#shadowhunters 2b discussion

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 16 Day of Atonement Review/Discussion

I know, I am soooo far behind on these. I’ve been really busy with work and these episodes as well as the fandom haven’t really been inspiring me to write. But I’m definitely going to get them done. So let’s go back in time to a few weeks ago.

Here we are again with another Shadowhunters review. This time we had Season 2 Episode 16, Day of Atonement. I actually really enjoyed this episode. It had a nice Vampire Diaries feel to it.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling you how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, let’s discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about the show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters; I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do love the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my love of the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as it’s good and it makes sense. My problems with this show are problems that I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world-building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the show and spoilers for the books and movie.

I had kind of a nice time with this episode which is really saying something considering how underwhelmed I’ve been with this show lately. It had a really nice Vampire Diaries feel to it which is no surprise considering who was directing it. Paul Wesley can come back to direct at any time. He did a really good job with this episode. There was a nice, balanced tone in this episode that just hasn’t been present in this show before. This felt like a Vampire Diaries episode in the sense that it was all about character dynamics. As much as some people love to hate The Vampire Diaries, I have never been able to get on that band wagon. Yes, sometimes the plots get a little wacky and the timelines don’t always match up and make sense, but that’s never been what The Vampire Diaries is about. It’s always been about the characters and that’s what I love about The Vampire Diaries. The characters and their dynamics make you feel things and that’s something that Shadowhunters has a hard time with sometimes. The Vampire Diaries has moved me to tears countless times and Shadowhunters has never really done that. There’s been a couple of times where I started to get teary-eyed but never to the point where I had a full blown waterfall coming out of my eyes that Vampire Diaries has done to me so many times. I want that to happen with Shadowhunters but they just can’t seem to find the right mixture of tone, dialogue, and music. There’s always something that takes you out of the scene. Now, I know that I compare this show a lot to the Vampire Diaries and there’s a reason for that. It’s that from Day 1, Shadowhunters has been trying to emulate and become the next Vampire Diaries. They’re really trying and in this episode, they finally got really close and I’m happy for them. I love the Vampire Diaries and if they can stick with a Vampire Diaries kind of tone, this show could stick around for a while. People can complain about the Vampire Diaries but guess what, none of that changes the fact that it stuck around for 8 seasons. Not every show can say that. They had to have been doing something that people liked to have gotten that far. Granted, I’m not completely in love with Shadowhunters yet; the plot and characters are far too inconsistent for that. I can only hope that Shadowhunters will keep on improving and eventually find its way to 8 seasons as well.

Robert Lightwood’s Return

So Team Good is talking about the consequences they may now face from allowing Valentine to escape during the transfer. Clary brings up that what happened wasn’t really their fault but Alec responds with it happened while he was the Head of the Institute so he intends to hold himself accountable for it and Izzy says she plans to hold herself accountable since she was in charge of the prisoner transfer. These two are actually fighting over who’s going to take responsibility. They both want to. See, Clary, this is what actual responsible adults do. They take responsibility. Granted, it’s not really their fault but that’s the hazard of being in a leadership position. When you become a leader, you’re held accountable for everyone under you. Whether they make good decisions or bad decisions, it all reflects back onto you. And that’s why despite this not actually being Izzy or Alec’s fault, it’s why they’re willing to own up to it. They’re good, responsible leaders. Jace and Clary could really learn something from Alec and Izzy. Out of all of the times Clary and Jace went out and did things on their own up to this point, when were they actually held accountable for any of it? Never. When their decisions were called into question, it was Alec and Izzy that paid for it. I may be a little salty towards Clary but this is a big reason that I have for it. She’s being treated like she’s this amazing adult but yet she can’t do something as simple as hold herself accountable for any of her actions. Can you really call her this selfless and wonderful character if her decisions always negatively impact her friends and she never apologizes for it or owns up to it? It’s a little like that in the books too, but the difference is Clary in the books was 16. That’s kind of how everyone is at the age of 16. However, Show Clary has aged up. She’s an actual adult here who still possesses the mindset of a 16-year-old it seems. It would be nice if she even thought about taking responsibility for her actions. In my eyes, that’s what makes a good protagonist but maybe I’m the dumb one.

But as they’re discussing the possible leadership change as Alec is pretty sure he’s going to get fired, Robert Lightwood pops back up and explains that’s not going to happen. He’s bought them a little time. It was interesting having him back I guess, but ultimately, as a character, I much prefer Maryse. That and the way he talks about this affair just rubs me the wrong way. First off, he tries to equate what he did with what Alec has with Magnus. As Alec blatantly said, Magnus wasn’t an affair. You go, Alec. Yes, he was on the altar getting ready to marry Lydia and he might’ve actually gone through with it despite Magnus being there because he’s a good man. But really, when you think about it, what allowed him to go and kiss Magnus was Lydia essentially telling him, “I’ve experienced being with the one I love but you haven’t. I understand that feeling and I’m not going to keep you from it. Go. I’ll be fine.” Lydia was such a great person. I hope someday the show will bring her back. I don’t necessarily like the idea for WHY her character exists but I like what the show ultimately did with her. I just wish she could’ve continued on with the show and we could’ve gotten to know her a little more. Instead, the show keeps on putting in other original characters that I don’t care about like Luke’s partner. But anyway, I was talking about this affair. Robert trying to equate what he did with what Alec did is so not cool on so many different levels. Both as a father to their child and human to human. Honestly, that line really didn’t need to be there. It just made Robert look like an idiot. But hey, who am I kidding? If you’re a shadowhunter and you’re not Clary, Izzy, Alec, or Jace, you’re pretty much the scum of the universe. That’s just how this show rolls. Shadowhunters as a tv show doesn’t do well with shades of grey even though they could if they actually tried. They just don’t care to. And I also didn’t like how Robert was all, “What was I supposed to do? I fell in love.” That is not an acceptable excuse for cheating on your wife. You made an oath to stand by her side until death. I can somewhat be okay with characters who cheat on their boyfriend/girlfriend (it’s still a horrible thing to do but I won’t automatically hate them forever for it) but once marriage is in the picture and you cheat, you’re on my shit list because you made a vow, a promise, and by cheating, you broke that. Your word means absolutely nothing after that. Sorry, I got a little fired up. Cheating while married is a bit of a sore spot for me and Robert explaining the affair wasn’t doing anything to help redeem the character in my eyes. I also absolutely despised that the show implied Luke and Jocelyn had an affair in Season One so this isn’t just a Robert Lightwood thing. I understand with shadowhunters that once they fall in love, it’s a really big deal for them but at the same time they also respect the bonds of marriage. Robert’s entire explanation was incredibly dumb and it didn’t need to be there. I understand that the show is trying to create conflict between Alec and Robert. It just felt like in this moment, the writers were trying a little too hard to slip in some drama. Now, I’m not opposed to drama and conflict in a show. In fact, I love drama and conflict in my shows. However, when it’s written, it should always feel organic and this did not. The way it was written, it felt very forced and very staged. I had much the same issues with the parabatai fight in Season 1. It wasn’t so much the fact that they were fighting that was the problem, it was the fact that it felt staged and didn’t feel organic to the story being told. And besides, I don’t understand the logic of telling your children you cheated on their mother because you fell in love with someone else. You’re essentially telling your kids that their mother and the children themselves weren’t enough for you. What kind of father says that? A douche father, that’s who. Is Robert trying to make his kids hate him?

It was also a little weird to me that Izzy is kind of apathetic to the whole situation considering how close she was with her father. Particularly in Season 1. I really wanted her to get angry but no, the only time she gets moderately angry with him is when she scolds him for yelling at Max. And that was just a weird scene in general. Honestly, that whole thing with Robert yelling at Max off screen was a dumb decision to make. When you write, you always have to make the decision on show vs tell. There are some situations where showing works better and there are other situations where telling works better. The writers made a bad call on this one. They went the telling route when they should’ve gone with show. And I’ll tell you why. I felt nothing in this scene where Izzy is reprimanding Robert about what happened with Max. I wasn’t feeling any drama or angst. It was just a conversation that was there and I was perfectly willing to forget about it once it was over. However, showing this altercation where Robert does yell at Max and showing Izzy witnessing the state Max was in afterwards, would’ve been so much more powerful and it would’ve made the Robert and Izzy scene more impactful. Because it would’ve shown Izzy’s emotional connection to what happened between Max and Robert. But writers making weird writing decisions in this show, nothing new.

Here We Are With Clace Again

With Climon broken up, it means we’re back to Clace now. Oh joy. Now, don’t worry, I’m not a Climon shipper and I don’t actually have a problem with Clace. It’s not even that I don’t like them in the show. I’m just apathetic towards Clace as a couple in the show. There’s nothing interesting about the dynamic these two have in the show. I don’t understand why these two have such strong feelings towards each other. Even their romantic chemistry is off. They’ve always felt more like siblings to me than anything else. Which is probably why I didn’t altogether mind the time period when they thought they were siblings in the show. I wasn’t exactly counting down the days to when they found out the truth. The sibling dynamic they have feels so much more organic. Their chemistry just worked better that way. I really wish I could ship Show Clace in the show but I just can’t. I liked Book Clace perfectly fine. Not as much as Sizzy or Malec but I still cared about them and wanted them to succeed. In the show, I just don’t care. Any scene they try to be romantic in just comes off as, blah. And I’m sorry if you’re a hardcore Show Clace shipper, but I can’t help what I don’t feel.

Now, I did see a post recently that was pretty much stating the blogger felt like the show didn’t really need to give reasons for why Show Clary and Jace are falling in love. Their reasoning behind it is the fact that they share the same angel blood. They’re the only two of their kind and that explains the pull they have to each other. Why Jace was so ready to trust her when he first met her. Now I can kind of see that and I can accept that. However, the issue is that being in love and being in a relationship the way the show is building up Clace to be requires more than some sort of blood link. These two are supposed to be endgame which means the show needs to develop their actual personalities and establish the bonds of their personality and not their blood. In other words, why does Jace love Clary? Why does Clary love Jace? When it comes to an actual relationship and making it work, you need more than blood to handle those trials. You need to like the person’s personality as well and I just don’t feel like these two’s personalities have been established well enough for me to get on the Clace train. Life isn’t easy. It’s filled with trials and tribulations. When you, as a couple, are faced with those trials, it’s your individual life experiences combining together that’s going to enable you to get past it. Neither of them have really explored each other’s minds and hearts. All that a blood link means is that you feel comfortable with each other. It’s not enough for an actual foundation of true love. Keep in mind, that’s my own opinion. Feel free to disagree but don’t belittle me for mine.

But anyway, Jace suspects that Valentine might be at a cabin they used to live at when Jace was younger. But the Clave is disapproving the request. So while Clary and Jace are looking at a map, Clary sees a rune in her mind that allows her to create a portal to Idris and she and Jace jump through. And thus, the Clace adventure begins. Clary gets dumped into the lake and for whatever reason, she can’t seem to swim to the surface and Jace has to save her. Again, a very forced plot development so the writers can force some Clace feelings on to me that I really don’t feel. I don’t know why Clary wasn’t able to swim to the surface. Girls typically are rather buoyant in water. It depends on the girl but usually girls can float to the surface pretty quickly. Maybe Clary not being able to swim up is going to play a part later. Who knows? But Clary and Jace start their trek through the woods to this cabin. And once again, Clary does something stupid without thinking of the consequences and no one yells at her for it. She just saw that she could write a rune and create a portal and just did it. She didn’t bother to think about asking if whether she should. She made the portal and pushed Jace in with her not even thinking of the consequence. Of where they could end up. And I’m sure she’ll never face any consequences for this because that’s how this show is. Make Clary feel bad about her actions? Please, this is Shadowhunters, you guys. They need their Mary Sue to be the fullest Mary Sue she can possibly be after all. Now, this scene does exist in the books as well except it’s Luke with her. The only difference is that Luke actually does call her out on behaving like a petulant child throwing a tantrum because she couldn’t get her way. I’m not saying Jace should’ve gone that far with Clary but he should’ve reprimanded her a little for this. It just adds on more that Clary is never going to hold herself accountable for her actions. If she isn’t going to hold herself accountable, can you really call her selfless? For the Clary character, there needs to be a balance between being impulsive and being selfless. It’s a hard balance to strike but if the show can find it, they’ll finally be on their way to making Clary a likeable character in my eyes. Right now, she’s only selfless if it benefits her to be.

As Clary and Jace are trekking through, Clary starts feeling unwell and decides she needs to activate her healing rune but realizes she lost her stele in the lake she was dumped into. Then we have a Clace interaction that I personally cringed at. Clary asks Jace to use his own angelic ability to activate her healing rune and Jace reveals that he’s not sure if he can. And Clary gets bratty and is all, “and you got on me about using my abilities?” I don’t understand this interaction they have. How does Clary using her powers dumbly have anything to do with Jace not using his? Show Clace banter is just so weird and not cute and not romantic. Also, this moment is a prime example of my dislike on how Clary is portrayed. This line couldn’t have been all that bad but when Kat delivered the line, she came off incredibly condescending and that’s another issue I have with the Clary character in this show. I’m not even sure if Kat realizes it when she delivers her lines sometimes, but she cannot pull off sarcasm. Every time she does, she comes off condescending and it really takes me away from her as a character. For sarcasm, you have to have a certain kind of tone for it to work and Kat just cannot find that tone. I’m not saying she’s a bad actress. She’s perfectly fine in a lot of her line delivery. This is just something she’s not good at. But they decide to go back to the lake and see if they can find the stele. Somehow, Jace loses sight of her. I don’t know how (plot convenience, I guess) and she starts running through the woods. She has a weird vision of an angel that tells her that Jonathon is still alive. She thinks he’s talking about Jace. But book readers know he’s referring to Sebastian. This was also weird to me. When she realizes that the angel was actually referring to her real brother, how hasn’t she at least suspect that her brother could actually still be alive before? We all know at this point that Valentine is a liar. But oh well. These characters being idiots for plot convenience, nothing new there.

Izzy eventually joins the party when Jace cuts himself on the hand in an attempt to contact Alec. It was at first weird to me because that’s not really how parabatai works. If you get injured, your parabatai shouldn’t feel your injury. That kind of puts you at a bit of a disadvantage during a fight. If your parabatai gets scratched and you feel it, it could distract you from the fight. That could be the difference between life and death. But on the other side, I also understand why they’re portraying parabatai like this. In the books, so much of the parabatai dynamic is portrayed through the thoughts of whoever’s narrating at the time. However, in film, it’s not the narrator who’s telling the story. Film is at a disadvantage because it has to rely on the characters and their interactions with each other to tell the story. It would be very difficult to really portray parabatai in the show as it is in the books when so much of it is inferred by the narrator. This is just part of the burden of the art of adaptation. Somethings just can’t transfer well over from medium to medium. Sometimes when making an adaptation, change is necessary. So as weird as this is, I can tell the show really wants to tell a parabatai story so they need to change certain aspects of the parabatai mythology to be able to effectively do that. And I want them to tell a parabatai story. The parabatai bond is one of the things I love the most about the books so I want the show to get neck deep into that plot whenever possible. So Alec feels the pain in his palm and realizes that Jace and Clary went through a portal to Idris. He picks up a shard of the portal that shows the lake Clary was dumped into. Alec tells Izzy to go find Jace and Clary. He really wanted to go but also recognized that he’s the head of the NYC Institute so he can’t just up and leave. Robert also tells Izzy that if you drink the water from the lake, it causes you to hallucinate and it will eventually drive you to insanity. So Izzy makes it to Jace and they find Clary but they can’t get close enough to Clary to activate her rune. Clary, for whatever reason, doesn’t recognize them and is fighting back. This would’ve been so much more believable if we had gotten an angle from the perception of Clary on how she was perceiving Izzy and Jace in that moment. Paul Wesley dropped the ball a little on this one. It just felt weird that all of the sudden, she didn’t recognize them -- particularly since we only saw her have one hallucination with the angel that may not have been an hallucination. And that particular hallucination didn’t have anything to do with her not recognizing Jace and Izzy. But plot convenience, you know. We need to have another forced Clace interaction after all. I don’t know how someone who’s only been training for a month at the most can best supposedly the two best shadowhunters of their generation but like I said, plot convenience. Jace eventually gets to her and he’s able to use his angelic power to activate her healing rune that takes away the hallucinations before she goes insane. Shame, I would’ve liked to have seen Clary go insane for a little bit. Again, I’m never a big fan of Clace scenes but I was okay with this one. The tone was nice, the music was inserted very nicely. It just worked as a romantic scene barring the cheesy dialogue, of course.

“Are you okay?”

“Now that you are.”

Sorry, there’s no way you can deliver those lines and it not sound cheesy. But the tone of the scene really helped sell it.

The Atoning Part of the Episode

Maia and Simon had some really great scenes with Simon’s family. I really enjoyed those. Valentine and Sebastian/Jonathon had some great scenes as well. I kind of liked the symmetry of these two plot points. Finding atonement and finding forgiveness. It was really nice.

Also, I love that Sebastian/Jonathon and Valentine are now in scenes together. Separately, as villains, they’re very over the top and it can be difficult to take them seriously but on the other side, when they’re together, it kind of humanizes them in a way and I enjoy seeing that dynamic. There were some plot issues with Sebastian/Jonathon being sent to Edom that didn’t really make much sense. So Valentine takes Sebastian/Jonathon to the woods because they need the isolation and while Sebastian/Jonathon is there, he kills a boy. Okay, earlier in the episode, it was revealed that these woods are frequented by feral werewolves. I understand why Valentine would risk his children’s lives but where did this other boy come from? Why would you take your child to a place where it’s known to have feral werewolves? Who was this boy? Where was this boy living? Where were his parents? To me, it would’ve made more sense if Sebastian had tried to kill Jace when they were kids and that is what spurred Valentine to send Sebastian to Edom. He realized that Sebastian was far too unstable. This plot is also weird in the sense that he sends Sebastian to Edom. I’m assuming Valentine did it to result in Sebastian’s death but still, why wouldn’t he just kill him outright? Is killing a child too low for even him? I don’t know. He’s responsible for Jocelyn’s death and didn’t even bat an eye.

Ultimately, this felt like a B- episode. It was really more filler than anything else. Regardless, I still kind of enjoyed it. As always, weird things afoot that take you out of the episode but there’s still plenty of things to enjoy. It had a nice balanced tone that I enjoyed. Some people have complained that they didn’t like Paul Wesley as a director in this episode but whenever I talk to those people, it feels like they have more of an issue with the script than anything else. The director does not write the script, people. Much like the actors, if the script’s trash, then there’s only so much a director can do. I think Paul Wesley did just fine with the material he was given. He could’ve definitely done more with the whole hallucination bit, but he created a really nice tone for the episode that I enjoyed. I feel like this was kind of a bland review. Not a lot happened so there’s not really a whole lot to talk about, you know?

Well, that’s all I have for you. Again, I’m so sorry I’m so behind on all of these but I’m working to catch up. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this show. Just remember to respect everyone’s opinions.

[otppurefuckingmagic]

no ranting here, just some observations about season 2 and the final cuts of malec scenes so far...

as a fan who started watching SH because of malec, in S2 i’ve solidly reframed my expectations to this reality: there may be seven main cast members, but clary is the main character. therefore, the characters who are involved in scenes with or about her (primarily simon and jace right now) get the most screentime. internalizing this has made watching the show...easier.

easier, but no less frustrating.

the writers understand malec in terms of overall story arc, and the producers acknowledge the importance of magnus and alec via social media, but there’s a bias in how malec is portrayed in terms of screentime set aside for intimacy (casual, conversational, and sexual), and the way intimate malec scenes are shot (direct shots that focus on chest and above vs full body shots that can showcase affection outside of a kiss).

unlike every other “couple” on the show (with the notable exception of lucelyn #RIP), malec hasn’t been given much time--or space on the screen--to simply linger and be.

harry and matt can (and do) give everything portraying these characters, but the final product is reliant on what camera angles are used and the choices in the editing room, especially when dialogue is limited.

i hope that the production and editing teams will be open to listening, and perhaps become more aware of how subtly bias can filter into art--even when we have the best of intentions.

the show has, overall, improved drastically since the first season. they’re not shying away from the malec relationship, but there’s still a hesitancy in the final cut of malec scenes that speaks of people who are unsure how to frame queer intimacy, and are, possibly, uncomfortable.

this is why diversity in production and editing teams (not just writing and acting) matters.

it would’ve been life changing for me to see characters like alec and magnus on my screen when i was younger. it’s life affirming now to see the evolution of their relationship.

malec isn’t portrayed perfectly, but there is time and opportunity for the production staff to learn and grow. there may even be a shift in the episodes left to air. we have to wait to see.

i expect for malec to have less screentime because they are a side story in clary’s journey. to give malec “equal” time is unrealistic in a show that’s not centered around them.

however, equality and equity are two different things. seeing malec portrayed through the same lens as clary’s relationships and other het relationships would be equitable even if malec won’t have equal time. 

i’ll continue to watch the show because seeing and supporting positive queer relationships on TV matters to me. i’ll continue to watch because equity for malec is still possible ♡ xx

[ralfstrashcan]

Malec in late 2B

It's been *checks watch* three years and I've finally calmed down enough to try and untangle my feelings about the end of 2B in a coherent way.

1) Alec's decision not to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword. I've worked through my thoughts regarding that in this fic already where I go into Alec's reasoning for it. The tldr of which is that a) Alec consciously made the decision not to tell Magnus instead of running out of time to decide, b) he actually had good reasons for that and made that decision with Magnus's and the Downworld's best interests at heart and c) ultimately his love for Magnus was the very reason he didn't tell him because if he had cared about sparing Magnus's feelings a little less he would have told Magnus about the Soul Sword on condition that Magnus can't tell his people, damn the guilt Magnus will feel when warlocks die because they weren't forewarned.

2) Magnus's reaction to finding out. Magnus flips his shit, basically, lashes out, is deliberately hurtful and doesn't really listen to Alec's reasons for his decision. This is both an understandable and an ic reaction because Magnus is a very emotion-driven character and what he just learned is drastic. Could there have been a more graceful way to handle this revelation? Certainly. But it's nothing I would just expect from any given character. You'd have to be exceptionally level-headed to keep your cool in such a situation and I don't fault Magnus for not being that. His reaction was very human.

Alec gets points deduction for his line “Let's not make this personal” because dude, do you know your boyfriend at all? Have you realized that emotional compartmentalization isn't his strong forte? This line just angers Magnus more. (Alec also gets points deduction, with extreme prejudice, for trying to shush Magnus because what is wrong with you, man. I mean, this might just be a personal hang-up of mine but isn't that gesture patronizing as hell? Anyway.) On the other hand Alec gets some points for not going after Magnus. When I first watched that I thought it was very strange and kinda weird but in hindsight it is obviously the right choice. Magnus needed time and space to deal and Alec realized that trying to go after him and talk it out then was pointless and would have only angered Magnus more.

3) Magnus's reaction to Alec seeking him out because of Max. Admirable. Magnus puts all his (very understandable) anger aside to rush to the Lighwood family's aid. It doesn't matter that he can't help in the end, he is there as emotional support despite the frosty atmosphere between him and Alec. It is the decent thing to do but not everybody would have shown such kindness in his shoes. 10/10.

4) Magnus contemplating if he should take the Seelie Queen's offer aka sappy Malec flashbacks. I'm gonna place half the blame on show writers and half the blame on Magnus himself because, bro, this is not how you make a strategical decision for your people. Not even once is Magnus shown contemplating the repercussions of his decision for the warlocks or Valentine or the future of the Downworld. He only mopes about his boyfriend betraying his trust, basically. And I mean! I understand he's hurting a lot! And I understand people can't just turn off their emotions! But a good leader should be able to put his own emotions aside at least for a short time when an integral decision about his people has to be made, and quickly! And in that regard Magnus, uh, fails, apparently.

Again, I think half the blame lies with the show writers who wanted cute Malec flashbacks and generally fail at portraying inner Downworlder affairs if they don't serve the shadowhunter-centric plot. But I can't just yell “ooc behavior!!” and shrug it off because this isn't exactly ooc behavior for Magnus. Magnus is a very emotion-driven character who fails at separating personal and political matters. That's a theme. I point no further than the whole Camille-thing where he turned a blind eye to her bleeder dens because he felt personally indebted to her, and only stopped her when Raphael's life was at stake. So yeah... 0/10.

Full disclosure, I think there is a different way to read these scenes. Maybe Magnus wasn't just nursing his broken heart and missing the point. Maybe what he was actually contemplating was what he'd been fighting about with Luke before, namely if Alec can even be trusted as a person or if he's too much a shadowhunter to ever deserve their faith and cooperation because he will always treat Downworlders as lesser, because he's as racist as the Clave. In that case it would make sense for him to remember their private 1:1 interactions, to reassess Alec's character as a whole. But it would also mean that the conclusion he reached is that Alec is as corrupt as the rest of the Clave, and that would make them getting back together without ever talking about this... even more messed up than it already is! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, needless to say that I don't interpret it this way.

5) Magnus breaking up with Alec. To me personally (and to Alec) the breakup makes no sense. Magnus and Alec have different stances on, like, the implications of their relationship (and I'm emotionally wired like Alec is, at least in that regard). What I mean is this: Why does Magnus feel the need to break up with Alec? He's not an idiot, he knows that just because he breaks up with Alec his feelings for Alec will not miraculously evaporate as well. He'll be as emotionally compromised as he was before. And yet he says, “The only thing holding me back from [making difficult decisions to ensure the survival of my people] is you.”

Here's the thing. When Alec decides not to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword he does so in his capacity as the Head of the Institute, taking (almost) no account of his role as Magnus's lover. He is able to do that because he can compartmentalize between these two roles in an extreme way and therefor his relationship status has no influence on his decision. (Sure, not being with Magnus wouldn't have provided extra incentive to tell him, but work with me here. What I mean is that if Alec had rationally decided to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword, he would have made that same decision whether he was with Magnus at that point or not.) What did influence his decision making process were his feelings for Magnus, and these remain unchanged regardless of their relationship status.

Magnus has an entirely different stance. To him being in a relationship implies a certain kind of loyalty that must be maintained at all times. If their roles had been reversed I don't doubt that Magnus would have told Alec about the Soul Sword immediately because of said loyalty, and he would have thought it through for exactly zero seconds beforehand. He expected the same thing from Alec and that's why he feels so betrayed when he realizes that Alec kept it from him. This is why Magnus feels the need to break up with Alec: to disengage from this loyalty that keeps him from making decisions with only the warlocks in mind. Magnus's decision making hinges on their relationship status and the loyalty it demands, not his feelings for Alec.

Alec doesn't understand this. That's why he tells Magnus that he can have both: Alec, and the freedom to make the best choices for the warlocks, to act like the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Alec wouldn't hold it against him if he made the best decisions for his people while they are together because Alec, too, did have Magnus and made decisions as the Head of the Institute. But Magnus works differently. He'd feel like he's betraying Alec if he makes High Warlock of Brooklyn decisions while still being with Alec. And that's why he breaks up with Alec, and that's why it makes sense for Magnus to break up with him.

6) Magnus's behavior afterwards. Oh my god where do I even start.

--- Magnus being a petty bitch? Hell yeah.

--- Magnus hiding behind the Seelie Queen and running after her like he's her lap dog? Hell no. Wtf did I just watch!! Even better, he leaves Raphael behind? And Raphael then tells Izzy that Magnus was his ride and he's effectively trapped at the Institute because the sun is shining brightly outside?? I'm sorry, what. The Downworld just divorced the shadowhunters with a side of “hmm maybe we'll stop caring about the Accords as well in the near future” and Magnus leaves his Raphael behind? This is unacceptable!! I don't even know what to say to that!!

--- This has surely been discussed before but it needs to be said. Magnus implementing an anti-portal ward around New York that incinerates any angel-blooded creature that tries to pass it and not telling Alec about it. They hear about it from Luke instead and since Jace's reaction is immediately telling the shadowhunter extra next to him to stop shadowhunter movement in and out of the city immediately it is heavily implied that some shadowhunters already died thanks to this ward – since there are apparently troop movements in and out of the city that need to be stopped. (Which was to be expected! Sure, they know Valentine won't leave the city before he's got his hands on what he believes to be the mortal mirror locked away at the Institute, but he could surely be regrouping outside the city. Sending patrols into the near vicinity is the sensible thing to do.) Shadowhunter casualties due to the ward are further implied by Jace then leaning heavily on the desk and half-whispering to himself “No more shadowhunters die today.” Which makes sense. The patrols in question would have just vanished with no chance to report back what happened to them so they were probably assumed dead by Valentine's hand.

The point: Wtf Magnus. He must have been aware this could and would happen. The way I see it there are only two possible explanations: Magnus deliberately did not tell the NY Institute shadowhunters a) because he thought word might get around to Valentine or b) out of pettiness. And considering that knowing about the ward doesn't magically un-trap you and only means you will not cross it and therefore remain alive but contained, a) doesn't really make sense. The ward wasn't designed to lure Valentine to his death. It was designed to keep Valentine in the city so the other Downworld factions could hunt him down, and the ward will continue to do so even after Valentine learns of its existence. There s no harm in him knowing about it while there is a lot of harm in the NY shadowhunters not knowing about it because they will just die, for nothing, while trying to find Valentine. Magnus willingly risking that on the off-chance that Valentine walks into the ward at random is not his style at all. This leaves pettiness as motivation and sure, Magnus is petty, but not at the cost of so many casualties. This is so painfully ooc that I just can't!!

7) Their “reconciliation.” As you might have already guessed from those quotation marks: Thanks, I hate it. That adequately sums up my feelings on the matter. Don't get me wrong, the scene itself is lovely, I guess. But, content! They have this huge issue and they just don't talk about it! Magnus never learns of Alec's (legit) reasons for not telling him about the Soul Sword. Alec apologizes for.. what exactly? Doing something he was convinced was the right thing? And they never realize their differences in decision making which is even worse! This whole drama stemmed from the fact that they view the obligations that come with being in a relationship differently where their responsibilities as leaders are concerned. This is bound to become a problem again in the future!! And they just! dont! talk about it! aaaahhhhhhhh!!!! how!!!!!! are you adults or what!!!!!!! *sigh* just... –ꝏ /10

8) Aftermath. Oh right, this will of course not become a problem again in the future because Magnus loses his job. How neat.

Leaving the salt aside though I have to admit that I.. actually think the warlocks weren't entirely in the wrong in sacking Magnus. And before you kill me, hear me out. The first thing to note is that neither Raphael nor Luke get sacked for their decision to side with the Seelie Queen. Why is that? Because vampires and werewolves are fundamentally differently organized than warlocks. Warlocks have an international infrastructure. There's the Council, the Spiral Labyrinth, and stuff. Vampires and werewolves have their local clans and packs, and nothing more. Magnus has superiors. Raphael and Luke do not. After the Seelie Queen makes that deal with Valentine she condemns every Downworlder, except those located in New York, to death. Raziel's wish will kill every Downworlder on earth and only those in the Seelie Realm are safe. And as Magnus says in early 2x19

If Valentine had succeeded then literally all the other warlocks in the world would have died! Yes, the fact that the Seelie Queen threw them all under the bus isn't Magnus's fault, but

it was to be expected. Luke and Raphael both warn Magnus not to trust the Seelie Queen, that she has her own agenda and it's to rule over the Downworld, and that's why both Luke and Raphael were hesitant to accept her deal.

So I think it's pretty understandable why the other warlocks kicked Magnus out on his ass. In their eyes he would have been semi-complicit in their collective demise if Valentine had succeeded, having sided with the one who betrayed the Downworld. It doesn't matter that Magnus's choice means the warlocks at least wouldn't have gone entirely extinct if Valentine had won. It doesn't matter that the Seelie Queen would have made that deal with Valentine whether the other Downworlder factions had sided with her or not. (She had Simon in her Realm who could create new vampires, she probably would have kept Maia for new werewolves, and warlocks can be made by uuhh unethical means. What better Downworld than one that's never known anything but the Seelie Queen's uncontested reign? Yes, she absolutely would have let them all die.) None of that matters to the warlocks. They feel like Magnus betrayed them as a community and that's why they sack him.

Okay, so now we know why it made (in-universe) sense for the warlocks to fire Magnus. Make no mistake though – I don't approve of this reasoning. It's short-sighted and not very practical, and also unfair. Better save some of your species than none, right? Fine, Magnus should have informed the Council and stuff about what was going on so they could make their own deals with the Seelie Queen if they want to.. but then, do we even know if he did or didn't inform them? No. Any further discussion on this point is just poking in the dark so let's move on.

I did say that I think the warlocks weren't entirely in the wrong in dismissing Magnus from his job, though. Let me explain.

a) Magnus's decision to side with the Seelie Queen or remain sided with the Institute would have not made a difference regarding the whole Valentine-thing, right? Things would have played out exactly the same: Warlocks create anti-portal ward, Val makes a deal with the Seelie Queen and gets to Alicante anyway. The survival of the Downworld depended on Clary stabbing Valentine to death before he made the wish, and that remains unchanged no matter Magnus's decision. What Magnus's decision would have influenced (if this goddamn show knew what continuity is, lol) is what came after. Where does siding with the trigger-happy Seelie Queen, who made no secret of gunning for war with the Clave, leave the warlocks? On the Clave's bad side, that's for sure. Especially if things had escalated between the seelies and the shadowhunters (which they do in the books!!). In the show.. things just go back to how they were before the Downworld's little fail-rebellion. Either because the Downworld and the Clave mutually decide to just pretend none of it ever happened (since the Consul was exposed as a Circle Member, which, awkward) or, which I believe is more likely, because 3A focuses on The Owl Mystery and not on foreign policy and this show just sucks when it comes to including anything not strictly-plot-relevant. In any case!! Magnus's decision to side with the Seelie Queen should have had severe repercussions for the warlocks and their standing with the Clave aka dramatically worsened it, and for nothing (since nothing came of the “rebellion” and it's honestly doubtful how many warlocks would have wanted a full-on war with the shadowhunters anyway. They seem pretty good at laying low and doing their own thing). So in the long term siding with the Seelie Queen wasn't / wouldn't have been a strategically good decision (if it wasn’t followed up by a war of independence, which it wasn’t) and a legit reason to get fired.

b) More importantly, in 3x09 Lorenzo says to Magnus, “I took this position because you couldn't handle it. You let your heart dictate your actions and that will be your downfall,” which I always took to mean – since Lorenzo was god knows where when all of 2B happened – that the gossip in the warlock community is strong, and has it that Magnus only sided with the Seelie Queen as revenge for Alec not telling him about the Soul Sword / something relating to their breakup. No matter how this opinion formed in the community... *glances at 4)* they're not wrong? And this is definitely a legit reason to get fired.

So where does this leave us? I don't approve of the Council firing Magnus for the reason they did because it was a dumb reason. When I look at Lorenzo – lazy, self-centered, unwilling to actually do anything when push comes to shove – I don't think Magnus should be fired because he's obviously the much better choice as High Warlock. And I don't even think that siding with the Seelie Queen was, per se, a wrong choice. But the way Magnus made that choice left much to be desired and was a clear lapse in leadership, one where a dismissal would have been justified. And this should have been addressed in a constructive way so he can learn from his mistake.

[kajaono]

This is just a really short moment but will allways remain one of my favorite moments of 3a… maybe even of the whole show. People who have joined the fandom after 2a or aren’t part of the fandom at all don’t even know what kind of big deal this moment is.

After Malec got poorly treated in 2a there were so many complains in the fandom but also discussions between the writers and the fans ESPECIALLY after the catastrophic first sex scene. And after a time (after the catastrophic sex scene) the writer apologized and promised to do better. But he also said that 2b was nearly finished filming so they couldn’t really integrate the tips of the viewers into 2b anymore but he promised to pay attention to it in later seasons.

And then 3a started and one of the first things he did was that. To let his characters say that. It was like a big apology to all the fans who felt let down by the LGBTQ representation of Malec in 2a and 2b. It was promise: We will try to do better. We will let them comunicate and do usual couple stuff together. Like breaking into their bosses house.”

Not really often producers are so “kind” to listen to their viewers and accept that they messed up. And most importantly realize that they CAN do better. And Shadowhunters really did. And that’s beautiful.

[hiddlesgirl]

SH 322: All Good Things...

This was a fantastic episode, I was crying from the moment the wedding started and I didn’t stop until long after the credits had rolled. As much as I want the show to continue with all my heart, this was a beautiful finale episode; it wrapped up the outstanding storylines and gave us a wonderfully bittersweet ending. I really don’t think we could have asked for anything better, the cast and crew did absolutely amazingly with the limited amount of air time they were given; I am seriously so grateful to them all that they were able to give us something so beautiful.

First thing to note is that this episode is 60 minutes long instead of 4o minutes; they gave us an extra 20 minutes air time to ensure that we got an amazing episode. Now, let me make sure you know that this was not Freeform or Netflix being generous; this was Todd and Darren not being able to cut the episode a minute shorter or else risk ruining it and going to the networks and begging for those extra minutes. So, in case you didn’t know this already, we owe those extra minutes (which enabled us to have some beautiful scenes) to Todd and Darren.

The first scene in which they defeated Lilith, cured Izzy and destroyed Edom therefore enabling Magnus to leave did seem rushed and extremely convenient fixes to the three problems; but this is completely understandable because they needed to wrap up these three loose ends before we could move forward in dealing with Jonathan and still have time for some scenes afterwards.

I really liked the morning montage of our three main couples; Sizzy’s first time, Clace getting to cuddle in bed after being separated for so long and Alec sleeping peacefully with Magnus by his side who is looking at Alec like he cannot believe his luck in finding him. I know that some people were disappointed that Malec weren’t cuddled up together too, I was a bit disappointed too but I also love what they did. Firstly because Magnus playing with Alec’s hair is so soft and adorable, plus I think that the moment spoke more about their feelings right now than cuddling would have.

For Alec he is finally able to sleep safe in the knowledge that Magnus will be there when he wakes up, we know that in the previous episode Alec fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Now he is able to sleep peacefully, also his body is facing Magnus even in sleep; we know from previous episodes that he doesn’t always wake up facing Magnus (for example in 2x15 Alec was facing the wall when he woke up). I may be reading a little too much into it, but hey that’s what I do.

For Magnus he can’t quite believe that this man literally walked into Hell for him; he had been trying to come to terms with the fact that he would never see his fiancé again and now he doesn’t have to face that dim future. He loves this man so much and is so excited to marry him that he can’t even bear to take his eyes off him long enough to oversleep. The stroking of Alec’s hair is a lovely display of soft affection from Magnus, especially because it is just for him; Alec isn’t aware of what he’s doing so Magnus touching Alec is just for his own comfort. I just love this little moment.

I really loved the conversation between Simon and Izzy, they were both surprised by how easy it felt to transition into an intimate romantic relationship; I think that this is just beautiful because it shows that sometimes having that established bond and closeness can really lend itself to the beginning of a beautiful romantic relationship. It’s almost the opposite of Simon and Clary because although their romantic relationship was sweet while it lasted you knew it would never last because they were too close in a way, like siblings; whereas with Izzy there was always this mutual interest that was ignored in favour of their friendship.

Considering how awkward first times can be for on screen couples it was amazing to see them so at ease with each other and their new relationship. I also loved that they discussed their insecurities a little concerning past relationships gone bad, and deciding to learn to be better together. I love that this made the point that each relationship should be looked at separately from your previous ones and that you shouldn’t expect it to play out a certain way just because that is what happened before. Plus, that this is a relationship they are building together and that it will become what they make it.

I love that Magnus literally could not wait another day to marry Alec; they have been pulled apart so many times and he is scared that it will happen again because they never know what threat lies around the corner. I also adore that Alec seems to have wanted to plan the wedding, to go through that entire process with Magnus; I love this contrast to Season 1 when he wanted nothing to do with planning his wedding to Lydia. Now that he is choosing to marry someone he loves he wants to be involved in the process of creating that ceremony.

Alec wants to have their wedding at the Institute which confuses Magnus at first but Alec goes onto explain the message that it would convey would be so important. Alec experienced so much anxiety, self repression and low self esteem when growing up because he felt like he couldn’t be open and honest about who he is. He doesn’t want that to be the future of other Shadowhunters; he wants to show everyone that it’s okay to love someone of the same gender, and that it’s okay to love a Downworlder; he wants to show the Clave and the entire Shadow World that it’s okay to love whoever you love.

Magnus’ face softens where he realises Alec’s intentions because he also knows how it feels to be rejected by people, by family; he also is a very compassionate person. He shares in Alec wish for the Shadow World to be more open to relationships like theirs; he wants to show them that no matter your differences it’s the strength of your love for each other that matters most.

I adore the little flirty moments about tuxedos, especially when you look back to Season 1 when Alec was afraid to even be near Magnus or smile at him. I will never stop marvelling over Alec’s journey and how far Malec’s relationship has come.

The scene between Clary and Jace is very sweet, I love seeing them smile but you can still see how much the situation with Jonathan is hanging over Clary. She knows that he isn’t just going to disappear and is scared of what he is going to do, especially now that she isn’t there as a grounding influence. She also doesn’t want the threat of him to overshadow Alec and Magnus’ wedding, she loves them both so much.

Jace understands why she is hurting but he makes the point that in their lives there will always be demons, there will always be a threat waiting around the corner but that’s life. You have to enjoy the good times and celebrate because that is what they fight for, to be able to live and love. I just really adored this line and moment because it rings true for everyone, it is important to enjoy life.

I have to say that I was very surprised when Jonathan killed the Seelie Queen, she has been a constant powerful thorn in our characters sides since 2B. She is a very intriguing character and was always interesting to watch, that said you love to hate her because she has caused a lot of upset for our favourites and she is always looking out for herself, you can never trust her. But given how powerful she has been built up to be I was extremely surprised that she died, although we know that Jonathan has become extremely powerful (compared to Lucifer and a God) it just didn’t cross my mind that he would kill her (as much of an annoyance as she is to him) until it literally happened. I am glad that we did get to see Lola again (albeit briefly) before the Queen’s demise.

I really enjoyed the scene between Alec and Jace; Jace has developed so much in allowing himself to show his emotions and that has positively impacted his bond with Alec so much, they seem much closer now than they did in Season 1. Their new found emotional openness has helped them both so much as individuals and made their bond so much healthier than it was before.

I love that Jace was able to exhibit both his excitement and happiness for Alec and Magnus, but also his apprehension at Alec moving out. They haven’t lived apart since they were children so Jace is naturally anxious about Alec moving out, he doesn’t want them to grow apart and is nervous about feeling left behind now that Alec is taking his romantic relationship to the next level. Alec reassures him that no matter what they will always be brothers, just because he is becoming closer to Magnus does not mean he is growing apart from Jace; they will always be a part of each other and nothing can change that. For those reasons, I think this might be one of my favourite scenes between these two of the entire series.

I cannot tell you how much I love the bond between Izzy and Clary, right from the moment they met they have been supporting and loving towards each other. Too many times in shows, especially young adult shows, they create animosity between female characters for no real reason and I am so happy that Shadowhunters went in completely the opposite direction. Their friendship is one of my favourite things in the show; the friendships, between so many different characters, is one of my favourite things about the entire show.

I actually did tear up during this scene because they have become like sisters and you can tell how much they mean to each other; but to also take that step into becoming Parabatai shows just how strong that connection is. Especially on Izzy’s side because she never even considered having a Parabatai, preferring to work alone, but now she wants to be tethered to Clary; to share that bond like no other with her. For Clary, to have a bond that is so similar to family ties is so important and there is no one she would rather be bonded with than Izzy. I get so emotional about this.

I love that we heard Clary call Luke ‘Dad’, I am pretty sure that she has never called him Dad before; she has said that he raised her and that he was like a Dad, but she has never called him ‘Dad’ to his face. I admit that I cried, because I just love their Dad-daughter relationship so much. This is another thing I adore about the show, how many familial relationships exist between people who aren’t related by blood.

I was so happy to see Clary with her mum again, especially considering the circumstances in which she lost her; again I teared up a little. It was such a wonderfully sweet moment between them. Then we found out the reason she was there.

I completely understand why Raziel was angry that Clary had been drawing runes that he did not give her, going against his will; but I don’t like that his last straw wasn’t raising the dead (defying the natural order of the world) but was uniting Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Although you almost understand Raziel not wanting Shadowhunters to be affected by demon blood, it was a temporary rune that only connected them for a short amount of time; and it ended up feeling so much like discrimination against Downworlders that it left a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, especially after we were all so happy when Raziel said he didn’t wish the death of Downworlders in 2x20. I understand why from both a character and storyline point of view, but it still rankles a little that the Alliance rune was the breaking factor, not the Necromancy rune.

I did like the scene between Magnus and Lorenzo, clearing up and putting away that animosity between them. Magnus really appreciated what Lorenzo did for Alec, Izzy and himself in Edom; he wanted to show Lorenzo that his actions meant a lot to him. I think that Lorenzo realised that what he believed about Magnus wasn’t necessarily true, especially because he has all these people willing to risk their lives for him, because they loved him. I adored Lorenzo’s lines about making a family of your own.

I will always firmly believe that Lorenzo’s animosity stemmed from jealousy, personally I cannot completely forgive how he treated Magnus and I don’t feel that he was fully redeemed by those few acts in 321 and 322 but I am willing to believe that he was making steps to become better and that if there had been s Season 4 we would have seen him develop into a better person.

I really loved the moment between Maryse and Alec when they talk about Robert; so many times children think that they need to choose between their parents when they split up. I adore that Maryse made the point that no matter what happened between her and Robert, it doesn’t change that fact that Robert is his dad and that he loves him.

We find out that Jonathan is destroying all the Shadowhunter Institutes one by one, leaving the New York Institute until last. He wants to destroy Clary’s world while she watches, to take everything she loves away from her because he feels like she abandoned him and he has nothing left that he loves. You can see how distraught Clary is, she now feels responsible for the deaths of all those people because Jonathan killed them to hurt her. She has to carry so much, she is so strong and I love her so much.

Clary insists on going after Jonathan alone, she knows that Jonathan will not kill her because he loves her, but he would not hesitate to kill the others. My heart is breaking throughout the entire scene because you can see that Clary truly loves him, despite everything he has done she can’t stop herself from loving him. She knows that he is a murderer, that he has done terrible things; but he loves her and he is her brother. She knows he has to be stopped but it is breaking her heart.

All she wanted was a family, she wanted so much to believe in Jonathan but in the end their family has caused them both nothing but pain. She knows that there is nothing she can do to change Jonathan now, he has gone through too much and done too much to come back from it. I cannot express enough sympathy for her that she has not only had to kill her own father but now she has to kill her brother to protect her found family, the people she loves.

As much as I dislike Jonathan for the hurt he has caused I cannot help but sympathise with him; he was experimented on as a child, felt abandoned by Jocelyn, he was pressured by his father, then he was abandoned by his father, tortured by his demonic mother, manipulated by his unloving father and now he feels like his sister has cast him aside too. All he has ever know is pain, no one has ever truly loved him; he has been warped by his experiences, twisted so much that he almost cannot function as a normal human being. He is such a tragic villain.

His death was beautifully painful; the image of Clary enveloping him, trying to convey her love for him, while gently suffocating him with angelic power was shattering. You could see how much it was hurting her, and her shushing him was like a knife to the chest. I really start crying when Jonathan says ‘Let me go’ and Clary replies ‘I am’; the double meaning of it is heartbreaking. It is such a beautiful scene visually and emotionally, but also soul shattering because you can see how much pain Clary is in.

She has lost her last blood relative and her heart crumbles even more when her Angelic Power rune disappears because now she realises she is going to lose her found family too. She is going to lose her powers, Jace and those she loves; she is about to lose everything.

The Malec wedding was everything I could ever have imagined and more, I cannot say how much I loved this scene and how much it made me cry. Firstly, the colour scheme; the warmth of the colours is beautiful, the yellows and oranges was wonderful. Especially in contrast with Alec’s first wedding which was blues and pale colours, the complete contrast of cool and warm sums up how not only Alec feels about the weddings but how they made us as a audience feel. We knew that he wasn’t happy about marrying Lydia and that he wouldn’t have a happy life, it felt more like a prison sentence; but with Magnus, he loves him with his entire being and he could not be happier. I love that the colours reflected this emotional change.

Secondly, the colour of dresses the women are wearing. Clary and Madzie are wearing the same shade of red; this so much reflects their connection to Magnus. He considers them both his family, they are like his little sisters (they are almost like children to him) and they mean so much to him. Whereas Catarina, Izzy and Maryse are wearing deep blue; they have become his family in a different way. Catarina is his best friend, the sister he found; Izzy has become such a close friend and will soon become a sister to him too; Maryse has become the mother he wished for. I just love that their clothes represent their connection to Magnus, especially for Izzy and Maryse; to show that they accept Magnus into their family as much as he considers them his is beautiful.

Thirdly, Maryse walked Magnus down the aisle. We know that Magnus felt rejected by his own mother and his father figures were awful; now Maryse has fully accepted him into her heart. She has become like a mother to him, which means so much to him especially considering her attitude towards him in Season 1. I cannot express how much I love Maryse’s development and her new relationship with Magnus.

Fourth, they used ‘I get to love you’; that song just screams Malec and it honestly was perfect, they could not have found a better song to use.

Fifth, the vows were beautiful. They encapsulate everything the Malec are to each other, and I love that they would say a line each which would complete the two lines which just sums them up because they really do complete each other. The vows were honestly so perfect, they weren’t cheesy or lacklustre; they managed to hit the exact balance that made them emotional and honest to the characters.

Those are just the main things that I love but the entire scene was just so stunning that you really can’t describe it in words and do it justice. It was perfect.

I really liked that we had a little moment between Izzy, Simon and Raphael; after everything that has happened between them it was nice to get that lovely little moment of them all being happy. Raphael is moving on with his life as a mundane, feeling more at peace with himself than he has in a very long time; he is happy that Izzy and Simon have found each other. He cares for them both and knows that they will make each other happy. I just thought this entire interaction was very sweet.

After the tears had just started to stop after the wedding I started crying again during Clary and Simon’s scene because you just knew that this was her saying goodbye to him. She cannot bear the thought of leaving without letting Simon know just how much he, and their friendship, means to her. All the party scenes feel slightly bittersweet because although we are so happy for Malec we are hurting because Clary is slowly losing her runes.

I love that Helen and Aline are discussing wedding attire, I love that their relationship has flourished but it also shows that Alec has accomplished his aim; couples like them are having the confidence to show their love openly.

I cried when Max said that he’ll call Magnus ‘brother’, we were all so disappointed with Max’s behaviour at the party Magnus threw for him in 208 and this moment more than makes up for it. It is another member of Alec’s family that is welcoming Magnus with open arms and you can see how much it means to the both of them.

I adore the scene between Clary and Maryse; Clary knows that Luke will be happy with Maryse and she is glad that Luke will have romance in his life. She also is thankful that Luke will have Maryse to support him after she is gone. I cried a bit more when she asked Maryse if the angels could forgive. In this moment you could see just how truly scared she is of losing the Shadow World, she doesn’t want to leave everything behind and is holding out the hope that Raziel will forgive her.

I think that the dance scene between Clace is one of my favourite scenes between them of the entire scenes, even as heartbreaking as it is. Jace loves Clary so much and has been able to grow as a person because of her influence; she is the first person that he has ever felt secure knowing she loves him unconditionally.

Clary’s heart is breaking, she loves Jace so much and knows how much he is going to hurt when she’s gone; and his words just make her more certain of that. She needs him to know that she loves him, and that no matter what happens she will always love him. She words what she is saying so carefully hoping that he will look back on this moment and be reassured that she loves him even when she doesn’t know him. I cried the entire way through this scene because it was so sweet, Clary was in so much pain and you knew that soon Jace would be in agony.

Honestly, the moment Clary walks out of the hall breaks my soul completely because we know that not only is it Clary crying over what she is losing but it is Kat crying because Shadowhunters is ending. She openly spoke about the fact that a lot of that was just her crying because these were going to be the last scenes of the show. Kat loves this show so much and it really shows. So not only am I crying for Clary but I am crying for and with Kat.

The entire sequence of Clary forgetting and Jace finding the letter was so soul crushing but beautiful at the same time; I was surprised I could still see the screen I was crying so much. It made me feel such a painful sense of loss and I cannot praise Kat’s performance in this scene enough because I was literally breaking with Clary, and that moment her last rune disappears you can see it all just vanish, her facial expression and body language just changes completely. I openly sobbed my heart out at this second. I did like that her runes seemed to disappear in reverse order (with the exception of the Angelic rune) and that the last rune to disappear was the first rune she got, the Iratze rune that Jace drew to heal her. I was a complete and utter mess.

I was a little surprised that we got a year long jump, but I am also happy that we were able to see how their lives have changed; and in many cases for the better. It shows us a little glimpse of how their lives have progressed and potentially where we were supposed to end up if the show had continued, that this was supposed to be the natural ending (with the exception of Clary still not remembering. )

I absolutely love the fact that Alec is now the Inquisitor, this was always his dream job and I am so happy that he has been able to achieve that dream and be happy about his situation. Luke talks about Maryse and it seems like they are very happy and stable in their relationship. We find out that Shadowhunters and Downworlders are now working hand in hand, with Downworlders now playing an active role as deputies; it shows us that the Clave has evolved so much and that there is now a much healthier relationship between Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

We find out that not only is Alec in Alicante but Magnus is there too, they have moved their apartment there. This is amazing because before Downworlders could even travel to Alicante. He is the High Warlock of Alicante too, I honestly cannot tell you how happy this makes me; not only has he regained a role he loved doing but he is now stationed inside the Shadowhunter home city, setting an example for warlock and Shadowhunter cooperation.

His phone conversation also tells us that Shadowhunter Institutes (we presume) are becoming much more open to Downworlders because a lot of people are now adjusting their wards to allow for Downworlders which is amazing. These two scenes show just how much the Shadow World has progressed considering Shadowhunters and Downworlder relations in just a year.

I also love Magnus’ outfit and makeup; it is very much reminiscent of Season 1 which implies that he is feeling more confident in himself and happy with his life than he has in a while. Plus he just looks stunning.

I adore the moment between him and Alec, it eludes to the very domestic and happy life they live together, how comfortable Alec is living with Magnus. I also love the little bit of flirty Alec, and I adore the ‘To us’ because it mirrors 106. It makes me so happy that in their last scene Malec are happily married and both have careers they love.

I know that ‘Taki’s’ is a reference to the book, so I am happy for the book fans who were waiting for it to appear. I love that it is Maia who is opening it as a place for all Downworlders to socialise together, further encouraging good relationships and camaraderie between all the factions. We also learn the Simon has written a graphic novel like he always dreamed of, I love that we are seeing so many characters realising their dreams.

My heart breaks when they reminisce about Clary, you can see the huge hole that has been ripped in Simon. I love that Maia added a burrata salad to the menu in Clary’s name; so many people cared about and miss her that it echoes through everyone she touched.

IZZY IS THE HEAD OF THE NEW YORK INSTITUTE! Sorry for the yelling but I was so excited and so happy for Izzy, she has got to be an amazing Head of the Institute because she has always been forward thinking when it concerns Downworlders, she is leader material and I would have loved to see more of her being amazing. Simon is a Downworld deputy which I love and their interaction is so sweet; I am so happy that we got to see their romance realised and they definitely seem to be very happy a year on.

I have to say that I love the Jimon training scene. It is very playful, especially with Jace’s ‘boop boop’, but it also shows just how comfortable Jace and Simon are with each other now. Their relationship has come so far from the animosity from Season 1. They have truly come to appreciate each other as individuals and create a friendship that seems to be beneficial to them both; they definitely seem to have become a touchstone for each in Clary’s absence.

Simon wants Jace to stop checking on Clary because he knows that it isn’t healthy for him, he wants Jace to be able to move on because clinging to Clary is hurting him. He understands because Clary is so important to him too, but he can’t stand to watch Jace continue to torture himself like this.

You can see Jace’s agony at being separated from the love of his life, he is desperate for her to remember and cannot let go of that possibility. He is sure that their love is stronger than the spite of the angels; he just wished that they saw that. The only thing that would have made this scene better would have been if Jace and Simon had hugged, but maybe that’s just me.

We see that Clary has realised her mundane dream of becoming an artist at the Brooklyn Academy of Art; on one hand I am happy for her but it also breaks your heart because it is evident that she feels something is missing (just like the first time she was mundane). A wonderful person on Twitter (I cannot remember who and I can’t find the tweet right now) pointed out that her two paintings resemble the two weddings in colour schemes, and that was both wonderful and painful to realise.

You can see how shocked Jace is that she sees him and he panics, I am sure that he had decided (thanks to Simon) that this should be the last time he checks up on her because it was just too painful; but now she sees him. He runs because he doesn’t know how to deal with the situation and is scared that it was a mistake, and that she actually doesn’t know him.

Clary chases him and calls him by his name, you can see the happiness radiate from Jace which just increases when she seems to recognise his runes. As heartbreaking as it is that we don’t end with Clace together I do love that their last scene mirrors their first and it brings the series full circle and feels right in a way. It was so beautifully done and I was crying so much.

I cannot put into words how much I love this episode and just how much it affected me emotionally; it was truly a beautiful episode. I honestly believe that they could not have given us a better ending (in the circumstances). It felt like it gave all the characters some happiness and closure, it didn’t feel so much like an open wound. They created it so that gave us a beautiful ending but also in a way that the series could be continued if the occasion ever arose. I cannot thank the entire cast and crew enough.

I love this show so much and it will forever hold a special place in my heart. I ache over the cancellation and I will always hope that one day we will be able to revisit the Shadow World with our wonderful cast. But I sincerely love this episode and I do feel that it was a beautiful and meaningful end to our wonderful story.

[runedwhip-archived]

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?: i clearly don’t know the meaning of one true pairing, so let’s just go with a list, shall we? melibelle is probably the top contender for this title currently, especially with finally getting some more crumbs of them in the finale, clizzy was my very first ship in the show and remains to be one of my absolute favorite romantic and platonic pairings, rizzy is a beautiful ship that i was all for exploration of in the show and has since become a ship i adore, with thanks to jolly for that. jonathan/isabelle is a ship i always wanted some exploration of in the books, and then even more when they had their scenes together in the first handful of episodes in 2b (and later? i can’t remember now but i wanted more and never got it and i’m still sad about it), and maia/isabelle has become a top ship because they’re the soft and caring girlfriends both girls deserve.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?: it definitely depends on the age of the characters themselves, but anything where a character is under age and one over....and really, i think that’s the biggest thing. unbalanced power dynamics tend to make me more uncomfortable, which definitely can fall in with shipping someone in their late teens/early adulthood with someone twice their age, but it’s really just then. i’d say i’m most comfortable when the youngest character is at least 25, since that’s just younger than my own age, and the gap itself doesn’t matter too much, so long as there’s clear boundaries and understandings between the characters? if that makes sense.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?: hm, only if there’s not chemistry, or if the ship feels unbalanced. if there’s a lot of things going on that are for the sake of one character and one character only, with no real benefit happening in this dynamic for the other, then i’m less inclined to write it, especially romantically. but honestly, i ship a lot and izzy’s such a big hearted character, she deserves all the love so i’m generally more than open to it.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?: okay so i’ve written these moments on all levels, from pretty explicit to much less explicit and it really depends on the comfort level.but  i’d say definitely when clothes are coming off and there’s a lot of detail is when i’d tag things as nsfw or put it under a cut for everyone’s comfort, at the very least. anything that you wouldn’t really read out loud in public i think is a good reference point.

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?: EVERYONE. honestly, as far as canon goes, the only people i don’t really ship isabelle with is canon male shadowhunters (outside of jonathan), and that’s simply her own bias and discomfort with it, which i’ve come to realize over the time of writing and getting to know the characters. but ocs? crossover ships? i’m so game, let’s go, let her love your character.

ANY NOTPS?: i’d say sizzy, but only in canon terms. in aus or fully talked about before hand so we can fix canon’s problems? ALL FOR IT. in fact, i want it. actually, jk, we don’t support incest on this blog.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?: i don’t really auto ship, but i’m more than open to shipping, so you’re really welcome to send me a shippy meme, something that implies it or anything of the sort, and we can test the waters! the only thing i do ask is that we should definitely talk if there’s chemistry in our writing and we both notice it, and really it’s just because i want to scream about our characters and their potential. i don’t want to force a ship on anyone, and i do ask that the same benefit be given to me in return, but my muse is a character who definitely loves to be shipped with, so please. if you ever want to ship with her, send a meme or send a message and let’s chat about it.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?: what a weird question. i don’t go in to things wanting to ship unless it’s pre-discussed and plotted, but i like to let things happen on their own. i’ve found some beautiful ships that way, and it makes things a lot easier when my muse can tell me she’d like to be linked to someone romantically, and not me trying to force her into something she’s not interested in, which makes everything so much more difficult.

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?: yes, always. there’s maybe one ship on this blog that’s single ship, but really, everything is fair game, unless, obviously, an exclusivity is discussed.

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?: definitely ship more or less. i love shipping, and i love writing my girl in romantic relationships, but the core of what i’ve always written with her has been platonic and familial relationships, and i welcome every and all ships here. they definitely do not need to be romantic, and often times the more important ones are not.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?: clizzy, melibelle, rizzy....basically that same list from the first question.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?: send a meme, or an im or come talk to me ooc! chances are, if you ship it, i’ve already had the same thought and just don’t want to potentially overstep bounds so i haven’t said anything. but yes, please, just come yell with me about our babes.

TAGGED BY: i stole this from @perfectioncursed, because i could! TAGGING: @pulchrousati, @idumean, @ofangelicblood, @immcrtuos, @elucet, and you!

[psmith73]

...He [Magnus] really has deal with ramifications from season 2B: siding with the Seelie Queen, and getting all the warlocks behind him... (x)

So, the spoilers to s3 are implying that Magnus may lose his title of the High Warlock of Brooklyn. 

The main fanon theory (and I agree with it) so far is that the warlocks may not be happy with both Magnus’ decision to side with the Seelie Queen, and his personal relationship with the Head of the Institute, aka the person who lied about the Soul Sword. So, here comes Javier Muñoz’s character Lorenzo Rey, the warlock, who may or may not be Magnus’ predecessor (as some theories say, the “Being the High Warlock meant everything to him” line may refer to Lorenzo, for all we know), and he attempts to take over the title from Magnus.

It’s a very plausible theory and the one that will probably turn out to be canon.  

But what is with the status of Magnus’ deal with the Queen, after her aiding Valentine? Is it still on or is it off? 

In 2x19 Magnus said that he made some official deal with the Queen, where he, supposedly, pledged loyalty on behalf of the Warlock community. Did they sign some legal papers (contract)? Did Magnus make a blood oath? Was it a verbal agreement? But, most importantly, what was the exact wording of that contract? And what are the legal (for the lack of the better word) consequences for breaking the deal? 

Knowing the Seelie’s cunning nature, and the fact that the Queen had an upper hand in that situation – after all, it was Magnus who needed her help, not the other way around – it’s probably safe to say that the nature of the deal didn’t discuss the possibility of the Queen siding with Valentine. So, technically, her betrayal doesn’t necessarily mean that the deal is automatically “off” and isn’t “legal” anymore, after the events of 2x20. 

Obviously, from our point of view, Magnus has all right to consider himself free of any obligations after the Queen’s betrayal... but is he? Even if he is free personally, is the Warlock community, on behalf of which he made the deal, free from these obligations as well? 

Now, let’s look at this situation from the point of view of the Queen. She clearly wants to unite the entire Downworld under her own wing. She was very much enjoying her power at the emergency meeting of the Downworld Council in 2x19, where she made the other three leaders keep their silence, and let her do the talking on their behalf. The thing is, she wasn’t showing off her powers to the shadowhunters / Alec only, she was also displaying her power to the other three – Raphael, Luke and Magnus. 

And considering that Magnus was the one she openly treated like her lapdog – not letting him answer Alec’s question and making him leave with her right after the meeting was over, it’s safe to say that neither Luke, nor Raphael made any official long-term deal with her like Magnus. Sure, they kept their silence at the meeting (hence Magnus’ offer to drink in the scene prior) but it didn’t look like they went into direct negotiations with her. 

Now, it seems like the Queen went into great lengths into grooming and manipulating already emotionally vulnerable Magnus into making a deal with her... on behalf of the Warlock community of Brooklyn. So, the question is whether she wants Magnus, the powerful warlock, the son of Asmodeus, at her side, or her ultimate goal is much bigger and it’s not him that she wants, but his community under her power? 

The similar question concerns her relationship with Simon – does she want him as a Daylighter, or does she want him as a potential leader of the Vampire community? After all, as we had seen in s2B there are a lot of vamps out there who would’ve loved to join Simon, had he ever decided to form his own clan. Many vamps from Raphael’s clan were ready to betray him for Simon. 

The Queen is a power-hungry immortal monarch with an absolute power within her own Court. So, it would make sense if she wants to become even more powerful having not just the Seelies as her subjects, but also the other two immortal races – Warlocks and Vampires. One of the ways to achieve this is to have the leaders of these two races under her little thumb – given that they’re all immortal it’s a very long term deal, that benefits her in every way (also would explain why she doesn’t seem to be much interested in werewolves, given that they’re mortal). 

So, returning to Magnus’ ordeal, it’s understandable, if the warlocks in his community would be less than happy upon finding themselves bound with whatever legal (or whatever other) obligations to the Seelies. 

On the other hand, can it be that the deal may have given the Queen the rights to intervene into Warlocks’ internal politics? If so, considering that Magnus is no longer loyal to the Queen, theoretically, it would make sense, if she wanted to change the High Warlock, and have in that position someone, who’s a lot more willing to cooperate with her. Similarly, the same way with the Vampires – instead of wasting time on grooming Raphael, it’s easier to go around, and make a rival Vampire leader out of Simon, the Daylighter. 

Then again, of course, this is just a wild theory (and I am overanalyzing and overcomplicating things); it all depends on what was the exact wording of Magnus’ agreement with the Queen, how much power [over himself and / or his people] did he give her exactly - in exchange for her providing refuge for warlocks in case of the mass genocide.

[adamasjace-blog]

protector

some good ole malec fluff cause I miss them lmao I’m pathetic ITS FINE so basically the setting of this is there’s someone out attacking Shadowhunters and Magnus is a worried boyfriend :’) this is set somewhere earlyish in 2B okay good talk hope you enjoy!!!

Why don’t you just come home for the night?

Alec read the text over again with a smile.

I’ve got a few last minute things to do at the Institute and then I’ll be there, promise

He continued what he was doing, working on the last page of the weapons inventory he needed to finish so they could place the next order in to the Iron Sisters. His phone buzzed again in his pocket.

Let me know when you’re heading out

It didn’t take him long to finish and let Magnus know he was on his way. Shouldering on his leather jacket, he headed out towards the streets of New York, though he didn’t make it very far. Magnus was perched up high in a tree on the grounds of the Institute, dressed in a nice button down and long trench coat. He looked relaxed as his feet swung back and forth underneath him, like a child on a swing.

“Are park benches too mundane for you?” Alec teased, gazing up at his boyfriend.

“No,” Magnus smiled, dropping down to the ground beside the younger man. “But, that particular branch does yield quite the view into your office.” He smirked, reaching up to cup Alec’s face as he kissed him. Magnus’ lips tasted like cherry and a hint of whiskey, warm and familiar.

“Can’t make it a few hours without seeing me huh?” Alec teased, tucking a stray piece of hair back from his boyfriend’s face.

“Not when there’s something out there attempting to kill you. Now c’mon, let’s get you inside,” he smiled, turning away and conjuring a portal before Alec could protest. They stepped into the portal together, emerging into the living room of the apartment.

“I’ve been walking the streets of New York since I was seven you know, I don’t need an escort,” Alec chuckled, squeezing Magnus’ hand.

“The streets aren’t safe right now, you know that.”

It was true that there was something out hunting Shadowhunters, though no one could figure out what it was. With two dead and three injured, the Clave would be sending envoys to the Institute any day now. Magnus noticed it had put Alec on edge, making him more irritable than usual.

“Magnus, you don’t have to worry about me. I can fend for myself, even if I don’t have magic. I’m very capable.” Alec grumbled, proving his point.

“Baby, I’m not trying to undermine you. Believe me, I know you’re talented and that you could fight off whatever came at you. I don’t want you to have to fight is all,” Magnus said, putting his hands on Alec’s shoulders. He felt him relax under his hands, the stress of the entire situation dissolving.

“Sorry, I know that’s not what you meant. I do wish you wouldn’t worry so much though,” Alec sighed.

“I love you, it’s my job to worry. But everything is fine now, because you’re here with me, and safe behind my wards. Which I fortified. Three times,” Magnus winked, pressing another kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “Meaning we can have a relaxed night in. Hungry?”

“Starving actually.”

“Good. I got us pizza from that place we went in Italy,” Magnus smiled, heading over to the table where the boxes awaited them. They discussed their day’s as they ate – it was obvious that Alec had completed his training session considering he ate an entire pizza himself, but Magnus let him tell him all about it anyways. Magnus filled him in on Catarina’s new puppy, which Madzie was entirely in love with, and how the vampires had found a new reliable source for their animal blood supply.

They eventually migrated to the couch, and Magnus put on a movie in the background, though neither of them really paid attention. Alec sat down on one end while Magnus took the other, before they looked at each other with a chuckle.

“Get over here, Shadowhunter,” Magnus teased, opening up his arms and lounging back against the armrest. Alec happily obliged, making his way up to lay on top of his boyfriend, head resting on his chest.

“Am I squishing you?” Alec asked.

“No Alexander, you’re perfectly fine. Relax.” Magnus pressed a kiss to his hair. He forgot sometimes, how new all of this was to Alec. Even the smallest comforts in relationships are learned and tested out over time, and Alec was still learning. He ran his fingers through the younger boy’s hair, pressing kisses there occasionally. Alec took his free hand and fiddled with the rings on each of his boyfriend’s fingers, pulling off a few bracelets and putting them on his own wrist.

“Thanks by the way, for coming to pick me up. I forgot to tell you earlier,” Alec murmured.

“You’re welcome love. Figured it was safer that way anyways.”

“I wish I could protect you the way you protect me. It feels pretty one sided. You don’t really need me when you’re in danger.”

“I need you in a thousand other ways Alexander, and that is much more important than being protected. Besides, you don’t need to protect me. I have this, remember?” Alec looked up then to see Magnus pull the Omari charm out of his shirt pocket with a soft smile. Alec wiggled his way up further so he could press his lips to Magnus’, slow and thoughtfully. It wasn’t as often as he liked that they got to kiss like this. Most the time it was kisses goodbye in the morning, kisses hello in the evening, or fast, hard kisses that said ‘I missed you while you were away’ and lead to other things.

“How do you need me?” Alec asked quietly after a few moments, toying with the hem of Magnus’ henley, his face pressed into his neck.

“I need your determination, to show me that things can get done no matter what. Your openness, which shows me it’s okay to trust people, despite everything. I need your bravery, your intelligence. Your loyalty to everyone you love continues to amaze me every day. I need your heart too, for it’s the best I’ve ever come across in all my years. Your face and everything else, that’s just the cherry on top,” Magnus smiled, resting his cheek on top of Alec’s head. The younger boy was silent for a moment, surprised that his eyes had begun to water. He had never thought of himself as anything other than a protector to those he cherished most. Without that ability, he hadn’t realized he had much more to offer.

“I love you. A lot,” Alec whispered, pressing a kiss to Magnus’ throat.

“I love you more.”

“Not likely,” he smiled between kisses, making his way back up to his boyfriend’s lips. They kissed softly again, warm and slow. Magnus usually took charge of their kisses, but in this case he let Alec do the work, letting him explore and see what he liked.

The kisses slowed after a while, and Alec’s weight became heavier as the tension that he always held in his muscles began to diffuse.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed,” Magnus suggested.

“I’m perfectly comfortable right here,” Alec protested, though his words were a bit sluggish.

“No, you’re exhausted sweetheart. Up you get.”

Alec moved groggily to his feet, reaching for Magnus’ hand and pulling him up from the couch. They walked to the bedroom slowly, stripping down to their boxer briefs in silence before climbing under the covers and back into each other’s arms. This time, Magnus rested his head on Alec’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“You’re wrong you know,” Magnus murmured.

“Hmm?”

“You do protect me, the most important part of me. You protect my heart. I’ve never been able to trust people with it very easily, but it’s yours, and I know you won’t hurt me.”

He looked up then to see the younger boy’s reaction, but he was already asleep, his head lolled to the side, his dark hair falling over his closed eyes. He smiled at the sight – how beautiful it was – and let himself join his love in restful sleep.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 14 -- The Fair Folk -- Review/Discussion

I am so sorry that this review is so late. I had a majority of this review written right after 2x14 came out but there was one part of the review I was really struggling to write. I wasn’t very happy with it and I still don’t really like how it came out but I hope everyone understands where I’m coming from on that part. If you don’t and think I’m a bitch, fine you’re allowed to have your opinion and I’ll respect it. Bitch though I may be, I still ask that you respect my opinions.

Here we are again with another Shadowhunters review. This time it’s Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 14, The Fair Folk. This episode pretty much marks everything I’ve come to expect with a Shadowhunters episode. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t particularly love it either. You know, I used to enjoy re-watching the episodes when I prepare for these reviews but these days, it’s starting to feel like actual work.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling you how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, let’s discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about the show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters; I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do love the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my love of the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as it’s good and it makes sense. My problems with this show are problems that I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world-building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the show and spoilers for the books and movie.

As I said earlier, this episode wasn’t terrible. I feel like that’s something that I can consistently say about every episode that airs now. It was fine. It didn’t completely suck. But on the flip side, I shouldn’t be thinking that. I should be saying, “This show is fucking awesome. Everyone should watch it.” Shadowhunters, when are you going to do that for me? When are you going to wow me in such a way that I literally cannot wait until the next episode? That I’m counting down the days until the next episode premieres. I made a promise to myself that I would stick with this show until it ended on its own or it got cancelled but geez is it getting harder and harder. Don’t get me wrong. Shadowhunters by no means is a bad show. It’s completely passable. But I think therein, lies the issue. The writing of this show does the bare minimum to just skate by. It’s just average and I want it to be more than average. It irritates me because I want to like this show so much and recommend it to everyone but as it stands now, I would never do that. The plot holes bother me, characters are dumb for plot convenience but toted around as if they’re actually smart, and the dialogue gets downright atrocious at times. But enough with my griping about the writing of the show. I’m trying to be optimistic so every week I go into this show hoping that Shadowhunters will surprise me. Maybe one day, they will. Let’s get into this. 

Sebastian/Jonathon Manipulations

Will Tudor was busy being awesome again in this episode as Sebastian/Jonathon. He was all over the place playing mind game manipulation tricks on everyone and it seems to be working really well for him. He’s got nearly everyone under his spell. I think he’s still working on Alec, though. Which was great, by the way. All throughout this episode, we have Sebastian/Jonathon weaving his web of manipulations throughout everyone in the Institute. The only thing I wish would happen is that whatever diabolical plan Sebastian/Jonathon is working on, I wish that Alec would be included in it. Sebastian/Jonathon is hardcore manipulating everyone but Alec and it would be really nice to see him manipulate Alec as well or at least have Alec play some sort of role in his plans. It kind of feels like Alec is just going to be a spectator in this particular plot point.

We have the Jace scene which was awesome. Jace was playing the piano and Jace and Sebastian/Jonathon have this really interesting scene. They talk about Valentine abusing Jace while teaching him to play piano and you can see just the slightest twinge of jealousy in Will Tudor’s face. He’s jealous that Valentine didn’t give him the same upbringing that he gave Jace and hopefully that’s going to be developed more. I really enjoyed seeing that little bit of foreshadowing in regards to Sebastian/Jonathon’s feelings towards Jace and Valentine.They then move on to a Clary conversation. Sebastian/Jonathon is clearly trying to instigate drama in the love triangle. He needs Clary to not be with Simon so he needs Jace to act on his feelings with Clary.

Then we also have him getting close to Izzy again and trying to convince her to come clean to her mother about the drug addiction. That was also a great fight scene they had and I didn’t even mind the techno music they inserted into that scene. Probably because they turned down the volume a little.

Even though it’s not really stated, I’m pretty sure Luke was being manipulated by Sebastian/Jonathon as well. It’ll probably be revealed later. Which, by the way, Luke continues to be the dumbest detective I’ve ever seen portrayed as a serious detective. He gets a phone call in the back of the Jade Wolf. The voice on the phone is muffled so Luke can’t tell who it is. This random person Luke doesn’t even recognize tells him that he can be given the chance to kill Valentine and Luke just takes it. Doesn’t question at all that it’s probably a set up. It was so obvious right from the get-go. It really irks me when characters are dumb for plot convenience. If the plot is dumb, fine, I can deal with that. But if your characters are going to make dumb decisions for plot convenience, then stop toting them around as if they’re actual intelligent people. When you do this, it sends the message that you think your audience is stupid. In the last episode, I praised Luke for finally coming into his own and being the badass Luke that I’ve always wanted but now we’re back to weird Luke. First off, it was weird that Luke even wanted Valentine dead to begin with. We had gotten no inclination, whatsoever, that he was harboring these kinds of feelings in the last few episodes so that kind of came out of left field. Then, we had Luke not wanting to be a part of the Downworlder-Shadowhunter cabinet that Alec is setting up because, “It’s not enough.” And I’m just like, “Well, compared to what you had before with the shadowhunters – which was nothing – this is an excellent place to start.” You don’t win a revolution in one day. You have to take baby steps. Yes, the Clave is bigoted but this is also the first time that the head of an Institute is trying to set up negotiations with the downworlders to get their voice heard. This may be a small and inconsequential step but I feel like it’s going to be integral in getting the Clave to eventually change and it’s really single-minded and weird for Luke to be against it so much. I say weird because his book counterpart even in the beginning, was fighting for this exact thing to happen. To get downworlders and shadowhunters to work together. That’s how the Circle was defeated. Downworlders and shadowhunters put their differences aside and fought together to stop the Circle and Valentine. It was that moment that spawned Luke to believe that it is possible for shadowhunters and downworlders to live peacefully with each other. It’s just weird to me that Show Luke is so against working with Alec when Alec is implementing something that Luke should feel pretty strongly about and be all for.

And then, Sebastian/Jonathon attempts to manipulate Alec but Alec goes against the manipulation without even realizing he did. Sebastian/Jonathon set up Luke to be caught so Alec would have no choice but to arrest him and thus would put an end to a NYC Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance. But Alec let’s Luke go to prove a point to the downworlders -- that he’s willing to work with them and that was really great. Just the look Sebastian/Jonathon gave Alec after Alec makes his decision was awesome. It was like, “WTF. What’s going on here? You didn’t do what I wanted you to do.”

Sebastian also has someone tied up in his closet which was weird. I’ve heard some people say that it’s Jocelyn but my money’s on it being the real Sebastian Verlac. When Jocelyn was first killed, I didn’t think she was actually dead because the sibling thing still needed to be revealed and Jocelyn was seemingly the only one who could do that. But now that Valentine spilled the beans on the sibling thing, there’s no real point to keeping Jocelyn alive. I can’t really think of anything that would spur the show to bring her back. There’s nothing she can really add to the plot anymore. It would also completely destroy the actual point of killing Jocelyn in the first place. They killed off Jocelyn because 1) she was kind of a useless character and 2) her death would propel Clary’s character arc (even though it didn’t really – that plot point was dropped pretty quickly). It seems counter-productive to make a plot that was meant to push Clary’s character forward only to undo it all at a later point in the same season, nonetheless.  But who knows. Maybe they will bring her back just so Luke won’t be alone. I am sad that with Jocelyn dead, Luke doesn’t end up with her. Maybe they’ll create another love interest for him. But anyway, my money’s on the real Sebastian that’s locked up in the closet. After all, he probably needs the real Sebastian just in case he needs to find out about his life. In case someone questions who he really is. That being said, I still think it’s really weird that this show has everyone in the Institute just blindly accepting someone who admitted he’s a rogue shadowhunter. If someone’s gone rogue, then maybe someone should go investigate that. Find out the story. If you’ve gone rogue, you might not be the most trustworthy person. Again, characters just being dumb for plot convenience.

I know I’ve made a lot of complaints about idiot plots in this show and characters being dumb for plot convenience. But keep in mind, I really don’t have that big of an issue with idiot plots. There are certain scenarios that I can stomach characters being dumb for plot convenience and idiot plots. Well, really only one scenario. And that’s, “It makes sense for the characters.” I can let a character slide with making a dumb decision if they have a personality that supports them making that kind of decision. An example of this is the anime, Dragonball Z. Yeah, I’m about to get really nerdy on you non-anime fans but bear with me here. I promise there’s a point to this. There is an arc in Dragonball Z where the entire arc revolves around an idiot plot and characters being complete idiots and making really bad decisions. But I could let that slide because the decisions the characters were making made sense with their personalities. The arc I’m speaking of is the Cell Saga arc. It starts off with the group being warned that they are going to be killed in 3 years by androids. One of the characters comes up with the perfectly logical plan of, “Let’s go find the scientist who makes these androids and take care of him before he even has a chance to create them.” But the main protagonist, Goku, is all, “No, we’re not going to do that because I really want to fight these androids.” It’s a dumb decision but it makes sense with Goku’s character. Goku is always looking for the next big challenge. He needs the thrill of the fight. Another moment in the plot is the anti-hero, Vegeta, is about to defeat the big bad, Cell, but ultimately decides against defeating Cell because he wants to defeat Cell at Cell’s strongest. In order for Cell to reach his “perfect” form, he has to absorb Android 18. Vegeta allows this to happen and no surprise, Vegeta is now no longer strong enough to defeat Cell once Cell becomes “perfect”. Again, a dumb decision, but Vegeta is a very prideful person so it stands to reason he wouldn’t consider a win against Cell a real win unless he defeated Cell when Cell was at his peak. Then, Krillin/Kuririn (depends on what version you watch) has the chance to destroy Android 18 to stop Cell from achieving the perfect form he so craves but ultimately destroys the remote that would destroy 18. Dumb decision, again, but it also makes sense because Krillin/Kuririn is starting to fall in love with this android. He sees her as not this machine that everyone else is seeing but this innocent girl who ran into some bad luck and was turned into an android against her will. He can’t bring himself to kill someone who is, for all intents and purposes, human in his eyes and doesn’t deserve to die. It’s very much in line with his character. Then nearing the end of the arc, Goku sends out his 10-year-old son, Gohan (who is my all-time favorite character, BTW), to fight Cell which appalls everyone. Everyone else believes Gohan doesn’t stand a chance against Cell and that Goku has lost it completely but Goku is so adamant that Gohan can do it that before the fight begins, he gives Cell a sensu bean to restore Cell’s energy. It’s a dumb decision and it would appear Goku is setting Gohan up to die. But again, it makes sense for Goku’s character. Goku spent all of this time training with Gohan in a different dimension for an entire year. During that year, Goku saw the true extents of Gohan’s power and knew that if Cell pushed Gohan far enough, Gohan would eventually have no choice but to unleash that hidden power and when that happened, Cell wouldn’t stand a chance in hell of defeating Gohan. So his decision, albeit a bad decision, makes sense for his character. Of course, in this moment, Goku failed to take in account Gohan’s personality, as well. That being Gohan is a bit of a pacifist and doesn’t fight for the glory or the challenge. It wasn’t that easy for him to unlock that power because he really didn’t want to take part in a fight that he thought was meaningless and didn’t have to happen. He’s not a killer and he didn’t want to become one for a fight that he saw a way out of. He eventually does access his hidden power in all its bad-ass glory but as a consequence, he also falls into the idiot plot as well. He’s kicking Cell’s ass just like Goku predicted he would but when he has the chance to defeat Cell for good, he doesn’t take it. He doesn’t feel that Cell has suffered enough for all of the horrible things he’s done. Gohan wants to continue beating up on him a little more and making him suffer more. Bad decision and a little out of character for him. That’s the interesting thing about this moment, though. He’s out of character a little but still kind of in character at the same time. When he unleashed his hidden power, it was done in a fit of rage so it stands to reason that Gohan isn’t thinking logically at this point. He’s 100% being controlled by his emotions. I’ve often thought that the power drove him to slight insanity in these moments. Even earlier on in the series, every time Gohan’s hidden power came to peak out and say hi, it was because Gohan was in a fit of rage and every time it happened, he would black out. He couldn’t remember a whole lot about what he did. So yeah, it’s a dumb decision but it makes sense. It makes sense that a 10-year-old unleashing that kind of power in a fit of rage probably wouldn’t be able to think as he normally would. See where I’m getting at here. The entire Cell Saga is one big, huge idiot plot but I still feel like it works because the decisions that were made were still very much in line with the characters and their motivations. I can’t say the same thing about Shadowhunters. I don’t have a problem with idiot plots as long as they’re done well which is not what is happening with Shadowhunters. Luke’s character should not be trusting some voice on a burner phone. He should be trying to figure out who this person actually is before putting his freedom in this unknown person’s hands. Someone should be looking in to the London Insititute to find out some more information about this Sebastian. There was no reason for Azazel to go up to random shadowhunters asking for the Mortal Cup. All he did was alert the shadowhunters to his presence in the first place. If he had kept quiet, he wouldn’t have been sent back to hell. No one would’ve known he was in our dimension. The characters are dumb simply because the writers can’t find a way to write their idiot plots in a manner that makes sense for the characters and that’s the real problem I have with the plots in this show. It’s the problem with the show not always writing the plot to fit the characters. They keep on trying to make the characters fit the plot and as a result, it kind of comes off condescending. It’s like the show is saying, “The audience won’t pay attention to this. We can totally get away with it.” It comes off like they think we’re dumb. The Cell Saga was an idiot plot in its entirety but I never felt like Akira Toriyama or Toei Animation was treating the audience as if they were dumb. Shadowhunters writes their plots and their dialogue as if they think the characters are smarter than the audience when they’re really not. It can be very tiring watching a Shadowhunters plot when every single scene I’m asking, “Why?”

Shadowhunter-Downworlder Cabinet

We get introduced in this episode to this Shadowhunter-Downworlder idea that Alec has where representatives from the NYC Institute and the different factions of the downworlder community get together and talk about issues. And this idea got me right in the Alec feels because Alec from the books actually does something similar to this in Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy and it’s kind of awesome for his character. He’s not the head of the NYC Institute but this is a position that he created and takes very seriously. I actually really liked the parts of the episode that dealt with this aspect. It wasn’t perfect. There were a couple of odd ends. I’ve already mentioned the Luke thing. And then there was the Malec phone call where Magnus tells Alec he’ll be there by his side and Alec tells asks him not to be. That during this meeting, they need to be professional and keep their distance which makes sense. Alec needs to put up a stance that he is professional and that he won’t have any sort of bias towards one faction of the downworlder community. Of course, Magnus doesn’t see it this way. He gets all insecure and takes it to mean that Alec might be ashamed of him, I guess. Just a weird character moment for him. Their relationship is already out in the open. Alec kissed him in front of the entire Clave leadership. They haven’t exactly been low-profile with their relationship. Everyone knows about it. It’s kind of pointless to have Magnus being all insecure about this because I don’t believe he would be. Alec has already shown he doesn’t care what the Clave thinks of him anymore. It’s perfectly reasonable that two people in this situation should put some distance between each other in a business setting. Office romances are a perfectly common and natural thing that happens and depending on where you work, it’s not really treated as something bad unless the couple in question proves that they can’t stay professional. Leave the home stuff at home and all that jazz. Same logic can be applied in this scenario. When they’re working together, it needs to be kept professional. For me, it was perfectly reasonable that Alec would ask this of Magnus and it was weird that Magnus was taking it as an affront to their relationship. Professionalism is key into making an idea like this work. I get that Magnus is still hurting from the switch but I really feel like the show might be over-reaching just a little with the Malec drama. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be Malec drama based on what happened. I totally get it. Magnus is definitely still hurting from what happened and he should be. But I just don’t like the way the show is writing it. AGAIN, I’M NOT SAYING MAGNUS ISN’T JUSTIFIED IN BEING UPSET ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM OR THAT THERE SHOULDN’T BE MALEC DRAMA ABOUT IT; I JUST DON’T LIKE THE WAY THE WRITERS ARE APPROACHING IT. The Magnus insecurities are coming out in a way that I just don’t feel is genuine and consistent with his character. I didn’t like that Magnus didn’t even try to understand Alec’s position in the last episode. That Magnus accused Alec of not following his heart and following the Institute blindly. Which is all well and good but it does beg the question – What should Alec have done? If he had decided to not pursue the DNA test, it wouldn’t have stopped the Clave from potentially suspecting Magnus anyway. Magnus isn’t giving any other ideas on how to get them out of this situation. It’s really easy to complain about something but you’ll be taken much more seriously if you give an alternative when you complain. Remember, step up or step aside. You don’t get to complain unless you’re willing to do something about it. I’m not saying Magnus shouldn’t have gotten angry but he also wasn’t really trying to understand the position Alec was in. Then in this episode, I don’t feel like Magnus would’ve gotten so weird about Alec wanting to maintain professionalism. The show tries so hard to put in Malec drama and it always falls flat and it never feels genuine. The fights, to a certain extent, always feel kind of petty, I guess. But I’m not ragging on them completely. I did enjoy that little scene where they’re greeting each other and attempting the professionalism. I could tell Matt and Harry had a lot of fun with that scene.

Another underlying issue I had and it’s just something I wish the show had written a little more differently. This antagonism the downworlders and the shadowhunters have is just very black and white. I’ve been noticing it for a few episodes now and I’ve decided I want to bring it up. The downworlders are playing up this whole “wronged party” angle where the shadowhunters are being played as the enemies. Now, the downworlders are perfectly justified in being the victims. I’m not disputing that. Valentine massacred them and then the Clave crossed the line with that whole tracker thing. I understand the downworlders’ angle here. However, I kind of wish the show wasn’t portraying that downworlders are the good guys and shadowhunters are the bad guys. The Shadowhunter world has always lived in a “shades of grey” type of existence. There are good shadowhunters and there are bad shadowhunters. There are shadowhunters that do care about the downworlder community and don’t want a war and there are shadowhunters who believe downworlders are beneath them and are no better than the demons they’re related to. On the flipside, there are good downworlders and there are bad downworlders. There are downworlders who just want to live peacefully side by side with the mundanes and shadowhunters and there are downworlders that have no qualms about killing mundanes or shadowhunters. See where I’m getting at here? Just like the world we live in, there are shades of grey to this world and I don’t like how the show is portraying this world as something so black and white. Right now, it’s made like only the Lightwoods and Clary care about the downworlders. As if they’re the only “good” shadowhunters around and everyone else is evil and I’m not really a fan of all that. And we have the downworlders depicted as these beings who never do anything wrong and are having this great injustice done to them. Which I admit, what was done to them was terrible. I’m not disputing that but it feels like the show is kind of ignoring the idea that not all downworlders are good people. I don’t typically agree with a lot of things the Season 1 writers were doing but I did like one idea they were starting to implement before the showrunner change. That there are downworlders who don’t follow the law and they do attack humans and they do kill shadowhunters. I thought the scene was really interesting when Valentine was trying to convince Jace that downworlders are evil because it is a shades of grey scenario. There are downworlders who do horrible things as we saw in that first episode when Jace found that vampire den that was feeding on humans and killing them. It really kind of made you look at Valentine’s side of things and think, “Hey, I don’t really agree with you but you make a fair point. I could definitely see why people might want to follow you.” Unfortunately, the show dropped that angle but ultimately, it was something I wanted them to implement more into the world-building. It’s pretty much been dropped completely, sadly. Maybe they’ll bring it back at some point. I would like the show to have less of a cookie-cutter outlook to the world. Again, I’M NOT SAYING THE DOWNWORLDERS DON’T HAVE A RIGHT TO BE ANGRY WITH THE SHADOWHUNTERS. I’M JUST SAYING IT WOULD BE NICE IF THE SHOW TOOK A MORE REALISTIC APPROACH AND WROTE THESE DIFFERENT FACTIONS OF THE SHADOW WORLD IN A WAY THAT THEY DON’T ALWAYS FIT SO CLEANLY IN ONE PILE. There are good people and there are bad people and it would be nice if the show explored this aspect of the shadow world more. 

Maryse Mending Fences

Another thing I enjoyed in this episode was pretty much any scene with Maryse in it. I loved her so much in this episode. She’s slowly going through everyone trying to mend fences and fix the problems she created with her family and friends. She goes to Alec in the beginning of the episode and tells him how proud she is that he finally became the head of the Institute. She used a cute little anecdote about Alec, as a kid, sitting at the desk and pretending to be the head. Come on, Shadowhunters, where’s that flashback scene? That’s one I wouldn’t mind seeing. Alec also tells Maryse that she shouldn’t still be with Robert since he cheated on her. Alec wants her to leave Robert. He also urges Maryse to tell Izzy about the affair. That it’ll be even worse if Izzy hears about the affair from the Clave gossiping about it. It was a really nice scene.

She attempts to mend fences with Luke as well but Luke is still very much on his “kill Valentine” vendetta so he doesn’t really want to listen to Maryse. But I like that Maryse brings up Jocelyn and laments how bad she feels about what happened.

Later on, we probably had my favorite Maryse scene where Izzy confesses to Maryse that she has a vampire venom addiction. Nope, I’m still not calling her addiction a yin fen addiction – no matter how many times the show uses the term “yin fen addiction.” I am no longer humoring the show in that regard. But it was a really powerful moment. Izzy comes clean and for a second I didn’t know which way Maryse was going to go on the reaction spectrum. She could’ve rejected Izzy or she could’ve been supportive. And it was really nice to see her supportive when in the first season she treated Izzy as if Izzy was a massive disappointment. It was nice to see that under Maryse’s political bravado, she really does love her children more than anything. Maryse then chooses to come clean and tell Izzy about the affair in which Izzy responds that she already knew about it. She had eavesdropped on a phone call about it. My big question is when did she find out? All throughout Season 1, she worshipped her father and if she knew back then, I find it hard to believe that she would be as receptive to Robert as she was. Particularly since her book counterpart turns very cynical and skeptical about her father and love as a result of finding out about the affair. But she doesn’t seem to harbor those same kinds of feelings in the show which isn’t really a bad thing. I’m not opposed to the show devbiating from the books. I just find it weird that there isn’t a change in her personality from not knowing about the affair to knowing about the affair. If I found out that my father had cheated on my mother, there would definitely be a noticeable change in my attitude. Particularly considering how much I love and look up to my father much in the same way it was implied that Izzy did. I’m thinking this is an attempt by the new showrunners to retcon the first season’s idea of not having Izzy know about the affair which is good. I’m glad they did it and didn’t turn it into this big, huge dramatic reveal, I just think it could’ve been implemented and fore-shadowed a little bit better. I also really liked what Maryse said. “I want you to fight for love like your brother.” Which was really nice. She just wants her children to be happy and it was great. Their entire interaction was so nice. I actually started tearing up a little when they were hugging each other. Shadowhunters isn’t really a show that moves me to tears. The only other time I got teary-eyed with Shadowhunters was in Parabatai Lost but I really want more scenes like this one and the one in Parabatai Lost. I want a show that does move me. Shadowhunters has the story to be able to do it, the writing just needs to get up there. 

The Middle School Plot

So now that I’ve finished talking about the adult parts of the episode, I guess now I have to talk about the childish bits of this episode. I refer to this section of the episode as The Middle School Plot. And not only because they made the “middle school” joke in every other scene but also because this side of the episode really was like middle school. We have the adults at the Institute dealing with real adult problems and then we have the kids dealing with their love triangle BS. The seelie court scene is not my favorite scene in the books but I do allow it because it works for the characters and the story…at least in the book format. A lot of fans choose to see the seelie court scene as this great ultimate Clace scene where Clary finally acknowledges her feelings for Jace. And while that is true, it is not the only purpose of the scene. I always felt that the purpose of the scene wasn’t necessarily meant to showcase Clace as much as it was meant to showcase that Climon just cannot work. And I feel like the show kind of missed its mark in this scene. In the book, this scene highlighted that Clary doesn’t feel the same way about Simon that she does for Jace. However, in the show, the scene came off highly cliché and melodramatic – all I have to say is that context is everything. The writers changed the dynamic of Jace/Clary/Simon so much that I don’t think this scene could ever have really worked anymore without it becoming a teenage melodrama that I feel compelled to make fun of. I could not take this plot point seriously, at all. I was honestly worried I may have caused siginificant damage to the nerves in my eyeballs because I was rolling my eyes so much. What I originally found bearable about the Jace/Clary/Simon love triangle in the books is that it wasn’t really a love triangle. It was always fairly obvious that Clary did not have any kind of romantic inclination towards Simon. When she kissed him, she felt nothing. It was nice but it didn’t give her the ��fireworks in the background” feeling like kissig Jace did. She continued on with the relationship because she desperately wanted to get over Jace and hoped that if she gave it some time, she might develop romantic feelings towards Simon – thus losing the aforementioned feelings for Jace. Up until at that point in the seelie court, Clary was refusing to acknowledge her very real feelings for Jace because she knew it was wrong. But unfortunately, she was pushed into a situation so desperate, that those repressed feelings were brought to the front all at once. Simon also knew Clary didn’t love him. He knew she still harbored feelings for Jace. He just loved Clary so much he was willing to overlook what he knew to be true. That if he clung to her as tightly as he could, maybe she would come to love him. In the seelie court, it backfired and Simon was forced to acknowledge the truth in the most horrible way imagineable. The scene in the books was written with very specific emotions in mind and I don’t think the show managed to pull scene off on an emotional level. Yes, the scene exists and the Clace kiss happened but that’s about it. I didn’t feel anything from it. The show just changed so much with the trios’ dynamic that the seelie court scene does not work in the way it was originally meant to. Now, that on it’s own is not the issue. I understand the tv show and the books are different and that Freeform is going to do it’s own thing. The problem is that they changed they dynamic of the trio without changing the scene to match the new dynamic. The scene from City of Ashes reaked of desperation and emotion while the scene in this episode just felt childish and unnecessary. The show had turned Climon into this epic love situation where it was implied that Clary seemed to genuinely like Simon in a romantic fashion and it never felt like she was dealing with any residual feelings towards Jace. The show, very obviously and understandably, wanted to stay away from the incest intonations. Which is fine. I didn’t really care if they went for the incest plot or not. But Clace did take a hit as a result. The show so desperately wanted to steer clear of the incest plot and wanted to get the incest plot over and done with as quickly as possible. Which meant they had to steer clear of Clace during that period. The problem is that in doing so, the Clace romantic tension was never really established. It didn’t make sense that Jace’s kiss was the kiss Clary most desired when they spent the last season pretty much ignoring each other. And not in an angsty way. It straight up felt as if they didn’t really care that they both were once interested in being romantically involved. I felt nothing when they kissed in this scene and I certainly didn’t feel like Clary had anything resembling repressed feelings towards Jace.  Because there was no prior romantic tension for them to call upon. This also kind of makes Clary look like she was stringing two guys along. You can interpret that in the books as well but it’s so much worse and so much more pronounced in the show. I don’t say, “Poor Clary” in this scene, I say, “Poor Simon.” I feel really bad for Simon here because he was all in and genuinely thought Clary was all in, too. Based on her actions in the previous episodes, there was nothing to support that she wasn’t. The show does try desperately to make me feel for Clary when she runs after Simon and begs him to let her in. That she wants to be with him and I’m all, “Oh, please.” Clary, this isn’t about what you want anymore. You gave Simon a chaste peck on the lips while giving Jace this huge makeout session. This is now about Simon realizing he’s not going to be able to get past what he just witnessed. It doesn’t matter anymore if Clary really wants to be with Simon. He will always have this in the back of his head. Would you be comfortable with dating someone who you knew had romantic feelings for someone else? Clary couldn’t even manage a passionate-ish kiss with Simon to save Simon’s life. Just a peck on the lips. Which when you think about it, also doesn’t really make sense. With Climon being built up to be this epic love and it’s highly implied that they’ve had sex, I find it really hard to believe that she would just gave Simon a peck on the lips. Were they taking a Goku/Chi Chi approach to the Climon sex life – in Dragonball Super, it was heavily implied that despite being married to Chi Chi for over 20 years and having two kids with her, Goku has never once kissed her. I really don’t think Simon would be okay with that kind of relationship.  In the book, Clary’s kiss made sense because kissing Simon felt unnatural to her and she was being forced to do it in front of everyone but that’s not implied in the show. I don’t know. Maybe in the show, Clary did feel self-conscious about kissing Simon. But since it’s never stated that’s why it happened, I’m just making excuses for lazy writing. Another thing I noticed with the seelie court scene was that it lost its sense of consequence. In the books, after this scene occurs, it spurs Simon to give in to the compulsion he had been feeling to go back to the Hotel Dumort – where he was subsequently killed by the vampires and then transitioned into a vampire himself. Clary feels an insane amount of guilt about this. She believes that what happened to Simon as a result of the kiss she had with Jace is her punishment. Obviously, that can’t happen here because they sped up his vampire transition in Season 1. I’m sure the show has some sort of plan to spur some sort of consequence from this plot but whether those consequences are actually going to be impactful or melodramatic remains to be seen. But with all of that said, I am interested to see where this is going to take Simon as a character. Simon’s storylines have always centered around Clary thus far and I’m hoping that with this episode, we get some Simon-centric stories that don’t revolve around Clary.

The seelie queen was also portrayed as a young child in this episode as well. It was an interesting move, I’ll give the show that. I didn’t completely hate the idea behind it. In fact, I kind of liked it. But I do question it from a production standpoint. The problem I have with the seelie queen being portrayed by a young child is the acting quality of the said character. Here’s the thing. When you make the decision to cast a child in any role, really, you run the risk of the child not being able to carry the scene. A lot of times, child actors aren’t nearly as impactful in their productions because they lack experience. Which makes sense because they haven’t had time to hone their craft yet. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of fantastic child actors. I’ve seen some really good ones. But at the same time why would you take the risk if you don’t have to? I felt that the actress here definitely lacked experience. Her acting was very uneven. There were moments when I was like, “Yes, that’s the seelie queen” and then there were other moments when it felt like I was listening to a child recite lines because some adults told her to. There are a lot of facets to the seelie queen. Lots of manipulations. Every word the seelie queen says is an intricate manipulation. You think you’re 2 steps ahead of her, she’s 6 steps ahead of you in actuality. She would be a very difficult role for someone who doesn’t have a whole lot of experience. Now, this child may fall into the role later and I would be very interested in seeing her progress as an actress. But I also think the seelie queen is going to come back as an adult. I feel like the idea behind her is that she can appear how she wishes to appear.

The dialogue in this plot was downright atrocious at times. We have a moment where Simon, Jace, and Clary are walking to the seelie court and Simon touches the kill tree. Jace tells him to stop and says that the tree will “wrap it’s vines around you and tear you limb from limb” in which Clary responds, “Jace, what are you talking about?” Clary, he just told you what was going to happen. Why do you need hear it again? What exactly was he unclear about? Why does Clary say dumb shit like this but yet is still continuously toted around as if she’s an actual intelligent being? How dumb do the writers think their audience is? I’m serious. It is incredibly condescending when writers write lines like these. That 1) they don’t think we’re smart enough to infer what a “kill tree” does and they have to have Jace explain it to us and 2) that they still don’t think we’re intelligent enough to understand it so they need to have Jace explain it to us A SECOND TIME. Whenever I watch this show, I can’t help but face-palm half a dozen times.

That’s about all I have to say. I would give this episode a B-. I found this episode a little uneven. There were ideas that I really liked but executed as per usual with the same kind of illogical finesse I’ve become accustomed to. I can deal with plots being dumb but I cannot handle characters being dumb when it doesn’t make sense with their personality. I will admit that the writers do seem to be getting back into the groove. These past couple of episodes, although illogical, are actually kind of good. They’re right on the border. If the writers could just spend more time working on their execution, I could really find myself loving this show. Right now, I’m only at an enjoyment level but I genuinely want to love these episodes. The show is so close. They just need to hone their focus a little more and they’ll have it.

Again, I am so sorry this was so late. I had a bitch of a time writing the seelie plot part of the review. I would love to hear your opinions on the episode. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Do you agree? Do you disagree? I only ask that you be respectful of not only my opinions but everyone else’s as well.

[royalshadowhunter]

Shadowhunters 2x19 predictions

Well fellow shadowhunters, a new episode is fast approaching but before it gets here I would like to discuss what may be coming up in the next two episodes. This post is based entirely off of speculation backed up by memories of reading the books that may not be entirely accurate. This is due to the fact that most of the books were read under sleep deprivation and heat stroke but that is an entirely different story.

Anywho lets start at the beginning and work our way through. So first things first-Malec. What on Earth is going to happen to our favourtie Shadowhunter/Warlock duo in the rest of 2b? Well as we all know Malec is endgame. That is fact. It’s also probably the only thing that has kept the malec fandom together following Mondays...........lets call it a disgreement. Regardless, Malec will get back together, but the real question is how and when. Well here are my 2 cents (or pence if you’re British), I think that Malec will get back together in the last episode of the season, so we’re gonna have to make it through 2x19 without them together (Deep breaths and ice-cream may be required). So that covers when but how? Well I don’t know if this is my hopes or my genuine belief but I think that Malec is going to have a big reunion kiss, mid-battle. We already know that they’re fighting with each other and many have theorised that the alliance rune will be used. So it would make sense that they would have some sort of reconciliation before they fight an innumerable amount of demons that could kill that at any moment (as one does).

Well that’s Malec, but according to the sypnopsis a traitor is revealed. Now the Shadowhunters already know that Sebastian is Johnathan which means we have a whole new traitor on our hands. Everyone in this show needs to stop trusting people so easily. So who is this brand new traitor? Well lets be honest this list is somewhat endless. This show is filled to the brim with dodgy, untrustworthy people. But here’s a few candidates that seem more likely than others. 1. Ollie- Lukes new partner is definetly not to be trusted and is getting herself firmly into the shadow world and all that comes with it. Although she seems intent on finding out all about Luke and the downworld, she doesn’t seem like a traitor. If anything she’s just a bit noisy. Also I don’t want it to be her due to her excellent one liners. 2. Robert- More than likely not Robert but then again he was a member of the circle once before. That and we don’t know who his new girlfriend is, she could be anybody and he could be the inside man. But then again he’s a Lightwood, he may be a cheat but I doubt he’s a traitor. 3. Meliorn- Now we all know that you can’t trust a seelie as far as you can throw them. This makes Meliorn a serious contender for our traitor but would he really side with Valentine? A man hell bent on destroying the downworld. It doesn’t seem likely but then again, seelies aren’t anything if unpredictable. Like I said it could be any of a number of people but at this moment in time these three stick out more than anyone else.

Last but not least, the question everyone has been asking since SDCC, who will die? Well it’s been said that more than one person is going to die. Although Max was seen as being the number one contender, he survived his awful ordeal last week and can more than likely be seen as being safe, but the question as to who will die still stands. I would argue that a number of people die, and here’s who I think it will be -Dot- I mean she was left alone at night in a park with a psychopathic mass murderer, chances are she’s dead already. -Valentine- Every villian falls eventually so Valentines end might be closer than we originally thought. That and the fact literally everyone in the shadow world is trying to kill him. -Sebastian/Johnathan- Do I think he will die? Yes. Why? Because nobody hurts a Lightwood without getting an arrow to the chest and a whip to the face. -Jace- I mean you guys have seen the trailer right? He doesn’t look too good. If anything he looks like he’s in desperate need of a doctor, nay surgeon. Although a whole load of people will probably die, the real question is who will stay dead? But that’s a question for another day.

Anywho, this has been my theory on a few things that we could expect for the rest of the season. There is a good possibility that all of the above is false but then again I made so many accusations that something has to be right, a broken clock is right two times a day isn’t it? Also even if it turns out I could not have been further from the truth, you never know unless you try. After all, I am only a junior shadowhunter, and this is only shadowhunting for beginners.

[freakypumpkin]

A Lack of Development

No, I’m not done talking about the 2B Finale ...

Let’s go! This time, about why the the structure of the final Malec conclusion makes no sense to me or at least seems to have some gaps between what is said and what is done, to me. 

(As always, feel free to disagree, I have no professional background to validate my analysis above other opinions. I’m just thinking about some stuff a lot.)

There are different opinions on whether or not the final conversation between Magnus and Alec went well, was okay, was great, was bad, etc. and it was generally described as something, that changes depending on ‘what side you are on’ or how you judge the actions before with the sword and everything. But even with that, something kept bugging me about how this went down and I eventually found myself asking ‘What changed?’.

What is the difference between Alec’s apology in the end, compared to the three(?) former ones he made? 

It’s pretty much just no risk anymore for Magnus to forgive him. The imminent danger of Valentine and Sebastian is banned (as far as they know). Downworlders are safe again, forgiving Alec is not about choosing sides anymore.  And this just being about time passing and ‘I noticed, I can’t live without you, so I’m going to forgive you’ makes me wonder, is this about how many times Alec needs to apologize or would the outcome have been the same, had he just waited this long to apologize again? If it’s not combined with any kind of development on either side, I can only see it as a decision made because ‘fighting with you is just more troublesome’.  And furthermore I wonder, if Valentine had been defeated, but Sebastian had escaped, if it had only been half a victory, would Magnus have forgiven Alec? Because in this situation it would have meant remaining tension between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, getting back together with Alec would have meant more effort. 

So, basically, what rubs me the wrong way about this is, that while Magnus quotes ‘Somebody once told me, that relationships take effort’, as he also mentions how he found out he didn’t have to choose between Alec and his people, which means, there’s no further effort needed to make this relationship work again. It’s almost an instant contradiction.

Now, why do I keep annoying you with the discussion about the elements of this break up and the finale? The writing got the structure done right before. 

Remember, the line of ‘If things get crazy, don’t push me away’? A line first mentioned by Magnus, acknowledged by Alec with an apology. This comes back, when Magnus has troubles of facing his past alone, pushing Alec away by always going ‘I’m fine’. Alec is this time the one to say the line, to remind Magnus of his own advice and Magnus listens and opens up to him, acknowledging his fear and that he just wasn’t fine at all.  Both sides had to face the same advice, in different personal situations, each time presented by their significant other, and both sides had to acknowledge their mistake/denial, a flaw. (I’m not sure about the wording here, but I hope, you get what I mean.)

Now, the line of ‘relationships take effort’. A line first said by Alec, when he decides to not walk away from Magnus and choose the option of going out of his comfort zone and taking the risk of this relationship. It’s an emotional struggle for him, because it’s his first relationship with somebody who is much more experienced, out and proud, while he just came out. He is the active part of this development here. When the line is brought up again by Magnus, the situation pretty much contradicts the line. The struggle introduced for Magnus the episodes before, is on a professional level because it’s about Magnus’ position as High Warlock. But the ‘conclusion’ to that struggle is at a time, where the struggle is basically non-existent anymore and Alec is again the active part of the development of them getting back together.  Following the former structure, this time, Magnus should have been the active part, with Alec being the one walked back to Magnus before, now it should have been Magnus walking back to Alec. The dynamic doesn’t get mirrored, there’s no clearly acknowledged development on both sides and the line is a direct contradiction to how the situation is presented. 

While it had been an emotional development for Alec the first time, it should have been a professional developement the second time for Magnus because while he has dated many people before, what is new for him is dating someone, he also works opposite of on a professional level (and who is a Shadowhunter), but that fell completely flat. 

[likelovelikesuicide]

Shadowhunters 2.19 - Re: Magnus’ choice

So we’ve hit the final stride… This was the season 2b arc we’ve all been watching unfold, and it was hinted to in 2a as well while we watched Magnus and Alec fall in love. When they entered their relationship they knew (and acknowledged that) they were from different worlds, they had completely different lives and it was going to take effort to be together. But they both desired (love) each other enough that they dove in head first anyway. The truth is, they were both in way too deep for each other by the time they got around to that first date… This was also a parallel to Season 1 Alec and his choice, but while Alec was facing the personal consequences of coming out and the backlash of his family and community - Magnus is facing a choice that affects all the Warlock’s of Brooklyn, the people he’s sworn to protect…. But I digress…

In my immediate reaction to this episode I didn’t understand Magnus’ actions, but upon reflection it’s clear that Magnus’ siding with the Seelie queen and the downworld against the Clave is 100% about protecting his people. He didn’t want to break things off with Alec, he doesn’t want them to be on opposing sides, in fact he fears it. But he had to make the choice that was best for his people and that meant walking away from true love (temporarily).…

Let’s break this down a bit - In 2a, we saw Magnus send Camille, his oldest “friend,” to the Clave to answer for her crimes against mundanes, because it’s the only way to protect Raphael from the Shadowhunters - The Head of the Institute at the time tortures Raphael for information about the out of control Vampire who used to lead his pack, but also as punishment and incentive to Magnus… Punishment for attacking Raj when the Shadowhunter tried to prevent him from helping save Alec’s life, and incentive because of Magnus’ connection to the vampire, Camille. That is some manipulative backhand shit and that is how the majority of Shadowhunters under that Clave treat Downworlders… this is the world they both live in and the thing is, Alec has proven himself to be part of the problem.

At the start of 2b, Alec didn’t believe Magnus when he was trapped inside Valentine’s body and while even the actor agreed that Alec’s actions in that episode didn’t make sense… it’s still what happened in canon. Alec didn’t believe him and it almost cost Magnus his life, though I still maintain that that scene was done 100% for shock value and in no way worked for the plot, so, moving on…

Next Alec goes to Magnus for a DNA sample on orders from the Clave to clear him for a crime Alec knows Magnus didn’t commit simply because it will placate the Clave. The Shadowhunters all know that Legit NO Downworlder will agree to any sort of testing or tracking by the Clave of their own free will, but Alec still asks and yes, he wanted to clear Magnus in the eyes of the Clave to avoid suspicious against his boyfriend. But he also knew that asking for the sample was stepping over the line within their relationship. He felt that, but he did it anyway out of his sense of duty as a Shadowhunter…  Magnus has every right to be pissed about it because in so many ways Alec doesn’t know what he’s asking of Magnus. This man has been alive for centuries, he lived before the Accords, when Shadowhunters hunted Downworlders for sport… He helped draft the laws that led to what’s happening now. He knows how Shadowhunter’s see the Downworld, as lesser than they… even Alec has killed Downworlders before - the Vampires at hotel De Morte and blindly following the Clave’s orders to torture Meliron - He’s not an innocent Shadowhunter either, but Magnus thought Alec different and this was more of the same.

Then we saw Alec not wanting Magnus to attend the council meetings “as my boyfriend” but instead as a Warlock representative that led to their current situation…  Magnus thought they would be by your side the whole time in support of each other, together because they are open about their relationship and THAT would be new, that would be a change and clearly, they’ve discussed Alec’s Downworld Council idea privately… so, when Alec doesn’t want to present themselves as united, Magnus is taken aback… that council has been done before and it never worked. If united would they both be accused of bias? Yes! But they are anyway…

Then of course we are faced with the issue of the Soul Sword and Alec’s decision to keep the information from Magnus… Unfortunately that was the last straw because it forced Magnus’ hand with the other Downworlders. For the sake of his people he had a choice to make (and he was given a short time to decide) - option A: Side with the Seelie Queen, allow her the control she desires and she will protect his people (the Warlock’s of Brooklyn) in the Seelie Realm from whatever Valentine is planning - or option B. Side with the Clave, the Shadowhunters because … he’s in love with Alec. Legit Magnus has no other reason to trust the Shadowhunters. The threat itself comes from a radical Shadowhunter! Plus, he is well aware that the NYC institute and the Clave have completely lost control of the situation. The Shadowhunters aren’t safe from their own, not even within the institute, and Valentine is always 3 steps ahead of them. So how could Magnus, the high warlock of brooklyn, in good conscious, choose to trust them with the safety of his people and the other downworlders he cares for? He can’t. That’s the point… but he couldn’t BE with Alec when he made that choice, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

On another note: I do think it was misguided of the producers/writers/etc. to proclaim 2.18 as the BEST MALEC EPISODE ever considering they broke them up. And ya, I’ll say it, right now Magnus is in no way seeing Alec and they are both heartbroken over it but also, their world is on the eve of war. Valentine is making moves faster than they can plan anything…. I get why they promoted it the way they did and the flashback scenes are all fantastic but I prefer the fluff to the angst… Also, Matthew Daddario, honey… this is not an upward swing… this is quiet literally the opposite…. I’m putting my faith in you, sir, that 2.20 will serve that Malec unending happiness you kept on about… don’t let me down, Captain.

[televisionpromos]

Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood, Alberto Rosende, Matthew Daddario, Emeraude Toubia, Harry Shum Jr., Isaiah Mustafa, and executive producer Matt Hastings discuss Shadowhunters Season 2B in these new interviews. Premieres Monday June 5th on Freeform!

[kaeppsong-your-life]

Shadowhunters 2x18 review/thoughts/feelings

I don't do these publicly at all, and I have no friends to talk about it so I just threw all I felt here. It came out horribly long but I needed to let it out. I’m no expert by the way, and english isn’t my first language so go easy on me. Let me know what you guys think! Maybe I’ll do another for the next episode if I feel like it. 

I applaud Amanda Row and Jamie Gorenberg for executing an episode so wonderfully, first and foremost. The amount of attention of detail and overall “groundness” is phenomenal. The lighting was perfect in almost all the scenes (something that I undeniably had an issue with in 2a but has gotten so much better in 2b), not only because you could actually see the people in the screen but because it added to the emotion of the scenes. The music selection was just great and the editing was smooth. These are things that people don’t realize really affects viewing experience. Lighting, music and editing play a large roll on the emotions the creator wants viewers to feel and it was so well executed so THANK YOU for that, really. 

There were many things happening in this episode so I’ll go one by one, not really in chronological order. 

We have Maia and Simon dealing with a mundane-turning-werewolf. A very interesting topic because it adds more knowledge on how this world works, hence expanding it in my opinion. The only people we’ve seen experiencing such a physical change has been Simon. Clary as well, but she kinda upgrades into something that is revered. I absolutely love that they didn’t leave it at that and they used this opportunity to delve more into Maia’s character. Alisha performance was on the nose in her monologue, and it’s this scene that makes Maia a regular in the show. I saw some people who haven’t read the books asking why she is to become so and I believe this will shone light as to why.  Her past (hopefully) makes viewers understand why she is the way she is, why she seemed to see the worst immediately in the people around her and why she cares and respects Luke and the pack. She isn’t just a character there to push the plot anymore, the plot will not be able move without her eventually and this was a great way to start bringing her in. I loved it. (Also, Jordan can choke....for now)

While on the topic of werewolves we have Luke proving his alpha status when he is challenged (to the death) for the position. Did anyone doubt he wouldn’t come through? I didn’t, but it was so needed to see on screen. Luke is known to be wise and maure (expect when it comes to keeping certain important meetings in places where they should be held- a more hidden place, maybe? One that no random mundanes can stroll into?) and it showed how he is a great leaders for the wolves. I just truly hope in season three we explore why is that, because I stand by my belief that it has a lot to do with the fact that he was a shadowhunter before a downworlder. His character is so complex and needs to be addressed more, please and thank you. 

In the Institute things are tense. Since the show’s main plot  is about the mortal instruments, I’m so so so glad we finally got to it. We’ve been running in circles for long enough in my opinion and wow, did they not disappoint. Let’s be real, the whole mortal instruments and Valentine’s schemes are very complicated and not easy to unfold so I was worried, but it was great. I actually really liked that they went with the ruse of the compact mirror because it added a bit of humor (all of this for a compact mirror, really?) and throwing off us book readers for a bit.

Oh, Jonathan. It was lovely to see you actually panic, even if it was just a little while. Will’s acting is so good, wow! I can’t believe the way he just grabs your attention and makes you feel pity, disgust and rage all the same time. He is taking on a massively complex character and puling it off magnifically. I have no idea how he does it but he makes viewers experience Jonathan, not just watch him. We are not physically in the story but I bet I’m not the only one that feels like he makes me feel like I’m with him. He is terrifying and you feel it to your bones when he is on screen, I love it. 

What I don’t love is how he hurts our youngest (possibly smartest) Lightwood. In true @abnormallyadam​ fashion, “don’t fuck with the Lightwoods.” (A motto that I feel would be the focus of the next episodes). Max ends in critical condition and the tension can be felt strongly. I feel like Jonathan got too cocky (serves him) when he thought he would die on his own, and our baby is alright. I personally don’t know how I feel about this per se yet. I’m very torn, as a person with a heart I’m glad an innocent kid gets to live, but I also truly belief that the Lightwood’s need his death to develop more, especially Isabelle. We’ve explored the cheating and the horrible way of raising and caring their children. Besides dealing with the clave against their morals, there isn’t mush else to get into right now, a sense of revenge and guilt and strength at full scale would be great. However the show’s not done, he might still die...or maybe he doesn't and their sense of family is so deep that just this injury and close call is enough to propel them into the path I want them to take.

IMPORTANT: I’m aware Jace got the least screentime and it’s easy to gloss over the little scenes he had but I love the way he reacted to this situation. We’ve spent this whole season with him dealing with his identity and the way he was just as affected by Max’s situation as the rest of the family speaks volumes. Dom has said this but this really shows how no matter the last name, Jace is a Lightwood. This is his family, he cares for them and would do anything for them. His character plays off the bad boy and cocky part well but deep down he is just this kid that was abused as a child by the person he believed was his father, only to be given away. These people took him in and gave him everything and he doesn’t give a damn about no mortal instrument when his family comes to harm. 

Clary is smart, I’ve always known this. She was great in this episode, not annoying but smart and actually productive (wow). I’m so pleased with the way she handled her brother. I was afraid she would continue with the whole redemption thing but holy shit the girl didn’t hesitate!!! I’m so proud of her. Clary is a character that has so much potential, but past writing has made her come off and annoying and jarringly in the way. Hope this rationally and smart lady stays around. 

And now, to the shit that actually made me sit down and write this: Magnus (Not malec per se, sorry).

I’m a huge malec shipper, everyone knows that. It is undeniable how good they are together, this isn’t up for discussion. However, I love Magnus Bane more (that says a lot). 

As a character he is so interesting to me because despite being arguably the most magical in the show, he is so human. He feels and feels and feels. He is so compassionate and good despite having centuries worth of experiences and reasons to be bad, and I feel like this episode put this in the spotlight (finally). Magnus is a leader and as one he has duties to fulfill. Duties that I feel, he has been neglecting. 

Now, I do believe you can have a balance between duty and love, Alec being a perfect example. The guy obviously loves Magnus, but hasn’t turn back from his duty. I feel like Magnus has come to realize he needs to do the same. Through the situation they’re in, Magnus has learned that he can’t focus on love only and I believe that in a future situation that he can’t focus on duty only either. He is smart, he will probably get that balance is key, I just don’t know fast. 

A separation is the least we want for these two but it is time for Magnus to show how human he is. I read somewhere how someone was annoyed at the fact that he walked away because they didn’t believe there wasn’t that big of a reason to do so, and it felt like he was running away cowardly. While I don’t agree with everything in that statement (a conflicting nature of race and ways of living is a big reason to put a relationship on hold) , I do believe there is a part of Magnus that is running away. He is so scared. He loves this shadowhunter so much, more than he expected or has before, and he’s afraid of the power Alec has over him (whether he knows it or not). In other words: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! Also, they parting so reluctantly and maturely speaks volumes of the health of this relationship and I'm so glad they didn’t go for a petty route for it. 

The flashbacks were so perfect and needed. Up until now, we’ve all loved malec because we know they are more than a kiss on a wedding or representation on a show and we finally got all that more on screen. Seeing, how much they love each other or better yet, feeling how much they love each other is so needed. I got tears in eyes because of these flashbacks. I got tears, not only because of happiness because of their happiness but because the world now gets to see how a lgbtq+ couple is just two people falling in love, fears and all, not unlike your typical straight couples out there. 

The details in these flashbacks captivated me! I’m so glad I’m not the only one that noticed the way they used a rose, a charm, or just hands to transition seemingly into these beautiful scenes. In them, we see first two people confused on why they trust each other and feel things for a person they are well aware they shouldn’t feel such things for. The long awaited first time, showing how innocently giddy they were to explore each other in a way they hadn’t before. This wasn’t just about having sex, it was about wanting to be as close as possible to a person, the fear with that want, and acceptance. In a way, these flashbacks let us peek into their vulnerability and that is powerful. 

I seriously give it up for Matt and Harry for the phenomenal work they did in this episode. It isn’t easy to have to portray so many drastically different parts of their characters in one episode. Going from sorrowful, conflicted, reluctant and resigned, to guarded and confused; from giddy, happy, and hopeful, to fearful, ashamed, and accepting. Just wow. It was so amazing how you can tell how much they care for this characters and I appreciate that a lot.

I layed in bed yesterday thinking and thinking about this episode and as I write this I’m teary. I am not part of the community, but knowing that people of the lgbtq+ community will look to their screens and finally be able to see themselves in it in a positive light just moves me to tears. I feel a weight in my chest of all the emotion because there are people out there that feel like they are alone and that what they feel is wrong. This episode is for all of you. Here’s to more equality in this show, please, shadowhunters. 

[basicshadowhuntersstuff]

This week in Shadowhunters news, updates, sneak peeks, and behind the scenes. All the stuff you need to stay up to date.

Official Promotion

2x13 Trailers: Those of Demon Blood.

2x13 Sneak Peeks: The downworlders want revenge, Jace and Maia, Luke and Simon.

‘10 Things You Might Have Missed During S2E12 Of Shadowhunters.’

‘The Men Of Shadowhunters Are Even More Likeable Behind The Scenes.’

‘Happy Fathers Day from your fandom dad, Isaiah Mustafa.’

Shadowhunters In The News

Promotional Photos & Press Releases for 2x14: The Fair Folk: Spoiler TV,  Official Press Site [1].

Advanced Reviews for 2x13: Those Of Demon Blood:  Spoiler TV, Fandemonium.

Reviews for 2x12: You Are Not Your Own: TV Line, BSS, Spoiler TV, TMI Source.  

TV Guide (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. Teases Magnus & Valentine's Body Swap

Hypable (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. previews Shadowhunters 2×12 body swap.

TV Line (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. Talks Playing Valentine, Fooling Alec.

Hidden Remote (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. explains the layers of playing Valentine (yes, Valentine) on Shadowhunters.

Access Hollywood (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. On Magnus' Body Swap With Valentine.

MTV (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. says Magnus Bane will have “Lasting damage” from Valentine.

KSiteTV (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. Previews Magnus’ Out-Of-Body Experience.

SciFi Vision (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. Talks Becoming Valentine on Shadowhunters.

TV Insider (Interview): Harry Shum Jr. shares whether Magnus' 'Freaky Friday' will Affect Malec's Future.

Tell-Tale TV (Interview): Jade Hassouné Talks Shadowhunters.

Miami Living (Interview/Cover): Emeraude Toubia talks Shadowhunters, and being away from family.

Video & Audio Interviews

AfterBuzz TV: Kat (Clary) joins them for their post 2x12 episode discussion. [2]

Twitter & Social Media

Harry (Magnus) shares behind the scene photo of himself and Alan (Valentine) from episode 212.

Vanessa Matsui (Dot) shares on set photo with 212 writer Jamie Gorenberg.

ShadowhuntersTV shares behind the scene photo of Will (Sebastian), Emeraude (Izzy) and Kat (Clary).

Jamie Gorenberg (writer) shares on set photo with Will (Sebastian).

Jame Gorenberg (writer) shares on set photo with Kat (Clary).

Kat (Clary) shares behind the scenes photo of the Clace training scene in 212.

Jamie Gorenberg (writer) shares on set photo of the Shadowhunters stunt team.

Alberto (Simon) shares behind the scenes photo of himself with some of the crew.

Jamie Gorenberg (writer) shares behind the scenes photo of Harry (Magnus) in Magnus’ coat.

“Things Sebastian Verlac has in his apartment. #CharacterInsights” Jamie Gorenberg (writer) shares behind the scenes photo.

Jamie Gorenberg (writer) shares behind the scenes photo of the Sizzy scene from 212.

Harry (Magnus) shares behind the scenes photo of himself from 212. [3]

Dalia Ganz (Freeform marketing) tweets: “Next week's episode of Shadowhunters is not to be missed! Singing, dancing and shocking!” 

ShadowhuntersTV shares short video of Magnus and Dot dancing in episode 213.

Marissa Messiano (Hidden Remote) tweets: “2x13 is equal parts (welcomed) political commentary, (b)romance, suspense & sweetness. And I was cheering for Alisha (Maia) the whole time.”

ShadowhuntersTV shares on set video of Dom (Jace) talking about meeting Sebastian.

ShadowhuntersTV shares behind the scenes photo of David (Raphael), Jade (Meliorn) and Emeraude (Izzy) from episode 213.

ShadowhuntersTV shares a photo of Alberto (Simon) singing in 213. [4]

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) tweets: More to come in 2b from 212 writer Jamie Gorenberg, Season 1 Malec flashbacks ‘#fallinginlove #sobeautiful’, they tried to make Magnus clean shaven for the flashback but sadly couldn't, we will see more of the Shadowhunter tech Lindsay, we will get happiness for our faves, but first our heart will break more, Magnus dancing soon, Magnus sharing his past with Alec is one of the most powerful moments in 2b, 213 is the most political, socially relevant episode of series.

[anthony-kate]

Hey! What are your thoughts on the discourse surrounding Malec in the new promo? A lot of people are just defending Magnus or just defending Alec, but who's to say that they both didn't say something stupid that they'll regret? Who' to say that just one of them is at fault while the other is completely innocent? The best bet is to wait to see the episode to hear those lines in context, I think. Sorry this was kind of long 😊

Honest and short answer? People need to fucking chill.

I mean… let’s be real. This fandom is simply wild. When you look at it, we have four(?) teasers/trailers until now. We have seen (and I am not exaggerating here!) maybe like 5 Magnus/Alec/Malec bits in total. Magnus had 2 lines, Alec 1 if I am not mistaken. So basically that makes like what… 5 seconds? 5 seconds of 10 new episodes, each a ~42 minutes.

I don’t think you need to be a magician to get that we pretty much know nothing when it comes to Alec’s and Magnus’ plot in 2b. We have theories, yes, and I am all here for speculating and all, don’t get me wrong, but you have to understand that they are just speculations from about 5 seconds we have seen so far. We haven’t even gotten stills yet. And yet people are going crazy, running around like some headless chickens with these wild theories. Which wouldn’t be even that bad. What makes it bad is that they act like they know it all. 

Like… I have lost count how often I have read that either Alec is wrong. Or that Magnus is wrong and needs to apologize asap. Or my personal fave: Malec will break up. Exactly where did you get that from??? From 1 line? Just because Magnus tells Alec to “get out”? I mean… are you okay??? They are a couple. They are in a loving and healthy relationship. But they still come from totally different worlds (shadowhunter/downworlder). Of course that circumstance will “cause some problems” sooner than later. It’s okay. It’s normal and realistic. But they will talk. They will get over this. Because that’s what they do. Or did you not see the Malec relationship in s1 and 2a?

And yes, I am not mentioning the word “apologize” in this case because we fucking have no context. We can only guess that Alec maybe said something hurtful that made Magnus angry. But we don’t know what exactly!!! Because we have no context! 

So can people just calm down and stop turning everything into a discourse, blaming person x or/and y when they don’t know that the hell is really going on? Stop bs like “that person is cancalled” or “problematic”. You can discuss all these things after you have watched the damn episode and see how it all played out in the end. But until then… just shut your mouth for a start.