I’m sorry, I didn’t know. The British Government and the CIA.

 (Sherlock Meta by abidos)

Or, what Mycroft knew during “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Hint: not much)



Part one of three about the first episode of the second season of Sherlock.  In this part, there are two main points I’ll argue:

*Mycroft didn’t suggest Sherlock for the case of the royal photos.
*He didn’t know about Irene’s MOD e-mail until he received the text message from Jim.

If the length of this thing scares you as much as it does me, you might want to do the following.  Read the first part of the section about the palace where I talk about whether or not it was Mycroft’s idea to give the case to Sherlock.  Next, skip to the section titled “At the Mansion”.   The 1500 words in between are, basically, a blow-by-blow analysis of what Mycroft might or might not have done had he known Irene had the e-mail at that point.  My conclusion is that he didn’t know, and the argument boils down to the fact that at no point does he try to get the phone back or warn Sherlock about its contents.  If this argument doesn’t convince you, please, feel free to read the entire thing, but I did warn you.

At the palace

In this part I am going to argue two points, the first one is that Mycroft was not the one responsible for getting Sherlock involved in the case; and the second one that he was neither aware of Irene’s possession of the MOD mail or of the actions of the CIA.



I was quite surprised when I read some pieces that assumed that Mycroft had been the one to involve Sherlock in the case with the photos. Him saying that “(…) in this hour of need, dear brother, your name has arisen.” plus the mention of the equerry’s employer being a fan of John’s blog had always given me the impression that that was why Sherlock got the case, with Mycroft being invited as both a courtesy and damage control.  However, let’s take a closer look at the situation.

What happens is that both Sherlock and John get plucked from what they were doing and dropped at the palace, followed by the little dance with the client’s identity.  Now, someone who doesn’t know Sherlock might think that this would impress and intrigue him.  In reality, not so much.  Mycroft would have known that Buckingham palace or the Queen wouldn’t motivate Sherlock to take the case, and that being brought somewhere he doesn’t want to go and not being told directly who his client is would only piss him of.  He knows his brother, as we see when, when Sherlock refuses the case, he immediately gives him the one piece of information that makes it interesting for him.

Mycroft has an additional reason not to want Sherlock at the palace and that is the embarrassment factor.  When Plummer enters Baker street to pick him up, the first thing he does is tell his colleague where Sherlock’s room is and to get him some clothes.  When Mycroft enters the room in the palace and sees his brother and John he seems exasperated, not surprised.  He might not have foreseen the sheet but he was definitely expecting trouble.

Now Mycroft cares about the crown.  He dresses a bit more neatly and calls the palace the “heart of the British Nation”, Sherlock’s antics also manage to rile him up more than normal and, when he is telling Sherlock to put his clothes on for the final time, he looks over his shoulder at the equerry for a moment and composes himself.  Mycroft cares about what happens here and already foresaw trouble.
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So we see that conducting the interview this way has no advantages, only complications, most of which could have been easily avoided by Mycroft (possibly accompanied by the equerry) visiting Sherlock.  If he had suggested his brother getting the case, he would have most likely have been the one to arrange the meeting.  He might have been overruled (if there is anyone in Britain capable of overruling Mycroft it is probably the queen), but why would she care about where the consultation takes place?  Particularly, if Mycroft were to point out that this might create unnecessary problems.  I find it much more likely that the trip to the palace was already planned by the time Mycroft was informed and that at this point he was presented with the option of staying away or being present, and he chose the latter to assure that the entire thing didn’t end in disaster.



Now we’ll look at the possibility of Mycroft already knowing at this point that Irene has the e-mail of the MOD and if he ordered, or even was aware of, the presence of the CIA at her house.

In “The Great Game” Mycroft has no reservations about telling Sherlock and John about the  Bruce-Parrington plans, so why would he not  tell them about an email about an anti-terrorist operation, which is considerable less valuable than the complete plans of a missile defence system?  Furthermore, we already saw that Mycroft has the crown in some regard.  He wouldn’t choose to expose a scandal that involved it to hide a screw-up by the MOD.

Now about the CIA.  To begin, regardless of whether Mycroft did or didn’t know about the MOD e-mail, it would be strange for him to send the CIA if he could just send the British Secret Service.  He says he doesn’t trust them with such a sensitive matter, but it is doubtful that he considers the CIA to be more reliable.

There also doesn’t seem to be a direct reason for him to send a second team.  Sherlock plans on handing over the photos anyhow.  The presence and actions of the CIA only complicate Sherlock’s plan, as is to be expected if you send in two teams, with one of them not knowing about the other.  There is also no possible added advantage of sending an armed team, since, if Irene could be coerced by force or threats (to Kate, for example) there would have been no need to send Sherlock in the first place.

Therefore, sending a second team, or sending in Sherlock while knowing that the CIA will be there, only reduces the possibility of Mycroft getting what he wants.

At Baker Street

If we accept that Mycroft did not know about the CIA team, his reaction to Mrs Hudson’s comment also makes sense.  We never see him loose his temper in this fashion, not even when he argues with Sherlock, or, in “The Reichenbach Fall”, when John accuses him of giving information about his brother to Moriarty.  He has placed Sherlock in danger before, (like when he asks him to recover the defence plans), but never without a good understanding of the situation, and by making sure Sherlock knew about the dangers.  But this time, because the CIA decided to run an operation on British soil without informing the Secret Service, he wasn’t able to control the situation and Sherlock went in blind.  This would explain his outburst.



Then we have the phone call after which he tells Sherlock to back out of the case.  The conversation can suggest that at this point Mycroft finds out about the MOD e-mail, and this is why he tells Sherlock to back off.  However, I find this unlikely.

The e-mail makes it only more important for Mycroft to get the phone back.  And, much as with the defence plans and with the photos, Sherlock would still be his best option to get them back.  With the Secret Service and the CIA on the same page, the main danger element would also be of the table.  The CIA doesn’t need to have the e-mail, they already know what it says and what it means.  They might have preferred to get it back themselves to one-up the British Secret Service, but their main goal would still be achieved if Sherlock were to get it back.  All Mycroft has to do is tell Sherlock about the e-mail, and there would be not more danger for him than during the case he gives him in “The Great Game”.

It could be that Irene has let it be known that if the Secret Service doesn’t stop pursuing her, she’ll release the royal pictures.  Now, I find it hard to believe that they would prefer to risk the outcome of Bond Air over a scandal.  But even if we were to suppose that they would, there are still many problems.

If Mycroft really wants Sherlock to back off it would make more sense to tell Sherlock why he needs to do so, his brother doesn’t react well to not knowing things, and we have already seen that Mycroft is not shy about sharing this type of information.

But why would he, though?  He still would want the phone, I don’t think it would be so strange to assume that we would trust Sherlock to get it without Irene realising it until it was too late.

If he doesn’t know about the e-mail he would still be in the situation that made him loose his temper with Mrs Hudson.  So he would want Sherlock to stop investigating.  And he wouldn’t say anything more to Sherlock because his brother would already know as much as he knows.  But what about the exchange right after Mycroft finishes his call?  Sherlock reasons that Irene has more on her phone than just photos, and that something big is coming.  Mycroft would have already realised that this is the case, but unless the CIA were to tell him, he has no reason to link these events with a operation planned to happen six months from now.  No doubt, there are many operations or pieces of information that Irene could have gotten her hands on.

The third option would be that he does know about the e-mail and that telling Sherlock to stop is a way to taunt him into staying on the case.  I think, in this case, honesty would be more effective.  It could be seen as a way for Mycroft to cover himself, so that he could swear that he told Sherlock to stop and can’t be hold responsible for having a stubborn little brother.  The question would be if such an excuse would work on the type of people Mycroft would need to cover himself from and if they would have a way of knowing what is being said in Baker Street.



At this point we have two possible options, either Mycroft didn’t know about the e-mail, or he does know and tries to taunt his brother into getting the phone.

At the Morgue

Regardless of Mycroft’s intentions, Sherlock does seem to really drop the case until Irene sends him her phone.  The scene in the morgue is beautiful and several people have already written fantastic analyses about what it says about Sherlock, Mycroft and their relationship.  What interests us is that at this point is that Mycroft knows that Sherlock has, or is aware of the location of, Irene’s phone, or, rather, the item that holds the information Irene had for protection. At this point, he might not yet know that it is a phone.

If he knew about the e-mail in the phone he would want it back.  Even if he didn’t (Mycroft doesn’t really need the phone, all he needs is for it not to fall in the wrong hands), he would inform Sherlock, and John, about the content of the phone, to assure that they wouldn’t be to cavalier with it or the information it contains.  Not telling them what they possess only increases the possibilities of something happening to them or to it.

What if he didn’t say anything because he had already planned to send in the CIA?  If he wanted the phone, there are several better options at his disposal.  The first one would be to tell the truth to Sherlock and to John (to John because he does have some influence over Sherlock and he would agree about the importance of a counterterrorist operation), he could even make a deal with Sherlock, guaranteeing him sole access to the phone.  Mycroft doesn’t need to know what is in it right now, and even if he did, it could be argued that Sherlock would still be his best bet.  Sherlock would have to concede that the phone would be safer with Mycroft’s people than laying around in his flat, and, as long as he has access to his puzzle, he would be content.

Even if Mycroft decided to get it back without Sherlock’s consent, a more subtle way would have been available.  He could, based on his knowledge of Sherlock, make a list of conceivable hiding places and send Plummer with a metal-detector when no one is around.  A lot more likely to succeed and less distasteful than having the CIA beat up an old lady.  Another reason to believe Mycroft was not after the CIA raid on Baker Street, as pointed out by TheNoorwoodbuilder, is that if Sherlock had even suspected Mycroft’s involvement, he wouldn’t just have let things be.



Now let’s look at it assuming Mycroft doesn’t know about the e-mail.  He might still wish to recover the phone, if only for the photos and because he is annoyed and suspicious of the CIA.  But since they are involved he has even less cause than normal to trust the Secret Service.  Even if he could guarantee the security of the phone, the CIA could very well assume Sherlock was involved in its retrieval and try to get their hands on him to see how much he knows.  So, Mycroft might decide not to do anything until he knows more in order to not draw attention to Sherlock.  It would seem, if not ideal, the most sensible of two options.

Nothing changes much with the CIA raid on Baker Street, except that the attack on innocent civilians might have caused enough problems to get them booted out of the country.  If they had informed Mycroft of the MOD e-mail at this point he would have tried to get the phone from Sherlock, or at least warn him about the content.  He doesn’t do so for the many months that go by until Irene turns up, so we can assume he still doesn’t know about the leaked e-mail on her phone.

At the Mansion

Another beautiful scene, it reveals not only what an absolutely fantastic actor Mark Gatiss is, but also gives a great insight into Mycroft.

He is completely alone here, there is no one for him to try to impress or mislead, therefore the distress and even terror he shows can be considered nothing but genuine.



If before receiving Jim’s text he had already known that Irene had the e-mail, there would not be much cause for this.  Had he known that the e-mail was out there, he would have considered the possibility of the information reaching the terrorists.  Furthermore, he knows about Irene’s and Sherlock’s involvement ( he would know about Irene being alive, either through his own channels or because John would have told him), and he knows that Sherlock would probably be one of the few people who would be able to deduce what the e-mail was about (another great reason for Mycroft to warn him about it.)  In this scenario he would also know why the CIA is after Irene, therefore he would not see her as an innocent victim but as a danger to his operation.  He might not be sure of it, but he would at least have considered the possibility that Irene’s intentions for the e-mail were less than pure.

Would Mycroft have really been so distraught over one of his worst case scenarios coming true?  There is only one new piece of information he gets from the text and that is Jim’s involvement, but does that really make the situation so much worse?  I think his reaction would have been less horror and more “Well fuck that, I’m going to murder someone.  And look, my brother’s playmate is involved, lovely”.

But if he didn’t know, the text brings several horrifying revelations.  He might have still considered the possibility of the operation going wrong, but with no knowledge of any specific breach in security, it would be much more unsuspected.  Sherlock’s involvement and the central role he plays would also come completely out of the blue, accompanied by the realization of the danger Sherlock has placed himself in.  Furthermore, he would see his own role in getting his little brother in this position, by urging him to take the case of the photos, and not confiscating the phone when he could.



And we have finally reached the end of part 1 about "A Scandal in Belgravia".  If you are still awake at this point and actually read the entire piece, cheers!  As always, I’d love to hear any thoughts or questions you might have.