Shadowhunters Bound By Blood Recap

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Episode Score8
With word getting out that Clary is a key part of Valentine’s plan, the Downworlders are at odds on how to handle the issue. But when Iris activates her blood oath, Clary has more to worry about than hiding from Valentine and the Downworlders. Meanwhile, Isabelle and Raphael get closer as Alec tries to figure out what’s going on with his sister.
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Shadowhunters Bound By Blood Recap/Review

Hey Angels, welcome back. It’s time for our Shadowhunters Bound By Blood Recap/Review. Spoilers abound so if you haven’t seen the episode yet you might want to skip this one.

Previously on Shadowhunters – Valentine has used Iris the warlock to steal Magnus’s book of counterspells. Valentine has kidnapped Madzie and Iris activated her blood oath with Clary, demanding that the Shadowhunter find the warlock child. Simon and Clary are dating and Izzy is getting her vampire venom straight from the source in the form of bites from Raphael.

The episode begins at the boat basin, Clary and Simon are getting pretty cosy in Simon’s canoe. I swear that’s not a euphemism. Jace interrupts them though. He’s pissed that Clary is with Simon and not safe at the Institute. Clary thinks she is safe with Simon who agrees because he’s been practicing his fighting skills. Jace challenges Simon to a fight but it’s daylight and Simon can’t even go outside. Clary starts to tell the boys that she can handle herself but she breaks off as her hand starts to char. Oooer!

Magnus and Alec stand on their balcony (cos it’s totally “their balcony” amiright?) and discuss the Downworld apocalypse.

Magnus however is still concerned about what happened at the party. He knows magic can’t create fears, only bring them to the surface. He understands because he’s been there – he mentioned a few episodes ago standing on the ledge of Blackfriar’s Bridge feeling suicidal. Magnus asks that Alec tell him if he ever gets to that point. Jace and Clary interrupt them, Magnus is annoyed until he sees her hand. Magnus examines her and declares that the burning is a blood oath spell that will be fatal if the terms of the oath – finding Madzie – are not met.

At the Institute Izzy goes to see Aldertree. First of all he is surprised that she’s looking so well, he says it usually takes most people weeks to wean themselves off Yin Fen. Izzy replies that she isn’t most people. Aldertree  wants to take her to dinner to “thank her” for how well the Institute ran while he was away. She tells him it’s not necessary but he insists. She turns him down and leaves which has to be the first smart thing Izzy has done in WEEKS! Let’s hope this is the beginning of recovery for Izzy.

At the docks Clary shows her hand to Luke. He blames himself for taking off after Jocelyn’s death. Clary says it’s not his fault, and that she should have read the fine print on the deal before she made it. Never a truer word been spoken. I know she was grief-stricken but charging headlong into making deals with shady warlocks was NEVER going to end in sunshine and roses was it? They get a report from Alec that Madzie was taken from Brady Park. Luke says he will gather the wolves to help with the search and Clary wants to go and get Simon. Jace doesn’t get why, thinks the vampire is useless but Clary insists.

Clary walks over to the boat shed to fetch Simon and is attacked by a wolf. She fends off the attack and the wolf turns back to its human form once more. And that human form is Maia. Everyone is pretty shocked to see her. She admits she heard everything at the party and knows about what the sword will do to Downworlders if Clary touches it. Maia has single-handedly decided that killing Clary is a price worth paying. Funnily enough her surrogate father, boyfriend and brother don’t agree. Luke sends Simon, Clary and Jace off to find Madzie. He remains behind, charging the boys to protect Clary while he tries to stop the entire Downworld from coming after them.

At some creepy ass abandoned fairground Dot is looking a little rough. Valentine has been injecting her with Raziel knows what to keep her weak and compliant. He wants Dot to teach Madzie more powerful spells so he will have a warlock, raised by him, who is totally loyal to his cause. He threatens to inject Madzie instead if Dot doesn’t comply.

Alec goes to see Aldertree, looking for Izzy. Aldertree threatens Alec with a psych evaluation after what happened at the party and tells him that Izzy is more than capable of looking after herself.

Evidence would seem to point to the contrary though. Izzy is getting sexy cooking lessons from Raphael. The words “hot tamale” have never been more appropriate. Izzy is surprised at his cooking skills. Raphael reveals that he cooks every weekend, taking food to the retirement home where his little sister now lives. He thinks he has said too much and wants to keep his mouth shut. But that’s the last thing Izzy wants and Raphael feeds from her again.

Luke locks Maia in a store cupboard so she can’t go after Clary again. Maia begs, saying she won’t hurt Clary, but Luke isn’t listening. Even when she pleads with him, referencing her history and the fact she gets claustrophobic he still locks the door and walks away.

At Brady Park Clary, Simon and Jace are searching for clues. They talk to a hobo who has a scarf that looks suspiciously like one of Madzie’s. Simon trades Jace’s leather jacket (a moment of silence please) for the scarf so that they can track Madzie. Jace says it’s all too easy and thinks it’s a trap. Valentine is too smart not to block the tracking so he must WANT them to find Madzie. Clary says they have no choice, they have to try. She then says that she can’t let Valentine take her alive and if it comes to it she wants the boys to promise that they won’t let that happen. Simon can’t do it but Jace promises.

Representatives of the Downworld factions meet at The Hunters Moon. Magnus, Luke, Raphael are there when Meliorn (yay) arrives, flanked by two other seelies. All three are clad in armour which Magnus and Luke know means war. Anyone else got a bad feeling about this? Luke asks what happened to Meliorn’s face – it’s scarred. The Seelie replies it was a punishment from the Seelie Queen for letting Clary into one of her realms. EEK!

Magnus and Luke want the Downworld to unite to defeat Valentine. Meliorn proposes instead that they kill Clary to save the Downworld. He thinks the members of this little Council are all biased because of their love for Shadowhunters. Jocelyn, Alec and Izzy. He can smell her perfume on Raphael. Raphael says that he might be associating with Izzy but it hasn’t affected his judgement. He agrees with Meliorn about killing Clary.

Jace and Simon talk about what is going to happen with Clary. Jace needs to track Madzie and wants Simon to stay and protect Clary. Simon doesn’t think he can and begs Jace to stay. Jace agrees. Simon answers a call from Luke telling him the outcome of the Downworld meeting and Jace takes off while he is distracted.

Simon takes Clary to the spot where they first kissed and they sit on the roof of the van together. Clary has faith in Jace, that he will find Madzie and bring her back in time. Simon tells Clary she can’t die. The nerdy Jewish boy finally tells his best friend he’s in love with her for her to die a week later – too tragic. Like a real life A Fault in our Stars he says. Clary laughs a little when she tells him that’s not the plot of AFIOS AT ALL!

At Magnus’s apartment he and Alec argue about Izzy. Magnus has only just put the pieces together about Izzy and the Yin Fen but Alec thinks that Magnus has been keeping things from him.

Jace finally tracks Madzie down. She and Valentine are in a cafe together. Jace tells Valentine about the blood oath and then plays an absolute blinder. Playing on the fact he has demon blood thanks to Valentine himself Jace is out for self preservation. If Clary dies then Jace lives. Simple. He gives Valentine an ultimatum – either he takes Madzie right now or he lets Clary die.

Alec shows up at Raphael’s apartment and finds the vampire feeding on his sister. He beats the crap out of him until Magnus uses magic to stop him. Raphael confesses he has feelings for Izzy and that Aldertree was the one who got her hooked on Yin Fen. Raphael was just trying to help. Alec is done and drags his sister away. Raphael tries to plead his case with Magnus but Magnus says he is high on Shadowhunter blood and doesn’t know what he is really feeling. Outside Alec and Izzy argue and she tells him that Raphael saved her life and has been there for her when no-one else has. I don’t know who I feel most sorry for right now, Izzy or Alec.

Jace arrives with Madzie and she touches Clary, breaking the spell – the oath is fulfilled. Simon and Jace have a little bonding moment over saving Clary…right as Madzie opens and portal and takes Clary! Valentine you cunning bastard!

Jace and Simon try and figure out a plan to save Clary when they hear screaming nearby. They find a vampire and a seelie attacking a Mundane in the middle of the street. Jace recognises the vampire from Valentine’s zoo on the ship. He calls Alec and explains what’s going on. Alec tells him about the attacks all over the city. Jace asks him to send help to find Clary and Alec says he will try although Aldertree has everyone on the Downworld attacks. The vamp and seelie attack another Mundie and Jace and Simon stop them with Luke’s help. They demand to know where Valentine is.

Maia has managed to break out of the store room Luke locked her in by transforming into a wolf. She’s also trashed The Jade Wolf in the process. She picks up a coat from a stand and then leaves.

Alec despatches a squad of Shadowhunters to find Clary but Aldertree countermands that order. At least he does until Alec owns his ass in spectacular style, informing him he knows what he did to Izzy. Aldertree capitulates and Alec is once again back in charge of the New York Institute!

Obviously the vamp coughed up Valentines location as Jace, Luke and Simon show up at the abandoned fairground.

Jace finds Clary and frees her from her chains just as Valentine and Madzie arrive. Jace tries to attack but the powerful Madzie stuns him. Clary tries to appeal to Madzie but Valentine has clearly won the girl’s loyalty somehow and she doesn’t budge. Luckily they are not alone. Simon attacks Valentine from behind and Madzie releases Jace. Valentine overpowers Simon and tells Madzie to save her power. The little warlock opens a portal and she and Valentine vanish, taking Simon with them!

Review

I’m starting to feel like Shadowhunters is at its best when it’s either sticking solidly to the source material from Cassandra Clare’s or cutting loose completely. Last week’s episode was pretty fantastic and this one is too. Both episodes strayed pretty far from the book canon and I think they are benefiting from that.

My biggest gripe, and one that I’m sure is going to get me some grief, is Maia. To quote Kipling, ‘For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.’ Maia keeps going against her pack’s Alpha and in any regular pack that would get her ass either dead or booted from the pack to roam as a loner. The Pack, working under their Alpha’s orders, teamed up with Shadowhunters and the rest of the Downworld could stand a chance.

In addition to that I felt like Maia was wasted in this episode. After her inital attack on Clary and the scene with Luke, the other scenes she had had no point. I presume it will pay off in the mid-season finale but her transformation scene was rushed. And what even was that in the restaurant? Surely that guy taking out the trash would have noticed that the entire restaurant was destroyed?

My highlight of this episode was the very welcome return of the wonderful Jade Hassoune!

Image source: Jade on twitter

Seeing Meliorn again in full Seelie battle armour was seriously awesome. There is something about the way Jade Hassoune plays Meliorn – the almost preternatural stillness yet with a sense that he could kick your ass as easy as breathing – that is mesmerising to watch! I really hope that we get to see more of Meliorn in season 2b.

The Downworld meeting at The Hunter’s Moon was also pretty badass. It’s interesting to see these four powerful representatives of their factions and realise they all have deep ties to the Shadowhunters most of their people despise.

Okay folks, that’s it for this Shadowhunters Bound By Blood recap and review. We’ll be back next week for the mid-season finale *sobs* so catch you then!

All images credit Freeform unless stated.

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About author(s)

Clare Hemsworth

Hey, I'm Clare, aka Ciara or C. My current fandoms are RWBY and The Last Kingdom along with a bunch of other stuff I tend to let build up and then binge! I'm a keen, albeit amateur, cosplayer and love attending cons in various cosplays. I'm also the resident comic book girl around these parts, especially small press comics, so if you've got an indie book you want reviewed, I'm your gal! When I'm not doing the fangirl thing I am a keen long-distance hiker, having completed Te Araroa in New Zealand and The Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast of the US.

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