Shadowhunters season 2 episode 19 review: Is Jonathan dead? A new alliance
In the culmination of this episode, what we saw was Izzy and Jace effectively working together to save the day, ensuring that the character does not have a chance to inflict any more harm on New York City. Jace goaded Jonathan enough to get into a pretty epic sword-fight right in the middle of a bridge. It’s clearly one that he thought he would win, but luckily when things started going south, Izzy showed up in time so that Jace could stab him right through the heart.
The end of the episode featured Jonathan’s body being knocked off of the bridge into the river, where it laid adrift. While a significant wound plus this sort of fall would mean in most circumstances that the character is dead, we’re not all that sure of it in this instance given that there’s this tendency for things in this world to not be what they appear. Take, for example, an entire lake being a Mortal Instrument, or the mere existence of vampires and werewolves in the first place. Unless someone is dead and buried in the ground, it is hard to really believe that they are gone one way or another.
With Jonathan dispatched and Jace recovering, what we did see was an opportunity for Jace and Clary to focus on something that’s been brimming underneath the surface for a long time: Their feelings. They had a moment midway through the episode that topped the romance charts, but by the end of the hour, they finally kissed in a way that was of their own accord — not some twisted game by the Seelie Queen. It’s pretty much expected at this point that on both occasions Jace was shirtless. After all, would you really be surprised that this was orchestrated in such a way?
The Seelie Queen’s big move
She’s shown herself to be an extremely influential figure, but somehow in this episode we went from Simon trying to make a deal with her to her being willing to hear out Valentine in the closing minutes. If these two end up working together, don’t you think that this is going to send tensions between Shadowhunters and Downworlders to another level? One of the reasons for all of the division at the moment is that the Downworlders are starting to feel like nobody is getting the job done. Therefore, they’re inclined to start doing things their own way and shrugging their shoulders at the thought of ticking off some higher-ups within the Shadowhunter world.
Also, it’s certainly not great news for Maia coming out of this episode, given the fact that she ended up trapped within the Seelie Queen’s realm waiting for her to come back from her “business.”
Overall…
This was one of the more exciting episodes of the season, which it should be given where we are in the run! This episode is where some of the biggest story threads finally came home to roost: Jace and Clary are closer to being together, and even if Jonathan isn’t gone, he probably is in his current configuration. Consider this a great way to set things in stone for the finale. Grade: B.
What lies ahead on Shadowhunters season 2?
If you do head over to the link here, you can secure right now a little more in the way of news on the show! That will include a first-look preview of the finale, where Jonathan will almost surely play an enormous role. (Photo: Freeform.)