Shadowhunters – Mea Maxima Culpa

By: Jessica Wolff

Outside the Institute, Jace Wayland (Dominic Sherwood) and Alec Lightwood (Matthew Daddario) train by fighting against each other.  Alec can tell that Jace is upset and assures him that what happened is not his fault, as he didn’t know the truth.  He then asks what his angel blood means for him since Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) can create new runes.  They continue their training and soon throw their weapons down for hand-to-hand combat.  Pinning Jace to the ground, Alec asks him if he plans to tell Clary the truth that he is not really her brother.  Jace gets the upperhand and says that he’s not planning to tell her because she’s been through so much and has a good thing with Simon Lewis (Alberto Rosende).  Alec questions whether Clary would dump Simon for Jace as soon as she found out.  Pinning Alec down, Jace tells him to worry more about his fighting skills than Jace’s love life.

In the daylight, Clary and Simon revel in the sun and they are both excited about the prospect of Simon being able to go into the sun and being a normal couple.  Simon says that he will never be normal and Clary assures him that he is unique.  Unconvinced, he is worried that his new ability comes with a price.  Clary assures him that they have each other through everything and they should enjoy their time together without worrying.  Jace interrupts their kiss and tells Clary that Imogen Herondale (Mimi Kuzyk) has arrived at the Institute to question Valentine Morgenstern (Alan Van Sprang) and wants to speak to them.  Simon promises Jace that he won’t tell anyone that his angelic blood made him able to walk in the sun, but Jace rejects Simon’s attempt to hug him.  Herondale tortures Valentine in a cell using the runes on his body demanding to know where the mortal cup is.  Valentine claims to not know where it is and Herondale insists that his plan to collect the mortal instruments was a fool’s errand.  He argues with that and Herondale points out that nobody has seen the mortal mirror or knows if it really exists.  Herondale tells him that the only way to prevent execution is to reveal the location of the cup, but Valentine argues that not revealing it is the only thing keeping him alive.

Clary and Jace walk in as Herondale promises that justice will be served before torturing Valentine again.  As Herondale walks over to them, Jace asks why they’re torturing him when the soul-sword would force him to reveal the truth.  Herondale doesn’t want them to tell her how to do her job and tells them that the sword was damaged.  She then demands that they tell her everything they know since they are Valentine’s children.  Clary points out that they have proved themselves by helping capture Valentine, but Herondale warns that their methods might spark a rebellion in the Downworld.  She tells them to fall in line or they will be disciplined in Idris like Victor Aldertree.  At a bar, a mysterious man (Brett Donahue) enters and asks two men at the bar for the mortal cup.  They reach for their weapons, but the man stops them with his magic.  They tell him they don’t know where the cup is, and the man kills them.  He then kills everyone in the bar before exiting.

Alec tends to Isabelle Lightwood (Emeraude Toubia) as she goes through withdrawal.  She asks if anyone else knows about her condition and he assures her that no one else knows.  Alec gets word about the demon attack and Isabelle insists that he go.  He refuses to leave her alone, but she assures him that she will be okay.  At the Jade Wolf, Maia Roberts (Alisha Wainwright) listens from the kitchen as the rest of Luke Garroway’s (Isaiah Mustafa) pack argues outside.  Maia reports to Luke that the pack is losing faith in him and believes that he knowingly led them into a losing battle.  She reports that they are talking about hunting mundanes to rebuild the pack.  Luke goes in to confront them and insists that nobody is turning anybody.  Russell (Noah Danby) attacks him for getting most of their pack killed and Maia defends Luke.  Refusing to back down, Russell challenges Luke to a one-on-one fight to determine who is the rightful alpha of the pack.  Luke refuses to fight and gets a call informing him of the demon attack.

At the bar Luke, Clary, Alec and Jace investigate the attack.  Luke’s new partner Molly (Alexandra Ordolis) comes over and asks whom Luke is talking to, as she can’t see the Shadowhunters.  He claims that he’s dictating notes on his phone, but is unable to quell her suspicions.  Meanwhile, Isabelle struggles with withdrawal and goes to see Raphael Santiago (David Castro) in desperation.  Apologizing for yelling at him, she asks for a quick bite.  He refuses and tells her to go.  After attempting to beg, he continues to refuse.  She gets angry and accuses him of not caring about her.  He insists that he cares about her and she pulls a knife on him.  Quickly, she drops the knife and runs out of his apartment.  After looking at the autopsy report, Jace concludes that a greater demon is responsible for the attack.  As he explains the difference between a greater demon and a normal demon to Clary, she points out that he’s been acting weird since the incident with the soul-sword.  He brushes her off, but she assures him that she will listen when he’s ready to talk.  Isabelle goes to the vampire den, but is attacked by the demon.  He asks for the mortal cup and she attempts to fight him off.  Two mundanes try to stop him from attacking her, but he kills them.  A shadowhunters leaps in and attacks the demon before introducing himself as Sebastian (Will Tudor).

Maia notices Simon at the bar and questions what he’s doing there in the middle of the day.  He confesses that he is now able to walk in the sunlight.  Maia is happy for him and congratulates him on the ability to live a normal life.  She advises him not to tell anyone of his condition, as other downworlders would be jealous of him before they toast to the new him.  Alec goes to see Magnus Bane (Harry Shum Jr.) and asks for help with the greater demon.  Using the residue of the demon’s magic, Magnus is able to identify the demon as Azazel and is surprised that he escaped his confines of hell.  Alec questions why the room is so dark and Rafael appears.  Alec is furious with him, but he tells him of Isabelle’s visit.  Alec is worried, but Magnus assures him that they will find her before another vampire does.  They go to the alleyway and find the dead mundanes as well as Isabelle’s necklace.  Alec tells Clary and Jace about Izzy’s disappearance as well as Azazel’s identity and they speculate what Azazel wants with Isabelle.

Looking for answers, Clary and Jace question Valentine about Azazel.  He doesn’t know anything about it, but Clary tells him that whoever set him free used the mortal cup.  He continues to insist that he doesn’t know where the mortal cup is and suggests that they use him as bait to catch the demon.  Clary thinks it’s worth trying, but Jace is hesitant to trust Valentine.  He assures Clary that he won’t hurt his daughter, but she reminds him that he’s hurt his son Jace many times.  Valentine comments that Jace hasn’t told her the truth and after Clary questions what he means Jace confesses that he is not Valentine’s son or her brother.  Shaken by the revelation, Clary asks Jace how long he’s known.  He confesses that he’s known for a while and that he didn’t tell her because he didn’t want to ruin what she has with Simon.  Clary is confused about what he means by that, but he insists that he’s not hiding anything else from her.  She asserts that they need to be honest with each other no matter how much the truth hurts and tells him to learn to express his emotions.

At Sebastian’s apartment, he recognizes Isabelle’s condition and she asks why she hasn’t seen him around the Institute.  He tells her that he is from London and gives her medicine.  She is hesitant to take it, but he assures her it’s safe before giving her a drop.  She feels better and he tells her that he left London to battle his own yin fen addiction.  He tells her that he was successful and that she can be, too.  She thanks him for his help and tries to leave.  He tells her that it’s best to stay with him for a while to get more of the venom out of her system.  Luke and Molly bond in the car and Luke tells her not to ask any personal questions when she tries to learn more about him.  Maia knocks on his window and the partner assumes that she is his girlfriend.  He quickly denies it and steps out of the car.  Maia tells him that Russell and a bunch of other pack members left to start their own pack.  She tells him that they offered her to join them, but she refused to leave Luke.  He assures her that they’ll figure things out and rebuild the pack together.  Molly watches the exchange and takes a picture of them.

Alec finds Jace on the balcony.  Immediately telling that something is wrong, he pulls Jace into a hug and he sobs in his arms.  Sebastian cooks for Isabelle and advises her to call her family and let them know she’s okay.  She’s scared to because she feels she’s let everyone down and is worried about Alec’s reaction.  He tells her about his rocky relationship with his mother and encourages her to not let Alec worry.  Simon calls Clary and tells her that he’s decided to go to NYU.  Rafael sneaks up on him and confronts him about the rumor that he can walk in the sunlight.  Simon tries to deny it, but Raphael tells him that he’s a daylighter.  He asks him how it happened, but Simon lies that he doesn’t know how it happened.  Raphael isn’t convinced and tells him not to hoard the information for himself.

Alec and Magnus set up in the courtyard as Valentine is chained outside with a metal facemask.  Jace comes out and Magnus starts the demon summoning routine.  Azazel appears in the circle and Magnus offers Valentine in exchange for Isabelle.  Azazel tells them that he doesn’t have Isabelle and Magnus struggles to contain Azazel in the circle.  Clary comes out and attempts to activate her rune, but it doesn’t work.  Azazel breaks the circle and everyone is thrown back in pain.  Azazel touches Magnus and calls him a stupid warlock and then goes over to Valentine and promises him a gift.  Jace gets up and activates a rune without his stele, breaking the hold Azazel had on them.  Jace lunges for Azazel, but he disappears and Alec questions how Jace activated the rune.

Valentine wakes up as he is brought back into custody and Magnus assures Alec that he’s all right.  He decides to go home alone and Alec gets a call from Isabelle.  She assures him that she’s okay and apologizes before telling him that she needs to fight her addiction on her own.  She hangs up and Sebastian puts his hand over the fire activating a wound on his hand.  Clary checks in on Jace and apologizes for her reaction.  She tells him that she needs time to process and admits that she feels like a failure.  She promises that they’ll figure things out.  Walking down the street, Valentine realizes that he’s been trapped in Magnus’ body.