Description
After a series of high-profile cases lead Sherlock to fame, Moriarty launches a simultaneous heist on the Tower of London, Bank of England and Pentonville Prison using just a few lines of code that can break any security; crimes for which he allows himself to be captured and put on trial. He secures a not-guilty verdict through blackmailing the jury and visits Sherlock, explaining he still intends to "burn" him, taunting him with a "final problem" for him to solve. Soon afterwards, Moriarty arranges for the kidnapping of the children of an American ambassador, who are terrified of Sherlock once he has them rescued. This, in conjunction with the ease with which Sherlock solves the case, leads to Sherlock becoming a suspect. Sherlock escapes arrest, and soon learns Moriarty is under the alias of an actor hired by Sherlock, and has seeded the press with a story of Sherlock being a fraud. The two meet on the roof of a hospital, where Moriarty explains that assassins will kill John, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade if Sherlock does not commit suicide; he wants Sherlock to do this to cement his story after explaining that his "god code" was a myth. After a tense conversation, in which Moriarty realises the two are enough alike that Sherlock would be willing to do anything to Moriarty to get him to call off the assassins, Moriarty kills himself to force Sherlock to do the same. Sherlock calls John and "confesses" to being a fraud (which John refuses to believe). John pleads for him to come down. Sherlock states his final "Goodbye" and then steps off the roof, leading to his vilification by the press. John and Mrs. Hudson meet alone at Sherlock's grave to say their goodbyes; the final seconds show Sherlock watching from afar, having faked his death. Inspired by the short story "The Final Problem". The title alludes to the Reichenbach Falls, where Sherlock and Moriarty supposedly fall to their deaths in the original story.