Monday night’s “Shadowhunters” midseason finale was packed with twists and some big reveals.
(Spoiler alert! This story covers major plot points from the latest episode.)
“By The Light of Dawn” (Season 2’s Episode 10) saw Valentine finally captured and in the hands of The Institute, and the Soul Sword in the hands of a mysterious figure. Alec and Magnus exchanged “I love yous,” and Clary and Simon had a moment in the sun — literally. And, some big truths came out — Jace doesn’t have demon blood and he is not Valentine’s son.
AccessHollywood.com spoke with Executive Producer/Director Matt Hastings about those big moments from the midseason finale, and what to expect when “Shadowhunters” returns to Freeform for Season 2B on June 5.
AccessHollywood.com: Magnus and Alec exchanged ‘I love yous’ in that episode. What’s next for them? Are there some more big steps coming up in 2B?
Matt Hastings: Absolutely. All the relationships are very important to us in this show, the Malec relationship, of course. Falling in love for the first time really for Alec — you see that, and you see all the way back to their date that they had together is, I guess analogous with the Clary journey. This is a very sensitive and beautiful emotional journey for Alec, because this is all new to him. … You’re seeing a different side of Magnus too. He’s not a love ’em and leave ’em guy. He’s falling in love too. But when you fall in love, like everybody knows, you fall in love head over heels and it’s all roses and there has to be turbulence. That’s life. Life gives you all different kinds of challenges that affect your relationship, but this relationship is a strong one because it’s rooted in true love. So, while there may be twists and turns, we are all hoping that it all works out great for the two of them.
Access: So, no spoiler alert, as many people suspected, Jace and Clary are not DNA relatives.
Matt: What the hell! How did you find that out? (laughs)
Access: (laughs) What! I know, right? … It’s cool that it’s finally out. But [Jace] decided to keep the news to himself. He turned around, walked back inside. Is this something that’s going to be weighing on him? I imagine he’s not going to be telling [Clary] any time soon.
Matt: Here’s the thing — he is a warrior, he is a soldier, he is also a gentleman.
Access: Honorable.
Matt: He is honorable. He’s a knight. So when you look at Jace and he sees how happy they are together, he’s not going to run up and spoil that moment. He’s going to be respectful of them, which makes me like him even more, right? And also, you see Simon and Clary, especially in that moment, in that big revelation, where you see them together, and it is such a beautiful, pure moment. And so he’s going to take his time to tell her the truth, but not to a point where it adversely affects their relationship. But I think he’s – he’s a knight in shining armor.
Access: He didn’t want to ruin Simon’s moment in the sun. Are we going to kind of get into [the fact that] Simon can go in the sun now and how that changes things and what’s going on and all that?
Matt: Of course. Simon being able to stand in the sunshine … it’s a big story point in the summer season. So, when you become that sort of mythic being, people will follow you just by the nature of the fact that you’re different. So, there will be lots of envy and jealousy and all of that stuff because he is emblematic of what the Downworlders want, which is normalcy. So he is that person. He is that symbol and what he does with that power – it’s like celebrity, what do you do with it? Is it a force for good or a force for evil?
Access: I want to talk about Raphael and Isabelle and kind of what’s next for them. That was some interesting stuff.
Matt: Yeah … their relationship is a fascinating one as well, and I think that given his history, both in the books and what we’re crafting, we’re honoring his point of view in many ways. It’s a complicated relationship because there’s some semblance of co-dependence, but there’s also authenticity to it, so it’s like how do you navigate that? Is it Syd and Nancy or … what is the actual core of it? Usually the core is heart, so how they progress is going to be a really interesting arc. It is definitely something that comes to a head in 2B, but I won’t tell you what happens.
Access: Lastly, your final shot in the finale — somebody is walking in the dark with the sword. What can you tell us about that?
Matt: Well, that very, very last shot is a pretty interesting shot. Like, who winds up with the Soul Sword? I think this character’s going to play a huge part in the summer season, and I think you’re not going to know if they’re good. I can’t really tip whether they’re good or bad, but just by the nature of the fact that they have one of the Mortal Instruments is going to be a danger to everybody. So, whether they use that force for good or for bad, we’ll find out.
“Shadowhunters” returns for the second half of Season 2 on June 5 at 8/7c on Freefrom.
— Jolie Lash