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Would you like to hold my hand?

— May to Sherlock, "Hurt Me, Hurt You"

May Holmes is the deceased mother of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes and the ex-wife of Morland Holmes. May and Morland divorced when Sherlock was young, and having signed a prenup, Morland was given full custody while May was given little visitation and a small allowance.

Biography[]

Season 4[]

S04E14-Morland Sherlock

"You haven't changed."

After Sherlock and Watson visit the daughter of Morland's dead lover Sabine and steal correspondence she has from her mother, Morland finds out and confronts Sherlock. Sherlock believes that Sabine was complicit in the attack on her and Morland. Morland doesn't agree and blames himself for Sabine's death, which Sherlock finds infuriating as he was also responsible for his mother May's death. Morland explains he sent May away because she was an addict and wouldn't go to a rehab centre. He regrets the action, especially as she died in a fire.[1]

Season 5[]

S05E23-Holmes talks to May

"I'm always here to listen."

At a support group meeting, Sherlock speaks of Shinwell and that his struggle reminds him he has to try harder. May talks to him after the meeting and Sherlock tells her a story of a man who hanged himself after Sherlock convinced a detective to arrest him based on Sherlock's opinion of whether the man was lying or not. Sherlock looks into the crime further and May visits him at the 11th Precinct. He tells her that he may have found the murder weapon and not to visit him again. Sherlock forgets that he sent a text when he visits the crime scene with a detective. He sees May outside a support meeting and asks her about the forgotten text. She tells him things will get worse if he keeps ignoring her.[2]

As Sherlock continues to struggle with memory loss, May is unexpectedly waiting for him in the Brownstone. She rebukes him for not telling Watson about his condition and says this is his last chance to do what's right or he'll never see her again. May calls Sherlock and says she's leaving. He admits he's forgetting things but she says he'll have to deal with things on his own. Holmes hears burning and begs for May to say where she is but all she'll say is that she's always close as flames engulf her. Holmes then believes that a room is on fire in the Brownstone and flings a chair through the glass doors. As Sherlock waits in a doctor's office, May visits him. She apologizes for the fire as she felt she had to do something drastic to get him to seek help. Realizing she's not real, he says she didn't do anything, he did. May says that she is the part of him that wants to get better. As a lab tech comes to the waiting room, May is gone and Sherlock goes for a MRI.[3]

References[]

  1. Season 4, episode 14: "Who Is That Masked Man?"
  2. Season 5, episode 23: "Scrambled"
  3. Season 5, episode 24: "Hurt Me, Hurt You"
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