#sh 108

Act One

Izzy justifies a war against an entire race because of the actions of one person. Jace is ready to fight that war. I’m having flashbacks of 103.

Oh, the irony of Raphael belittling Simon for coming back for blood “like an addict”.

There’s a discussion to have about Raphael’s role in Simon’s death. He is responsible for choosing to follow Camille’s orders, but he is also the person that essentially saved Simon and warned Simon to stay away. He is also the person that ensured Simon would have a chance to come back as a vampire after Camille killed Simon. No deed cancels the other, but I particularly blame Camille for Simon’s death and only then I blame Raphael and Clary for Simon becoming a vampire.

“Not the sexed up, romantic kind. The ugly, blood-sucking, coffin dwelling kind.” Raphael is right there, proving that wrong. Camille proves it wrong. In fact, every single vampire we’ve seen so far is sexed up and romanticized.

Jocelyn still wears a wedding ring? Really? Well, at least Valentine puts two and two together and realizes Clary is his kid.

It’s interesting how Robert is painted as the down-to-Earth, good parent while Maryse is the suck-up, bad parent. How things will change in time.

The last straw for the Lightwoods to lose the Institute is their meddling in Downworlder affairs. I wish the writers of the show remembered this piece of world-building down the line.

It’s not your fault that bad people exist, Clary.

Lydia’s entrance is incredibly badass and well-written. She’s supposed to be all business and testing the Institute, so she masks herself as their so-called greatest enemy and walks in. She’s able to evaluate the Institute’s defense mechanisms and reaction time. It also shows her confidence in her own abilities and that said confidence is justified: Alec’s aim has been shown to be lethal and she is the first person able to defend against him. Truly well-done.

Act Two

Lydia is also shown to be competent and tough, but in the most unlikable way possible. We’re not supposed to like her, but we are supposed to respect her. Like Izzy does.

There are no women in the NY pack, are there? Too bad they didn’t introduce Maia’s character already in the first season. She could’ve been just a background character, much like Alaric, and then get a bigger role in season 2.

Even suspension of disbelief isn’t enough to accept that Elaine wouldn’t have heard Jace and Clary talking in this silent room she is also in.

Lydia is supposed to be inquisitive of everything, but it is not suspicious that the Acting HotI has the contact of the closest Alpha. I’d think it would be expected of Alec to receive word when the Downworlders of NY are attacked.

I deeply appreciate the explicit references to Simon’s Jewishness in this episode. I also like that Clary knows where he keeps his religious stuff in his room. It creates great normalcy for all of it and it proves how integral to Simon’s life his religion is. So much so, his non-Jewish best friend can gather the important stuff while discussing how distressed she is with her sort-of-boyfriend.

This exchange between Clary and Jace is absolutely amazing and it should’ve been the foundation of their relationship. But, more importantly, it should’ve been Clary’s brand of shadowhunting: being compassionate and showing mercy makes her different than the others. It makes her better than the others.

And now, Lydia’s mini “redemption” arc starts. Her harshness gets softened and she is kind to Alec, showing that she is not just a bitch trying to pry the Institute away from the Lightwoods. Once, she followed her heart, but only got sorrow for it. So, she masks that side of her and, instead, portrays herself as the soldier she is meant to be. The perfect shadowhunter in the eyes of the Clave.

In sum, Lydia is a cautionary tale for Alec. And, at first glance, we could think Lydia’s story is supposed to tell Alec to suck up his feelings and follow his orders. That, by doing so, he too can become an envoy personally mentored by the Inquisitor. He too can get his own Institute to lead one day. But that would be the wrong read. Because Lydia is a cautionary tale, but of what Alec shouldn’t do. He shouldn’t suck up his feelings and follow corrupted and elitist people like Imogen Herondale. He shouldn’t stop following his heart, even when it leads to sorrow and complications. So much so that, in the end, it will be Alec who will inspire Lydia to change; to defy Imogen by rescinding her accusations against Izzy and to accept the dissolution of a mutually beneficial marriage. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It’s still funny to me how Lydia has no social skills whatsoever. She is literally the only other character that could play bad cop to Alec’s good cop.

Act Three

The whole scene with Lydia and Alec at the morgue is perfect. Perfect. Not in small part for Lydia trying to justify being Circle Member as a forgivable “mistake” and the contrast with Alec’s absolute disgust. He knows it isn’t a mistake to be a part of a violent blood supremacist group: it’s a choice. His unwillingness to excuse his parents is what sets Alec apart from the other shadowhunters.

Ps: Magnus invented the Portal. Lydia’s ancestral was there. Just to make it clear.

Clary going to Luke for solace about Simon’s death is much more emotional to me now than it was back when I first watched this scene.

This scene with Magnus and Izzy is such a classic. Too bad they don’t get to interact much.

The internalized racism that Luke deals with is an amazing plotline. We barely scratch the surface here but it’s a very poignant arc that could’ve been underline his whole character development. Luke clearly still hurts to talk about his transformation: him finding pride in being a werewolf is something I’d be interested in seeing.

Act Four

Alec feels comfortable enough with Magnus to just pour down his deepest and most urgent issues about his life. To Magnus’ credit, he listens and takes Alec’s doubts seriously. Also, shirtless scene.

Raphael’s coup d’état is done so unceremoniously, it’s a shame. The ideologies in conflict here are just what I like to see: morally gray and still compelling. Camille killed Simon because she wanted to, simple as that. Camille was ready to just get rid of Simon’s corpse and keep on as if nothing had happened. She gives no damns about the Accords. Which is awful when it hurts mundanes, but the Accords are the shadowhunters’ rules. Why should Camille follow them?

Raphael, on the other side, wants to follow the Accords. Although, it’s not because he cares about the mundanes: he just doesn’t want problems with the shadowhunters. It’s an interesting conflict and it’s a waste that the Downworlder politics existed in the season but were reduced to the background of Simon’s arc.

BUT Clary straight up punches Camille on the face and I am here for that.

First instance of hearing “the Law is hard, but it is the Law.” And, as always, the Clave focus on palliative measures instead of doing its job and actually protecting the Shadow World. If the Clave really believed the Lightwoods could be working with Valentine, it would’ve removed the whole family from the city, not just the command of the Institute. This is a political maneuver for show only.

Excellent use of camera angle to show which piece of wood Clary chooses while keeping the suspense to the maximum.

Act Five

Shadowhunters does great work with songs and emotional scenes. Simon’s burial is incredibly well crafted.

Alec is now on the point in his arc where he makes his first attempt to correct the consequences of his wrong-doings. His proposal to Lydia is not the ultimate right move, but it is a move in which Alec is ceasing a little control of his destiny by at least choosing his bride. He understood the concept of shaping his own destiny, but he’s not thinking big enough. Alec still has to learn not to accept his punishment (the arranged marriage) at all. Halfway there.

Jace is very sweet here, listing all the things Simon’s survived.

Act Six

This whole blood thing confuses me. Valentine used seelie blood - which is half angel and half demon blood – on the mundanes before drawing the runes that turned them into Forsakens. But Izzy identified the angelic and mundane blood – she mentions “Nephilim” while studying the corpse. Not the demon blood. Why?

Valentine using angel blood on the Forsakens to get them inside the Institute was a smart plan and I applaud the writers for coming up with it. I just wonder what Valentine’s goal was. Where the Forsakens supposed to take the Mortal Cup? In which case, they are not smart enough. Where they supposed to kill all the shadowhunters in the Institute? In that case, just one of them is too few.