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The finale of the first half of series 6. '''"Spoilers!"'''
Last episode, we found out that the Amy we've been seeing was not, in fact, Amy. It was an avatar, making her constantly believe that she was walking around unharmed, while her real self was held captive in a place called Demon's Run. She's given birth there to a baby girl named Melody, guided by Madame
The soldiers are quite nice, actually, and simply believe that the Doctor is a fearsome warrior that should be killed. That doesn't mean they can't be his fanboys, too. One of them, Lorna from the Gamma Forest, met him once when she was young and only joined so she could see him again. She's happily embroidering a little piece of cloth with the words "Melody Pond", as a religious good luck charm for Amy.
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The Doctor and Rory (dressed magnificently in his Last Centurion gear) prepare to raise an army. On his quest, Rory defeats a random Cybermen fleet without even a hint of fear. In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last. Today will mark the Battle of Demon's Run and the Doctor's darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor: her identity. She's unusually happy to see Rory, but she can't come with him.
The Doctor gathers friends with old debts in his TARDIS: a Silurian woman named Vastra from Victorian London and her human girlfriend, a [[Badass]] Sontaran nurse whose clone batch [[Doctor Who
Lorna sneaks out, finds Amy and hands her the little embroidered cloth. Amy is too traumatised to talk to her much.
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By now, the Doctor has gotten into a habit of hugging Amy tightly, and rubbing her back, while he's talking to her. With permission from Rory, of course. Because he can only give her one nasty revelation after another: little Melody is not little Melody. She's made of the Flesh, and the real baby is far, far away by now.
And then, just as the Doctor's friends are dying all around him again, River appears. And the Doctor is ''very'' genuinely angry with her. He's beyond [[Tranquil Fury]] and gone off into plain old rage. Why did she wait this long to show up? Why did she do ''nothing'' to prevent all this? Why is she just standing there? This carnage, this drama, this ''isn't him''. River quietly replies that he's wrong. This is him. [[Doctor Who
Almost blind with anger, he orders her to stop lying to him and to finally explain who she is. She takes his hands and leads him towards the baby cot. He looks down at his old cot, at the Gallifreyan text, at his little kinetic baby toy mobile. He looks up at River. He looks down again. And he starts to happily make incoherent [[Squee]] noises while she grins and nods at him.
It's all still a bit confusing to
Amy has a full-on [[Heroic BSOD]] at that. She picks up a gun and prepares to shoot River right then and there. River calms her down with some effort, and tells her to take another look at the Doctor's cot. Because with written text, the TARDIS translation matrix can take a while to kick in. No, not the Gallifreyan text on the cot -- [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
{{quote|'''THE DOCTOR WILL RETURN IN'''
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----
* [[Action Prologue]]: The first four minutes of the episode has Rory infiltrate a Cyber-man fleet, and the destruction of said fleet. All before the title runs.
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* [[Awesome McCoolname]]/[[Fail O'Suckyname]]: Amy argues [[The Maiden Name Debate|the difference between "Amy Williams" and "Amy Pond"]] is the difference between a geography teacher and a superhero.
* [[Baby Language]]: The Doctor can speak it, apparently. What's hilarious is the lines of the one sided conversation he has with little Melody. Includes, "Really, you should call her mummy, not big milk thing," "It's my hair, it's real" and in regard to the bow-tie, [[Running Gag|"No, it's cool."]]
* [[Badass Army]]: Lets see, the Doctor brought alongside with him an army of Silurians including the one in Victorian England with a female human partner, the Judoon who are basically an intergalactic SWAT team, a Sontaran as a [[Combat Medic]], [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32
* [[Badass Boast]]: The Moff delivers as usual.
{{quote|'''The Doctor''': "Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out [[Bait and Switch Comparison|why I have so many]]."<br />
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** Also:
{{quote|'''Kovarian''': "Wakie waaakiiiieeeee...." *pop*}}
* [[Call Back]]: The hooded men with the [[Laser Sword|laser swords]] are the Headless Monks. Their future final resting place is the Delirium Archive where [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** Also several characters and groups from previous episodes make a return to help the Doctor.
** {{spoiler|[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32
** {{spoiler|The logo on the banners of Madame Kovarian's army contains the same logo we saw on [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** The shot near the end of {{spoiler|Amy and Rory looking on as the Doctor takes off without them}} is very similar to one from [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** The Clerics practice recognizing psychic paper.
** The speech that Colonel Manton made to his army on the legends surrounding the Doctor as an exaggeration is a clear reference to "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32
*** Also, in ''Day of the Moon'', Rory mentions that Amy knows he's always coming for her. And what is Amy's speech about?
** When the gay married couple talk about the Doctor, they mention the time he [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** The Doctor addressing an army with [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** Amy refers to Rory and The Doctor as "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** Amy arming herself with a toothbrush is even funnier when you remember the time the Doctor [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
** When listing the reasons its impossible that Amy and Rory would have had time to produce a baby on the Tardis the Doctor mentions [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
* [[Cardboard Prison]]: Really... River can just waltz in and out (literally), use the phone to announce she's breaking in and order room service, and can gallivant off whenever she pleases. A [[Cardboard Prison]] would actually be more secure than what she's in right now.
* [[Chaste Hero]]: The Doctor is completely oblivious to the notion that Melody might have been conceived in the TARDIS until pushed by Madame Vastra. He works through the fifth season and comes to the realization that the first time they were together on the TARDIS after the reboot was... their wedding night.
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* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: Lorna. When she first appears, she just seems like a young soldier being nice to Amy. Then Lorna gives Amy the leaf, which shows up at the end for the final revelation.
* [[Cherry Tapping]]: The Doctor wants Colonel Manton to order his men not to fall back, but to "run away". For the rest of his life, he would be known as Colonel Run-Away - to show what happens when you mess with the people the Doctor cares about.
* [[Child Soldiers]]: Sontarans, sort of; as a cloned race of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy
{{quote|'''Strax''': "It's all right. I've had a good life. I'm nearly twelve."}}
** And of course {{spoiler|Melody/River Song}} as well.
* [[Christianity Is Catholic]]: Averted. Even though the sect called the Headless Monks follow decisions made by a "Papal mainframe", their Anglican allies are portrayed as a different sect where, if one of their number needs to join the former, they must first convert.<ref>In the most literal sense of the word.</ref>
* [[Church Militant]]: Similar to "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
* [[Combat Medic]]: A Sontaran nurse. It started out as a punishment for [[Doctor Who
{{quote|'''Boy''': "Will I be okay?"
'''Strax''': ''[cheerfully earnest]'' "Of course you will, my boy, you'll be up and around in no time. And perhaps one day, you and I shall meet on the field of battle, and I will ''destroy'' you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!"
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{{quote|'''Dorium''': There are people all over this galaxy that owe that man a debt. By now, a few of them will have found a blue box on their doorstep.}}
** {{spoiler|After he says that, Dorium walks into the back room and, of course, finds the Doctor on ''[[Oh Crap|his]]'' doorstep. "I'm old! I'm fat! I'm [[Crowning Moment of Funny|blue]]! You can't need ''me''!"}}
* [[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu]]: Remember, the Doctor is considered a [[Memetic Badass]] demigod in-universe. See Dorium's quote above, and his many [[Badass Boast
{{quote|'''Lady Kovarian:''' What have you heard?
'''Dorium:''' That you pricked the side of a mighty beast, Madam Kovarian, and entirely failed to run. }}
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{{quote|'''Rory''': Do I need to ''repeat'' the question?}}
* [[Double Meaning Title]]: With the "good men don't need rules" business from the Doctor, the title of the episode may very well apply to Rory.
* [[Elite Mooks]]: [[Word of God]] is that the Headless Monks are the [[Church Militant]]'s special forces. Possibly [[Elite Zombie
* [[Enemy Mine]]: This looks to be the situation for the army the Doctor raises.
* [[Entendre Failure]]: When Vastra and Dorium notice the weird DNA in Melody's scan, they attempt to be tactful and ask in various vague ways if The Doctor and Amy ever.. you know. However the Doctor [[Completely Missing the Point|fails to grasp at what they're on about.]] Once they find out it wasn't his...
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** A much bigger one after a scathing [[What the Hell, Hero?]] from {{spoiler|River}}: the Doctor realizes that the rest of the universe sees him as a dangerous and potentially insane warrior because of his actions. We haven't yet seen the full extent of this one, however.
* [[Hidden Agenda Villain]]: Arguably, Madame Kovarian. She's clearly a mysterious one, and outside of getting rid of the Doctor, she doesn't seem to have revealed any major ambitions... as of yet. It's not even clear exactly why she wants the Doctor gone. But what ''is'' clear, if she can play the Doctor like a fiddle, she's gotta be one [[Magnificent Bastard]], and she must have things in store for the universe, and specifically {{spoiler|Melody/Little!River}}.
* [[Hitler Cam]]: Several, given the prevalence of balconies and grand speeches. One for [http://doctorwho.sonicbiro.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/DW_6x07_A_Good_Man_Goes_To_War_262.jpg Colonel Manton] and, oddly, one for [http://doctorwho.sonicbiro.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/DW_6x07_A_Good_Man_Goes_To_War_335.jpg Madame Vastra].▼
* [[Hot Chick with a Sword]] and [[Hot Chick in a Badass Suit]]: Jenny. And Madame Vastra, if you like [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|that sort of thing]].
* [[Hypocritical Humour]]: Vastra. She frequently shows disdain for mammals and implies she devours ones who annoy her, though she is also involved in a lesbian relationship with a human woman. She does seem to try to catch herself when she's being rude at least, commenting "how do you put up with me?".
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** Not only gives a [[Clean Cut]], but also [[Body Horror|ties a knot]] [[Squick|in the neck of a decapitated enemy]].
* [[Leitmotif]]: The music that plays when {{spoiler|River reveals she is Melody Pond}} is the same heard when {{spoiler|the Doctor was given a Viking funeral in "The Impossible Astronaut"}} and {{spoiler|the girl regenerated at the end of "Day of the Moon"}}.
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]] / [[Take a Level In Badass|Regained Several Levels of Badass]]: The
** As for the Doctor himself, this is not one of those episodes where he scares off his enemies by saying [[Doctor Who
* [[Lovely Angels]]: Vastra and Jenny, though with no [[Les Yay|subtext]], it's right upfront.
▲* [[
* [[Luke, You Are My Father]]: {{spoiler|River reveals she's Amy and Rory's daughter}}.
* [[Manly Tears]]: {{spoiler|Rory, upon returning Melody to Amy. Even more heartwarming is that he does it while saying he was trying to be "cool" and not cry}}.
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* [[Mythology Gag]]: When Rory asks if there could be more than one Doctor, River says 'that's another sort of birthday', referencing the multi-Doctor anniversary specials (and perhaps hinting there will be another for the 50th anniversary?) as well as a very likely threesome.
** Also possibly a reference to the events of "First Night / Last Night" where the Doctor has to deal with trying to keep three River Songs from bumping into each other, each mistaking his TARDIS as the one that was meant to pick them up [[Timey-Wimey Ball|in their respective present.]]
* [[Name's the Same]]: The inclusion of a character called Jenny made fans assume [[Doctor Who
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: The Eye Patch Lady's real name is [[Obviously Evil|Madame Kovarian]].
** And of course, [[Mook Horror Show|for the antagonists]], The Doctor.
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** Dorium, when he realizes the Doctor's recruiting him too.
** The Doctor has one earlier, when he realizes that {{spoiler|baby Melody that Amy is protecting is actually a Flesh avatar, and that Madame Kovarian has successfully kidnapped the real child.}}
* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: A number of the Doctor's allies, including {{spoiler|[[Doctor Who
* [[Only Known by Their Nickname]]: The Thin One and the Fat One. [[Lampshaded]].
{{quote|'''The Fat One''': "We're the thin/fat, gay, married Anglican Marines. Why would we need names as well?"}}
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** The 'Run away' speech the Doctor gives to Colonel Manton comes across as a sort of "The Reason You ''Will'' Suck Speech".
* [[Red Baron]]: Rory, the Lone/Last Centurion. Post Big Bang 2, his standing guard over the Pandorica has become part of the Earth's official mythology, and will never be forgotten.
* [[Red Herring]]: A ''magnificent'' one that had been building up for a year: whether or not the Doctor and Amy were doing it. Everyone around them assumed that they were, and it would have very neatly explained the baby. While everyone was busy fretting and [[
** Since the cot is the Doctor's, and River seems to point at its engraved Gallifreyan text when the Doctor asks her who she is, there are also hints that River could be a future incarnation of him. This was already hinted at in "The Doctor's Wife" when it was revealed that Time Lords can change sex when regenerating. It was [[David Tennant]]'s personal pet theory while filming River's first appearance, and when he revealed that to [[Steven Moffat]] during the audio commentary, Moffat was amused enough to tease the fans with it a little in this episode.
** The giant "door lock override" button. The guard dramatically inches his way toward it, almost making you think he'll succeed... and then Vastra tongue-whips him unconscious as if it's nothing.
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* [[Villainous Valor]]: We all knew how outclassed Colonel Manton's forces would be, still remarkable they got as far as they did.
* [[Waistcoat of Style]]: Jenny's outfit is very stylish indeed.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The bad guys of this episode seem to be
* [[Wham! Episode]]: Almost certainly, not least because it's the last episode of this half of the series, the apparent [[Gondor Calls for Aid|Doctor Calls For Aid]] scenario and [[The Reveal|River Song's identity being revealed.]] Moffat's been promising a cliffhanger that, rather than endanger the characters' lives, will change them forever.
** {{spoiler|The Doctor and company manage to save the baby, but it turns out to be a double bluff as the baby is Flesh. [[Timey-Wimey Ball|Which completely makes things weird, as Little!River is still somewhere out there in the hands of Madame Kovarian.]] [[Fridge Horror|Wait, what?!]]}}
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* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: The "we are not fools" ploy might have worked had the Doctor been working alone as usual. Too bad he has an army.
** The [[Those Two Guys|fat/thin gay married Anglican marines]] seem to assume that they are quirky enough to outlive the story. [[Nominal Importance|They don't even need names!]] Unfortunately, in this series [[Anyone Can Die]].
* [[Xanatos Gambit]] / [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: The Doctor's plan to take Demons Run. {{spoiler|Disguise himself as a Headless Monk and start an [[Enemy Civil War]] amongst the enemy factions. Colonel Manton gets around this by ordering his forces to lay down their arms to get the Monks to back off... leading the Doctor to call in the Judoon and Silurian forces to capture them in one fell swoop}}. Manton tries to counter ''this'' by using the base's automatic distress signal... at which point the Doctor {{spoiler|orders in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
* [[You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With]]: Near the beginning, Dorium attempts to educate the villains about the reality of their situation.
{{quote|'''Dorium ''': "Colonel Manton, all those "stories" you've heard about him? They're ''not'' "stories", they're ''true!'' Really, you're not telling me you don't know what's coming?"}}
* [[You Look Familiar]]: The Doctor's old acquaintences Strax and Vastra, even though we've never seen them
** In Strax's case the two characters were clones so naturally they look alike.
* [[Younger Than They Look]]: You wouldn't guess by looking at him, but {{spoiler|Strax is less than twelve years old}}.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Recap]]
▲[[Category:Doctor Who]]
[[Category:Doctor Who/Recap]]
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