The Final Problem

pantydragon asked: I just spent all morning reading your brilliant theories. I just wanted to weigh in regarding the cracking when Sherlock landed and the inherent risk of landing on even a soft substance: it's possible that Sherlock DID injure himself. A few broken ribs (or collarbone or elbow) wouldn't invalidate any theories on how he survived. He has martial arts training, he could have been in pain and kept a poker face. Plus, I like the idea that he was willing to risk genuine injury for his friends' sake.

(Earlier post on the cracking sound.)

I do see how it’s possible to build a whole theory around the idea that Sherlock went ahead and let himself get hurt in the fall. And if I was going to go that route, I think I’d have to say it was something like you suggest—no broken limbs, but maybe some other broken bones.

There’s a few reasons I don’t lean that way, though. I know they don’t prove anything on their own, but they’re enough to sway me for now.

1. The cracking/snapping noise we heard was when Sherlock hit the sidewalk. But the angle and lack of force involved in that landing makes me think he was actually falling from only a few feet at that moment—falling from the thing that broke his big fall.

Since most of the force would’ve been from the big fall, any broken bones would’ve happened when he hit the thing that broke that fall rather than when he landed on the sidewalk. So one way or another, the cracking/snapping noise feels like a misdirection to me.

2. I do think Sherlock would risk injury for his friends’ sake. I think he would actually die for them if needed. But he could do them the most good by staying alive and uninjured in a situation like the one in Reichenbach. So as long as he was clever enough to pull it off, that would be his first choice. Avoiding serious injuries would’ve allowed Sherlock to immediately turn his focus to ensuring his friends’ long-term safety rather than protecting them from the gunmen at that moment but then having to go off and recover from his injuries for who knows how long.

3. Sherlock didn’t stay on the trolley and let himself be taken into the hospital. He ran off somewhere instead. Sure, he could’ve run off with broken bones. But considering the trouble involved with pulling off a body swap right there on the street and the fact that Molly was probably standing by in St. Bart’s ready to help in any way she could… It seems like if Sherlock was seriously injured he would’ve just stayed on the trolley and let himself be taken into the hospital so Molly could help fix him up.

4. Falling from the roof of St. Bart’s and remaining uninjured is a magic trick. Falling and breaking a few bones is not.