The Morgenstern family drama continued on this week’s episode of Shadowhunters, and boy do we think that family will be needing some group therapy!
Last week saw Jace and Clary take a trip to Idris which led Clary to discover her brother, her actual brother this time, is well and truly alive. Then Sebastian, who will now be referred to as Jonathan, revealed he’s in possession of the Soul Sword and ends up giving Valentine another chance. Lastly, Simon and Maia shared a nice dinner with his family to help balance out the supernatural drama.
The episode begins with Clary having nightmares after her run in at Lake Lyn, but thankfully, a shirtless Jace is here to awaken her and cause some physical tension! With the knowledge her brother is alive, she wants to find him. She almost comes up with a way to track him, in the form of her mother’s keepsakes of him, but Jonathan has stolen and burned them.
Alec then reveals to Jace and Clary about the Clave not having the Soul Sword, and says if all three Mortal Instruments are united, the Angel Raziel will grant one wish.
Father & Son Bonding Mission
Valentine and Jonathan visit ex-Sister Cleophas, who apparently now works as a mechanic, and attempt to have the Soul Sword mended. Valentine reveals details of the next step in his villainous plan—to unite the Instruments and use Raziel’s wish to destroy the Downworld once and for all. But in order to do this, they require the last Instrument, the Mortal Mirror.
Jonathan seeks out to find a warlock by the name of Elliott Norris as he hides information about the location of the Mortal Mirror. A demonic Jonathan near kills him, until he is stopped by Valentine with the suggestion to torture and take Elliott with them. Unfortunately for the pair, Elliott tells them he promised Jocelyn and begins to chant, a chant where he kills himself rendering him useless along with his strange tattoo disappearing from his arm.
The Search For The Mortal Mirror
At the Institute, Dot turns up speaking of Elliott Norris, who apparently worked for Jocelyn at one point, and now bears the strange tattoo. According to Dot, the tattoo is part of a protection spell and it is transferred when something happens.
The next revelation comes from Clary, which is the tattoo hides the location of the Mortal Mirror. This felt off as when would Jocelyn told Clary about the Mortal Mirror in their short-lived reunion before her death? While it’s understandable for Clary to have known Elliott, it didn’t seem like her mother would have shared this information with her as it would endanger Clary, and Jocelyn was all about protecting her.
Jace and Clary visit the scene of the crime, which is interrupted by Jonathan who constantly pops up. Uh hello, warning sign much? Clary notices some wilted flowers, also known as a trademark from Jonathan’s demonic blood. This excites Clary that her brother is close, but for Jace, he’s prepared to kill Jonathan if it comes to this. Naturally Clary stands up for her brother, and you can see Jonathan slightly react to this through his facials and how he too asks questions.
Dot has been searching for potential locations through the aid of the map-like tattoo, and Clary notices one which her and Jocelyn used to visit. Before they leave, Jonathan stops by to see if Clary is okay, and this causes her to open up to him about herself, her brother, and Jace. For some bizarre reason (but not for book fans), Jonathan kisses her and we’re not talking a peck either! Perhaps the logic behind this was to throw Clary way off Jonathan’s tail, but more than likely, he just had the feels and reacted inappropriately like his book counterpart.
Protective Izzy, Hopeful Simon, & An Upset Couple
After Simon and Maia shared a nice dinner last week with Simon’s family, he becomes quite hopeful and boldly, but in true Simon fashion, asks Maia out on a date. Despite his attempt, Maia acts all awkward and simply wants to be friends, much to the dismay of Simon.
With the Clave approving Max for his first mission, Izzy reacts quite badly believing he isn’t ready. In an attempt to prove this, she uses Simon as a target for Max to ‘hunt’ him over and over again until Simon eventually suggests a dinner break at Jade Wolf. The three have dinner with Simon’s Star Wars jokes going right over their heads, until they run into Maia who seems upset about seeing Simon with Izzy.
Meanwhile, Alec has been busy with his new position and keeps missing dinners with Magnus, except the dinners Magnus brings to him. They share a conversation about trust and all seems fine for the both of them, until Cleophas escapes and sends fire messages to Luke about the Clave not having the Soul Sword. Luke shares this tidbit with Magnus, which infuriates him immensely about Alec keeping it a secret from him and leads Magnus to believe the werewolves and warlocks should ally with the Seelie Queen.
All Is Almost Well
Jace, Dot, and Clary arrive at the park and Clary discovers a spot where the mirror is hidden in almost the same fashion as the Mortal Cup. Mind you, this so-called Mirror is nothing but the size of a compact mirror… But they’re not alone as Jonathan has tracked Clary and quickly shifts into his demonic form to attack Jace. With Dot handing over the Mirror to Clary so she can fight, Clary offers her brother a choice: take the Mirror or get help from his little sister. Before he can decide, Dot pushes Jace and Clary through a portal and she is left to face demonic Jonathan alone.
Izzy couldn’t help but meddle with the Simon and Maia situation, and after a chat with her, Maia turns up at Simon’s and gives him a chance. For Izzy, she reluctantly agrees to let Max go on his first mission even though she’s not ready for it.
With the Mirror now in Clary’s possession, she gazes into it and sees the same images as the dreams she was having of Lake Lynn, and comes to the realisation they’re actually visions instead.
But the hunt for the Mirror isn’t over for Jonathan, who frantically roots around in Alec’s desk drawers, until little Max barges in. First the both of them act all innocent, but Max reveals he discovered a single hair on the keepsake box to track him, and he knows ‘Sebastian’ is actually Jonathan…
Overall, this episode was subpar. As mentioned last week, it seems the series is drawing quite a few elements from the third novel, City of Glass, and it feels as though everything is happening so soon. Whilst in the books the majority of the plot occurs over a few weeks at first, this feels as though it’s bringing in too many elements and key points in a rushed fashion. Book fans will note the concerns over the ending of this episode, but the preview makes it seem as though it won’t happen with Max’s lifeless body on full display. If a death was truly going to occur, we’d hope it would be a surprise at least. Another element which is also concerning is that of Clary’s brother, Jonathan. I personally hope she doesn’t find out who he is this season, and I’m not normally one to condone drawn out plots, but it most definitely feels as though it’s too soon.
Shadowhunters returns next week with ‘Awake, Arise, Or Be Forever Fallen’.
What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below!
