Sherlock: 10 Ingenious Pieces Of Foreshadowing You Never Noticed

6. "He Needed To Do More Than Kill You..."

Let's cast our minds back to Series 2, and the episode 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Sherlock hasn't jumped from the roof yet, let alone returned, and we all know that Moriarty is around the corner, waiting for him in the series finale. There's a reference in that episode to Jim's masterplan though. As Henry realises that he isn't mad, that his father was right about the Hound, and that Frankland had indeed set all of this up, he hits the roof, hurling himself at Frankland and screaming in his face, "Twenty years! Twenty years of my life making no sense! Why didn't you just kill me?" And it's then that Sherlock answers for him, "Because dead men get listened to. He needed to do more than kill you. He had to discredit every word you ever said." He really was one step ahead of Moriarty; a whole episode before any of saga, Sherlock foreshadows Jim's evil undoing of him. Jim's plan wasn't just to kill Sherlock Holmes but to totally ruin his reputation, just as Frankland had planned for Henry. It's a wonderful nod, and one resonates watching back now.