaldi's first series. That said - a well-known, correct spoiler hound teased the end of Smith's era and the final moments at Christmas by saying "Where do things go from here?!" -- so maybe there's yet another significant paradigm shift incoming, and maybe it involves the Time Lords. Don't think it does, though. If anything, given the revelations tonight - that the Eleventh Doctor is actually the twelfth (and remembering that the Tenth wasted a regeneration), it'll probably be related to the regen limit.
So, why is the 11th so mopey about his permanent death on Trenzalore if the 12th Doctor was there during the Time War? I enjoyed the special, but it served better a New Who celebration rather than a 50th.
I reckon the dialogue surrounding the tomb is misleading as to what it is. I have a feeling it might be 11's tomb, though that doesn't explain the dead TARDIS.
we'll have to wait awhile for the fourteenth haha.
