(From left to right in rows)

Catarina Loss: somewhere between lawful good and neutral good.

I don’t really have an explanation tbh, it’s just the calm vibes? And she’s definitely on the good spectrum.

Alec Lightwood: neutral good, on the corner towards lawful.

He’s neutral good s2 onwards, but s1 he was lawful neutral, hence why I put him in that corner. But once he abandoned the lawful he yeeted it hard. we stan

hes good, but hes not chaotic, and he says “fuck the law” 

Raphael Santiago: neutral good

Once again, he’s good, but no real chaotic energy. Definitely not lawful, and obviously good, so like... default here is neutral good.

Magnus Bane: chaotic leaning neutral good

Magnus doesn’t have deeply chaotic energy but there’s some mischief there and we stan. Like he’s the kind of person who helps everyone but also can do weird shit just for fun or like help in odd ways??? Idk it’s just the vibes

(how could anyone ever put him outside of the good slot??? and especially how could anyone ever put him in the CHAOTIC NEUTRAL square with “INDIVIDUALIST FIRST AND FOREMOST” individualist? have you ever FUCKING met magnus bane? he doesn't have a selfish bone in his goddamn body he literally does nothing but sacrifice his health and wellbeing over and over to help everyone around him, he basically only thinks about the greater good and the wellbeing of other people, and he never considers his own needs or PUTS HIMSELF ABOVE ANYONE ELSE what the fuck)

Maia Roberts: chaotic good

She just has like.... the vibes? I love her so much. Sometimes she has a problem and she decides to turn into a wolf and bite the problem. And we love that. But she’s also not dumb she’s very smart and cool and wonderful. Also she punched Jace and we stan.

Lydia Branwell: lawful neutral leaning evil.

i mean she was straight up willing to torture downworlders, put izzy on trial, and also marry a gay man and have kids with him, but she also wasn’t literally the worst and with pushing occasionally sort of did the right thing, or rather, let the right thing happen? 

she’s definitely lawful, like most clave assholes, but she’s not good by any stretch of the imagination

Underhill: true neutral

hes too bland to be chaotic or lawful, too boring to be good or evil. hes true neutral by default tbh

Luke Garroway: true neutral kind of leaning lawful although i didn’t show it on the graph

like... he has good intentions but he’s caught between too many interests. shadowhunters (his former people, his family, the woman he loved, his kid) and downworlders (his pack whomst hes supposed to actually care about, maia, simon) being a big one. but also like...... despite good intentions he always ends up putting clary and jocelyn first, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if he wasn’t supposed to be the leader of a pack and put their safety first.

idk he’s just kind of neutral there he’s trying but he’s got too many divided loyalties and i think he chose wrong sometimes. often really. i still like him but... i do not agree with him sometimes

also he just lowkey has lawful energy. maybe because he’s a cop? yikes.

Simon Lewis: true neutral

Similarly to Luke, he chooses Clary over his clan and Raphael, and consistently sort of seems to choose shadowhunters over downworlders despite his supposed divided loyalties. And he even has way less reason to than Luke does (Luke at least grew up in that culture and had a lot of ties back to it, Simon literally has Clary and apparently his crush on Izzy and that’s it) so despite the fact I think as a person Simon’s overall good and I honestly really love him, his actions in the show kinda make him more true neutral to me. Plus what he and Izzy did with Rosa was fucked up. 

Isabelle Lightwood: chaotic neutral

She has chaotic energy and you can’t tell me otherwise.

Like Simon, I like her a lot but she has some questionable actions, and while her intentions are generally good, she also serves her own interests and the interests of her family first. Generally speaking, not always. So... neutral. 

Meliorn: chaotic neutral

it’s the vibe

And he’s chaotic neutral in a totally different way like it’s less self-serving (although i think Meliorn would ultimately put his people first if necessary for sure) and more just like...... Seelies all got that neutral vibe, like they’re too old and alien to give a fuck? Like trees don’t care about politics. You know what I mean? 

Ragnor Fell: chaotic neutral

that painting scene dude

hes like.... avoid conflict at all costs

and he literally made jace and magnus invisible and bound in place hes a chaotic little shit. dramatic motherfucker. we stan

also chaotic as HELL 

Clary Fray: chaotic neutral leaning slightly evil

the evil thing is more a joke here just because she causes so much pain for her self serving ends but not necessarily out of genuine maliciousness

although she is plain mean for no reason sometimes (like the whole “bring it, warlock” thing wtf) and treats simon like shit so....

but generally she’s chaotic neutral and in a totally different way to meliorn or ragnor like..... they’re both going to stick up for them and theirs first, but they’re not like, selfish to the point of hurting others and not caring about that. They’ve got priorities but they’re not Like That.

clary is Like That.

she doesn’t care who she hurts or what gets damaged as long as her goal is achieved. she isn’t totally heartless or anything but like goddamn.

Imogen Herondale and Victor Aldertree: lawful evil

they generally put the law above all else, and use it to hurt people they deem lesser or don’t like.

imogen could be argued for a little neutral evil as she was willing to bend the law for her own flesh and blood but i’m gonna call that part of her evil. 

Valentine and Jonathan Morgenstern: neutral evil

valentine’s kind of chaotic energy just bc of how batshit his plans were sometimes but like. they’re both just boring evil. they don’t have a particular set of laws they care for, whether it be the clave or their own moral code. they’re just assholes and horrible and they like hurting people.

Camille Belcourt: neutral evil with slight chaotic lean maybe??? not really

she’s just evil idk what to tell u bro

she’s a horrible selfish person who puts her own needs first and hurts people to get what she wants, or just for fun

she has no code, but she’s not particularly chaotic either. she just uses people to get what she wants.

Asmodeous: neutral/chaotic evil

he’s kinda got chaotic energy but he’s just generally evil and horrible and self serving like the others idk what to tell u bro

Jace Heron-Way-Light-Stern: chaotic/neutral evil

he’s just...... horrible

he’s kind of like clary except more actively malicious and hurting people constantly and like.... just as selfish

and at least she has mostly good-ish intentions, if very narrow minded ones with tunnel vision. jace is just kind of a dick all the time and also thinks with his dick

like he’s actively horrible to people around him, including people he supposedly cares about and people who are actually helping him at cost to themselves

he’s got chaotic energy in the sense of just running around doing batshit crazy things that hurt people and also random overly fancy backflips for no reason

also he’s a privileged little white cishet 

Lorenzo Rey: chaotic evil

hes chaotic enough to keep a painting of himself as a baby and a whole mansion of useless shit, as well doing horrible random shit like taking someone’s house in exchange for life saving medical help and doing the equivalent of breakdancing aggressively in front of someone who recently lost their legs and is now in a wheelchair (who came to you asking for help getting a prosthetic) while saying “oh sorry, i couldn’t see you there without your legs, i was too busy using mine”

So things I liked:

Luke and Jace interaction! Though the pacing was absolutely insane and I absolutely refuse to believe that the Clave has the infrastructure in place to take detailed barometric readings in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SIBERIA, so detailed that Jace can easily pinpoint exactly where the apartment was. Like I wouldn’t believe they have that kind of detail in rural Iowa, let alone a place that’s colder than balls.

That last point was all whining.The Morgenstern sword!! Y’all have NO idea how long I spent being mad that Valentine didn’t have it in the first two seasons. It now seems a bit odd to introduce it now considering Valentine didn’t in fact ever have it, but whatever. Also Clary being like “fuck Morgenstern weapons” was kind of funny considering her kindjals are waiting at home.

Magnus’ storyline. Though it’s kind of weird and rushed and confused, I’m just glad my man is getting some real focus on him as a person rather than a love interest or idk some overblown “son of Edom” thing.

Cain was, I admit, a really cool and interesting concept, and I already really like Pasha!! I hope he’s continuing to get better after his surgery. Don’t love as much how they’re mainlining Lilith as the Biggest Bad Ever and a Whole Evil B*tch (more on that lovely term of endearment later).

Mirek was really cool, kind of had to laugh at the “demon middle class.” Can’t help but wonder if the “status quo” thing was a deliberate political joke or not. Either way, Jonathan has never met a structure he doesn’t want to overthrow. Does the Clave spark joy? Apparently not.

MELIORN IS BACK!!!!! And wants a threesome, apparently.

Jonathan peevishly being like “I forgive you for trying to kill me, btw” and Clary just rolling her eyes and ignoring him.

Jonathan’s fucking GAAAY. (Or bi. pan. whatever. You do you. All I’m saying is THIS BITCH RAINBOW). I do not care what the intention was, that’s what I’m choosing to get out of it.

Things I didn’t like:

the plot of this episode is pretty much enough material for an entire season. They compressed it so much people are calling it a filler episode. Jace and Luke figure out the secret of the apartment (which is untraceable), go to Siberia, figure out Jonathan is alive, find Clary and rescue her and that’s only about 15 minutes of footage overall. That could be spread out over 15 episodes.

On the Simon side: they find the first fucking vampire, become his new bestie, get the only thing in the world that could rid him of the mark without any sort of price or even really having to ask, they get back into Faerie without any problems, Meliorn takes them right to the Queen despite knowing Simon has a weapon of death on his face, she agrees without argument to unmark him not even knowing if he’ll explode or what, the mark is off in about 14 seconds, the FUCKING DRUG PLOTLINE IS BACK AG A. I N. And then rose petals. That could have been the entire SEASON.

No Maia. (I know she’s in the next ep I just want to complain).

It’s also weird because it seems like Malec is progressing on normal time and the other two story strands are progressing on some extreme kind of fast-forward. It gives you all kinds of whiplash. If there was any kind of thematic overlap or even an attempt to connect the strands thematically it might work to ground the other storylines but it. Does not.

I hate that the apartment is Lilith’s and not Valentine’s, and that apparently it can only go to a few select spots now. NOT. THE. POINT. Point = missed.

And onto the things that bothered me the most: the whole treatment of Jonathan and Clary, and the Sizzy. For which I need an entire section to bitch.

Jonathan and Clary: why god have you abandoned me

* Ok so honestly, I had to go and check to see who wrote 3x11 and 3x12, because  it had to be different people. 3x11 was by Todd and Darren, and 3x12 was by Alex Schemmer. Schemmer has only written one other episode in 3a (3x03), which explains to me why he seems to have missed a fair bit of lore. To me, the huge difference between 3x11 and 12, which basically deal with the same plot line (Clary kidnapped by Jonathan, wary of him, trying to escape) but in hugely different ways and different focus.

In 3x11, the focus is all on Clary. Her initial confusion, her fear, anger, the attempt to escape, the attempt to kill Jonathan. All shot from her point of view. She takes more action than he does—she runs away, she grabs the knife, she stabs him. He is mostly reacting to her, running after her, offering her soup and tea and trying to win her over. Even when he does talk, the scenes where he talks about himself are brief and she shares equal part in the conversation.

This makes sense, as she is the main character.

In 3x12, everything is about Jonathan. From the first shot everything is about him, the camera focusing on him even when Clary is the focus of the scene (i.e., when she’s finding new clothes—and was a shirtless scene necessary? Like we get it, you nearly killed poor Luke in a gym somewhere, thanks for the update). Every time he and Clary talk, it’s just him talking at her. “I forgive you for killing me.” Telling her she’s good at art. Telling her there’s an Institute nearby. Telling her he likes art. She can barely get a word in edgewise from the get-go, and it only gets worse on the hot chocolate “date.”

He says the whole point is to get to know each other better, but he LITERALLY talks about himself the whole time. Clary barely even reacts, just makes eyes at a phone. He doesn’t even seem to notice she’s not listening. Like guys, this is every bad tinder date ever. Then they go to to the antiques store, and even then she’s shuffled off—shoo! Get out of the scene!! Even the French guy interrupts her at every turn and she gets shuffled off like a sack of potatoes *again*.

Like don’t tell me Clary couldn’t kick his ass and then explain things to him when he’s pinned to the ground. It would be faster, safer, and if Jonathan shows up again she can be like “ohh he was threatening us!! Look, I beat him up to keep us safe!” and Jonathan would buy it hook, line, and sinker. Since killing people in broad daylight is ok, clearly the show isn’t worried about the realism of fighting in the streets.

And then she’s shuffled off AGAIN, and although the show clearly understands that being kidnapped and controlled by your dangerously unhappy brother who seriously has the creepy hots for you is a pretty freakin SCARY situation, it still shows all this from Jonathan’s point of view, teasing the “romance” of it all and giving us hehe teehee little slips of it (like the shirtless scene). And then when she finally is able to break free and actually do something, he yells “BITCH” at her and runs off, and she falls into Jace’s arms, completely forgetting to act like a real human being.

The reason why 3x11 works so much more for me is that Clary is at least an equal partner, and is given space to react and actually do things; in 3x12 they seem to take any excuse to bundle her off, keep her out of frame, mute her reactions. Jonathan and his feelings take center stage and suddenly Clary is a side character in her own story. 3x11 is more compelling because Jonathan is legitimately trying to win her over, trying to connect with her, personally. It’s obvious he cares about her opinions as a person and her as a person—you couldn’t replace her with a cardboard cutout and the scene would read the same. They actually interact. In 3x12 he’s just ranting at her about himself while she sits there. On no narrative level is there any sort of connection or interaction.

Like imagine the situation differently. They’re in art store, because lbr the real museums prolly wouldn’t let them shoot there, and Clary is talking to Jonathan about her favorite prints and artists. He’s listening, maybe a little too intently, maybe talks about a piece he likes and what it means to him. She looks unnerved. As they talk, the camera follows her gaze, and we realize she is trying to find someone’s phone to take it. She’s pretending, of course, but there is something charming about Paris. Jonathan keeps offering to buy her souvenirs, very awkwardly, trying to find something to please her. She picks something to make him happy. He returns from the register just before she can make a grab for someone’s phone and bolt for the door. He suggests they go to the cafe across the square. We cut to where they’re sitting down, she’s tearing into a croissant. Jonathan is wearing a “I <3 PARIS” cap, which is a bit jarring and distracting. Clary tells him it looks silly and he takes it off. He mentions in a forcedly offhand way that this is where he met Sebastian Verlac, and seeing her expression, quickly adds that he knows what he did is wrong. She says something along the lines of “do you, tho” and he launches into his monologue. She tells him that she liked Sebastian Verlac, even though she never met the real him. He looks happy at first, then seems to understand what she means, and his expression darkens. He tells her that that’s exactly what Valentine said she would say—that she likes Sebastian, not him. She looks disturbed at the mention of Valentine, and he takes the opportunity to tell her the whole thing about not wanting to hurt anyone and the whole thing being about killing Valentine.

And yada yada yada you get the idea.

Honestly the whole rescue felt very contrived—how convenient Clary has been posthumously pardoned one day before her rescue! And then Jonathan calling her a bitch—haha no thanks. The entitlement is uhh Not Great.

Anyway tldr @ Alex schemmer Clary is not a sofa pls give her some human emotion pls and thanks

Sizzy: why god have you abandoned me, the sequel

Honestly writing that entire wall of text wiped me out but ill try

The drug arc is the bane of my existence

Im so tired

I thought we’d be done in season 2 yet here we are at the end. Drug arc: 1. Actual character development: 0.

Why is this the ONLY plot line the show can remember or keep running for more than 2 episodes. WHY

Why does she even like Simon. They never interact. They don’t even know each other. Everything is just an excuse to get them together. it’s forced and leaden.

Playing her and Raph off as badwrong and her and Simon as rose petal romantic is weird af dude. Izzy has just been the tail end of male characters’ storylines for so long and I’m tired.

If they’d played it off as a sacrifice on her part I might be less mad, like paint her as a hero but it just felt like this was expected of her. It was romantic because there was nothing else to do and OF COURSE she couldn’t refuse!!! Please be realistic, she’s a woman. Think of herself even a little? Impossible!

Never mind she could have easily used her medical training to open a larger artery, pour the blood into his mouth, and iratze herself as soon as Simon was cogent enough to be out of danger. He was already woken up enough to drink the blood she poured from her hand. No biting/venom necessary. Lmao.

Stop treating Izzy like shit just to force a romantic storyline seriously lmao