Howling:The Reset Universe and Previous Events

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In The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang, the universe is reset so the Doctor didn't exist. If this is true, what happened to Rose, Donna, Martha, and everybody else? Would it have been like Donna's world, or would no aliens have come without the Doctor? Were all of these events restored when the Doctor reappeared? If not, why did the Doctor run out of regenerations, since bringing him back should have restarted his regeneration cycle. August Booth ☎ 20:27, January 16, 2014 (UTC)August Booth

I'm pretty sure that when Amy remembered the Doctor back into existence, all the rest of the "stuff" attached to him and his timeline followed, meaning everything that "unhappened" "rehappened", save the majority of the Cracks in Time. —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 03:21, January 17, 2014 (UTC)

BioniclesaurKing4t2: That's my understanding, too.

August Booth, on the regeneration cycle question: Amy remembered the Doctor back into existence as he was when she knew him before. That includes his position in his regeneration cycle. --89.243.202.9^{talk to me} 12:35, January 31, 2014 (UTC)

The thing about the cracks is that when they erase something, they only erase that thing itself, not any of the consequences of its existence. This is evident all throughout Series 5 (Amy existing despite her parents being erased, a picture of Rory in Amy's book despite Rory being erased, the Byzantium still being crashed despite the Angel that crashed it being erased, etc.). Therefore, even when the universe is rebooted and the Doctor is erased, all of the invasions that he stopped will still have been stopped. It doesn't make sense logically, but that is exactly the point. That's why the Doctor always thought it peculiar that Amy's house was so big and empty. To help picture it, imagine that you have a carpet. Now imagine if you were to tear a few threads out of that carpet. It would have noticeable gaps where things don't connect, but the carpet itself would still hold together. In this case, you are the cracks, the threads are events, and the universe is the whole carpet. When the cracks erased the Doctor, they erased the Doctor only. Everything in his past stayed where it was and happened as it did, just paradoxically without him there to do anything (although what this would look like to an outside observer is unclear). As for the Doctor's regeneration cycle, it would not be reset by him coming back into existence. Amy remembered the Doctor back into existence as he was, which was on his last incarnation. Ensephylon ☎ 00:12, February 11, 2014 (UTC)

"The thing about the cracks is that when they erase something, they only erase that thing itself, not any of the consequences of its existence." I have to say, that's one of the most perfect explanations I've ever seen for the cracks. It also seems to apply to the Doctor and the Time War: he sent Gallifrey away to a different dimension, but he didn't eliminate the consequences of the war (especially on himself). 98.180.54.181^{talk to me} 03:11, February 12, 2014 (UTC)

To a variable extent, they also erase memories of the things they erase. Amy, for example, remembered the clerics who'd been erased (The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone) but the other clerics did not remember them. Amy, though, didn't remember Rory after he'd been erased (Cold Blood).

The "rules" determining who remembers what have never been explained in detail, which is part of the problem in understanding what went on, but some aspects of them were explained. Time travellers usually do remember (Amy remembering the clerics). Amy failed to remember Rory either because he was from her home era & had travelled with her or because he'd simply been too close to her.

A person's memories could be inconsistent but the inconsistency would be "invisible" to that person. The last few clerics, for example, never saw anything odd in having been sent on their mission with (as far as they then knew) such an inadequate number of troops. Not only was that inconsistency "invisible" to the clerics but also they actively resisted having it drawn to their attention, as we saw when Amy tried to convince them there had been more of them. --89.243.193.135^{talk to me} 21:19, February 12, 2014 (UTC)