#The chess game is inspired by The Seventh Seal which is an old movie where a guy plays chess against Death to see whether he lives or dies

[castielmacleod]

Fics I will never write: KING’S GAMBIT

King’s Gambit is a short canon compliant fic following Crowley through his last few days leading up to his eventual suicide. Nearly eaten alive by loneliness and self-loathing, the king of hell reflects on the past and tries to envision a future. When he ends up sitting alone in the bunker bandaging his stabbed-through hand, he makes a decision—only to be surprised by a visit from the new Death, who brings with them a peculiar proposition: a simple game of chess to decide his fate. Dark character study with themes of suicide, depression, social isolation, and unrequited love. Gen with minor past Crowstiel and unrequited DrowIey.

[possiblyimbiassed]

Chess against Death -

Can Samarra be avoided?

I was just reading an excellent meta by @ebaeschnbliah​, when something occurred to me like an epiphany. Maybe this has already been discussed in fandom, but since I haven’t seen it yet, here it goes.

@ebaeschnbliah‘s meta is about how Sherlock is confronted with death and dying throughout the show, and also how this is related to the promo pictures for S4, where Sherlock is playing a game of chess with Mycroft, while John is watching. They seem to be allegorically playing The Game, which is definitely a recurring theme in Sherlock.

And if Mycroft represents Sherlock’s own brain, he’s probably playing with himself (his worst enemy, according to Mycroft in TAB).

At the end of the meta, @ebaeschnbliah questions whether the game is still on, because on one of the promo pictures, Sherlock throws the chess pieces through the air. Wouldn’t that end the Game?

Actually, now I believe it doesn’t – the game is still on! Because I have a feeling this whole chess theme might actually be inspired by an old movie about a man who plays chess with Death, an ‘epic historical fantasy film’ from 1957 called The Seventh Seal.

More under the cut.

The Seventh Seal is written by Swedish director Ingemar Bergman, (more about the film here). 

It’s rather ‘dark’ and, like many other of Bergman’s productions, brings up existential issues. It takes place in the 14th century, when the great plague known as the Black Death is wreaking havoc, killing 30–60% of Europe's total population. The main character, Antonius Block, is a knight who returns from the crusades together with his squire, only to find his country infected by the disease and the religious fanaticism and panic that follows in its wake.

Death is waiting for Block, but he manages to bargain by telling Death that he’s not ready yet, he wants time to use for one single meaningful act before he dies. And in the mean time Block challenges Death to play a game of chess. As long as he can resist in the game, Block gets to live, and if he wins, he and his family walk free from Death. But if he looses, Death can take him right away. Death consents, and they start to play.

This chess-against-death theme is rather pervasive in BBC Sherlock I think; as @ebaeschnbliah points out, the show begins (ASiP) with Sherlock playing a game of life and death with a serial killer, a murdering cab driver, who refers to a game with poison pills as chess:

And maybe it’s significant that the cab driver’s last name is Hope, because the chess game gives an illusion of hope for the victim; if Sherlock wins (supposedly by making the right choice), the killer gets the bad pill and dies, and Sherlock walks free - just like Block the knight in The Seventh Seal.

In this trailer (almost 10 minutes long; source or the screencaps) you can get a good idea of what The Seventh Seal is about.

Block the knight says he wants to know things before he dies.

He has lost his faith because of what he’s seen in the world, and he wants knowledge instead.

Like Block, Sherlock can’t resist the temptation to play the deadly game, because he wants to know. He thinks he needs to know how Jeff Hope thinks and the reason why, so he questions him and makes a series of deductions:

And after his deductions Sherlock comes to the conclusion that “love is a vicious motivator”.

But ‘the game’ is mentioned repeatedly all throughout the series, and it’s clear that Sherlock is given a respite from death, just like Block in The Seventh Seal. Apart from John saving Sherlock from the Bad Pill by killing Jeff Hope, @ebaeschnbliah points out several other occasions in their meta, like this one in TGG/ASiB:

T6T also repeats the chess game of death in depicting the British Ambassador playing chess with her husband, while they are held as hostages in their Embassy in Tblisi, Georgia, during a terrorist attack. The death threat while playing chess is very tangible in this scene, where one terrorist is pointing his gun at the couple:

Madame Ambassador is extremely bored (like Sherlock) after three months. But she says she’s got a secret weapon if only they can get out of the siege situation; Amo - which means Love, codename for Lady Smallwood.

(Since I believe this is all happening inside Sherlock’s mind, and Madame Ambassador is a mirror for Sherlock, the subtextual meaning of this could be that Love is a secret weapon Sherlock can use against his enemies, but he needs to get out (=wake up from coma) first. But I admit I don’t really 'get’ what Amo is supposed to mean on a textual level).

Sadly, we know what happens next; the diplomatic couple gets killed under a counterattack from the AGRA agents, because they were betrayed by one of their own. So Death won their game, so to speak.

Yet another version of the same theme, also in T6T, is the story of Death in Samarra that Sherlock tells, which I believe is pretty much in line with the story in The Seventh Seal:

“There was once a merchant in the famous market at Baghdad. One day he saw a stranger looking at him in surprise. And he knew that the stranger was Death. Pale and trembling, the merchant fled the marketplace and made his way many, many miles to the city of Samarra, for there he was sure Death could not find him. But when at last he came to Samarra, the merchant saw, waiting for him, the grim figure of Death. ‘Very well,’ said the merchant. ‘I give in. I am yours. But tell me: why did you look surprised when you saw me this morning in Baghdad?’ ‘Because,’ said Death, ‘I had an appointment with you tonight – in Samarra.’”

At the end of T6T, when Sherlock thinks he has lost John’s friendship because ‘Mary’ (supposedly) took a bullet for him – making him escape death again -  he reflects over whether he can escape Death at all:

But here’s the thing: according to Mycroft in TST, Sherlock invented his own version of this tale when he was a kid; he told himself a better story; ‘Appointment in Sumatra’. The merchant goes to a different city and is perfectly fine. 

I believe this has to do with Sherlock ‘s childhood trauma; in T6T he also tells Karim in Morocco that he’s not familiar with the concept ‘happy family’. Something must have happened in his family past that has bearing on Samarra/Sumatra. So maybe what Sherlock can try to do is go back to his childhood, emulate his childhood ‘pirate’ self, and totally avoid the place where Death awaits him. I get a feeling that’s actually what he did in TFP, but I don’t think the mystery is completely solved just yet, even if he did solve the Musgrave ritual. Exactly how he is going to do it, I don’t know. But I do believe it will have to do with Amo – perhaps a love that isn’t betrayed this time.

In The Seventh Seal, Block confesses to a (supposed) priest, that he feels alienated towards other people, which I think is very much a resemblance to Sherlock’s problems with repressed feelings and lack of expressed compassion:

And Block feels trapped inside himself, which I also believe relates directly to Sherlock being trapped in his own mind palace in S4, with ghosts as his only company:

He also tells the priest how he intends to outsmart Death in the chess game. But since the priest is actually Death, he now gets to know Block’s tactics.

And maybe this is the key; Sherlock can’t outsmart death, trapped inside his own brain. It doesn’t matter how smart he is, this is about emotions, and he must wake up and come out to the real world and get in contact with ‘some people on the ground’.

Block and his squire get to know a family of jesters with their little child, and this family stands out to them with their kind and uncomplicated ways and very moving love for each other. Block wants to save this little family as his last meaningful act before he dies. But the Black Death is hunting people down everywhere, and since Block is now loosing his chess game, the prospects look bad for all his companions, including the jester family that travels with them.

At the end of the movie, the knight’s time is almost up. But then Block plays a last, desperate trick to distract death; he knocks the pieces over to buy time. And while this is happening, the jester family manages to escape.

Which very much resembles what happens in this promo picture, doesn’t it?

In The Seventh Seal Death simply puts the pieces back in place again on the chess board, and finally wins over Block. Which doesn’t matter much to him, since he already has managed to do his single, meaningful act before he dies; saving a whole family.

But this is precisely what I don’t think will happen in Sherlock. Because Sherlock already tried this in TRF (‘committing suicide’ with the delusion that this would protect John), and it didn’t work; it nearly destroyed John and ultimately made Sherlock lose him. And on John’s blog (which I believe better reflects ‘reality’ than the TV show) it says #sherlocklives means #johnwatsonlives. Which means that Sherlock’s only way to save John Watson is by staying alive. I do think that Sherlock is nearly dying in S4, and The Final Problem is about staying alive. Which I think he has managed this far, but if Sherlock is playing chess against his own brain (=Mycroft) with his heart looking on (=John), he can’t outsmart his own brain. And at the end of HLV Sherlock says to John “the game is never over”.

So maybe Sherlock has to continue playing ‘the game’ also into S5. Fortunately, in Chess there’s something called a draw, which might be the solution here; a tie, a truce, an agreement between Sherlock’s heart and brain, with mutual respect preserved. And maybe Sherlock has managed to buy some time by knocking over the pieces, so no-one has to die, ‘everybody lives!’ (as the Doctor would say in DW ;) )

Block says in The Sevent Seal that he knows that Death plays chess because he has seen it in paintings. Here’s the medieval church painting (15th century, by Albertus Pictor) that allegedly inspired Bergman to film this theme:

Which means that the theme with Death playing chess is actually quite old.

Here is also an interview with Bergman about The Seventh Seal. Particularly interesting, in my opinion, is the part at about 7 minutes into the interview, where Bergman is talking about film ’reality’ and the audience believing in it. According to this other guy in the video clip, Bergman got the question: “What is he trying to do when he makes a film?” And Bergman answered:  “Well, I’m not trying to make it real, I’m trying to make it alive”. I have a distinct feeling that the same goes for Mofftiss.

Source of chess promo pictures (X)

Tagging some folks who might be interested: @sagestreet @sarahthecoat @gosherlocked @raggedyblue @88thparallel @darlingtonsubstitution @tjlcisthenewsexy @sherlockshadow @consultingidiots @monikakrasnorada @loveismyrevolution @sectoralheterochromiairidum