Sherlock: The Great Game (1000) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Sherlock initially declines the case because he considers it insufficiently challenging. Mycroft presents the murder of Andrew West, a MI6 employee, as a routine investigation involving a missing flash drive with defense missile secrets. Sherlock prefers puzzles that truly test his abilities, making him dismissive of what he sees as a straightforward case. His interest picks up only when the bomber's game begins, which raises the stakes and complexity to a level that actually engages him.

• andrew west
• mysterious murder
• mi6
• flash drive
• missile secrets
• mycroft

Moriarty designs a deadly game where hostages wear explosive vests and Sherlock must solve puzzles within tight time limits. He sends five puzzles through various channels: the phone at Scotland Yard, a blood-stained sports car, the Connie Prince case, a photograph of the River Thames, and finally uses John as a hostage at the pool. Each puzzle connects to previous cases or leads to new victims, creating a complex web that only unravels when Sherlock recognizes Moriarty's signature pattern.

Foreshadowing: The earlier case "A Study in Pink" mentioned Moriarty as the killer's mastermind, foreshadowing his return in this game.

• moriarty
• bomb puzzle
• hostage
• explosive vest
• countdown
• puzzles

Sherlock analyzes the trainers found in the basement flat and traces them to Carl Powers, a schoolboy who drowned years earlier. The trainers contain hidden clues that Sherlock deciphers using his deductive reasoning. He concludes that Powers was poisoned through his eczema medication rather than drowning accidentally. The poison was administered before Powers entered the water, making the drowning appear natural. However, Sherlock never identifies who actually administered the poison, leaving that detail unresolved.

• carl powers
• poison
• eczema medication
• trainers
• drowning
• case

Molly Hooper brings her new boyfriend Jim, an IT worker, to meet Sherlock at Scotland Yard. Sherlock immediately deduces that Jim is gay from subtle behavioral cues and states it bluntly, causing discomfort. The audience later learns that this Jim is actually Moriarty in disguise, working in IT as a cover. Moriarty uses the relationship with Molly as a way to get close to Sherlock and gather intelligence, though his true identity remains hidden from Molly and most characters throughout the story.

Foreshadowing: Moriarty's comment about enjoying being underestimated hints at his true identity hidden in plain sight.

• jim
• moriarty
• molly hooper
• it worker
• disguise
• relationship

Sherlock investigates Connie Prince, officially recorded as dying from tetanus after stepping on a nail. However, he discovers the wound was actually inflicted after her death, proving murder rather than accident. The investigation leads to the housekeeper, who had been administering Connie Prince's Botox treatments. Sherlock uncovers that the housekeeper deliberately increased the Botox剂量 to toxic levels, killing Connie Prince while making it appear as a routine medical complication.

• connie prince
• housekeeper
• botox
• tetanus
• poison
• murder

Sherlock becomes convinced Moriarty is orchestrating the puzzle game after the second hostage situation with the blood-stained sports car. The pattern of interconnected cases and the level of sophistication in the criminal operations match Moriarty's known methods. This conviction grows as each subsequent puzzle connects to the previous one, forming a coherent chain. The museum curator eventually confirms that Moriarty is the mastermind behind all the crimes, tying together the seemingly separate cases into one unified game.

Foreshadowing: The earlier phone call with five Greenwich pips mirrors the earlier "A Study in Pink" case, which referenced Moriarty as the criminal mastermind.

• moriarty
• mastermind
• revelation
• museum curator
• realization
• game

Mycroft assigns Sherlock to investigate Andrew West's murder as part of his initial pitch to engage Sherlock in a case. West, an MI6 employee, was found dead on a railway track with a missing flash drive containing defense missile secrets. The case initially seems separate from the bomber's puzzles. However, John discovers there is little blood at the scene, indicating West was killed elsewhere and placed on the train. They eventually discover West's prospective brother-in-law stole the flash drive and accidentally killed West during a struggle. While this case runs parallel to the bomber's game, both are part of Moriarty's broader scheme to distract and manipulate Sherlock.

• andrew west
• flash drive
• railway
• murder
• brother-in-law
• confession

The five Greenwich pips serve as both a timer and a countdown mechanism for Moriarty's deadly game. When Sherlock receives the first phone call at Scotland Yard, the device emits five pips, each representing one of five separate puzzles he must solve. The pips function as a structural device for the entire narrative, with each pip corresponding to a distinct challenge: the Carl Powers case, the blood-stained car, Connie Prince, the River Thames clue, and the final pool confrontation. The time pressure created by the countdown drives the intense pacing of the episode.

• greenwich pips
• countdown
• timer
• five puzzles
• phone call
• deadline

The photograph of the River Thames serves as the fourth puzzle in Moriarty's game. Sherlock and John investigate the riverside location and discover the body of a security guard with distinctive bruises matching the signature of an assassin known as the Golem. The guard had suspected a Vermeer painting to be a forgery and had been investigating this suspicion. An astronomy professor who discussed the painting with the guard becomes the next target. Although Sherlock and John cannot save the professor, they uncover proof that the painting is fake, which helps prevent another tragedy and provides crucial evidence tying the cases together.

• river thames
• vermeer painting
• forgery
• security guard
• golem
• astronomy professor

Sherlock arranges a meeting with Moriarty expecting to finally confront his nemesis. However, the encounter turns into a trap when John appears wearing an explosive vest, his words dictated by Moriarty through an earpiece. Moriarty reveals himself and orders snipers to target both Sherlock and John. In a dramatic moment, Sherlock raises his gun toward Moriarty but instead pivots and fires at the explosive vest he had thrown across the pool deck. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, leaving the outcome uncertain and establishing Moriarty as an immediate, deadly threat.

Foreshadowing: Moriarty's earlier statement that the game was never over foreshadows this direct confrontation.

• pool
• moriarty
• john hostage
• snipers
• explosive vest
• cliffhanger

The second puzzle arrives via a blood-stained sports car with an eight-hour deadline. Inside the glove box, Sherlock finds a rental agency card and notices the owner's distinctive suntan along with evidence of a recent trip to Colombia. The presence of frozen blood in the car leads Sherlock to deduce that Ian Monkford paid the rental agency owner to help him disappear. Using these clues, Sherlock pieces together that Monkford staged his own disappearance rather than being kidnapped or killed, allowing him to solve the puzzle and rescue the hostage in time.

• ian monkford
• blood stained car
• rental agency
• disappearance
• colombia
• frozen blood

When Sherlock finds John strapped to an explosive vest at the pool, he faces an impossible situation. Moriarty has snipers positioned to kill both him and John regardless of what he does. Recognizing the vest John wears can be detonated remotely, Sherlock makes a split-second tactical decision. He raises his gun toward Moriarty to draw attention, then pivots and shoots the vest he had previously thrown across the pool deck. This action appears to be an attempt to destroy the vest or trigger it away from John, though the exact outcome remains ambiguous at the cliffhanger ending.

Foreshadowing: The bomber's earlier comment about playing the game properly suggests Moriarty expects Sherlock to find clever solutions, which Sherlock does by targeting the vest.

• explosive vest
• pool
• shoot
• moriarty
• tactical decision
• cliffhanger