Magnus, Alec, and Izzy try their best to bring Jace back while Clary faces the consequences of her actions in Idris

Shadowhunters 3×08, “A Heart of Darkness” is all about saving Jace and facing the truth. The episode picks up with Luke (Isaiah Mustafa) and Simon (Alberto Rosende) being close to finding Lilith (Anna Hopkins) and Ollie (Alexandra Ordolis) right after Simon turned her disciples into salt. Lilith, knowing they were coming for her, transports her, Ollie and Jonathan’s body to a different location.

Back at Magnus’s place, Magnus (Harry Shum Jr) takes Alec (Matthew Daddario) and Izzy (Emeraude Toubia) inside Jace’s (Dominic Sherwood) mind to bring him back. But this is complicated by the Owl making it harder for them. While inside his head, they witness how much Jace is going through by being forced to live painful situations over and over again and by making him feel like the people he loves are being taken away from him. Alec and Izzy promise Jace that they won’t let Lilith take him away again and they will save him. But just when they are about to bring Jace back, Lilith storms inside Magnus’s apartment and interrupts his spell, taking the Owl away with her and leaving a broken Alec, Izzy and Magnus behind.

Luke, knowing that Clary stayed in Idris, is looking for answers and any clues as to what is going on with her. He goes to Maryse to see if she can help him get some answers. When he learns that Clary was put on trial by the Consul, he decides to find a way to get to Idris and save her himself.

Knowing that she is the one that placed Simon’s mark on him, Lilith pays a visit to the Seelie Queen (Lola Flanery). She shows no mercy by executing a full-on massacre on the Seelie Court. The Seelie Queen manages to convince Lilith to spare her life in exchange for telling her where the Owl is.

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Simon, Maia (Alisha Wainwright) and Jordan (Chai Hansen) go on the mission to find Lilith. It isn’t an easy situation to deal with for Maia, as she is dealing with Jordan’s presence at the same time as wanting to be there for Simon. After a heated discussion with Jordan, she decides to leave town and get away for a while to take care of herself and heal.

Back in Idris, Clary (Katherine McNamara) is put on trial by Jia Penhallow (Françoise Yip), who uses the Mortal Sword to get the truth out of her. Under the sword’s power, Clary starts spilling the truth, confessing why she was in Idris in the first place. Resisting the sword hurts Clary. So after taking enough of it, she decides that if she has to tell the truth. She might as well just confess it all without having to use the sword. After her trial, she is taken back to her cell where Jia tells her she is sentenced to death.  

Let’s not waste any more time and start our discussion! These are our roundtable guests this week:

Megan (@TMIronSisters) – prolific reader, aspiring writer, amateur photographer, lover of theatre and a fan of Shadowhunters.

Emmanuelle (@shadowhunters_news) – Shadowhunters Fan and Fan Account Owner.

Sonia (@Shadowhunters.Blood.isnt.Love) – Tireless reader, Fantasy lover, Founder of Shadowhunters “Blood isn’t Love.”

ShadowhuntersLA (@ShadowhuntersLA) – Update/fan account of shadowhunters Latin America.

ShumDario News (@shumdarionews) – Update account about Harry Shum Jr. and Matthew Daddario.

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1. Maia realized that she needed a break to clear her mind and regain control over her emotions. After her conversation with Jordan and seeing how his return is affecting her, do you agree that this was the best thing for her to do?

Megan (@TMIronSisters): I think she definitely needs her own space. Although she was the one who made Jordan stick around for Simon, I don’t think she was ready to head out on a mission together. Especially when she ended up alone with Jordan. And even though I believe she needs to get away I’m a little bit concerned that she’s going to be alone, too far from Simon for him to be able to protect her, and she’ll get caught in the crossfire of Lilith’s anger. Especially if Lilith finds out she’s dating Simon because there’s nothing better then taking a girlfriend hostage to use as bait to lure a certain daylighter into a trap…

Emmanuelle (@shadowhunters_news): I do agree. We all need space to think sometimes and Maia’s situation brings back memories from the darkest and loneliest moment in her life. It’s emotionally draining for her and time away from it all will do some good.

Sonia (@Shadowhunters.Blood.isnt.Love): Yes, I think she needs to get away so she can clear her mind. She is too involved and the emotions to be managed are many. I think it was easier for Maia to hate the Jordan who abandoned her than this new Jordan. She has mixed feelings for him, it’s a difficult situation.

ShadowhuntersLA (@ShadowhuntersLA): We think what Maia did was a good thing, we don’t know if it was the best for her, but definitely she needs time to think about all that it’s happening in her life right now. She is so confused about everything and right now her life is changing, all the things that she knew were wrong. Maybe she needs to think about what happened with Jordan and also how his return can affect her relationship with Simon.

ShumDario News (@shumdarionews): Though we miss her already, we think her decision to walk away for a little bit was the best thing she could have done. Her breakdown left us in tears and we wish we could have given her a hug! It was obvious that she did what she did to make sure Simon was not alone but she needed to do things for herself as well. We hope Maia takes good care of herself and we can’t wait to see her come back and be better than ever!

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2. We saw how much Jace is really suffering while he is being controlled by Lilith. What was your reaction to seeing him this way?

Megan: I hate seeing him so broken but – and this is going to sound kind of sadistic – I love it. I love seeing Jace as someone other than the sarcastic, self-centered face of the Institute that we’re used to. This vulnerability is what endears him to me the most. Whenever he breaks down it becomes obvious how much he relies on his adopted family to pull him through, how his parabatai bond means more to him than anything. Even though Alec said he would be nothing without Jace, the same is true the other way around and we saw that. We saw how desperate and heartbroken and scared he was. He was prepared to kill himself. He’d tried so many times. He thought if he died that he could escape, that he could save the others. As terrible as it sounds, I’d like to see more of Jace in that state. It’s true and raw and I think Dom played it incredibly well.

Emmanuelle: Not surprised at all. I really enjoy the way the show decided to approach his possession. Jace is in there seeing everything the Owl is doing at the same time of living his own worst nightmare over and over again.

Sonia: It was heartbreaking. Jace is broken, he is completely destroyed. Lilith is driving him crazy, this is a real torture and I can’t see him that way, he doesn’t deserve all this. I can’t imagine the guilt that Jace has for killing Imogen and all the other people on Lilith’s behalf. I’m not surprised that Jace tried to take his own life, and when he asks Alec and Izzy to kill him, it was a really painful moment. My compliments to Dominic Sherwood for Jace’s performance in this difficult episode.

ShadowhuntersLA: Our heart is totally broken right now. Jace’s pain just shreds our hearts. We knew that Jace was really suffering but to see how Lilith is playing with his mind was heartbreaking. All the things that Jace was seeing while he is being possessed were horrible and when he said “Please don’t let her take me again”, our heart felt all his pain and suffering. Jace needs his parabatai and his family just as they need him.

ShumDario News: Absolutely heartbroken. The fact that she was slowly making some of his best childhood memories with Alec and Izzy disappear just broke our hearts. Jace has gone through some tough situations but he’s always had people who were there for him and Lilith is slowly taking all of that away. We really can’t wait for things to improve for Jace, hopefully sooner rather than later!

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3. With the help of Maryse, Luke learned what was going on with Clary in Idris. Considering that he is a werewolf and isn’t welcomed by the Shadowhunters anymore, do you think he’ll be able to help Clary at all or is he just putting himself in danger?

Megan: Luke is a likable guy, he’s loyal and trustworthy and he always has the best intentions. No matter what Clary’s done he loves her and if anyone can convince a pack of feral wolves or a couple of sympathetic Shadowhunters to help him Luke can. Not that he’s going to get a chance. I’m pretty sure possessed!Jace might get to Clary before Luke can. He’ll do whatever it takes and if that requires a fight or a display of strength or trading places with her, then I’m sure he’ll do it in a heartbeat.

Emmanuelle: I think he’s putting himself in danger because shadowhunters still have a big control in this hierarchy they’ve created over Downworlders. The rest of the shadowhunter community has made it clear they don’t want anything to do with him. I personally believe he should seek help from other Shadowhunters but in doing so, he would put even more people at risk including Clary.

Sonia: It’s very likely that Luke is getting into trouble, but I think he will save Clary. He is determined, Clary is like a daughter for Luke and he can’t lose her. Luke will risk everything.

ShadowhuntersLA: We think that maybe Luke can help Clary but it’s so risky and at the same time he will be in danger. Maryse said that Clary can’t lose him and she was so right. He is the only family left to Clary and he must be safe. He has to think of another method to help her but at the end of the episode, we see that he is going to rescue Clary anyway.

ShumDario News: We really wish Luke wouldn’t put himself in danger, but as we’ve seen on the show, the least you would do for your family is cross oceans. We don’t know if he will be doing it alone but by the looks of the promo for the spring finale, he might be getting some help from Izzy, which kind of puts our hearts and minds at ease since she is a Shadowhunter.

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4. Clary was very strong at her trial and by the end of it she wasn’t afraid of telling the truth. What do you think of the way she handled the situation?

Megan: The truth had to come out in the end and Clary was not ashamed to tell the truth. She wanted Jia to know. And she was right; the wish could’ve been used for good but also evil. And it almost was. It’s better that it’s been removed from play. And when the Shadowhunters first found out about the wish why didn’t they use it immediately to wish for the destruction of all of demonkind? Or to close the gates of hell permanently? Why were they leaving it for a worse case scenario back up? They were too scared to act and Clary, however selfishly, decided that she was brave and she knew what she wanted and in the end, Jace’s presence in the Shadow World is going to be beneficial.

Emmanuelle: She handled it with confidence but she also knew that in the end she would have to tell the truth, so might as well make it dramatic!

Sonia: “You want the truth? I don’t need your sword!” – A applause for Clary. Clary couldn’t do otherwise and I appreciated how she held her ground to the Consul Penhallow. I think it’s right that she told the truth according to her point of view and not through the sword. Of course, this will have consequences, but it would have happened anyway.

ShadowhuntersLA: We think that she did the right thing, despite the fact that for the shadowhunters taking away the Raziel’s wish was very bad. She was raised as a mundane, and because of that, she was worried about the people she loves. She was really brave on her trial and confronting the Consul. She knows the possible consequences of her actions but she didn’t think about it, she only was thinking about her loved ones.

ShumDario News: We’ve always known that Clary is stubborn and tough, so seeing her stick up to the Clave and tell them the truth was pretty badass of her. Unfortunately, it came back to bite her now that she has a death sentence hanging over her head. The ending scene of the episode got to us because she barely had a reaction to being sentenced to death. Clary pointed out an important fact though and that is that even if the wish hadn’t been used by Valentine to destroy the Downworld, the Clave would have gotten to it eventually.

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5. Three go in, three go out… How emotional were those moments with the Lightwood siblings?

Megan: We don’t get enough scenes of all three of them together. I love them so much. Their dynamic is one of my favorite things. There wasn’t much of all three of them in the books and now the show is giving us a second chance to experience their past memories and the way they interact in the present.

Emmanuelle: Very emotional! It was great to see those moments between the three since we haven’t seen much of their dynamic as a trio this season. Also, all three actors were amazing!

Sonia: It was really touching. It’s impossible not to get involved in these scenes, they are a family and their bond is so strong. I wanted so much that Jace could go back with them. And it hurt me to see Alec’s despair at the end of the episode, he was so upset. “We promised him we wouldn’t let her take him back.” – Alec thinks he has betrayed Jace’s trust, and now he will not rest until he returns Jace at home.

ShadowhuntersLA: Undoubtedly the Lightwood siblings were the center of the episode. For us being able to see parts of their childhood helped us to better understand how deep and meaningful the ties that bind them as a family are and how they became this inseparable, strong team. Even from a young age, we can see features of their personalities, accepting their differences and learning to love themselves and each other as they are. Their mantra: “Three go in, three go out” is a sign that even in the darkest and most difficult moments the strength of love can give them hope to overcome any adversity.

ShumDario News: Family scenes always have us reaching for tissues and the fact that they brought out little Lightwoods? Tears. Alec and Izzy have always been Jace’s support system and they were not giving up on him even if this time, things seem more dire than their past experiences. In the scene where Jace was telling them to kill him, we wish we could have hugged all three of them. They’ve all been through so much and we can’t imagine how heartbreaking it was for them to see Jace in that state…

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6. Seeing that Lilith killed a lot of her people, do you think the Seelie Queen might seek revenge in the future?

Megan: Hmm… I know why she would try and seek revenge but I think she’s already exacted revenge on Lilith by giving Simon the mark of Cain. Lilith said that’s the only thing that can banish her so I don’t know what else the Seelie Queen could do. The Queen also seemed physically intimidated by Lilith as well she should. I think she’s going to wait and see how things with Simon progress because if he comes against Lilith then her problem is solved. It won’t bring back her people but they also won’t be threatened by Lilith any longer.

Emmanuelle: I don’t think she will. I’m sure the Queen knows she isn’t as powerful as Lilith. Let’s be honest, the queen may care for her people but I strongly believe she’s ready to let a couple of them die to save her own skin.

Sonia: Never underestimate the Seelie Queen. She will probably be on the side that she thinks is winning but I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point she found her revenge against Lilith.

ShadowhuntersLA: Of course, it is the Seelie Queen we are talking about. If a simple word can offend her, now imagine the massacre of her people, but she is someone who has lived a lot and does not take things lightly. She knows to be patient and as the saying goes: “revenge is a dish that is best served cold.” She knew about the arrival of Lilith, so it is more than possible that she knows about her plans to resuscitate Sebastian, so she will be planning something that affects Lilith exponentially (or so we hope) because seeing these two fierce and lethal entities in combat was exciting and terrifying and it definitively steps up the game.

ShumDario News: The Seelie Queen definitely seems to be someone who has every movement well calculated and more importantly, someone who makes sure that the odds are in her favor. It might take some time for her to formulate a plan and gain momentum, but we have no doubt that she’ll be back to avenge her people. Particularly, as she said, Seelies are protectors of things in nature.

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7. After her trial, Clary was sentenced to death by Jia Penhallow. Were you surprised by the sentence?

Megan: Yeah you could say that. I know it was to heighten the drama of the show and to leave us on a cliffhanger right before the finale but I thought Jia was cooler than that. I just thought she would understand and I definitely thought she would’ve saved her daughter with the angel’s wish if she had been in Clary’s position. I don’t know whether they’re basing Jia off of what was written in the books but she was always accepting of her daughter’s sexuality and she was always ready to listen to Magnus as high warlock and Alec as an ambassador for Downworlder relations and hear their side before jumping to conclusions.

Emmanuelle:  Not at all. It’s the biggest offense in the eyes of the Clave. But Clary is our main character, she ain’t going anywhere.

Sonia: No, I expected it and I would have been surprised by the contrary. I clearly don’t agree, it seems absurd to condemn Clary to death for what happened. It is time to make general changes to this retrograde mentality within the Clave.

ShadowhuntersLA: To be honest, yes. We didn’t expect the highest punishment even though we understand that Clary’s crime is the most severe in the Shadow World. Previously Jace mentioned that Clary could be held in Gard till the end of her days for this and considering her previous merits I was expecting only prisoning. But I think the Consul decided to apply the sentence not only because of her crime size but also because she considered Clary’s action a selfish act and maybe Clary’s judgment about the wish being a curse but not a gift hit a nerve. And finishing stroke was mentioning Aline as an example: it was clear for Consul that Clary not feeling guilty or realizing her crime even a bit.

ShumDario News: Not really, no. Using the only wish from the angel Raziel in history is kind of a big deal, for sure. The death sentence seemed like the most reasonable punishment especially given her past indiscretions and what invoking the wish had caused. It set off a whole chain of events and we wouldn’t expect anything else from the clave. The law is hard but it is the law, right?

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Final Verdict: Saving Jace is not easy when Lilith is the one you are up against

This week’s episode of Shadowhunters has to be one of our favorites. Not only do we see the cast bringing out some of the most intense performances we have seen of them so far, but it also shows a darker tone that we hadn’t seen on the show before.

Jordan, Maia, and Simon are now aware that Lilith is trying to resurrect someone. It’s now time for the team to put the pieces together and realize that bringing Jonathan back to life has been her plan all along. After learning this, we are sure they’ll try even harder to stop Lilith and prevent this from happening.

Though we understand why Maia leaves, we hope she isn’t gone for too long. She is an important part of the story so we hope that this leads to us knowing more about her and, when she returns, her being more involved with the group. We feel like she is always separated from everyone else in some way and we would really like to see her in more scenes with Clary, Alec, Izzy, and well, everyone else!

Knowing how much Jace is suffering under Lilith’s control is going to drive Alec, Izzy and Magnus even harder to save him before all the good is completely gone from him. We just hope they get to him on time and none of them end up getting hurt in the process.

Clary’s death sentence is a turning point in the series as well. We know that she won’t die as we have seen Kat shooting episodes for the second part of the season, and well, we don’t think the writers have the heart to kill the show’s protagonist. But we can feel that the Clave and the way they handle things will become the main topic in future episodes. The Clave has a very old-fashioned way of acting and they are always firm to follow the law. After all, “The Law is hard, but it is the Law” is their motto. But they have to learn that laws are not always the way to go, and in most of the situations they aren’t right.

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One thing we would really like to see on the show are more explanations about Shadowhunter terms. Sometimes we have the feeling that the writers just assume that every viewer is a book fan and knows everything about the Shadow World. Although it might be the case, they have to consider that showing and explaining Shadowhunter terms is essential for the understanding of the story. One might see Alec and Jace’s Parabatai connection and not actually understand why if one of them is suffering the other one is suffering too. It’s not only with Parabatai that we see this issue but also with other things like the Silent Brothers, how the seraph blades work, the Mortal Sword, runes, demons, etc. Clary was introduced to this new world and it seems that she is very familiar with it now, but we were introduced to this new world with her as well and sometimes we are a bit lost.

We have the two-hour long mid-season finale coming up next week and after seeing the preview, we can tell that the next two episodes are going to be epic. Make sure you come back as we discuss the events in our next roundtables!  

Shadowhunters airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.