Shadowhunters Season 3 Episode 1 recap: On Infernal Ground

Olivia
9 Min Read

Season three of Shadowhunters premiered yesterday and a lot happened in the episode. Titled “On Infernal Ground,” the episode constantly showed scenes of what appeared to be a woman in Hell. This woman, based on all of the previews of the season, is presumably Lilith. While Lilith made a few appearances in the episode, the episode was much more focused on Clary, Jace, Magnus, and Alec.

The episode starts with Clary officially becoming a Shadowhunter, as she receives her rune of angelic power for killing Valentine, which happened in the season two finale. Clary is praised for not only killing Valentine, but preventing a wish from being granted. During the season two finale, Valentine raises the angel Raziel, who will grant a wish once he is raised. Valentine was killed by Clary before he could make his wish, so Clary uses him to bring Jace, her boyfriend, back to life. No one knows this, so everyone assumes a wish was never made. According to Jace, if anyone found out that Clary made a wish, there would be monumental negative consequences for her. They agree to not tell anyone, but that becomes difficult as Alec, Jace’s Parabatai, is suspicious. Alec saw his Parabatai rune disappear when Jace died, and then reappear when Jace was brought back. Alec knows something is up. Clary wants to tell Alec, but Jace says they can’t because Alec is head of the New York Institute, and would expose them.

Jace is having problems of his own. He keeps having hallucinations of Jonathan, who died last season, coming back and killing Clary. Additionally, in these hallucinations, Jonathan keeps telling Jace to kill Clary. These hallucinations appear to be affecting Jace because when he and Clary are training, he accidentally cuts Clary with his blade, which causes him to panic and freak out.

Meanwhile, Magnus and Alec are having problems of their own as they are each dealing with new jobs. Magnus is no longer the High Warlock of Brooklyn, as he was dismissed from the position after he chose to have the warlocks support the Seelie Queen. Magnus tells Alec that he’s fine since that means he can start seeing clients again, which he was unable to do when he was the High Warlock. Alec also informs him of a new job he’s been offered in Idris, the homeland of the Shadowhunters. Magnus tells Alec to take the job since they can still be together, regardless if they are both in New York, together, or far away from each other. Magnus also convinces him to do so because it’s Alec’s dream job. Alec corrects him and says his dream was to meet someone like him.

Izzy doesn’t have a prominent role in this episode, but she has also received a new job as weapons master at the New York Institute. Izzy helps Clary pick out her new weapons since she is officially a Shadowhunter now. Clary chooses two knives to fight with and Izzy thinks they’re perfect for her fighting style. Later in the episode, Luke tells Clary that one of the blades belonged to Jocelyn, her mom, and the other to Valentine, her father. He also tells her the blade chooses the fighter, and these blades represent the light and dark inside of her.

Luke himself is also dealing with problems of his own. He’s investigating a death on the job as a police officer when he notices the victim was killed by someone who was possessed by a demon. His partner, who is already suspicious of Luke and the possible existence of the supernatural, gets involved and refuses to step down. Before they investigate the death, she goes to Luke’s restaurant he has with his wolf pack and tells him she has evidence that he’s a werewolf, which Luke brushes off. Luke notices werewolf scratches on her arm. She tells him that police told her she was attacked by a rabid dog, but she knows that it was something else. She keeps trying to force Luke to tell her the truth, but Luke doesn’t want her to know.

SHADOWHUNTERS – “On Infernal Ground” – In the season three premiere, secrets abound as the Shadowhunters and Downworlders try to get back to normal after ValentineÕs death. This episode of “Shadowhunters” airs Tuesday, March 20 (8:00 – 9:00 P.M. ET/PT) on Freeform. (Freeform/John Medland)
ALEXANDRA ORDOLIS, ISAIAH MUSTAFA

She ends up finding out the truth after she goes after the man who was possessed. Luke and Clary come rescue her. Luke turns into a werewolf to try to kill him, but Clary ends up killing him by shooting a ray of light out of her hand, a power she acquired by being able to create new runes. The demon didn’t go down easy. It didn’t die when it was stabbed with Clary’s knives and dodged her blasts of light several times. Luke’s partner got hurt during the fight, but she survives. When she’s in the hospital, Luke tells her she wasn’t crazy to think there are more than just humans out there. Presumably in the coming episodes she will find out more about the creatures that exist out there.

Last but not least, viewers received an update on Simon. Season two ended with Simon being trapped in the Seelie Realm because of a deal he made in exchange for Luke and Maia’s freedom. The first look viewers get of Simon this season is of him playing songs for the Seelie Queen. She then takes Simon and brands him with something. It’s not really described what the brand is or does, just that only Simon can survive it, because he’s a daylighter, a vampire that can go out in the sunlight like a normal human. Eventually, the Seelie Queen just lets Simon leave. When Simon reunites with Maia, his girlfriend, he tells her where he was, but had no idea what the Seelie Queen wanted with him.

The episode ends with Magnus and Alec on a date playing pool. They have a conversation about their feelings about each other’s new job. Alec finds out while working with Luke investigating the demon attack that Magnus is pretty upset about losing his position as High Warlock of Brooklyn. Alec confronts Magnus and tells him that he doesn’t have to hide his feelings with him. Magnus is honest with Alec, and tells him that he doesn’t want him to take the job in Idris, since warlocks are not able to visit Idris. Magnus doesn’t like telling Alec this, because he feels like he’s being selfish and holding Alec back, but Alec tells him it’s okay, because he cares about how Magnus feels. Alec tells Magnus he’s going to stay. After they’ve talked it out, they kiss, and continue their pool game.

The last thing viewers see is an injured demon talking to Lilith who tells her to go find the others that are like him.

The premiere gave viewers so many updates on their favorite couples and characters, and introduced a lot of interesting plotlines. Next episode looks good as well, for as the Shadowhunters begin to deal with Lilith as a new threat, not everyone is in agreement on how to handle her. Tune in to the next episode, “The Powers that Be,” this Tuesday at 8/7 central on Freeform.

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