SHADOWHUNTERS | A Walk in Darkness / A Heart of Darkness S03E08
Whether its called 'A Walk In Darkness' or 'A Heart of Darkness', 'Shadowhunters' Episode 8 was all about heartbreak and female character pride.
In this episode Izzy, Alec and Magnus are working to free Jace from his possession by Lilith; this involves using the parabatai rune to send Alec and Izzy’s consciences into Jace’s mind to find ‘the real Jace’. His mind turns out to be a wasteland version of the Institute as Lilith is torturing him and taking away everything he loves. It’s cliché but devastating to watch.
Meanwhile, Clary is on trial for essentially causing havoc in Alicante. Consul Penhallow (Francoise Yip) decides to use the Soul Sword which, despite Clary’s using ruins to take away its ability to kill Downworlders, apparently still works at making people speak the truth; this puts Jace and Clary in serious danger as the secrets they’ve been keeping can be dragged out with the right question.
Back in New York, Luke is on a mission to find out how to help Clary in Alicante. He enlists the help of Maryse to use her connections, and is terried to learn about the trial. He is now determined to get to Alicante and ask a feral wolf pack to help him break Clary out, which is what any reasonable parent would do.
Simon is desperate to help Clary, but is told by everyone - especially Luke, that the best thing he can do is discover what Lilith’s plan is and preferably a way to stop her. He is accompanied by Maia and Jordan to the abandoned building where Lilith’s disciples were found and it’s as tense as it would be with your girlfriend and her ex around you could be.
Finally, Lilith is on a warpath in the Seelie Court. She is furious because the mark the Seelie Queen put on Simon’s forehead turns out to be one of the only things that can actually banish her from this realm. The Seelie Queen bargains for her life by telling Lilith where her precious Owl is, basically ruining Alec, Izzy and Magnus’s chances of saving Jace.
There is a concept that says the best way to judge a person is through the behaviour of the people around them; this turns out to be the case for Lilith, as throughout the whole season up until now, nobody has consciously been aware of her or encountered her in person. But when Lilith confronts the Seelie Queen, and we see the fae who is renowned for being stoic and all-knowing scramble away from Lilith and make cheap deals, viewers are finally getting a scope of the threat she possesses. The same happens when Lilith attacks Magnus, rending him powerless, which is not something fans of the show have seen before. It was a good move on the writers’ part, although maybe a little late in the season.
The female characters really standout in this episode. Firstly, Clary has an epic moment where she breaks free of the Soul Sword’s hold on her and willingly admits to making a wish with the Angel Raziel; then she makes a short but powerful speech about how one dominant group holding all the power (the Clave) might seem like a gift to them, but is a curse to everyone else (the Downworld) and then declaring she’s glad Raziel’s wish is gone. It’s definitely a moment worth replaying over and over again.
Maia is also badass. It is so important to see her establish and then enforce her boundaries with both Simon and Jordan throughout the entire episode: she refuses to be pressured into talking to make them feel better, or forgiving Jordan because he feels bad, or letting Simon keep her out of helping him. Such an understated but necessary point in this episode and a touchstone for Maia’s growth in being kind to herself. This is when we realise Maia could really use some female friendships. Hopefully the writers have figured this out by now.
Speaking of females standing together, viewers should be loving the new Maryse. Her ability to think it’s ridiculous to see the person her husband had an affair with as competition, who admits that same woman is a nice person and then goes to her to help a friend is truly worthy of praise. That is a woman truly worth respect and a loud message about women not bringing each other down.
This episode was about building up to the huge 2-hour finale coming this week, but it also featured different kinds of empowered women, and that is why this is the most successful episode this season.
The 2-hour 'Shadowhunters mid-season finale airs on Netflix this week.
