The Extended Mind Palace Theory

Fan Theory
Fan Theory:	The Extended Mind Palace Theory
Synonyms:	EMP Theory, EMP
Origin:	Tumblr
Fandom(s):	Sherlock
Dates:	2016 -
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The Extended Mind Palace Theory (EMP Theory or simply EMP for short) is a fan theory proposed as part of The Johnlock Conspiracy (TJLC). EMP Theory was originally developed through a discussion between Tumblr users gosherlocked, monikakrasnorada, and the-7-percent-solution in early 2016, before the release of the 4th Sherlock series.

At its core, EMP is a theory that much of Sherlock's later seasons don't actually take place in reality, because TPTB are smart and all the inconsistencies in the shows aren't because Sherlock is poorly written but because they're breadcumbs for a discerning fan to pick up on and solve the mystery. Instead, all these scenes take place in Sherlock's mind palace.

History

EMP Theory began with the-7-percent-solution's post from 18 January 2016:

So many people are discussing whether or not they believe some of the plane scenes in the Sherlock special are real, when really they should be discussing whether or not they believe some of the last scenes of His Last Vow are real. The mind palace might have taken over far earlier than we’d like to admit. There are signs if you really look for them.

which monikakrasnorada and gosherlocked then commented on:

[monikakrasnorada]

I think you might be right about that. Absolutely. I mean, there could be some truth that the entire end of S3, from the moment Mary shoots him is ALL mind palace. I mean, why not? It’s just as plausible as any other theory

[gosherlocked]

@the-7-percent-solution, @monikakrasnorada: I thought about that, too. It would explain the very things that many people find so hard to stomach: the whole terrible 221B scene, the less than convincing forgiveness business, the big gap between those two and, most important, Sherlock shooting CAM.

gosherlocked, monikakrasnorada, and the-7-percent-solution continued to discuss this theory in reblogs through 19 January 2016. On 19 January, gosherlocked posted a concrete explanation of the theory in a post entitled "EMP Theory, or the Extended Mind Palace Theory." By this point, however, other TJLC meta writers had picked up on the theory and added to it. On 1 August 2016, gosherlocked posted "My EMP/EDT Masterpost" to an alt account, reflecting further evolution and addenda to the original theory and indicating that they believed the theory would extend into S4 of Sherlock:

The idea that EMP/EDT might extend into S4 as well is fascinating. Setlock moments like the dog/baby scenes or the “boy band” shot in the meadow might be taken as hints that not everything in S4 will be happening for real.

EMP Theory remained popular. So popular, in fact, that people started asking other well-known Sherlock meta writers about it, asking for their opinions and thoughts on whether or not EMP Theory was a possibility. While many of these meta writers may have fallen into the camp of adding onto the theory like loudest-subtext-in-tv, at least two TJLC proponents were actively against the theory. warmth-and-constancy said, in response to an anonymous ask:

I do not consider this a possibility. I don’t think Mofftiss are going to retcon anything. I think a lot of the incredibly difficult, angsty characterization that took place in HLV – with John recognizing that he chose Mary as the “safe” option because she wasn’t “supposed to” be like the "dangerous” Sherlock, with Mary’s lack of remorse, with John acknowledging that it’s “always [Sherlock’s] way,” with Mary being relegated to client status, with Sherlock’s heartbroken “because you chose her,” with Mycroft demonstrating his actual love and concern for his baby brother, with Sherlock relapsing into drug use when confronted with losing John forever, and with Sherlock embarking on a drug-induced Victorian fever dream in which he comes to terms with allowing John to be the one to always catch him when he falls and then waking up from that fever dream to the second part of a scene which couldn’t exist if the first part (the original tarmac scene in HLV) were also Mind Palace – is all actually important to the story the writers are trying to tell. Writers don’t usually retcon character growth, and there’s a lot of character growth – punctuated by setbacks – that takes place after the shooting. Characters come to terms with several things, or things are set up in a way that characters will come to terms with them eventually.

I just can’t imagine why any writer would go to all the trouble of, for example, setting up Mary as a villain with a mysterious past in Sherlock’s head, and not having that be her character in reality. Or having that actually be her character in reality, and having to explain that Sherlock’s fevered brain got that one right, mysteriously. Why go through the trouble of creating characterization for the same character twice? Why risk being lampooned for the corny “it was all a dream” trope, which mainstream reviewers were predictably unpleasant about when it came to TAB? Why deceive your audience into not being able to trust not just your extra-narrative interviews, but even the story you’re telling?

As far as I’ve seen, the arguments in favor of EMP are based on things which are just sort of weird but are easily explainable, like Sherlock trusting Wiggins’s “chemistry” skills (that’s just a bit of comic relief, actually, and no more strange than Bluebell the glowing rabbit, as someone else (I can’t remember who, sorry!) wonderfully argued), or Janine “mysteriously” having the knowledge that Sherlock was using her and confronting him about it in the hospital, when that’s easily explained by imagining that she came to his bedside in the role of concerned fiancee and he was like “um, I was literally just using you to get into that office, haha,” and off she went to the press. There’s lost time in that episode, clearly. Sherlock does not go from being semi-conscious and weak while Mary threatens him a singsong voice to being upright and talking to a mysteriously informed Janine in realtime.

I really don’t think EMP is happening, anon. It would disrupt arcs, undermine the entire narrative, and would just generally not be good storytelling.

warmth-and-constancy followed that ask up with a short post further detailing their doubts about EMP and a longer post debunking the theory called "On the unlikeliness of EMP" where they thoroughly detail their reasoning for not believing EMP and stating that "TJLC and EMP are incompatible." This was followed by inevitably-johnlocked's meta titled EMP and the Narrative Structure of “Sherlock” which also details reasons why they don't believe EMP and boils their thoughts on EMP down to the line “You always want everything to be so clever” from the show itself. However, even with these dissenting opinions, people continued to discuss EMP as S4 drew closer. mylastvow commented on a S4 EMP speculation reblog chain with the following:

Seriously, I’m still struggling to believe they would pull off something like EMP… but I can’t find any other, better or more fitting solution to all the ??? I have after the mess that was HLV (and TAB).

One last wild speculation: What if EMP is real? What if they weren’t lying about TAB really being a one off? What if TAB was only to introduce the audience to the idea of something like an extended mind palace? To show the audience that Sherlock could make up a whole story in his mind when he’s sleeping/comatose or on drugs?

Now my brain hurts and I need to lie down

The nearing of S4 also caused more meta writers to add onto the theory. The most prominent of these additions came from loudest-subtext-in-tv, who expanded on the theory and offered additional evidence in support of it while raising new questions to consider over the course of 2016, and as the fourth series aired.

The fact that John would not have figured out how Sherlock figured out his new therapist on his own but subconscious Mary could lets us know that Mary is a figment of Sherlock’s imagination talking to the John that is a figment of his imagination. (I like the fact that John is a lot smarter than people think and has been learning Sherlock’s methods and I think that’s generally true, but in this case that deduction was ridiculous and John got it way too fast.) Ditto the fact that Sherlock could not have known Mary kept telling John to make Sherlock wear the hat but Sherlock wears the hat and attributed that to Mary at the end of TLD. It was all in Sherlock’s head, John and Mary and everyone, the whole episode.

The theory also crossed over from the purely fannish space of Tumblr to more mainstream discussion, with Frank Hablawi of Non-Productive discussing EMP in a post titled "Unnerving Theories for Sherlock: Season 4."

The basics of the “Extended Mind Palace Theory” is that Sherlock may never have left his Mind Palace in the first place. The details are, of course, murky. How long was he in that state for? Did he actually shoot Magnussen, or was that part of the hallucination? Was he is this state since Mary shot him? Are the events of the special, The Abominable Bride, themselves a hallucination, merely a hallucination within another hallucination? Is anything that’s happening in Season 4 real?

[...]

What’s compelling about this theory is that there are a lot of weird… inconsistencies within the last few episodes. Sherlock murders a man. That man is a master blackmailer, but does so only with the blackmail found in his unverifiable memory. Sherlock has an elaborate fantasy set in the Victorian period. Sherlock has a drug dealer living in his apartment making meth in his kitchen. The entire pregnancy of Mary Watson seems paced… wrong. Moriarty is, perhaps, alive? Sure, there are reasons for any of these things – but the doubt still lingers.

When Sherlock ended, loudest-subtext-in-tv added onto their original EMP post with an addendum, speculation about the secret fourth episode.

Further Reading

• EMP Theory tag on loudest-subtext-in-tv's blog
• Extended Mind Palace tag on gosherlocked's alternate blog, stillgosherlocked