Listen carefully to what Mary says: āpeople like Magnussen should be killed, thatās why there are people like meā.Ā Sheās the type of person who kills people like Magnussen.Ā And what type of person is Magnussen?Ā According to Sherlock he is āthe Napoleon of blackmailā who runs the Western world from Appledore, using the āgreatest respository of sensitive and dangerous information anywhere in the worldā.Ā And as long as Magnussen has that information āthe personal freedom of anyone you have ever met is a fantasyā.Ā Heās not a very nice person, in fact, heās a pretty nasty guy who turns Sherlockās stomach.Ā When Magnussen flicks Johnās face at Appledore he tells him āI know who Mary hurt and killed.Ā I know where to find people who hate her.Ā I know where they live.Ā I know their phone numbers.Ā I could phone them right now and tear your whole life down."Ā He could set these people on Mary, and they obviously wouldnāt call the authorities to have her arrested and properly tried in a court of law.Ā They would hunt her down and kill her.Ā Probably not very nicely, because they are not-very-nice people.Ā So Mary may be right, people like Magnussen should be killed; thatās why there are people like her.
Who else has killed someone?
and then justified it as the killing of a not-very-nice person who deserved to die?
Remember that when John shot the cabbie Sherlock was voluntarily taking the pill - he wasnāt being coerced.Ā This means that John cannot avail himself of the "defense of otherā defense to murder (akin to self-defense except that the homicide is committed to defend the life of another person, not yourself).Ā Ā Sherlock confirms this when he tells John that he wasnāt really going to take the pill (true, John doesnāt believe this, but he does acknowledge that Sherlock was voluntarily risking his life to prove he was clever, because thatās how he gets his ākicksā).Ā John actually committed murder that night and then threw the murder weapon in the Thames.Ā Nevertheless, we love it when they giggle at the crime scene and then go off to dinner together.Ā
Also remember that after John shoots the cabbie Sherlock tortures him to force him to reveal Moriartyās name telling him āyouāre dying, but thereās still time to hurt youā.
Finally, remember who actually does kill Magnussen:
So donāt be too judgmental of Mary.Ā Both John and Sherlock have committed murder to save each other.Ā I donāt hear anybody criticizing them for doing this - in fact they are praised for doing so.Ā So why the double-standard when it comes to Mary?Ā Is it because we donāt know her back-story?Ā Sherlock has deduced that Mary was an intelligence agent, but he does not know what country she was serving. By her blonde hair I suppose we are to assume she is Russian, but that could be a red herring.Ā Sherlock trusts her, maybe, because, like him, she is on the āside of the angelsā, even if she isnāt one herself.Ā
The fandom shouldnāt complain when John Watsonās wife turns out to be an assassin, because if the fandom likes Sherlock Holmes, and the fandom likes John Watson, then it is, indeed, what the fandom likes.
