In “You Are Not Your Own” a Shadowhunter learns an unexpected revelation about his past

Last week’s episode ended with Azazel leaving Magnus and Valentine trapped in each others’ bodies. And this week’s episode kicked off with both of them facing the consequences of the switch up. For Valentine, a Shadowhunter who despises all downworlders, being trapped in the body of Magnus Bane was not the best. And Magnus, was constantly tortured by the Inquisitor and the Clave as part of Valentine’s punishment. And because of that, he relived experiences from years ago that seemed to bring back the pain he struggled so hard to forget.

Izzy brought Sebastian to the Institute where he met Jace, Alec and Clary and gave them advice about how to kill Azazel. Alec, after hearing Magnus was a bit off over the phone, decided to play him a visit. At Magnus’ apartment he saw Azazel and without wasting any time took care of him by shooting an arrow sending the greater demon to it’s dimension in Hell. Simon and Isabelle confided in each other during this episode. We saw them together in various scenes where they helped each other out in their current struggles. They are slowly forming a solid  friendship that we know will be good for them. After failing to use her rune power last episode, Clary seeks advice with Sebastian, who seems to be a master at the topic and helps her channel her own emotions to use them as a way to control her power.

RELATED | SHADOWHUNTERS 2X12 “YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN” REVIEW

It ended up being Valentine who blew his cover up in order to get his freedom and his body back. Alec learned that Magnus was telling the truth all along and showed his guilt when he apologized to his boyfriend after he was back in his body. Valentine also gave away one more secret he had been keeping from Jace for years: He is Stephen Herondale’s son, therefore he is Inquisitor Imogen Herondale’s grandson.

It was a pretty eventful episode so let’s not waste any more time and meet our roundtable for this week’s episode:

Devanshi (@NephilimUpdates Twitter / Instagram) – Admin for Shadowhunters Updates

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

Blaire (@theshadowhunterscodex) – Reader, Author and all round Fangirl.

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

Stacey (@StaceyONeale) – YA Fantasy Author and Writer for TVAD.

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1. Simon and Isabelle seem to be developing a very natural and easy going friendship. In what aspects do you think they’re good for each other?

Devanshi (@nephilimupdates): Simon is a “Mundane” , calm and down to earth guy. He is loyal to his friends and will do anything for them. Isabelle is a powerful brave and fearless warrior who will also go to any lengths for the ones she loves. Izzy in Simon’s life will bring a sense of adventure and adrenaline. Where as Simon can provide Izzy the emotional support she requires but is too afraid to ask for. Simon is a very sweet and loyal person, he deserves someone who can love him with all their heart, a quality  Izzy possesses. Maybe if they find happiness with each other they can find the happiness they deserve.

ShumDario News (@shumdarionews):  Simon and Isabelle are both in need of friends right now, and they couldn’t have bonded at a better time. Simon’s Daylighter status has segregated him from the rest of the Downworlders and Izzy’s recent drug addiction has caused her to distance herself from the other Shadowhunters. So they are both feeling a bit like outcasts. This new friendship will be beneficial for both of them since they both know what the other needs and will be able to help each other. We think they’ll continue to build a trusting relationship as they bond over their difficult situations.

Blaire (@theshadowhunterscodex): I think these two bring out such good qualities in each other. We get to see Simon in much more natural, easy going way, where he’s not always feeling awkward and joking to cover up that awkwardness. We simply get to see him relaxed, which is really nice. And much the same with Izzy. She’s not putting up this strong front where she’s with him, and it’s obvious she can talk about things, things that are hard for her to discuss. It’s clear she feels she can confide in him. It’s really nice to see them come together as friends and I can’t wait to watch how this develops.

Emmanuelle (@shadowhunters_news IG):  AH SIZZY! It was great to finally see some interaction between the two. They seem to both have something in common to build their friendship on; vampires. I loved seeing Simon seek out her help, but most of all, she was able to open up about her yin fen addiction to him, which she has yet to do with a lot of her other loved ones. Hopefully, in future episodes, we will see this friendship grow because it has a great possibility to become something more. 😉

Stacey (@StaceyONeale): It’s not easy to see from a physical sense, but they do balance each other out nicely. When Isabelle’s not addicted to yin fen, she has a fun, carefree personality. She doesn’t look at the Downworlders with disgust like other Shadowhunters. She was one of the first to accept Simon when he came to the Institute and also when he became a vampire. It’s easy to see why he’s drawn to her. From Isabelle’s perspective, Simon is a good guy without any ulterior motives like other Downworlders. He never judged her when others were critical. Even when she told him about her vampire blood addiction, he listened without feeling the need to reprimand. And he’s always acknowledged her fierceness without being intimidated. Overall, he seems to just get her.  

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2.  Jace finally learned the truth about his parents and his family. How do you feel this revelation is going to affect him and his relationship with the Clave and the Inquisitor?

Devanshi: I feel that we could have seen the “Lost” Jace a bit more. See him really ask himself who he really is if he isn’t Valentine’s son, see him wonder who his parents are. We saw Jace mention at the start of the episode “It’s not easy to be a Herondale.” He might pressure himself to live up to the legacy his surname bears. He may try and discover what being a Herondale really means. I hope we see him dive more into the past of his origins and the history of his name. But at the same time I wish he always remembers that he is a Lightwood too and will always be Izzy, Max and Alec’s brother.

ShumDario News: Jace will probably feel a wide range of emotions. Part of him will be glad to finally know the truth, we think he’ll become more confident in his role at the Institute. But with the Herondale name he inherits a whole new set of difficult circumstances. We’ll probably see that continue to develop over the next season and a half. Hopefully Jace can realize it’s not the name that makes the man, he is still his own person.

Blaire:  Well, for starters, I think he’s going to struggle with this clear expectation that comes with being a Herondale. I mean, he is Jace, so he’d already pretty good, but regardless, there is going to be a lot riding on him living up to the name. He’s going to be expected to be perfect, to act accordingly, to show talent and smarts. I think it will become hard for him to be the person everyone expects him to be, and I think it will hurt him so much more because he’s already suffering from such pain and guilt over the things he has done and that have been done to him. I really feel for Jace, and I’m interested to watch this storyline play out.

Emmanuelle: Personally, while I think it’s amazing that he finally gets the chance to learn about his biological family, I have a feeling there will be a slight change in his actions. Imogen is a very powerful Clave member and this will never change. She fully supports their beliefs but now that Jace feels some kind of bond with her I think that he will start acting more on Clave orders instead of what his friends and him think is right (which is what he’s always done). From the promo for episode 13, we can see that this will be an issue, and it could likely be an issue with his relationship with Alec and Clary, whom both have Downworld partners.

Stacey: Jace learning the truth was one of my favorite scenes from the entire show. It was very different in the books, but I liked their way better. Jace should experience some relief from learning his heritage. I’d like to see him a little less stressed. The Herondale family are royalty in the Shadowhunter world. I hope he gets more respect from the Clave. He’s certainly earned it. I also hope he gets close with Grandma and learns more about his family, especially Will Herondale. He’s my all-time favorite Shadowhunter. However, I doubt Grandma will be pleased when she learns about his feelings for Clary. After all, she’s Valentines’s daughter. I expect some family drama in the future.

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3. While Magnus is trapped inside Valentine’s body and tortured, he remembers the pain he suffered during his childhood. Is he going to have repercussions because of this?

Devanshi: It’s hard to relive a memory you have tried to repress your whole existence. The Agony rune made him feel his worst nightmare. But as far as the viewers are concerned we don’t know what that his. We know parts of his story but not the whole of it. Magnus has built walls around himself his whole life, shielded himself from feeling and emotions. I can’t wait to see what he will do with this aspect. Will he build walls again or will we see him be vulnerable and open with someone? Maybe Ragnor is right and Magnus has found someone who will “break down those walls (he) has built around his heart” and hopefully we’ll see Magnus share his past with Alec or maybe he approaches his old friend Catarina and seeks her shoulder.

ShumDario News: Magnus will have to find a way to face these horrors from his past that he’s spent centuries trying to forget and deal with those fresh memories all over again. Hopefully he will open up to Alec and trust him enough to tell him the truth. We have been given hints by the showrunners that we’ll see more of Magnus’ past, so we feel pretty confident it will come to the surface eventually. But first we think Magnus is probably going to try and keep it buried, and pretend he’s OK, just to protect Alec from the pain of it all.

Blaire: I have a feeling that Magnus will begin to have flashbacks of these memories, and while he is Magnus Bane, and he can get through anything, I think these flashbacks will lead him to doing one of two things. Closing himself off to Alec as he doesn’t want Alec to know about his past, or turning to him and opening up completely. I’m looking forward to finding out which path this story takes.

Emmanuelle: Absolutely! We know Magnus struggles with his mental health the moment he opened up to Simon in 2a about his suicidal past. All those memories are now resurfacing. I think that this will be a very intriguing story arc for Magnus because for the moment we first saw his in season 1, we has always been this strong, confident, bold character. Now, we will see start to heal and hopefully, open up more about his childhood.

Stacey: We might see changes in his personality. Perhaps he gets a little darker. I could see him losing his flamboyant, carefree persona and take on more serious tones. I’m sure he’s going to be less trusting of the Shadowhunters. He’s so close to many of them, and yet, no one saw through the deception. He may feel like they turned their backs on him and he might not want to come to their aid when they need him.

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4. We have to talk about the brilliant performances of Alan Van Sprang as Magnus Bane and Harry Shum Jr as Valentine. How amazing was that?

Devanshi: Words aren’t enough to describe how amazing it was. Viewers tend to associate the face of the actor to the character and through them feel the emotions. But with the body swap it gave the actors the chance to be a different character and as a viewer I can say I could feel every emotion they felt. When Alan was in pain I felt it, my heart went out for Magnus. Even though Alan Van Sprang’s face is something I have associated with Valentine, in this episode all I saw was Magnus Bane.

The way Alan/Magnus said “Alexander,” the way he shared the emotions and portrayed his love for Alec, it was mind blowing. Harry Shum Jr. is beyond talented, he had the chance to be a Villain and he nailed it. He had to hate the very skin he was in and yet use the skin to his own advantage. He did the Magic a warlock would but without the flamboyance Magnus would, that in itself speaks volumes as how versatile he is.

ShumDario News: Alan and Harry were both absolutely incredible. They really nailed their performances. The way they delivered their lines, the way they moved their bodies, the inflection of their voices, their hand gestures, their mannerisms, everything just blew us away! We knew it was going to be great, but seeing it play out on screen was just astonishing.  Alan’s scene with Matt in the cell, talking about the Omamori and their trip to Tokyo, broke our hearts. The pain and the torture inflicted by the Clave was literally unbearable to witness. There aren’t enough good things to say about the incredible job they did. We are all just so proud!

Blaire: I HAVE NO WORDS. Literally during the episode, when Magnus (in Valentines body) was talking to Alec and begging him to believe him, I actually had to pause the episode and sit for a minute, wide eyed at Alan’s performance. Both are such excellent actors, there is no doubt about it.

Emmanuelle: Amazing is exactly what it was. Both actors were able to convince all the viewers that it was truly Magnus is Valentine’s body and vice versa. From Alan’s slight pinching of fingers during the potion scene, even Harry’s way of speaking changed to Valentine. Small details like these really brought out a great performance from both actors and it was very entertaining to watch! Congrats to Harry and Alan.

Stacey: Alan blew me away. I couldn’t believe how well he mimicked Harry’s portrayal of Magnus. I know it’s a fictional show, but he had me locked in. The scene with Alec made me a little teary-eyed. I was practically screaming at the TV. LOL! Harry’s performance was just as strong. I typically see Harry in lighthearted roles, so it was great to watch him go dark.

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5. Last week Sebastian knew everything about Yin Fen, this week he seems to know everything about rune powers and greater demons. Are the Shadowhunters doing the right thing by trusting him?

Devanshi: He just seems to know everything about everything doesn’t he? It’s suspicious. Maybe he is just a nice guy who wants to help out everyone and with that adorable face and accent its hard not to trust him right? But the question needs to be asked, is it just a coincidence that Azazel turned up the same day Sebastian turned up?  Maybe Azazel and Sebastian are working together. Maybe I am just too suspicious and Sebastian is just a nice guy who happens to flirt with any pretty girl he sees and loves helping them. Let’s wait and watch.

ShumDario News: We don’t think all the Shadowhunters are trusting Sebastian just quite yet and of course we definitely don’t want them to. Jace looked pretty skeptical and Alec definitely looked like he wasn’t buying everything Seb was saying either.  We think it’s going to be harder for him to win over those two.  He seems to have Izzy and Clary on his side for now. It’s going to be interesting to see how he continues to manipulate everyone into thinking he’s the helpful, good guy.  

Blaire: Nope. Book fan me will take over every time when it comes to Sebastian. Regardless of the fact that I love Will and kinda love TV Sebastian I still struggle to put aside my feelings.

Emmanuelle: See that’s the thing, you can tell from the beginning that Alec has these weird vibes from this guy, kind of the same he had about Clary when she turned up at the Institute. But its really Izzy that convinces him (not completely) to trust him. As for him knowing everything at the right time, it seems way too convenient to be a coincidence. Even the speech (kind of a reverse pep talk) he gave to Clary was very odd, at least for someone that you’ve just met. Should they really trust him? We shall soon find out.

Stacey: Not to mention he was in the exact right spot during Isabelle’s attack in the alley. It almost seemed pre-planned to me. I don’t think any of them should trust Sebastian, but I’m not surprised. Clary and Isabelle are too trusting. And Jace has too many other problems at the moment. He’s not focused. Alec is the only one who has doubts. Of course, no one believes him because he’s an untrusting character.

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6. Alec struggled to believe that Magnus was telling the truth when he was in Valentine’s body. Do you think that by failing to do so their relationship is going to suffer consequences?

Devanshi: As Magnus I would like to think that the person who loves him and who he love should be able to recognise his soul no matter which body it is a part of. Magnus is vulnerable, he feels he doesn’t deserve true love, so maybe it’s hard for him to yet believe that Alec truly loves him. But that the same time in this world of Magic and shapeshifting and potions and memory demons anything is possible. From Alec’s perspective it could just be Valentine trying to mess with his head, Valentine who has a lot of influence and the ability to have stolen the memories of Magnus and uses them against Alec. But should Alec have stalled the process a little more when he started doubting the truth? The question is, Now what? How to move forward? 

ShumDario News: No, we don’t think their relationship will suffer in that respect. Magnus won’t hold it against Alec that he didn’t know he was in Valentine’s body. Magnus is well aware that Valentine has used all kinds of crazy tactics and tricks in the past to manipulate people and lie. He knows Alec would never intentionally do anything to harm him. The main challenge for their relationship is going to be Magnus’ past, and the pain he’s had to bury for so many centuries. We think that is going to put a roadblock in their relationship for at least a short time.

Blaire: Hmmm… this is a tough one. Part of me thinks Magnus will understand. I mean, it was Valentine, and considering he has been captured and has no hope of escape, he would resort to doing anything possible to get free. I think Magnus will get that Alec was being cautious, and wasn’t sure if he could trust what this man he knows to be Valentine was saying. But at the same time, that last scene with Alec and Magnus did send a little shiver through me, and i couldn’t help but think that it may take some time for the two of them to get through this. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Emmanuelle: Alec can not be blamed for not believing someone that has the face of the man that caused them so much suffering. And before I go on, we can’t blame Jace either for telling him not to trust “Valentine”, the man that caused him a lot of physical and emotional pain his whole life. But for Alec, he has trust issues at the moment (with Aldertree, Raphael, his own father for cheating on his mother, and now Sebastian) and he couldn’t find it in himself to completely believe what Magnus was trying to prove to him. Even with all those intimate moments revealed. Hopefully Magnus will understand this.

Stacey: I expect that he will blame Alec in some way. Maybe pull away for a while. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t recognize Magnus after he referenced all those personal details. I mean, the person that loves you should be able to see through the haze. And they were just attacked by a demon, so it’s not like a magical opportunity wasn’t there. Yeah, Alec did mention it to Jace, but he was easily swayed.

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7. Clary learns that her rune power connects to her emotions. With so much going on in her life, do you think she’ll be able to master her power completely anytime soon?

Devanshi: Clary needs to realise that there are many people who love her, who are her family. She isn’t all alone. Luke is and has always been her father, she needs to remember that she can always trust him and turn to him. Simon has been in her life since she was a child and she can always turn to him, he is her best friend and always will be. She also has a  new family in Jace and Izzy and even Alec but she needs to understand this, she needs to approach them and not push everyone away. Right now what she felt, the loneliness will not make her stronger in the long run. “Emotions give us power” but only if we grow stronger by embracing them and learning from them.

ShumDario News: Clary seems to have learned what it takes to channel her ability, thanks to Sebastian. So we feel she’ll do better now that she knows the source of her power.  She might still struggle sometimes with perfecting things, but she’s a smart girl and we feel she’ll be able to successfully create the runes when needed by the end of the season.

Blaire: Definitely. Now that Sebastian has showed her how she can harness her power by dredging up her emotions, I think she will be able to learn how to draw them on. She’s Clary fricken Fray. She can do anything she sets her mind to! Maybe there will be a time of hardship as she struggles with constantly being reminded of the pain and suffering she’d been through, but I think in time she will come to accept those things and be okay.

Emmanuelle: Haha, I’m not sure you can truly master “rune creation” but seeing as they are linked to her emotions, maybe she should take her own advice and not bury her emotions like she told Jace. I’m sure we’re gonna see a new range of amazing runes created during all of 2b and I can’t wait to see what our little redhead does next!

Stacey: Nope. 🙂 I don’t think Clary will figure it out until she works out her feelings for Jace. Did anyone notice how his angel powers ignite around her? I think that means something. I have a feeling their new abilities will be strongest when they are together. Maybe even do something cool like form a Shadowhunter Voltron or something. Also, Sebastian’s presence won’t help. He’s trying to lure her in. She’s in more danger than she knows.

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Final Verdict: Episode 2×12 delivered some of the strongest and most powerful performances on the show to date.

As usual, many things were going on in this week’s episode of Shadowhunters. But we can all agree that Harry Shum Jr and Alan Van Sprang stole this episode with their performances. Both of them understood where the other character stand and they made their peformances as another character believable. We meant it when we said last week that this show just keeps getting better and better.

Each episode is taking the show to another level. And we can’t wait to find out what it is in store for us to clap, cry or get angry at. Is Magnus going to share with Alec part from his past and the pain he went through? Is Simon going to let it go and trust that Clary and Jace will not try to rekindle their relationship? And where does he stand with the vampires now that he is a Daylighter? How is Sebastian going to fit in at the Institute with the Shadowhunters? Will we see him interact with more characters soon? How is Luke going to earn the trust from his pack back again? Judging by the preview from next week’s episode, things are going to get even more complicated. Why are Shadowhunters being slaughtered by downworlders? We’ll have to tune in next week and find out! 

Shadowhunters airs Mondays at 7/8 on Freeform.