By 
Victor Aldertree resurfaced on Shadowhunters.
And, to the surprise of no one who’s been paying attention, he remains the worst.
“Heavenly Fire” gave us the scoop on Project Heavenly Fire aka the Clave’s unsanctioned program for Downworlders.
Izzy, being her usual genius BAMF self, concocted a plan: send Simon in as a fake prisoner, make sure he’s sent to the program, and use Seelie rings to communicate.
Obviously things had to go spectacularly wrong because 1) it’s a TV show and 2) Simon Lewis rarely gets a break.
Neither does Izzy, for that matter.
After she strong-armed Aline into assisting her, she met with the head of the program: Victor Aldertree.
Can we talk about his arrogance? He got Izzy hooked on drugs, manipulated her and the others at the Institute, and then, since she visited him under the guise of forgiveness, thought he had a chance with her?
(Insert all the eye rolls).
While they were having dinner, Simon found himself locked in a room with other prisoners, including Raphael.
A woman watched over them and every few hours, a name would be called, and that person would never come back. Ominous, right?
Raphael’s number was up and he took his punishment even though Simon did his best to try and take his place (Because that’s just how Simon rolls).
Simon catches his captor’s attention, but still manages to slip away to the room where the prisoners are being kept. And—surprise—they’re human now!
Raphael is totally cool with it, but Iris is not amused at having her power stolen. Which, fair. Taking away what makes people different is not acceptable.
Iris sucks, but she deserves to be locked up; not stripped of her power.
Aline and Izzy learn Aldertree is planning to put the “cure” in the water supply and turn all the Downworlders against their will. She tries to warn Simon, but he no longer has his ring: his female captor does.
But here’s the thing: she’s half-Downworlder. Meet Helen Blackthorn, ladies and gentleman. The daughter of a Seelie and a Shadowhunter and this is not what she signed up for.
Helen, Simon, and Raphael take out the supply of Heavenly Fire (except for a few vials, which she gives him to help Clary).
Izzy gets the satisfaction of (easily) kicking Aldertree’s ass, and then Aline arrives with the guard to take him away.
(Aline and Helen also have the briefest meet and there are sparks, people).
Meanwhile, back at the New York Institute, Jonathan is refusing to talk to anyone other than Clary. She’s cool with it as long as Jace is nearby.
Basically, this is Jonathan’s feel-sorry-for-me origin story. And it is awful what happened to him.
Valentine experimented on him, sent him to Edom, and Lilith kept him prisoner, insisting no one would love him but her—especially not his sister.
Of course it’s traumatic and sad, but here’s the thing: Bad childhoods do not make it okay to murder people, torture people, or give anyone the right to burn down civilizations that wronged them.
Yes, he was a victim, but he’s not the hero or even an antihero. He’s a killer.
Unfortunately, Clary has a huge heart and family matters to her, even the creepy ones. Because she dreamt of Jonathan and rescuing him from the Edom Tower of Terror.
She was his princess.
I still don’t think Clary’s going to turn fully evil. But as long as she has that rune, her connection to Jonathan will be impossible to shake.
And that’s what he’s counting on.
Alec and Magnus didn’t have a lot to do this week, but they still managed to have the most heartbreaking scenes.
(They’re that powerful).
The episode began with Alec being a bit more nervous than usual around Magnus. He wanted a romantic evening to propose.
Side note: I love that Jace picked up on it and asked in his blunt what’s-your-problem Jace way. I’m always here for the bond.
But when Magnus showed up to the dinner, he was drunk. Like slurring, the room is spinning, let me tell you how I really feel drunk.
Since, as we discussed last week, Alec still didn’t quite grasp what losing magic meant to Magnus, Magnus let his feelings pour out uninhibited.
Basically, he accused Alec of always wanting him to be nothing more than a Mundane.
Harsh, but we know there is some truth in that. Alec is more than okay with the idea of Magnus growing old and dying with him.
It’s a terrible situation. Because both men are right—everyone is entitled to feel their feelings—and both men are wrong—you can’t force the person you love to change.
Magnus attempted to leave after he realized he’d said the quiet parts out loud, but Alec literally held onto him and pleaded with him to, “let me be here with you.”
Heart eyes…that are also crying…
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