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Is Clary a Shadowhunter or a mundane?
Does Jace want to join Valentine’s anti-Downworlders squad—or does he still believe in the Clave’s law?
Aldertree and Raphael each bullied Simon into doing their bidding, but is he cut out to be a vampire?
Lost without his Parabatai, how far is Alec willing to go to get him back?
These were only a few of the questions being wrestled with on the latest episode of Shadowhunters. While the season premiere tackled the nature vs. nurture question, “A Door into the Dark” grappled with a sense of belonging.
We learned more about what Valentine did to his unborn son in the womb. Jocelyn showed Clary a flashback to her baby killing flowers with his eyes. She also shared a warning from Ragnor Fell: her son would leave death and destruction in his wake.
(Freeform/John Medland)
Does this justify Jocelyn trying to kill Jace on sight? I don’t think so. Besides the glaring lack of DNA test, she doesn’t know him at all. She knows Clary, she raised Clary, but refuses to trust her judgement or even hear her out. I can’t blame Clary for washing her hands of her mother—and the rest of the Shadowhunters—when no one wanted to give her a chance.
That said, I’m glad we didn’t waste too much time on Clary at art school (we all knew what choice she’d make). Clary and Jace’s initial reunion started off rough (points to Jace for assuming it was another trick). Things were made worse when Dot manipulated Clary on Valentine’s behalf (who remains a smart villain—he knows how much Jace trusts her).
Thankfully, Clary used their shared history to get Dot back on the right side (How heartbreaking was it when Dot asked why they stopped looking for her?). This scene served as a reminder that it’s possible for Clary to be a Shadowhunter AND hold onto pieces of her old life.
She showed up in the nick of time to stop Jace from participating in Valentine’s homicidal plans (come on #Clace shippers: you know you swooned when all it took was one word from her to get his attention). Jace fought their way out, and Dot provided a final assist by removing the wards so they could jump ship (Valentine killed the wolf anyway, but let’s take the wins where we can get them).
(Freeform/John Medland)
Elsewhere, pairing Magnus and Simon for a team up brought some much needed lighter moments to the episode (like Magnus requesting his hair as payment and Simon referring to himself as a scrappy nerd from Brooklyn). I absolutely covered my eyes during the snake scene, but from what I’m told, Simon found his inner vampire power, and subdued the monster.
More importantly, the journey to Camille’s apartment in India opened up some new mysteries. First, what’s in the box Simon found? Second, what’s up with the dagger Magnus studied, and freaked out over, when Simon attempted to use it? I’m looking forward to those answers almost as much as I’m looking forward to more of these two together.
One of the many, many things I love about Magnus is when we get to glimpse his vulnerable side. We saw it last week in his talk with Alec, and here, he opened up to Simon about how difficult it was for him to acclimate to the warlock world. He’s willing to give mentoring Simon a try (with a stress on the try part) so he doesn’t have to suffer the same loneliness as he finds his way.
(Freeform/John Medland)
Of course Magnus might soon have an even bigger issue on his hands than educating a newbie vamp. A third magical object introduced by Luke (apparently his mother is an Iron Sister!) created a dire situation.
Jocelyn took the shiny rock to Alec and Izzy. She wanted to use it on the Parabatai bond to track Jace, or more specifically, Clary. But she warned it might have fatal consequences.
Alec jumped at the chance, even as Izzy worried about the danger. Knowing the next episode is titled “Parabatai Lost”, I think we all guessed this would go south even before Jocelyn activated the rock. Alec connected to Jace, and just like last time, the bond started to weaken both of them. Things got worse for Alec fast. His nose bled and the rock slipped from his hand as he experienced a seizure.
Miscellaneous Musings
-Welcome back, Raphael. You remain one of my favorites, even when you’re threatening another one of my favorites.
-Team Lydia. I love her in general, but even more so for standing up to Aldertree in defense of Alec and Izzy.
-Luke is too good for Jocelyn (sorry shippers, but she’s the worst).
-Ladies, don’t you wish you could take your frustrations out the way Izzy did on that fighter? BAMF. (Violence in real life is wrong, though, so just imagine it in your head).
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