Howling:Who is Kovarian?
My current hypothesis is that she is a future version of Melody Pond, the one who willingly killed the Doctor. A sort of Valeyard to River Song. Boblipton talk to me 01:59, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
I doubt that there is anything particularly mysterious about her. She is probably just a rather sadistic agent of the Silence. Besides, River can't regenerate anymore and we know how she dies.Icecreamdif talk to me 02:29, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
You may have already heard this, but "Madame Kovarian" when jumbled up spells "Mad Rani Makeover". This could be just Moffat teasing us but it's certainly possible she could be the Rani. 87.102.117.106talk to me 16:20, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
She could be Minnie Mouse, too, but I don't for a moment believe she is. --89.242.64.17talk to me 16:23, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
As a matter of interest, has anyone suggested yet that Elvis Presley might be the Rani? And if not, why not? --89.242.64.17talk to me 16:41, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
I wasn't setting it in stone, 89, and I don't remember agreeing that the anagram was anything special. However Kovarian has more of a chance of being the Rani than most, what with the anagram and her personality beng similar and all that. 87.102.117.106talk to me 17:47, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
Her personality isn't that similar. One thing the Rani wasn't inclined to do was work for (be subordinate to) someone else. She was very reluctant even to work with others as an equal. She liked to be the unquestioned boss. --89.242.64.17talk to me 18:22, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
Kovarian's personality is a lot more similar than most to the Rani. It's really the anagram that most suggests it. And acknowledge that not all anagrams are red herrings - they have been useful in the past. I remember a YouTube video where this guy had worked out that "The Waters Of Mars" jumbled up is "Wars of the Master". A few months later and Hey Presto it's announced the Master is returning for the finale. Anagrams have been useful before, they could most definitely be useful again. 87.102.117.106talk to me 19:09, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
The only anagrams that I recall ever being significant in Doctor Who are when they used to change the names of the actors who played recurring villains in disguise. Waters of Mars may have been an anagram of "Wars of the Master," but the Master wasn't in that episode, he had nothing to do with that episode, and he wasn't waging any kind of war when he appeared. Madame Kovarian's personality is really nothing at all like the Rani's, except for the fact that they are both evil. As 89 said, her goal in life seems to be to serve the Silence, while the Rani is just interested in her experiments. The Rani would have considered the Silence to be an inferior species, worth little more than lab rats. Besides, if the Rani was choosing an alias, why would she choose one that refers to herself as mad? That's not even mentioning the fact that the Rani is a Time Lord, and therefore dead.Icecreamdif talk to me 21:23, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
Anagrams: "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood". I believe the latter was originally used when they wanted to conceal that the programme involved was Doctor Who, to prevent spoilers getting out. Karen Gillan has also said the auditions before she was cast were billed as being for "Panic Moon" ("companion"). Like the anagrams in credits lists, though, these are out of universe anagrams. Of course, with enough ingenuity, all kinds of anagrams can be made to look significant to those who desperately want to see them as significant. Almost anything can be made to look like almost anything else, if enough effort is made. --2.101.54.163talk to me 23:08, January 10, 2012 (UTC)
Still, I don't think that there are any in-universe anagrams like that, unless you believe that the Torchwood Institute is related to the question.Icecreamdif talk to me 01:05, January 11, 2012 (UTC)
I don't think there are in-universe anagrams, either. I do think human ingenuity allied to a strong desire to find such anagrams will eventually find them even though they're not actually there. My point was that all the anagrams that we know really are there are out-of-universe. Torchwood started as out-of-universe, then sneaked in. I can't think of any others that have done that. --2.101.54.163talk to me 01:15, January 11, 2012 (UTC)