Young Sherlock Rewrites Canon: Holmes & Moriarty’s Friendship Explored

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Prime Video’s Young Sherlock offers a fresh take on the famous detective’s early life, and it’s actually changing the established story created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes remains incredibly popular, and new versions of his adventures always generate excitement. This new series, Young Sherlock, is based on the books by Andrew Lane.

The series Young Sherlock introduces a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes, portrayed by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, while he’s still a student at Oxford University. This isn’t the brilliant detective audiences are familiar with; he’s actually quite impulsive, outspoken, and a bit of a troublemaker. But when a murder occurs at Oxford and threatens his future, he begins investigating his very first case.

This new take on Sherlock Holmes features Princess Gulun Shou’an (Zine Tseng), his brother Mycroft (Max Irons), and James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). Unlike the original stories, Holmes and Moriarty are portrayed as friends in this version, representing a significant departure from established lore.

Young Sherlock Gave A Famous Holmes Quote To Moriarty

The trailers for Young Sherlock suggest a fast-paced, action-packed show – not surprising with Guy Ritchie as one of its producers. They also give a glimpse of the developing friendship between Holmes and Moriarty as they work together to solve a mysterious murder.

The newest trailer for Young Sherlock surprised viewers by giving a well-known quote originally said by Sherlock Holmes to his nemesis, Moriarty. The trailer features Moriarty saying, “when you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, that must be the truth,” which is a slight alteration of Holmes’ famous line, “when you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Young Sherlock’s Quote Change Might Hint At The End Of Moriarty & Holmes’ Friendship

This small shift in who delivers the quote could be a subtle sign that Moriarty and Holmes’s friendship is ending. Although Moriarty is known as a brilliant criminal, having him be the villain in Young Sherlock would be too obvious.

I’m expecting Young Sherlock to be a clever take on the classic story. The first season seems to be exploring how Moriarty and Holmes’ friendship turned into a rivalry, and a particular quote suggests a possible reason. It’s likely that Holmes will be given all the recognition for investigations they worked on together, which could be what causes Moriarty to break with Holmes and become his enemy.

Young Sherlock Is Already Solving A Huge Holmes & Moriarty Mystery

While the changes in Young Sherlock might not follow the original stories exactly, they’ll likely be positive for the character and his overall narrative. A major mystery surrounding Sherlock Holmes is the origin of his intense rivalry with Professor Moriarty, something Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never fully addressed in his writings.

Many Sherlock Holmes adaptations don’t show how the detective and his nemesis, Moriarty, first met. The film Young Sherlock explores this gap by portraying them as friends at Oxford University, offering viewers insight into the origins of their famous rivalry.

It’s still unclear if the first season of Young Sherlock will depict the falling out between Holmes and Moriarty, but hopefully it will offer some clues as to why they stopped being friends after university.

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2026-02-06 22:22