We hit the Freeform press room at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, where media outlets of all kinds got the chance to sit down with the Shadowhunters cast and executive producers. For our roundtable, stars Matthew Daddario, Isaiah Mustafa, and Harry Shum Jr. talked a little about the kinship between Magnus Bane and Luke Garroway, the impact of Malec, and how being a Shadowhunter-turned-Downworlder affects Luke’s relationships.
Luke and Magnus were notably absent from this week’s Paul Wesley-directed episode, “Day of Atonement.” To that, Isaiah quipped, “He [Magnus] portalled us to a remote island, and we’re on vacation and it’s amazing.”
Matt said he was quite the fan of the relationship between New York Pack Leader Luke Garroway and High Warlock Magnus Bane, while Harry explained a little about the dynamic between our Downworlder kings.
“Luke and Magnus go on a mission together, and they start seeing another side of each other that they knew about each other,” he said. “But now, it’s kinda surfacing because of the drama that’s happening with the Seelie Queen and Valentine. And I think their priorities are kinda conflicting.”
Isaiah agreed, but said the respect was there: “There’s a deep…like a loyalty to each other. But we gotta see eye-to-eye.”
“They also have different methods of dealing with their issues,” Harry continued, “which I think is good because it brings a different perspective to each other and I think they really respect that. When you talk to, sometimes with other characters, they’re just like, ‘Nah, this is the way I’m doing it,’ and I think it’s the experience [Luke and Magnus] they’ve had…”
“They get each other,” Matt added. “Alec wants in.”
On the concept of how characters might react to what we saw of Max getting hurt in the latest trailer, Matt answered with Alec in mind.
“Given a scenario where Max is hurt or killed, the primary response for Alec would most likely be to hunt down the person who did it. He would not grieve until he’s sought out the person who’s harmed Max,” he stated. “It would be very weak of him if he did let the emotional toll of that collapse him as a leader. And I think that his first response should be to hunt down and harm the person who would do such a thing. But it will be interesting to see if that does happen, what his response would be. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
Matt and Harry also commented on the impact of Malec and how the representation of the Magnus-Alec relationship seems to be causing small shifts in perception.
“I think what’s nice is, outside of the people in the community, is the people outside that community [liking the relationship],” Harry said. “To me, that is a big step forward for representation, but also for people [to like it] and not be a part of [the community], and I think that’s a huge step as well that we never talk about.”
“Someone told me recently that they were scared of coming out, but then their mother loved the Malec relationship the most on the show, and that made them feel comfortable doing it,” Matt said. “So, I really like that. I don’t know why that strikes a chord with me. There’s something about that, to make it so that it changes people’s minds.”
We put a question to Isaiah regarding Luke being a Shadowhunter-turned-Downworlder and how that affects the way people see him, and the man was all too happy to get into it.
“You have all that knowledge of what a Shadowhunter goes through, what he can do, what he/she can be. And that’s all stripped away from you,” he said. “And now, you’re one of the things you’ve been told is beneath you, and that you’re no longer this thing that was revered, and you’re now this sub-person, this sub-being. So, now you have knowledge of them both. Now you’re just trying to bring them both together. You’re just trying to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t that bad [the Downworld], and this isn’t that good [the Clave].’”
He continued, “That’s why there’s so much contention between the Clave and what Luke’s going through. It’s deep. There’s so much going on there. ‘Cause, does he hate himself now? There was probably some of that in the beginning.”
He also spoke about how Alec treats Luke, and how being the middleman means having a healthy respect for both sides, as frustrating as it can be.
“I feel the respect, because I feel, like Alec says, ‘I know who you used to be, so I will respect your knowledge. I’m not sure I respect the other things you do, but at least you know what I’m going through.’ I wouldn’t disrespect [Alec], nor would I disrespect [Magnus]. It’s a tricky spot, being Luke.”
Check out our roundtable interview below:
Interviewer for BSS: Brie Burnham. Filmed by Erin Cuevas.
Shadowhunters airs Mondays 8/7c on Freeform, and Tuesdays internationally on Netflix.
