There really was ‘Bad Blood’ everywhere! Bad blood between The Clave & the Lightwoods, between Valentine and ex-circle members, bad blood zombie men, bad blood between Vampires, even bad blood between Clary & Simon. This episode had promised some major events, and there certainly were those, (Lydia and Simon both spring to mind!) but I think the biggest surprise this episode was Alec.
If you haven’t seen the episode yet, check it out on Freeform.go (in the USA), or Netflix (check your country). You can also check out the (written) Official Recap! This review is full of spoilers, so: go check out the episode first!
Lydia Branwell, envoy of The Shadowhunter Clave, is a new force to be reckoned with at the New York Shadowhunter Institute. Who is she, really?
Lydia Branwell arrives at the New York Institute (Image from ShadowhuntersTV.com)
From (author of the books) Cassandra Clare’s tumblr. account:
“Hi Cassie, I’ve never heard of Lydia Branwell before and i read that they have cast her for the show. So, if you can, can you tell me who she is? Thank you! — camisala01
Lydia Branwell is a character who was invented for the show. I didn’t know much about her beyond her involvement with Alec (Maryse wants to marry Alec to her), so I asked [showrunner] Ed [Decter], and he said Lydia was created because “we had to sort of bring Idris to the Institute! We need that larger story you have in the novels about the Accords and the role that the original families play in the history of the Shadowhunters, so we had to bring someone to the Institute to embody that.“
He also said she is an obstacle to Magnus and Alec’s romance about which they are enthusiastic. One of the other writers, Angel Dean Lopez, said the girl Alec was going to be involved with (Lydia) was “a lot like him in personality.” I know she says in her audition that she was in love with “John Blackthorn” (but don’t know if he ever shows up as a character.)
There’s a big story on The Wrap about the casting and the actress, Stephanie Bennett.”
Well, after this episode, we know that John Blackthorn is Lydia’s deceased husband. We also know that Lydia is Clary’s distant cousin. Now that I think about it: they even look a bit alike!
Alec Proposes (Image from ShadowhuntersTV)
Remember that episode when Alec said: “We’re Lightwoods. We break noses and accept the consequences.” This episode, he showed that same determination to get what he wants. Just after we hear Alec softly call Magnus Bane “magical”, and see him tell Magnus that he is going to live for himself, and do what his heart wants… It turns out that what Alec really wants is not love, but power. His proposal to Lydia was strategic. They both want to run an Institute, and together they can. They need each other.
Will they grow to love each other over time? Many arranged marriages become deeply loving, built on mutual respect. (Others don’t.) There is also the fact that Lydia had commented that Alec was attractive, and Lydia looks like Clary (they’re distant cousins), and I think Alec actually likes Clary, despite his protestations otherwise. People who have read the books can correct (or confirm) that in the comments below. What do you think?
I think that it was no coincidence that both Valentine and Luke fell in love with Jocelyn (and she with them). Parabatai have more than a bond, they share their blood and are joined by oaths and the power of angelic runes: they share their souls. The Shadowhunters Codex (page 52) says that Parabatai must never allow Eros (romantic/ sexual love) to develop, because it causes “magical disaster, impossible to prevent” for Parabatai.
Since the Shadowhunters know this, surely they would include it in the Parabatai vows, so that they would be aware of what they were giving up. Although, as Parabatai vows and bonding must take place before the people are 18 years old, it seems likely that the prospective Parabatai don’t realise what forgoing all hope of marriage really means. They are, in a sense, marrying each other.
We discovered that Izzy is an expert forensic pathologist, with knowledge of all Shadow World creatures. That explains, to some extent, why she’s more comfortable than most with Downworlders. Or perhaps she became a pathologist because of her interest in non-Shadowhunter people?
Valentine’s Henchmen (Image from ShadowhuntersTV)
After Luke is attacked by a Forsaken man at the Jade Wolf, Luke knows that these are more than ordinary Forsaken, and Izzy finds out why.
It turns out that “bad blood” can also be angelic! Izzy found Nephilim (angel) blood in the decomposing Forsaken man that she examined.The angelic blood in the Forsaken that Valentine created gave them the ability to enter the Shadowhunter Institute, and might be one of the causes of them being so strong. It took 5 werewolves to defeat one, and two Shadowhunters to defeat the other.
The Shadowhunters Codex explains about the Forsaken on pages 128-131. They are people being driven insane by excruciating pain from the angelic runes burned into their flesh, who will follow orders given by the person who “marked” (put runes on) them. They are used as slaves to commit violence. Killing them is a mercy.
But: ordinary Forsaken are unable to use weapons, implement tactics or defend themselves. They die quickly because they do not eat or sleep (unless ordered to do so by their “marker”), and are weaker than ordinary Mundanes.
The appearance of the Forsaken who attack Luke and Hodge (ex-circle members) also leads to Alec being devastated when he finds out from Lydia that his parents are also ex-circle members.
Clary going to Luke about Simon was a good idea, since he was able to tell her about his decision to become a werewolf, instead of dying. It showed how difficult it was for him when he “turned”, but also showed that he is still the same good man that he always was.
I should mention: Christina Cox redeemed herself this episode, when Clary visited Simon’s mother.
I wondered what the pouch with the star on it was that Clary collected from Simon’s room. Simon’s father had died, and I started to wonder if perhaps his father had been another Showdow Worlder in hiding, perhaps a warlock. When it turned out that the pouch was a gift from Simon’s grandfather on his bah mitzvah, that was more believable. (It was also almost disappointing). The symbolism was perfect though: Simon’s grandfather had said that this was to remind him that he was a man, and that he would always be that man, no matter what happened. Well: something fairly major had happened, but he would still be that man.
Clary is worried that she made the wrong choice, bringing Simon back as a Vampire. But: she couldn’t really make any other choice. If she had staked his heart, he would have been completely dead, and she would have had to live without him and tell his mother. If she left him “dead”, his soul would be trapped for all eternity, AND she would still have had to live without him and tell his mother that he was dead.
As Izzy said: he’s “neither living nor breathing”, but as Clary said: deep down, he’s still the same man, her best friend.
Simon the Vampire (Image from ShadowhuntersTV)
Simon has a new life as a Vampire. It will take some time for him to get used to the idea, though, from what he said. Raphael used to be human, since he said that he “was raised a good Catholic”, which means that he has gone through the process that Simon is now experiencing, and knows how to handle it. With Raphael continuing to look after Simon, I’m sure that Simon will be OK. Especially now that Camille is out of the way, and it looks like Raphael will be leading the Vampires on a more peaceful path.
And, oh yeah: Clary and Jace convinced Alec to store the Mortal Cup (back in its Tarot card) instead of giving it to the Clave. The point of this was to have bargaining power to get Clary’s mother back. A risky move, really, since it implies that they would trade the cup for Jocelyn…then Valentine would have the cup, and that would really be more disastrous than Demon Pox! The entire world is still under threat!
Tell me all about the things I forgot to talk about in the comments below, or send me a message, using the contact details at the bottom of this post.
Featured image from Disney ABC Freeform.
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