‘Shadowhunters’ Throws Another Wrench in Magnus & Alec’s Relationship (RECAP)

EMERAUDE TOUBIA, DOMINIC SHERWOOD, KATHERINE MCNAMARA
Spoiler Alert

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 3, Episode 20 of Shadowhunters, “City of Glass.”]

If anyone deserves happiness after what they’ve been through recently, it’s Alec (Matthew Daddario) and Magnus (Harry Shum Jr.) on Shadowhunters.

But yet again, the Freeform series throws another obstacle in their path — one that means quite the physical separation.

Of course, the blame can all be put on Jonathan (Luke Baines), who remains determined to get his hands on the Morningstar Sword and keep Clary (Katherine McNamara) at his side. And just as determined are her friends, especially Jace (Dominic Sherwood). Getting her back, however, is just the beginning.

A Shadowhunter Gets a Little Clarity

While Jonathan and the Seelie Queen engage in a little light flirting, Clary refocuses on the matter at hand: getting the Morningstar Sword by trading her to the Seelies for it. She slaps the Queen, who says she’d expect that from a proper Morgenstern. “I am a proper Morgenstern, just like my brother,” Clary insists. “After all, we are one.”

It’s more important than ever that her friends find a way to separate Clary and Jonathan, and thanks to help from the Seelies — who can’t lie, but can “be forgetful” and leave a door open during the trade — they can try, using the new Glorious Izzy (Emeraude Toubia) made.

But in securing that opening, Jace tells Meliorn (Jade Hassouné) he’ll be indebted to him forever. Will that come into play at a later time?

(Freeform/John Medland)

Jonathan, meanwhile, can’t believe how far he and Clary have come from the days when she looked at him with hatred and disgust. Though she originally saw the rune binding them together as a “curse,” that’s no longer the case. She does still see him as her brother — and only her brother — so she rejects him when he tries to kiss her with a not so subtle reminder of their familial relation.

After the Seelies trade the sword for their Queen, Jace and Izzy reveal themselves. “We’re here for you, Clary, whether you like it or not,” Izzy tells Clary. Jace and Alec easily subdue Jonathan, while Izzy tries to stab Clary with Glorious. “You left me no choice,” Izzy says.

When Clary gets the upper hand, Simon (Alberto Rosende) runs in to stop her. “Super villain is not a good look on you,” he tells her.

Jonathan yells out for Clary at one point, during which she’s distracted enough for Jace to stab her with Glorious, destroying the rune. But once they’re no longer bound together, Jonathan transforms — and now has black wings. “Apparently being tethered to my sister was holding me back,” he declares before flying off.

When Glorious shatters, Izzy protects Simon since the pure heavenly fire in it is fatal to Downworlders. She takes shrapnel to her back, and their slow burn continues as he helps her pick the pieces out. The two share another moment, but still don’t kiss. Their time has to be coming, right?

Though Jace tries to assure Clary what happened isn’t her fault, she admits she was in complete control of her actions and wanted to help her brother. “The pull of family, of blood, rune or not, it’s an impossible thing to fight,” he says. “I should’ve fought harder for this family,” she apologizes.

(Freeform/John Medland)

But they’re both going to fight hard because soon after they arrive in Alicante, Jonathan shows up and uses his sword to unleash demons.

The Twisted Love of Family

Asmodeus tries to be a father to Magnus by buying him a pretzel. No pretzel is good enough to help Magnus’ heartache.

Getting his home back, however, would give him a place to rest, and so he goes to get it from Lorenzo (Javier Muñoz). The other warlock refuses to give it back, and Asmodeus joins them to remind Lorenzo of their bloodlines. Lorenzo’s father is Asmodeus’ subject, making his son Magnus’.

Asmodeus turns Lorenzo into a lizard, and Magnus is surprised his father didn’t kill him. “You didn’t save him,” Asmodeus notes.

Meanwhile, Alec’s mother checks in about his plan to propose to Magnus, and he tells her he broke up with him. “I had to,” he says. “This is the only way he’s ever going to become whole again.”

She then goes to see Magnus and tells him about Alec’s plans. When she sees he has his magic back, they put the pieces together.

When he confronts his father, Asmodeus isn’t concerned. “You’ll come to your senses once you get this all out of your system,” he thinks, but he’s wrong. Magnus gets back at his father by sending him through a portal unconscious — which means he gets lost in limbo forever. That way he can’t keep finding his way back to Magnus from Edom.

(Freeform/John Medland)

Another form of twisted love for a family member comes from Jonathan, who’s still so upset that Clary won’t love him back the way he wants. As part of his tantrum, he destroys the sword, meaning they can’t use it to close the rift. Every demon they kill will just keep coming back again and again.

The Runaway Groom Saves the Day

Just as Alec and Izzy are prepared to face an army of demons, Magnus makes his grand entrance, blowing those headed their way up with his magic. “Sorry, I’m late,” he quips. “Traffic was hell.”

He takes a moment to tell Alec he knows about the deal, and Alec kisses him. Not only are the two back together, but they also exchange rings, with Magnus making a second to match the Lightwood ring Alec planned to give him. “Will you marry me?” Magnus asks. “Only if you’ll marry me,” Alec says.

Sadly, however, Magnus has to be a “runaway groom” because he can increase his power in Edom to close the rift. “It’s only Edom,” Alec says. But will Magnus be able to come back from this? Time will only tell. (But the answer has to be yes … right?)

(Freeform/John Medland)

Maia’s Choice

Jordan shows Maia the vial of the serum he stole from the Institute. He wants her to take it, so she can be human again. It’s that same vial that Luke must retrieve for the Praetor Lupus if he wants to stay out of prison.

Jordan tells Maia to start over somewhere else, but she refuses to leave him when she just got him back. Sadly, she didn’t, because he’s dying from the silver poisoning he claimed had been cured. “You need to take this and live a normal life for the both of us,” he says.

But Maia’s not using the cure. “I’ve spent too much time thinking about the past. Going back wouldn’t help me in the present,” she tells Luke. He offers to get rid of the vial for her. “This can’t go back to the Clave,” she warns him. No one should have that much power. It shouldn’t go to the Praetor Lupus, either, for that very reason.

Though Maia is planning to spend Jordan’s last moments with him, she returns to find he’s already died. “I’ll be fine. I have to be,” she says after his funeral. “I’m an alpha, remember?”

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