Montag

But if Moriarty had been manipulated all the way through then that would be the only way to force a win in his eyes. I don't believe he was going to suicide but their lives had become so inter-linked as soon as Sherlock stepped back from the ledge he had no choice if he still wanted to win. I don't believe Sherlock really believed he could make Moriarty talk, he just had to make him believe he could. That is what the laugh was for. To make Moriarty believe he had found a solution. Sherlock was then in the dominant position in the game. If Moriarty believed that then what other option did he have? If Sherlocks friends all died then some people at least would question f Moriarty was involved, the same if Sherlock was just killed. While the overall narrative was that Sherlock was still a fraud Moriarty needed absolute destruction of Sherlocks reputation to win, he needed to burn it to ashes.

Also is Sherlock crying not because he knows john would mourn is death , but because his only friend might never forgive his deceit?

Something is tickling my mind. Sherlock says to Molly "I want you". Is he saying that he wants Molly to be his Cinderella? The story has a few things to ponder. She was tricked by getting stuck She prayed to a tree The birds told of the blood But the one I like the most is how the birds blinded the sisters. Is Sherlock asking for her help to keep everything out of sight? Also I like the idea that Sherlock that knew what IOU meant and was turning it back on Moriarty. He does everything he can to save his friends like the mother in 12 brothers, he feeds Moriartys ego by acting as he was expected to, while lying about it until he can get his revenge with the help of Cinderella.

Moriarty killed himself because it was the only way to win. Moriarty topped himself so if Sherlock didn't die, he would have to live as a fake and a murderer with his friends dead. If he jumped at least his friends were safe. This was Moriartys winning move. However Moriarty didn't know he was being set up by Mycroft and Sherlock (as I think he was) so the jump was to save his friends and allow him to go underground.

My first post to share my own Pet Theory There has long been a theory that there is a missed clue. I think the clue is simply the title. The whole episode is not about the fall of Sherlock, but the fall of Richard Brook, Moriarty. It rests on the final conversation between Sherlock and Moriarty. Moriarty asks Sherlock if he thinks that he can make him talk when his brother failed. Without missing a beat Sherlock say "but I'm not my brother" throughout the pretense is that Sherlock is unaware that Mycroft had Moriarty. But the conversation doesn't sound like this is a surprise.... Sherlock and Mycroft pushed Moriarty and manipulated him to a reliance on Sherlock. They knew that death was preferable to losing so that had to get him to choose death. He alone knows all the threads, so if dead then the web ceases to exist. The individuals in the web are still dangerous but the conspiracy will fail. Sherlocks fake death was twofold; protect his friends and to go after the threads incognito. Ties into IOU as Mycroft has been pushing Sherlock into becoming Moriartys nemesis, not the other way round. All the cases shown so far have been an elaborate trap for Richard Brook to fall. My 2 penny's worth