Doesn't it make more sense for Sherlock to have not meant 

the ILY?

 (Sherlock meta by strawberrypatty)

Q: [...] Doesn't it make more sense for Sherlock to have not meant it? Like the emotions in the scene were sadness, tragedy and the cruel antics of a villain that only works if Molly's love is unrequited. If this is a scene about Molly/Sherlock confessing their genuine love (on top of finding out Molly was always ok) the scene were framed as positive and cathartic but it's meant to be upsetting.

A: I am always willing to discuss other viewpoints.

The scene is framed as one of sadness and tragedy because to someone like Eurus and Sherlock love IS something tragic. Sherlock has a realization during that scene and he has no idea how to feel about it. He’s angry at Eurus for being able to absolutely shred him using his own emotions. Love is a chemical defect found in the losing side. The scene is upsetting because Eurus is able to manipulate Sherlock absolutely.

He describes it as “vivisection”, which goes perfectly with Eurus cutting herself to see how her muscles work. She’s cutting Sherlock open emotionally to see how HE works. He is not allowed to come to his feelings for Molly on his own terms. He is forced to do it by the metaphoric barrel of a gun.

He also doesn’t know if there is an end to all of it. He’s being turned into a puppet by Eurus who dances to her will, including doing something like admit his love for someone, which he never would have done.

There’s also that Sherlock has to come to terms with the feelings. While I think he’s felt them for a while, this is the first time he’s ever been able to admit that they’re true. But it’s such a foreign concept to him. It’s only by the end of the episode that Sherlock is actually comfortable with being “the emotional one”. This episode is his trial by fire to reach that point.