'Shadowhunters' | 'Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen' S02E18
Episode 18 of 'Shadowhunters' hit an eleven on the emotional Richter scale this week, leaving viewers thinking only ‘woah’. There is no doubt we are heading towards a big season finale in just two short weeks...
SPOILERS
FOR BOTH 'SHADOWHUNTERS' & BOOK SERIES 'THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS' – PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
This latest episode, ‘Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen’, was as ominous and heartbreaking as the title suggests. We begin the episode right where we left off last week, with Max confronting Sebastian about his actual identity as Jonathan Morgenstern.
Max is dealt a bad blow, but before Sebastian can cover his tracks, he is interrupted by Clary and an emergency meeting in the Institute. Later, Max is found in another room after crawling to safety, but he spends the rest of the episode in a deep coma with a life-threatening procedure as his only chance of survival.
Sebastian begins his battle for the Mortal Mirror with Clary and Jace both hot on his heels. While Alec is dealing with the shock of his little brother’s attack, he is also trying to respect Magnus’ anger at him as well as making up for his mistake. Unfortunately, we don’t see this happen as Magnus has spent the majority of the episode coming to a brutal decision: he must put his own kind’s safety before his relationship with Alec.
On an only slightly happier note, Maia and Simon go on their first date and are adorable together, but their date is interrupted by a werewolf attack on a mundane. Maia takes it upon herself to look after the injured man, Bat, and when she realises he will turn into a werewolf (because of course, there is a full moon that night), Maia helps him deal with the trauma as best as she can. In this moment, one of the largest backstories is revealed: how Maia was turned into a werewolf. Maia is the standout character this episode, really priming herself for a larger role next season, it is so exciting to see. Not only is her story told with great emotionally and true to her character both in the show and the books, but cinematically, it is beautiful to watch.
As Maia begins to explain how her first true love story started out wonderfully, the scene switches between shots of Maia and Simon, who is actively listening and reacting like the precious being he is. As the story becomes harder and Maia details the jealousy, breakup and eventual attack by her ex, the shots focus longer on Maia, who is looking down, and switch to Simon less and less until finally the frame remains on her entirely. There is even a second there that is simply a quiet pause until she finally turns to face the camera, which again changes to Simon. The scene is on-point because it attributes rightful attention to Maia, but respects how insular and isolated she was feeling not only in that moment but as far back as her memory reaches. It was quiet, and poignant and powerful - the absolute highlight of the episode.
The runner-up moment(s) belongs to Malec though, because they were everything the Malec fandom, and the LGBTQIA* community had been asking for. Although the episode ended in heartbreak, the rest of the episode focused on the sweet and personal memories of their relationship that Magnus treasured. These scenes and their importance cannot be put into words, but rather should be experienced firsthand. All that can be said is there is hope that the two will be reunited in the (very near) season finale.
The writers did a great job yet again with putting viewers through this emotional ringer, especially with the drama surrounding Max. Fans who have read the books may have expected him to die, which is what the writers were purposefully going for, one has to think - especially when it has been promoted that a major character will die by the end of the season. All the signs at the moment are pointing to another character however, so only time will tell whether this is another writing trick or not.
If you have yet to see 'Shadowhunters' Episode 18, here’s some advice: have tissues and wine at the ready.
'Shadowhunters' Season 2 airs weekly on Netflix.
