Haven’t seen Shadowhunters Season 1 but still want to join us for our Shadowhunters 2×01 rewatch? Maybe you’ve noticed one of the main couples are less “will they/won’t they?” and more “are they/aren’t they…siblings?” Or maybe you’re just super confused by all the made-up words you’ve never heard before. We get it and that’s why we’ve compiled this list of FAQs to better ease your mind as we introduce you to the kick-ass second season of our show. Be warned: here there be spoilers.
Q: Aren’t Clary and Jace siblings? What’s with the romanticized incest?!
A: Short answer, no. This was a trick orchestrated by Valentine to torment and separate the poor things. Although Valentine DID raise Jace for a period of time and experiment on him…it’s a touch complicated and Jace goes through a lot of last names over the course of the series. But we promise, no incest here! The confusion of histories and origins between these two is what causes them to play right into Valentine’s lies and fall prey to his manipulations.
Q: What is Clary’s deal? Why is she new to all this?
A: Clary’s mom (along with Luke) raised her in the mundane (a.k.a. human) world for many years, keeping her hidden from most of the Shadow World – and from her murderous father, Valentine. She wanted Clary to have a normal life. Through a series of unfortunate events on her 18th birthday, she discovered “Fray” was not her real last name and she was part of this secret supernatural world.
Q: And her friend, Simon?
A: Simon Lewis is her (formerly human) best friend who ended up getting killed and turned into a vampire last season. Bummer.
Q: What the hell is the “Clave” and why does it seem like such an asshole?
A: Well, you’re not wrong… The Clave is the governing body of the Shadowhunters; they make the laws in the Shadow World and deal out the punishments upon those who break them, regardless of the accused’s intentions. It is from the Clave that comes the saying, “The law is hard, but it is the law.” It is the Clave that fabricated “the Accords” – the shaky peace treaty between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders.
Q: What are Downworlders?
A: They are any supernatural beings that possess demonic blood, but they aren’t demons. Creatures like vampires, werewolves, seelies (a.k.a. fairies), and warlocks*. Shadowhunters often treat Downworlders as inferior beings.
*Note that in this universe, “warlock” refers to a being that is half-human and half-demon. They are immortal and can do magic.
Q: Okay, but what about the…Paraba-wha?
A: It’s Parabatai, but we understand the confusion. Through a ceremony, two Shadowhunters’ souls become bound, making them stronger together than they are apart. This is a valuable asset to have in combat, but it does have one major downside: if one dies, a part of the other dies along with them, and there is said to be no greater pain felt among the Nephilim. After his supposed father’s “death,” when he was a young boy, Jace was adopted by the Lightwoods. Alec Lightwood and Jace would then go on to become Parabatai.
Q: Wait, wait, what are Nephilim? I thought this show was about Shadowhunters.
A: They are one and the same. Nephilim is the name of the race; Shadowhunter is the name of the occupation. They’re used interchangeably. They are a part-human, part-angel race of beings. Their angelic blood endows them with special abilities that allow them to achieve feats beyond what’s humanly possible through the application of angelically-powered runes. Their mandate is to keep the peace in the Shadow World and keep it hidden from the mundane world while protecting the inhabitants of both from demons.
Q: What is the Mortal Cup?
A: The Mortal Cup is one of the three Mortal Instruments bestowed by the Angel Raziel to Jonathan Shadowhunter, the first of the Nephilim. Because of its mysterious transformative properties, drinking from the Cup can turn mundanes into Shadowhunters (OR it can kill them if they aren’t strong enough). Valentine stole the Mortal Cup and is using it to build his new army.
Q: What’s Valentine’s deal?
A: Valentine Morgenstern is a Shadowhunter with a radical view of his duties to protect humankind – which is that all demonically-aligned creatures, soul or no soul, should be eradicated from the face of the Earth. Basically, he is Voldemort.
Q: Why does Season 2 look so much different than Season 1?
A: The show got a little bit of a reboot between Seasons 1 and 2. New showrunners, bigger budget, better special effects, redesigned props (most notably their seraph blades were completely re-imagined), and they even changed how the Shadowhunters’ runes looked and behaved. And although Season 1 is near and dear to our hearts, Season 2 definitely felt like a new beginning for the show.
Still confused about something? Feel free to message us at info@basicshadowhuntersstuff.com and we’ll continue to update this article.
Shadowhunters will return with Season 3B in 2019.
