BlueBirdJay

A pistol has several meanings in mtp, and I will discuss all of the potential readings, case by case. However, one stays true: a gun is nearly always a prop for villainy, not a tool. What I mean by it is:

We barely see actual gun killings in the series – the only exception being Milverton’s death;

Guns are a part of the characters' image whenever they are supposed to be a villain, as if props help to identify their role in the story.

For example, Liam is holding a gun on the cover of the first volume because he plays the role of villain for us, for the Londoners, for Sherlock. However, is he a true villain in nature – an evil person with bad intentions? A gun can point to someone who takes on the role of the villain, but barely to an actual vicious person.

Study in S – early meanings of the pistol

In 'Study in S', the only difference between the two guns that Holmes and Hope have is that Sherlock's hasn't been fired yet. This is sort of foreshadowing: Hope is an actor playing a murderer, villain with the same gun as Sherlock. In other words, Liam shows Sherlock how a simple person like him becomes an actor, and how, as a director, Liam provides actors with the symbols of villainy. To go further, Liam never kills anyone with the pistol himself — the ones who use guns are always his actors, they use them as supplied props, like Moran, his gunman, or Hope. Liam later provides Sherlock with the same prop — Hope hands him a gun that has been used to kill, a symbol of sin. With the pistol, Sherlock is given a choice between killing Hope and keeping him alive — a gun is also a symbol of choice. By killing a person for the first time, Sherlock can start a new life — the life of a sinner; but he does not kill — as in the ideal outcome for him, going through a trial was not to use a gun — not to become a sinner yet.

We could say that the pistol symbolises power when it is not a tool for killing, as when Sherlock wields a gun, or when John tries to stop him with one, they both want to take control of the situation through violence. A gun is a symbol of a different kind of villainy or sin — it is a sign of a violent manner.

Sherlock fires his new gun for the first time when he is mad at not being able to get closer to the Lord of Crime, imagining how he would shoot Hope. This is the only time Sherlock is close to becoming the true villain, so to speak (I will come to Milverton's case later), but it is not the gun that makes him the villain; it is a selfish motive to find the truth, no matter the cost of sacrificing another human life.

The pistol is not an automatic symbol of true villainy. A person has to commit a crime or make a selfish, immoral choice for it to become one.

Milverton's death – the difference between a necessary act and true villainy

Milverton's case is interesting. It is the only gun killing in the series. It is the only time Liam threatens someone with a gun, and the only time Sherlock kills someone with it. If we keep the villain's symbol metaphor, now that Sherlock killed someone with a pistol, that should make him automatically a villain — and it does make him a sinner. But Sherlock did not become a true villain after he killed Milverton. He used his gun, he killed, but mainly for a humane reason. Compared to 'Study in S', where, if he killed, he would do it for a selfish reason solely, here he decides to kill someone vicious to society and his friend. The gun becomes the symbol of a villainous act, but Sherlock does not become a true villain himself.

However, I think the most interesting fact is Liam's words about his planning for Sherlock to kill much later. We can assume the victim could be someone else, but I am sure Liam meant himself. He wanted to be the first — and only — person to be killed by Sherlock's hand, his pistol. In this case, a gun is not only a symbol of a villain but also of new life Sherlock started when he met Liam. Liam is the one to give Sherlock a choice to kill with a similar gun, to make him fire his own for the first time and kill with it, just not at the planned time. Liam wanted Sherlock to go through a character's journey of using violence only when necessary, using a pistol — villain's symbol — only when necessary, to kill the greatest enemy of all.

But he forgot that he himself became a necessary evil. Liam is not a true villain like Milverton — a person revelling in crime, who does not use guns but makes his 'actors' do the 'dirty work' with knives and bare hands. Liam provides his actors with a tool that makes the kill faster and less emotional, while killing with his sword and staining his own hands with blood. He does the dirty work, he carries the sin. A sword is the antithesis of a gun: dirty work with a blood trail left after, compared to an easy and clean crime with less distress for the killer. If we get back to Enders' killing another man, Moriarty nudged him to use a knife — a tiny, but coincidentally a fitting case for a blade being used when the criminal has to atone for what they have done. Liam chooses to kill and acknowledge what he has done. Liam is a sinner, but he is no true villain — his murder is a selfless act.

The same as for Sherlock. When he kills Milverton, it is partly a necessary act, so, in the end, he actually follows Liam's script to come to violence only when needed. This makes both Liam and Sherlock equals — they both are necessary villains. They both wielded a sinful weapon for the greater good.

To go deeper, I would even say that in both of their decisions to use a pistol, we actually can see a hint of selfishness. When we see Liam with a gun on the cover of the first volume and in the first opening, he wants to die alone; his care for others stems from a selfish wish. There is a slightly selfish motive to Sherlock's decision to kill Milverton, too — he wanted to prove his independence to Liam. In the end, however, the decision to kill for both of them originated from a good place, and it was their main force. It happens that, through these decisions, using the pistols, they can fulfil their selfish desires — to prove independence and to die alone.

The story is called 'Two Criminals' for a reason: both symbolise Miverton and Liam, and Liam and Sherlock. Two antagonists of the story. Two people who do necessary acts of villainy. Two wielding a gun, willing to use it only on one true villain of the story,

The difference between the two criminals, Liam and Sherlock, is that it takes time — despite what Liam says — for Sherlock to commit a crime. When he kills, his gun is not 'brand new' anymore. He chooses to become a killer — to become a villain. We can say that his 'becoming' (ha-ha) was a slow-burn process (I really want you to read it as a Hannibal reference. I do not know how to do it smartly).

Liam and Sherlock's 'rivalry' – differences across adaptations

Both show openings serve as staged plays rather than accurate depictions of reality, and the rivalry between Sherlock and Liam is portrayed as more extreme in both.

In the first one, Sherlock and Liam point their guns at each other — this only emphasises that the pistols are props, as we know they have no such deep hatred for one another.

In the second opening, Sherlock shoots Liam with a gun — something that would never happen in reality, either. The openings look like Liam's script for his murder, if anything. Liam not having a pistol to point at Sherlock is not about being unequal to him — but about his acceptance of death.

But Sherlock and Liam do point guns at each other only once when Milverton exposes them both, and they shortly change their target the moment they confirm they are on the same page. However, the scene in which Liam points a gun at Sherlock after Milverton dies varies across adaptations.

In manga and anime, Liam points the gun at Sherlock for a couple of reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it is to warn: they are on opposite sides, enemies, and they should commit to their roles, to his script. Liam does not kill with a gun — this could be a hint for Sherlock: there is still a purpose for him in Liam's plans. Secondly, I actually leave a room open to the possibility that Liam could be scared. He saw Sherlock doing something improbable — he does not know what his next step will be, either. This idea is confirmed by what he says to Louis afterwards and by how he says it — with shock and fear. Liam suppressed all these emotions throughout the scene with Sherlock, even as he felt terrified of what he had done to Sherlock and what Sherlock would do to him in return.

Sherlock is angry in the scene — a good indicator of comparison for later is the way he says, 'I will. One day I swear I will.' But why is he angry? He felt like a marionette; he had also just killed a man, but in addition, Liam pointed a gun at him. And as they are finally equals, Sherlock responds to a symbol of violence with a harmless, actually helpless, but an attack — an expression of his rage. There is nothing else he can do but to assure Liam he will catch him. Interestingly enough, Sherlock is prepared to be killed as one of the outcomes — he later analyses why he was not. Yet, he still does not take a gun to point at Liam, only emphasising that Sherlock has no intent to proceed playing the game of rivals or killing Liam, even if it means that he would be killed in return.

In the musical, however, the use of guns tells a slightly different story.

Liam points his pistol at Sherlock only in the beginning when they see each other clearly for the first time, putting it down slowly as Milverton speaks proudly of his plan coming true. That's it. Neither Liam nor Sherlock points guns at each other afterwards at all. Sherlock does not draw a pistol at Liam willingly — this is true across all adaptations, which is an amusing contrast to what we are shown in the opening: the only one who ever points a gun at the mortal enemy is Liam, not Sherlock. Even when Liam points a pistol at Sherlock in the musical, Sherlock does not respond to it with violence — he knows Liam will not kill him, but he is also already sure he will not kill Liam either. Sherlock does not commit to the role intended for him, not only by killing Milverton but also by not using violence against Liam.

And Liam does not point a gun at him either when they talk again — he is more visibly shocked than in any other adaptation, less hiding his emotions.

Sherlock chooses to convince Liam with the purity of his feelings in all adaptations — but in the musical, Sherlock's 'I will. One day I swear I will' is softer, filled with more grief and longing rather than with anger, which also aligns with an emotionally focused retelling of the story. In musicals, they do not talk like enemies — they talk like friends who have to part. Liam does not turn to violence, so neither does Sherlock. No guns are visible in the scene.

In the end, when they meet at the bridge, none of them comes with a gun. They do not come as villains. They come as humans. They do not come playing their roles, even if Liam wants them to. Sherlock has no detective hat (oh, and add to that the fact he never wore a hat before that either — he never wanted to play the role of a hero that Liam wrote for him), and Liam has no gun. When they fall, they are equals. This message is also seen in the special cover of volume 14 — I think the most beautiful use of the pistol's symbolism — where we see Sherlock and Liam taking off each other's 'symbols'. Liam takes off Sherlock's hat, and Sherlock puts Liam's gun down. They see each other's faces behind the masks Liam gave to them. Behind the prop.

Funnily enough, after the fall, the meaning of guns slightly changes. The cover of volume 19 is a parallel to the special cover of volume 14. The pistol and the hat are in the same positions, but the ones holding them are Liam and Sherlock themselves, and they are not forced to. The hat and the gun are not symbols of good and bad here. Sherlock and Liam hold the symbols in a relaxed manner — they embrace themselves and their past. Liam is ready to atone for his crimes, and Sherlock is ready to return to solving crimes for his own pleasure — not as a part of Liam's play.

Part 2 and speculation derived from pistol meanings

What interests me are the covers of volumes 20 and 21. Liam is not holding a gun — that's right, he is not playing a villain — and he is giving his sword to us — foreshadowing him becoming the mastermind who gives others a chance to act. However, Sherlock is holding a gun. We are too early in part 2 to draw much from this, but I wonder whether this is a symbol of him embracing his sinful past, too, or foreshadowing the future.

There are likewise some differences in Moriarty's family. Moran is encouraged not to kill anyone — motto of MI-6 — and he gets a fake, painted gun from Liam instead. But what interests me more is Louis. He uses his knife — just a small part of the sin that Liam carries — throughout the manga, yet in part 2, we see him with a gun. He does not kill or hurt anyone with it, just threatening the drug chain members, as when wounding one of them, he uses a knife instead. I would return the meaning of the pistol to symbol of power in this case, because Louis still chooses to hurt the way he did before — the way Liam killed, with a sword, full acknowledgement. However, with the current sentiment of all characters keeping secrets and scheming against each other, Louis could easily become one of the 'villains', the same way Moran was one for 'The Adventure of the Empty Hearts', who, may I remind, killed with a gun, and was the only character to use the weapon at all in the beginning of the arc. Louis already has the potential to be an antagonist in an emotional conflict — taking care of Liam and keeping him safe in his own way, simultaneously contributing to Liam staying in the cage. That is at least my far-fetched suggestion, based on reading without chapter 91, but as far as I understood, Louis did not change his opinion on keeping Liam backstage in that one. I also suggest that Sherlock and Louis are the rivals in the next few arcs — and if both of them appear on the cover with guns, it will only confirm my hypothesis.

(Please, let Louis on the cover of volume 22 hold a gun, none of us will survive, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-)

P.S. Rereading the analysis, I could speculate on why Sherlock holds a gun. It could mean that he is Liam’s knight now, the way Moran was for part 1. Sherlock does have the potential to become another knight, wishing to protect not Liam’s safety, but Liam’s freedom. This is also confirmed by the position he takes behind Liam’s throne in the cover of part 2, the same way Moran did for the cover of ‘Play of the Lord of Crime’. However, this is too far-fetched, and Moran still protects Liam, just secretly. I am not sure what Sherlock’s next step will be – knowing him, he needs to talk to Liam first, and I love him for that.