Shadowhunters - Rise Up - Review

This week Lydia arrested Meliorn. She and Alec planned to hand him over to the Silent Brothers but Jace, Izzy and Clary stopped that from happening with the help of both the werewolves and the vampires. Alec and Jace got into a fight which ended with the two at opposite sides of the law. Clary took Simon to Hotel Dumort where he’ll be staying to adapt to life as a vampire. Meliorn tells Clary he can help her find Valentine. 

Favorite storyline: Usually this spot is reserved for Simon’s vampire storyline, however this storyline seems to be slowing down. Which does make sense, he last thing we want is for them to rush through it. The most intriguing part of this episode for me was Alec’s storyline. While I think he’s a fool for marrying Lydia, I do understand his motivation. I think it was even more clearly this week that before. He’s lost. His whole world has changed. He found out that the parents who he’s looked up to his entire life aren’t as perfect as they claim to be. All of the pressure they’ve always put on him and Izzy is because of their past mistakes. The last thing he wants is to be associated with Valentine or the Circle so I understand why he’s clinging to the Clave’s laws. Throwing himself into a marriage with Lydia is probably an overcorrection of his feelings for both Jace and Magnus. As we saw in his fight with Jace, his feelings for him are still a very touchy subject. I don’t they just went away because he met Magnus but they definitely decreased. I don’t see him go through with the wedding though. I know we’ve seen the wedding photos but that doesn’t mean they actually get married. I don’t just think this because I don’t believe the writers will deviate that much from the books (even though that’s a factor). But because at the end of the day, I don’t think Alec will be able to give up on his freedom to love who he wants for his family’s honor. And after this week, I don’t see how Izzy will let him go through with it. 

Biggest change: R.I.P. to dorky, innocent Simon. I doubt we’ll be seeing that version of him again. Of course Simon is going to be darker. How could he not be. His life is forever changed by something he had no choice in. I actually wish he’d stayed angry at Clary just a little longer. It’s not like she didn’t deserve it. She had no right to make this decision for him (even though she had no way of asking what he wanted). She’s known him since she was little, so she should have known that he wouldn’t want to live like that. I wonder if their relationship will follow the same route it did in the books because a certain aspect will undoubtedly be different with the vampire storyline moved up. I doubt we’ll be seeing much of Simon in these next few episodes. He’ll be spending a lot of time with the vampires trying to figure out how to survive in his new life. I do hope to see more scenes of him and Raphael. They both come from similar backgrounds so they have a lot in common. Raphael fought very hard to be able to do certain things only humans can do and mostly succeeded so he could teach Simon a lot. 

Favorite character: Izzy took some huge risks this week, some of which I’m sure will come back to bite her in the ass. But I love it when she’s pissed off. Thought I prefer it to be directed at Jace and not her brother. I read in a synopsis for a future episode that she’ll be put on trial, I’m guessing it’ll have to do with what she did this week. Why am I not surprised that she’ll have to face consequences and Clary and Jace will probably get off scot-free. I have a feeling that if Meliorn wasn’t involved, she would’ve never gone along with it. It takes a lot for her to betray her brother, regardless of how she feels about Lydia. She was a badass this week though, I just hope her trust in Meliorn isn’t misplaced. 

I still don’t hate you: Had this been any other show, I probably would’ve strongly disliked Lydia. And I’m not seeing I’m crazy about her, but I don’t dislike her either. Yes, she made some choices that went against the main characters. But honestly, the Cup should’ve probably gone to the Clave to begin with. What exactly are Jace and Clary planning to do with it. The only thing I can think of is giving it to Valentine as a trade for her mother which would be the dumbest move they can make. So Lydia is right to be strict. Her treatment of Meliorn didn’t do her any favors but after hearing what happened to her husband. Knowing what the Clave is like, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to punish her for not bringing those downworlders in. It explains why she wants to be extra careful, especially with the Seelie Court who are probably the least trustworthy of all downwolders (even if they can’t lie). 

Most heartbreaking moment: While I did feel bad for Alec after his fight with Jace, it didn’t break my heart as much as that scene between him and Magnus did. Magnus’ face when Alec told him he’s marrying Lydia said it all. When he told Alec to follow his heart, this is not what he meant. Nor is it what’s in Alec’s heart. Even though I fear Magnus may now think that it is. You could see his heart breaking and that he was getting angry at himself for letting himself develop these feelings for Alec. I wouldn’t be surprised if Magnus tries to avoid him next week. 

Best fight: Fights between Parabatai don’t happen that often but when they do it’s always explosive. I’m not surprised Jace was able to defeat him since he’s always been considered one of the best fighters of his time. But I think it was the verbal aspect that was more interesting. I can’t believe Jace throw Alec’s feelings for him in his face now. How long has he known Alec felt this way? Has he been saving it up so he could use it to get the upper hand in an argument. Did he really think that his anger at Jace was because of his feelings and not the fact that he’s been a terrible friend since Clary showed up? This argument is far from over and I hope Alec gets the chance to get everything off his chest. 

Best quotes: Alec: “I wanted to thank you for your advice. The whole ‘follow your heart’ thing.” Magnus: “Oh well, what can I say. I have a deep understanding of the human psyche. At least that’s what Freud always said.” 
Jace: “You might want to pick up the pace.” Izzy: “You do not want to be on my bad side right now.” 

That’s it for this week. Check in again next week for an all new review and let me know in the comments what you thought of this week’s episode.

About the Author - Belle333Black

Jamie Coudeville (Belle333Black) writes reviews for The Originals and Shadowhunters. She's 21, lives in Belgium and her favorite shows are The Originals, Vampire Diaries, Orphan Black, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ...

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)