Shadowhunters: Review

13th February 2016 Off By Adam Bloomfield

The Shadowhunter saga continues as Clary remains shaken by the threatening message she received from Valentine, her mother in exchange for the Mortal Cup. Alec takes the necklace Jocelyn gave to her daughter which is revealed to be an item called a Portal Shard and locks it away so Clary will be disconnected from Valentine.

In this episode, we are also introduced to Alec and Isabelle’s mother Maryse Lightwood (Nicola Correia Damude). Unlike Jocelyn who is a warm and nuturing mother, Maryse gives off such a cold vibe that even Killer Frost would feel cold as she berates Alec and Isabelle for disobeying the rules of the Institute, and Clave then orders Alec to stay with Clary, while Jace and Isabelle head off to the Seelie Realm.

Meanwhile, Simon returned to the Hotel DuMort but is quickly scared off by Raphael Santiago. Throughout the episode, Simon continues to show signs of becoming a vampire as he displays superhuman strength and agility plus the ability to see Shadowhunter runes.

Acting on a hunch Clary sneaks out of the Institute with Alec to recover an item Clary believes could help bring her to her mother. At the same time, Magnus Bane calls Alec and asks him out for a date, Alec accepts but has to reschedule when he discovers Clary is gone. In Magnus’s eyes he’s playing hard to get but, fortunately, the warlock likes a challenge. This is why Magnus is my favourite character, he’s flirty, fun and knows what he wants.

However, Alec’s problems continue to grow as Clary and Simon are captured by mysterious men and Jace loses his cool. Given the fact that Alec is in love with Jace, it really doesn’t help the poor guy’s situation. If he wasn’t so moody and sullen I’d almost feel sorry for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghaQjFSMBkM

All the while Valentine continues to work his dark agenda. Not only is he holding Jocelyn captive in Chernobyl, he’s conducting experiments on rogue Shadowhunters, injecting them with the different types of Downworlder blood.

Seelie and vampire seem to be the themes for the last two episodes. And speaking of Downworlders, we’ve had Nephilim, Demons, Warlocks, Seelies and Vampires, so now, in this episode, we have werewolves. This version of the lupine species borrows traits from the more modern versions of werewolves where there’s an Alpha Werewolf and the way humans transform into werewolves, they simply just shapeshift into their wolf form without assuming a halfway form.

Luke Garroway takes a more central role in this episode after being in the background for the last few episodes. Luke’s connection to Shadow World is made apparent when it’s revealed he is a werewolf himself and becomes the new leader of New York’s werewolf pack after killing the current Alpha to rescue the Shadowhunters from being mauled to death.

So the episode ends with a badly injured Luke being carried off by Jace, Clary and Simon to Magnus’s lair to be healed of his injuries.

A dramatic episode and a few easter eggs towards future episodes make this one a good episode, so looking forward to next week’s episode.