To this day, Sheldon Cooper remains one of the most annoying and insufferable characters on television. Both his younger and adult versions are very popular with viewers from an entertainment standpoint, but pretty much everyone agrees that they wouldn’t be able to coexist with such a person.

The gang of scientist friends that Sheldon ended up with when he moved to Pasadena didn’t think his emotional intelligence was up to par, so they didn’t expect much from him. However, everyone seemed to accept and acknowledge Sheldon’s genius, as if he was truly exceptional at what he did.

The Big Bang Theory has also strongly implied that Sheldon Cooper was the only kid like him in all of Texas, which made him so special to so many people around him. However, Young Sheldon continues to bust that myth.

Young Sheldon vs. The Big Bang Theory

Despite the fact that both series exist in the same universe, the prequel was never bound by the canon established during the course of The Big Bang Theory. The main differences involved George Cooper and his relationship with Mary, of course, but the story of Sheldon himself did not remain unchanged too.

First of all, the viewers were introduced to Young Sheldon’s Paige. With proper attention, the girl could have outsmarted Sheldon and reached even greater heights, making his intelligence suddenly seem less special. The final season, and the unexpected revelation that even Sheldon might need a tutor, ultimately knocked him off his pedestal.

Even though Young Sheldon just confirmed that Sheldon is nothing special or superior to all of his peers, some fans figured it out much earlier. Discussing Sheldon’s level of intelligence on the r/YoungSheldon subreddit, user @tiacalypso explained why they don’t really think he’s all that smart.

“He has an extremely high crystallised intelligence which means he has learnt a lot of material in his life span, and retained the knowledge, and is able to access it. His reasoning and abstraction don’t seem that far above average, his social cognition is very far below average.”

Given that this discussion took place years ago, the show hasn’t really been pushing the same narrative that The Big Bang Theory has from the beginning. At this point, Sheldon’s genius might as well be a collective hallucination, as was the entire original series.

If you want to see what else young Sheldon will be able to change in The Big Bang Theory’s canon during its final season, tune in to CBS every Thursday to make sure you don’t miss another episode.