The jellyfish though

God, I love all the meta that’s crossed my dash the past few days. I hated T6T on first viewing (Redeemed Mary? No way!). But I’ve found my way back out of that hell thanks to the fandom. At least until Sunday.

Anywho, speaking of the three big theories: JOHN’S ALIBI, EMP, or MARY’S PLAN, I keep coming back to the damned jellyfish. The first time this was brought to my attention was in a post by @waitingforgarridebs​ here (x).  And I’m gonna repost some of it because I need to focus on one part.

THE JELLYFISH DIALOG

Earlier in T6T, just before John discovers the 59 missed calls that indicate Mary is in labor, we have this dialog. 

<<FOR SOME REASON I CAN’T POST GIFS RIGHT NOW. SORRY. LOOK HERE>> 

The floating text on screen says “…We could never have know there was a potential assassin lurking close by. As assassin who turned out to be…”  

John: “A jellyfish.”

Sherlock: “I know.”

John: “You can’t arrest a jellyfish.”

Sherlock: “We tried.”

THE JELLYFISH IN THE AQUARIUM

OK. So then later, in the aquarium, before Mary jumps in front of Sherlock and is shot, we see that behind Sherlock is… Jellyfish. (see pic here)

So we have a potential assassin lurking close by, an assassin who turned out to be – jellyfish, which were behind Sherlock at the aquarium. The assassin was behind Sherlock.

Then we have the gunshot at Mary’s chest looking like exit wound, not an entry wound.  Yeah, I know. Sherlock is inventing the story of what happened in the aquarium to the details might be wonky. For example, Mary probably did not try to “leap in front of him”. So we can’t trust the way the wound loks. Yet in conjunction with the idea that the assassin was where the jellyfish were, behind her,  an exit wound makes sense, so I think this visual is another clue.  (see photo of her getting shot here)

I know this has all been said before. But what I’m getting at is this….

THE JELLYFISH THING POINTS HEAVILY TO “JOHN’S ALIBI” as the truth of what’s going on.

There’s no way the convo about the jellyfish assassin, and the jellyfish in the aquarium, are coincidence. They might as well have been talking about armadillos or pink elephants for all the likelihood that they’d appear again. The jellyfish can pretty much only mean one thing: an assassin was standing where the “jellyfish” are in the aquarium, that is, behind Mary, and the “jellyfish” was the assassin that shot Mary. Further, this entire story was invented because “you can’t arrest a jellyfish”. (i.e. as an alibi for said assassin).

Who would Sherlock Holmes bother protecting? The jellyfish can only be John.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

If this entire thing were EMP, then Sherlock is running through a “good Mary” scenario that ends in her death, John didn’t shoot Mary, thus there’s no reason for the whole jellyfish/alibi thing.

The only other explanation for why the jellyfish clue is in the episode is that it’s a complete red herring. But if it were a red herring, it’s an awfully subtle one. We’d have to assume the dads would think we’d come up with the John’s alibi theory in the first place and then tie the jellyfish to it to be misdirected away from something else. I’m doubtful about that.

 And then there’s the scene photo that shows the post-it that says “John’s Alibi”

I still have some questions about the John’s alibi theory, but the more I think about it, the more it’s becoming the front contender.