#sh 3x01

Clary & Jace

“No one can know, Clary.”

The episode starts on a positive note and an important step in Clary’s development: she is finally officially recognized as a Shadowhunter and gets her Shadowhunter rune as well as signature weapons – dual kindjals, two weapons that Clary chose by instinct. Luke later reveals to her that these weapons were her parents’ weapons before. In the following fight against a demon Clary uses them quite well but also shows that her real strength lies in creating and drawing runes. I like that we get to see Clary as a competent fighter but they still let her real powers be her ability to draw runes. With this skill she’s equally (if not more) useful as other Shadowhunters, despite her lack of experience.

Clary’s Shadowhunter initiation is overshadowed by the fact that Clary and Jace both haven’t told anyone about the wish that Clary used to revive Jace after Valentine had killed him. Jace seems to be naturally disturbed by this, but he’s also plagued by nightmares. His parabatai Alec suspects there is more to the story than Jace and Clary are willing to admit, but they both refuse to tell him the truth.

Alec & Magnus

“You never have to pretend how you feel.”

Alec was offered a position on the Council, while Magnus was dismissed because of his support for the Seelie Queen. He claims to be okay with it, but after talking to Catarina at the hospital Alec realizes that is not the case. Magnus also pretends to be okay with Alec possibly moving to Idris for his new job, but in the end Alec can get him to open up about how he really feels like and assures him that he can be honest with him – and that he won’t move to Idris.

Luke & Ollie

“That wolf… that was you, wasn't it?”

Since Ollie has found out about Luke’s identity as a werewolf, Luke tries to convince her that this idea is ridiculous. And most people would probably believe him, but apparently Ollie has had an encounter with werewolves before, so she spends most of the episode being quite annoyed with Luke. At times I find it hard to believe that Ollie would be that carefree about talking to a werewolf, especially since she has been attacked by one before. However, when Ollie gets attacked by a demon Luke tries to protect her in his werewolf form and is unable to deny it later on.  

Lilith & Sebastian

“I'm here now, son.” 

Sebastian turns out to be not-quite-dead, thanks to the new season’s antagonist Lilith. How exactly their relationship fits together remains to be seen. As Lilith states in the hospital she can’t have children, but maybe that is only true for a very specific way. When Lilith was in the hospital, I first feared she might start to eat the children, but that was not the case - and it interesting to see that almost vulnerable longing for these babies. It is almost touching if it weren’t for the fact that she is a powerful demon who thanks nice-guy!Tim for his kind words by letting a demon possess him. It was really a shame because he really seemed like a good guy, and even though he was a random guy I felt sorry for him and his wife. And the demon in him was really creepy, especially during the fight against Clary. So far it’s not clear what Lilith actually wants to accomplish, but there seem to be 33 more demons waiting to join the party. Am I the only one who thought the demon Lilith was talking to in the end looks a bit like an evil chicken?

Simon, Maia, Izzy and Raphael

“You're the new weapons master? Izzy, that is perfect for you.“

There is not much time spend on Simon, Maia, Izzy or Raphael, but they’re not forgotten and their parts are not less important.

Simon is more or less forced to entertain the Seelie Queen and her court, or otherwise she wouldn’t have let Maia go at the end of last season. Alberto Rosende gives us another beautiful part of a song, and the Seelie Queen is pleased as well. However, her true reason for having Simon at her court is to brand him with a mark. Simon has no idea what it is, and it quickly fades. When he is allowed to leave the court, Maia - who was worried about his absence - soon forgives him for leaving without saying anything.

While Clary has been made an official Shadowhunter and Alec has been offered a promotion to Idris, izzy has been made weapons master at the New York institue, and she helps Clary to find her new wepaons and later joins JAce and Alec in the investigation of the demon attack. Having Izzy be the new weapons master fits perfectly, and after her long journey of recovering after the Yin Feng it’s great to see her in this position.

Rapahel has probably the least amount of screen time, but to make up for that he has a nice little moment with Magnus that reminds us of their connection. He gets a vampire tranquilizer from Magnus claiming it is for himself. A few scenes later we see him using it on another vampire for what looks like some form of experiment. Raphael is using light, so this is probably bad news for Simon.

A good opening for the new season

“I sang you a song about nature!”

There is a lot to like about the new episode and as it is often the case I enjoy episode especially when they make the smaller scenes work within the episodes.

For starters, Clary’s and Jace’s fight scene: I cannot help it, I love all the fight scenes in Shadowhunters. They are so well done, they always managed to give us nice character moments along with it, and they are just all around badass. And it just makes sense? These people are fighting all the time, their job is to hunt demons - so yes, of course they need to train. A lot of shows (that are not anime) don’t really take the time to show that on a regular basis, but it is great that they include it here.

I was also very happy when the Shadowhunters met Catarina in the hospital. It was nice to see her again! And another encounter that was well done was Charlie - the guy that Izzy met at the hospital when she tried to get some candy there was so nice and friendly, it was refreshing. Their conversation was nothing special or super interestng, but it was a nice moment anyway. He was cleary interested in her and she was sort of reluctant, but he stayed polite and respectful, so it worked. I hope this guy won’t fall victim to a demon attack or something similar.

Having read the books I can only say that I’m looking forward to what kind of story the writers can come up with for Alec and Magnus. They won’t be stuck on vacation for a season and just send in some pictures every now and then, and it’s exciting to know that even after having read the books there is no way of knowing what will happen next. There are a few ideas what could happen, but seeing how Simon got his mark there could be all kinds of twists on the book’s story. In this rare case I can’t say that I’m disappointed because the writing of the show has been really good so far.

All in all I’m mostly impressed how the episode managed to have all these little plots in it but still make it feel like one whole episode, one story, where many people have a part in it but it is still all connected. Maybe that is because despite everyone having their own little story they still relate to other stories as well. Luke might be busy with dealing with Ollie, but he still has an open ear for Clary. Maia worries about Simon, but she’s also concerned with Luke’s “Ollie-problem”. Luke is not a Shadowhunter anymore, but he’ll send his Shadowhunter friends after the demon, and when the Jace, Alec and Izzy go to the hospital to investigate, they meet Magnus’ friend Catarina who’s worried about Magnus. Clary’s and Jace’s little secret is connected to Sebastian and therefore to Lilith, who is behind the demon’s attack in the first place, and it all comes together so wonderfully that I can’t help but be amazed by the amount of plot the writers managed to put into this episode without making it feel like it’s going to explore from the mass of things that happen.

Kudos to you, Shadowhunters creators!

Next: The Powers That Be (spoilers)

The Warlocks’ magic is becoming corrupted by a demonic presence while Izzy and Luke try to track down more information on the recent series of possessions.