I’m a fan of the Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, and to me, The Circle of Raziel will always be the most delicious part of the world she has created. TSC operates in a system of eras- each series introduces a new cast and a new world-threatening conflict, and different eras obviously speak more to different fans. By that token, “The Secret Treasons” (as Cassie titled her abandoned graphic novel about the Circle, and which I just so happen to think is a perfect title for this time period as a whole) represents a “missing” era- an era in which the conflict and characters are as clearly defined as they are in any of the other series, an era that continually haunts the narrative of everything that takes place after it- but with the major difference of only having around 350 pages of establishing story vs. the 2,000-or-so pages that every other era gets.
Being a fan of this era is almost maddening, because I can never decide if I actually want more content about The Circle or not. On the one hand, I’m like: “yes, give me more!” But on the other hand, I feel like too much more content could only ruin what I find so compelling about it. Part of me loves that we as the audience know so little about what actually happened because everyone in the Circle who has ever had a POV about it (Robert, Celine, Lucian, Jocelyn, etc) is an unreliable narrator. Which is great on its own, and even better when considering that it narratively serves to make the Circle members very human with a sort of “it’s not just purely evil people that can fall prey to hateful ideologies and become complicit in neo-naziism” flavor, while also preventing their cause or actions from seeming “understandable” to edgelords with limited media literacy. Some of that magic would undeniably be lost if we got a whole series about the Circle that laid everything out in graphic detail. So in a way, I’m happy with the content we do have- it leaves me wanting more in a good way. But oh boy, does all that negative space leave a lot to mentally chew on.
So here is a place for me to shout some of the thoughts I have about it out into the void (or to anyone who happens to be on the same wavelength) and also to post any other random Shadowhunter-related tidbits that strike my fancy. I hope you enjoy, and as always, please help me keep it a respectful and hate-free space 💜
