Circular Galifreyan: Answering the First Question, And Why the Doctor Keeps Their Name a Secret

SPOILERS FOR ARRIVAL (2016)

I just watched Arrival and it got me thinking. The alien species in that movie (Heptapods) use a language that is circular – words and whole sentences look like this:

This is because Heptapods have the ability to see into the future, so when they use a word or object, they are defining that thing’s entire existence, from creation to destruction.

Do you know what other alien language is primarily based on circles, and is used by a race that can see through time?

Circular Galifreyan.

Now I know the show has established grammar rules for how this language works, but I couldn’t help thinking, what if the Time Lords moved away from Old High Galifreyan (pictured below) once they invented time-travel because it made them look at the universe in an entirely different way?

Now when discussing objects, Time Lords had to take their entire histories into account, so their language changed to accommodate that.

But what does that mean about the names of people?

A person’s name in Circular Galifreyan is not just a statement of who they are. It is also everything they ever were. Everything they ever will be. Their names act as prophecies for the people they will become.

At the same time, people aren’t objects. They are autonomous, and time isn’t fixed. They have the ability to better themselves and change their futures, thus changing their names in Circular Galifreyan

This is why Time Lords never use their real names, only titles. Out of respect for a person’s privacy and protection, because revealing their name in Circular Galifreyan is dangerous, exposing their future to a stranger that could manipulate them or judge them for things they haven’t even done yet.

So, Time Lords have two names; the one in Circular Galifreyan, which is a closely guarded secret, and the name they choose. This title can be a statement of intent (e.g. Lord Master), or an acceptance of the fate or duty laid out for them by their name (e.g. Lord General).

Or it could be an attempt to deny the prophecy, an attempt to change the future before it happens, even if it’s impossible.

Hence, Lord Doctor.

Imagine it, as a child, knowing you will commit terrible crimes, genocides, that you will destroy entire universes, because your name says so. No wonder the Doctor was an outcast from Galifrey, shunned by his own people, sleeping in the barn alone. No wonder they said he’d never make a Time Lord, because he was destined for war and slaughter, not learning. No wonder their best friend was the Master, driven insane as a child with an insatiable lust for power.

No wonder the prophecy of the Hybrid terrified him as a child – he knew it was him the prophecy spoke about because his name told him so. No wonder he ran away, no wonder he’s so determined to play the hero, no wonder he hated soldiers and war and weapons so much, even before he had a real reason to.

He knew the Time War was coming. But maybe there was still a chance for him to change the future.

In Twice Upon A Time, the First Doctor says he ran away to discover the source of good in the universe - the thing that kept evil at bay. What if he was trying to save himself? Trying to find the thing that could fix his destiny and save him from becoming a monster.

So he became that force of good almost accidentally, trying to prove there was still a chance for him, and saved everyone but himself.

No wonder she doesn’t tell anyone her name.

But we already know it. Because if the Doctor’s name is a summary of everything they’ve ever done and ever will do, every world saved and every life touched, it means the title of 7x13 The Name of the Doctor meant literally that - the Doctor’s time stream is their name.

It also explains the 12th Doctor saying that children know his name. 12 often breaks the 4th wall to talk to the audience, and this is him doing it again - he’s telling the children that watch the show that by doing so - by seeing the Doctor rise and fall and save and run - we understand them. We know them. We’re in on the joke, more than any character within the fiction of the show could be.

This explains why River Song - an archaeologist who dedicated her life to studying the Doctor - knows their name. It also explains why the Doctor considered this mortal woman his soulmate. They were both destined to be murderers, but they both rebelled against the destinies others gave them.

The title of this show is a question - Doctor Who - and the show itself is the answer. Actions speak louder than words.

Holy shit this