History WMG / SherlockHolmes

[[WMG: Sherlock Holmes was actually Professor Moriarty. (Copypasta'd from /book/)]]

** The problem is, Professor Moriarty has a full-time day job at a university. (Crime is his night job.) That doesn't leave enough room in the schedule for Holmes to be traveling all over Europe or moping all day in his parlor where Mrs. Hudson sees him at every meal.

** This idea is actually used, in The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, where he battles Jack The Ripper.

He made a journey to Mecca (a city where only Muslims are allowed to go) as told in "The Return,".
* As if Holmes, master of disguise, couldn't pass as a Muslim
** And Sir Richard Francis Burton successfully infiltrated Mecca in real life, by disguising himself as a Muslim making the hajj.

[[WMG: [[nerowolfe.org/pdf/stout/home_family/BSI/Watson_was_a_woman.pdf Watson was a woman]]... who kept forgetting her cover story]]
Is Watson's first name John or James? Neither; Watson forgot what false masculine name she gave. Was Watson invalided home from the army because he wounded his arm or his leg? Neither; she was found to be a woman and thrown out, or she was never an army doctor in the first place.

[[WMG: Watson was a woman... who kept forgetting her cover story]]

Now, of course this little theory falls apart after a moment of careful inspection (for one thing, if Watson were so forgetful about her disguise, she would be discovered immediately, particularly by a man as attentive as Sherlock Holmes; for another, there are a million other things that must be explained away, such as Watson's facial hair). But it does explain the two most irksome inconsistancies of Sherlock Holmes in a single stroke, so....

While the real Emperor of Bohemia at the time was Franz Joseph I of Austria, then 60 years old... his only son and heir Rudolf, who had spent time in Bohemia, was known as a bit of a charismatic rake. [[note]]Victorian high society definitely would have heard of Rudolf at least, as he charmed even Queen Victoria herself - she requested his attendance at her Golden Jubilee and he was permitted to escort her to her state dinner, preceding all attendant kings.[[/note]] And then he got himself involved in a scandal involving a woman - that is, he [[MurderSuicide shot and killed]] himself and a lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera, on January 30, 1889. Supposedly, SCAN took place in 1888, and was published on June 25, 1891, mere months after the Mayerling Incident. Vetsera wanted to be TogetherInDeath with her Prince [[note]]whether the affection was mutual is debated, because she was the third woman Rudolf asked to die with him[[/note]], just as Irene Norton (née Adler) wanted to live in peace with her husband. The deaths were supposed for a while to be assassinations from a conspiracy, when they were in fact just a SuicidePact - just as the King thought Irene intended to blackmail him but she had no intention of doing so. So, it's probable that Watson/Doyle used "King of Bohemia" as a pseudonym for their client because they had Mayerling in mind. Out of universe, it's also probable that Doyle had Mayerling as [[RippedFromTheHeadlines direct inspiration]] in the writing process.

While the real Emperor of Bohemia at the time was Franz Joseph I of Austria, then 60 years old... his only son and heir Rudolf, who had spent time in Bohemia, was known as a bit of a charismatic rake. [[note]]Victorian high society definitely would have heard of Rudolf at least, as he charmed even Queen Victoria herself - she requested his attendance at her Golden Jubilee and he was permitted to escort her to her state dinner, preceding all attendant kings.[[/note]] And then he got himself involved in a scandal involving a woman - that is, he [[MurderSuicidePact shot and killed]] himself and a lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera, on January 30, 1889. Supposedly, SCAN took place in 1888, and was published on June 25, 1891, mere months after the Mayerling Incident. Vetsera wanted to be TogetherInDeath with her Prince [[note]]whether the affection was mutual is debated, because she was the third woman Rudolf asked to die with him[[/note]], just as Irene Norton (née Adler) wanted to live in peace with her husband. The deaths were supposed for a while to be assassinations from a conspiracy, when they were in fact just a MurderSuicidePact - just as the King thought Irene intended to blackmail him but she had no intention of doing so. So, it's probable that Watson/Doyle used "King of Bohemia" as a pseudonym for their client because they had Mayerling in mind. Out of universe, it's also probable that Doyle had Mayerling as [[RippedFromTheHeadlines direct inspiration]] in the writing process.

[[WMG: Sherlock Holmes is [[Comicbook/XMen one of the world's earliest known Mutants]]]]

[[WMG: Sherlock Holmes has Asperger's.]]
Holmes has only a small circle of friends, has a near-complete knowledge of a certain circle of interest (in this case, crime and crime-solving) and spends most of his time trying to learn more. And he won't let you forget it. He is often rather bored, sometimes outwardly annoyed, if he isn't doing something he enjoys. Highly eccentric and eclectic, with poor organization skills in his Baker Street home.
* And Mycroft likely has an even more severe form.
** Certainly the Mycroft presented in original ACD canon and the Ritchie films is even more socially inept/ socially apathetic than his brother, suggesting Asperger's. Unusually, the ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' BBC modernization appears to cure him of this, making him merely coldly manipulative, but in many ways more effective in social situations than Sherlock, probably due to his expanded career as "The British Government," while Sherlock's anti-social behavior is played as even higher up the autism spectrum. [[spoiler: In the second series(2012), John Watson directly mentions Asperger's as a possible diagnosis of Sherlock's recent insensitivity to Detective Inspector Lestrade.]]
** There's also the fact that Mycroft was a founding member of the Diogenes Club, which sounds like it was built for people who struggle with sensory overload.
* Dr. Mortimer in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' might as well. He has specialized interests (phrenology and physical anthropology) that he's very enthusiastic about and brings up even when they're not immediately relevant to the situation at hand, and he has unconventional notions of what constitutes appropriate small talk.

[[WMG: Holmes is bi-polar.]]
Watson frequently describes how he spends weeks without sleep, experimenting and working feverishly on cases, followed by weeks of depression and total inaction when he hardly ever speaks or gets up from the couch. Holmes even warned his potential roommate of this cycle before moving in with him in ''A Study in Scarlet''.

Watson gets married. Holmes dies. Watson is sad, but he goes about building himself a life. Then Holmes comes back from the dead, after years away. Watson is delighted to see his old friend. A short time after this, Watson's wife dies. We're never told the details, but suddenly Watson is free to move back in with his dearest friend. He grieves, as is proper - but secretly he poisoned her! It would have seemed perfectly reasonable for him to fill in her death certificate, so he could put whatever cause he felt appropriate. Holmes never even realised he was living alongside a murderer.

[[WMG:Holmes is Mystique]]
For the reasons he's speculated to be a woman above, with an answer to the reasons it couldn't have been true. It would also help to explain his broader skill at disguise, and may have given him information that he appears to have found by the fallacy of assuming the converse. Watson knew this but was concealing it; they may even have been lovers, [[IfItsYouItsOkay in male or female form]]. Suffice to say, however, that Watson was very, very wrong about his emotions toward "the woman."

[[WMG:Holmes can read minds]]

She was either a female impersonator or a (non-op by necessity, given the medical technology of the day) trans woman. There is some historical precedent for this in the case of the early 19th century actress [[http://zagria.blogspot.com/2007/09/lavinia-edwards-1809-1833-actress.html Lavinia Edwards]].

When he has a case, or a really interesting research project, he does fine, but he tends to fall apart and have trouble focusing on anything when there's nothing interesting enough to really compel his attention. And despite his narrow interests, the man is clearly a divergent thinker - think of the little "what a lovely thing a rose is" speech in ''The Naval Treaty.'' Also, he's kind of a slob.

[[WMG:The reason why Holmes lets others take the credit...]]

** And Mycroft likely has an even more severe form.
*** Certainly the Mycroft presented in original ACD canon and the Ritchie films is even more socially inept/ socially apathetic than his brother, suggesting Asperger's. Unusually, the ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' BBC modernization appears to cure him of this, making him merely coldly manipulative, but in many ways more effective in social situations than Sherlock, probably due to his expanded career as "The British Government," while Sherlock's anti-social behavior is played as even higher up the autism spectrum. [[spoiler: In the second series(2012), John Watson directly mentions Asperger's as a possible diagnosis of Sherlock's recent insensitivity to Detective Inspector Lestrade.]]
*** There's also the fact that Mycroft was a founding member of the Diogenes Club, which sounds like it was built for people who struggle with sensory overload.
** Dr. Mortimer in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' might as well. He has specialized interests (phrenology and physical anthropology) that he's very enthusiastic about and brings up even when they're not immediately relevant to the situation at hand, and he has unconventional notions of what constitutes appropriate small talk.

[[WMG:Holmes is bi-polar.]]

** The problem is, Professor Moriarty has a full-time day job at a university. (Crime is his night job.) That doesn't leave enough room in the schedule for Holmes to be travelling all over Europe, or moping all day in his parlor where Mrs. Hudson sees him at every meal.

Also, it could explain why Holmes lets Watson publish sensitive cases. He's doing so to utilise them as a method of communicating codes to people.

Last but not least, the authorities are idiots in both the series. Clearly they started off bumbling in the 1800's, Holmes' time, and just went downhill.

Going back to Watson being an unreliable narrator, Watson knew that Holmes didn't go over the falls. Let's not pull punches. Sherlock Holmes murdered Moriarty by throwing him over, whether in self defence or otherwise. Watson actually got there in time to see it happen. The two devised a plan to make sure Holmes escaped trial and Moriarty's henchmen. Watson wrote that Holmes went over Reichenbach Falls too allowing his friend to flee to Europe. No one would question the Doctor's interpretation of events what with him being Holmes' biographer and all. When Holmes returned three years later (with a less than air-tight alibi) no one questioned Holmes' story out of sheer surprise, all the evidence of foul play at Reichenbach Falls was long gone and there was no official enquiry. All Watson had to do is pretend to be shocked, and polish ''The Empty House'' for publication.

Because it never happened. The whole thing was cooked up by Holmes and Watson, in order for Holmes to take a much needed vacation from those who wanted him to solve cases for them... or his cocaine addiction left him in debt and he needed to lie low for a while till he could pay off his debts.

Watson made the later stories up. Their (generally perceived) lesser quality is because he didn't have actual facts in front of him. Much more difficult to string a coherent mystery together with no frame of reference, after all. As to why, could have been anything from needing the money to having a breakdown and wanting to pretend it was real.

* There's also the suspicious circumstances of Holmes' apparent return. Watson's wife is dead, he is trying to be like Holmes but just can't quite do it, he is stymied by a mysterious case... and suddenly, a Holmes personality emerges to solve the case. Also notice how Holmes seems to have changed in personality after ''The Final Problem''.

*** This is only amazing if one believes "muslim = moor"; knowing the language and customs is more important to appearing Middle-Eastern (or any other ethnicity) than a particular skin-tone or facial feature.

[[WMG:Holmes became a Buddhist in Tibet]]
An old guess I was surprised to see hadn't been added before. Before the Great Hiatus, Holmes has no compunction about causing perps' deaths, finally flinging Moriarty down the Falls. In the stories set after his return, the one and only life he takes is that of a jellyfish. He also no longer uses drugs, or even drinks spirits.
* Not sure about the inuniverse timeline but he does state very clearly that he would have (quite unlawfully) killed one guy who shot Watson in a story published after The Final Solution. And even before the Final Solution the only criminal he indirectly killed was done by sending a snake back through a secret tunnel, most definitely done with the intention of self preservation rather than murder.

[[WMG:Holmes had another brother, older than Mycroft]]

Holmes is a genius, there's no denying that, and neither is there any for his...peculiar way of thinking. One could say he doesn't quite see the world the same way most people do, much like any Genius who has touched the light of Inspiration! In fact, it is not just that he is a certified Genius, he may in fact be an Unmada, one who has become so deeply Inspired, that they are capable of unknowingly warping reality to fit the way they see it. Hence, why he is able to perfectly solve most any mystery he tackles; he doesn't ''really'' solve them, he just unknowingly bends the universe so that the case becomes exactly the way he believes it to be! And as for Watson, after having been working with Holmes for so long and understanding his line of thinking, he has either become a Beholden, one who sees the world in the exact same way as his associated Inspired...or has become an Inspired as well!

* He doesn't have the basic knowledge of a Victorian era gentleman (according to Watson, no knowledge of classical literature, astronomy and philosophy, very little knowledge of politics), perhaps because as a girl, he wasn't taught things that would be useless to a future wife. His lack of interest in politics may be because he's not allowed to vote.
** He's also a pretty good cook, was that normal for a guy then? Let us pretend it wasn't. He could've just sat down with some food and books and practiced because it interested him. But take it with the rest of his non-crime related interests and we get a collection of benign items in the education of a young girl to make her seem worldly but not over educated: Music, cooking, a few foreign languages.

[[WMG:Holmes was a reality warper.]]

Which explains why, [[UnreliableNarrator according to the books]], Watson has never seen Moriarty. They are both a doctor, and there is much to be said with regards to disguise for a limp, tightening up your facial expression from its usual genial, confused, or vaguely worried look, and ObfuscatingStupidity when the only person who ''needs'' to fall for the "disguise" both utterly trusts you beyond any other human and will lose his only friend if he ever admits to himself that he can see through it. Watson's wife called him James not because James and John can be nicknames for each other, but because she met him as James Moriarty and slipped up on the personal name. It's merely fortunate that that was a valid explanation, though not a coincidence as it is why Watson chose whichever name was the false one.

** Watson shoves Holmes over the edge, then returns to the hotel under the implication that he had left before Holmes "and Moriarty" and fallen. The reason Moriarty was not caught at the station was because the tall man at the station was a paid actor, and had papers to prove his identity and likely more than one alibi for times that Moriarty had supposedly been confirmed by Holmes as being in a specific place.

[[WMG:The Diogenes Club is an outpost of the British Secret Service.]]
This one is so commonly put out there that it's practically canon; however, since this one isn't actually raised in the original works but in spin-off material, here it is for the sake of completion:

Basically, put together Mycroft Holmes' legendary description that 'in certain circumstances, he ''is'' the British government', Sherlock Holmes' tendency to get trusted with highly sensitive government matters and the Diogenes Club being a place for notoriously anti-social people where the members are discouraged from talking to each other on pain of banishment, and you've got the perfect place for keeping secrets. General rule is that if the Diogenes Club isn't the ''actual'' Secret Service, then it's certainly one of its fronts.

That accounts for the inconsistancy; He was embarassed about the true location so he kept making up the wound's location on the top.
* Two marriages, no children? Maybe Watson was hit somewhere a little more dear, if you follow me.

Even I don't swear by this, but consider, for a moment. Sherlock never spoke of his parents. Sherlock is a remarkable individual physically, as well as mentally. He was tall, lean, pale, grey-eyed, high forehead, cavernous face, and receding hairline. So does Moriarty. Next, Moriarty, going by the illustrations and described as old (and fatherly) by those who have seen him, has at least twenty years on Sherlock. Yet at Reichenbach, he nearly threw Holmes, a man of unnatural physical strength and physical prowess, off a cliff... and no, he didn't take him by surprise. And didn't bother with a weapon. And he gave Sherlock time to write a last letter. That's some insane damn confidence. Curiously poetic personality? Check. Moriarty even had his own Watson: Col. Moran. And if he's Sherlock's papa, then isn't he also Mycroft's? Moriarty was a math genius. Mycroft likewise has a 'remarkable head for figures.' Moriarty had a mind that could have 'made or marred the destinies of nations.' What did Mycroft do in his spare time? Heck, what if Mycroft owed his position to Moriarty's influences? No wonder he's reluctant to get into the whole crime thing...

He was arrested and charged for murder in 1894 (in 'The Adventure of the Empty House') but he is explicitly mentioned as 'still living' in 1902 (in 'The Adventure of the Illustrious Client'.) Moran is even implied to still be living as late as 1914 (in 'His Last Bow'.) Given murder was a capital crime for Victorians it seems unlikely he would have been merely imprisoned. Moran must have won his case but been forced to leave London anyway, his powerbase and reputation ruined.

I can't claim credit for this as this is suggested right at the very end of ''VideoGame/SherlockHolmesVersusJackTheRipper'', but one set of potential dates for the Hound case is October-November 1888...which is very conveniently when the Ripper killings and investigation were at their frenzied height. It seems inconceivable that a case of such magnitude and public concern would fail to enter Holmes's purview, and the game suggests that he ''did'' investigate the killings, finally apprehending the Ripper himself [[spoiler:, a Jewish butcher wishing vengeance against both his community and the prostitutes who gave him and his children syphilis]]. As the potential fallout[[note]]nothing short of massive pogroms against the Jewish community[[/note]] was too monstrous to bear, Holmes orders Watson to hush the whole matter up, and invent a story placing them as far out of London as possible, chasing a spectral hound with glowing breath.

[[WMG: Holmes is a TimeLord.]]

* Why can't he? Spock says in an EU novel ''Ishmael'' that he's descended from Aaron Stemple and Biddy Cloom, 19th-century Earth humans.

Their father was a country squire: the eldest son would presumably inherit the estate. Mycroft is lazy and deeply solitary - he'd like nothing more than to bury himself in a lonely country house. Yet he lives in London and has a job. So either there's another brother we never meet, or the family hit some disaster and lost all their money. The former is consistent with Watson not knowing about Mycroft until the plot requires them to meet; the latter is consistent with the above WMG about Holmes having little formal education and a past as a labourer.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Books and Stories]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Robert Downey Jr film series]]
!!''Sherlock Holmes'' (2009)

[[WMG: Blackwood actually was gifted by supernatural powers. Just not arcane forces, he was working for Nyarlohotep]]
It's the combination of arcane ritual, 'coincidental' raven following him around, and his crazy anachronistic technology. [[EldritchAbomination Nyarlhotep]] granted him power via knowledge beyond that of mortal men, and power via knowledge. He never realized that his rituals were giing him the power he sought, but not in the form he expected. And so, in not taking the arcane forces seriously, he missed both greater potential and damned his soul to the outer dark.

[[WMG: Irene is an ancestor to CarmenSandiego.]]
World class thief, affable, classy, and the first time she shows up she's wearing red. Anyone else see this?

[[WMG: Irene Adler is CarmenSandiego.]]
The one with a TimeMachine, to be precise. She traveled to Holmes' time on some random scheme but stuck around upon realizing she finally found an opponent who can give her the thrill she's always sought.

[[WMG: Creator/HughLaurie will have a cameo in the sequel.]]
As Mycroft, and he'll mock Holmes by telling him that what he does is impossible, or, it'll never catch on.
* More fitting, Mycroft will be played by Creator/StephenFry. Come on, It would be Awesome!
** This here, ladies and gentlemen, has just been [[spoiler:confirmed.]]
*** As a real-life WMG, I suggest that the person who thought of that is a psychic or a Time Lord showing off knowledge of the future, or that the person doing the casting is a Troper.
* I second that motion.

[[WMG: Moriarty is an [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Assassin]].]]
The wrist-mounted gun? A more refined version of Leonardo's hidden blade launcher. By this logic, Lord Blackwood and the rest of the secret order are Templars.
* ''Brotherhood'' makes it possible he could be from a rogue/splinter Templar faction, what with Il Lupo's Switchblade and pretty much every MP character having access to the Hidden Gun.
* As an alternative, Holmes could likely be an Assassin as well... Just with the genetics, not the upbringing. His entire AwesomenessByAnalysis SherlockScan fighting style is built entirely on [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits mashing the Counter button and using the same tactics as players.]]

[[WMG: Holmes has ADHD.]]
The utter chaos that we see inside his head during the restaurant scene, for example.
* Also in the ballroom scene in the second film where he's dancing with Sim:
--->'''Sim''': What do you see?
--->'''Sherlock''': Everything...it is my curse.

[[WMG: A future Sequel will involve UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the Germans]]
In large part because [[AuthorAppeal I have been waiting for a good adaption to it]], but mostly because it would fit the pace of the new series.
* But Holmes would be pretty old by then, don't you think? World War One began in 1914, whereas Holmes' endeavors ended that same year.
** He would be getting up there in age, but even if we accept a far longer timeline (rather than having Holmes spring up fully formed on the YearZero of a Study in Scarlet) he would still have been at most higher-middle age. And while the canon books DO end in 1914, even if we disinclude absolutely all of the books afterwards, it is a stretch to believe that a rather able-bodied man who is so obsessed that he drugs himself into a stupor whenever he doesn't have a case would quite while he is ahead. And even for the era, the characters would be middle aged, which even back then did not mean old, infirm, or otherwise incapable of doing "heavy lifting." To illustrate, if we take the age of the actors and advance them ahead to the appropriate time the main trio (Holmes/RDJr.,Watson/Law, and Adler/McAdams) would be 66, 59, and 53 respectively. Certainly not young by any measure, but even by the standards of the era still capable (for reference, by 1918 the OHL had been putting into action plans to expand the draft limit to being 75 years of age, and while part of that may have been from their state of collapse at the time, they still believed they could fight). At the time of the actual armistace, they would be even younger. . (note to self, find ways to respond to responses without generating a massive WallOfText everytime you hit the edit button).
*** No, this is perfect, then Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry could play the aged Sherlock and Watson and all this troper's dreams would have come true.
*** Remember also that Holmes is younger than Watson. Robert Downey Jr.'s age compared to that of Jude Law could just display how Holmes bedraggles himself in ways that Watson does not.
*** In the Conan Doyle canon, Holmes is born in 1854 and solves the last case in the summer of 1914 (''His Last Bow''), uncovering a German spy, afterwards he retired from detective work and turned to beekeeping.

[[WMG: Lord Coward was driven to villainy by people making fun of his name. ]]

Tell me you can't imagine that.

[[WMG: Moriarty is involved with the German government and General Staff]]
In the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Empire]], the General Staff was practically the shadow government, more powerful than civilian administration, with no legal obligation to give any explanation on how funds were used, responsible only to the Emperor himself, very aggressive and determined to have their way at all cost. They invested heavily in espionage, military research and collaborated closely with industrial barons. Moriarty bought or acquired by other means Meinhard's factory, which is guarded by [[EliteMooks men with obvious military training, discipline and knowledge of modern heavy weaponry]], most of them, at least those whose faces are closely shown, being middle-aged, old enough to have been veterans of [[UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar the war of 1871]]. It would be nearly impossible to run this without involvement of the General Staff and their unofficial permission.

[[WMG: Someone in the production crew is a troper]]
Creator/StephenFry is Mycroft and Moriarty's plan in the sequel is [[spoiler: to start World War One]].
Someone there has obviously been reading this page.

[[WMG: In the film's universe, Lord Blackwood was UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper]]

This has to be self-evident. The film is set right around the time the Whitechapel murders happened. We know that Blackwood killed 5 women before being caught. Now, how can we accept an universe where Sherlock Holmes does exist, but that such a notorious crime in London goes unsolved?
* There's a line of dialogue that can be read as hinting this: "Those young women were not the first to be butchered... no one could prove anything, but we all knew."
** Except all but one of Jack the Ripper's five canonical victims were in their forties, not young.

[[WMG: Watson deliberately changed Holmes's appearance when he wrote down their cases]]
For privacy reasons.

!!''Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'' (2011)

[[WMG: The third movie will involve some kind of crossover with Doyle's ''Literature/TheLostWorld'']]
At the very least, Professor Challenger will show up either as Holmes' antagonist, as his client, or as an ally in his latest case. GenreShift aside, it would fit the current movement of the story--since Holmes is now presumed dead, and he seems to be planning on leaving Watson to his marriage, it would be a perfect time for him to get out of England for some WalkingTheEarth. What better time to have him wind up on a mysterious DesertedIsland filled with dinosaurs? And, of course...EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs.

[[WMG: The third movie will be a loose adaptation of ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'']]
After being presumed dead, Holmes will get out of London and lay low for a while in Devonshire, but he'll be pulled into the old detecting game when Charles Baskerville, the master of a nearby manor, turns up dead. In this version, the Baskerville Hound will be used as a sort of personal "bogeyman" for Holmes, representing the fear of death and the unknown that has plagued him ever since his brush with death at Reichenbach Falls. Proving the Hound a hoax will be his way of "exorcising" this fear and getting to a point where he can make peace with his mortality.

[[WMG: The Reason Holmes Was in Drag was to Protect Mary]]

According to the trailer, Holmes was dressed up in Mary's clothes and a wig. He figured that Watson was in danger so Holmes took Mary off the train. Put on her clothes and makeup to help Watson while keeping Mary out of harms way. He probably had Mycroft or Lestrade make sure she was safe while he went off to help Watson.
* Well, he certainly did get her out of harm's way....

[[WMG: Holmes was an Irishman by birth]]

"The university" does not refer to either Oxford or Cambridge, but to Trinity College, Dublin. He mentions that he is descended from "country squires," though he refrains from mentioning WHICH country. He at least once mentions an interest in the Celtic languages. There was definitely a well-known Holmes family in Galway during that period (Robert Holmes, the famous barrister). The biggest piece of evidence can be found in his retiring years; Holmes [[spoiler: gives up the hustle and bustle of city life to spend his days divided "between philosophy and agriculture" in a decidedly ascetic manner]], much like the so-called "Green Martyrs" of 4th and 5th century Ireland.

Naturally, due to the bigotry that an Irishman would have faced in Victorian London, Holmes kept his heritage a secret even from Watson.

* ...Which at last explains why "Rocky Road to Dublin" played during the pit fight in the first film. (But note that "country squires" refers to the countryside, not to a particular geographic location.)

[[WMG: Moriarty and/or Col. Moran are Irishmen by birth]]

Most obviously both 'Moriarty' and 'Moran' are definitely Irish surnames - the former is from Co. Kerry, the later from Co. Mayo. Morever both would have been born either just before or during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_%28Ireland%29 Great Famine]] which would have been unlikely to engineer positive feelings towards Britain in them. In turn this bitterness towards Britain would eventually lead to crime.
* Moran as a disgruntled Irishman goes against canon. In ''The Adventure Of The Empty House'' Doyle openly says he had been born in London and enjoyed a privileged birth and early life, as son of Sir Augustus Moran, British Minister to Persia.

[[WMG: [[spoiler:Irene is not dead.]]]]
(a) We never see a body. (b) [[spoiler:She]] is still moving when Moriarty takes the handkerchief. (c) Moriarty lied about the tuberculosis; who's to say he wasn't lying again to hurt Holmes? (d) ''Moriarty put the queen back on the chessboard after Holmes left the room.''
* My guess? [[spoiler:She]]'s locked up somewhere, in very poor health from being poisoned, waiting for rescue. The rescue will drive the plot of the third movie.
* Or perhaps [[spoiler:Irene]] pulled the same trick [[spoiler:Holmes]] did when he "died" for the same reason, both in the original stories and in the film. [[spoiler:She]] faked death, stayed under the radar to avoid being attacked again, didn't inform ''anybody'' to keep the illusion up, and will come back in time when the inevitable sequel rolls around. Strange minds do think alike, of course.
* Considering this page's record so far, let's hope. Nobody likes a bridge dropping.
* Also, Moran was there too, and we don't see him leave. Maybe he's about to cart [[spoiler: Irene]] off to wherever Moriarty has planned.
* Also, note Sherlock's reaction [[spoiler: to the handkerchief on the ferry]]. He sniffs it, smiles briefly, then throws it overboard. This suggests either that [[spoiler: he knows she isn't dead or he's saying goodbye. This leaves the director with wriggle room to bring her back if necessary.]]
** Let's not forget that [[spoiler:René's supposed blood in the letter was actually wine. Sherlock might as well have detected that Irene's blood on the handkerchief is fake and smiled to himself. Coming from the woman who outwitted Holmes himself in the past, she would know better than thinking that Moriarty would let her go freely and [[FakingTheDead Faked the Dead]] in order to escape him.]]
* 'Also' also, the whole plot of the first movie revolves around the idea that [[spoiler: there is a method of faking death good enough to fool a professional doctor.]] I mean, Irene was there, and she wasn't dumb.
*** Also, something else worth noting for Moriarty: the man isn't a fool. He usually keeps an ace up his sleeve in some form or another throughout the books and the movie. Secondly, he obviously knows enough about Holmes to appreciate his emotional attachments and morality as strengths even if he can't appreciate or feel them himself (which might be why he acts as chummy as he does with "Hired Gun" Moran: trying to cultivate a minion with the same level of attachment and motivations as the Holmes gang has without the "disadvantage" of Moriarty being beholden to Moran like Holmes is to his friends and loved ones). [[spoiler: Killing Irene offhand neutralizes one of Holmes's enduring allies and would cripple him, but otherwise not stop him. Saving her for later runs the risk of her coming out from behind to mess things up, but if nothing else would be valuable in splitting their attention between herself and something else, or acting as a hostage.]]

[[WMG: Games of Shadows is on a Donnie Darko Style time loop ]]
[[spoiler: For some reason. due to Moriarty, a tear in time is made. Causing the events from the beginning(except the typewriting parts) of the movie,to the end of the movie on the water fall. Causing Holmes and Moriarty to gain supernatural powers. The visions that Holmes sees are from past experiences he can barely remember. That why he we was talking about the repress memories a the Gypsies tent. And how he knew where to throw Watson wife. The reason the maid heard difference voices come from his room is he was talking to a Frank like being. The Asteroid book is the time travel book that Donnie had. Though only Holmes and fin the truth in the book. Moriarty also has these powers. Being the one that open the time loop And at the end Holmes manages to win and survive the fall because he stop Moriarty. Closing the time loop by taking something out(Moriarty) and putting something back in(Holmes). Thus having enough superpowers left to survive for a happy ending.]]

[[WMG: Holmes was at [[spoiler: his own funeral.]] ]]
Would it not be hilarious for Holmes to be there in disguise? It certainly seems like something he'd do.
** I would be surprised if he wasn't.

[[WMG: The four main characters are secretly the four main ones from ''Series/DoctorWho'']]
* Holmes is the Eleventh Doctor, Irene is River, Watson is Rory, and Mary is Amy. They all act like them so ''very'' much.

[[WMG: Moriarty is [[spoiler:alive]]]]
* Bear with me here, but there is a distinct possibility. [[spoiler: Holmes is shown to survive the fall from the castle by using the oxygen device he ostensibly took from Mycroft. This got me wondering - why on earth would Mycroft have had one in the first place? Simple - the altitude of the castle meant the air would be thin. Thus, all the guests of summit would likely have had such a device - including Moriarty.]]
** Mycroft is a BunnyEarsLawyer for one of the most mysterious parts of the British intelligence system, and quite actively lazy (even in the books, if I recall correctly). I took it to mean that his carrying a personal oxygen tank was simply a sign of his eccentricity, the way a modern version of him might carry an asthma inhaler with 32 gigabytes of memory and a temple massager, or, yes, some rich/famous people hire someone to follow their entourage with an oxygen tank in case they feel like taking a hit off of it to spruce up their thinking ability. That does not invalidate the possibility that other guests took the same precaution, be they for similar or more practical reasons (the latter being primarily tight waist cinches and thin air, especially in an environment with dancing and dramatics). Also, [[labelnote:Edit Tip #9]] "An example that is almost completely spoilered out doesn't work very well as an example."[[/labelnote]].

[[WMG: The next movie will take place in the [[WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury 22ndCentury]]]]
And Holmes will not be a FishOutOfTemporalWater due to him being from an era of SteamPunk. Of course he will miss Watson

[[WMG: Moran and Colonel Moriarty will be the villains of the next movie.]]
In order to protect the safety of Mary, Simza, Lestrade, and Mycroft (and since Moran was still unknown to the general public), Watson edited out their involvement in the events of A Game of Shadows in order to make "The Final Problem" publishable. In the next film, Colonel Moriarty (mentioned briefly in FINA as writing letters-to-the-editor in defense of his brother) will be the driving force behind a campaign against the Watsons and Scotland Yard, while Moran will be behind the scenes trying to flush Holmes out of hiding.

[[WMG: The third movie will mimic His Last Bow with a bit of The Adventure of the Empty House.]]
* Because it's hard to imagine how SequelEscalation can keep ratcheting up and up and up. The first had an attempted British Coup d'etat, and the second had [[spoiler: Moriarty planning on starting UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne]] with an appropriate amount of firepower and uniformed thugs to fit the situation. So, how're they going to escalate this? [[spoiler: By actually having UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne or at a minimum the Panther Crisis.]] Also likely that Professor Challenger will feature in, likely as a parallel to Irene's role and/or as the DiscOneFinalBoss before the real villains- Moriarty/Moran/the Germans/other/some combination of the aforementioned- are revealed. Most likely forcing TeethClenchedTeamwork. Even odds on whether [[spoiler: Irene herself's alive or dead.]]

[[WMG: Simza is the mother of Literature/NeroWolfe.]]
Holmes spent at least a portion of the time he spent "dead" with the Gypsies. Feeling lonely and guilty by not being able to be around Watson due to the danger of Moran seeking vengeance, he turned to Simza for [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow comfort]]. By the time he leaves to return to London, Simza knows she is pregnant but did not tell Holmes.
* And perhaps Simza moved to Montenegro before Nero was born.

[[WMG: Holmes is a time traveller and secretly Iron Man]]
* At the end of his Iron Man career, Tony Stark got sent back in time and created a personality based on stories he'd read. The local technology isn't advanced enough for him to build another Iron Man suit (no computers, no composite materials), so he makes do with his wits instead. This may be why the technology of the period seems a bit more advanced than in real life. Either Tony's "inventing" stuff off the side or someone found bits of one of his suits and it got spread around. He learned how to fight from either Rhodey or Captain America.

[[WMG: The (fictional) castle at Reichanbach Falls in ''Game of Shadows'' will be humanity's base in ''Literature/TheTripods'']]
It's in Switzerland, and up in the mountains, good water supply. It matches the base in ''The White Mountains''. Interestingly, Sherlock and Watson follow the story fairly closely - the two start in England, they go to France and later Paris, picking up a third member, then end the story in the White Mountains.

[[WMG: Guy Ritchie's movies are set in the same reality as Film/TheIllusionist]]
One of the newspaper clippings on Holmes' [[TheBigBoard Big Board]] in ''Game of Shadows'' has the heading "Austrian Crown Prince Suicide".

[[WMG: ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'' is the prequel to these movies]]
Despite the inconsistencies in certain characters' ages and possibly the year each movie took place, the movie fits quite well together with these two stories. In the 2009 movie, Holmes and Watson had already been very well acquainted and working together by that point. It didn't establish their first meeting when they were adults and thus, it's logical to think that their meeting as schoolboys in YSH could have been the way it happened instead. Holmes would then reunite years later with Watson and they'd start working together again, professionally this time, especially after Watson's time in the service and medical training brought him closer to Holmes in intelligence and helped him come into himself more.

Holmes never had confidence in Lestrade as an inspector because he knows he didn't earn it and simply rode Holmes' coattails to do so. He would constantly hint at Lestrade's incompetence and inability to do the job he shouldn't have (the act they did for Coward in the first one had Holmes making fun of Lestrade in that sense to the point of calling him a criminal in getting the job, which gave Lestrade the opportunity to finally punch Holmes in the gut for it and get away with it). Despite the constant badgering about not deserving to be an inspector, Lestrade did begrudgingly grow to respect Holmes and be grateful for his skills.

Rathe/Ehtar became even more volatile and cruel after the death of his equally fanatical sister to the point that he sought criminal means of obtaining riches and power so as to reinvent himself as Moriarty, creating and living out a whole new life just to make sure he fooled everyone he came into contact with. If he wasn't doing it to avenge his sister (who he may have never actually cared about in the first place), he was doing it for his own ravenous need to inflict destruction and damage as many people as possible while lacking any traits of empathy and understanding if he had any at all (his parents were clearly fanatics who either brought out these traits in him with their own radical actions and behaviors or amplified them the same way). Holmes figured out who he was and treated him like a different person because he no longer saw any trace of the Rathe he thought was his friend, but Ehtar fully realized in all his horrible glory with the new name and identity he had made for himself.

Elizabeth's murder, though he showed some optimism for the future, caused Holmes to become deeply traumatized and depressed to the point that he took to drinking and drugs in order to cope with the pain. Adler, though he cared about her, was never what Elizabeth was to her and that's why her death didn't affect him as much. He wasn't necessarily detatched, but certainly not invested enough to feel that same pain. Holmes also became dependent on Watson as his crutch to keep him sane to point that he saw Watson's relationship and ultimate engagement to her as a threat to himself because it would destroy his inability to avoid his pain over Elizabeth that he never let go.

Finally, when Holmes nearly died on the train but was then revived, the ridiculous dream he described wasn't actually what he saw. The horror was from his life and all the terrible things that happened in it flashing before his eyes and it terrified him to the point that it would be too dreadful to repeat any of it.

[[/folder]]