Let me rephrase it - I am talking about lying for a higher purpose: saving lives and/or protecting feelings. The message would be that you may lie if there is a higher purpose behind it. Sherlock probably thinks that saving John's life matters more than sparing his feelings. 

SusiGo wrote:

Sherlock usually does not defend himself. We do not even see him mentioning that he jumped to save John. He never tries to show himself in a better light by explaining his actions. 

Vhanja, what you said is correct but it has not much to do with Sherlock showing himself in a better light.
It's not defending himself - perhaps it's even just to put an end to debates.
 

Last edited by Harriet (December 28, 2015 11:24 am)

besleybean wrote:

He will outdo god, trying to have the last word.

Exactly. If he thinks he has a point, he will bring it up. That is why I don't think Sherlock was thinking much about John having lied about Irene being dead in this context. If he did, he would have brought it up.

He did use something John had said against him in TEH - "...and a soldier, which you keep reminding us all!", showing that if he has any "ammo" he can use, he often will.

Last edited by Vhanja (December 28, 2015 1:28 pm)

Sherlock always trying to have the last word - we all know this is not true. There are some things he never contradicts, most conspicuously but not exclusively any assumption about his relationship with John. 

I really do not see why Sherlock using something John has said, e.g. the soldier remark, to make a point should prove that he tries to show himself in a better light. It is the other way around, I would say. Sherlock often makes himself worse than he really is, e.g. in the best man speech. 

As for the "expert on women" thing. This is the whole dialogue: 

Dr. John Watson: Did you just get engaged to break into an office?
Sherlock Holmes: Yeah. Stroke of luck meeting her at your wedding. You can take some of the credit.
Dr. John Watson: Je... Jesus, Sherlock, she loves you.
Sherlock Holmes: Yes. Like I said - human error.
Dr. John Watson: What're you gonna do?
Sherlock Holmes: Well, not actually marry her, obviously. There's only so far you can go.
Dr. John Watson: So what will you tell her?
Sherlock Holmes: Well, I'll tell her that our entire relationship was a ruse to get into her boss's office. I'll imagine she'll want to stop seeing me at that point, but you're the expert on women.

He is completely honest. He does not try to defend himself by saying he did it for a higher purpose, that Magnussen is worse than him, that the world has to be rid of his blackmail, that there are people like him to deal with people like Magnussen . Nothing. Just the plain truth, cruel as it may sound. 

Sherlock doesn't always draw attention, at embarrassing moments.
The introducing Seb to John scene, comes to mind.
That's either if you see it as most people do: Seb seemingly startled that Sherlock does actually claim to have a friend.
Or as I see it, that Seb is implying Sherlock and John are more than friends.

The only times I've really seen Sherlock being defensive, are over affairs of the heart.
The first and most obvious example is when Mycroft 'accuses' him of going soft over Irene.
'Don't be absurd'. is Sherlock's response.
In fact both my examples are with Mycroft:
The "I'm not involved' is another case in point.

I found this post - with replies - about John, explaining why he chose Mary when Sherlock died/left, why her lie hurt him so much and why he's so full of anger in S3. I agree to everything written here, they are my thoughts exactly.

http://asherlockstudy.tumblr.com/post/137656897216/helloitslbo-platinumkoi-monikakrasnorada

No, as I understand it, he would've been happy with it if Sherlock had never returned and Mary had never turned out to be an assassin. That picked fence normal life would've been ok. Not as fulfilling as the life with Sherlock, but I think he would be as happy as he could be without Sherlock.

The problem is that the illusion is shattered. He's defensive towards Sherlock, their dynamic has changed and he doesn't live there anymore. And he isn't happy with Mary now, I don't think. So there is really no way for him to turn at the moment, everything has changed to the worse.

That's really very sad. John would be happier if Sherlock had never come back? John and Mary are perfectly happy-- and John has no problem with the fact that Mary shot and almost killed Sherlock? 

Okay-- if I buy that, then it means that (as per discussion on another thread) Sherlock is perfectly justified in feeling unloved, unwanted-- and if he feels self-loathing, it's absolutely borne out by the headcanon above as explained by Vhanja. 

That explanation puts a nail into the coffin of the Holmes/Watson friendship, let alone Johnlock. 

But if that's what people really wanna go with....

besleybean wrote:

I really don't get all this.
Yes Sherlock misses John, but he likes Mary.
I'm also sure he's now happier at the prospect of going back to work, than he was facing imminent death.

Yeah, but--- in order to make John happy, maybe he should move to France and work there. :-(

Honestly, I don't understand why he's expected to like Mary for shooting him? He trusts her more? And the fact that (going by explanation above, that John's perfectly fine with it, he should trust John? Why?

Is this like penance? Does he think he deserves to be hurt like this? Self-loathing, indeed. 

Quite frankly, with the above reading, John and Sherlock need separate shows. John and Mary can be a happy team of their own, without Sherlock. We can get cases from Sherlock, and the people who actually *do* care for him. (Keep in mind, I'm just going by the above reading. ) Very sad.