So, I Hear You Like Reichenbach Theories...

Alright, I just had an idea for a Reichenbach theory. A real one, not like, "Molly stuffed Sherlock in The Pandorica and that revived him." and it actually revolves around Moriarty. And no, it's not, "Moran's going to revive him like they revived The Master in "The End of Time" Doctor Who special." No, this is semi-serious.

Okay, so word on the street is Jim Moriarty will be back somehow. (Andrew Scott's confirmed for season 3, or so I hear.) Now, I kind of think it will more than likely be flashbacks, and I'm cool with him staying dead. He went out, with lack of a better term, with a bang. Besides, he can always have a posthumous effect on The Valley of Fear, the second appearance (in order of story publishing) of Holmes's arch-nemesis. But I want to throw out an idea for the fandom to run with.

What if Jim Moriarty never appeared on the roof at all?

Okay, I know that that theory's already out there, but I have a (hopefully) new variant to work with.

In canon, Moriarty had an older brother. He was a colonel (or stationmaster, yeah, Doyle was a great, influential writer, but sometimes continuity wasn't exactly his strong suit...). Said brother, at the beginning of "The Final Problem", was said to be trying to defend his brother's name...

...See where I'm going with this?

If "Moftiss" wanted to resurrect their version of "The Napoleon of Crime", they can always do this: make it Moriarty's brother who erm.. ate his gun.

   Here's how I'm thinking this could work, hypothetically: Instead of an older brother, the other Moriarty boy could be his twin brother instead. (Hey, they changed Watson's long-dead alcoholic brother from the canon to his alive-but-estranged lesbian alcoholic sister, it's not the most bizarre thing to happen to a canon character's unseen relative...) The brother could have wanted to help clear ol' Jimmy's name (okay, NEVER calling him that again). What better way to clear it than to help him convince the world that name never existed, and aid in killing one of the only men to prove that wrong? Hey, I didn't say his theoretical brother was sane...

  The brother could be an actor (and, for added fun, his previous roles could have been a colonel and a stationmaster, making a nice iffy-continuity gag a la John's psychosomatic limp...), and, being siblings, I think said hypothetical brother could probably copy his twin's mannerisms on the rooftop. It didn't have to be perfect, just good enough to dupe Sherlock enough to jump...

  ...Wow, this sounds kinda insane now. But who knows? It's just a theory...