In the post-demon fallout, this week’s episode of Shadowhunters, “Dust and Shadows,” was quite the doozy. Let’s break it down together, shall we?
It all starts off with Alec, who is taking things really hard after a demon possessed him and used his body to kill Jocelyn. He thinks he should have been able to fight off the demon, even if nobody else could. And of course, he thinks he’s in Clary’s in debt for oh… forever. Alec can be a jerk sometimes, but he’s such a wounded puppy and we just wanna protect him!
It doesn’t help that Clary is banking on wild plans to bring her mother back to life. She knows the danger, but she’s willing to risk it after meeting with a warlock named Iris Rouse, who demonstrates her life-giving powers on a dead raven. Despite warnings from just about everyone, Clary agrees to have Iris do her magic in return for an unspecified favor.
So basically…
Everyone: Clary, no!
Clary: Clary, yes!
Back at The Institute, there’s both literal and figurative battling going on. Jace has been exonerated of his “crimes” since he saved Victor Aldertree from Valentine, but Victor still blames Jace for letting his father get away with an ancient relic. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of Shadowhunters at The Institute that still don’t trust him.
Jace and Izzy work out their various frustrations in an epic training scene where they both fight like badasses and are really really ridiculously good-looking. More please! The two talk out their issues as they train. Jace is worried about how Clary is holding up. Isabelle is worried about that too, but she’s also frantically trying to strengthen up her shoulder injury from the demon attack. If she doesn’t Victor Aldertree won’t let her be part of The Institute’s envoy to see the Iron Sisters.
Victor Aldertree is apparently feeling generous and has a solution for Isabelle’s pain: YIN FEN. *Cue totally freak-outs from fans of The Infernal Devices series!* The relief is so beautiful that Isabelle rolls a single tear.
Yin Fen plays a major role in maintaining Jem’s curse life in Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices, but it’s also dangerous and highly addictive. And people, we’re all set on the potential “Isabelle is a drug addict” storyline, even though we love the reference. Overall, we’re just glad this isn’t an Izzy/Aldertree hookup sequence like it looked like in some earlier previews.
Meanwhile, Simon’s plan to move back home is seriously backfiring. His sister, Rebecca, is home from college and immediately suspicious. It would be hard for her not to be: Simon refuses to come near the window when she opens it, she finds a thermos she assumes is full of booze and discovers it’s full of blood, and of course, Simon is super spaz-tastic. It’s a really humorous scene, but it doesn’t fair well for the character. It isn’t too long until his mom is seriously worried about him too and thinks he’s into some dangerous stuff.. again.
Clary’s plan to bring her mother back finally becomes known at The Institute and surprisingly, there’s someone willing to go along with it! Alec feels so guilty and indebted to Clary that he decides to support her mission. It’s a bit sad for him, but it gives us this GLORIOUS scene when Iris assumes they’re boyfriend and girlfriend.
There’s also more Alec adorableness to be had when he and Clary split while the ceremony is completed and he meets Iris’ adopted warlock child, Madzie. Unfortunately, Madzie quickly introduces him to some real trouble…
Clary and Iris settle down for the spell, but as it’s underway, the raven comes back, violent and off-kilter. Clary demands Iris stop the spell, but Iris still insists Clary owes her a favor…
…Just as Alec realizes what Iris has been doing, the warlock breaks the news to Clary: She’s housing her own personal demon to breed with helpless women and create more warlocks, and she wants Clary to be her next surrogate. Iris whoops Alec, abducts Clary, and the hunt is on to save her.
We missed admit, we’re not totally sure how we feel about this particular storyline for Clary, as she’s already got a sexual taboo under her belt (the “incestuous” feelings Jace has for her) that *spoiler alert* could lead to another sexual taboo if the book is followed. The potential demon rape isn’t a necessary add on!
However, it does give Clary a new way to some off her crazy, unique power: She can create her own runes, and does so to take down much scarier, more life-like demon!
It seems everyone is safe and sound, but we almost forgot about Simon! His mother walks in to have another chat and finds him bloody, chowing down on… what is that?!
To wrap things up, there’s something good coming out of Jocelyn’s death: A beautiful funeral scene in which Clary finally breaks down as she realizes she has to let her mom go.
We’re still not 100% on board with Jocelyn being written out, but this scene had heart.
We kind of wish the episode ended there, but we got one last add-on: Luke forcibly phasing under a full moon, clearly in distress and under a villainous grasp. Foreboding for next time!
We’ll see you next week!
