Hey youtubers it’s charlie, everyone’s been asking me for my sign of three breakdown
so here it is.
I ended up finding some really good references and clues.
also, since I posted my q&a video steven moffat and mark gatiss have started commenting on
the future of the series.
Next week is the finale his last vow and I’ll be doing all the regular videos for that too.
a review, a q&a and then a breakdown.
But I’ll also do a series 4 predictions.
Be sure to subscribe to get all that stuff.
Get excited too, because steven moffat said that he and mark gatiss have plotted out all
the way through series 5.
That’s two more years of new sherlock.
So just like last time this will be a relatively chronological breakdown of all the references
and most interesting bits of the sign of three.
It will be super spoilery, so careful if you haven’t seen the episode yet.
Everybody grab your eyeball tea and let’s get started.
Number 1 - happy birthday sherlock.
So it’s not exactly part of the episode, but the monday after this episode aired was
the 160th birthday of the sherlock holmes character.
He doesn’t look a day over 30.
2 - The Red Headed League.
The gang that lestrade and donovan are chasing in the opening scenes is a reference to the
red headed league.
Also denoted by the red heading on the newspaper article.
In holmes canon the league was a ruse created by bank thieves as a way to distract the authorities.
One of the bank robbers from the original story is named archie, the same name as the
little boy sherlock promised to show the pictures of beheadings to at the wedding.
3 - The best theory i’ve seen about the gang is that one of them is a member of scotland
yard, which is how they stay ahead of lestrade.
And that the three gunman from rikenback fall are part of the clown gang.
If you look at the pictures of each of them they look somewhat similar to mrs hudson,
watson and lestrade’s gunman.
We don’t see one that looks like lestrade’s gunman at the crime scene, but it’s implied
that he was the one who kidnapped the little girl who screamed at sherlock.
See how much he looks like the person walking into the school while sherlock was mind palacing.
And since he looks amazingly like the background policeman working with lestrade, we can guess
that he is the inside man tipping off the bank robbers.
4 - When donovan tells lestrade that jones will get all the credit, it’s a book reference
to Athelney Jones from the original book sign of four.
During that book, jones arrested a family but turned out to be wrong.
So it’s possible that this waters gang lestrade mentioned is innocent and the real villains
are moriarty’s gunmen.
Now working for the new villain charles agustus magnussen.
I’m expecting episode 3 to pay off this bank robber plot.
5- There’s blackmail afoot.
The villain magnussen is based on the book character charles augustus milverton.
A master blackmailer.
Here’s where things get weird with these bank robbers.
Notice the really old looking one.
There’s a conspiracy theory this gang member is actually mary morstan’s father.
And mary has been living under a false name and the villain has been using her father’s
criminal identity as a means to blackmail her.
Think about what sherlock saw when he deduced her, she’s a liar, she had a guardian and
she has a secret.
During sign of three she talks about being an orphan, what if she’s lying about that
and about her name.
6 - More evidence mary’s real father is a bank robber.
In the original book sign of four, mary’s father was involved with the stolen treasure
plot.
In the sign of three treasure is replaced with bank gold.
7 - Mary’s guardian was charles augustus magnussen.
The person who sent her the telegram addressed CAM.
That abbreviated CAM was also used by the book villain milverton which magnussen is
based on.
Mind mind has been blown.
8 - The telegram CAM sent said specifically, wish you’re family could’ve seen this.
Note that in the timeline of the episode the wedding is the day after the final bank robber
scene.
On that day donovan was on her way to arrest the gang.
So mary’s real father could have been in jail during the wedding.
I know a lot of people believe that Mary will die in episode 3, but if her father is one
of these bank robbers, it could be him that dies.
9 - The papers fluttering when lestrade’s backup arrives at baker street is the beginnings
of sherlock’s waltz for john and mary. that you later see him dancing to when mrs hudson
brings morning tea.
Later at the wedding you learn that sherlock loves to dance and that he taught watson how
to dance.
10 - Mrs hudson’s private life.
We learn that mrs hudson’s husband was executed for committing double homicide and that he
was a drug dealer in florida.
Everytime I look at her now I think of skylar white.
11 - Sherlock Holmes Wedding Planner.
Sherlock’s nature misleads you into thinking he’d be a terrible best man, but because
he’s trying so hard to integrate into john and mary’s new life he goes extremely overboard
in managing almost every detail of their wedding, from vetting the guest list, to helping plan
the seating chart to folding napkins into orgami swans.
He really wants to be a part of their new family.
12 - Sherlock is amazing with children.
Sherlock and archie’s scenes are a reference to holmes from the books.
In the original stories, holmes employed and took care of neighborhood children.
They were called the baker street irregulars.
On the show they’re represented by sherlock’s homeless network.
Imagine sherlock helping raise john and mary’s baby.
13 - Also during his scenes with archie, sherlock mentions that he’ll ask a grownup.
Meaning that he thinks of himself as not being a grown up.
Another reference to the origins of the character being something of a peter pan figure.
always going on adventure.
Remember that most of the original holmes story titles were the adventure of something
something.
14 - Major character development.
Sherlock seeking attachment is a big deal in this episode.
Notice him asking mary about john’s relationship with major sholto.
Later he argues with Mycroft about caring being an advantage and mycroft advising him
against getting involved.
15 - Redbeard.
So many people had questions about this, but the best theory i’ve seen supports the idea
that when mycroft mentions redbeard he’s actually referencing mary.
He says redbeard twice during their phonecall.
Redbeard was a pirate with his brother who continued being a pirate after his brother
died.
So on one level it’s a reference that sherlock will have to continue solving crimes alone
once watson leaves him.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Redbeard had an adopted son named Eric Lerouge.
Eric was a wealthy aristocrat who’s parent’s were killed.
Redbeard found him and took him in.
Later Eric started living an honest life under a different name, but Redbeard the pirate
kept coming back into his life asking him for help with new schemes.
If magnussen is the master blackmailer that his book version milverton was, what if magnussen
is the redbeard that mycroft is talking about and he keeps blackmailing mary morstan.
who in this case would be the eric character.
That theory doesn’t invoke the bank robber plot I mentioned earlier, but mark gatiss
teased episode 3 by posting this tweet, which only said “redbeard”.
meaning that idea is central to the plot of his last vow.
Everything is connected.
there are no coincidences.
16 - Mycroft working out.
This was hilarious but in addition to teasing mycroft’s ring, redbeard and sherlock’s
childhood it’s also a reference to the original mycroft being described as very fat.
I already discussed mycroft’s ring in my q and a video, so If you want to learn more
about that I’ll add a link at the end of the video.
17 - Sherlock asks mycroft to come to the wedding again.
This ties into the idea that mycroft knows more about mary than he’s letting on and
is advising sherlock not to get involved so he won’t be there when she comes between
mycroft the government and charles augustus magnussen.
If sherlock gets too involved with mary and mycroft tries to take her down for being involved
with the villain, then mycroft would have to take sherlock down too.
Does sherlock’s last vow include protecting mary from mycroft?
Notice how when the camera cuts back and forth between them they each turn to face away from
each other.
18 - Sherlock’s Toast.
The toast itself is the backbone of the whole episode.
all the other flashbacks and stories branch off and come back to it.
But there are several cannon references during it.
namely sherlock borrowing the “I can’t congratulate you” line from watson’s character
in the book scandal in bohemia.
Then there’s the funny stories, there were book references, mostly to things from sign
of four including the poison giant, then there was the hollow client, the inexplicable matchbox,
the blanched soldier, the case of identity and the vanishing elephant.
He also references mary’s bridesmaid with the great beauty line.
It’s a book reference to the character maud bellamy.
19 - Molly is Sherlock’s Dana Sculley.
Molly’s montage was hilarious, but her and sherlock’s interactions really invoked a
classic x files mulder and sculley vibe.
Drunk science for the win.
20 - The first telegram was from Mike stamford.
The person who introduced watson to sherlock during study in pink.
21 - Notice Mary’s face when sherlock says the name CAM.
reinforcing the idea that mary is afraid of him.
Also rewind to my numbers 5 through 7 for more evidence that she’s being blackmailed.
22 - Watson asks sherlock to be his best man.
This was the scene that they showed at comic con.
Notice that watson does not stop sherlock from drinking the eyeball tea.
23 - When sherlock says sorry for that last one, that’s his subtle way of apologizing
for faking his death.
Q24 - They’re planning the wedding at baker street.
Normally they’d plan it at mary’s, but they want sherlock to be a part of their family
they bring the wedding to him.
25 - Sherlock is youtubing.
This was funny, but it also lets us know that mary can deduce emotions the same way sherlock
deduces clues.
She always knows when someone is lying.
26 - The bloody guardsmen is dean thomas from harry potter
27 - Watson’s interaction with the military commander reminds us about watson’s life
beyond Sherlock Holmes.
In the holmes books, most of sherlock’s past is still a mystery.
But we actually know a lot about watson.
28 - Sherlock explains that he only solves crimes, but watson saves lives.
Talking about how he saved the guardsman.
It also lets you know how he thinks of watson.
29 - The barfight is a possible reference to sign of four, where he starts a bar fight
just to get information.
30 - At the point of the stairs, mrs hudson reveals that they had only been out drinking
for two hours.
31 - Am I the current king of england is a joke referencing the original character.
In that character’s study there was a picture of queen victoria on the wall, when there
was no king.
Just like in present day england.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s version even shot her initials into the wall when he got bored.
32 - The game is something, one of the best jokes in the episode.
33 - The chat room mind palace.
Sherlock deduces the mayfly man by clueing for looks from the chat room women.
The scene is beautifully shot and incorporates some freudian imagery.
Sherlock is a very cerebral show, and freud talked about the id, the ego and the super
ego.
Inside the mind palace sherlock talks with both watson and mycroft like he talks to ghost
watson in empty hearse.
Inside the mind palace mycroft represents the id, the super rational portion of sherlock’s
brain.
Watson represents the super ego, the part of his brain that deals with emotions.
Sherlock himself represents the ego, the part that helps the id and the superego communicate.
That’s why mycroft is yelling at him.
In case you didn’t catch it, all of the women worked near colonel sholto.
34 - The cigarrettes he’s hiding in his slipper is a reference to the book holmes
hiding tobacco in his persian slippers.
35 - Sherlock is broken.
He exhibits signs of PTSD as his mind palace hasn’t been functioning at 100 percent this
series.
He also has to physically abuse himself to focus.
It’s possible that something dark happened to him during the two years he was alone that
he hasn’t dealt with yet.
36 - Sherlock’s last vow.
He vows to protect watson’s new family, but it sounds like that will eventually put
him in opposition to mycroft.
And in the books, watson did not have any children.
Which is a poor omen for episode 3.
and 37 a doctor who reference.
Notice that sherlock leaving the wedding early looks very similar to the doctor trying to
leave amy and rory’s wedding during the big bang.
It’s another case of a very strange man or timelord trying to leave when he feels
he’s the odd one out.
Amy and rory chased after the doctor, and even though john and mary didn’t chase sherlock.
they’ve spent the entire episode trying to make him feel like he is part of their
new family.
So lots of theories came out of a few big clues namely mary’s real identity, her connection
to the villain and the bank robbers.
Let me know if there were any other big clues you saw or cool references to book canon.
One really big thing I’ll end on is that episode 3 ties together so many plots that
everyone who has seen it is going crazy.
Stephen moffat said the cliffhanger is even worse than series 2.
Series 3 essentially becomes the story of everything that happened from series 1 up
to now.
Meaning that Moriarty, The Bank Robbers, The Tube Bombing, Mary Morstan and Charles Augustus
Milverton are all connected.
Be sure to subscribe to get more of my sherlock videos.
my next one will be a review of episode 3 this sunday.
Right now click here to learn more about mycroft’s wedding ring in my last q and a and click
here for my review of sign of three.
Thanks for watching, see you guys tonight.
High Fives!