Last week Shadowhunters returned with the Season 3 premiere, and after a somewhat promising Season 2, it didn’t seem we were off to that great of a start. The first episode saw Clary receive her official rune and discovering her weapon of choice; Lilith gained followers by creating demons; Magnus lost the title of High Warlock of Brooklyn, while Alec passed on a new job opportunity; Simon received a mark from the Seelie Queen; and lastly, Jace has been suffering from nightmares filled with Jonathan Morgenstern.
It’s A Warlock Party
The adorable Magnus and Alec attend the new High Warlock of Brooklyn’s party to “pass the baton” to Lorenzo Rey (Javier Muñoz). The young warlock Madzie returns briefly to share a sweet moment with Alec, while Catarina Loss comments on how Magnus brought Alec only to annoy Lorenzo. All of a sudden, the warlocks become unable to control their magic and when one warlock tries to portal out, his arm begins to disintegrate so Magnus is forced to close the portal.
The next day, Alec and Magnus have a peaceful start to their day until Lorenzo drops by and accuses Magnus of sabotaging the ley lines that run beneath his home. He also recognises it as Asmodeus’ handiwork, who is a prince of hell and may have escaped from Edom. Magnus later discusses this with Alec who overheard the conversation, and he winds up revealing that Asmodeus is his father.
Alec comes up with an idea to sneak into Lorenzo’s house, which sees Alec visiting him for an “official statement” on what happened while also unlocking the door for Magnus. Sneaking in, Magnus investigates the ley lines and is flung backwards by them. He reveals to Alec that it’s someone from Edom, but not his father.
An Awkward Date
Maia and Simon try to figure out what the Seelie Queen did to him, while also getting a little hot and heavy in the mean time. Unfortunately, the pack aren’t happy that the pair are shacking up with one another. Meanwhile, Jace wants to do something with Clary that doesn’t involve seraph blades, so he asks her to dinner. Turning to Izzy for help at first, he then calls Simon for some restaurant recommendations.
The loved up pair arrive at the restaurant where Jace realises he needed a reservation and instead wind up at the communal table….right next to Simon and Maia. Naturally it’s all downhill from there with Simon suggesting what meals Jace should order for Clary and Simon adding blood to his food to stomach it.
Clary attempts to make chitchat with Maia about what happens to her clothes when she turns, and this leads to her later saying she’d rather be a werewolf than a Shadowhunter because of all the runes. Typical Jace remarks with “coming from the girl with a butterfly tattoo”, which apparently is hidden quite well according to Simon, so how does he know? Simon and Clary realise just how he knows. Clary is later upset as she feels as though she’s the only girl Jace doesn’t want to be with, however, he claims it’s because it’s real and not wanting to ruin anything.
Power Struggle
Lilith now has several followers in her Church of Talto who contribute their blood to the altar, which then messes with the ley lines. Catarina is trying to help a patient with her magic when the corrupted ley lines affect her and it goes horribly wrong.
At the Institute, Alec wants to use the angelic core to flood the ley lines, but they will also have to temporarily divert the ley lines to run them beneath the Institute. However, if something goes wrong with the ley lines, that could be the end of the Institute. Also, why are there no older Shadowhunters at the Institute except for when Mr and Mrs Lightwood or the Inquisitor drop by?
It seems Alec is unauthorised to access the angelic core, and it turns out it was random Raj who did it. We then see Lilith’s followers pouring more blood into the altar while Magnus is still trying to divert the ley lines, so Alec decides to release the core manually. Alec manages to do so, and the energy is released much to the surprise of Lilith, but she’s thankful the altar isn’t damaged.
Afterwards, Jace wakes to see Clary lying next to him covered in blood, but he wakes up for real. He discovers Izzy is awake and working at 3am still, as she’s been pushing herself because she feels guilty. Luckily, her hardwork has caused her to find footage of the possession taking place, so they’ll have a lead for the next episode.
At the end of the episode, Simon is approached by the pack who want him to leave and when he stands his ground, they attack. However, when a bat comes swinging, the Seelie Queen’s mark lights up and creates a field around him which shatters the bat and blasts the wolf backwards.
Final Thoughts?
Well, it felt like an episode at least? It was incredibly Alec and Magnus-centric, however, there’s no complaints from me there as they are some of the better actors in the series with less cheesy dialogue and plot lines.
Naturally there are always the points in the episode where it makes you question what the hell the writers are doing… Like Maia calling out to Simon to watch out? He’s a vampire and although he’s a rookie, you think his vampire senses would at least pick that up. Then of course there’s those cheesy lines from Jace about Clary being so unique and not wanting to lose her in case she gets to see that other side of him. But hey, it is what it is unfortunately.
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