He was the "pretty one." That’s what the TARDIS called him, anyway.
But for a lot of fans, Rory Williams—often jokingly called Rory Pond—started as a bit of a joke. He was the bumbling nurse. The third wheel. The guy who seemed to exist purely so Amy Pond had someone to leave behind in a damp village called Leadworth. Honestly, if you watched his first few episodes in 2010, you probably didn't expect him to become the moral backbone of the Eleventh Doctor’s entire era.
You’d be wrong.
Rory isn't just a "plus one." He is the only person who ever truly stood up to the Doctor without becoming a villain. He’s the guy who waited two thousand years for a girl who, at the time, wasn't even sure she loved him. He’s a legend.
The Last Centurion: More Than Just a Plastic Roman
If we’re talking about why Rory Pond matters, we have to talk about the Pandorica.
Most companions get a bit of a glow-up. They get better clothes or learn to use a sonic screwdriver. Rory? Rory died, got erased from history by a crack in time, and then came back as a Nestene duplicate made of living plastic. That’s a rough Tuesday.
But here is the thing: as an Auton, he had a choice. His programming told him to kill, but his soul—or whatever passes for a soul in a plastic nurse—told him to wait. So he did. He stood outside a big stone box for 1,894 years.
Think about that for a second.
He stayed through the Fall of Rome. He stayed through the Dark Ages. He lived through the World Wars. While the Doctor was zipping around time and space, Rory was just... standing there. Guarding. Being the Last Centurion.
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When the universe finally rebooted in "The Big Bang," Rory became human again, but he kept those memories. He’s technically older than the Doctor in some ways. He has the perspective of a man who has seen the slow, agonizing crawl of human history from the sidewalk. It changed him from a nervous nurse into a man who could walk onto a Cyberman bridge and ask, "Shall I ask again?" while things exploded behind him.
Why the "Rory Pond" Name Actually Matters
The Doctor calling him "Rory Pond" or "Mr. Pond" started as a gag. It was the Doctor being a bit of a jerk, asserting dominance as the alpha in Amy’s life. But over time, the name took on a different weight.
It represented Rory’s total lack of ego.
Unlike Mickey Smith—who spent his time on Doctor Who being annoyed that he was "Mickey the Idiot"—Rory eventually just leaned into it. He knew who he was. He was the man who loved Amy Pond. He didn't need to be the hero of the universe; he just needed to be her hero.
Steven Moffat, the showrunner at the time, once mentioned that Rory was intended to be the "grounding" force. In a TARDIS filled with a madman in a bow tie and a girl who grew up with a time crack in her wall, you need a nurse. You need someone who looks at a vampire in Venice and asks about their dental hygiene.
The Man Who Keeps Dying (and Coming Back)
If you search for Rory Williams online, one of the first things you’ll see is a tally. The guy has a serious habit of dying.
Depending on how you count them (and Whovians love to argue about this), Rory dies about seven to ten times.
- He dies in a dream world ("Amy's Choice").
- He gets disintegrated by a Silurian ("Cold Blood").
- He gets erased from time entirely.
- He dies as an old man in a battery farm ("The Angels Take Manhattan").
- He jumps off a building in New York.
It’s almost a running gag, but it serves a narrative purpose. Every time Rory "dies," it tests Amy’s devotion. It forces her to realize that the "Raggedy Man" (the Doctor) is a dream, but Rory is the reality.
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The Ethical Compass the Doctor Hated
One of the most underrated moments in all of Doctor Who happens in the episode "The Vampires of Venice."
Rory looks the Doctor dead in the eye and tells him: "You don't know how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."
It’s a chilling line.
Most companions are dazzled by the stars. They see the Doctor as a god or a savior. Rory saw him as a hazard. He saw the way the Doctor turned ordinary people into soldiers. Because Rory was a nurse, his first instinct was always to heal, not to "win."
This friction made the TARDIS dynamic during Series 5 and 6 the most complex the show has ever seen. It wasn't just a teacher and a student. It was a triangle of three people who all loved each other but didn't always trust the influence they had on one another.
The Final Goodbye in Manhattan
The way Rory Pond left the show is still a point of contention for some fans.
In "The Angels Take Manhattan," Rory is zapped back in time by a Weeping Angel. He’s gone. Just like that. No grand explosion, no heroic sacrifice in the middle of a war. Just a tombstone in a graveyard that says he died at age 82.
The Doctor can't go back to get him because of "time paradoxes" (the show's favorite excuse).
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But the real ending wasn't on screen. There’s a deleted scene—a "script to screen" called "P.S."—where Rory’s father, Brian, receives a letter from 1946. It’s from Rory. He tells his dad that they’re happy. They adopted a son named Anthony. They lived a full, normal, boring life.
For a man who spent 2,000 years as a plastic soldier, a boring life in the 1940s was the ultimate reward.
What You Should Do Now
If you’re looking to revisit the best of the "Ponds," don't just stick to the big finales.
Go back and watch "The Girl Who Waited." It’s a Series 6 episode that often gets overlooked. It’s arguably Arthur Darvill’s best performance. It shows the sheer weight of Rory’s love and the impossible choices the Doctor forces him to make.
Also, if you're a fan of the expanded universe, check out the Big Finish audio dramas. Arthur Darvill returned to voice Rory in "The Lone Centurion" series. It fills in the gaps of those 2,000 years he spent guarding the Pandorica. You get to hear him dealing with everything from Roman politics to historical hijinks.
Rory Williams proved that you don't need a sonic screwdriver or a TARDIS to be the most important person in the room. You just need to be the one who stays.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Rewatch: "The Girl Who Waited" (Series 6, Episode 10) for the best character study.
- Listen: "The Lone Centurion" Volume 1 from Big Finish for the 2,000-year backstory.
- Deep Dive: Look up the "P.S." storyboard on YouTube; it’s the only way to get true closure for Rory and Amy's story.