History Recap / SherlockS03E03HisLastVow

** Mycroft implies an engineered version with someone if they mention a certain name being heard in the British Government's office, guaranteeing that stuff will be found on their hard drives that will result in their arrest. See YouDidntSeeThat below.

* YouDidntSeeThat:
-->'''Mycroft Holmes:''' That name you think you may have just heard. You are mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name, in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British Security Services that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don't reply, just look frightened and ''[[GetOut scuttle]]''.

##* YouDidntSeeThat:
##-->'''Mycroft Holmes:''' That name you think you may have just heard. You are mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name, in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British Security Services that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don't reply, just look frightened and ''[[GetOut scuttle]]''.

* YouDidntSeeThat:
-->'''Mycroft Holmes:''' That name you think you may have just heard. You are mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name, in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British Security Services that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don't reply, just look frightened and ''[[GetOut scuttle]]''.

* {{Blackmail}}: Magnussen's WeaponOfChoice.

* {{Corpsing}}: When Sherlock/Creator/BenedictCumberbatch is yelling "WELL I'M NOT NOW!", John/Creator/MartinFreeman can be seen laughing at his childish behaviour.
** John/Martin also struggles to hold back laughter during the scene with the Appledore vaults.

* KnifeNut: Bill pulls a knife on John during their first meeting and gets a sprained wrist in return.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: To the general public, Magnussen is simply a businessman with some good connections.

* WithAFootOnTheBus: Sherlock is forced to leave England for killing the episode's villain. However, his plane is barely in the air when Moriarty announces his return, and Sherlock is quickly pardoned and the plane turns around.

* NotSoDifferent: At different times in the episode, John's increasing DissonantSerenity in dealing with some situations makes it look like as if it would be something Sherlock himself would do at his most anti-social.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Mitigated slightly as Mycroft is unknowingly being tranquilized.

** Bill's first name, Billy comes from the page boy of 221B who first appeared in William Gillette's play, and than migrated into the stories as a relatively minor character. His last name Wiggins, comes from the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars in Conan Doyle's first two novels, "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of Four".

** Magnussen's scan of Watson lists his alcoholic sister Harry as a potential pressure point. Sherlock's are Moriarty, Irene Addler, "Redbeard," John, and opium.

** Like Sherlock, Magnussen specializes in uncovering secrets and solving mysteries, but while Sherlock uses it to put evil away and better society, Magnussen uses it as power to assert his dominance over people and countries.
** He is an evil counterpart of Mycroft. Both have extensive influence over governments, both have direct yet ethically-questionable access to leaders of Britain, both are more chessmasters than trickster, and both are strongly implied to actually be smarter than Sherlock (and both definitely like reminding him of it). It's strongly implied that Magnussen has clashed with Mycroft before and has found a way to blackmail or control him which may be threats against Sherlock and at one point Sherlock tries and fails to bribe him with Mycroft's laptop, because Magnussen craves the information on it. In the original stories Sherlock muses that if Mycroft had the inclination he could easily become the most successful criminal the world had ever seen- Magnussen could be read as an attempt to see if that is true.
* EvilGloating: Magnussen likes to do this. And in classic villain fashion, this ultimately leads to his downfall: [[JustBetweenYouAndMe When he thinks that he has beat Sherlock Holmes, he tells him the reason why]] -- [[BondVillainStupidity this way exposing his own biggest weakness]]. Namely that the police can't confiscate his blackmail vault because it only exists in his head. Thus the vault will simply cease to exist and stop causing any more trouble with Magnussen's death.
* EvilIsPetty: Mainly because of all the information he has on people, Magnussen fully believes he can do whatever to whomever he wants. In fact this seems to be his main motivation.

* {{Flatline}}: Sherlock's heart stops beating and the flatline sounds carries over into his DyingDream.

* HateSink: Charles Augustus Magnussen. While Moriarty may be far more murderous and involved in acts of terrorism, he is at least LaughablyEvil and entertaining, and perhaps mildly sympathetic insofar as he is clearly mentally unstable. Magnussen, though, much like his literary counterpart Charles Augustus Milverton, is flat-out stated by Sherlock to be the worst person he has ever met, a "shark" who preys on peoples' vulnerabilities and blackmails them into letting him exploit and bully them (up to and including sexual assault). A media baron, he claims he is willing to run stories that he can't actually prove in order to ruin a person's life, and even if it puts them and their family in mortal danger. At one point he even has Watson ''trapped in a fire'' just to see if Sherlock cared enough about him to save him, though he claimed that he had people ready to save him if he didn't. He is a DirtyCoward who begs for his life when confronted with a killer he tried to blackmail, but smugly threatens to expose and destroy said killer ''and'' their family and friends the moment he regains the advantage. In the end, Sherlock decides shooting him is the only way to stop him- which he does after Magnussen was childishly flicking Watson in the face just, again, to show that he can.

* IcyBlueEyes: Sherlock compares Magnussen's eyes to the "dead eyed" gaze of a shark.

* LeanAndMean: In a conspicuous contrast to the portly Milverton of the original story, Creator/LarsMikkelsen's sharp, angular features help to create the effect.

* MassOhCrap: Greg, Mrs. Hudson, and Molly are visibly '''unnerved''' when Moriarty reveals himself on '''all''' the [=TVs=] in the UK.

** John walking into a drug den to find the neighbor's son only to find Sherlock as well is copied from ''The Man with the Twisted Lip''. Originally it was a wayward husband in an opium den.
** Mary's real initials are A.G.R.A.. The Agra treasure featured in ''The Sign of (the) Four'' the case that Mary Morstan first appears in.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Enforced. Mikkelsen, who is capable of speaking with a London accent, was asked to sound more Danish. This is particularly obvious in the opening scene, when Magnussen states his own name.

* ScreamingWoman: Mrs. Hudson '''freaks''' out when Moriarty pops back on the telly.

** The Christmas Day outfit of the elder Mr. Holmes (Sherlock and Mycroft's dad) screams the Series 5 outfit of the [[Creator/MattSmith Eleventh Doctor]].

** John dismissing the fact that he does not know Mary's real name and that her name is the one she choose is reminiscent of Clara's conclusion in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The time of the Doctor]]".

** Mycroft mentions a colleague fond of England having a "blunt instrument". [[Franchise/JamesBond Perhaps his or her name also starts with M.]] There's even a shot reminiscent of one the rooftop scene of ''Skyfall'' in the stinger.

** He considers John and Mrs. Hudson to be "unimportant".

* SoftSpokenSadist: Magnussen is always soft spoken, even when pleading for his life. Also, he torments people he doesn't need to just because he enjoys it.
* StatOVision: Every time we view through Magnussen's eyes when he's wearing his glasses, we see a nifty view of stats about characters he views and their weaknesses. Such as Mrs Hudson's marijuana and history as an exotic dancer, and Irene Adler, Moriarty and Redbeard for Sherlock (among many others for the detective. Actually, it looks like a lot more, but the list is just rotated around to make it look like more. It goes Redbeard, Hounds of The Baskerville, Opium, John Watson, Irene Adler, Jim Moriarty.) Turns out that Magnussen doesn't have an HUD: it's all in his head.

* AStormIsComing: In Sherlock's mind palace after Mary shoots him, Mycroft tells Sherlock that an east wind is coming (reference to an exchange between Holmes and Watson in the original story "His Last Bow"). Sherlock tells John the same thing when they say goodbye, explaining that this is a story that Mycroft told him as a child; "The East Wind; this terrifying force that lays waste to all in its path. It seeks out the unworthy, and plucks them from the Earth. That was generally me. He was a rubbish big brother." At the end, when Moriarty's return leads to Sherlock's exile being curtailed, John comments that if Moriarty is alive, "he’d better wrap up warm. There's an East Wind coming."

** While the occasional killing and injuring of villains is often treated as no big deal in universe, it's very quickly clear that Sherlock's murder of Magnussen is a very big deal. John is stunned and the only thing he manages to say is "CHRIST, SHERLOCK." Mycroft rips off his headset after frantically instructing his men not to fire on Sherlock, and says quietly to himself "Oh, Sherlock, what have you done?"

-->'''Mycroft Holmes:''' That name you think you may have just heard. You are mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name, in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British Security Services that materials will be found on your computer hard-drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don't reply, just look frightened and ''[[GetOut scuttle]]''.
* YouWouldntShootMe: Sherlock thinks this of Mary, so he ignores her warning and takes step into her direction. Wrong deduction, Sherlock.

* {{Corpsing}}: When Sherlock/Creator/BenedictCumberbatch is yelling "WELL I'M NOT NOW!", John/Creator/MartinFreeman can be seen laughing at his childish behavior.

* ExactWords: Sherlock's deal with Magnussen is that in exchange for top British secrets, Magnussen hands over all materials related to Mary Watson. The latter agrees and fulfills his end of the bargain... because there was no material evidence or records to begin with.

* HypocriticalHumor: Sherlock comments that Mycroft is so OCD that he always adjusts the door-knocker at 221B without even realising he does it. When he returns the knocker to its original position, John asks him why he just did that, to which Sherlock responds, "Do what?"

** Not to mention Mary's "mixed messages" of shooting Sherlock, then saving his life, alongside being madly in love with John were very familiar to River's erratic "I love him / I have to kill him" flirting/psychopath behavior in "Let's Kill Hitler."

** If you've seen ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'', then you may note that the film's climactic moment involves the villain displaying an ability previously demonstrated only by Sherlock, and Sherlock defeating him by killing him and sacrificing himself for Watson, something the self-centered villain might have trouble anticipating.

* RealityEnsues: Sherlock realizes that there's no way Magnussen has a computer database of his blackmail info — he just keeps it in his head — and kills him. He doesn't get off scot-free for it as MI-6 decides to send him on a suicide mission as punishment. At least, until Moriarty shows up.

'''Sherlock:''' What the '''hell''' am I supposed to say to that?

* {{Ephebophoile}}: Magnussen, if his comment about a 15 year old girl being "delicious" is anything to go by.

* NecesassrilyEvil: Magnussen for the British government, as described by Mycroft:

* WhiteRoomVoid: Magnussen's "vault", which helps him in accessing his mind palace.

* ActorAllusion: Sherlock and Mycroft's talk of dragons was probably a nod to Creator/BenedictCumberbatch's role as Smaug in ''Film/TheHobbit''.

* AssholeVictim: When Sherlock and Watson come up to see a security guard and Janine unconscious in the office. Watson, as he is looking over Janine, asks if the other needs assistance. Sherlock is able to tell the guard is an ex-con and probably a white supremacist and tells Watson to ignore him.

* BigShutUp: John yells this at Sherlock after John asks if everyone he's known is a psychopath, and Sherlock says yes and is about to go on. Understandable, since John at this moment is [[TranquilFury VERY angry]]. He's just found out Mary is an assassin and he's just asked if everyone he's ever known is a sociopath. Sherlock being Sherlock just answered yes and was about to carry on. Cue this trope.

* BullyingADragon: Magnussen has the most important and powerful people under his thumb, so a few sociopaths and/or {{Blood Knight}}s like Sherlock, John, and Mary should be no different, right? He is wrong.

* DramaticGunCock

* EvilIsPetty: Magnussen exercises power over his victims through very petty actions. For example, having information that could get John Watson's wife killed, he tells him to try to keep his eye open while he (Magnussen) flicks it, and says that he's done the same thing to at least one other person. He also urinates in Sherlock's fireplace to demonstrate that he can do whatever he wants.

** Mycroft warns Sherlock that "the east wind is coming"

* IHaveYourWife: And she is John's pressure point, and John is Sherlock's, and Sherlock is Mycroft's.

* LaserSight: After Sherlock shoots Magnussen he is targetted by several laser guns from Mycroft's men.

** The incident where Sherlock won a building facade covering a Tube railway in a poker game with a cannibal.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: How Magnussen demonstrates his domination over his targets, from flicking their faces to ''licking'' them.

* PhotographicMemory: Magnussen has a form of this that shows up as StatOVision. He can look at a person and instantly recall everything about them.

* ProfessionalKiller: Mary Morstan.
* RealityEnsues: Sherlock does not get off for killing Magnussen, he's sent on a suicide mission for MI-6 as punishment... until Moriarty shows up.

** Magnussen. Like Sherlock, he cares little for societal norms or niceties, and he has a mind palace.

** The junkie "Wiggy" that Sherlock takes a shining to has a form of this as well, and this is the reason why Sherlock keeps him around.

* SurprisinglyRealisiticOutcome: Sherlock realizes that there's no way Magnussen has a computer database of his blackmail info — he just keeps it in his head — and kills him. He doesn't get off scot-free for it as MI-6 decides to send him on a suicide mission as punishment. At least, until Moriarty shows up.

* TooDumbToLive: Go ahead, Magnussen. Reveal that you ''knew'' Sherlock's pressure point, by [[BerserkButton threatening John's life]] in front of him. Not like he ''knows'' [[TranquilFury how to kill you.]] [[BewareTheQuietOnes He does.]]

* UngratefulBastard: Mycroft and the British Government. Sherlock killed Magnussen. Instead of pardoning Sherlock, or hushing the whole thing up, they send him on a suicide mission for MI-6 because he would just cause prison riots. The MP who hired Sherlock to bring down Magnussen, Lady Smallwood, is the one who signs the order. They only change their minds when Moriarty comes back, and realize how much they need Sherlock.

** While the occasional killing and injuring of villains is often treated as no big deal in universe, it's very quickly clear that Sherlock's murder of Magnussen is a very big deal. John is stunned and the only thing he manages to say is "CHRIST, SHERLOCK." Mycroft rips off his headset after frantically instructing his men not to fire on Sherlock, and says quietly to himself [[TearJerker "Oh, Sherlock, what have you done?"]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: Magnussen thought Sherlock saw himself as a hero. We all know better than that.