About the coffin-smashing scene

 (Sherlock meta by justaminion)

Having seen various posts on this topic, I wanted to add my thoughts on why Sherlock “lost it” over Molly Hooper. I think it was because Eurus forced Sherlock and Molly to fast-forward through a potential romantic relationship and act out several intensely emotional moments that could really happen between them. As she said: “So many days not lived, so many words unsaid…”

In this scene Eurus is literally making them live those moments and say those words.

All of these potential moments scare the life out of Sherlock, and are the (possibly unconscious) reasons he’s afraid a relationship with Molly would be doomed to fail, (the irony being that his fears are completely human and normal, in fact, sweeter than normal, because that’s who he really is).

1. Sherlock’s request for Molly to say ‘I love you.’

In a relationship Sherlock is afraid he would be cruel to her, like this, he might hurt her, make her cry, and not understand why. If he is sociopath; she deserves better than him, and he won’t be able to avoid hurting her.

2. His first 'I love you.’

 In real life he might be terrified because he knows he has to say it, because she expects it, but he’s not sure if he does love her or even if he can love her in that way. He can’t lie to her; she sees right through him, so she’ll be able to tell if he doesn’t mean it, and then, no matter how much he wants her, he won’t be able to have her.

3. His second 'I love you.'

 Here is the realisation that he’s an idiot: it felt the most natural thing in the world to say, because of course he truly does love her. He’s stunned, he’s human after all, and he would be joyful, if it were not for the fact that…

4. She’s about to die, because of him.

He loves her, and now he faces the prospect of losing her, just as he lost Mary, and this time it’s entirely his fault for putting her at risk. By loving her, he’s shown he’s just as human as everyone else, and therefore just as vulnerable. Losing her will destroy him.

So Eurus made Sherlock live all of that, in three minutes. That’s why it felt like vivisection. She pressed on his most sensitive nerves and made him dance like an ordinary human being.

She opened up his beating heart and found sweet little Molly Hooper.