Sherlock Series 4: 8 Huge Predictions (And Why They Need To Happen)
6. Moriarty Is Dead, But His Twin Isn't
“It's NEVER twins, Watson!”
These are the words spoken by Sherlock in the Christmas special The Abominable Bride, the most recent episode to air. It's possible (and given writers Moffat and Gatiss' penchant for subtle hints and clues, likely) that they're actually a sly wink at what's to come.
At the end of Sherlock Series Three, it's revealed that Moriarty has “returned”, though to what capacity it's unknown. He appears on a bunch of television screens proudly taunting Sherlock, but we never actually see him in person. Since we saw him die, most people have interpreted his return as a kind of posthumous contingency plan. And indeed, The Abominable Bride was basically an hour and a half long way of saying “yes, he's REALLY dead”. But why go to such insane lengths to convince fans of what they already knew? To strengthen the double bluff, of course.
Moriarty might be dead, but seeing how it's never twins, it's probably going to be twins. At the end of Series Four, when Sherlock thinks he's nabbed the person or people helping carry out Moriarty's grave-based plan, he's going to come face to face with someone who looks just like him. After brief and mind-blowing confusion, we'll learn it's not THE Moriarty, but his twin brother.