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- For the species that identified itself as "The Silence", see Silent
The Silence is a religious order of great power and secrecy who refer to themselves as the Sentinels of History. Their core belief is that "silence will fall when the Question is asked”, sometimes contracted to “silence will fall."
The Silence are bent on killing The Doctor since they believe him to be the only one who knows the answer to The Question and that there will come a time when The Question is asked.
Dorium reveled to The Doctor that “silence will fall [when the question is asked]” is, in fact, a poor translation (DW: The Wedding of River Song). He reveals that the core tenet of The Silence is actually that the question must never be answered and that, in context, “silence must fall [when the question is asked]” is a better translation.
Dorium also revealrd to The Doctor that The Question is "doctor who?".
It is currently unknown why The Question cannot (or should not) be answered, although The Question had been asked of The Doctor many times throughout his history (see The "Doctor Who?" running joke).
History
The Silence was the mysterious entity that forced the Doctor's TARDIS to explode on 26th June 2010, creating cracks in time that would erase things throughout the universe, and eventually the universe itself. Although the entity that caused the Doctor's TARDIS to explode was never visible or named, a voice was heard speaking before the TARDIS began exploding, stating "Silence will fall!" (DW: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang)
The Silence also indirectly played a hand in the destruction of the Saturnyns' homeworld. In 1580 Venice, Rosanna Calvierri said that through some of the cracks, the Saturnynians saw only "silence and the end of all things." This caused them to flee their homeworld to 1580 Earth through a different crack that acted like a wormhole. (DW: The Vampires of Venice)
The Silence, seemingly allied with Madame Kovarian, the Church and Order of the Headless, were also behind the Battle of Demon's Run, as well as the kidnapping and brainwashing of a young River Song. She then made several attempts on the Eleventh Doctor's life. Ultimately, she successfully introduced a poison into his system which killed him, though she broke free of her conditioning and offered him the sum of her regenerative energy. (DW: Let's Kill Hitler).
The Silence, however, managed to track River Song down to the Luna University where they kidnapped her and forced her into an astronaut suit as part of their plan to kill the Doctor. (DW: Closing Time). Their plan was foiled, however, when the Doctor convinced the crew of the Teselecta to disguise their android as himself.
References
- When recaptured, Prisoner Zero told the Eleventh Doctor that "silence will fall". (DW: The Eleventh Hour)
- An unknown entity was heard declaring "Silence will fall" aboard the TARDIS on 26th June 2010. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
- Following his defeat of Rosanna, when the Doctor was preparing to leave, a mysterious silence fell over Venice, all the people had vanished from a previously busy Venetian market. (DW: The Vampires of Venice)
- After attending Amy Pond and Rory Williams' wedding, the Doctor discussed the TARDIS blowing up and warned that "the Silence is still out there" before being distracted by a phone call. (DW: The Big Bang)
- Several lines of Abigail's Song referred to silence, such as, "When you're alone, silence is all you know". It was unclear whether this was a reference to the order, the species, the Doctor's death (his "silence") or simply an ordinary use of the common noun. (DW: A Christmas Carol)
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