This had been bothering me for the last couple years, and I'm sure many other fans as well. As the series made a lot of hooky moves between Seasons 3-4, the question kept lingering in my mind: How/why did Abbie choose Molly?
I always wanted the next Witness to be Jenny, since a Witness' eternal soul passes onto another upon his/her demise, or desire. The mantle should've been passed onto her sis, but instead was passed onto Molly, a ten-year old who resides in Washington, and daughter to two Marines as well as the mother being the Head of Homeland Security. It got more bizarre as Lara (Molly's future counterpart) came to be. Which left me very confused. I understand future vessels changing the past, like Trunks in DBZ, or the captain counterparts in Star Trek: Voyager, or the two paradoxes in Ocarina of Time.
I've recently been doing some brain-racking. And I'm not sure if any of this would make sense. But, the time shift that Abbie and Katrina made may be a clue. Yes, the results were averted thanks to Grace's Traveler's Spell, but it may have something to do with this; also, she offered Abbie her journal, and said it was incomplete, meaning there's some crucial part in the war. Perhaps of the demise of a Witness later on...
As time passed, it's all been retconned, which REALLY pissed me off. Hence the idea of my OC, Gavin, breaking off from the Mills sisters after Ichabod's disappearance. During that time, he honed new skills and eventually went to an altered dimension where he discovered of his ancestor, his great-uncle, Leon Lucas. He turned out to be real, and actually existed shooting a Hessian. It's not really Death, though, unlike the disoriented Sleepy Hollow, though it was proof that Gavin is his distant descendant. It was later shown in The Missing Episodes, that destinies can be passed by blood, much like the Mills' ancestors. As well as bondage, in my oneshot, The Demon from Within.
Ichabod deciphered the tablet partially, that was until the Hidden One destroyed it, as well as the pieces of the Emblem of Thura. 2,000 years ago, the Witnesses first existed in Sleepy Hollow. In my fic, The Missing Episodes, I believed they'd existed since time immemorial, as God has entrusted two Witnesses to protect the world from evil and Lucifer's treachery. It should be mentioned that they were called Destroyers that not only there should be 2 people, but also they WERE labeled as such, since religion believes they'd been persecuted. In my theory, I believed the distant relatives of either Moses and/or Elijah shed their blood in Sleepy Hollow, churning it into a land of monsters, opening the realm of Purgatory (where Lucifer's servant, Moloch, dwells), and resulting in endless horror.
Since then, the blood of the Witnesses have dwindled, and so much time has passed since the connection, until around the Revolution. In the distant island of Britain, Ichabod was soon chosen, somewhat, as was Grace. During the revolt of Britain's tyranny, he was brought to Sleepy Hollow, and eventually met Katrina who sensed he bares witness and he doesn't support the king's cruelty. After Arthur's death, he came into terms of his destiny, thanks to Katrina's tendering as well as knowing of the Witnesses, and also Abraham for driving both people to the Americas. In my Missing Episodes, I believed that Washington has chosen Ichabod as a Witness himself as he admired his skills and talents, perhaps watching him discreetly before being a Turncoat; he probably had Katrina's same intuition that Ichabod's intentions were good, and maybe Washington was a Witness before him since he created his own Bible and Revelations. Ichabod was soon put into sleep as ordered by Washington since he carried the mantle, though his Bible was unfinished.
There was the Archives, and Agency 355 to which Washington chose Ichabod as its leader following his resurrection. Ezra found out later, though people tend to lose their way. I think Ichabod did just that as a Witness transformed into one of the Horsemen (War, carrying the blood tie, like father like son). Even during that spiritual trial by the Spider Demon. Then, Grace passed on her legacy to Martha Dixon, then Lori (to which Moloch sensed and caused endless horror upon her), and soon Abbie. Since the Witnesses were persecuted, several Guardians were chosen to protect them bestowing them the Seven Sacred Virtues, to which was never revealed. It wasn't until the early Tribulations came to be, since it was supposed to be 7 years instead of 4. So, it was post-haste.
I think, when Abbie visited DC during some FBI assignments with Reynolds, she probably met Diana and Molly. She may have been interested that she's a Marine and Head of Homeland Security, and fascinated with Molly somehow. By the time she relocated back to SH from Quantico, Pandora came to be, and she sacrificed herself twice. In the Catacombs, she was constantly distracted by the Emblem of Thura. Later on, it was revealed it was a sign of the Witness' unity, they must remain as one. I think it's not just passed down by blood, but by also strong bonds as well (like Ichabiie, or Ichabod and Gavin). I feel that Abbie passed the mantle to Molly instead of Jenny cause she was into her innocence and somehow sensed her potential as she traveled through time, and maybe still harbor some feelings of resentment to Jenny from their pasts and weak bondage..?
One fan said to me it has to do with the Tree of Fear/Knowledge, in which Abbie knew of Molly's vessel, Lara, since she was a time traveler herself and foresaw her dystopian future; hence choosing Molly at the heart of democracy. It may be possible since Ichabod's fond of freedom. There may be a connection there, as well as Witnesses and Guardians being passed down by blood and bondage. Hence Ichabod to Gavin, and Lara to Jenny since (as Molly) she remembered their relationship. I only wish the fans would put all the pieces together eventually, unlike what the corporate FOX and Disney failed to do. So, I ask you, what do you all think?