I just want Sherlock to realize belatedly what an asshole stunt he pulled, staying dead and haring off for two years, with festering piles of regret that he can’t go back and undo it.
While I agree with you about the consequences of his behaviour wouldn’t his grasping the enormity of what he had wrought be too far off character for Sherlock? He will be able to comprehend that people were hurt by his actions while still knowing it had to be done and done in the manner he chose. In his eyes he sacrifices everything for his friends, he knows of no other way to keep them safe and it genuinely does not occur to him that his death will be that large of a loss to them.
But see, all that I bolded? Fan-canon. We know he had to pull the rooftop stunt. But the idea that he had to STAY dead for two years is pure assumption.
It’s just as valid a reading to say that he got himself into this position in the first place because he wouldn’t tell anybody a goddamn thing. That he spent the entire episode lying to people and keeping them in the dark because in his head, it was all the big awesome showdown with his ~best enemy~ and he didn’t want anybody else interfering with his chance to prove he was the smartest and the coolest and the best. In which case, it’s Sherlock’s fault due to his ego as much as anything.
To clarify: I don’t want any sympathic ‘poor Sherlock, look what he was forced to do.’ I want it to be his fault because he’s a jerk, and for him to realize he was a jerk and regret it.
Yes, it’s juvenile and shallow and I’m a grown woman who should be deeper than this, but I don’t care. After two years, I get to have a stupid wish list if I want one.