Oh yeah, I forgot about that bit...

They were having that conversation about how they'd only scratched the surface of the organisation and there'd be more springing up etc...and then John spotted the new graffiti...for a moment it looked like he might say something then he changed his mind - don't know why...maybe he was just too tired to think about having to rush off on a new adventure with Sherlock...or maybe he thought they both needed a rest...or maybe he just thought it wasn't worth it, like Sherlock said they were kind of fighting a losing battle...

I thought it was on the mailbox???  Yeah, I thought John was about to say something and then reconsidered.  To me, it looked like the symbol for the number 15. I wonder if Sherlock could see it from where he was sitting--maybe, given the intricate dance he did in the bank to determine who could see the grafitti in the locked room, something blocked Sherlock's view; or maybe the instigator thought Sherlock would be sitting in John's place instead; or maybe it was meant for John.  Whatever.  I thought it signified "dead man."  So I thought it was a nice bit of foreshadowing, given Moriarty's spiderweb-like influence in the episode.

Thanks for the screenshot, kazza474.  Now that you've posted it, I remember what I was thinking: The image reminded me of the character for the number four, which is a homonym in Mandarin for the word death.  However, I just looked up that word in my Chinese dictionary (and on Google Translate) but it's not the same.  But, who's to say that the character on the mailbox isn't an archaic form of that word??? 

As for being for Sherlock, he and John were being watched by the gang (remember that woman in sunglasses looking at John?) and I have no reason to think that stopped happening even though Sherlock and John destroyed Shan and her troupe.  Moriarty could still be controlling other members of the tong in England, or even another tong.  Personally, I do think the message was meant for Sherlock.  Because, what would be the point of painting it there if it weren't?  I mean, why bother to include that in the episode if it didn't have some significance?  Just my thoughts!

Sherli Bakerst wrote:

Thanks for the screenshot, kazza474.  Now that you've posted it, I remember what I was thinking: The image reminded me of the character for the number four, which is a homonym in Mandarin for the word death.  However, I just looked up that word in my Chinese dictionary (and on Google Translate) but it's not the same.  But, who's to say that the character on the mailbox isn't an archaic form of that word???

By the look of the guy who did it, it could be some kind of Chinese symbol put there as a warning. 

As for being for Sherlock, he and John were being watched by the gang (remember that woman in sunglasses looking at John?) and I have no reason to think that stopped happening even though Sherlock and John destroyed Shan and her troupe.  Moriarty could still be controlling other members of the tong in England, or even another tong.  Personally, I do think the message was meant for Sherlock.  Because, what would be the point of painting it there if it weren't?  I mean, why bother to include that in the episode if it didn't have some significance?  Just my thoughts!

The woman in the sunglasses was Shan. Realistically, they have no reason to watch or warn Sherlock about anything now & to do so would stir his interest & create trouble for them when in reality they don't want anyone, esp Sherlock to watch them.

The significance of that whole scene was to to say , as Sherlock did, that they are always operating somewhere, always have been & always will be. It's just that they are rarely noticed; the ciphers look just like graffiti. Because that's the initial reaction, even the very first look at it in this show. (Go look around your own streets, graffiti? Or a cipher? How would anyone know?)
Then we have Sherlock explain that they would be using a new cipher now, etc, etc. Then we see someone leaving a cipher on a mailbox; or is it graffiti? Once again, how would we know?

We wouldn't. And we don't know which it was in that last scene. But it makes you think sometimes when you look around.



Could very WELL be just a pretty eye as Molly says.