Entertainment & Arts
The Final Problem: Predictions for Sherlock Season 4 Finale
The third all final episode of Sherlock season 4 brings all of the story threads home. Sherlock and the audience must ask, “Who is Sherlock?”
The biggest – and arguably the only – clue the audience gets for Sherlock’s season four finale is Mycroft’s statement that everything Sherlock is today has to do with his memory of Euros. So, after four seasons, who is Sherlock Holmes?
The finale will deal with the “final problem” of Sherlock’s identity, a theme always on the periphery of the show but brought to the forefront in recent episodes. Most poignantly it surfaces while Sherlock grapples with Mary’s self-sacrifice to save his life and thus conferring a value to his life that he doesn’t know how to register, qualify or justify.
Moreover how he previously identified himself, as he is depicted in season one, has radically evolved since meeting John. He changed from only working alone, to having a large surrogate family starting with John and growing to including Mary, Molly, Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson. Sherlock’s question to “Faith” of “What am I?” is more a rhetorical device, an effort to decipher his own identity, than an interrogative.
Sherlock’s History with Euros
Euros and Sherlock’s separation must have occurred when they were both very young. He didn’t recognize her and disguises haven’t stopped him in the past: he saw right through “Hooper’s” disguise as a man when no one else did in The Bride and as Sherlock acknowledged to Irene Adler a disguise is always the reflection of the person hiding.
Additionally, the division of Sherlock from Euros must have been traumatic as he only recalls it when he is drugged by Mary or in withdrawal from his own relapse to heroin addiction.
Could it actually be twins?
Euros reveals she is third Holmes sibling, but perhaps she not just Mycroft’s younger sister but also Sherlock’s twin. Why else would Sherlock believe it’s never twins unless he’s been conditioned away from the truth of his own twin reality? Even if they aren’t twins, Euros played a significant role in young Sherlock’s childhood otherwise her abrupt absence would not have altered his life as Mycroft maintains.
Additionally, Euros and Sherlock’s separation must have occurred when they were both very young. He didn’t recognize Euros posing as Faith even though disguises haven’t stopped him in the past: he saw right through “Hooper’s” disguise as a man when no one else did in The Bride and as Sherlock acknowledged to Irene Adler a disguise is always the reflection of the person hiding.
Moreover, the division of Euros and Sherlock must have been traumatic as he only recalls it – to the viewers’ knowledge at least – when he is drugged by Mary or in withdrawal from his own relapse to heroin addiction. Mental barriers must be lowered before memories of Euros seep into Sherlock’s conscious mind.
What About Redbeard?
Sherlock’s childhood pet Redbeard has been frequently referenced as a tragic point in his personal history; a landmark after which he began to withdraw from human social interaction and even became an internal code name for Mycroft when his brother encountered an emotional trigger to send him back in to substance abuse.
Given this evidence it’s fair to argue that Redbeard was introduced to Sherlock as a replacement for Euros following their forceful estrangement and as such, Redbeard’s subsequent death drove him farther away from emotional humanity to cold logic.
The East Wind is Coming
Mycroft has been training Sherlock to fear the vengeful “east wind” since he was young as he mentions to John at the end of season 3. However, Mycroft was both metaphorically and literally scaring Sherlock away from sister Euros whose name means “The East Wind.” What Euros originally did to drive Mycroft to such dramatic means, remains hazy. Euros’ more recent activities, on the other hand, may be teased out from another hint from Mycroft.
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Euros and Moriarty
If Euros and Moriarty have been working together, they’ve been playing a long game with her being the final link enacting Moriarty’s posthumous revenge. And Mycroft knows of their partnership. In the season three finale, Mycroft first alludes to third Holmes child in the same breath as regretting his previous act of “brotherly love” towards said sibling.
It’s possible this act of brotherly love was to spare Euros when she and Moriarty were taken into custody together over the course of season 2. Now, Euros has everyone in Sherlock’s life in cross-hairs and Sherlock might finally need to show whose man he is.
