Howling:River knows the Doctor's name because...?

The Howling → River knows the Doctor's name because...?

There be spoilers about un-released stories here.
Run back to the forums if you're scared.

... she actually made him do it as she said, or the Doctor was just one step ahead of her (again) and told her his name in anticipation to the events on Trenzalore? 186.182.10.13^{talk to me} 05:12, June 2, 2013 (UTC)

Well, like the nights they spent together in the Stormcage Prison, the viewers are not privy to every encounter that has happened between The Doctor and River. We may or may not see the situation where The Doctor tells River his name. I think that sometimes people forget that most of what happens in the Doctor's timeline happens off-screen. We just see bits of the action. Badwolff ☎ 20:03, June 2, 2013 (UTC)

Because she knew his name the first time he met her, in Silence in the Library, he knows he has to tell her, though she doesn't. But that is why it made such a good "lie" when he said that he had just told her his name when they got married. We knew that she learned it some time, and there is plenty of suggestion that he would only tell her if they were to marry. Who would have thought that back at the Library, he was about to say that he would only tell her his name if he wanted her to be able to get into his tomb? I assumed once the Fall of Trenzalore story came up, that this was where she would learn it. But that assumed River would actually be on Trenzalore. It turned out much more complicated than that, and she apparently already knew.Phil Stone ☎ 06:34, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

We saw a glipmse of the Doctor's last night with River, when it got mixed up with his first night with River. I think it was on that last night that he told her, because by that time, in his timeline, he knew when and how she would use it. Whosethebestwho ☎ 06:04, June 15, 2013 (UTC)

A related question is Who buried the Doctor? And would that person have needed his name to seal the crypt (in which case it was likely River)? Andbeonetraveler ☎ 15:02, June 15, 2013 (UTC)

Good point, Andbeonetraveler. That would suggest that the Doctor witnessed River's death & River very probably witnessed the Doctor's death. I can see that idea appealing to Moffat. --2.96.27.7^{talk to me} 19:52, June 15, 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if The Doctor can still open the Tardis with a snap of his fingers, as he did in the Library after River said she saw him do it. And can the living Doctor open the Tomb of the dead Doctor this way. In a sense, he himself is again the key.Phil Stone ☎ 05:59, June 16, 2013 (UTC)