In this episode of Shadowhunters, titled “Iron Sisters,” Clary and Izzy travel together to meet the Iron Sisters, a group of women that the Shadowhunters count on to make their weapons. Elsewhere, Simon looks for Luke, with the help of a new friend, and Magnus and Alec go on their first date.
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Meeting the Iron Sisters
After Clary and Jace do a little research to figure out just what rune she used to save herself from a demon in the previous episode and turn up nothing, Izzy shows up and pulls Clary away to ask how she is and to talk about her trip to ask the Iron Sisters about the Soul Sword, a Mortal Instrument now in Valentine’s possession. She explains that she’s been cleared for the mission, and Clary wants to go with her. She says Luke is still missing and she doesn’t want to sit around moping for her mom, so what better way to take her mind off things?
Izzy explains to her just who the Iron Sisters are — “badass warriors,” in her words, who create weapons imbued with energy from the angels for the Shadowhunters — and her admiration is apparent. She’s clearly very excited about the trip. Before they leave, Izzy goes back to Aldertree for more yin fen. Even though she says she’s using it wisely, her hands shake and it’s clear that she’s becoming addicted to it. She asks Aldertree about Clary going, and he agrees, on the condition that Izzy reports what Clary says and does back to him. It’s implied that he won’t give her the yin fen or let her go if she doesn’t agree, so she does.
Izzy and Clary travel to the island where the Iron Sisters live and are almost immediately set upon by them. At first, they want the girls to leave immediately when they find out who Clary is, but Clary makes her case that she too hates Valentine and explains that they need the Sisters’ help. The Sisters agree to let the Shadowhunters into the Citadel, but only after they’ve gone through a purification ritual to be sure that they don’t have any traces of demon in them. It’s also revealed that one of the sisters, Cleophas, is Luke’s sister.
Simon Makes a Friend
Elsewhere, Simon has agreed to look for Luke while Clary is gone, but he’s not off to a good start when one of Luke’s pack members basically tells him they feel abandoned by Luke, and the pack is no longer looking for him. He also heavily implies that Simon is no longer welcome to stay in the nearby boathouse since Luke is no longer around. Since he went to Raphael earlier in the episode to seek help regarding his mother seeing him feeding on a rat in the previous episode, and the other vampire had her memory of the situation (and, really, anything since mother and son reunited) wiped, Simon is left with nowhere to go.
When he’s cleaning out his canoe “bed,” Maia, the werewolf from Luke’s pack who had previously tried to kill Jace, approaches him. She had overheard some of his talk with the other pack member and explains that she hasn’t stopped looking for Luke, even if others in the pack have. She explains that their transformations can be triggered by emotions, so he might have been worried that his grief would cause him to hurt someone, which is why he would disappear without a trace. She agrees to go with Simon to an old campground Luke used to take him and Clary to as kids, and they depart together.
During the drive there, Simon talks about both Clary and Jace, and Maia reveals how she has met Jace before. They commiserate over the fact that Shadowhunters just don’t get what they go through as Downworlders and just generally bond with each other over shared humiliating experiences they’ve each had in relation to their Downworlder statuses. It’s all very cute and kinda flirty, and I am definitely Team Simon/Maia.
Finding Luke
They bond a little bit more over a shared love of gaming after they get to the campgrounds, before Maia shares a little about what Luke means to her, since she knows of his importance to Simon. There’s a quick flashback showing that Luke was there for her when she Changed and attacked someone, and it’s implied that he’s been one of the few people to care for her since. After sharing this with Simon, they both smell blood nearby in the woods and soon find a deer that was clearly attacked by a wolf — or werewolf.
Elsewhere, Luke is wandering in the woods, sad and in pain, as he has been since the previous Shadowhunters episode. He comes upon a tent with campers at a fire outside it and is able to control himself until they go into the tent. Just when it seems he’s about to attack them, Simon and Maia find him, and Simon talks him down by reminding him of memories the two share.
After it seems that Luke has himself under control, he talks with Maia and Simon about how his grief over Jocelyn has affected him. Simon tells him they need him, and Clary needs him, but he’s still scared he won’t be able to control himself and might hurt someone. Maia tells him that he needs to fight since those who care about him will fight with him, which is exactly what he told her when she first Turned. This seems to get through to him, and he agrees to go back with them.
Malec is Back
Over in Magnus’ neck of the woods, he’s checking his inventory of magical items in his apartment when Alec appears. Apparently, he had called the Shadowhunter, claiming an emergency, but it was just a ruse to get him to come over and to get his attention. Alec goes to leave when he finds Magnus okay, but the warlock says he isn’t okay because Alec isn’t okay.
He advises the young Shadowhunter to take some time for himself, and Alec, surprisingly, agrees. They go to a bar together, basically on their first day, and Magnus proves himself a great pool hustler, while Alec proves himself to be not a great fan of alcohol. They start talking about relationships, and it’s revealed that Alec hasn’t had any — aside from Lydia, and that barely counted anyway.
Alec shares that he hasn’t had relationships because he knew he couldn’t have what he wanted, not in the Institute anyway, until Magnus came along and changed things. When Magnus makes a comment about Alec being innocent, Alec asks him just how many partners he’s had. At first, Magnus says 17, but he’s rounding down — a lot. Alec eventually gets out of him that he means 17,000. I mean, the guy is a centuries-old warlock, but wow. That’s certainly mom than Alec.
At first, they both agree to just be who they are and not care about their pasts, but when they get back to Magnus’, it’s clear something is still bothering Alec. They’re too different, he says, from two different worlds — different centuries, even. But just when Alec is about to leave, he says he doesn’t care how many people Magnus has been with, and Magnus replies that he doesn’t care how many people Alec hasn’t been with. Then they kiss but are quickly interrupted by Jace — who has left the Institute and needs a place to stay.
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Jace’s Demotion
And why has Jace left the Institute? Well, after being questioned by Aldertree about why he and Clary were looking over the Gray Book, which is about runes, Aldertree doesn’t believe Jace’s story that he was merely educating Clary about the history of runes. He is far too suspicious of Valentine’s son to believe he is totally innocent. So he places the Shadowhunter on what he calls “ichor duty,” which, as it turns out, means “clean all the swords after the other Shadowhunters use them.”
Jace is humiliated by his new task and goes to Aldertree after he hasn’t performed it for very long at all. He asks why the other Shadowhunter is treating him so badly, and Aldertree plays back some of Jace’s words from when he was questioned by the Silent Brothers, reminding him that he couldn’t pledge full loyalty to the Clave. Aldertree implies that if Jace sticks around, he’ll let the others know that Jace couldn’t give his full allegiance. Jace figures out that Aldertree can’t force him to leave but rather can just make his life miserable enough so that he’ll want to.
So Jace, unwilling to be demoted and treated badly, chooses instead to leave, which is how he ends up at Magnus’.
Revelations
Back with the Iron Sisters, Clary and Izzy agree to go through a purification ritual before entering the Citadel, which involves going into a pool of water that will reveal whether they have traces of demon in them. At first, Izzy is reluctant to let Clary go in, and Clary realizes it’s because Izzy fears she may have demon blood like Jace. Clary, determined to prove herself, goes into the pool and is purified without incident.
However, when Izzy gets in, the water turns black and reacts negatively, and Clary has to pull her out. The Sisters won’t let Izzy enter the Citadel, but she tells Clary to go ahead without her. After the other Shadowhunter leaves, one of the Iron Sisters reveals to Izzy that the yin fen contains vampire venom, hence the water’s reaction.
Inside the Citadel, Luke’s sister, Cleophas, reveals that the Soul Sword doesn’t just compel someone to tell the truth. It also has a secondary power; it can be activated with angelic energy to be used to release a light that will destroy all demon blooded creatures, should a time come that a Shadowhunter feels it necessary if demons have taken over the world. That would include any and all Downworlders.
If Valentine activates this power in the sword, Cleophas says, it can’t be turned off. So they have to stop him before he can do it. As they’re talking, Clary tells Cleophas about the strange incident with the rune vision she had, and she shows her what it is and what it did, questioning if she was given a vision of it from her mother as an angel. Cleophas tells her that her mother isn’t an angel, not in the sense that the Shadowhunters believe in and do the work of angels, and that no one really knows what happens to Shadowhunters after death, the same as mundanes.
Nearby, Izzy has used a rune to be able to hear this whole conversation. But later, when she goes to Aldertree with her report, she doesn’t tell him everything in regards to Clary, like he asks.
Challenges
After leaving the Citadel and the island, Clary goes to Jade Wolf, where she finds Simon and Maia chatting in a booth but doesn’t approach them. Luke enters and they reunite, with him apologizing for not being there for her following her mother’s death. Simon watches from the booth, and Maia, who had been clearly having fun with Simon, sees the way he looks at Clary and seems disappointed.
Back at the Institute, Aldertree asks Izzy about Clary’s behavior on the mission, and she imparts that she definitely doesn’t have demon blood. She gets angry at him because she could’ve died during the purification thanks to the yin fen he gave her. But when he asks if she doesn’t want any more, she hesitates. The guy is clearly getting her hooked in order to use her, and Izzy should be smart enough to know that. However, she doesn’t tell him about the rune that Clary explained, an important omission. She’s not totally under his thumb just yet.
Finally, back outside the Citadel, another Iron Sister is trying to keep Cleophas from leaving. But Cleophas kills her. Just afterwards, something glows on her neck before she goes to leave again.
What’s that thing on Cleophas’ neck? Is she also a werewolf? Is Maia into Simon? And just how long will Izzy’s dependence to the yin fen continue? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Shadowhunters season 2 airs Mondays at 8/7c on Freeform. Want more news? Like BuddyTV’s Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of Freeform)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
