Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/A Good Man Goes to War


 * If River is Amy and Rory's daughter, why wasn't she erased along with Rory when he died in Cold Blood?
 * Simple. When Amy's parents were erased from time, Amy continued to exist. Therefore, when Rory was erased from time, River continued to exist.


 * Why would the Cybermen have safety signs on their ship? There's clearly a "Fire Escape" sign and another denoting the contents of the tanks in the background while the Cyber Leader calls out intruders.
 * Perhaps they stole the ships?
 * They were clearly the same Cyber Ships portrayed in the Series 5 Finale.
 * So, that doesn't mean they didn't steal them.
 * They are also similar to the ships in The Invasion. Also, Cybermen aren't indestructible, they would likely need safety guidelines as well.


 * Why hasn't the Doctor ever assembled an army before now and why didn't he bring more of his assistants to help instead of old enemies like a Sontaran.
 * Clearly he never saw the need before, and they are all people who owe him favours, he proberly doesn't want to interrupt his old friends new lives.
 * For all we know the Doctor may have done something similar to this before, but off-screen.
 * Although Sontarans are normally his enemy, Strax wasn't. Same can be said for the Silurians recruited to help.
 * The Doctor clearly chose his army for specific abilities. Martha Jones would have offered little to this mission, for example. Nor would, say, Sarah Jane. In addition, the Doctor has stated several times, most recently in SJA: Death of the Doctor his reluctance to revisit former companions. So instead of past companions he chose individuals to whom a debt was clearly owed.


 * Vastra compliments the Doctor on taking over the station without a drop of blood spilt. However, she is wrong as at least two soldiers and one monk die during an altercation explicitly orchestrated by the Doctor.
 * Vastra did not witness the brief fight with the soldiers and the monks, she likely didn't know that had occured.
 * Perhaps she meant it literaly, based on what her experiences have been like.


 * When the Silurians and Judoon and the Sontaran appear and take control of the base, why don't the monks attack then? And why are they left on the station when everyone else is taken away?
 * It's strongly implied at Kovarian arranged the whole thing as a trap, so the monks were likely acting under orders.

the monks and clerics are working together. The monks clearly have some form of sentience and so would notkill there allies.
 * If Melody is a flesh avatar, why doesn't she "melt" when Rory uses the sonic screwdriver while holding her to open the door to Amy?
 * Not all functions of the screwdriver are in use when the screwdriver is activated. The 'open locks' function is different from the 'Flesh discorporation' function.
 * Colonal Manton suggests that the strategic advantage of the Headless Monks having no heads is that the Doctor would not be able to convince them not to kill him, as the Doctor has proven so able to do with his enemies in the past. However, once the appearance of the Doctor (in the guise of a Headless Monk) causes the marines/clerics and Monks to attack each other, Manton removes the ammo from his weapon in order to convince the Monks that the marines/clerics are not a threat to them. How could that be an effective way to diffuse the situation if the Monks have to heads with which to reason? And why would Colonal Manton beleive that such a strategy would work in the first place, given that he was the one to explain the inexorable nature of the Monks?