We all know the order that the Doctor encounters River Song in Doctor Who. It's the episode order! River, on the other hand, never meets the Doctor in his chronological order. I mean, the first time we ever meet River is actually at the end of her timeline! So, to make her timeline a bit less wibbly-wobbly, I tried to put her episodes in order. (Spoilers)

On Christmas Day the Doctor Who Christmas Special "The Husbands of River Song" aired and gave us another piece to the puzzle that is River Song's life. Possibly the last piece...

So lets put this puzzle together, shall we?

 

A Good Man Goes To War (6x07)
-Melody Pond (River Song) is born

 

The Impossible Astronaut (6x01)
-Melody Pond calls President Nixon, and is trapped in the space suit.

 

Day of the Moon (6x02)
-after escaping the suit, she regenerates.

 

Let's Kill Hitler (6x08)
-Melody goes by "Mels" now and has grown up with her parents in school as their best friend. But they are unaware that this is their future daughter.
-on an adventure with Amy, Rory, and the Doctor, Mels is shot by Hitler and regenerates (Alex Kingston) revealing her identity.
-Melody saves the Doctor by giving up her remaining regenerations.
-She is left at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism Hospital with a gift from the Doctor...a blue Tardis diary.
-Going by 'River', she enrolls at Luna University.

 

Closing Time (6x12)
-After completing her Doctorate, River Song is taken by Madame Korvarian and the Silence.

 

The Wedding of River Song/The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon (6x13, 6x01, 6x02)
-The Wedding of River Song immediately follows Closing Time (6x12) and takes you to The Impossible Astronaut (6x01), in which there are three River Song's. I know...confusing...
--1. River is a child in the space suit.
--2. River is the person in the space suit that shoots the Doctor. Chronologically, this River has been held captive and trained by the Silence since the ending scene in Closing Time (6x12).
--3. A middle-aged River is on the beach enjoying a picnic with Amy, Rory, and the Doctor.
-after "killing" the Doctor on the beach, she is imprisoned at Stormcage.

 

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (5x12, 5x13)
-River gets her vortex manipulator. Supposedly the same one worn by Captain Jack Harkness.

 

And here's where it gets wibbly-wobbly...So, these episodes could possibly be rearranged. It's difficult to determine their order for certain.

 

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon (6x01, 6x02) (again)
-River receives a letter in the Stormcage inviting her to Lake Silencio, where she has the picnic on the beach with Amy, Rory, and the Doctor.

 

The Wedding of River Song (6x13) (again)
-overlaps the events that happen in The Impossible Astronaut (6x01).

 

A Good Man Goes to War (6x07) (again)
-An older River shows up to help with the Battle of Demon's Run, but only after her younger self is no longer there.

 

A Good Man Goes to War (6x07) (AGAIN again)
-(years after the Battle of Demons Run) the Doctor takes River out for her birthday, when she returns to Stormcage Rory is there and asks her to help. She tells him that she can't. At least not yet. (She can't go now and risk crossing her timeline with her younger self. Her arrival at Demon's Run is a fixed point in time and cannot be changed.)

 

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone (5x04, 5x05)

 

The Wedding of River Song (6x13) (yup, more)
-the final scene occurs directly after Flesh and Stone (5x05), where River is pardoned for her crimes and released from Stormcage.

 

Okay! Back to the less wibbly-wobbly stuff.

 

The Angels Take Manhattan (7x05)
-River is now a professor.
-River says goodbye to Amy before she is taken by the same Weeping Angel that took Rory.

 

The Husbands of River Song (10x00)
-the Doctor gives River a sonic screw driver (the same one we see her use in Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead (4x08, 4x09))
-River guesses that her time is almost up because the diary he gave her is almost full.

The Doctor: Is it sad?
River: Why would a diary be sad?
The Doctor: I don't know. It's just that you look sad.
River: It's nearly full.
The Doctor: So?
River: The man who gave me this was the sort of man who'd know exactly how long a diary you were going to need.

-the Doctor finally takes her to see the Singing Towers of Darillium, which is the last time the Doctor knows they will see each other until her death (the first time he met her). Which is why he's always cancelled their trips to Darillium. He wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet. But certain things have already happened and he knows that it is inevitable now.

River: Nardole, what have you brought to my doorstep?
The Doctor: I've had a haircut! This is my best suit!
-The Husbands of River Song (10x00)

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you cried... You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue."  -River Song, Forrest of the Dead (4x09)

 

Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead (4x08, 4x09)
-The Doctor meets Professor River Song for the first time.
-When the Doctor doesn't recognize her, she knows that this is the last time she will see the Doctor.
-River sacrifices herself to save the Doctor and she physically dies, but the Doctor finds a way to save her consciousness onto the Library's Data Core, where it can live on forever.

 

The Name of the Doctor (7x14)
-River appears from the Library Data Core to help the Doctor.

 

And THAT is all we know of River Song's timeline. SO FAR.

It should be noted that this doesn't necessarily mean that we've seen the end of River Song. It might be the only time we see River with the 12th Doctor, because she didn't recognize him, meaning she hadn't met him before, and the next time she see's the Doctor will be his 10th regeneration. BUT there are still gaps missing! We've never seen "Jim the Fish", we've never seen the "Picnic at Asgard"! So, who knows? Maybe the 13th Doctor, in the future, will still have encounters with River. Only time will tell.

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