Sometimes it’s as brave to live, as it is to die.”
Jace gave us this inspirational quote near the beginning of the episode, and the rest of the episode was about really living: taking risks for the people you love, and standing up for what is right.
The main intertwined storylines this week were Izzy’s trial, healing Jace, Jace’s father, and rescuing Jocelyn. Of course: Simon, Magnus, Alec, Lydia and Luke were just as important as Clary and Jace in sorting all of this out!
If you haven’t seen the episode yet, you can catch up on Freeform.go, or Netflix (check your country), or read the official recap.
We see more of Simon’s development every episode, and this episode he moved from cheeky to downright daring in blackmailing Raphael into giving Clary the human blood for Jace’s transfusion. Raphael is starting to see what Simon is capable of, and Simon is much less afraid, now that he’s a Vampire.
Simon coerces Raphael
Similarly, Magnus shows Alec what he’s capable of when he names his price for defending Izzy. How much self-restraint did it take Alec not to say ANYTHING in reply?! He almost seemed amused. Alec showed that he really does love his sister: he seemed more upset about Magnus asking for his bow and quiver, than he was about the first request. Magnus, who usually collects exorbitant fees in gold and gems, showed his depth of feeling for Alec when he gave back the bow and quiver.
Magnus showed that he really cares about Izzy too, as her advocate in Court. Interestingly, the Inquisitor told him that he would survive taking an oath on the magical sword if he told the truth. Since Magnus survived, presumably everything that he said was the truth: That the situation wasn’t Izzy’s fault, that the Mortal Cup was the real cause of the problem, that the whole court case was out of order. He made the very good point that Izzy preventing the false questioning and death of a Seelie may have saved the Accords, which is in the interests of The Clave, and that the case should be dismissed.
Izzy gives her brave, inspirational speech (Image from Disney Freeform)
Izzy’s speech in Court was great. She pointed out that the Clave were doing exactly the thing that they feared others were doing: behaving like Valentine! Treating Downworlder lives as less worthy, turning on each other out of fear.
The biggest surprise for me was Lydia’s speech. She’s not such a baddie after all. She’s also quite astute! Recognising Magnus’ loyalty to his friends & Alec & Izzy’s love and loyalty despite their many disagreements. “Loyalty, decency, compassion, love, these are the concepts that we should consider…I agree this whole case is ridiculous!”
Perhaps she was inspired by Izzy’s speech, the people in the Courtroom watching, thinking about it since Alec had questioned her earlier, or maybe she was just prompted to think about it by Magnus’ question, but her response showed that there is more going on in her head and her heart than she’d shown before.
Lydia: proud and defiant after her speech
The Inquisitor proves Izzy (and others) right when she declares Izzy guilty, despite the charges being withdrawn, and the trail not having heard all the evidence. The condition is that if The Clave receives the Mortal Cup within 24 hours, the verdict will be set aside, and Izzy will be free. If not, Izzy will be stripped of her runes and banished: helpless as a Mundane against demons, but with the added disadvantage of the demons hunting her because of her angelic blood. It seems there is nothing that can be done about this corruption of justice, since no-one even objects! As Izzy said earlier: “What kind of people sacrifice justice for law?” Apparently, The Clave does.
Luke continues to be indispensible to everyone: at the beginning and end of the episode, he’s mentoring Simon. It’s Luke’s place that Clary takes the injured Jace to, and where he is healed. It’s Luke who mentions to Clary that Michael Wayland disappeared 20 years ago, rumoured to be dead, adding to her growing suspicion about Wayland’s story not adding up.
When Jace and Clary found Michael Wayland, I knew that something was odd. I thought that Jace, in telling Clary to think of her dad, had thought of his own dad, which led them to him. But then he said those odd, almost obsessive, things to Clary at the Jade Wolf. Later, the things that Michael Wayland said to Jace while he was training were just plain mean, and reminded me of Jace’s story about his father killing his pet bird. He was already sounding like a parent it was better not to have, even before he revealed himself as Valentine. To be fair, though: he did tell Clary that he would take the cup if she took it out to use it!
In spite of the many dramas and excitements this episode, I think that this might be my favourite moment:
Valentine has the Mortal Cup!
Oh! The wrong cup!
The Shadowhunters Codex tells us that Ravener venom will burn away all the life of the victim, leaving only ash. It’s not surprising, then, that Jace feels weak. The venom was in him for quite some time before he had a blood transfusion. ‘Princess Bride’ fans might remember how Wesley felt after losing a day of his life. Jace has had some of his life burned away. And that’s on top of having his Parabatai bond with Alec weakened, and the shock of finding his lost father, and the news of who his father really is, and what that means for Jace and Clary. It’s sort of amazing that Jace isn’t curled into the foetal position.
One fairly irrelevant detail that I noticed: If Jace fought a demon with his dad when he was 8, and his dad died/disappeared with Valentine 20 years ago, then Jace is nearly 30. Clary is 18. I knew Jace was a bit older, but I thought he was about 24, not 28/29. Not that it really makes any difference to anything.
At the end of this episode: Izzy is free, The Clave have The Mortal Cup so Clary and Jace don’t have to worry about it any more (and everyone will stop chasing them to get it!), Lydia is making friends, Luke and Simon are doing pretty well, Jocelyn is safe (although still in her coma-state – did you notice that she reached for Luke?)…so: all’s right with the Shadowworld, isn’t it?
Everyone’s happy!
Well: there are just the small matters of Jace and Clary working through the idea of being siblings, Alec and Jace’s failing relationship, and Magnus still trying to save Alec from his marriage to Lydia (even though he doesn’t seem to want to be saved).
Surely Jace and Clary should remember the alternate universe that they have just visited! In that universe they were a deeply in-love couple, and Clary’s parents were also a loving couple. There would be no reason, in that universe, for Valentine to hide Jace, unless Jocelyn wasn’t his mother? And how could Valentine be with young Jace, glamoured as Michael Wayland, while at the same time doing all the things that Valentine did. Luke knew Wayland, and he was Valentine’s Parabatai. He would surely have been able to tell, or at least notice that Valentine and Wayland were never in the same place together? Valentine MUST be lying. I can’t believe that he’s really the father of both Jace and Clary.
Clace are shattered by the news that they’re siblings (Image from www.shadowhunterstv.com)
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