Theories regarding Jim's fate (major spoilers)

Please do not read this if you have not watched the episode yet. I have warned you. This post contains goddamn amount of spoilers for the Reichenbach Fall.



So I just wasted a good portion of my time writing this TL;DR because honestly, listing my opinions one by one and then brooding over the possibility of each is the only coping mechanism for what Mofftiss has done to my mind. I of course, really wish that Jim is alive. He is a brilliant character and Andrew Scott is a brilliant actor. It'll feel slightly different if season 3 doesn't include him in it ):

Apologies for grammar and sentence structure mistakes in advance. Because I'm just too lazy too check lol.


A deviant told me he/she believes Jim is not dead, and asks if he/she's the only one thinking this:

You're not! I'm desperately hoping that this is the case too! I mean, I don't think one is cleverer than another, and if Sherlock could come up with an elaborate escape plan in case he HAD to resort to 'killing' himself, which was VERY likely considering the consequences if he didn't, then obviously Moriarty would've predicted that too. Or at least, even if he doesn't know that Sherlock has come prepared, there is no reason why Jim could NOT have faked his own death as well as a way to outwit the latter.

Theories that he may be alive (based on my speculation on his character, so this may not work for everyone and may contain bias...I try my best to keep my opinions neutral though):

1) I always view Moriarty as a person who views himself as God. I see him as that sort to bring down an enemy with whatever means necessary, but not when it comes to sacrificing his own life. He takes pride in outliving others, even though he has said, "Staying alive is boring, isn't it?" in response to his iconic ringtone. Staying alive, for him, is boring as hell if there is no one else around for him to step on. Sherlock is the only individual worth his challenge, and I find it more likely that he would have wanted to outlive Sherlock in order to win, to prove that HE is the best, instead of resorting to a solution in which he has to GIVE IN in order to make his enemy fall. (Therefore, I was in disbelief when he shot himself. I was like, "Seriously, Jim? SERIOUSLY?!" through a faceful of tears lol.)

2) Some fans say that at the very end, when an overwhelming group of observers rushed towards the body (the streets seemed relatively empty back then), these people were actually hired to distract John from reaching the body too soon (i.e the homeless-looking dude with the bicycle). I find that theory believable. Therefore, when Moriarty said among the lines of, "and look, you have an audience too," prior to telling Sherlock to jump down the building...suddenly I have a vague feeling that there's something so much more going on underneath the surface...as if Moriarty actually knows Sherlock's plan but he's letting it play out for whatever reason.

3) Sherlock never checked the body for confirmation of death (and I can hold my eyes open without blinking for a minute, so staying still and open-lided is possible).

4) If you watch the 'News Broadcast' posted on John's blog regarding Sherlock's suicide, there was no mention of another body on the rooftop. This is strange, becuase that roof would have been scavanged by the Yarders (or, secretely, reporters) seeing as that was where Sherlock fell off from. For the media, "murder and potental suicide resulting from Consulting Dectective Scandal" would have made for a GREAT cover story for weeks. The media would be circling around this like hungry sharks. The only 2 likely answers for this were if:

I. The media was ordered to shut their mouths about the extra body, either by the investigation team in Scotland Yard (unlikely), or by Mycroft/government (more likely). This would certainly work slightly against my favour that Moriarty's alive. This may indicate that he is in fact dead and Mycroft is trying to cover this up by making things less complicated for everyone (especially for Sherlock, I don't think Mycroft would want Sherlock to be suspected of murdering someone on top of committing suicide). But what if Mycroft was actually covering for other reasons? Such as upon the examination of the body, they found out that the body was in fact a fake. If Sherlock could pull this off, no doubt Moriarty could too.

II. There was no evidence of another body to be found at all. This can indicate a lot of things of course, ones that do work in my favour and ones that don't. It may mean that Moriarty is still alive and kicking and he has eliminated all traces of evidence of him being there. Or, it may mean someone on Moriarty's side (Moran maybe? SOBB) took his body away and eliminated evidence. Yeah no I don't want to think about that outcome.

5) The reason why he brought a gun in the first place. This could be insignificant (it probably is, but hear me out a little), the most obvious explanation being that Jim was just a cautious person in general, in case things turned south for him during his negotiation with Sherlock and that he needed an extra layer of protection for himself aside from the snipers. This certainly makes a lot of sense...but it does clash with his personal ethics in which he prefers someone else to hold the rifle because he doesn't want to get his hands dirty. I mean, he's right. He really has no reason to hold a gun for safety purposes when he is ensured the snipers are there to protect him, just like in TGG. Having no gun in his hands, but still topping his enemy in terms of power dynamics has got to be the sweetest feeling a person like him could experience. He had certainly prided himself with this in TGG.

So then, let's say if the gun really isn't brought for protection....what for then? Certainly not for Sherlock, seeing as he needs Sherlock to commit suicide in order to complete his plan.

Another explanation is that he brought it precisely to shoot himself with it, but it was an deliberate act and everything was rigged. If there was an explanation for his methods inducing a fake death such as this, the gun would have played a huge role. And then on the flip side... but that one runs towards the argument that he is dead, so I'll elaborate on it below.

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Theories that he is dead:

These are rather strong points that don't work in my favour. But I still hold faith lol.

1) Pulling off a gun-in-mouth seems effing hard. And all that fancy blood and brain matter too. I have read somewhere from someone that you CAN in fact avoid a fatal blow like this, however improbable it may seem, but I'll really have to dig deep into the internet to know for sure...

2) The "Final Problem". This question has plagued him for a long time. He never really disclosed what problem he was PRECISELY talking about...but it was most likely his own outlook on life, on HIS life as a human-God roaming the earth. When Sherlock revealed that as long as Jim was alive, Sherlock would always find a way to stop him, he realized what the Problem was. In order to defeat Sherlock, Jim had to eliminate that one Problem which kept the consulting detective from falling-- himself. They are the 'same person' after all, and as long as one lives, the other can't die. This is getting a little HP lolooll /cries

(Wait! But then as a counter-thought-- borrowing this from HP: what about the notion of cheating oneself? You outlive your other half -Sherlock- by fulfilling the Final Problem of killing yourself...and then emerging out again as the true victor by revealing that you're not actually dead. You've solved your Problem with no consequences. You sacrifice your life in order to gain back your life. You win this battle by defeating yourself. If I were Moriarty, I'd be howling in laughter at how beautiful the irony of this whole thing is.)

^--- That will therefore be point #6 among the theories that he may still be alive.

3) He brought along the gun to commit suicide. No rigs, no nothing, but that he was 100% prepared to die that day. This would signify that he KNEW all along what the answer to the Final Problem was even before Sherlock uttered it. I suppose then, that shooting himself in front of his enemy is his own morbid way of saying "screw you and goodbye, my dear."