Hello. I don't know where to post this (here? under characters > Moriarty?) and can't seem to find answers to this on the forum without reading a million posts. This is about what the public and various other people, and in the end especially Mary, knew or thought they knew about Moriarty's fate after season two.

In Many Happy Returns, Anderson sort of feels guilty for Sherlock's death. Underneath his sightings theory, he apparently thinks that Sherlock killed himself because he and Donovan helped Moriarty make him look so much like a fake (which Lestrade says out loud in TEH). There seems to be no reason for him to think that Moriarty was even on the roof of Bart's, let alone talked Sherlock into jumping -- unless Moriarty's body was found there later, or the whole rooftop scene is on camera somewhere?

Then in TEH, Anderson has a theory about Sherlock's jump-but-survival according to which somebody (some associates of Sherlock) grabbed Moriarty's dead body, made it look like Sherlock's and carried it into a lift and down to the pavement. So, apparently Moriarty's body was not found on the roof (because wouldn't Anderson know?) Whether he died there or not (and I guess ultimately both are possible, what with Mofftis being so sly)

The police would investigate a roof somebody jumped off and killed himself, wouldn't they? Anderson is no longer on the police in MHR, but he still was right after Sherlock jumped. I guess the Met is a large force, but wouldn't he know? Was there a dead body on the roof then or not? Because somebody other than Sherlock's or Mycroft's people could have moved it too; Moriarty's people were watching, if only so that they knew when to stop aiming at John, Lestrade and Mrs Hudson.

Skip to the end of HLV. Molly, Mrs Hudson and Lestrade (all "ordinary people" without high clearances or anything) are shocked to see the gif of Moriarty. Now a gif doesn't make him alive. We can wonder because we have seen the extra "live" footage of Jim at the

Lola Red wrote:

If anyone is interested in where the gif came from:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YR3VC_ac0M
The part about romance starts at about 33:45, but the whole thing is pretty funny
 

Thank you, this is perfect.
 

A quick question for those among you with native and near-native command of English, because the distinctions are too subtle for me.

"By your skill set, you are, or were, an intelligence agent; your accent is currently English but I suspect you are not."

Judging just from his choice of words, does he mean he suspects she is not a native speaker of English, or, as I think, that she is a native speaker of English from some place other than England? (America would make sense if Magnussen is to be believed about "all those wet jobs for the CIA", though it doesn't necessarily follow. Ireland would be interesting.)

tykobrian wrote:

That scene was a retelling of sorts of the follwoing scene from ACD's A study in scarlet:

...

Oh right. Thank you so much. You have all been very helpful.
 

mrshouse wrote:

I'm not into pathology, but that most probably has to do with different marks according to blood coagulation before and after death.

Yes me neither (into pathology ). But? The guy is dead and "just in". Could Sherlock be trying to find out just how fresh the body is, with more precision than he and Molly can otherwise? Then if it turns out the guy died a little sooner rather than later, the window in which he died grows, and, assuming he was actually killed, that could invalidate some very time-specific alibi...? Or is something more interesting going on, logicwise?

Vhanja wrote:

I might be wrong here, but I interpreted that line more as "He was once just a regular boy wanting to be a pirate, just like anybody else". Meaning that even though Sherlock now seems almost otherworldy in his ways, as a boy he was normal, with the normal dreams a lot of boys have. 

And perhaps it says something about Sherlock being drawned to adventures? Adventure, danger, following his own rules, dramatic life, being hated and loved at the same tim, having his own code of morale - well, he more or less lives like a pirate, doesn't he?

And since becoming a pirate was not practical, he settled for the second best thing, and maybe it even turned out better in the end. And on the side of the angels, which is apparently a small bonus after all. YES. Thank you.
 

Hey thanks. I just realized too that this was the wrong place to post it, but since you answered, it's out of my hands .

That's how it feels, yes, Mycroft telling John and the audience that Sherlock does have a heart (although they overdo it a little; if we must be reminded explicitly at all, then it would work better more understated, said less often). But it doesn't quite follow a logical pattern that I can see... And pirates are not nice. Okay, they are, but a "heartless pirate" or "heart-breaking pirate" makes more sense than a "caring pirate". Out of my head now, mister Depp.

Anyway, I can't wrap my brain around Mycroft's reasoning here. There are two contrasts: one between the detective he is and the scientist / philosopher he could be but chooses not to be (and Mycroft seems to disapprove), and the other between the pirate he "initially" wanted to be (sounds like a child's dream, very sweet and possibly slightly disturbing since it's about hearts) and the detective he's actually become.