WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 12 of Moriarty the Patriot, "A Scandal in the British Empire, Act 1," now streaming on Funimation.
Moriarty the Patriot's second cour premiere begins the next phase of the spinoff with scandal, deception -- and a dip in the Thames. Picking up where Episode 11's Mycroft Holmes tease left off, the anime is starting to veer closer than ever into Black Butler's territory, with Sherlock's older brother taking Ciel Phantomhive's role as Queen Victoria's "loyal dog." Their combative relationship comes to the fore in Episode 12, "A Scandal in the British Empire, Act 1," and he's not the only one on Sherlock's case. The episode also brings another classic Holmes figure into the fold: Irene Adler.
Despite the prominence that modern adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories have given her, Adler only actually appeared in a single Sherlock Holmes mystery, "A Scandal in Bohemia," which this episode of Moriarty references not only in title, but also by way of Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, the King of Bohemia. After Mycroft pays Sherlock an unexpected visit -- reigniting their brotherly rivalry through a paintball fight (that Sherlock loses) -- to warn him of the dangers of women, the King meets with Sherlock and Dr. John Watson in secret. He offers the pair a huge sum of money if they can recover an incriminating photograph of himself with Adler, a noted American-born prima donna, and courtesan, from Adler's possession. Though as Queen Victoria's conversation with Mycroft reveals, she might have a lot more scandalous secrets than just an embarassing royal hook-up up her sleeve.
Unable to turn down a decade's worth of rent money, the jobbing detectives go in search of the photo at Adler's estate in disguise. Unbeknownst to them, she's already pulled the same trick: the King of Bohemia was actually her all along. Having lured them to the house, she gets the better of them again by foiling their fake house fire plot with actual fire, before seemingly destroying the photo they were after in the blaze. As recompense, she insists on moving into the famous 221b Baker Street, causing friction between herself and Sherlock's landlady, Miss. Hudson, and forcing Sherlock to become her personal shopping assistant to build her lost wardrobe back up.
Sherlock remains oblivious, it seems, to Irene Adler's real goal, which is using him as a human shield against the many prying eyes currently on her: from Mycroft, representing Queen and country, to Moriarty, representing the criminal underworld. Towards the episode's end, we, and Sherlock, also get to see a little more of her softer side when she throws herself in London's most notable river to rescue a bullied young actress. This suggests that she'll be used as more of an antiheroine in the way Moriarty has been characterized.
What's harder to tell this early on is whether Moriarty the Patriot will keep Adler and Holmes' interest in one another purely professional, or create a more romantic bond between them as many adaptations have opted to do. Those enjoying the subtextual tension between "Liam" and "Sherly" will probably prefer the former.
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