Shadowhunters is back with a new season. In the premiere, we see that Jace is suffering from hallucinations urging him to kill Clary. Luke is struggling to shake Ollie who is hell-bent on finding out about the Shadow world, and he eventually tells her. Simon spends most of the episode in the Seelie Court (or Seelieville) where the Seelie Queen puts a mark on him. Afterwards, he joins a worried Maia. Clary is officially a Shadowhunter and gets her own weapons (or her parents’ hand-me-downs). Izzy has turned to candy (and kicking vending machines) to help with her addiction. Alec finds out Magnus hasn’t been truthful about how he feels now that he’s no longer High Warlock of Brooklyn. Lilith is … doing something. Demon possessions, visiting the maternity ward, bleeding people on an altar, … I’m sure her plans will become clearer soon.
Shhh, it’s a secret: So clearly Clary and Jace have been keeping a very important detail about what happened in the finale to themselves. Not just the fact that Clary has used up what is apparently the only wish the Shadowhunters will ever get to make, but also the fact that Jace was dead. I give it about a week, maybe two, until one of them finally admits it to Alec, who is not going to let this go. Nor should he, since he clearly saw his parabatai rune vanish. But the secret I really wanted to talk about here is Jace’s hallucinations. The Shadowhunter world sucks when it comes to modern medicine, so it’s no surprise it also sucks when it comes to mental health. While both he and Clary could use some serious therapy, Jace is definitely suffering some side effect from being brought back. He seems to be linked somehow with Jonathan, who is urging him to kill Clary. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here. I don’t think it makes sense for Jonathan to try and influence Jace into killing Clary, mainly because I don’t think Jonathan actually wants her dead. It could be that Jace is being influenced by something else that is manifesting as Jonathan (this would be my guess).
All the legends are true: Speaking of needing therapy, Ollie now knows about the Shadow world (which I’m pretty sure Luke wasn’t allowed to tell her) and I doubt it’ll be long before she wishes she didn’t. I’m glad she knows now, hopefully, this means she’ll be around more. Since she’s a non-book character, I have no clue what the writers are planning for her, which makes me very excited (though they need to stay away from the “bury your gays” trope). Let’s hope she fares better than Simon did.
Confused: Simon’s storyline in this episode confused the hell out of me. The book fans all knew Simon would be marked by the Mark of Cain but the way it happened was quite odd. What motive could the Seelie Queen possibly have to give Simon that kind of protection? In the books, it was Clary who gave him the mark to keep him safe from the upcoming battle and the other vampires. Which made a lot more sense. I’m sure the Seelie Queen has her motives but what those are, remains a mystery.
Favorite character: While we didn’t see a whole lot of him, Magnus was still very important in this episode. He’s been relieved of his position as High Warlock of Brooklyn, which he has not taken well. But for some reason, he found the need to hide this from Alec. Their relationship is still relatively new and with the recent problems they’ve had, I’m not surprised that their communication needs more work. But it does worry me that Magnus felt that he couldn’t share his true feeling about this with Alec. Both Catarina and Raphael immediately knew he wasn’t okay. So either Magnus really put up an act, which seems more work than it’s worth, or Alec just didn’t notice, which would be an entirely different problem. I hope they work out these issues soon. I’ve had enough angst were this two are concerned.
Favorite scene: It may have been a small scene but I absolutely loved Izzy vs the vending machine. Her need for candy was hilarious, though I’m glad she found a way to deal with her addiction. I wonder if we’ll see that doctor again, or if that was just a random moment.
Best quotes: Maia: "Simon, you brave, stupid idiot."
Luke: “Everything you saw was real. I’m sorry I lied to you. All the legends are true.”
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.
Please be respectful in the comments, any unnecessary rudeness isn't welcome.
Shadowhunters - On Infernal Ground - Review + POLL
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JC Reviews Shadowhunters
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