![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SEC_263604033-06b1.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe plan was incredibly clever (Picture: ITV\/Metro)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tThe plan was incredibly clever (Picture: ITV\/Metro)<\/p>\n
Emmerdale\u2019s John Sugden<\/a> (Oliver Farnworth<\/a>) isn\u2019t your typical soap villain. Following his introduction last year, the character has now been responsible for a variety of crimes ranging from drugging to murder, and they were all committed with one aim in mind \u2013 to be a hero.<\/p>\n His complex mindset was explored in great detail last week, when John rang a mental health helpline and unknowingly spoke to Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). <\/p>\n He mentioned his distant brother Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley)<\/a>, and how he\u2019s been compared to him for most of his life.<\/p>\n It was this moment that got us thinking about John\u2019s character arc, and how his plan for Aaron was highlighted in his very first scenes.<\/p>\n \t\t Let\u2019s discuss John\u2019s mindset first of all. When his connection to the Sugden family was revealed, we learnt that John was born as a result of his mother and Jack Sugden having a brief fling.<\/p>\n In the phone call with Paddy, he revealed that he had constantly been compared to Robert. The severity of Robert\u2019s crime that saw him sentenced to prison in 2019 meant John could\u2019ve easily researched his sibling and discovered where he used to live. <\/p>\n Because we live in a world where everything is online now, John would\u2019ve also been able to access pictures of Robert and Aaron together.<\/p>\n Desperate for approval and to be better than the sibling he\u2019s never met, John\u2019s plan to steal Robert\u2019s life began prior to his first scenes.<\/p>\n The dating app<\/p>\n In 2024, Aaron set off out of the village to meet a man from a dating app in a hotel. On the way, he stopped due to John flagging him down. He revealed that his van was broken, and needed to borrow a phone to call a garage.<\/p>\n John and Aaron got talking as Aaron had a look at the vehicle. It was then confirmed John was the man from the app and instead of sleeping together in a hotel room, they did it in the back of John\u2019s van.<\/a><\/p>\n Hanging around near the village meant the chances of John landing on Aaron\u2019s dating radius were pretty high.<\/p>\n \t\t John could\u2019ve driven off there and then and never laid eyes on Aaron again. <\/p>\n Instead, he waited until Aaron was going to the loo in a bush and sped away, knowing the keys to Eric Pollard\u2019s (Chris Chittell<\/a>) car were inside his van.<\/p>\n It left Aaron stranded, and with also no choice but to find John again to get the keys back.<\/p>\n As John \u2018reluctantly\u2019 waited in the village for Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) to fix the van again, he began a casual relationship with Aaron.<\/a><\/p>\n Does anyone else think John broke the van deliberately?<\/p>\n Meeting at the side of the road and matching on the app wasn\u2019t coincidence or fate \u2013 it was all part of John\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n \t\t As the relationship started to blossom, we started to see more of John\u2019s hero complex. <\/p>\n He orchestrated deadly events with residents at the centre of them, knowing he could swoop in at the last moment and save their lives. Sometimes, John would plan these because he felt paranoid about Aaron potentially leaving him. Other times, they were committed because he wanted to impress someone else.<\/p>\n Take Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter<\/a>) for example. John drugged and then saved her because he could sense that she wasn\u2019t a huge fan of him. He was hailed a hero by Chas and her family after and ever since, she\u2019s seen him as an incredibly good person.<\/p>\n Covering up Anthony\u2019s murder<\/p>\n Disposing of Anthony Fox\u2019s body (seriously where is it) <\/a>was also an event that saw John praised by Aaron\u2019s family members. <\/p>\n It was obvious that everything had been carefully thought out and as a result, John was getting what he had craved all of his life \u2013 to not get compared to Robert.<\/p>\n Meeting his brother<\/p>\n Shortly after Robert\u2019s return earlier in the year, he was placed back inside due to breaking his bail conditions. During this process, John properly met Robert for the first time, and was thrown when his sibling was able to work out there was something dodgy about him.<\/p>\n Robert called John the \u2018unwanted rut\u2019 and said that he\u2019s trying to \u2018take his life\u2019. Unbeknownst to Robert, he had John\u2019s plot nailed in that exact moment.<\/p>\n The cottage<\/p>\n \t\t An oblivious Aaron agreed to a holiday with John, unaware they would be staying in his childhood home. <\/p>\n They arrived at the house days after John\u2019s violent showdown with Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb). As Aaron got settled in, John headed to the woods and was seen trying to shoot a deer with a bow and arrow. <\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t bring himself to do it, and headed back to the cottage. There, John asked Aaron if he thinks he\u2019s a weak man. Aaron reassured his husband, telling him that he\u2019s the strongest person he\u2019s ever met.<\/p>\n Given everything we\u2019ve just discussed and what we know about John now, this would\u2019ve worked wonders on him. Again, he wasn\u2019t being likened to Robert. If anything, Aaron\u2019s comments proved he thought John was better.<\/p>\n The gorge<\/p>\n \t\t Even when John told Aaron<\/a> everything about his crimes, he still believed that they could be together forever. <\/p>\n The arrival of Robert moments before John reported himself to the police caused more drastic action from the deranged man. A paranoid John knew that if he went to prison, Robert and Aaron could reunite \u2013 and that was quite literally his worst nightmare.<\/p>\n He grabbed Aaron, told him that no-one else can have him, and jumped off the cliff.<\/a><\/p>\n Overall, it was a clever, complex and cunning plan from John Sugden, but he chose to move to Emmerdale, where secrets never stay hidden forever. <\/p>\n It was never going to work.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/17_07_coro_cain_john_02-bb40-e1755768233685.jpg\")
\n\t\tJohn always believed he was doing the right thing (Picture: ITV)
\nWhat we know about John Sugden\u2019s mindset<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/19_08_emm_john_aaron-5363.jpg\")
\n\t\tIt was a bizarre and disturbing plan \u2013 and it worked for quite a while (Picture: ITV)<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/John-hunts-down-Mack-in-the-woods-00d0-e1756376718439.jpg\")
\n\t\tJohn has created many deadly events, craving praise from others (Picture: ITV)<\/p>\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/29_08_coro_aaron_john_02-43a4.jpg\")
\n\t\tAaron became convinced that John was the strongest man he\u2019s ever known (Picture: ITV)<\/p>\n![\"Emmerdale's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SEC_264724956-20c0.jpg\")
\n\t\tJohn never wanted to lose Aaron (Picture: ITV)<\/p>\n
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