M-theory

Meta
Title:	M-theory: Mycroft, Moriarty, and Magnussen’s shared motifs, James Bond’s “M,” Mary and Janine, and the big gay long game
Creator:	loudest-subtext-in-television
Date(s):	March 9, 2014
Medium:	online
Fandom:	BBC Sherlock
Topic:	The Johnlock Conspiracy
External Links:	Archive link
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

A diagram of loudest-subtext-in-television's M-theory, created by Tumblr user not-so-quiet-on-the-inside.

"M-theory: Mycroft, Moriarty, and Magnussen’s shared motifs, James Bond’s “M,” Mary and Janine, and the big gay long game," commonly abbreviated as M-theory, is a long meta written by TJLC BNF loudest-subtext-in-television.

M-theory is over 80,000 words long, and it is divided into ten sections: first, an introduction, and then a section for each of the episodes of BBC Sherlock's first, second, and third series. According to the author, the meta is meant to be read in sequential order. The original posts went offline after LSiT deleted her original Tumblr in 2016, but archive links from the Wayback Machine have preserved the meta in full:

• M-theory: Introduction
• M-theory: A Study in Pink
• M-theory: The Blind Banker
• M-theory: The Great Game
• M-theory: A Scandal in Belgravia
• M-theory: The Hounds of Baskerville
• M-theory: The Reichenback Fall
• M-theory: The Empty Hearse
• M-theory: The Sign of Three
• M-theory: His Last Vow

In physics, "M-theory" is a theory that "unifies all consistent versions of superstring theory." In the introduction, loudest-subtext-in-television outlined "the basic tenants" of the theory, also noting the self-admittedly tongue-in-cheek origins of the theory's name:

For laughs, here’s the original definition of M-theory (Wikipedia): “In theoretical physics, M-theory is an extension of string theory in which 11 dimensions of spacetime are identified as 7 higher-dimensions plus the 4 common dimensions (11D st = 7 hd + 4D). Proponents believe that the 11-dimensional theory unites all five 10 dimensional string theories (10D st = 6 hd + 4D) and supersedes them.”

You guys are going to see why I borrowed this term to name this theory, which coincidentally has a lot to do with the letter M: it’s incredibly complicated, and it unites and supersedes a lot of existing theories about where Sherlock is headed. I’ll lay out the basic tenants first, then take you through it.

• Mycroft has been under Moriarty’s thumb since the end of A Study in Pink. This is why we see Mycroft give Sherlock the cases Moriarty wants him to have.

• Moriarty is alive. The showrunners aren’t lying now when they said they knew exactly what they were going to do with Moriarty from the first series forward, and this will become *clear as we go through the early episodes. Everything was planned exactly.

• Moriarty is theimprobableone and Anonymous.

• Moriarty worked with Magnussen prior to series three for broadcast and news services.

• Mycroft has been trying to push John and Sherlock together romantically from the beginning.

• Moriarty has a fatal attraction to Sherlock, i.e. a “if I can’t have you, no one can” kind of thing. Jim continually lets Sherlock live because he can’t bring himself to kill him when he might have a chance with him. When Sherlock isn’t interested, Moriarty sets out to determine Sherlock’s orientation, then mold Sherlock into his psychopath boyfriend — or failing that, break Sherlock’s heart trying.

• Mary is the Moran character from Arthur Conan Doyle canon, and Moriarty planted her with John to burn the heart out of Sherlock. Mary has a genuine selfish attraction to John that mirrors Moriarty’s attraction to Sherlock.

• Mycroft has known exactly who Mary is since she entered the picture. He can’t do anything about it.

• Janine is Moriarty’s sister, and he planted her with Magnussen.

• Moriarty purposely maneuvered Sherlock into killing Magnussen.

• By the end of His Last Vow, Moriarty has taken over Magnussen’s staff and infrastructure.

Some Topics Discussed

• The Personal Blog of Dr. John H. Watson (and its relationship to the show)
• music/sound design/the soundtrack
• cinematography
• parallels to James Bond
• connections between Mycroft and Moriarty

Excerpts

But back to that Bond night, because it’s important. James Bond will be referenced several times throughout Sherlock, and this is only the first. For now we’ve heard Sherlock refer to Mycroft as the British government. It’s not precisely true — we know Mycroft has superiors — so it’s worth paying attention that Sherlock refers to him that way anyway. Who is the British government in James Bond? “M.”

And indeed, in His Last Vow we’ll even hear Mycroft say, “This country sometimes needs a blunt instrument,” which is something M says about Bond in a few adaptations. The Empty Hearse and His Last Vow each equate Sherlock with Bond a few times. Then in The Sign of Three we’ll get this monogrammed jogging suit:

[screencap of Mycroft wearing a jumpsuit with the letter "M" on the collar from later episode The Sign of Three]

Mycroft is “M.” It’s going to be important in The Blind Banker.

Clearly, Mycroft wants John involved with his brother — and romantically at that: after all, John is seemingly at peace with the idea Sherlock can’t feel things for people, and is in no danger of moving out at the moment. John doesn’t say that Sherlock is incapable of friendship or anything. Given that Mycroft’s aim has been, at minimum, to find someone who can handle Sherlock platonically, you’d think Mycroft would be happy to let John think this: John won’t have high expectations of Sherlock. There is no reason for Mycroft to disrupt this equilibrium and shift John’s expectations unless he wants John to pursue Sherlock romantically. And why wouldn’t Mycroft want that? The alternative is John eventually finds a romantic partner and moves out, and then Mycroft would have to worry about Sherlock as much or more than he used to.

Furthermore, if it were really still Mycroft’s goal that Sherlock be alone and not care about people, he would be glad to hear that he’s apparently successfully molded Sherlock in his image. But Mycroft isn’t happy. He knows it isn’t true, and does not think for a moment it could be true. Mycroft knows Sherlock won’t change, so the only solution is that Sherlock have someone loyal and reliable to love.

Mycroft knows he’s sitting across from the only viable candidate right now: John Watson has killed for and has proven willing to die for Sherlock. Of course Mycroft wants him to be with his brother. Of course Mycroft can’t let John believe Sherlock is incapable of returning his feelings.

In short, Mycroft suggests to John that Sherlock may be capable of romantic feelings so John doesn’t give up on Sherlock romantically. There is little other reason for Mycroft to care about John’s perception of Sherlock’s capacity for romance.

Moriarty lets Sherlock know that he’s “Mr. Sex.” But Sherlock still asks, “Why are you doing all this? You don’t want money or power, not really. What is it all for?” It’s because Jim wants Sherlock’s dick, of course. And Jim tries to tell him, but does Sherlock listen? “I want to solve the problem. Our problem. The final problem. It’s going to start very soon Sherlock. The fall,” and goes on to say, “I owe you a fall, Sherlock.” How could Jim possibly owe Sherlock a fall when Jim has never fallen for— Oh.

Jim Moriarty essentially tells Sherlock Holmes to his face that he’s fallen for him, and he intends to make Sherlock do the same for him. And of course that’s what he means, because on the rooftop, Moriarty is pleased that Sherlock picked a building to jump off of: Jim didn’t need Sherlock to literally fall, but it’s a nice touch.

He’s asking you out, Sherlock! Play cool!

Remember: Sherlock solves cases when Moriarty wants Sherlock to solve them. Sherlock couldn’t solve the Carl Powers case for decades, and only solved it because Moriarty sent him the shoes. Sherlock is not, and has never been, the one in control of the situation. It has always been Moriarty. If General Shan had gone to Moriarty once Sherlock turned up, we can bet Sherlock wouldn’t have solved that either — unless Moriarty allowed it.

We’ll see later, however, that Mary will push John and Sherlock together, and goad Sherlock to realize his feelings for John. If Mary is attracted to John, why would she do this? Well, several reasons. First, she doesn’t have a choice. Second, Moriarty wouldn’t tell Mary any more than she needs to know, so if he knew she was attracted to John, he could have easily told her that John is straight. Third, even if Moriarty decided to let her know or believe John is bisexual, he could have reassured her that he’d get Sherlock out of the picture soon enough. After all, there’s no real reason that Moriarty would let Mary know he wanted to hook up with Sherlock later instead of simply break Sherlock’s heart and then kill him. Although, hey, he could have even told her the whole plan and Mary just has to accept that Moriarty will keep Sherlock under lock and key. Finally, Mary knows that John would never stay with her if she tried to keep him away from Sherlock, and she knows that accepting Sherlock makes John like her more. She helped John mourn Sherlock the first time around and it brought her and John together, so if John mourns Sherlock later, so much the better. It ultimately doesn’t matter for series three whether Mary’s attraction is genuine or she’s doing everything under orders from Moriarty, however. It might matter in series four and beyond, but it doesn’t effect the theory either way for now. The most important thing is that, at minimum, she’s acting under Moriarty’s orders.

And what do we hear when that control panel is revealed? Not just the echoes of Mycroft’s theme, but Mycroft’s actual motif, the three notes that signify him most prominently. This was Mycroft’s doing. It implies Mycroft had to either directly facilitate this, or just let it happen as it naturally might since Lord Moran had been working with North Korea and would want to sabotage the anti-terrorism bill being discussed in parliament. Moriarty may not have even needed to do anything here except demand Mycroft let it happen.

Irene and Janine. Man, even their names sound similar. If the pattern continues, Sherlock needs to beware of any woman named Kanene or Karmine or whatever, then Lamine, and so on. How far into the alphabet can Moriarty go before Sherlock catches on? Series twelve, Sherlock will get Zamine thrown into prison, and wonders why all these dangerous women keep turning his fake seduction plots against him. Getting out of the cab in front of Baker Street, he runs into a gorgeous woman. “Well hello,” she purrs, “I have something you need for a case. My name is Amine. Don’t mind the name: my father was an organic chemist, and also, I’m sexually attracted to chemists.” Sherlock flashes her a slow smile and says, “I have a degree in chemistry. It’s hanging on my bedroom wall. Want to see?” Meanwhile, John is convinced Sherlock has a sex addiction problem, but he can’t trust his own motives enough to say anything.

Will Sherlock suspect now that Moriarty’s obsession with him is pseudo-romantic and sexual? Well, this series Sherlock came to better recognize when people are attracted to him. He’s got a lot of memories to re-evaluate, old posts from Moriarty on his website signed “Mwah!” and “xx”… every conversation they ever had where Moriarty flirted, and flirted, and flirted. Sherlock knows this: Moriarty knew Sherlock was alive, but Jim didn’t kill him, and he apparently never had any intention on going through with his promise to shoot John if Sherlock lived. Jim had Mary marry John instead. Something far sicker is going on.

Mycroft seems to have faith that Sherlock can slay this dragon, and that inevitable deduction may be why. Sherlock finally caught on about John’s feelings, so catching on to Moriarty’s unsubtle overtures ought to be easy. Sherlock’s mistake was always that he misunderstood Moriarty’s intentions, so he couldn’t anticipate Jim’s next moves. Sherlock thought Moriarty wanted him dead, and now Sherlock knows that’s not quite true. Mycroft could well expect that Sherlock won’t be so easily tricked anymore.

Meanwhile, Mary has to act surprised about this. She has every reason to be genuinely upset, too, which fits her tone of voice: this means Sherlock is back in the picture, and Moriarty will toy with her more. Worse still, Sherlock will not trust her at all now, and who knows where that’s going to go. Mary says to John, “But he’s dead. I mean, you told me he was dead, Moriarty.” John says, “Absolutely. Blew his own brains out.” Mary says, “So how can he be back?”

John sees the plane coming back, and says, “Well if he is, he’d better wrap up warm. There’s an East Wind coming.”

As far as John Watson is concerned, Sherlock Holmes is the “terrifying force that lays waste to all in its path” and “seeks out the unworthy and plucks them from the earth.” He knew Sherlock would come back, flying in all cool and mysterious with his coat collar up and his cheekbones.

Fan Commentary

M-theory was (and still is) cited heavily by other TJLC meta writers, and often referenced as required reading for those entering the world of TJLC meta. When LSiT's Tumblr went offline in early 2016, many novice TJLCers were left scrambling to find a copy.

A 2014 exchange in the Sherlock subreddit illustrates the often nuanced reactions to M-theory from Johnlock fans:

78k? Implying Johnlock? Crazy talk...or is it? If you have the time, devotion, and open-mindedness to read this, I say give it a go. I'll admit, I haven't read it yet, but I've read a lot of their other posts and most of the time they makes pretty good sense. It isn't just "omG jawn and sherlock 4ever" type shit, it goes pretty deep into some other theories, themes, and motifs of the show. If you are absolutely 100% against the idea of John and Sherlock being together romantically, then this probably isn't the post for you. If you think, "eh, whatever, maybe it could happen...probably not" I'd urge you to read this, if just for the Moriarty theories.

One of the biggest assumptions I have trouble accepting is her main premise: that everything was done on purpose to support and lead to Johnlock. I admit that I am one of those people who hopes that John and Sherlock end up together in the end (sexually or not, as long as they are exclusive) so I have no real biases against a relationship between them, but despite how amazing LSIT's conclusions are I wonder how much of it is merely coincidence. The writers would have to be more or less geniuses to do all of this on purpose. I don't think they are.

LSIT has a way of recognizing believable patterns in every little nuance, some of which I do not think meant anything special. She can put them all together to spin them to mean what she wants them to mean. For example, if there are three pens on the table in a scene, to LSIT it means that the pens represent Sherlock, John, and Moriarty, and when Sherlock uses the "John" pen (John's pen because it's a blue pen and not a black pen like the two others which are black because Moriarty and Sherlock are similar and dark and so they are black ink while John is blue) it must be subtext for Sherlock choosing John as his tool to get the job done. The pen (John) is what Sherlock needs to write a letter (solve crimes) while not using either of the black pens (chooses to ignore the similarities between himself and Moriarty). In reality the three pens were just found and thrown on the table by someone working on the set as they hurried to get things ready for the scene.

So, despite how awesome her theories sound, I think many of them are just coincidences that she draws amazing parallels between to strengthen her faith in Johnlock. That's something I like to do, too, but I'm not too sure about it all. Lies are easy to accept as truths if they are enveloped within truths. That was said in Sherlock and by LSIT herself somewhere, I believe.

On the other hand, she brought to light some stuff I truly believe and feel so silly for not realizing -- for example, Mycroft is being controlled by Moriarty and is the one who spoke to Shan through the computer and shot her in the head! I am a believer of this now. I had just taken so many things for granted and at face value, and I never realized the depth Mycroft's involvement!

Anyway, as far as everything pointing to Johnlock, I need to read more and think on it. I want to believe, but we'll see. Her assumption that John is bisexual and has been trying to see if Sherlock was into him since the beginning is a big assumption and I don't really believe it at this point. I would love to write well rounded counter arguments to the conclusions she makes that I do not agree with, but I must find the time for this.

What do you think about all of it? Have you finished yet? I still haven't had a good chance.

What it really comes down to, to me, is what you said at the beginning: whether or not Moftiss are geniuses. If they are, then of course I can easily accept all of this. I can argue for both sides (whether they are or not). In favor of they are: well, they've created a hit TV show that many people can relate to. It's not you average crime show, and the characters have ridiculous depth to them (imo). Also, there seems to have been a lot of planning. They've been planning to start the show for years, they take years in between each season, ect.

In favor of them not being geniuses, well, not a lot of people are geniuses. Moffat hasn't done spectacularly on Doctor Who (as far as I know...I stopped at series 6 or so). Lots of deux es machinas, plot holes, bad female writing, ect.

What doesn't take a genius to do, just a good filmmaker, that LSiT points out on the other hand, is the deliberate musical and cinematic decisions. I don't believe they just arbitrarily throw things in. So that's what makes me REALLY believe the M/Moriarty plot. It even makes me believe that Moriarty is obsessed with Sherlock in a sexual way (hey sexy, theinprobableone, the flirting, other things I don't remember) because...what else would be his end plan if he already has Mycroft under his thumb? To be...best friends with Sherlock? To just ruin his life for the lols? He can already ruin his life at any time, kill him at any time, has out smarted him many times, so there must be SOME greater game plan for Moriarty and I don't think it's friendship.

Johnlock on the other hand...hm. Hm. It goes to what you said before, would the WHOLE SHOW be about Sherlock and John getting together? I can also argue for and against that. For: it'd be groundbreaking. No one, to my knowledge, has ever done a show that treated sexuality in such a blasé way, and if it turns out Johnlock IS end goal, that would be so refreshing.

Also, think of the publicity they would get for taking many people's favorite characters and interpreting them as gay. There's been plenty of Watson and Sherlock are gay jokes and books written why not just a say, yeah fuck it, let's do it.

In addition, I believe this show has always been more about the characters relationships with each other (especially John and Sherlock) moreso than the cases themselves and this last season proves that especially. If the cases were on the forefront it would be another CSI or Law and Order show, but what makes it special is the characters.

I think at it's core the show is more about Sherlock Holmes who likes to solve cases than cases that are solved by Sherlock Holmes, if that makes any sense.

So if this show is character driven, why wouldn't romance be a big aspect of it? And why not a romance between...the two main characters?

On the other hand...I am biased. Like, my dad (a straight, middle-aged, not at all a tumblr fangirl, works for the government) and I started watching the show together and would jokingly point out "okay is this the part where they have sex now?" and I discovered online communities ect. So I really want it to happen, and I can see that my dad, who doesn't really care if it happens or not, can see there's SOMETHING there. I want to be reassured that I'm not just pulling things out of my ass so I don't feel crazy.

Why can't I just accept that this is another show about two guys' friendship (I'm not going to say two straight guys, because whether or not Johnlock happens Sherlock is pretty gay)? It's already a good show as it is, why can't I just take it as it is?

So that's how I feel about the big picture. When it comes to the little stuff that LSiT points out...as of now, I believe half of it. If Johnlock happens I'll believe all of it.

EDIT: also I'm on The Sign of Three as of now. This thing is a doozey.

Like LSiT's earlier meta Softly, Softly: The BBC's LGB Research Commission and The Johnlock Conspiracy, M-theory drew attention from some Sherlock fans outside of the TJLC subfandom:

Okay, look. TJLC.* That's this meta's agenda, and it pushes it hard. But even if you don't really care what the series creators intended or who's meant to be with whom, this piece is incredibly well put together and highly entertaining.

The theory is based to a large extent on an analysis of the musical score and staging, and a reading will thus be slightly impoverished by leaving out the audio and video components and images that are linked throughout, but they're not absolutely necessary if you're willing to accept that what the author says is in the clips is actually in the clips.

The author goes through each episode, meticulously pointing out evidence and building up support for their thesis, as outlined in the summary. The writing can be sassy and irreverent, alternately getting into the characters' heads and having imaginary conversations with them, as in this analysis of the pool scene in The Great Game:

"Get real: Sherlock's just not that into you. Look at your life. Look at your choices. You know Sherlock could ruin your whole enterprise. This shit is why love is a chemical defect found in the losing side.

Jim then claims he was just "playing gay" and it was all a game.

...Alright, honey. Keep telling yourself that. Irene will try to claim it was just a game, too.

Sherlock, ordinary and disappointing, says, "People have died," and Jim screams, "That's what people DO!" If only Sherlock were more of a sociopath, right? Then he'd be relationship material. God.

Meanwhile, John wishes Sherlock were less of a sociopath so he'd be relationship material.

Sigh. Everyone's a critic."

It's not just a stream-of-consciousness series of one-liners, though. The arguments are presented and supported clearly, logically, and in great detail, and whether you end up being convinced or not, it's a very compelling - and fun - way of viewing the first three series.

* = The Johnlock Conspiracy: the belief that the series creators have intended either for John and Sherlock to be secret lovers all along, or that the 'endgame' of the series will be John/Sherlock.

Critical Responses to M-theory

Just as many TJLCers responded to and expanded on M-theory by writing their own meta, some Sherlock fans wrote critical responses to M-theory that argued against LSiT's (and TJLCers') interpretation of the show.

Post-Series Three

M-theory was a predictive meta, exploring the future arc of the show after series three. Other fans frequently wrote meta based on M-theory, working from LSiT's analysis to draw their own conclusions about the future of the show. When series four aired, jossing many of the hypotheses advanced in TJLC meta, some fans went back to M-theory and tried to reconcile conflicts stemming from the events of The Abominable Bride (the 2016 special) and series four (released in January 2017).

I should mention that I actually LOVE M-Theory… I supported it 100%, and based a lot of my own meta on the ideas presented within M-Theory. In fact, a lot of my own current theories still run on the principles presented within the original meta, along with a mashup of a lot of wellthengameover’s theories. However, The Abominable Bride happened, and I feel like that changed a LOT of the running theories within the fandom post-S3, including many of my own, which have been constantly changing this past year the more I study the nuances of TAB (as they should be). TAB was sort of this “jumpstart” episode that kind of pushed all the narrative arcs ahead quite a bit, and actually did answer the Moriarty question, just as Mofftiss said it would. And as it says on my blog header, I am an obsessor of TAB and as such, I analyze it CONSTANTLY, because I love it SO MUCH.

...

So, M-Theory can STILL work if we have no “face” character – the late “Jim Moriarty” – at the helm. Jim the person became obsessed with Sherlock, wanted Sherlock to be with him and it consumed him, which ultimately killed him (as I stated above about the bride’s parallel with consumption). Just like Mary’s obsessive love for John will destroy her. The Organization wants Sherlock to work for them, in the end. And Jim was onto something with needing Sherlock’s heart burnt out of him; Jim’s games were a test, to see if Sherlock could be swayed. The dismantling of the “network” was a test, so see if Sherlock could kill people. And possibly the final test will involve Sherlock needing to have John destroyed (this is the part I haven’t really given much thought about yet, sorry). Either way, it’s about making Sherlock theirs, and destroying the “British Government”. Mycroft is the ultimate target in this game – CAM gave that away himself – and Sherlock is just the scope they’re using to take aim.

I suppose what I’m going to say will remind many of loudest-subtext-in-tv’s M theory. I’m just going to prove that if we believe that Season 4 is EMP beginning from HLV, this the moment when Sherlock is finally connecting the dots. He isn’t conscious he’s doing it, he is actually buying Mary’s story but the subconscious is a beautiful thing. It’s just a pity we need Eurus and Sherock’s many mirrors to break into the story and spell it out.

LSiT also returned to M-theory, making reference to the original theory in posts about The Extended Mind Palace Theory:

Do you know how much trouble I had writing M-theory after the point where Mary shot Sherlock? SO MUCH TROUBLE. Everything just stops making sense at that point. And if EMP theory is real there ARE clues there in HLV, so I couldn’t say it wasn’t fair. It would be so funny. Soooo fucking funny. I and so many other people will have spent so much time trying to rationalize things that simply don’t make sense. I would never feel more honored to get jerked around by the author-god in my life.

Further Reading/Meta

TJLC Explained posted a fifty-six minute video discussing M-theory on December 14, 2016.