Shadowhunters – Day of Atonement

By: Jessica Wolff

In an abandoned cabin, Sebastian Verlac (Will Tudor) forces Valentine Morgenstern (Alan Van Sprang) to sit in a chair and chains him up.  Valentine asks why he brought him here and Sebastian explains that Valentine is responsible for who he’s become and that it’s his turn to repay the favor.  Maia Roberts (Alisha Wainwright) knocks on Simon Lewis’s (Alberto Rosende) door and lets herself in when nobody answers.  She finds Simon moping in the dark and lets light into the warehouse.  She tells him that she heard what happened and asks if he wants to talk.  He mentions his heartbreak and Maia invites him to happy hour at The Hunter’s Moon to clear his head.  He rejects the offer and explains that he’s fasting for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day Of Atonement.  He tells her that he’s going to family dinner, despite Maia’s warnings about going.

Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) refuses Jace Wayland’s (Dominic Sherwood) requests to talk about their kiss, telling him that Valentine’s disappearance is more important.  Alec Lightwood (Matthew Daddario) reports that Luke Garroway (Isaish Mustafa) and Magnus Bane (Harry Shum Jr.) are at a meeting at the seelie court and are unavailable.  Alec is worried about being replaced as head of the Institute, but Isabelle Lightwood (Emeraude Toubia) insists that finding Valentine will prevent the clave’s punishment.  Alec argues that Valentine’s escape is his fault, but Isabelle takes the blame for being in charge of Valentine’s transfer.  Jace assures Alec that he is a good leader and shouldn’t be punished, but Robert Lightwood (Paulino Nunes) arrives and says that Alec needs to do what the clave orders.  Alec is not happy to see him, but Robert explains that he is there on behalf of the clave.

In Alec’s office, Robert explains that he convinced the clave to keep Alec as head of the institute to help recapture Valentine.  Alec thanks him for the support, but declares that it doesn’t make up for his cheating on his mother.  Robert explains that he and his mother have a complicated relationship and that he never meant to hurt him.  He tells Alec that he fell in love and argues that Alec should know what that’s like.  Alec reminds him that Magnus isn’t an affair and declares that he doesn’t want to discuss this until Valentine is found.  Clary confronts Jace about his request to work with her and he says that he needs to be with someone he can trust.  Clary notices that he’s looking at a map of Idris and Jace presents his theory that Valentine is at a hidden cabin that he took Jace to as a kid.  Jace tells Clary that his request for a portal to Idris was denied, and they have no other way to get there. Clary sees a rune manifest in the map and draws it with her stele to create a portal.  Both of them are amazed at her new ability and Clary pulls him through the portal. They land in a lake and Jace pulls her out of the water.

Back at the cabin, Valentine asks Sebastian how he managed to escape.  Sebastian tells him that Azazel assisted with his escape and then he returned the favor for him.  He tells Valentine that Edom was not a pleasant place and they burned his skin.  He also tells him that they showed him how to harness his demon blood and become more powerful.  Valentine asks Sebastian to let him make things up to him and offers him the mortal cup.  Sebastian tells him that he doesn’t care about the mortal instruments, and tells Valentine that he’ll find out what he’s planning soon enough.  Jace warns Clary about the dangers of the woods and Clary hears a noise and stops short.  She looks for her stele and finds that it is gone.  Clary decides that she doesn’t need her stele, but changes her mind and goes back to look for it in the lake.

Back at the institute, Isabelle confronts Robert about yelling at Max.  He tells her that he caught Max looking at private messages, but won’t tell Isabelle anything else.  Simon finds Maia waiting for him and she tells him that she’s going with him to his family’s dinner.  He tries to talk to talk her out of it, but she convinces him to let her go with him.  They arrive and Maia introduces herself to Simon’s family as his girlfriend.  Alec and Isabelle discuss Robert’s visit and Isabelle questions what kind of leverage Robert has to convince the clave to let Alec keep his job.  Alec feels pain in his hand and realizes that Jace is in trouble.  They find several glass shards in the study with images of the lake reflected in them.  Clary looks for her stele and notices that Jace is gone. She hears a scream and runs to find clothes and blood in the forest.

Sebastian tells Valentine to not bother struggling with his restraints, as he tried to break free of those chains for the year Valentine kept him prisoner in the cabin.  Valentine tells him that he brought his imprisonment on himself and reminds him that he murdered another boy.  Sebastian tells him that the murder was an experiment and reminds him that he was the one who sparked his interest in science in the first place.  Valentine tells him that his experiments were starting to attract attention and that he had no choice but to send him to Edom.

At dinner, Simon answers questions from his mother, Elaine Lewis (Christina Cox), his sister, Rebecca Lewis (Holly Deveaux), and his grandmother, Helen (Joan Gregson) without telling the whole truth.  Helen declares that she likes Maia and Elaine and Rebecca want to know more about her and her relationship with Simon.  He tells them that Maia is a bartender, but she also tells them that she’s taking online marine biology courses.  Rebecca tells Maia that Simon had a phobia of jellyfish as a kid and Simon is embarrassed as they laugh about it.  Elaine wants to start going around the table and declare what they are atoning for.  Simon tries to avoid it, but she reminds him that it’s a family tradition and starts by talking about her relapse.

Isabelle identifies the glass as portal shards.  Robert declares that it’s not a normal portal, since the wards didn’t recognize it.  Isabelle hands him the glass and he recognizes the lake as Lake Lyn in Idris.  He tells them that Jace’s request for a portal to Idris was denied and Alec requests a portal to go after them.  Robert tells Alec that he needs to stay at the Institute as the leader, but Isabelle tells Robert that Alec can’t abandon his parabatai.  However, Alec agrees with Robert and sends Isabelle on the mission alone.  Isabelle demands a portal, but Robert tells her that there’s something she needs to know about the lake.  Clary hears things as she walks in the woods and an angel appears to her.  The angel identifies himself as a younger looking Ithuriel (Benjamin Sutherland), who has recovered from Valentine’s torture.  Ithuriel tells Clary that Jonathan is alive and she asks him where Jace is.  However, he tells her that she has to find him herself before flying away.

Elaine asks if Simon wants to share next, but Maia steps in and announces that she wants to go next.  She tells them that she hasn’t spoken to her parents in years because they seemed to favor her brother over her.  When he died, she felt ignored and ran away.  She wonders if it is the guilt rather than the anger that’s keeping her from talking to them and Elaine assures her by telling her that she will love her own kids no matter what.  Elaine then tells Simon that he’s next and he admits that he did a lot of bad things in the past year and that he’s going to overcome them.  Rebecca asks him to elaborate and Maia jumps in and explains that he ditched her for another girl at a concert.

Isabelle arrives at the lake, and finds that Jace cut a wound in his hand to send a message to Alec.  He uses her stele to heal himself, and tells Isabelle that he lost Clary when they were looking for her stele.  She asks if he drank the lake water.  He tells her that Clary did, and Isabelle informs him that the water causes the drinker to hallucinate until they lose their mind.  Sebastian reminds Valentine of a time that he killed and skinned a werewolf.  Sebastian tells him that he wanted him to be proud of him and Valentine tells him that he was.  Sebastian tells him that killing has always been what he’s best at.  Valentine takes responsibility, and tells Sebastian that he never hated him.  Sebastian tells Valentine to enjoy his time in Edom before starting a ritual to send him there.

Isabelle and Jace find Clary, but she doesn’t recognize them.  Clary attacks Isabelle when she approaches her.  Clary fights them, despite Jace’s assurances that they’re not trying to hurt her.  Jace grabs her and assures that everything is going to be okay as his healing rune activates and heals Clary.  She is glad to see Jace is okay as they share a moment.  Robert tells Alec that Jace and Clary are safe and Alec is relieved.  He thanks Robert for his help and Robert hopes to earn their trust back.  Alec confronts him about the messages that Max saw and Robert tells him he sent those messages to convince the clave to keep him as head of the institute.  Alec asks what was in the messages and Robert tells them that the clave is keeping a big secret.  He tells Alec that he didn’t want to place the burden of keeping the secret on him, but Alec insists he tell him.  Robert tells him not to tell anybody, but Alec tells him that he needs to make the decision as a leader.  Robert informs him that the soul-sword was never recovered.

With the soul-sword in his hand, Sebastian tells Valentine that he’s sending the sword with him.  He accuses Valentine of caring about the mortal instruments more than his own son and Valentine admits he made a mistake sending him away.  Sebastian strikes him, but Valentine grabs the sword and shows that it still compels the truth.  He tells him that the decision to send him away haunts him every day, that his dream of creating the ultimate warrior is now a reality and that he is his greatest creation.  Jace leads Isabelle and Clary to the cabin, but find that it is now deserted.

After dinner, Simon thanks Maia for coming, and that he couldn’t have gotten through the evening without her.  He compliments her quick thinking with the marine biology story and Maia tells him that she is actually taking marine biology classes.  Simon is surprised and Maia tells him that there’s a lot he doesn’t know about her.  He admits that he’s been self-absorbed, and Maia kisses him on the cheek before saying goodnight.  Alec and Isabelle talk about the clave’s secret and Isabelle argues that revealing the secret could mean the end of the accords.  Alec believes that he has to do something, and Isabelle asks if he’s going to tell Magnus.  Clary finds Jace looking over Valentine’s journals and they see that Valentine was taking notes on both Jace and Jonathan and that they were opposite ends of the same experiment.  Clary questions how Valentine could be studying Jonathan ten years ago if he died as a baby.  She realizes that Ithuriel was referring to Jonathan and that her brother is still alive.  Sebastian looks out the window of his apartment and Valentine tells him that dinner is served.