Shadowhunters season 2: Will Tudor on the Jonathan – Clary kiss

While Shadowhunters season 2 has delivered many a surprising moment so far this season, there are few that are more shocking that the Jonathan – Clary kiss. This takes the case, given the fact that Jonathan a.k.a. “Fake Sebastian” knew that the two parties were related at the time that he did it, and he still went in for it. Clary, who actually wasn’t privy to the news, still turned it away. At this point, it’s pretty clear that her heart and some of her feeling lie more with Jace, even if the two are not exactly together either.

So why did Jonathan actually decide to go through with this shocking/super-unnerving moment? That is something that Will Tudor explained to Entertainment Weekly — one you get inside that character’s warped mind, it’s a little easier to understand why he would want to do something so strange:

“I think because everyone he’s ever known has let him down and because of the terrible way Valentine treated him as a child and he spent so long in Eden, he fixated on these things. Clary became this idealized person, the one person he feels will not let him down and will always be there for him. It was so overwhelming, those emotions he has for her, that it became almost sexual attraction because he doesn’t know how to channel it, and in the one moment when she’s saying that he’s her brother and she’ll do anything she can for him to hopefully rehabilitate him, he thinks, ‘Yes, all these dreams have come true, she is this person,’ and it kind of flows over and becomes this weird act of affection.”

Basically, this is a character who is still struggling so much with all of the longing and the pain that he’s gone through, and he’s desperate to find and hold some sort of touchstone. Jonathan may see a relationship with Clary as that very thing. He doesn’t understand any sort of affection, and therefore channels it with Clary in a romantic way. The parallel here could be the brief storyline on Dexter when Deb started to have feelings for her adoptive brother — it made fans extremely uncomfortable (odd given that it was a show about a serial killer), but he was the one person who was always there for her and he did such a good job of making her think that he had his life together. These things were appealing to her, even if she didn’t quite understand every little facet of who he was.

Tonight, expect Jonathan’s struggle to escalate further now that everyone knows the truth about him — and many of the main characters look to stop him by any means necessary.

What do you think is coming for Clary and Jonathan?

Be sure to share some more of your thoughts on the matter with a comment! Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event you do want some additional news and insight when it comes to Shadowhunters. There will be a full review for the episode and much more coming tonight. (Photo: Freeform.)