This week on Shadowhunters, the episode featured a significant scene from its original source material, City of Ashes, which is the second novel in the book series, but did it deliver? It’s been clear from the start the television show would forge its own path and create their own version of the Shadowhunter world and although it can be a little daunting and cringey, it does make it interesting to see what happens each week. When the promo from last week revealed they would be venturing to the Seelie Court, fans were divided as to how they might end up portraying the scene, except it seems as though the show has done right by this scene!
Welcome To The Seelie Court
The newly appointed head of the New York Institute sends Clary and Jace off to discuss Kaelie’s actions from last week, but where is the fun in that? Simon joins them and it causes the love triangle to reach dizzying new heights! Once in the Seelie realm, they meet the Seelie Queen who comes in the form of a small pre-teen (played by Lola Flanery) and despite her adorable appearance, she is beyond manipulative. Now, the actress surprisingly did a great job with the role, although it was very concerning to see such a young interpretation of the character. Thankfully, they mention further into the episode after probably scaring many fans that she can alter her appearance to appear youthful, so here’s hoping we see an older version of her!
After attempting to become allies with Simon, the trio wish to leave but the Seelie Queen has another plans. Binding Jace and Simon with horrid CGI vines that should never be seen again, she tells Clary the kiss she most desires will set her free. Naturally she kisses Simon except the vines only tighten further which leads her to realisation of the cruel game the Queen is playing. She then kisses Jace (my goodness, it appears the two have actual chemistry now) causing the vines to loosen to let a heartbroken Simon run away.
A Downworlder Dinner
Meanwhile, Alec has made plans to meet regularly with representatives of each Downworlder species, and although this plot doesn’t happen until much later in the series, perhaps Alec’s version will fail this time only to work properly after certain events have occurred. Luke isn’t for it though since it won’t bring real change, and only joins after Alec almost begs him. But it seems as though Luke has other things on his mind as he is contacted by a mysterious stranger who says they can aid Luke in killing Valentine.
Things appear to be a little strained between Malec still, especially when Alec asks for Magnus to keep his distance during the meeting so it doesn’t seem like he’s playing favourites. However, the meeting still gets heated between Alec, Magnus, Meliorn, Luke and Raphael, which causes Luke to leave and to follow his instructions to get into Valentine’s cell.
The old parabatai’s begin to fight, but Sebastian is telling Alec he saw Luke go down there and they manage to stop Luke just as he’s squeezing the life out of Valentine. Whilst Alec restrains Luke, Sebastian whispers to Valentine that he “doesn’t get to die just yet” with such anger. Could Sebastian’s true colours be showing? Alec ends up letting Luke free as he really wants to make this alliance work. Oh buddy, good luck.
Love Triangles. Love Triangles Everywhere.
If it wasn’t enough to have Clary, Simon and Jace this episode, we also have Isabelle, Sebastian and Raphael now. This particular trio is non-existent in the series, so lets hope it doesn’t last too long. Izzy trained during the episode which gave Sebastian a chance to give her a compliment and ignite a spark, a spark that needs to be stepped on stat. During the Downworlder meeting, Raphael and Sebastian face off on two occasions, but ultimately Sebastian convinces Raphael to stay away from her. Later on, Isabelle attempts to begin something with Raphael except he shuts her down leaving her upset.
Truth and Apologies
Maryse Lightwood returned in this episode full of apologies towards both Luke and Isabelle, and it was nice to see Maryse become more of a motherly figure during her apology to Isabelle. This also gave Isabelle the chance to confide in her mother about her addiction which only added to the genuine shift in their relationship. But for Clary, things aren’t going so well for her as Simon won’t see her and Jace attempts to confront her about the kiss. Boys.
And lastly, Sebastian. He’s seen playing the same piano piece that Jace played at the beginning of the episode (book feels!) but during his perfect rendition, a constant banging causes him to stop. He opens his cupboard to reveal a bloodied and tied up man who angers Sebastian because he’s creating too much noise and this finally reveals the darkness that is in Sebastian Verlac…
Overall, it was a decent episode but the series still lacks continuity when it comes to their storylines. Luke’s plots merely feel like fillers, especially with his new detective partner skulking around Jade Wolf, and if Sebastian is a transfer to the Institute, he really should be in most episodes. Other than that, there were a few annoying CGI moments, cheesy one-liners and it falling just a little flat, it was a rather good episode!
Shadowhunters returns in two weeks with ‘A Problem of Memory’!
What did you think of the episode? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
