Jace comes back and Lilith is finally defeated in the exciting mid-season finale of Shadowhunters
The mid-season finale of Shadowhunters iss one for the books. We had the pleasure of enjoying two episodes on the same night to really immerse ourselves into the Shadow World and have a good dose of it before we head to the hiatus between Season 3A and Season 3B.
In the first hour of the finale, the events prepare us for the big climax to come later on. Clary (Katherine McNamara) is about to be executed in Idris when she has an idea that might save her. She offers Jia Penhallow (Françoise Yip) her help to bring back Valentine (Alan Van Sprang) from the dead. Valentine is successfully brought back and begins killing many Clave members and prisoners. Clary tricks him and makes him believe she will join him but before he could get away, she kills him for good this time.
Desperate to save Jace (Dominic Sherwood), Magnus (Harry Shum Jr), Alec (Matthew Daddario) and Izzy (Emeraude Toubia) continue to look for a way to bring him back. Magnus tells them that there might be a way to do it but he would need help from Lorenzo Rey (Javier Muñoz). This leads to a confrontation between Jace and Lorenzo.
With the help of Lilith (Anna Hopkins) and the Owl, Heidi (Tessa Mossey) escapes the Praetor and pays a visit to Simon’s (Alberto Rosende) family home, knowing that he would go to her as soon as he knew she was there. When Simon arrives, he ends up biting his sister Becky (Holly Deveaux) in front of his mom (Christina Cox). After seeing his mom’s reaction to watching him feed, he gets shaken up and decides to encanto her and make her believe that he died in an accident.
Back in Idris, after Clary kills Valentine, the Owl appears and ends up taking one of Valentine’s ribs and Clary to Lilith as they are the last pieces needed to complete Jonathan’s resurrection.
RELATED | SHADOWHUNTERS ROUNDTABLE: THE CLAVE SHOWS NO MERCY TO CLARY FRAY
In episode 3×10, Magnus goes to Edom to try and convince his Father, Asmodeus (Jack Yang), to give him the power he needs to release Jace out of Lilith’s grip. Getting him to agree is not easy, and Magnus ends up trading his magic for his help. When he gets back to New York, he is able to free Jace, doing it just in time to stop the Owl from killing Alec.
Back at Lilith’s place, Lilith gives Clary a mark that binds her and Jonathan together. As long as one of them lives, the other one lives too. Downstairs, Luke and Izzy fight off Lilith’s disciples while Simon heads up and tries to save Clary. When he gets there though, he and Clary realize that in order to defeat Lilith they need to provoke her and make her attack Simon so the Mark of Cain on his forehead would activate and destroy her. But when this happens, Jonathan comes back to life and gets ahold of Clary just as Lilith explodes and gets sent back to Edom. When Jace arrives at the scene, he can’t find Clary and Simon tells him that he killed her.
It was a very eventful finale, so let’s not waste any more time and start discussing! These are our roundtable guests this week:
María (@ShadowhuntersJA) – Shadowhunters Spain Administrator
Megan (@TMIronSisters) – prolific reader, aspiring writer, amateur photographer, lover of theatre and a fan of Shadowhunters.
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. When Clary was about to be executed by the Clave, we saw what would be her fate when other Shadowhunters were being killed in front of her. What is your opinion on the way they were executing convicted felons?
María (@shadowhuntersja): Like Clary said in the episode, it seems to me that to do something like this is barbarism. It is correct to punish those who have committed a crime, but I believe there are less cruel ways to punish than to burn them alive, something like a life sentence that doesn’t allow them to be free again or punish them in another way without being so ruthless. In this aspect, the Clave has a lot of work ahead to evolve.
Megan (@TMIronSisters): That was probably the one part I didn’t like the episodes. I know it’s not a far stretch of the imagination considering most countries used to employ the death penalty and some still do but it just felt awfully dark. Especially Clary watching and knowing that was her fate for something that, in my opinion, is far less serious than the crimes of the Circle members. I don’t know… I just expected her to be imprisoned and then Jia whipped out the execution sentence and I don’t think something so harsh fits with what I already know of her character. I know the show changes things up but I like Jia and now I’m skeptical. At first, I thought Clary was going to be set on fire but it wouldn’t burn her because it was heavenly and she’s immune to it thanks to her bond with the angel but then she, maybe inadvisably, suggested she resurrect valentine instead. I hope somewhere along the line, someone like Alec in a prominent position of power, manages to abolish the death sentence to avoid situations in which innocents are sent to burn.
Sonia (@Shadowhunters.Blood.isnt.Love): I was disgusted by the Clave methods. “This is barbaric.” I agree with Clary, no one deserves this kind of death, it’s more than torture, it’s an unacceptable thing. Clave methods should be reviewed.
ShadowhuntersLA (@ShadowhuntersLA): We already know that The Clave has cruel methods to obtain what they want. Since the second season when we saw how Imogen tortured Magnus on Valentine’s body we could see how bad they are. We think that they do the executions like that because they want to prove their power and what could happen to their enemies. We know that the felonies did terrible things but to expose their punishment like that was very awful and as Clary said no one deserves that.
ShumDario News (@shumdarionews): We always find interesting how shadowhunters can be both barbaric and advanced in the way they do things. One minute they are holding an execution, making everyone watch and asking for “any last words” and the next they’re in their lab, preserving Valentine’s dead body to revive him. Even though most of the people there deserved to be incarcerated, they certainly did not deserve to be burnt alive. It is also very cruel for the others to have to witness what their fate will be.
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2. Both episodes were very emotional for Simon because he not only lost control and bit his sister but he also lost both his mom and his best friend on the same day. Do you agree that encantoing his mom was the smartest thing to do? And how do you think Simon will move on from all of this?
María: First of all I want to congratulate and thank Alberto for the performances he has given us in these episodes because it really broke my heart to see Simon so shattered and suffer so much. Regarding his decision, I think he only had three options: to leave his mother thinking that her son was a monster and that for her it was no longer her son, therefore it would be as if he were dead to her; to use the Encanto to erase what had happened but live this situation of lies, that being free Heidi could exploit the situation again; or the decision he made to make her believe that he is really dead. So we could say that it’s intelligent in a way to avoids her the feeling of pain of thinking that her son is a monster and that she hates him for life, and in a way protects her in the future of Heidi. As for how he will move on after this, I think the key is going to be Izzy’s help and her support as a friend (or maybe more). As we have seen in the episode Izzy has been with him at this hard time and will continue to be there for when he needs support and strength to overcome this situation.
Megan: Before I even start on analyzing Simon, can I just say Alberto was incredible. Those scenes were so moving, so heartbreaking. And this is Alberto’s first proper role on a major tv show and he’s honestly one of the best actors they have. I hope they continue to give him big, hard-hitting scenes because he handles them like a pro. As for Simon, bless his undead heart. That was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make but I think it was the right one. He couldn’t live with his mum hating and fearing him and he couldn’t have her looking crazy to other mundanes. And maybe he could’ve encantoed(?) her into forgetting the past 24 hours but what if something like that happened again? What if she found out he was a vampire again and he had to keep living through the same heartbreak? There was no other choice and it was horrible. And I felt really emotional learning Alberto watched those episodes with his own mum because that must’ve been really hard for them both, especially considering his past experience with cancer and how scary that must’ve been. I’m just so proud of him and everything he’s achieved and because of him I love Simon Lewis with all my heart and he deserves so much praise for this.
Sonia: They were two really difficult episodes for Simon. I think Simon had no choice, doing Encanto on his mother was the only solution, not only for the present but also for the future. I really enjoyed the hospital scene with Becky, who was aware that Simon became a vampire but at the same time she was so worried about everything he had to face alone. Losing Clary and feeling responsible for his disappearance will be a difficult thing to deal with for Simon. I dare not imagine how much he will be upset. This ending leaves us very much in suspense.
ShadowhuntersLA: It was, indeed, the smartest decision, even when it was a painful one. It’s hard to find a balance between the Shadow World and the normal world. And we have to consider that Simon, as a Daylighter and friend of Shadowhunters, is always in danger. Things are going to be really difficult for him now. Without her mom, Maia and Clary. Perhaps, he will find support and understanding in Izzy and Jordan. Besides, we need to know if the Seelie Queen has more plans for him.
ShumDario News: Simon has always struggled with balancing his family and his secret vampire life. After hearing his own mother call him a monster and telling him to stay away from her, he knew he couldn’t have both his vampire and mundane life. As much as it hurt him, he needed his mom to be safe and in his mind, having a dead son would be easier for his mother to cope with than having a vampire for a son. He’s definitely going to have some difficulty coping with his mom thinking he’s dead while his sister knows he isn’t. Also knowing that they might see each other again is going to hurt him. The guilt of thinking that he killed Clary is also going to eat at him as she has always been one of the biggest priorities in his life. He is going to need a strong support group and hopefully Luke, Izzy and the rest of the squad will be there for him.
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3. In episode 3×09, Clary brought Valentine back from the dead. We knew Valentine was involved in some way in Jonathan’s resurrection but were you surprised to see him back to life? Do you think there will be some repercussions to Clary creating this new rune?
María: I really was surprised to see Valentine back and even more so that it was Clary who resurrected him through a new rune created by her. Regarding if there will be consequences due to the creation of this new rune and its effects, I believe that there will be. Already in the episode, we see how it is difficult for Clary to create it because, as Jia says, “It is not the will of the angels”, so I guess they won’t be very happy with Clary’s decision to continue with her creation. I think there will be repercussions for both Clary and the Shadow World, the question now is to which ones.
Megan: I was so chuffed to see Alan. I missed him a lot. He had such a charisma as Valentine even though he was always harping on about purifying the Shadow World. If Clary ever gets back from her vacation with Jonathan I reckon she’s in for a bit of a whirlwind when it comes to her time creating abilities. The Clave is going to want to shut it down immediately because of what happened but knowing them, they’ll find themselves in a sticky situation which only Clary will be able to get them out of and then all will be forgiven. So we’ll see what happens but first, we need to find Clary.
Sonia: I was surprised by this flash resurrection and also to know that the Clave wanted to resort to necromancy. I don’t know if there will be repercussions for Clary. I think that for the Clave she could be considered dangerous with these powers but they could also want to exploit them.
ShadowhuntersLA: We didn’t expect Clary would bring Valentine back to life. Knowing that Jia wanted to bring him back was very confusing considering all the things he did, but Clary taking advantage of Jia’s wish was very intelligent. We considered that Clary didn’t know if her rune was going to work but now she really knows how powerful she could be. At the same time, The Clave will want to control her power and they are going to see Clary as an enemy instead of an ally, and that is going to bring many other problems to her life.
ShumDario News: We definitely did not think they were going to bring him back from the dead. It was one of the biggest surprises of 3×09 and Alan Van Sprang killed it. When Clary said she could create a rune to bring him back, we thought it was a distraction so she could make a run for it and escape, but she also wanted some answers. The Consul will probably be asking her for more favors with her runes and if she says no to them, they will probably threaten her until she does it.
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4. In exchange for the magic that he needed to bring Jace back, Magnus gave up his own magic to his father, Asmodeus, who we met in episode 3×10. Considering that Magnus has lived for centuries but has never been mortal or lived without his magic, how do you think he’ll adjust to this change?
María: I suppose that Magnus’ adaptation to this new reality will have more difficulties in some aspects than in others. In a previous episode, Magnus himself said that there are some things he prefers to do for himself instead of using magic, the difficulty for him will be to stop doing those things in which he always used magic or in which he needed to use magic to perform them. Although I suppose that with the support of the people who love him, especially Alec, they will be there to help him adapt to this new situation. Although we hope it doesn’t last long and we have our Quite Magical Magnus back.
Megan: I think it’s going to be really hard for him. Although there are certain things Magnus chooses to do without magic – like rearranging his box of keepsakes – he uses it for so many things without thinking. Like shutting the door. I think Alec is constantly going to have to remind him to close doors by hand from now on. Alec’s presence will help though because he has obviously never had magic and he’s never been immortal and this will parallel Alec’s inexperience with relationships. Just as Magnus guided Alec through his uncertainty and doubt, Alec can now repay the favor and help Magnus learn a new way to live. It’ll take time and I have no doubt it’s going to be hard on Magnus but in the end, I think he’ll start to appreciate some aspects of mortal life.
Sonia: I’m shocked by this. I knew that Asmodeus would ask for a heavy cost in return for his help, and I feared it would be something fundamental. Magnus proved once again his value and his big heart. Magnus’s sacrifice was really great, he would do anything for Alec and his friends because they became his family. I think that it will not be easy for Magnus to get used to this new situation and I hope that Alec can help him in this. But I also hope that it’s a temporary thing and that soon there will be an agreement with Asmodeus to get back his powers.
ShadowhuntersLA: First of all, that movement was very unexpected, we have some theories about it, but to see Magnus being mortal was a very big surprise. We think that this change is going to bring so many problems to his life, he has been a warlock for so long that maybe he won’t know how to live without his magic. Despite that it was the only thing he could do to bring Jace back to normal, the price was big. Knowing this, we have some theories about how this situation is going to be managed by Alec because now he really does not care about the fact that he gets old without Magnus, but Magnus losing his magic was losing his essence too.
ShumDario News: It’s going to be very tough for him to adjust without magic. Even though he is more than just a warlock, his magic is integral in not just his work but also his life. We saw in previous episodes when he used magic to fix Alec’s infamous stew, to adjust his shirt or even to close a door. Magnus has lost so much already in his long life, most recently being the High Warlock title. We can only hope that the transition without magic will be smooth even if we know that it will be a turbulent road ahead for him.
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5. At the end of episode 3×10, Clary is believed to have died when Lilith exploded thanks to the effects of Simon’s Mark of Cain. Do you think Clary is really dead? What are your theories?
María: I don’t think Clary is dead, she is our main character, her story cannot end this way. There is still a lot to see from our Clary. Theories about what could have happened? There are always some. We only saw Lilith exploding but we didn’t see anything that explained what Clary was doing. What if she opened some kind of portal of those that she creates and was able to escape in time from the explosion next to Jonathan who had her grabbed by the arm? And if somehow through the explosion both ended in Edom? And if the explosion Lilith didn’t kill them but sent them to some remote place? Whatever it is, I only know one thing with certainty, and that is that Clary Fairchild is still alive.
Megan: Definitely not dead. Maybe injured because that was some explosion. But we saw Jonathan’s arm emerge from that coffin so I have no doubt that he fled, taking Clary with him because if she’s dead, so is he. And he’s not going to let that happen again. With hints from the writers and knowing the premise of the fifth book, City of Lost Souls, I’m pretty sure Jonathan and Clary just skipped out of this mess to go on vacation. And now they’re bound together by the mark. It’s a switch up from the book which I’m eager to see. Jace has been possessed for too long, it’ll be nice to see him fighting to get Clary back and overhaul Jonathan’s mind control. But I think it’s also going to be very interesting seeing Clary and Jonathan interact as brother and sister for the first time – a sort of glimpse into what could’ve been had they been raised in the Shadow World together.
Sonia: I’m convinced that Clary is alive and that she is probably with Jonathan in Edom (or some other strange place). It’s the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the scene. So I would say that a very interesting and eventful 3B awaits us, Jonathan’s character still has a lot to give.
ShadowhuntersLA: No of course not, that thought was completely insane. Before we saw Lilith exploded, Jonathan’s hand grabbed Clary’s arm. So, we know for sure that Jonathan took her away. All the time he was so protective with her on his own particular way, always been worried about what happened to Clary. Now he can be with his sister, so he will be taking advantage of the situation. We cannot handle all the things that could happen with Jonathan’s return. We are going to be impatiently waiting for Season 3B to air.
ShumDario News: We don’t think that she is dead as much as she might be in a state between being dead and alive. She might be stuck in some kind of limbo as she was near when Lilith exploded thanks to the Mark of Cain. One thing we know for sure is that Simon did not kill her. We also definitely know that Jonathan is back and he and Clary are now linked by the rune Lilith put on her. Lilith would do anything she can to keep Jonathan alive after getting him back and to do so, Clary has to stay alive.
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6. We had many action-packed scenes in both episodes. What was your favorite fight and why?
María: Without a doubt and although it hurts me, I choose the fight scene among the parabatai. Again we see Alec fighting Jace, as it happened in episode 1×09, but this time at a higher level, because Alec is willing to kill Jace in order to save him from the suffering to which Lilith is subjecting him. I choose this fight because it has everything, we not only see a fight on a physical level but also on an emotional level. During the fight, we see how the Owl tries to emotionally destabilize Alec by talking about how Jace is feeling at that moment, as he is asking him not to kill Alec … no doubt the emotional part is what makes me go for this fight. And we have to add that ending where Magnus appears saving Alec and Jace at the same time. For me, this scene had everything.
Megan: Oh god… I’m torn between two. Magnus fighting Lorenzo was all kinds of intense. I love seeing how the special effects are presented and how the actors play off something they can’t even see. It’s incredible. And of course, because it involved Harry it was almost a dance of sorts. Beautifully choreographed and their fighting style was as distinguishable as their characters. The other was probably Alec and Jace, although I’m just going to throw in a shoutout to Izzy and Luke because oh my god those guys are badass. But parabatai fights are always so personal, so dirty and fierce. Both had the intention of killing the other. It was hard to watch knowing Jace didn’t really want to be fighting but the owl forced him to but it’s so exciting seeing Alec go hand to hand when normally he would just use his bow. Thoroughly enjoyed the performance.
Sonia: It’s difficult to choose only one. For different reasons, I appreciated the battle between Magnus and Lorenzo and the battle between Alec and Jace. The first was very impressed with the magic involved and I couldn’t wait for Magnus to give Lorenzo a lesson. The second gave me a strong emotional impact on seeing Jace and Alec collide, Alec forgiving Jace because he knows that Jace is not to blame. All very intense.
ShadowhuntersLA: This is a difficult one, but the fight between Jace and Alec was not only physically demanding but emotionally heartbreaking. Both aspects made it intense, sublime, painful and epic. We mean, they are Parabatai, they have been training together all their lives, they know their movements, strengths, and weaknesses, they are used to being in perfect synchrony with the movements of each other and respond accordingly in order to protect each other, but this time they used all their knowledge to hurt one another. As devastating as it was to watch them face against each other, there is no denying that the adrenaline we feel when watching them in combat is insurmountable, their precise, calculated and lethal movements made us jump more than once and all that thinking about all the feelings involved, the pain of Jace to be unable to stop being trapped in The Owl, Alec’s forgiveness knowing there was no choice but to let go just broke our souls, so this Parabatai battle is without a doubt one of the best moments of the episode and the series.
ShumDario News: Alec and Magnus rarely have any fight scenes so it’s really hard to pick a favorite. On one hand, Magnus and Lorenzo’s fight was so smooth and fluid, given that Harry and Javier both have a background of dance, and the way they used their magic against each other was so fascinating to see. In previous warlock fights, they were simply throwing balls of magic at each other, but in this case, they used their magic as shields and as weapons, and it all looked amazing. On the other hand, while we have seen the parabatai duo fight before, seeing Alec fighting again was very welcome and pretty badass, especially because it wasn’t a sword fight like we usually see. We already knew he was good with a bow and arrow but just seeing him use his arrows as a dagger to fight Jace was awesome.
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7. Now that Jace is back, how do you think he is going to cope with the guilt of the many deaths the Owl caused, hurting his Parabatai and the loss of Clary?
María: It’s going to be a very hard time for Jace. We have already seen in the 3×08 what Jace was suffering due to what Lilith was doing to him. And to all that suffering we must add that he believes that Clary died and I’m sure that in a certain way he will be blamed for his loss since he wasn’t able to confront Lilith. Although I think he will have the support of everyone, especially Maryse will be there (We’ll have to see how Alec is recovering but although he is supporting his parabatai will also have to deal with Magnus’ situation). I think that Mama Lightwood will be a fundamental support for Jace. We will also have to wait and see how long it will take them to discover if Clary is really dead or not.
Megan: Knowing Jace, he’ll probably let it eat him up inside until he reaches a breaking point. He’ll work through it and get aggressive with his family and friends in his frustration over everything that happened. I hope however that the writers don’t go down that route. We’ve seen Jace do it before and although it’s his nature I think this time he needs to break down and he needs to talk about things and he needs to accept that none of it was his fault. I also want him to thank Alec and Izzy for trying to end things so he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore and I especially want to see him talk to Magnus one on one. I want him to acknowledge everything that’s been sacrificed and take that in his stride and plan his next move.
Sonia: Jace will be another character to have a hard life, he has already suffered the torture of Lilith but now that he has returned himself it will not be easy for him to come to terms with reality. I hope that Jace will let the family help him and who knows, maybe he and Simon can help each other face the disappearance of Clary. However I think things will not remain quiet for long in 3b, I can not wait to find out what they have in store for us.
ShadowhuntersLA: He will be struggling to try to come out from a very dark place and recover some control over his life. He will have to bear not only the consequences of what his physical form did but also the mental torture that Lilith subjected him to, it will not be easy given that he lost the love of his life and his Parabatai is hurt (and dealing with the Magnus situation since he sacrificed his magic to save him) so the path that awaits Jace is a long, tortuous, painful one but the help of the Angel will make him much stronger and resilient.
ShumDario News: Guilt is his specialty and Lilith definitely messed with his brain enough that he will believe it’s all his fault. The fact that he saw everything happening but he couldn’t do anything to save his friends is gonna tug at him but we also know that this is Jace and he will do everything he can to find Clary and save her.
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Final Verdict: Defeating evil always seems to come with a cost
What a finale. The Shadowhunters Tuesday mid-season finale might be the most exciting finale we have seen on the series to date. Apart from the fact that we had back-to-back episodes, there was just so much going on with all the characters at all times. So many twists and cliffhangers that are going to make the hiatus between the first and the second half of the season even harder to endure. These two episodes really show how much Shadowhunters has matured and how much they can keep surprising even the most devoted fan with the twists and turns that fit in the story and keep making it the interesting and worth watching show that it is.
It was nice seeing some familiar faces and some new faces back in these two episodes. But meeting Asmodeus was one of the moments that we were all waiting for. Ever since it was announced that he would be appearing this season, we have been wondering in what way they were going to incorporate him in the story. And we can honestly say that we’re not disappointed. Jack Yang’s portrayal of Asmodeus has been mesmerizing to see and he and Harry already show they have great chemistry. We hope we see more of him in the upcoming episodes and we get to learn more about Asmodeus and Magnus’s past as well.
RELATED | SHADOWHUNTERS ROUNDTABLE: THE TEAM WORKS TOGETHER TO BRING JACE BACK
One thing that we didn’t see coming at all was Magnus giving up his magic. There’s no doubt that adjusting to this new change is going to be hard for him, but we can’t wait to see him doing it and succeeding with the help of Alec, who hopefully can make a full recovery from his injuries after his fight with the Owl. We’re so glad that Jace is finally back but we are already hurting for him and all the pain he went through and is probably going to keep going through as he faces the consequences of all the things the Owl did when he was in control of his body.
In a way, all of the characters will have to deal with the consequences of everything that happened with the Owl and Lilith. Luke will have to find a way to explain himself to his boss and convince him to let him get back to work. Ollie will face the guilt of killing her mother when she was possessed. Simon was hurting so much already with everything that happened with his mom and sister, and now thinking that he killed his best friend will destroy him even more.
The team finally defeated Lilith, but it came at a huge cost. We think we speak for all the fandom when we say we were shocked to see Clary vanish after Lilith’s explosion. As fans of the show, we know that she can’t be dead but we are still wondering why she disappeared, where she might be and if Jonathan is with her? With this show, we know that when we say goodbye to a villain that just means that another one is on its way…
We still don’t know the exact date that the show is returning, but we hope we do soon so we can mark it on our calendar and start the countdown. Make sure you come back when the show returns and join our discussion for the remaining episodes of the season!