Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Snowmen


 * How does the doctor recognize the line "Run, you clever boy, and remember" from (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)? In that episode, the Doctor had already exited Oswin's room and was running by the time she uttered that line, and she uttered it rather quietly instead of yelling it.
 * Who wrote Clara's full name on her tombstone? The Latimers didn't even know her true first name, let alone her middle and last. Does she possibly have a family? Clearly the Doctor had nothing to do with writing her name, as he only saw it for the first time after it was already up. Was the bartender notified and he gave them her name? The Snowmen is probably the episode in the history of Doctor Who with the least amount of plot holes, so that's the only thing that doesn't really make sense to me.
 * TV: The Name of the Doctor shows that Clara does or did have family. And considering Vastra is "the Great Detective" it's possible she found out (but the Doctor didn't see the name till the tombstone).


 * Francesca and Digby Latimer have teddy bears ten years before they were introduced.
 * And the Doctor invented the Banana daiquiri a few centuries early, too (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace); maybe he's to blame?


 * The story implies that the Great Intelligence did not come into being until it fed on Simeon's memories and emotions, which contradicts earlier sources which identify it as one of the Great Old Ones of the previous universe (as well as its first story, which establishes it was around at least by the 1730s).
 * When the Great Intelligence outlives Simeon, the Doctor realises that he was wrong when saying that it was created by Simeon's emotions. It could have been a Great Old One, but was wandering aimlessly and injured, going from planet to planet looking for someone with enough emotions to feed it, and finally stumbled upon Simeon and gained strength.
 * Please sign your posts. The GI says something like "now the puppet has become the puppeteer" and that he's outlived his creator. I think it's made pretty obvious in the episode that it was created as a reflection of Simeon but grew so strong that it outgrew its origins and became its own entity. The episode clearly shows that this is the GI's origins, directly contradicting the other Old Great One account. I guess it's possible that the original snow was Yog-Sohoth seeking form, but I'm inclined to think that one account is incorrect.
 * So how is that contrasting, as he said the Great intelligence arrives weakened and starts feeding off Simeon, however it ends up becoming to obsessed with his ideals rather than its own, however at the end it breaks free, Simeon didn't create it, simply when it fed off him, it was overtaken with his ideals. Plus although this is a talk page, you don't need to sign your posts, if you check most people don't.
 * Including you, I see. I like your theory, actually. The GI was a Great Old One but, after living off of and reflecting off of Simeon for fifty years, began to develops his ideals and became the evil villain that we all know and love. So the GI probably got stronger and more evil from this event. It was probably very weak until it found Simeon. It was looking for physical form.
 * The rules for these pages say you don't need to sign your posts. Anyway, the Great Intelligence clearly exists when young Simeon encounters him for the first time, so presumably he existed earlier but for whatever reason chose to move onto Simeon. Also, given the revelations of TV: The Name of the Doctor, we don't know if this wasn't the later version of the Great Intelligence setting things up to mess with the Doctor's history. A Great Old One is clearly capable of playing the long game.