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January 17, 2017 3:13 pm  #1


Redbeard & Mind Control

While I thought Mycroft's apparent mind control of the whole family one of the most far-fetched things in the episode, I was able to buy into it and I found it an interesting concept.  How do you think he would have been able to do that? You would think that parents would be aware of a lot of stuff, would have heard from Victor Trevor's parents that their son died.  But perhaps if they forgot they would not have remembered the connection to their daughter?  

I think it makes sense for Mycroft's character to have been so determined to do this that he was able to change his parents' memories, too, since he's been determined to do things (even if it's not necessarily welcomed by other characters, like Mrs. Hudson or Sherlock) at other moments in the series.  He seemed to have determinedly wanted to change what everyone's memories are: Sherlock's and his parents.

Still, I was kind of sad that Redbeard turned out not to be a dog after all.  I still thought it was a very interesting twist, though, that Redbeard was a figment of the imagination and a replacement for a character.  I don't think it's impossible, since people often mask their trauma as something else in their mind, or suppress it, in some cases - even if, no doubt, exaggerated for dramatic effect.  It was so sad that Sherlock's first friend was taken away from him.  I never would have expected them to incorporate Victor Trevor in that way, if at all, but since they've focused only on Sherlock's adult life and childhood, I think that putting Victor in Sherlock's childhood worked with that, fitting him into parts of the story that had been discussed before.

As I was writing the above bit (which I have been thinking about since Sunday night), I remembered Mycrof saying "Caring is not an advantage."  I think that is given another dimension now.  Not only does Mycroft distance himself from feelings, but he also tried to keep his family from caring about those past moments as they really happened, because he did not want them to be harmed by them, because that would not have any "advantage" for them. It would seem that that has to do with the reasoning behind his decision, anyway.

Does anyone else have more thoughts on this?



Clueing for looks.
 

January 17, 2017 3:27 pm  #2


Re: Redbeard & Mind Control

Good point about Mycroft's "Caring is not an advantage".  All lives end.  All hearts are broken.  I wonder how good he thought it was for Sherlock to just forget, rather than to grieve? 

I don't think Mycroft mind controlled the parents.  Just told them that Eurus was dead.

 

January 17, 2017 4:25 pm  #3


Re: Redbeard & Mind Control

I agree with Liberty, he didn't necessarily mind control the parents or Sherlock. He told the parents their daughter had died in another fire where she was taken, simply to take away the pain, and their involvement. With Sherlock, that was on his own, he was so traumatized he erased her from his memories and everyone was aware of this, and to ensure his mental stability, everyone went along with his belief. Mycroft brought up redbeard and "the east wind" simply to see if it would cause a certain reaction from Sherlock that indicated he was remembering her. 


 

January 17, 2017 6:17 pm  #4


Re: Redbeard & Mind Control

I agree, too. There was no reason for Mycroft to mind control his parents or Sherlock. It would be sufficient to tell them that Euros was dead. When you look at the situation, it would have been easy to do so because they would have wanted to believe ist. I would hurt less than the truth. If you consider it this way it was very good of Mycroft to do so.

 

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